Author: Mark

For those of you who watch the UFC you’ll be interested to know that the PRIDE legend and UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva will be in Kuwait next month for a seminar. Although he’s currently serving a lifetime ban from the sport for refusing to submit to a drug test, he’s still a legend and I’d be excited to see him here. Come to think of it, fight fans in Kuwait are pretty lucky since we’ve gotten a good share of UFC legends come to Kuwait so far including Anderson Silva and Royce Gracie. For more info on the Wanderlei event, click [Here]

Update: The seminar cost is KD60 for 2 days and its KD25 for a photo/autograph. Also it seems the lifetime ban was overturned in May.

The Onam Festival is back and will be taking place this coming Friday 28th of August. Onam is the biggest and the most important festivals of the state of Kerala in India and it’s also celebrated here in Kuwait. A few Southern Indian restaurants in Kuwait offer the traditional vegetarian dish the Onasadya during the festival and below are some of those restaurants.

Caesar’s Dakshin Restaurant – Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh – Al Jawhara Building
Time: 12PM to 3PM and 7PM to 11PM
Price: KD3
Telephone: 24319191, 24310303 [Map]

Udupi Restaurant – Fahaheel – Green Tower
Time: 10AM to 4PM and 6PM to 11PM
Price: KD2.250 (KD2.500 takeaway)
Telephone: 25456565 [Map]

Saravanaa Bhavan – Fahaheel – Humoud Towers
Time: 11:30AM to 4PM and 7PM to 10PM
Price: KD2.500 (KD2.700 takeaway)
Telephone: 23929099 [Map]

If you know of any more places please let me know.

Thanks Ahmad Arafa

A couple of nights ago I was over at a friends place when I was introduced to Noor AlObaid, the young Kuwaiti behind the nonprofit charity organization Bake and Educate. I was so fascinated with the story that I couldn’t wait to post about it on the blog.

Noor started Bake and Educate at the age of 14 years old. She grew up with a mixed background, her father is Kuwaiti while her mum is Syrian so she got to see life from both perspectives, the easy privileged life of a Kuwaiti and the struggle of a Shami in Kuwait. Ever since she was a kid her mother used to teach her that because God had given them a good life, they have to give back to people who aren’t as fortunate. So she started giving a few dinars from her allowance to less fortunate children and when she grew older it just became a habit.

Noor went to a private American school and her tuition at one point had reached around KD5,000 a year. On the other hand the tuition fees for some Arabic private schools in Kuwait were only around KD400 to KD500 per student per year and yet several families had difficulty affording that. In 2009, Noor’s mum received a list 21 pages long of students that were financially unable to cover their school fees. The overdue payments ranged anywhere from KD20 up to KD400 so they came up with the idea to create a baking exhibition where all proceeds would be used to cover the student fees. At first it was a difficult concept for people to understand, why would a 14 year old be running a non-profit? Why is it for education? People didn’t realize the significance of a diploma and how without one, many places wouldn’t be willing to employ a non-Kuwaiti.

At first Bake and Education started off as a yearly exhibition and then it became bi-annual until they started doing delivery. By 2012, Bake and Educate had started to gain a reputation after working closely with the Ministry of Youth and EQUAIT. In the 6 years since Noor started Bake and Educate the program has helped cover the tuition of 389 students while also helping refugee camps in Syria.

How does it work?
With each donation or order you will receive an official Bake and Educate receipt. When payment is received, Bake and Educate contact the schools and send the money over either on the same day or the morning after. Once the money is received by the accountant of the school, they deduct the amount from a students overdue payment and provide Bake and Educate with a receipt which they file. Bake and Educate is an officially registered non-profit organization. Some of the schools they work with are AlJamil School, AlRiqqa Elementary School and AlWataniya School, however, they try to work with any school that is willing to accept financial aid for students.

So if you’re interested in what they’re doing, follow them on instagram @bakeandeducate

Yesterday I popped into KIPCO Tower to use the ATM machine and on my way out I saw something that looked pretty cool. It was a sandwich shop built into the wall, at first I thought it was part of Caribou Coffee which was located near it but when I got closer I noticed it had it’s own branding and the place was called ‘Walls’.

While I was getting a closer look at the items a guy popped up behind me and was like Mark? I turned around and turns out the two partners in the place were there and they had recognized me. So I ended up getting a small tour of the place along with a brief on their concept. ‘Walls’ opened up around three days ago and KIPCO Tower is their first location. They have fresh daily made food ranging from soups to sandwiches and salads along with some low calorie options for calorie counters. They also have freshly grounded coffee as well as other cold drinks like soda, water and cold brew coffee. None of the food is reused the next day so if anything is left by closing time they’re donated to an organization.

It’s a very simple concept with good branding and great looking packaging, kinda like a mini ‘Pret A Manger’ for the office tower. They’re open from Sunday to Thursday, 6:30AM to 5PM. If you’d like to find out more about them check out their instagram account @gowalls.

The question ‘What Do You see?’ in reference to the current state of affairs in Kuwait, is a question that I usually get in meetings and tend to dodge to avoid entering into a complaining session about the country in the middle of the work day.

Then, several months ago I was on a red-eye flight back to Kuwait and I began to think what if I am to answer the question. I started writing what came to mind. By touchdown I found myself to have jotted down a collection of contradicting thoughts that have taken the form of a written essay, albeit a loosely-constructed, colloquial essay.

That was in November of 2014. In the weeks that followed I shared that set of contradicting thoughts on LinkedIn, and other social networks, and saw an interesting discussion take place. Since then, two of my colleagues have been working on transforming those thoughts into a visual essay. The result was this well crafted video.

Thank you Mohamed Amin, who shot and edited this video, and Rula Liddawi, who produced and narrated it, for translating my written notes into visual ones.

– Fawaz Al Sirri

Fawaz is the Managing Partner at Bensirri, a local public relations firm. I’ve worked with him a few times and I actually like the guy a lot. I remember the first time I met Fawaz was a few years ago during a meeting in which a digital agency was proposing paying bloggers to write about a brand. Fawaz told the guy that it was unethical to do that and I remember thinking in my head finally, someone else who finds that wrong! It’s why I now always refer Bensirri when anyone asks me if I know of a good PR firm. [YouTube]

The 2015 Global Liveability Ranking list came out a few days ago and Kuwait came 3rd amongst the most liveable GCC cities right after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The liveability ranking is based on 30 different factors related to things like safety, healthcare, educational resources, infrastructure and environment. Kuwait scored high in most of the categories but fell through when it came to the Culture & Environment one. Below is Kuwait’s rankings compared to other GCC countries:

75 – Dubai, UAE
79 – Abu Dhabi, UAE
83 – Kuwait City, Kuwait
85 – Doha, Qatar
89 – Muscat, Oman
92 – Bahrain, Bahrain
107 – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
111 – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

To find out more about these rankings you can check out The Economist article [Here] or download the full ranking which includes a breakdown of the score [Here]

Thanks Salue

Since the airport contract has finally been awarded, I figured now would be a good time to repost this video by Fosters + Partners on the new Kuwait Airport. Around a minute into the video they take you on a virtual tour of the departure area followed by the arrival area. It’s the airport we’ve always wanted. [YouTube]

For the sneaker heads in Kuwait you’re probably already aware that Kanye’s third release with Adidas will be launching world wide this coming Saturday August 22nd. If you weren’t aware, the previous grey 350’s were surprisingly released at Harvey Nichols in Kuwait and now they’re also part of the world wide release of the “Pirate Black” edition (). But don’t get your hopes up. Like all the stores world wide, Harvey is also getting a very limited quantity of around 12 pairs. To make matters even more difficult, Alshaya has a no raffle policy so unlike most of the stores around the world, Harvey Nichols won’t be holding a raffle on the Yeezys. Instead, like what some stores around the world do (Colette as an example), “VIP” customers will be given a chance to own a pair while the rest will be up for grabs on a first come first served basis.

I’m still trying to get a pair for myself but as of yesterday Harvey Nichols still hadn’t received the shipment yet so they will most likely be releasing them after the August 22nd world wide release date. I even heard September 21st as a local launch date although I find that hard to believe. Once I get a confirmation on a local launch date I’ll post it here but your best bet might be to check their instagram account daily just to be safe.

FYI, the previous grey release of the Yeezy Boost 350 are now selling for on the grey market while the Yeezy Boost 750 are selling for $2,250+.

Update: They’re launching tomorrow morning (Sunday, August 23rd) at Harvey Nichols. First come first serve, doors open at 10AM and there are around 12 pairs only. Good luck not getting trampled.

Update2: I just realized because this is Kuwait, everyone will probably send their drivers from 6AM to wait in line.

Sanad is an iPhone and Android app that allows you to easily find a handyman in Kuwait be it a plumber or a crane operator you name it. Seriously the app has contacts for any kind of handyman you would imagine, need aluminium work? an upholstery guy? an IT guy? This app has all their contact numbers. It’s fairly easy to use, just type in the area you live in and what kind of handyman you need and the app will show you a list of people you could call.

The app is free to download so check it out. [Link]

There is a really old Korean guy called Mr Kim that has a shop in my building and I always found him fascinating. He’s got fairly long white hair, wears white bell bottoms with funky vintage shirts and drives a very well kept classic Chevrolet Caprice. I’ve actually posted about his shop before but never about him since I didn’t really know his story. But, recently he asked me to help him set up an Instagram account and we got to talking and it turns out he’s got such an interesting and random story.

Back in 1981 Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea when Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (the founder of the Kuwait Olympic Committee) was visiting Korea. Sheikh Fahad met with Mr Kim and offered him the position head coach of for the Kuwait National Boxing Team. Mr Kim accepted the position and came to Kuwait in 1982 and right away helped the Kuwaiti team win two bronze medals at the Asian Games that same year.

Mr Kim continued to train the Kuwait National Boxing Team before leaving a few years later to train the Kuwaiti police and later the army. Around 88-89 he left boxing behind and partnered up with Carlton Hotel to open a Korean restaurant (which is still there). In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, he was on vacation at the time but his two daughters and son were in Kuwait. His children stayed at the Carlton Hotel at first and later stayed at the home of an employee of the Korean embassy.

In 1991 Mr Kim came back to Kuwait after the invasion and got into a disagreement with the Carlton Hotel and so left the restaurant. In 1992 he opened his current shop which sells mostly hair bands and random little trinkets he brings in from Korea. His children and wife now live in Korea while he lives here alone. He’s 71 years old.

As I’ve mentioned before his shop is really worth checking out. I’ve actually taken a bunch of friends there and everyone was always surprised at how visually intense the interior is. So pass by him if you can, his shop is located on the mezzanine floor of Anjari Complex in Salmiya [Map]. You can also check out his Instagram account [Here]

Kuwait’s government said it had awarded a contract to build a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport to the same consortium that had an earlier more-expensive bid dismissed.

Turkey’s Limak Holding and local construction firm Kharafi National won the deal after bidding 1.312 billion dinars ($4.34 billion) for the work – 74 million dinars cheaper than the offer it submitted in November. [Source]

Bring out the non-alcoholic champagne!

The local coding school “Coded” is hosting an event tonight with Fasttelco to test an ultra fast internet connection that they claim to be the fastest in Kuwait. The connection will be a 500Mbps fiber connection and everyone is invited to come and try it out. To test that speed you can either bring your own laptop and connect it to one of the available ethernet cables or you could use one of their test laptops. If you’ve got a huge file you’ve been wanting to download or upload then this might be a good way to do it. For more information click [Here]

One of my readers sent me the picture above of a new Citybus thats currently on the road. What caught my attention was the fact it had solar panels on the roof and the message “735w solar cells” on the side. I thought Citybus might finally be getting some new hybrid buses, that is buses that run on fossil fuel and clean electric power. So I gave Citybus a call to find out if that was the case and it sadly turns out it wasn’t.

The bus pictured above is currently being weather tested for the local market and is by the Irish company Wright. It’s not a hybrid but a regular diesel vehicle. According to the person I spoke to, the solar panels are just there to recharge the bus batteries and is not for any energy saving purposes. Oh well that was a downer. I was hoping this was the first step in eradicating the horribly polluting buses currently on the roads. Looks like that’s not going to happen.

Reyoog is a locally created breakfast game for the iPhone where the aim is to try and fulfill as many breakfast orders as you can in 3 minutes. The game is in Arabic without an option for English since the dialect is all in Kuwaiti. The game isn’t free, it costs 99 cents which might or might not be worth it for you. If you’re interested in downloading the game just look for “Reyoog” in the app store or click this [Link]

Not sure if this happened here in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia but it’s not important since it’s still funny. [YouTube]