Author: Mark

Last night, I got to try some amazing sandwiches at a new spot simply called The Sandwich Shop.

The Sandwich Shop is run by chef and digital content creator Haya from @ahha.kuw, but she’s also a friend and my former neighbor. She started AH-HA because she loved ASMR food content and wanted to give it a shot. Initially, she focused on sharing her skills and recipes, but she quickly realized people weren’t looking for recipes—they wanted to try her sandwiches. And that’s how The Sandwich Shop was born.

Haya decided to open The Sandwich Shop with her best friend (and now business partner) Dalal, who found the beautiful space. They’re both hands-on, with Haya handling all the cooking while Dalal takes care of the guests. The shop is right next to OVO in Massaleh Towers (google maps), and even though I’ve passed by the location many times before, I never noticed how cozy that corner was. It’s in a courtyard-like space with plenty of seating inside and out.

I passed by last night with my best friend so we got to order a few things and share them. The menu currently has around 8 of Haya’s sandwiches from AH-HA, as well as some salads, sides and the best banana bread I’ve ever had for dessert. We got the following:

Cowboy Steak Sandwich: Angus striploin steak, with caramelized onions, arugula and a cowboy mayo sauce on ciabatta bread.
Berry, Brie, Bacon: Mixed berry compote, hickory bacon & cheddar cheese on sourdough
Rio Garlic Bread: Creamy, buttery, cheesy, herby garlic baguette
Burnt Butter Banana Bread: Chocolate banana bread topped with vanilla ice cream

It’s hard to pick a favorite. The garlic bread caught me by surprise with how good it was, the Cowboy Steak was really delicious, and the banana bread—like I said—the best I’ve ever had. I guess the BBB was the weakest link, but even that was good. With so many recipes in her library, the menu should always have something new. Should be fun.

If you want to try her sandwiches, The Sandwich Shop opens tomorrow. They’ll be open Tuesday to Saturday from 3 PM to 9 PM.

Check them out @thesandwichshop.kw

The Kuwait Annual International Camel Racing Championship is back, taking place from February 20 to 25, 2025 at the Kuwait Camel Racing Club. This year’s event promises to be bigger than ever, bringing participants from GCC countries, the Arab world, and even Europe.

This year will mark the 23rd edition of the championship which has become an important event in Kuwait’s sporting and cultural calendar. The races bring people together from different backgrounds and have become a celebration of heritage, competition, and tradition.

Race Schedule – Kuwait Camel Racing Championship 2025
Location: Kuwait Camel Racing Club
Dates: February 20 – 25, 2025

Day 1 – Thursday, February 20, 2025

Morning Races (8:00 AM) – 4 KM
Evening Races (3:00 PM) – 4 KM

Day 2 – Friday, February 21, 2025
Morning Races (8:00 AM) – 5 KM
Evening Races (2:00 PM) – 5 KM

Day 3 – Saturday, February 22, 2025
Morning Races (8:00 AM) – 6 KM
Evening Races (1:00 PM) – 6 KM

Day 4 – Sunday, February 23, 2025
Morning Races (8:00 AM) – 8 KM
Evening Races (1:00 PM) – 8 KM

Day 5 – Monday, February 24, 2025
Morning Races (8:00 AM) – 8 KM
Evening Races (1:00 PM) – 8 KM

Day 6 – Tuesday, February 25, 2025 (Final Day)
Main Championship Races (2:30 PM) – 8 KM

If you’ve never been to a camel race before then this is a good time to do so. Entry is free and you can find the location on Google Maps by searching for “Kuwait Camel Racing Club“.

Don’t forget to get your loved one a Shani today. shaniday.com

Last night Forbes Middle East revealed their annual list of Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen and 7 businesswomen from Kuwait made the list for 2025. Similar to last year, what is really impressive is that 3 of the top 5 most powerful businesswomen are Kuwaiti.

Here are the most powerful women in Kuwait:

2. Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar
National Bank of Kuwait Group (NBK Group)

4. Wadha Ahmad Al-Khateeb
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)

5. Dana Nasser Al Sabah
Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO

17. Nadia Bader Al-Hajji
Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC)

22. Henadi Al-Saleh
Agility

54. Elham Mahfouz
Commercial Bank of Kuwait (Al-Tijari)

58. Donna Sultan
KEO International Consultants

Forbes considered the following when creating their list:

• The impact that the leader has had on the region and the markets that she serves.
• The achievements and performance of the leader during the last year.
• Their role within the company.
• The size of the business in terms of revenues, assets, AUM, market capitalization, and number of employees.
• Sustainability and CSR initiatives.
• Years of industry experience and the time the leader has served in their current role.
• The other roles they currently hold.
• Leaders of family businesses were excluded.

For the full top 100 list, click here.

This past week I haven’t really watched much, mostly episodes of Dexter: Original Sin and Old Man. The first episode of the new season of The Kardashians came out last weekend but it was pretty boring. Today the new season of the locally produced The Exchange comes out so will probably watch it.

I’m traveling next week to Sri Lanka so trying to save shows for the long flight so my TV life is going to be pretty boring till then.

Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Week:
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (7.1)
Captain America: Brave New World (5.9)
The Gardener (4.1)
William Tell (6.3)

Other Movies Showing:
A Complete Unknown (7.7)
Den of Thieves 2 (6.6)
Dog Man (8.4)
Fargo (classic) (8.1)
Flight Risk (5.6)
Kayara (5.9)
Love Hurts (N/A)
Moana 2 (7.1)
Mufasa: The Lion King (6.7)
Paddington in Peru (6.8)
Presence (6.7)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (7.5)
The Bayou (4.9)
The Prosecutor (7.2)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Here are my favorite things happening this weekend. Due to the weather, check the event accounts for any cancellations.

Thursday, February 13
Gulf Bank Family Day at Khiran Mall
Jazz, Crêpes & Art
Kuwait International Food Festival
The Improv Show
Youm Albahar Festival
Father Daughter Date Night
The Promenade Market
Gardenia Outdoor Living Pop-Up

Friday, February 14
Kuwait International Food Festival
Vintage Movie Posters Exhibition & Auction
Youm Albahar Festival
The Promenade Market
Wellness Market
Gardenia Outdoor Living Pop-Up
Let’s Go Hiking
Kuwait Cats Club Show 2025

Saturday, February 15
Kuwait International Food Festival
Vintage Movie Posters Exhibition & Auction
Youm Albahar Festival
Makers Market
The Promenade Market
Wellness Market
Gardenia Outdoor Living Pop-Up
Kuwait Cats Club Show 2025

The British boy band Blue is coming to perform in Kuwait on April 10 and 11, and tickets will be going on sale tomorrow (Thursday) at 6PM.

Blue, known for early 2000s hits like All Rise, One Love, and Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, will be performing at the National Theater at JACC.

Tickets start at 20 KD and will be available on jacc-kw.com

I noticed today that they’ve started demolishing the original KTV buildings on the Gulf Road. I don’t know why but I always imagined refurbishing the block and turning it into something like AlSerkal Avenue in Dubai, large spaces housing art galleries, cafes, lifestyle shops.

I’ve heard they’re planning to build a large gym on that plot, not sure how accurate that info is but it would suck if thats why these buildings were demolished.

Looks like the AC issue at the Kuwait National Planetarium is fixed since they reopened to the public again yesterday. Visitors can now watch five daily shows from Monday to Thursday at 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM, 5:30 PM, and 6:30 PM.

Kuwait’s planetarium was one of the first in the Gulf Region and originally opened back in 1986. The technology at the planetarium has recently been fully upgraded with a new system consisting of nine 4K video projectors, new computer technology and an upgraded sound system. But, at the heart of the planetarium is the unique Zeiss STARMASTER projection system. Only 19 of these STARMASTER projection systems are installed worldwide and they’re known for providing a very realistic starry sky.

The planetarium is located on the Gulf Road, opposite Seef Palace and is part of the Kuwait National Museum.

Entrance to the planetarium is free. For the schedule and info on the shows, click here.

There is a beautiful pop-up taking place starting today until February 25th at the Kuwait National Museum. The Gardenia Pop-up is an outdoor living exhibition and this year they’re holding it inside the National Museum courtyard, a venue I’m totally in love with.

The pop-up features art, design, plants, food and music amongst other things. It’s really well put together and if there was an award for the best market venue of the year, they’d easily win.

Entry is free, there are lots of cafes spread out both inside the museum courtyard and around the museum. Definitely pass by and check it out. They’re open from 10AM to 10PM but I highly recommend visiting during the daytime because of the way the sunlight casts beautiful shadows through the museums floating shade.

For more info on the pop-up, head to @gardenia.popup

Season 2 of the Kuwait-based Netflix series The Exchange returns this Thursday, February 13.

‘The Exchange’ is based in Kuwait in the 80s and is inspired by true events. It follows two women who decide to work at the stock exchange, an industry dominated by men at that time. According to Netflix, Season 2 moves beyond the stock market as both main characters, Farida and Munira, face off in a battle to make their mark and claim their space as female bosses.

I really enjoyed the first season so I’m looking forward to binge watch the new season this weekend. A couple of years ago, I got invited by the The Exchange executive producer @Beyond305 to visit the set of the show and was really impressed, especially by the props, many of which you’d never notice on TV. You can check those photos and videos out by clicking here.

Speaking of Netflix, Mo Season 2 recently came out, and it’s really great, definitely worth watching if you haven’t already.

I just realized today is my 22nd blogging anniversary. I published my first post on February 6th, 2003 on qHate.com which I just realized is currently down. Turns out I changed hosts and forgot to point the domain to the new one.

Super strange that blogger.com is still online it’s the software and host we had used back then to blog from. I just logged in to make sure that Feb 6 was when I first started blogging and was surprised it worked.

22 years, still blogging.

update: qHate is back online and miskan is also online.

This past week I managed to watch two movies, Conclave and Gladiator II. Conclave, was a really great looking film, especially considering it all takes place in one building basically. Super impressive and the story was great as well.

Gladiator II on the other hand, I liked it, but it really didn’t need to be that long. I felt there were a lot of scenes that could have been cut and weren’t really necessary.

Other than these two movies I started watching the new season of Mo on Netflix which has been really funny.

Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Week:
Infested (6.2)
Kayara (5.9)
Love Hurts (N/A)
Old Guy (6.5)
Presence (6.7)
The Bayou (N/A)

Other Movies Showing:
A Complete Unknown (7.7)
Den of Thieves 2 (6.6)
Dog Man (8.4)
Fargo (classic) (8.1)
Flight Risk (5.6)
Moana 2 (7.1)
Mufasa: The Lion King (6.7)
Paddington in Peru (6.8)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (7.5)
The Last Ronin (6.1)
The Prosecutor (7.2)
Werewolves (4.4)
Wicked (8.1)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Below are my favorite events taking place this weekend.

Thursday February 6
Auto World Car Show
Astronomers Diwaniya
International Show Jumping 2025
Jazz in Arabic at Al Shaheed Park
TK Outdoor Market at Murouj

Friday February 7
The Importance of Being Earnest
Auto World Car Show
To My Valentine Pop-up
Al Farsi Kite Desert Display
International Show Jumping 2025
TK Outdoor Market at Murouj
Super Run Event

Saturday February 8
The Importance of Being Earnest
Auto World Car Show
To My Valentine Pop-up
Mirror House 11th Art Festival
International Show Jumping 2025
Letters to the Holy Land Pop-up
TK Outdoor Market at Murouj
Movie Premier: The Devil’s Driver

I just bought a ticket to Morocco with Kuwait Airways for 128KD. I’ve been meaning to go back to Marrakech since I went for the first time back in 2015. I kept putting it off, but the other day I got a notification from the Kuwait Airways app that there were discounts for flights in March, probably because no one travels during Ramadan. So out of curiosity I checked how much the flights to Morocco were and they were just 128KD which is pretty crazy considering it’s like a 7-8 hour flight.

Kuwait Airways doesn’t fly to Marrakech, instead they fly to Casablanca but thats fine since I’ll just rent a car and drive to Marrakech which is just over a 2 hour drive.

One super annoying thing I’d like to highlight to Kuwait Airways about their website. In the app when I click on the calendar it shows me the ticket prices for every day, while on the website it doesn’t. Why?