Author: Mark

The Armenian national carrier, Fly Arna now flies direct to Kuwait twice a week. The flight from Kuwait to Armenia is only around 2 hours long and ticket prices start at 82KD.

I went to Armenia back in 2020 and loved it although I might be a bit biased since I’m half Armenian. The food was amazing, there was a lot to see, and the city gave off a great vibe. I’d put a travel guide together although I’m not sure it would be accurate since I went just pre-Covid so might have to head there again for a few days again just to revisit some places.

If you’re looking for a new, interesting and close destination to fly to, this is it. To book a ticket or check the prices, visit flyarna.com

Al Kawakeb Sweets, the old ice cream and sweets shop in the city that has been open since 1945 has closed down. The whole building is being demolished and so they had to move out of their location which was across the street from blockat.

According to someone who left a review on Google they’re meant to move to a new location but there wasn’t a poster or a note left at the old location saying anything about it. Their Instagram account @alkawakeb1945 also no longer exists so they could be gone for good.

Update: They moved to Aswaq Al Qurain, here is the new location on Google Maps

GameWorks was an arcade that opened up in Marina Mall back in 2003. It was later renamed to GameWizz and eventually closed down in 2013. While going through one of my boxes the other day I found an old GameWorks recharge card and that triggered some nostalgia which got me looking for photos of the place.

For some reason, I couldn’t find any pictures of the place online. I guess because it was a period of time before camera phones or Instagram were a thing so not a lot of people took photos of the space and shared them online.

I went through my personal archive of photos and found a few, nothing too great and a few that was super low res since they were taken by a Sony Clie PDA, but they’re better than nothing. If you have any photos let me know. Here is a link to all the photos I found.

Kuwait Airways was recently named the “World’s Most Improved Airline in 2023” according to Skytrax, the airline and airport review and ranking site. This was the second year in a row that Kuwait Airways won the ‘World’s Most Improved Airline’ award. Last year, Kuwait Airways moved up from 179th place to 76th place, and this year they moved up to 42nd place.

Singapore Airlines won the top airline award for 2023 while Qatar came in 2nd, Emirates 4th, Saudi Arabian Airlines 23rd, Oman Air 27th, and Gulf Air 32nd.

I’m currently in Istanbul and I’m assuming a lot of people are coming here for Eid so this is a quick guide of all my favorite spots:

Eat
My favorite breakfast spot is Namlı Gurme (@namligurme) which also recently opened in Kuwait. Yeni Lokanta (@yeni.lokanta) is my favorite restaurant here and is based on Turkish cuisine but deconstructed into more contemporary and exciting versions (book ahead of time). Kase No16 (@kase.no16) is a cozy spot located in a trendy neighborhood and has good music, street side seating and great food. Il Cortile (@ilcortileistanbul) is a great Italian place located in a beautiful courtyard. Finally, Borsam Taşfırın (@borsamtasfirin) is a hole in the wall bakery serving probably the best lahmajoun in Istanbul.

Drink
Petra Roasting Company (@petracoffee) is my favorite brand of coffee shops in Istanbul but the one I visit the most is in the Topagci neighborhood. There is another good one in that area called Cup of Joy (@cupofjoy_istanbul) which I usually prefer if I want to sit outdoors. If you’re more of a tea person, Viyana Kavesi (@viyanakahvesi) have multiple locations around Istanbul but really you’ll be going there for their San Sebastian cheesecake. For just tea, Burası Kahveci (@burasikahveci) is my an unassuming hole in the wall option.

See
Salt Beyoğlu (@salt_beyoglu) is my must go exhibition space when I’m here since they tend to have very interesting things happening. The Istanbul Toy Museum (@istanbuloyuncakmuzesi) is located in a large house, a completely random thing to visit but I love toys so I found it fascinating. The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (@istanbulmodern) just opened last month in their new spot by the sea and is worth checking. For fashion, Shopi Go (@shopi_go) is my favorite place with a great sneaker collection and selection of clothes. Wunder (@wunder) is another good spot near it. If you like Aesop, Homemade Aromaterapi (@homemadearomaterapi) is Turkey’s version.

Sleep
This is easy, Soho House (@sohohouseistanbul), I can’t recommend a better hotel. Other than the fact the hotel is beautiful and their Club House next door is my favorite place to end the day, the hotel service is incredible with the staff always going above and beyond. The rooftop of the Club House is also now open for the summer so you can head there to watch the sunset and enjoy the music.

Mo Amer, the Palestinian American comedian known for his hilarious performances in the Netflix show ‘Mo’ and the award-winning Hulu sitcom ‘Ramy,’ is set to bring his comedy to Kuwait this September.

Mo was actually born in Kuwait and lived here till the age of 9. He only left Kuwait because of the 1990 Iraq invasion which is how he ended up in the US. I’m not sure if he’s been back to Kuwait since then, but if you went to a British school in the 80s, I’d pull up an old yearbook and see if I could spot him.

According to the information I have, Mo will be performing his standup on September 8th at The Arena. More information will be officially announced soon.

The Ikarus Astro group is hosting an astronomy event tonight at AlKhout Mall sea side from 7 to 10PM. It’s a free event and open to the public to observe the moon and planets. Ikarus will be bringing a few telescopes with them including the biggest mobile telescope in Kuwait so you should be able to get a pretty good viewing.

If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary to do tonight, this is it. @ikarustechnolog

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
About My Father (5.8)
Katak: The Brave Beluga (7.2)
Resident Evil: Death Island (N/A)
Sakra (5.8)
Snatch a Bullet (N/A)
The Best Man (3.7)
The Minute You Wake up Dead (4.5)

Other Movies Showing:
Elemental (6.8)
Fast X (6.2)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
Kandahar (6.2)
Sisu (7.0)
The Boogeyman (6.2)
The Flash (7.3)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Cast Away (7.8)
Tarzan – 1999 (7.3)

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

There are plenty of public beaches in Kuwait but not that many swimming pools you can access without being a member or staying at a hotel. But, some hotels do offer day passes to their pools so I called as many hotels as I could until I had enough to put a list together.

The pools guide list below is singles friendly, and arranged from least expensive to most expensive:

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 24590000
Price: 10KD

Seashell Julaia Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 1844444
Price = 15KD

Crowne Plaza
Telephone: 1848111
Weekday 20KD
Weekend 25KD (Includes meal)

Millennium Hotel
Telephone: 22050505
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 25KD

Symphony Style Hotel
Telephone: 25770000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 25KD

Holiday Inn Salmiya
Telephone: 25760000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 29KD

Mövenpick Hotel Resort AlBidaa
Telephone: 22253100
Price: 25KD

Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall
Telephone: 23931234
Price: 30KD
Ladies only on Monday and Wednesday

Hilton Resort
Telephone: 22256222
Weekday: 30KD
Weekend: 35KD
Weekday/Weekend for Couples: 45KD

Marina Hotel
Telephone: 22230030
Weekday: 35KD
Weekend: 40KD

Waldorf Astoria (pictured at the very top)
Telephone: 24774444
Price 1: 40KD (Inc. 2 Cocktails)
Price 2: 50KD (Inc. Food + Cocktails)

The American School of Kuwait have digitized all their yearbooks from the 1970s onwards and published them online. I went through a few of the early copies hoping to get a glimpse of student life in Kuwait back in the early 70s, but sadly they didn’t contain many lifestyle photos. They are still interesting to flip through especially if you were an ASK student so if you want to check them out, here is the link.

I came across this photo taken by Tor Eigeland of the Kuwait Towers under construction sometime in the 70s. What I found interesting about it is that it’s the only image I’ve ever seen of the towers at night while still under construction.

The Gulf Road is one of my favorite places in Kuwait but the lack of a bike path is very frustrating. I ride my bicycle on the walkway close to the water but the path isn’t wide enough for both bicycles and people when it’s busy and even when it’s empty the pathway is fairly rough to ride on using a road bike. Because the only other alternative is riding on the road with the cars ,I put up with the issues because I don’t really have another choice.

But looks like we’re finally going to get a dedicated bicycle path.

SSH, the architecture and engineering consultant firm have just taken over the waterfront project. SSH are the same people behind such projects as the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre (JACC) and the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC) so I’m very excited about this.

The 9.7-kilometre-long waterfront project will stretch from the Yacht Club in Salmiya all the way to the Kuwait Towers and offer essential amenities for visitors, over 60 commercial and investment opportunities for local businesses, various sports activities, swimming areas, a bicycle path, a jogging path, and a recreational area for children.

The project timeline is 1 year.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was meant to be released in the region on June 22, but last week it got banned in Kuwait and across the region. The reason behind the ban is due to the presence of transgender symbolism in the film, a “Protect Trans Kids” poster which appeared briefly during one scene (pictured below).

Whats interesting is that we’ve recently started seeing more movie bans and less censorship and that is supposedly due to the studios no longer allowing cinemas to edit their films. Disney and Sony have both recently not allowed Asian countries to edit out LGBT content so the only option cinemas have is to ban the films outright. It’s interesting because they previously would allow cinemas to edit out nudity or kisses, so it’s odd that they aren’t allowing LGBT content to be cut.

Staged in Kuwait’s eleventh season closes this weekend with three final performances of the hit musical “CHICAGO”. The classic musical is as relevant today as it was when it was first written 50 years ago and the Staged in Kuwait production is a must watch.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend then this is it. There is a showing every night this weekend and the tickets start at KD10. If you want to book, click here.

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Elemental (6.8)
Kandahar (6.2)
The Flash (N/A)

Other Movies Showing:
Fast X (6.2)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (8.3)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
Just Super (6.4)
Sisu (7.0)
The Boogeyman (6.2)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Cast Away (7.8)
The Last of the Mohicans (7.7)
Tarzan – 1999 (7.3)

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