Author: Mark

Starting October 30th, the ultra-low-cost airline, Wizz Air will begin operating daily flights to Kuwait from Abu Dhabi. Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is partially owned by the Hungarian Wizz Air but is majority owned by ADQ (formerly called Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company) and operates out of the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

I just tried booking a weekend flight to Abu Dhabi and ended up with a $49 two-way ticket which equates to around 15.5KD, so this price is real. But, because it’s a budget airline, you pay for every single extra thing you need. So for example, the $49 doesn’t allow you to take a carry-on bag on the plane, just a backpack. If you want a carry-on, that’s an extra 9$ each way but you could fit a weekend’s worth of clothes in a backpack so it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep your ticket price under $50 .

15KD to fly to Abu Dhabi for the weekend is a really great price obviously, thats cheaper than a padel court rental. Once you’re in Abu Dhabi there are quite a lot of things to do including visiting Ferrari World or the beautiful Louvre Abu Dhabi (pictured above). You could also rent a car and split your time between Abu Dhabi and Dubai which is just an hour away. I’m sure as more demand kicks in the prices will go up but for now, if you want to take advantage of the 15KD tickets, you should get your ticket asap. wizzair.com

The US Embassy is holding a “Discover America” week that involves various activities and events that are open to the public. Yesterday was the first day and it started off with a 5K Fun Run and I’m personally looking forward to the car show that’s taking place this Friday.

The embassy shared the schedule above of all the activities taking place this week and if you’re interested to find out more, you can check out their Instagram @usembassyq8

Below is this weekend’s list of events and activities, if I missed anything, please let me know in the comments:

Thursday, Oct 20
Art Therapy: Heart Social
22nd Kuwait Theater Festival Launch
IFK Cinema Night: Fahim
Hangouts at LAPA
Disney Princess – The Concert
Space Month at Scientific Center

Friday, Oct 21
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Disney Princess – The Concert
Space Month at Scientific Center
Armenians in Kuwait Karaoke
Roll Race at KMT: Sword Champions
KMT: Car Open Track Day

Saturday, Oct 22
Discover America 5K Fun Run
Art Therapy: Portrait Reflections
The Gulf Bank Walkathon
Disney Princess – The Concert
KMT: Car Open Track Day
Miseen Scene Club: A Separation
Story Time: Khaled & Recycling
ALHULI Creative Jewelry at Sadu House
Boubyan Cycling Race
Space Month at Scientific Center
Makers Bazaar

Exhibitions
Amira Behbehani x Mercedes
Sara Shamma “Age”
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

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

New This Weekend:
Black Adam (7.5)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (6.5)
Tay (4.7)

Other Movies Showing:
Amsterdam (5.7)
Barbie: Mermaid Power (6.5)
Big Trip 2: Special Delivery (N/A)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Halloween Ends (N/A)
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (7.1)
Smile (6.6)
Tad the Lost Explorer and the Emerald Tablet (4.7)
The Woman King (6.3)
Ticket to Paradise (6.3)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:

Classic Movies Showing:
Shrek 2 (7.3)
The Exorcist (8.1)

The films below are also showing at the JACC Cinema:

Classic & Indie Films Showing:
Daughters of Abdul-Rahman

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

I recently noticed that for most of the items I’ve been ordering from Amazon I’ve been shipping them directly to Kuwait whenever possible instead of shipping to my US forwarding mailbox. I wasn’t sure if it was cheaper or more expensive but then I realized I could actually do a comparison with an item I recently sent to my Shop&Ship mailbox.

I ordered a USB adapter (so its very light) and shipped it to my Shop&Ship mailbox. I paid KD3.96 for shipping because I have a Flex account. Based on the price breakdown, I was able to calculate how much regular Shop&Ship would have cost and with the Amazon shipping price, I just added the item to my cart now and put my Kuwait address to get that cost. Here is what I found:

Shipping Costs
Sho&Ship: KD6.82
Shop&Ship Flex: KD3.96
Amazon: KD4.71

So in my case, I saved a tiny bit of money shipping it to Shop&Ship first, but only because I have Flex. I tried to find another price comparison example, but since the last time I had an item from Amazon shipped to my US forwarding mailbox was back in March, I no longer have the ability to view how much I paid for shipping.

But basically, with the new Shop&Ship price increases, it’s no longer that feasible to ship through them when you have the option to ship directly to Kuwait.

A new arcade opened up last week in Salmiya called Venue 56. It’s the second arcade to open up in that area with Hangar being the other, but what caught my attention was the fact Venue 56 had a miniature golf course.

I don’t know why no one has thought of opening a proper miniature golf course in Kuwait. It’s fun, it doesn’t require too much of a large space, and it can be indoors so open all year round. There are all these huge indoor padel courses opening up now so maybe when they eventually go out of business someone can turn one of them into a miniature golf course. Until then all we have is this new small one at Venue 56, and the one at Nomad but all the way in Khiran.

It costs KD4.750 to play minigolf at Venue 56 and they also have billiards, bowling and arcade games. They’re located in the new building next to Zahra Complex (Google Maps) and you can check them out on Instagram @venue56.kw

“At least my internet is fast” is going to be my new goto anytime anything pisses me off from now on.

A couple of weeks before corona, a place opened up at Sirbb Circuit called Smash Hub where you could go and smash things to relieve stress and just have fun. Sadly that place closed down and has been replaced by Padel Courts, but another place similar opened up called Smashing Point.

For 12KD you can put on protective gear and using one of the different tools available, smash 10 glasses (or plates) and one electronic item. They also have a group package where you and a couple of friends can smash things together for 45KD. When I tried this at Smash Hub I had a blast, but haven’t tried Smashing Point yet.

Smashing Point do have a few videos in their Instagram highlight to give you an idea of what the experience looks like. They’re located in Al Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh and are open from 5PM to 10PM. Check them out on Instagram @smashingpointkw

Photo by Carlos Niño

The Jordanian film “Daughters of Abdul-Rahman” will be screening tonight at The Cinema Hall in JACC. The filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan will also be in attendance and a live discussion will take place after the screening.

Storyline: Years after escaping a dictated life, four estranged and offbeat sisters are forced to come together to find their suddenly-missing father. In their secret searching journey, secrets are revealed and more question marks are raised.

The film has won various awards and currently has a rating of 8.4 on IMDB. It’s in Arabic but has English subtitles. If you’re interested in attending the screening at JACC tonight, the film starts at 9PM and tickets are for 5KD. You can book your tickets by visiting jacc-kw.com/whats-on/

After Khyber the other day I decided to check out the Romco store in the same building since I was there anyway. There aren’t many cassette stores left in Kuwait so whenever I find one still open I like to document it. Romco goes way back, they were a music label with their own cassette factory, and I think they were also the local distributor for the Saudi music label Megastar.

They no longer produce tapes but they still have a small store in their office where they sell cassettes including a small selection of English ones. They’re selling the cassettes for 1.5KD each. Randomly, they also have a tiny section with Hindi VHS tapes if you’re interested.

It’s also worth checking out their Instagram account @romco_kw since they have a few old photos taken during their golden era. If you want to pass by their store, it’s in Hawalli across the street from Al Muhalab. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Last week two popular cat instagrammers visited Kuwait, @kittenxlady and @iamthecatphotographer. While here they met with a few cat rescuers who took them around and showed them our large street cat population. Because we see hundreds of street cats on a daily basis it ends up feeling very normal. It’s only when watching videos like the one above, or when we travel that we realize oh wait, that’s a lot of freakin cats!

The fact that there is no government animal shelter and instead, it’s just private individuals trying to manage and take care of the abandoned cats is really sad. But maybe it’s also a good thing since any attempt to manage the dog population always involved poisoning.

Just a reminder, Pret A Manger opens today so expect to see lots of people Instagramming their Pret coffee cups this morning.

This isn’t really “new” news but Khyber, one of the oldest Indian restaurants and the best chicken tikka restaurant in Kuwait closed down their Kuwait City location earlier this year and moved to Hawalli. I hadn’t gone back since covid so was surprised when I got to their city location to find a sign saying they moved.

The new location isn’t really as cozy or charming looking as their old city location, but the food is still the same and their spicy tikka still is the best.

If you’ve never had their chicken tikka you should definitely try them out. As an added bonus their new location is right next door to the kunafa place Nafeeseh so you can also pass by afterwards for dessert. Khyber is open from 11AM to 11PM and here is their location on Google Maps.

Aquapark which was the first water park in Kuwait got demolished a couple of years ago and just reopened again but with a new name, Bay Zero. I never went to the original Aquapark so I have no attachment to the old name or place but I do prefer the name Aquapark that’s for sure. The new park has been rebuilt from the ground up and is still the largest water park in Kuwait.

They’re open daily from 10AM to 10PM and the ticket price is 6KD (free for children under 4 years). Ladies’ day is currently still not available but will be available soon. Bay Zero is located right next to the Kuwait Towers, here is the link to Google Maps and they’re on Instagram @BayZeroKuwait

Below is this weekend’s list of events and activities, if I missed anything, please let me know in the comments:

Thursday, Oct 13
Classical Music Concert: The Four Seasons
Flamenco Performance by Arsa Toma
Bazzar Expo
Al Mulla Automobiles Padel Tournament
4th Asian U18 Athletics Championships
Space Month at Scientific Center
Meditative Coloring Workshop
Ceramics Workshop: Mud Vessel

Friday, Oct 14
Q8 Moto Academy Season Opening
Classical Music Concert: The Four Seasons
Bazzar Expo
4th Asian U18 Athletics Championships
Space Month at Scientific Center
ABBA Tribute Band Live in Kuwait

Saturday, Oct 15
Bazzar Expo
Sailing: Saturday Sunset Cruising
Workshop: Inkle Loom Weaving
4th Asian U18 Athletics Championships
Impression: Storytelling with Humood Al Khudher
Trash Tag Beach Cleanup
Space Month at Scientific Center

Exhibitions
Matter of Material – Sculptures from CAP Collection.
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum