Author: Mark

I originally posted about Haydo back in 2006. But, this is the story again with some details corrected. I no longer know what the original source of my information was, but there were some timeline inaccuracies and some exaggerated details. So this is as accurate as the story can be with the information I found.

Back in October 1981, Kuwait played a World Cup qualifying match in New Zealand. Just before kickoff, some Kiwi fans displayed an offensive banner reading “Stick to ya camels” as the Kuwaiti team came onto the field. Kuwait went on to win that match, 2–1.

A couple of months later, the two teams met again, this time in Kuwait. The Kuwaiti Football Association adopted a camel named Haydo as its mascot, and just before the game started, they brought out a few camels to parade around the stadium—demonstrating Kuwait’s pride in its heritage. Kuwait drew the match and secured qualification for the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Kuwait was the first Arab country from Asia to qualify for the tournament. A Spanish newspaper later claimed the Kuwaiti national team would be late to the World Cup because they would be “traveling on the backs of their camels!” Contrary to that prediction, Kuwait arrived early—so early that neither journalists nor locals knew they were even in Spain.

In an effort to gain attention, the head of the Kuwaiti Football Association told a French journalist (who was there to cover the arrival of the French team) that “the Kuwaiti team would withdraw from the competition unless they could bring their mascot, Haydo.” Within hours, the hotel was packed with reporters keen to find out more about the camel mascot.

Eventually, the Spanish authorities and the hotel manager agreed, allowing the Kuwaiti team to bring their camel as long as it stayed in the hotel’s backyard. The head of the Kuwaiti Football Association then called the Moroccan Minister of Sport, requesting that a camel be sent to Spain as soon as possible. He also ordered a custom T-shirt for it.

All the buzz surrounding the camel drew a lot of attention from locals and journalists, making Kuwait’s presence truly felt. From that point on, Haydo became the official mascot of the Kuwaiti national team.

This week I watched half of Deadpool & Wolverine, and also half of Fly Me to the Moon. Still need to finish both just been pretty busy. Barely watched anything else. It turns out the second half of Yellowstone season 5 isn’t on Peacock or Paramount+ and instead I need to buy it from the AppleTV store (or any digital store basically). Haven’t started it yet.

New Superman trailer is out and it looks really good. Other than that I’ve added a bunch of movies to my watch list for this coming week:

Anora
Juror #2
Saturday Night
Small Things Like These

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:
Better Man (7.0)
Get Away (5.9)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (7.5)
The Bridge Curse: Ritual (5.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Gladiator II (7.0)
Gunner (3.2)
Home Alone (classic) (7.7)
Kraven the Hunter (5.7)
Moana 2 (7.1)
Mufasa: The Lion King (6.7)
Survive (4.6)
The Painted (6.1)
Wicked (8.1)

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

So just a quick update related to my post yesterday.

Aramex just called me now, at first she said that she is calling me to verify my delivery information. So right away I called her out on it and told her what information exactly are you verifying? For the past 4 days everyday you’ve been updating the tracking info saying there is missing delivery information and yet there is no way for me to contact you. What exactly is missing?

She then backtracked and said she misspoke, and she is actually calling me to verify my phone number because the driver went out for delivery yesterday and tried calling my numbers and couldn’t reach me.

I told her it was bullshit and they’re lying. I told her nobody tried calling me yesterday and to check the drivers phone if that is the case. I didn’t hold back, I told her all week long the issue was the address wasn’t correct, then suddenly the address is fine and the driver is out for delivery but I’m not picking up? It’s all lies.

Update: As predicted, magically they now have the proper delivery information and my shipment will most likely be getting delivered now.

Let me know if this has happened to you. Whenever I order anything from Amazon straight to Kuwait, I either get the packages shipped via FedEx, or Aramex.

When the package gets shipped by FedEx, I don’t run into any issues, the packages get delivered straight to me without delays.

On the other hand, if the package ships with Aramex, it’s a completely different story.

The package doesn’t go out for delivery, instead Aramex starts blaming me for the delay either by stating they attempted to deliver the package and I wasn’t there, or that the delivery information is missing. This happens basically all the time.

Amazon sends me a message daily saying my package is on hold because Aramex is saying there is missing delivery info. Aramex doesn’t attempt to call me to get the “missing” info. I also can’t called Aramex to ask them what info is missing since there isn’t a way to talk to a human being and their automated system doesn’t have an option for updating delivery or whatever. They also have an automated WhatsApp system that you could in theory try and get a hold of a real person through, but I haven’t been able to get someone myself to verify that actually works. Yesterday I tried that and I’ve been on hold for more than 24 hours now and haven’t gotten a hold of anyone.

So the package usually stays in limbo for a few days, Aramex telling Amazon they can’t deliver cuz of missing info, and I can’t call Aramex to give them whatever missing info they want. Then, a few days later magically Aramex somehow manages to get the missing info and send my package out for delivery.

I have a theory to why they do this, I believe it’s so that they don’t look slow in front of Amazon. They blame the customer so that it’s not their fault for being late. End of the year when Amazon audits there delivery speed it won’t show any delays in delivery that way.

So let me know if you’ve run into this problem before because I’m sure it can’t be happening just to me.

Update: This is hilarious but I have another package that was meant to be delivered today and they couldn’t because “We’ve attempted to deliver the shipment, but the office was closed. Not to worry, the delivery has been rescheduled”

They tried to deliver at 11:39AM so obviously they are lying because the office was open at that time. This summarizes my issue with them, they keep coming off as liars. If they were just honest and were like “Sorry we couldn’t deliver the package today because it’s the holidays and we have too many shipments to deliver” I would have understood and be ok with it. But saying the office is closed when it isn’t, come on….

Pantone recently announced its Color of the Year—Mocha Mousse, a warm brown hue. Personally, I’m over brown and beige, which is why I love the new Matchbox eatery.

Matchbox just opened a new location at Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Cultural Centre (JACC) and it’s visually everything I want a place to look like, just full of color and packed with details. You’ve probably noticed from my recent design highlights that I’m over minimal design and far more into places like this, which feel cozier and more visually interesting.

The new Matchbox was collaborative effort put together between the Matchbox team and Studio Nama. The design was executed by Creative International and the photos were taken by Mohammad Ashkanani.

I love it. For more photos, click here.

These are, in my opinion, the 6 hottest NYE dinners happening in Kuwait this year. Check them out below (listed alphabetically). I’ve included 3 indoor options and 3 outdoor ones.

Cure
Includes DJ and set menu
KD55

Odaichi at SVN
Includes live entertainment, DJ and set menu
KD50

OFK at JON
Includes concert, fireworks and set menu
KD95

Piatti
Includes DJ and À la carte menu
KD65 minimum spend

Roka
Includes dj and À la carte menu
KD30 deposit – no minimum spend

Young Po on the Roof
Includes live entertainment and set menu
KD50

Got another recommendation? Share it in the comments below.

Below is a list of places I found that offer Christmas-themed lunches & dinners as well as cakes. If there is a place you know I haven’t listed, let me know so I can add it:

Courtyard by Marriott
Christmas Eve Dinner: 24KD (Buffet)
Christmas Day Lunch: 20KD (Buffet)

Crowne Plaza Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 17KD (Buffet)

Grand Majestic Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 7.9KD (Buffet)
Christmas Day Lunch: 7.9KD (Buffet)

Holiday Inn Salmiya
Christmas Day Lunch: 16.9KD (Buffet)

Jumeirah Messilah Beach
Christmas Eve Dinner: 24KD (Buffet)
Christmas Day Lunch: 24KD (Buffet)

Radisson Blu Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 19.5KD (Buffet)
Christmas Day Lunch: 21KD (Buffet)

Ramada Encore Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 9.5KD (Set Menu)

Safir Fintas Kuwait Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 9.9KD (Buffet)

Symphony Style Hotel
Christmas Eve Dinner: 18KD (Buffet)
Christmas Day Lunch: 20KD (Buffet)

Vigonovo
Christmas Eve Dinner: 15KD (Set Menu)
Christmas Day Lunch: 15KD (Set Menu)

Call ahead to book. Prices are per person and I’ve mentioned if it’s a buffet or set menu. Crowne Plaza offers two restaurants for Christmas Eve dinner, while Jumeirah has one restaurant for Christmas dinner and another for Christmas lunch.

A few days ago I watched the Demi Moore movie, The Substance. What a crazy and fun ride that was. It’s over the top, features lots of gore and nudity, it was super entertaining and the art direction just crazy good. I highly recommend it.

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:
Gunner (3.2)
Mufasa: The Lion King (6.7)
The Painted (N/A)
Survive (4.6)
The Princess Diaries (classic) (6.4)

Other Movies Showing:
Get Fast (3.6)
Gladiator II (7.0)
Home Alone (classic) (7.7)
Interstellar (re-run) (8.7)
Kraven the Hunter (5.7)
Moana 2 (7.1)
Panda Bear in Africa (5.5)
Red One (6.7)
River of Blood (6.7)
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (6.8)
Wicked (8.1)

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

Last week I found a copy of the second Wizr book on a website in Czech Republic for like 2KD and bought it. It’s my second copy, and although I didn’t have plans for it originally, someone gave me the idea of scanning and digitizing the books so I might end up sacrificing this extra copy by taking it apart and scanning the pages.

I first posted about the Wizr 10 years ago. Wizr was a series of stories written by Keith Wells, a British journalist who was living in Kuwait back in the 70s. Keith used to work for Arab Times, and between 1979 and 1984, released three Wizr books with the help of Peter McMahon, an illustrator. To me the stories feel like funny blog posts inspired by his experiences in Kuwait, from dealing with ministry paperwork, to poking fun at the driving here. I was communicating with Keith this past week, getting some more info for this post, and he’s still a pretty funny guy. He left Kuwait in 1987 and is now retired living with his wife Suzi in Australia.

Keith originally met Peter at a party. Peter hadn’t read any of the Wizr stories so when Keith told him who Wizr was, Peter picked up a sheet of paper, scribbled away for a minute or two, then held it out and asked Keith, “Him?” It was perfect. After that, both became close friends.

Keith would write a story, take it to Peter’s flat every Friday, and he’d illustrate the cartoon. The combination became very popular and after a couple of months in the Arab Times, they were approached by Tony Jashanmal, who owned a department store on Fahed Salem St, and Bashir Khatib, who owned the ‘The Kuwait Bookshops’ to publish a book full of the stories. The first book one was launched at the British Embassy Gardens in November 1979. They sold 428 copies that night, and Keith and Peter left home with a bag full of cash.

The two carried on working together for around a year, then Peter was murdered, a long sad story (which I’m hoping to get more information on soon). The second Wizr book was published with cartoons that weren’t used for the first, and the third book used odd scraps and recycled pics. The books are pretty hard to come by so I was curious to how many copies were printed. According to Keith, in total, they printed 10,000 copies of the first two books, and around 5,000 of the third. There were only around 4,000 or so native English speakers in Kuwait back then, but according to Keith most people bought multiple copies of the books and sent them to relatives and friends abroad.

Keith still has around 50 copies of the books left, as well as Peter’s original cartoons, and several of his oil paintings. He’s digging through his stuff to see what else he might still have. We’re both trying to figure out what to do with all of it, maybe ship everything to Kuwait and hold an exhibition. I suggested maybe putting him in touch with the British Embassy and maybe have them bring him over and have some sort of event again in the British Embassy Gardens, like a 45 year anniversary thing. If you have ideas, let me know!

The books aren’t easy to come by, but they do pop up online every now and then. I scanned a few pages and illustrations from the book and uploaded them to Flickr. I’ve included the unedited scans, as well as scans I’ve edited where I’ve combined the stories and illustrations to fit on one page. You can check them out here.

Saw this Sadu inspired sweater the other day and loved it, sadly it’s a pre-order and won’t ship till February. Maybe I could wear it next year. Link

Back in 2017 I posted about how “Old Kuwait is Digitally Disappearing“. The article was mostly about how things are disappearing off the internet, it could be old articles, photos or videos related to Kuwait. Now I’ve realized we have another problem, people who were involved with Kuwait back in the 60s and 70s are starting to die.

There was a photographer I was in touch with last year called Tor Eigeland. He had visited Kuwait back in 1967 according to him although I think it was sometime in the 70s based off the photograph I had found of his of the Kuwait Towers under construction (the photo in this post). Yesterday I messaged him because I had some things I wanted to run by him and his wife replied to me letting me know he sadly passed away this past April at the age of 92.

There is a guy who reached out to me who was part of the team that brought the Marriott Hotel ship to Kuwait. I haven’t been able to get a hold of him for nearly a year now so I fear he’s passed away as well.

Yesterday I got in touch with Keith Wells, a British journalist who was living in Kuwait back in the 70s. I was worried he had passed away since the last time I spoke to him was 10 years ago, thankfully he turned out to be still alive.

But thats basically how things are at the moment, every time I email someone I used to be in touch with, I wonder if they’re still alive. I feel like there are still too many stories that need to be documented, and many will sadly never be told.

Since we are on the subject of Kuwait Airways, while browsing the New York Times archive I found an article from Feb. 11, 1974 which talks about the Kuwaiti parliament debating if Kuwait Airways should continue to serve alcohol on its flight:

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Serving of Drinks on Airline at Issue in Kuwait

KUWAIT, Feb. 9—The National Assembly, Kuwait’s lively parliament, was in an uproar this week over whether Kuwait’s national airline should, continue to serve alcoholic drinks on its flights.

The Moslem religion prohibits consumption of intoxicating beverages, and this is a major issue between “liberal” and “fundamentalist” Arabs around the Persian Gulf.

It is an issue of some terest to Western oilmen and business representatives who are in the area in growing numbers, as well as for many Arabs who have studied or done business abroad, where they acquired a Western taste for a highball or cocktails.

Uproar in Assembly

One of these Arabs is Abdulaziz al‐Massaeed, the publisher of Dar Al Rai al‐Amm, one of Kuwaits leading morning newspapers.

Mr. Massaeed, an elected deputy in the 50‐member National Assembly, set off the uproar during a debate on the budget for the national airline when he replied to conservative members who said Kuwait’s “dry” law should apply to the state company’s international flights.

“I, as a free citizen, would refrain from traveling aboard any plane that does not sell liquor,” said Mr. Massaeed, who travels frequently to Europe on business and for holidays. He added:

“I take liquor. Ninety per cent of Kuwaitis drink and know many of the deputies drink also.”

This touched off a furor, With conservative members banging their desks and shouting for the floor.

Moslem Prohibition Brings Furor in Parliament and Blood‐Test Challenge

“I challenge the members to take a blood test to see who drinks and who doesn’t,” retorted Mr. Massaeed over the uproar.

$30 for Scotch

While Kuwait is officially dry, and no alcoholic drinks are served even in the big international hotels, there is a large black market in foreign liquors. For instance, a bottle of Scotch will be delivered to a guest’s room in one of the major hotels for $30.

In private homes, many Kuwaitis serve liquor to their Western guests, and hard drinking among Kuwaitis and other Arabs here who can afford it is not unusual.

But any public place, or even Private club, is subject to prohibition. When the Kuwait National Bank had a reception this week for visiting Western bankers at a hotel, it was for tea, not cocktails.

In other places along the gulf, the situation varies from the strict fundamentalism of Saudi Arabia, where travelers bringing liquor in their luggage can be arrested, to the relativey free‐wheeling habits of Bahrain or Dubai, where there are bars.

Drink or Pray

Supporting his argument for tolerance of drinkers aboard the Kuwait airline, Mr. Massaeed said that the ruler of Dubai, Shiek Rashid bin Said al‐Maktum, had told a protesting delegation of religious leaders that this was a matter for individual choice.

According to Mr. Massaeed, Sheik Rashid said: “Here there is a mosque and over there is a bar. Whoever wants to please himself can resort to either prayer or drink.” Sheik Rashid is noted for his business acumen, the newspaper official said.

In the end the budget of the Kuwait airline, which flies as far as London and New Delhi, as well as around the Middle East, was approved on the condition that Finance Minister Abdel‐Rahman Salem al‐Atigi make a “thorough study” of the effect that banning liquor sales might have on the willingness of non‐Moslem passengers to use the airline.

Last year, Kuwait Airways unveiled renderings of its revamped interior, and now, photos and videos have surfaced showcasing the final look.

Kuwait Airways took delivery of its brand-new Airbus A330-900 last week, the first of seven on order. The aircraft features new Business Class seats, and a new “Premium” Economy cabin which is a completely new addition to the Kuwait Airways product lineup. This new cabin class will be called “Comfort Plus” while the regular economy cabin will be called just “Comfort”.

Airline journalist @bo.waleed1 got a tour of the new plane once it arrived and was kind enough to let me share his images. The main image on top was also taken by Engineer @bin_ghareeb_83 who also got to see the new plane last week.

The A330-900 has 32 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 225 economy seats. Business Class has a 1-2-1 cabin configuration, premium economy a 2-3-2 configuration while the regular economy a 2-4-2 cabin configuration. All the business class seats are now private cabins with sliding doors, which is pretty cool and puts Kuwait Airways on par with the top business class offerings from other airlines. The cabins also feature amenities like USB-C ports, wireless charging, plenty of storage, and of course, seats that fold flat into a bed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kuwait Airways (@kuwaitairways)

Kuwait Airways will be officially revealing the new interior soon, so follow them to stay updated @kuwaitairways. If you want to see more photos and videos of the interior, check out my post on Instagram @248am

Found this article while browsing through the NYT archive. I hadn’t heard of this incident before. Article taken from the New York Times Sept. 18, 1977 issue.

KUWAIT, Sept. 17 (AP)—Seven monkeys escaped from their cage in the Kuwait zoo and killed two children in panicked crowd, ‘ the police reported today. A zookeeper was seriously bitten in the incident Friday before policemen shot and killed one of the monkeys and captured the others in a long chase, the police said.

Here is a list of different events taking place this weekend.

Thursday, December 12
Night of Serenity
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Improv!
Murouj Market
Mirzaam Expo
Sons of Yusuf New Album Listening Party
End of Season Recital
Bloom Market

Friday, December 13
Night of Serenity
Jahra Cultural Season at The Red Palace
Murouj Market
Mirzaam Expo
Kite Festiva
GR Yaris Cup Season 2
Farmers Market at the Terrace
GIG Battle Fitness Festival
Bloom Market
Kuwait Coffee Festival

Saturday, December 14
DAI’s December Family Day
Jahra Cultural Season at The Red Palace
Murouj Market
Mirzaam Expo
Winter Bazaar
KTAA Winter Bazaar
GIG Battle Fitness Festival
Bloom Market
NBK Run 2024
Kuwait Coffee Festival