2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003According to a friend of mine a fire started in Chili’s in Avenues Phase 1 resulting in the closure of the cinema and the Xcite store. I don’t have any more details or photos yet but will update this post when I do.
Update: According to another contact, it wasn’t a fire. One of the AC compressors for Chili’s broke down causing smoke which ended up reaching Xcite and the movie theaters.
Update2: Below is a video shot by @faiha_city
Sports Direct, UK’s largest and #1 number one sports retailer is opening right across the street from Avenues. Looks like it’s going to be huge.
Update: Sports Direct also have a branch in Hawali – Tunis street and they had their grand opening yesterday. They’re owned by Al Homaizi Group, the same people who also own GoSport.
I previously posted that Linda who hosts the morning show on 99.7 had left Kuwait permanently but I got word from a friend who works at 99.7 that Linda will be coming back soon. Not sure if this is good or bad news for people who listen to the morning show, I know no one liked her when she was on but I also know that people prefer her over the new replacements. For now I’m filing this under gossip & rumors.
Joe’s Cafe is opening up at The Prestige in Avenues right next to Joseph on the mezzanine floor. I generally don’t care about cafe’s much but this place looks extremely cool.
According to a reader, Tim Hortons at the Avenues will be opening this coming Saturday, August 24th.
Classic Burger Joint, the most popular Lebanese burger joint is opening in Kuwait right next to The Village. They’re also opening right next to another new burger place called Big Smoke Burger. I’m not a big fan of CBJ and I have no idea why they’re so popular in Lebanon since I didn’t think their burgers were any good. You can check out my review on CBJ [Here]
The Peacock Chinese restaurant at Radisson Blu will be reopening along with the hotel around mid September. I passed by today to get a sneak peek and I am please to say the place looks practically the same. It’s gotten a minor facelift with new materials for the seats and nicer ceiling and lights but generally the restaurant hasn’t changed. The original chefs are all still there and the menu will remain the same which is great. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Check out two pictures of the interior [Here] and [Here]
I’ve got some more pictures of the hotel which I’ll also be sharing in a separate post.
Al-Shaheed Park in Kuwait City is currently going through some major construction. At first I was upset because I thought they were removing the park but turns out they’re actually going to be improving the space. Turns out the new park will include a museum, a memorial and 800 underground parking spaces which should please the employees at Al Tijaria Tower across the street. Construction is set to be completed by 2nd quarter 2014.
I have a PDF which outlines some of the main ideas that will be integrated into the park along with some 3D renderings on how some of the spaces might look like.
You can download the PDF by right clicking and saving from [Here]
I really hope the park will continue to remain open to the public once the project is completed and not locked off like the constitution monument.
I don’t listen to 99.7 at all but a lot of people do and a couple of weeks back a friend asked me if I had heard the morning show recently since Linda was no longer on and instead two other hosts instead who are supposedly a mess. Then a few days back some readers started complaining about the two new hosts under one of my posts and awhile ago someone left the following comment:
Right now the rumor is that Linda from 99.7 has left Kuwait permanently which comes as a surprise to all of us. Though she wasn’t a favorite of everyone, she was certainly a part of Kuwait in her own way. She hosted the morning radio show for as long as I can remember. I’m sure not hearing her in the mornings must be a stark reminder of the changes Kuwait is currently experiencing.
I originally figured she just left on vacation but I wonder if she had a Latina Mina incident on air and had to leave the country like her?
According to @7eyad there was another stabbing last night at The Avenues. The stabbing occurred opposite West Elm and Life with Cacao and resulted with one person getting stabbed in the shoulders and rushed to the hospital. The reason I have a question mark in the title is because according to mall security this morning, someone tripped down the stairs and hurt themselves.
Photo from @7eyad
According to a reader, the Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons will be opening in Avenues Phase II this coming August.
According to a source of mine, Dr. Oz is coming to Kuwait at the end of summer for a nutrition related event. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Oz is a doctor who has a television talk show called The Dr. Oz Show in which he discusses medical and science related topics. The video above is an example taken from one of his episodes. [YouTube]
Even though the old blue and white ghost house off the 4th Ring Road has long been demolished it looks like it’s still haunting people. There currently is a hotel being built where the ghost house used to be and according to one of the project engineers who works on the site, they’re facing problems with the laborers because they’re afraid of going down to the basement. They’re even afraid to work alone on any floor.
I still haven’t been able to find a picture of the ghost house but I did find the cute sketch above that was done by Mr Divi.
Update: Below is a photo of the ghost house taken from [Here]
I got a lot of emails from people with a link to a website that supposedly has the new traffic fines listed but everyone who sent me the link sent me the link to the same website. Since I haven’t read it anywhere else yet then it’s most likely a list that someone came up with themselves. I’ll only believe it if one of the local Arabic newspapers print it as well.
Note: They’ve updates the fines in that link since yesterday.
The popular British bookstore chain WHSmith is opening up their first location in Kuwait at the Kuwait Airport. The signage caught me by surprise since I don’t remember ever reading WHSmith was coming to Kuwait. I wonder if the That AL Salasil branch at The Avenues will also be converted to WHSmith?
