Category: Information

Ever since old Salmiya got a facelift I’ve refrained from posting about it due to all the issues I have with the project (which I won’t get into in this post). But, one good thing has come out of it and that is Little Manila.

Over the past couple of years, the Filipino community has been slowly taking over the first chunk of Salem Mubarek Street that was made pedestrian-only a few years ago. It started off with popular Asian-focused supermarkets popping up, followed by shops and restaurants (we now have like 400 fried chicken and bubble tea concepts now). There is a lot of life on the street now with a great atmosphere in the evenings. We have live music, lots of outdoor restaurants, dogs and kids running around, and even pop-up markets.

Although I still have issues with the project, I like how the community has taken it over. When I was a kid we used to call the neighborhood old Salmiya but now everyone is calling it Little Manila. If you haven’t been to the neighborhood before or haven’t been in a while, you should come by. Parking and traffic are still an issue but if you’re willing to park a bit far and walk you’ll be fine. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Toby’s Estate have been popping up all over the place. They just opened their Assima Mall location a few weeks ago (pictured above) and now have another new location down the street in Arraya.

Burger Boutique are also now open again in Arraya. They had closed down their location temporarily but reopened again today.

If you don’t know where Arraya is, here is the location on Google Maps.

Photos and videos have been circulating this morning of Abu Al Hasaniya Beach littered with trash, mostly plastic bottles. It looks like they were washed ashore by the sea and not caused by beach goers. More photos here.

Last year the kashta market exploded in popularity but it doesn’t seem like a lot of the businesses survived. I went through last year’s list and most of the accounts either didn’t exist anymore or hadn’t been updated in a year. Below is a list of the businesses that survived, if I missed an active one, let me know in the comments:

Cliche
Festivity
Glamping
Kashta KWT
Kashta Spot
Kashtat
La Bohème
La Récolte
Le Project
Let’s Kashta
Outing
Picnics
Rental Hub
Sea Wild
Sets by A
Sol Sahara
The Modern Kashta
Three by Three
Van Life

This is a pretty useful local app that just got launched. Ever needed a pickup truck to move a large item or maybe a moving truck to shift your furniture to your new apartment? Droob is a new app that allows you to order a vehicle for just that.

I played around with the app a bit and the way it works is you first choose the kind of vehicle you want to order which depends on what you’re moving. You then let the app know where the items are and where you want them dropped off. After scheduling a pick-up time you’ll be presented with the cost. I got quotted 9KD for a pickup truck from Ikea at Avenues to an office in Kuwait City which isn’t bad at all. Payment can be made either by cash, k-net or credit card.

If you want to check out the app yourself, it’s available for both iPhones and Android devices. Here is a link to their website.

Yesterday I went to the fairgrounds in Mishref to get my booster shot. I got my second dose back in April so it’s been over 6 months which qualifies me for a booster dose. I was worried because it was a weekend and with all the stories regarding a new variant that the place would be popping but instead, it was totally empty. Like maybe just a couple of other people getting their shots but that’s about it and I was there around noon which wasn’t even early.

If it’s been over 6 months since your last Pfizer or AstraZeneca shot then you don’t even need to apply for an appointment online, you can just walk in. They’re giving boosters for both vaccines and they also ask you if you want an influenza shot which I didn’t get, but I liked that they have more than one item on the menu.

If you’re interested in getting a booster they’re open daily except for Fridays. Saturdays they open from 8AM to 4PM but on weekdays they open from 8AM to 7:30PM. According to the nurse if you come in around 7PM they might have run out of vaccines for the day so the earlier you get there the better. The nurse told me I might get a fever at night and I did, ended up hitting me in the middle of the night, just shivering chills which wasn’t too bad.

There currently is a Perfume Exhibition taking place at the fairgrounds so parking might be an issue. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Last Wednesday I decided to head to the car auction in Ardiya. They were auctioning the 60+ cars I posted about earlier that week which were confiscated from one guy. Many of the cars were now classics and so I went with a friend who was interested in one of the cars so we could try and bid on it. The experience was pretty interesting to say the least.

This must have been the most popular car auction ever held in Kuwait due to all the hype built up around the cars. I’d guess 99% of the people there, and there were A LOT of people, had never been to an auction before including myself. Due to the number of people they were expecting to show up, a makeshift setup was put together across the street in an empty lot.

The auction was meant to start at 3PM but ended up starting shortly after 3:30PM. Basic rules were announced at the start, if you win a bid you must come up to the front and give them your civil ID card. You then get it back once you pay for the item. You need to pay on the spot. Knet only, no cash. Pretty simple although no idea how you can pay KD30,000 for a Ferrari Testarossa on your Knet card since I thought there was a 10,000KD limit? No idea.

The whole experience was really casual. The cars weren’t there, so if you hadn’t seen them last weekend in person at the police lot and noted down details like the license plate number, then you were pretty much screwed. There was just a list to go by which you had to print out yourself from their Instagram account or just keep looking at your phone. Most of the items on the list were misspelled and many lacked any details. For example, there were three BMW 8-series for sale and the only way to tell them apart on the list was with their license plate number. So if you hadn’t written down their plate numbers when checking the car out you were out of luck.

The auction moved fairly quickly but because we were right next to the mosque they had to stop twice for a prayer break. Not sure if that’s what they usually do or if they had to do it because we were right outside the mosque and the mosques speakers were louder than the auctions. By 7PM we had gone through two pages worth of cars and it was getting pretty chilly. There were no outdoor lights so the auction turned into a moonlight auction. The majority of the people must have been there for the two Ferraris since most of them left once they were sold. By the time I left only the first few rows of seats were filled.

My friend didn’t win the car, he was interested in a Volvo which he was willing to pay up to 2,000 for but it ended up going for 2,700. I had my eye on a 1997 Alfa Romeo Spider but I wasn’t going to pay over 250KD for it and the car ended up going for 350. Overall I had a good time, it was an interesting experience for sure.

If you ever want to go to a car auction you can find out about upcoming ones on the Instagram account @mzadmoj. The location of the auction is at the Deposit Reserve and Judicial Arbitration Sector Building in Ardiya, here is the location on Google Maps. They usually have the cars on display there it’s just this specific time that things were a bit different due to the circumstances. Let me know if you have any questions below.

I buy my beans from %Arabica just because that’s what I’m used to but there are a lot of other coffee bean roasters in Kuwait who also roast green beans in house for espresso. Below is a list compiled by radaaitor which I’ve arranged in alphabetical order:

%Arabica
48East Roastery
Air Roastery
AJ’s Roastery
Alameed
Albadawi Coffee
Altitude Roasters
Bait Qahwa Co.
Black Horse Coffee
Coffee Choices
Coffee Jug Roastery
Coffee Masters
Collective Coffee Company
Earth Roastery
House Of Beans
Jumo Coffee
Methods Roastery
My Habit Roastery
Origin Roasters
ORU Roasters
Pause Coffee Roasters
Rawi Coffee
Richards Coffee Co.
Roots Roastery
Stockroom Coffee
United Coffee Roasters
Vol. 1 Roast Lab
Wjaar Roastery

If I missed a place let me know in the comments. Also if you could recommend your favorite beans/roaster that would be helpful for anyone looking to try new beans. Personally, I get the Arabica Blend beans from %Arabica because it’s the same blend they use for their in-store coffee. I like consistency and I know their blend will always be consistent because it’s what they use themselves.

Also, the photo on top isn’t my setup but a friends. Super cool coffee corner and he even imports his own green beans and roasts them himself at home using an Aillio Bullet R1.

A couple of days ago the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) updated the Kuwait Mobile ID app with the option to add a digital copy of your driving license. The instruction to do it are only in Arabic so here is a quick how-to:

1) I’m assuming you already have the app and are registered. You need to make sure you have the latest version of the app since the previous versions didn’t have this new feature. The new version was updated 2 days ago and is version 1.9.0.

2) Once logged into the app click on credentials. If your verification level is “Medium” you will now be presented with the option to scan your face similar to how you set up Face ID on the iPhone.

3) Once you are done with the verification process you will then have the option to add your driving license. I have two, a motorcycle license as well as a driving one so I have both showing in the app now.

The reason you want to add your driving license to Kuwait Mobile ID is that in case you forgot or lost your driving license, this digital version will now be accepted by the police.

On a side note, why is the new Sahel app only in Arabic???

Assima Mall, the new mall located in the city right across from Solo Pizza and Kipco Tower is now open. Even though the mall is open, the majority of the stores are still under construction and haven’t opened up, but it’s still worth visiting and checking out because it’s such a nice-looking space.

Here is a list of places that are currently open. I might have missed a few but the list should still give you an idea of what to expect if you visit:

Aeropostale
Aldo
Atyab Al Marshoud
Bershka
Beverly Hills Polo Club
Boggi
Calvin Klein Jeans
Charles & Keith
Explorers Base
Faces
Grey Fashion
Hush Puppies
Ikea
Intersport
Jysk
Kiko
L’Occitane
Lakeland
LC Waikiki
Levi’s
Nespresso
Paul
Pull & Bear
Rituals
Riva
Rullart
Sephora
Sketchers
Stradivarius
Sun Glass Hut
Super Dry
Swims
The North Face
Tiramixu
Toby’s Estate
Tommy Hilfiger
Zara Home
Zara

The parking is also open so it shouldn’t be an issue finding a place to park. If you want to pass by and check the mall out, here is their location on Google Maps.

Back in July of last year, Adidas took over the Café Coco location in Avenues Phase 3 and a few days ago, the store finally opened up. The new location is actually a ground floor extension to the pre-existing Adidas store that was located upstairs in the SoKu area of Avenues. A lot of people didn’t know there was an Adidas there because it was tucked away, so this new extension right on the main strip provides a lot more exposure.

The ground floor space with the large upstairs area now makes it the largest Adidas store in Kuwait by far. If you want to pass by, it’s right across from Harvey Nichols.

For the first time in the Middle East, six writers from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will have the opportunity to turn their dream project into an Arabic-language TV show. The National Creative Industries Group (NCIG) in partnership with Netflix have created an intensive program designed to incubate six creators to turn their TV series ideas into pitch decks ready to present to Netflix in six weeks.

If you have a TV series idea you think would be great for Netflix, submissions to apply for this program opens tomorrow (November 1st).

Selected participants will receive:⁣
– Mentoring and masterclasses led by best-in-class industry professionals⁣
– Sessions with the Netflix development team⁣
– Training and certification by the world-renowned New York Film Academy⁣
– The opportunity to pitch final projects to the Netflix team⁣
– For Saudi-based participants, all travel and accommodation in Kuwait will be covered⁣
⁣
For more information, click here.

Note: This is open to people residing in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, expats included.

Just a quick note in case anyone is trying to google this information. If your car is older than 1980, you now can only get your car registration renewed at the main Assima (Capital Governorate) Traffic Department. Previously you could get it renewed at other traffic departments like Jabriya but not anymore. I went last week and I really don’t like that place. Super busy, long lines and the whole place is crumbling.

Earlier this year the Ministry of Interior launched a separate English Instagram account for non-Arabic speakers. If you don’t follow them, the account is @moi_kuw_en

Earlier this year Virgin announced they would be entering the Kuwaiti telecom market, and looks like it’s happening now because they just launched their social media channels with the message that they’ve landed.

Before you get your hopes up you should know that Virgin Mobile will be operating in Kuwait as a mobile virtual network operator. This means that they won’t have their own wireless network infrastructure and instead will be buying services from STC at wholesale prices, and then reselling them. Put in even simpler terms, Virgin will be using STC’s network in Kuwait. So if you have issues with the STC network, you’ll have the same issues with the Virgin one.

If you want to check them out on instagram they’re @virginmobilekw