Category: Information

Some of you might not know this but the Bayan Palace has a botanical garden inside. It was designed by Dutch architect Peter van der Toorn Vrijthoff from the firm ALLDESIGN, and it was officially opened in 2015.

The botanical garden is composed of 3 large glasshouses containing 6 different gardens with 4 different climate zones and exhibiting tropical, dry, Mediterranean and European plants. It’s one of the main attractions for official state visitors and until a couple of years ago, was actually open to the public.

I passed by for the first time back in 2016, and looking at my notes from my visit it seems I had mixed feelings about the place. The garden was smaller than it looked but it was still pretty interesting with most of the exotic plants inside labeled with their names. One thing I didn’t like about the place was the limited accessibility; the gardens were only open to the public on Thursdays, from 9AM to 1PM. So if you had a day job you wouldn’t be able to visit the gardens unless you took time off work.

For reasons unknown to me, the botanical garden closed to the public a couple of years ago and hasn’t opened again since. I even passed by last week to double check and it was indeed still closed.

If you’ve never been to the gardens before, check out my post on Instagram where I have more photos up plus a couple while it was still under construction @248am.

You can also follow the botanical gardens instagram account to be notified once/if they reopen again @botanicalgardenkw

Last week artist Jad El Khoury was brought back to Kuwait to create a new mural in place of his erased one, that project was just one of many that the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters have in the pipeline.

NCCAL recently underwent a leadership transition that is instigating significant changes. They want to transform the public art scene starting with a commitment to providing increased opportunities for both local and international artists. By fostering trust between artists and the public sector, they hope to cultivate a vibrant public art community in Kuwait.

Their first project launched earlier this year and they called it “Al Fenn Al Thalith Murals Project” (roughly translates to “The Third Art Murals Project). The project is an open platform for artists that streamlines the process of obtaining permits to create murals on public property and spaces. They launched the project with an open invitation for people to submit their designs and if chosen, they’d then be able to paint them onto the electrical substations in that area.

With their first projects out of the way, NCCAL are now working on the next ones. One of the future projects targets what they call “trouble zones” all over Kuwait, breathing life into them with mural art. They also want to collaborate with a variety of entities such as Jedareyat, the Australian Embassy (future project in the works), and various private sponsors/collaborators.

I also found it interesting that NCCAL supports all local artists, regardless of where they’re from. Additionally, they aim to continue inviting international artists so they could bring diverse perspectives and experiences to the local scene.

NCCAL are currently in the process of setting up social media pages and an official website that will encompass all these projects, but for now, if you’re interested in obtaining a permit to create a mural on public property, you can do so through the NCCAL website, nccal.gov.kw

As you’re probably aware by now, a few weeks ago I got access to Tareq Rajab Museums’ (@trmkuwait) private photography archive. While going through the photos I found ones of the British Embassy under construction, as well an aerial photo showing the embassy with two large buildings in the background. The other two buildings were the Sheikh Khazal’s Palace (Bayt Al Ghanim), and Diwan Sheikh Khazal (Sheikh Abdullah Al Jaber Palace).

The three buildings are still there today, but only the British Embassy is not falling apart and is still being used today. So, I reached out to @ukinkuwait for some information on the building, and what they shared was very fascinating.

The embassy was commissioned by the political agent Colonel Harold Dickson, and designed by architect Robert T. Russell, chief architect to the Government of India. The building construction was completed in 1935.

Harold Dickson and his wife Dame Violet Dickson (Umm Saud), were the first residents of the embassy. There have been 15 political agents and 21 ambassadors that have lived in the current residence.

The Residence was built with Basra Bricks and steel girders from Scotland. It was the first building in Kuwait built with steel girders which allowed rooms to be bigger than the height of a tree. At the time it was built, the building was really stunning for guests because they had never been in such large rooms.

The house originally was heated in the winter by 12 wood/coal burning fireplaces. All but three have been enclosed and are no longer used except as a decorative piece. The main terrace is designed in an arc to help catch the sea breeze and that a portion of it will always be in the shade to help create a natural breeze when the wind is not blowing in the summer.

Originally the embassy did not have AC and at that time it was normal in the middle east for people to sleep on the roof during the summer. Colonel Dickson and his family did that as well. But, the colonel was a bad sleepwalker and his wife Violet was scared he would walk off the roof since there were no railings. Initially, she tied his toe to the bed to keep him safe. Later she had a custom 2-inch-deep bath made that was the size of his bed. When he went to get out of bed, he stepped into the water and woke himself up.

On the first day of the 1990 Iraq invasion, the Ambassador then, Michael Weston calculated the embassy had 30 days supply of food and water for himself and his head of the Political Section Larry Banks. More than 5 months later, surviving on a little more than canned food and stagnant water (they drank the swimming pool), Ambassador Weston and his head of Political, locked the Embassy and climbed out a window and made their way to Baghdad until the coalition forces assisted in liberating Kuwait a little over a month later.

Today, the British Embassy residence is still used as the ambassador’s residence, and so is considered to be the oldest continually occupied residential building in Kuwait.

Note: The colored photo is by Verity Cridland and taken in the early 60s.

This year’s World Happiness Report is out and Kuwait has moved up the list and is now the 13th happiest country in the world. This is the highest spot I’ve seen Kuwait since I started following the report back in 2012, and now outs Kuwait ahead of countries like the UK, US, and Canada.

Kuwait was out of the rankings last year for lack of surveys for a three-year period, so this year’s ranking is based only on the 2023 survey.

The happiest country in the world is Finland, while the unhappiest place is Afghanistan in 143 with Lebanon right behind in 142nd. Here is how Kuwait compares with some other countries:

1 – Finland
13 – Kuwait
15 – Canada
20 – UK
22 – UAE
23 – USA
28 – Saudi Arabia
32 – Oman
62 – Bahrain
126 – India
127 – Egypt
142 – Lebanon
N/A – Qatar

The results are based on surveys from people in more than 140 countries who are answering questions regarding their overall satisfaction with their lives. The study also takes into account six key variables including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

For the full list head to the website worldhappiness.report

Here’s some good news to start the day, according to TEC, the Wall of Peace sculpture by Kuwait artist Jafar Islah which is located behind Burger King on the Gulf Road will NOT be demolished as part of the refurbishment of the waterfront.

Even more good news, I managed to find out the names of the two saluki dogs owned by the Dickson’s from my post the other day. Brian Duggan, the author of Saluki: The Desert Hound and the English Travelers Who Brought It to the West managed to dig up the old letters Zahra had sent him and in the letters she mentions the names of their two dogs, Dhabaan and Khataaf.

Update: Not only will the Wall of Peace not be demolished, but according to TEC it will also be restored to it’s original marble state!

Not sure why, but putting together this annual list of Ramadan buffets in Kuwait was exhausting this year. I think it’s definitely me since everyone answering the phone this year was actually prompt. Just a quick example, I realized I didn’t have Holiday Inn on my list so I sent them a DM at 7:30AM this morning and they replied back a minute later. Everyone seems to be on top of their game this year which made my life easier.

As usual, I’ve also highlighted the price variation from the previous year if applicable. You’ll find the variation in brackets after the price. More places increased their prices than decreased. The highest increase was Stambul at the Grand Hyatt, they increased their buffet price by KD5 this year. The biggest decrease was KD2 and four places did that.

Below is the full list divided into two parts, hotels and restaurants. If I missed a place let me know in the comments. I’m looking for really cheap buffets to add, I have a few listed but if you know of a place where the buffet is less than KD5, let me know in the comments.

HOTELS

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD9 (-0.900)
Telephone: 24590000

Courtyard by Marriott – Atrium
Buffet Price: KD16 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD16 (-2.000)
Telephone: 1848111

Crowne Plaza – Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD17 (-2.000)
Telephone: 1848111

Crowne Plaza – Sakura Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18 (Weekends Only)
Set Menu Price: KD14 (Weekdays Only)
Telephone: 1848111

Four Seasons – Jawaher Tent
Buffet Price: KD26 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22006000

Grand Hyatt – Stambul
Buffet Price: KD20 (+5.000)
Telephone: 22007698

Grand Majestic Hotel
Buffet Price: KD8
Telephone: 22254700

Hilton Garden Inn – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD20
Telephone: 22262000

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD19.9
Telephone: 22256222

Holiday Inn – Al Diwan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.950
Telephone: 1847777

Inn & GO Hotel – Al Dallah Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD7.5 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22436686

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Badria Tent
Buffet Price: KD22 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22269600

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD22 (indoors) KD24 (outdoors)
Telephone: 22269600

Kuwait Continental Hotel – Darbar Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD5.5
Telephone: 22527300

Marina Hotel
Buffet Price: KD16
Telephone: 22230030

Millennium Hotel – Lamar International Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD13.9 (+1.900)
Telephone: 66100710

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15 (indoors) KD17 (outdoors)
Telephone: 22253100

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18.5
Telephone: 25673000

Safir Hotel – Fintas
Buffet Price: KD13.9 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25455555

St Regis – Diamond Ballroom Tent
Buffet Price: KD28
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel
Buffet Price: KD12 (-2.000)
Telephone: 25770000

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD24 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25766666

Waldorf Astoria – Al Kubbar
Buffet Price: KD27 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24774414

RESTAURANTS

Almayass
Set Menu Price: KD11.5 (-0.500)
Telephone: 25761001

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.5 (-0.500)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: KD4.750
Telephone: 25751081

Babel
Set Menu Price: KD14.950 (-0.050)
Telephone: 22081111

Baker & Spice
Set Menu Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 96962816

Big C Restaurant & Cafe
Buffet Price: KD1.900
Telephone: 65683111

Dar Hamad
Buffet Price: KD12 (360 Mall) KD16 (Gulf Road)
Telephone: 22275555

Dean & Deluca
Set Menu Price: KD9.750 (Min 4 People)
Telephone: 22242224

Em Sherif
Set Menu Buffet Price: KD25
Telephone: 90977997

Francescas At The Top
Set Menu Price: KD18
Telephone: 90003858

Gulf Royal Chinese
Buffet Price: KD8.5
Telephone: 22622770

IKEA
Buffet Price: KD2.95 (+1.000)
Telephone: 1840408

Jihan Khanah
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1819991

Joori Min Beirut
Buffet Price: KD12 (-2.000)
Telephone: 22062068

Kuwait Towers
Buffet Price: KD15 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24965500

Leila Min Lebnen
Set Menu Price: KD15
Telephone: 22996414

Mughal Mahal – Hawally
Buffet Price: KD7.45
Telephone: 22626782

Palm Palace
Buffet Price: KD11.5 (+0.500)
Telephone: 67009575

Paul
Set Menu Price: KD10.5 (+2.000)
Telephone: 22208204

Saraya Palace
Buffet Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 25712998

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD7.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22597171

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD12
Telephone: 22650052

Wok and Grill
Buffet Price: KD2.995 (-0.505)
Telephone: 64440089

Last month the first phase of the waterfront refurbishment was completed from Green Island to the Kuwait Towers, and now they’ve started the second phase which is from SVN all the way to Green Island.

They’ve already started bulldozing all the greenery and it’s really sad to watch. It didn’t really show much when they did it in the first phase because that strip wasn’t that green to begin with, but the strip from SVN to Green Island is actually very green with dense trees in some areas. The refurbishment although looks really nice lacks much greenery and so it’s going to be a pretty grey view on my way to work once the second phase is completed.

One thing I’m worried about is the wall of peace sculpture by Jafar Islah which is located next to Burger King. I saw them working in that area today, hopefully they’re not planning to remove it.

Update: Looks like a lot of people are up in arms about the removal of all the trees so TEC issued a statement about it which you can read here.

Update2: According to TEC, the Wall of Peace will NOT be demolished.

If you’ve been meaning to watch the camel races then tomorrow (Saturday) is going to be your last chance since the season is ending.

The races will start at 1:30PM and there will a total of 20 races taking place.

There is no entrance fee and there are three ways of watching the races:

• You can watch the races from the stands near the entrance to the track

• You can also drive into the track and drive up to the starting lines. From there you can watch the camels waiting for their turn and you can then watch the start of the race.

• Finally, you can watch the race by driving around the track in your car while following the race (it can get chaotic).

It’s a fun thing to do if you haven’t done it before. Here is the location to the tracks on Google Maps.

Forbes Middle East revealed their annual list of Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen and 7 Kuwaiti businesswomen made the list for 2024. Even more impressive is that 3 of the top 5 most powerful businesswomen are from Kuwait.

Here are the most powerful Kuwaiti women and their position in the top 100:

2. Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar
National Bank of Kuwait Group (NBK Group)

3. Wadha Ahmad Al-Khateeb
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)

5. Dana Nasser Al Sabah
Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO

18. Henadi Al-Saleh
Agility

28. Nadia Bader Al-Hajji
Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC)

67. Donna Sultan
KEO International Consultants

86. Nadia Akil
United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC)

Kuwait’s National Planetarium was one of the first in the Gulf Region and originally opened back in 1986. But a lot has happened to it since then.

During the 1990 Gulf War, the planetarium was destroyed and the signature dome remained visibly damaged for many years after. Eventually, the planetarium was rebuilt and it reopened again in 2002 but then closed down again in 2016 due to the major renovations that were going to take place at the National Museum. Now, 8 years later, it’s set to reopen again.

The technology at the planetarium has been fully upgraded with a new system consisting of nine 4K video projectors, new computer technology and the modernization of the sound system. But, at the heart of it all is the Zeiss STARMASTER projection system which has been at the planetarium since the reopening in 2002. The STARMASTER replaced the Zeiss SPACEMASTER which was installed in 1986 and was badly damaged during the 1990 invasion (It’s now displayed in the planetariums lobby). Only 19 STARMASTER projection systems are installed worldwide and they’re known for their high level of brightness, pinpoint sharpness, and providing a realistic starry sky.

Work on the planetarium is basically complete with only minor maintenance work left. Their aim is to open it as soon as the work is complete, but most likely it will be right after Ramadan.

If you’ve never been to the planetarium before, it’s located on the Gulf Road, opposite Seef Palace and is part of the Kuwait National Museum.

Café Kitsuné, the popular sub-brand of the trendy French-Japanese lifestyle brand, Maison Kitsuné, is opening in Kuwait tomorrow (Sunday).

Their first location in Kuwait is opening outside the Abdullah Al-Salem Co-op and has a trendy interior with the Sadu pattern incorporated into the ceiling. It was designed in house by Café Kitsuné, but project managed locally by @soufikw.

For those of you who are fans of their music playlists, I was told the local playlist is controlled and streamed directly from Paris. So expect the same style of curated music.

They’re one of the cafes I tend to pass by for coffee while I’m in Paris, so it’s pretty cool that they’re now opening in Kuwait. If you want to pass by, starting tomorrow they’ll be open from 10AM to 10PM.

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced online database of perceived consumer prices, real property prices, and quality of life metrics. According to their 2024 report, Kuwait is the cheapest place to live in the Gulf while Dubai is the most expensive.

The most expensive place to live in the world according to their report is Bermuda, while the cheapest place is Karachi, Pakistan.

Here is how the Gulf countries rank:

1- Dubai, UAE
2- Abu Dhabi, UAE
3- Doha, Qatar
4- Manama, Bahrain
5- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
6- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
7- Sharjah, UAE
8- Muscat, Oman
9- Kuwait City, Kuwait

Numbeo’s cost of living index is calculated using the relative prices of consumer goods like groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities. The index doesn’t take into account accommodation expenses such as rent. For the full list, click here.

Aladdin Sweets (بوظة وحلويات علاء الدين) has been an iconic part of Salmiya for around 60 years. I used to walk by it as a kid, and look through the window at all the sweets and ice cream on display. If I was lucky, my mum would let me go in and get my favorite ice cream combo, chocolate and strawberry.

While walking by the other day I spotted a sign on the window saying they were closing down, moving to a new location and renaming to “Revani”. I asked them when there last day would be and they said January 30th.

If you want to pass by one last time, you have till tomorrow. They’re the ice cream place located between White Tower (برج ابيض) and Marina Mall. Google Maps

I wanted to put a list together of local online shops that sell camping or outdoor gear. We actually have some pretty good brands available locally, if you know where to look. I’ve listed the stores I’m aware of below along with some of the brands they have in case anyone is ever googling. If I missed a place, let me know in the comments.

AAW – Coleman, Magma, Snow Peak
Ace Hardware – Blackstone, Coghlan’s, Coleman, Mr Heater, Wenzel
Al Azame – Atwood, Leatherman, Nitecore, Thaw, Victorinox
All Degrees – Biotite, Black Diamond, Osprey, UCO
Camouflage – Buck, Ganzo, KadiOutdoor, Leatherman
Alyash – Mostly in house brands
Camp N Sea – Coleman, Dometic, KingCamp, Naturehike
Decathlon – Quechua
DreamTeam – Gerber, Leatherman, Nitecore, Olight, Pelican
Extreme Outdoors – Danchel, Gstove, Goutdoor
Naturehike – Blackdog, Blackdeer, Bluetti, Firemaple, Naturehike, Roxon
Nomadic – 4monster, KingCamp
Off Grid – BioLite, GSI Outdoors
ORP – ARB, NEMO Equipment
Outdoor Kuwait – Blogdog, Black Stone, Camelback, Campingmoon, Claymore, GCI, Unity

Back in September, I shared a photo of how the new Gulf Road facelift was going to look, and since then, they’ve been really busy working on the transformation.

The 9.7-kilometre-long project involves facelifting the waterfront while also offering essential amenities for people which includes a dedicated bicycle and jogging path among other things.

The project is divided into two phases with the first phase on track to be completed in February while the second phase will be completed in March. Yesterday I passed by to check out the progress, and even though the area is still under construction, it looked great!

The redesign is so tastefully done with beautiful tile work, nice looking benches, and a very minimal and clean design overall. Even the new garbage bins look good.

Runners will also be interested to know that the running track is going to be cushioned.

If you want to check the progress yourself, I’d recommend heading to the pathway next to Green Island. I visited different spots along the water front and the Green Island area was the closest to completion.

If you haven’t seen how the waterfront is going to look like when done, click here.