Category: Kuwait

This is going to be a fairly long post but trust me, if you love nostalgic Kuwait related posts you’re going to want to read this because it’s just so random and really interesting.

A couple of weeks ago I was over at the Australian ambassador’s house (Jonathan) who is a music buff and while there he showed me a record which he knew I’d be interested in. The album was called “Jazz, Jazz, Jazz” by a Sudanese band called The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr and inside there was an interview with the band members. Turns out the band used to perform in Kuwait back in the 70s at different venues including the Hilton Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel, and the Marriott Hotel. Check out the clipping below:

And can you tell me about your journey to Kuwait?

We went by ourselves and without visa but with the help of our friend Saif (who was also our singer during that stay). And we went there without instruments or anything. At the airport we arrived and waited for Saif to pick us up. Of course, they asked us at the airport for our visas and who we were, but we replied not to have any. Saif wanted to help us to get in, so he called the son of the Prince who liked our music. Saif and him were friends. Following, the son of the Prince came in person and said “These are my guests, give them visas”. This way, we entered the country and made a contract with the television. We went to the shops to buy instruments and from there straight to the TV. After getting paid by TV we went back to the shops to also pay the instruments. That was our first time in Kuwait. But we went once more. The second time we also had a contract with the Marriot Hotel; to us it looked like a ship. This time we had a visa and stayed for a long time. We had an organ player from Jordan and a guitar player from France.

That KTV performance is actually online and you can check it out below:

So this is where things get even cooler. I get all excited about this and start taking photos of the record album and posting them on my Instagram account. A couple of hours later I get a message from a follower saying:

This is so weird. Saif is a colleague of mine and seeing this and reading it, it just seems like it’s another dimension. We knew that he was a part of some band, we just didn’t know to what extent. Where can I get this record/Cd?

Saif was still in Kuwait?? I quickly shared the message with Jonathan who suggested we invite him to dinner. So I had Saif’s colleague talk to Saif and see if he would be interested to meet. I ended up getting his contact information and Jonathan set up the dinner for us.

Me with Saif

A few days later we got to meet Saif and he was just full of interesting stories. Saif was never meant to come to Kuwait, when he turned 18 he decided to leave Sudan and head to Germany. So he headed to Lebanon first so that he could take the train to Germany. Once he got to Lebanon he met a girl and so decided to stay there for a month, he needed the money anyway and he figured he could earn money performing music while there. He then left Lebanon and headed to Syria and from there he got convinced to head to Kuwait and try and earn money there.

Once in Kuwait he met up with an old friend of his called Adam who used to play football for Qadsia club. Adam hooked Saif up with a job as an English teacher for air traffic controllers and as a side gig, he would perform music on Kuwait TV talk show. One day one of the guys at KTV comes up to him and asks him if he could put a band together because he wanted to record a performance for the station. Saif tells him he could and called up his friends in Sudan whom he used to perform with called The Scorpions. That’s basically how the whole story with that KTV broadcast came to be.

The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr Performing at KTV

But that’s not the end of it. Saif used to perform for a Kuwaiti event organizer back then called Hussein Abul. Hussein was the guy who brought the likes of Boney M, Demis Roussos, James Brown and Santa Esmeralda to perform in Kuwait. When James Brown came to Kuwait, Hussein gave Saif the job of driving James Brown around since Saif spoke both English and Arabic. Since Saif spent a lot of time with James Brown, a friend of his told him to ask James Brown if he could perform the track Super Bad at his events. The first two nights James Brown performed he didn’t play Super Bad but it was a really popular song with the locals and so a lot of people were requesting it. So Saif explained that to James Brown who said he didn’t mind. During rehearsal that day, James Brown tells his band that he wanted to play Super Bad but, one of the two bassists in the band didn’t know how to play it. James Brown tried to help him out by humming the rhythm he wanted but the bassist couldn’t get it right. Out of frustration James Brown asked his band if anyone else knew how to play the bass on Super Bad, and Saif who was sitting there watching the whole thing said he knew how to play it. James Brown was like are you sure you know how to play it? Saif and his band used to perform covers all the time and he used to practically play Super Bad every night at hotels. So even though he was under pressure now to perform in front of James Brown, he knew the song inside out. He ended up playing for James Brown who was so impressed that he asked Saif to perform the song with the band over the remaining events in Kuwait.

One interesting fact I found out, Hussein had also supposedly signed a contract with Michael Jackson to come to Kuwait. But before Michael Jackson’s event, he had scheduled the popular band Osibisa to come to Kuwait as well. But Islamists caused an uproar over one of Osibisa’s tracks because it contained an Islamic verse or something like that, and Hussein was banned from organizing events ever again. Hussein supposedly ended up leaving to Brazil where he now lives permanently.

Saif with Pele in Kuwait

Anyway, Saif eventually ended up leaving Kuwait to study but then came back once he was done. He’s been in Kuwait ever since and currently still teaches English at a local aviation school but still performs in Sudan every now and then with his old band. He lost most of his old photos during the 1990 Iraq invasion but I shared two remaining ones in this post, the Pele photo above and the band performing at KTV above that. Jonathan the Australian Ambassador is also gonna try and bring the band together again to perform in Kuwait and once that happens I’ll let you guys know.

For now if you’re interested in buying a copy of the album “Jazz, Jazz, Jazz” it’s available for purchase in different formats on bandcamp.

Update: Jazz, Jazz, Jazz is also available on Spotify. Farrah Galbi Aljadeed is my favorite track followed closely by Forssa Saeeda.

A couple of days ago I got contacted by Al Salam Palace asking me if I’d be interested in coming in the next day for a tour of the new museum. I’d been trying to figure out how to get early access ever since the museum was inaugurated earlier in the month, so even though I had a lot of work at the office, I couldn’t say no.

Al Salam Palace was built in the late 1950s and was used to accommodate visiting heads of state. During the 1990 invasion, the palace was completely destroyed and stayed abandoned for years until the restoration project started back in 2013 to turn it into a museum. The palace is located right next to JACC and consists of three main museums:

Museum of Kuwait’s History through its Rulers
Museum of Al Salam Palace History
Museum of the Civilizations that inhabited Kuwait

When I first got to the palace I was pretty surprised at how much security there was. After confirming I was on the list to get into the museum, security at the gate had to make a second call to check and see if I was allowed to bring in my camera since they have a very strict no photography policy right now. I was then escorted into the palace by a security guard and handed over to another security guard who waited with me until the palace team met me. Security personnel were also scattered all around the museum and some rooms even had 24-hour guards. I later came to understand it was because of the amount of rare and priceless items exhibited all around.

When I was invited to visit the museum I had the impression I was gonna get a quick walkaround of the premises, but instead, I was actually given a full and very informative guided tour of all three museums with all their exhibits. Unlike other museums in Kuwait, Al Salam Palace will be a strictly guided tour affair once it opens up to the public. The tours would start every 30 minutes and there would be two kinds, a quick version which would take around 30 minutes and just cover the most important subjects, and a longer 90-minute tour covering the whole museum in greater detail. My tour yesterday took 90 minutes and we didn’t even watch all the videos scattered all around the exhibits. It’s a pretty big place with lots of information and a lot to see so I’d imagine they might have tours even longer than 90 minutes once they open.

There is a lot to cover in this post but I’m going to try and condense it so I don’t bore you with too much information. Firstly you’ll notice a limited amount of photos in this post. The reason for this is that the museum doesn’t want to reveal too much right now because they want people to eventually come and see the place for themselves, without any spoilers. I was asked if I could limit the photos I take of the exhibition spaces and I wasn’t allowed to record any videos, I didn’t mind both those requests since I wasn’t planning on taking photos of the actual exhibits, and I was honestly there for myself first, blog second (sorry guys).

The thing is I’ve always been fascinated with the palace and I was even lucky enough to visit it and photograph it before the reconstruction started. One of the things I was curious about was how the museum would be restored and thankfully, they managed to restore the museum to its original state.

The whole ground level of the museum is basically an exact copy of how the palace originally was before it was destroyed. Everything from the mosaics on the wall to the marble on the floor was restored with the same material previously used. Even the heads of state welcome room and the special room built for Queen Elizabeths II’s visit in 1979 (pictured above) was also recreated. The large and iconic chandelier that hangs in the main hall of the palace was event sent abroad to be fully restored and now looks incredible again.

Al Salam Palace material moodboard on display in one of the exhibits

I was extremely impressed by how detailed they were with the restoration and I wish more older historic buildings in Kuwait were restored in a similar manner.

Moving on to the actual exhibits, like everything else in the palace so much effort was put into the details of the exhibits as well. For example, in one display there were replicas of different spices on display that used to be imported to Kuwait back in the old days, but when you come up to the display you can actually smell the spices because they had a hidden smell machine. Another thing that caught my attention were all the old books on display around the exhibits, books that were written by explorers who came across Kuwait over a hundred years ago. From my personal experience, I know how difficult it is to source these kinds of books and how much of a waiting game you need to play for specific books to enter the market place. But books are just one aspect of the exhibit, there are multiple examples throughout the museum of extremely rare sourced items like Kuwait’s first Baiza coin which only two are known to still exist today, to more current items like Sheikh Jaber’s iconic sunglasses. I asked the museum manager how they were able to source all the items because many must have been stolen during the invasion. Turns out a lot of effort was made to find and retrieve stolen items while others were stored in boxes and forgotten about or were donated by families who had them in their private collection.

There are a number of video presentations throughout the exhibit where they recreated historical moments from Kuwait’s history, and they all looked like expensive productions with proper sets, actors, wardrobe and special effects. I even got to watch a trailer of a short film they produced on the 1990 invasion and it looked like such an incredible film. One scene gave me goosebumps, there are these iconic photos of a British Airways plane completely destroyed on the runway of Kuwait’s Airport and they had that exact scene in the trailer but it was as if the original scene was shot with video with smoke billowing out of the plane wreckage. In another scene we were onboard an American tank, first-person perspective heading towards a burning oil field, the fact the room we were in had a super wide 180-degree screen helped engross me into the film even more. I can’t wait to watch the whole thing.

After going through the main museums we headed downstairs into the basement which housed the museum’s digital library. The space looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie and once open would give visitors access to everything in the museum from the books on display to all the films and more. Everything would also be available online to access but with some restrictions like only parts of the book would be accessible instead of the whole book.

I was really curious about the museum before visiting it, I had heard it was going to be about Kuwait and wasn’t sure if there was enough interesting content to display or even new content that I hadn’t seen anywhere else. But I ended up leaving extremely impressed, it was obvious the people behind the project really cared about the restoration of the palace and really put a lot of time into all the exhibits. The museum is currently starting the training program for all the guides while also finalizing some details in the different exhibits. The museum is not open at the moment, but the aim is to have it ready for the public sometime in October of this year. For now you can follow the museum on instagram @aspm.kw

Al Salam Palace was built in the 1960s to accommodate visiting heads of state. During the 1990 invasion, the palace was completely destroyed and stayed abandoned for years until the restoration project started back in 2013. The palace is located right next to JACC and the plan was to transform the palace into a museum. I was lucky enough to visit the palace just before they closed it down for restoration back in 2014.

The museum is dedicated to the history of Kuwait told through its 15 rulers.

The restoration of the palace has now been finished and last week Al Salam Palace was officially inaugurated. The museum isn’t open to the public just yet, that’s supposed to happen in October of this year which is still a long way away. But in the meantime, the museum did publish the interesting video above which shows the process behind the restoration as well as the end result. If you want to stay posted on this project you can follow the museum on instagram @aspm.kw

The Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Causeway project has now been completed and is set to open on May 1st at 10AM. Once it opens, the bridge will be the world’s longest with a total span of 48.53km.

According to the blog Life in Kuwait, the Ahmadi drive-in theater got demolished last week. I guess this isn’t a surprise since it hadn’t been used in decades, but it’s always sad to see another part of Kuwait’s past go.

Next up I hear the ice skating rink is going to get demolished. I’ve been trying to confirm and get more details from TEC but whoever is running their instagram account doesn’t respond to comments or DM’s. So don’t take my word for it.

Anyway, here are some photos of the Ahmadi drive-in:
Ahmadi drive-in when it was being constructed
Ahmadi drive-in from a few years ago

Around 4 years ago I passed by The Kuwait National Library. The library wasn’t officially open then but I had a meeting with the team there and before my meeting started, I wandered around a bit and explored what I thought were all the English books they had in this very small section near the meeting room. I wasn’t that impressed.

Since then I’ve been meaning to drop by again but never did, partially because I wasn’t impressed the first time but also because their opening hours are terrible, 9AM to 1PM during weekdays.. basically when everyone is at work. But, I did manage to finally drop by the library this morning and I’ve changed my mind, I now love the place.

The national library is spread out over three floors not including the ground floor. I’m sure the way the books were divided kinda made sense, but I was just wandering around exploring and randomly looking for English books. So this is the thing I didn’t realize the first time I was there, there isn’t just one section where all the English books are located. Instead, the library is divided into different areas like Encyclopedias or books about Kuwait etc.., and in each of these areas you’ll find an English books corner.

There were a handful of people in the library when I was there (because everyone has a day job obviously), so I was able to just walk around the different floors and sections, randomly exploring without disturbing anyone. I’m not sure I managed to see all the areas but even if I did, I really do have to go back and spend a lot more time there.

My favorite sections were probably the books on Kuwait section as well as the newspaper archives section. If you check my instagram story I shared some videos of that section. The newspaper archive section had these massive books of different Kuwaiti newspapers from the 60s, 70s, 80s etc.. and you just flip through them, every page of the book is a page from a newspaper. They’re so good and there were so many of them so I really want to go back and flip through more of those books.

There was also this very cool section with shelves that opened and moved with a touch of a button, there was a section where employees were busy digitizing books using these super cool laser scanners (pictured above), and there was even a rare books section.

I really love old books, especially ones related to Kuwait so I really did enjoy just sitting on the floor and flipping through random books. You can’t take the books out of the library, but that’s really not an issue for me and if anything, I prefer it since the books will always be there to check.

Their opening hours are terrible and that really is my biggest issue with the place. I really want you all to pass by and check the library out, but I also know that the majority of you have jobs and aren’t going to want to take a day off just to explore a library. But if you can, then they’re open from Sunday to Thursday, 9AM to 1PM. The library is located right next to the Sadu House and the National Museum [Google Maps]. Everyone can access the library, and it’s free. You just need to give them your Civil ID card at the door.

If you follow me on instagram (@mark248am) then check out my story today, I’ll also have it as a highlight for a few days in case you read this post late.

The National Library of Kuwait’s website is nlk.gov.kw

I’m trying to put together a list of local podcasts that are in English for those who might be interested. So far I’ve got a few which I’ve listed below:

At My Kuwaiti Table
Dardish Show
Hold My Camel
Kounter Culture
LCL • local • living a creative life
Loving Kuwait
The Project Kuwait
The Third Wheel

If you know of any other (active) podcast, let me know so I can add it to the list.

A few years ago I posted about the Scientific Center expansion plans and one of the most controversial aspects of it was the fact the plans included a new dolphinarium. As you know, holding dolphins in captivity is pretty cruel and a friend of mine even posted an appeal in hopes of stopping it.

Recently construction started next to Scientific Center and I was curious to know if the dolphinarium was still being built. So I got in touch with my contact at the Scientific Center who not only reassured me that they are not going ahead with the dolphinarium, but he also shared with me some new information on the expansion as well as the visuals I’ve shared in this post.

The Scientific Center have now started construction work on the new expansion, with the first phase focused on marine works and land reclamation. This includes renovation of the Dhow Harbor area and the relocation of the seawater intake pipe which provides clean seawater to the tanks within the aquarium. The construction you see now on the side of the Scientific Center (pictured above) is for the marine works which is estimated to take around 9 months. This will be followed by the groundbreaking, structural foundation of the expansion, the construction of the superstructure, MEP, the finishing and new exhibits installations, and then finally the renovation of the existing building attractions and exhibits.

The design and programming of the expansion building was developed as a priority, in partnership with the center’s Board and consultation from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). The expansion commits the center to playing a leading role on a national level to transform the country and help develop a knowledge-driven economy. Because of this commitment, the programming and exhibits within the expansion aim to increase the quality of STEM teaching from the center, as well as the importance of environmental protection, through engaging learning experiences.

The expansion will introduce new concepts to the region, as well as inspiring exhibits, through both new additions and the renovation of current ones. The public can expect to see reinvigorated ecosystems in the Mijbil Almutawa Aquarium, modern commodities and services, a brand new children’s science museum, as well as numerous new halls and labs enabling visitors, schools, universities and more to engage with the center in developing their own innovations to better Kuwait.

Here are some other facts you might find interesting:

– The renovation of the aquarium is being done in partnership with the creative
design and consultancy firm ROTO, who you can learn about [Here]

– The overall expansion is estimated to come at an approximate value of KD 36 million, with a timeline of projected completion by 2022

– Many people aren’t aware that the Scientific Center is a non-profit

– The center is aiming to introduce class-specific programs, labs, and workshops for educators to use for their own curriculum

– The footprint of the center is doubling

So to summarize, there will be no dolphinarium and the Scientific Center will be increasing their exhibits and attractions and refurbishing the current building. All of that is expected to be completed in around 3-4 years.

The Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC) opened nearly a year ago and since then I’ve visited it nearly a dozen times. It’s right down the street from my place and so it’s really convenient for me to drop by whenever I want. One of the things I was concerned about when the museums first opened up was how it would hold up to the abuse.

Well I’ve got good news, all six museums are still pretty much intact. I passed by on Thursday and went through all the exhibits and I could count the number of exhibits that were out-of-order on my hand. Not only that but since my last visit a few months ago, new cafes have opened up and a couple of new exhibits were added.

Best part about the museum is that there rarely is anyone ever there. For example I passed by Thursday evening and there were barely any people which is great if you don’t like crowds.

If you haven’t been to the museums yet then I’d highly recommend you do so, it’s just a cool place to walk around and chill with loads of outdoor spaces to explore as well as the actual museums themselves. For more information click [Here]

I was watching the video below and wondering if demolition had started on Al Sawaber, or if people were able to save it. Sadly as you’ll see by the end of the video, Al Sawaber couldn’t be saved.

Here’s some random information I recently found out, turns out you can actually rent the Kuwait Towers for private events. They’ll close the whole thing off for you and nobody but you and your guests can come in. So say you want to have your wedding there, a birthday party or a private dinner, you can do that. The cost? KD10,000 a day.

The Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed causeway project is nearly complete and is set to open this coming April. Once it opens the bridge will be the world’s longest with a total span of 48.53km [Source].

Going by the drone footage in the two videos here, the drive will be very scenic over the Kuwaiti bay and take around 35 minutes from one end to the other. There isn’t anything on the other side to see yet but at least the road isn’t broken and full of potholes and little rocks flying around like every other road in Kuwait at the moment.

The Bait Al-Othman Museum originally opened back in 2013 and I passed by it a few months after opening to check it out and post about it on the blog. But last week I went back to the museum again and to my surprise, it turned out they had expanded the museum considerably since my last visit 5 years ago.

I’m having a difficult time trying to decide how much information I should share about the place. When I visited the museum last week I went expecting to see the stuff I had seen the last time I was there, basically various rooms covering important aspects of Kuwait and its history. But once I started exploring some of the new sections which I hadn’t seen before, I realized Bait Al-Othman is by far one of the most bizarre and entertaining museums in Kuwait. I had such a good time that I want to go back again with more friends.

Some of the new areas of Bait Al-Othman felt like they had been taken from the now closed old Science Museum in Kuwait City. The museum has such a random combination of content including a small haunted house, loads and loads of stuffed animals and even a hostel. I really want to share more details but I think it would be a lot more fun to just go there without knowing too much about the place.

So if you haven’t been to Bait Al-Othman before or at least not recently, you should definitely pass by the place. The museum is located in Hawalli [Google Maps] with loads of parking space available. Their opening hours are from 9AM to 1PM and 4PM to 9:30PM everyday except on Fridays they don’t open in the mornings.

Pro Tip: You need around 3 hours or more to see everything, and make sure you visit all the rooms. There are some areas which look closed off but they lead to other areas. So explore it all.

Built in 1981, Al Sawaber Complex was designed by renowned Canadian architect and urban planner Arthur Erickson with the idea of creating a community for Kuwaiti families of modest means. He accomplished that with a layout that provided easy horizontal circulation between the apartment blocks, while also creating intimate spaces sheltered from the rest of the city.

The complex is recognised as a modern heritage building of cultural and historical significance by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature. But, because of a complete lack of maintenance, arson in some of the units, escalating land values in the surrounding area, and gentrification, the project has now been marked for demolition.

The demolition date is unknown but a contractor has been chosen so demolition can begin any day now.

A team comprising of members from Kuwait Municipality Master Plan and Planning Departments, Kuwait University School of Architecture professors, and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature are trying to save the project. They’re hoping to raise public awareness as a last resort to save Al-Sawaber Complex from imminent demolition.

Rather than being demolished the team is proposing that the complex be rehabilitated and regenerated as a mixed-use urban development while maintaining elements of the original character and structure.

If you’d like to support the team in trying to save Al Sawaber then follow them on instagram @save_alsawaber and sign their petition [Here] (blocked on Viva for some reason)

Top photo by Asseel Al-Ragam

I’ve posted previously on how easy and smooth the process of obtaining a power of attorney (tawkeel) is in Kuwait and you can check that post [Here] After experiencing that department three more times since that post I have to say, I think they one of the best-run government departments I’ve experienced anywhere, not just Kuwait.

Every time I ship my car to Bahrain for a track day, I tend to get a new POA done because the car transportation company tend to send a different driver every time. Last week the transportation company actually asked me to do a POA for 16 of their drivers so that way I don’t have to keep getting a POA done every time. 16! So I headed to the Ministries complex in the city and I was honestly a bit worried. I thought when the government employee sees I need a POA done for 16 people he’s gonna either give me a hard time, tell me to f off or at the very least just complain about how much work that was. But surprisingly, the government employee didn’t even flinch.

As I’ve mentioned in my original post, getting a POA done in Kuwait is a very quick and efficient process. The department is well organized and well staffed so I tend not to wait more than 10 minutes for my turn. The government employees are always helpful and their work environment just seems to be very healthy based on what I’ve observed. So when I handed over 16 identification cards to the employee and told them I needed a POA done for them, I braced myself for the worst. But, the employee just took the photocopies and proceeded to type out all the information into the computer without hesitation. When everything was done and I just needed to get my papers stamped from another desk on the way out, the employee gave me a feedback form to fill.

Not only is this department so well managed and run, they actually give you a feedback card to fill up once you’re done! Obviously, I ticked all the “Excellent” boxes and when I handed the feedback form back to the employee they told me I needed to hand it to the person who’s gonna stamp my papers on the way out. I realized that made sense since you wouldn’t want to hand back the form with negative feedback to the employee you just had a negative experience with or they’ll just get rid of the form. I love this department.

Why isn’t the driving license renewal department not run by the same guy that’s in charge of the POA department!?? I’m actually not aware of any government department in Kuwait that even care about how your experience was let alone ask you to critique them. At the airport in Bahrain they have these smiley faces at various points around the airport asking you how your experience was. They have these faces after check-in, after passport control, after security check and even in the duty-free asking you how your shopping was. They’re not unique to Bahrain, they have them at various airports around the world but last night while leaving Bahrain I was thinking, if we had these stations at various government offices and departments, what would people click on the most? The POA department is the only one I could think of that would get the big smiley button press from me every time.