Category: Kuwait

Some of you requested pictures of the seats, I took some shots today on my way back. The one above is of the first class seats while the one below is of the premium economy seats. Also below is a picture showing the amount of legroom in the economy class. I am 1.86m and as you can see there was plenty of room for my legs. Also the economy class seats have power sockets.

As I mentioned in my previous post I flew with Wataniya Airways to Dubai tonight. It was a very comfy flight since I flew first class. They are my clients so if I say they’re amazing many of you won’t believe me so I will just talk about some of their features.

When you get to the Wataniya Airways airport (Sheikh Saad Terminal) you will be greeted by a Wataniya Airways employee that will check you in while you wait in the first class lounge. When its time for you to board a Wataniya Airways employee will come to you and take you through emigration and then a private car will drive you to the plane. It feels like you’re traveling on a private jet basically.

The seats of the plane are very comfy, look great and are designed by Recaro who are known for their racing seats. First class have a very cool inflight entertainment system which consists of a huge 10.6inch touchscreen. Other than the on demand video the coolest feature has to be the fact you can plug in your iPod or any video device and watch your movies on the planes 10.6inch screen since it has RCA inputs which are located on the side of the seat. A power socket is also available. Finally you can currently send SMS’s and use your phones Internet connection while on the plane which was the first time I experience that. This is a feature available to everyone on board not just first class. Also by next month you should be able to make voice calls with your phone from the plane.

When you land in Dubai you are then guided through the airport by Marhaba employees. They are hired by Wataniya Airways for all their passengers not just first class to offer any kind of assistance needed. Overall a pretty great experience, I love their private airport. Because its just for Wataniya Airways there isn’t any kind of crowd and everything works a lot quicker. Will post pictures of the airport in a few days. If anyone has any questions regarding my experience you can post them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them.

Oh and one more thing. The duty free shop is digital, you flip through the products available for sale on your touch screen and you add whatever product you want into your cart. The flight attendants then bring you your items. I thought that was also pretty cool.

Update: Turns out in flight voice calls WON’T be available next month.

Dean & Deluca soft launch is today. From what I saw over the weekend, it looks like they’re opening both the Dean & Deluca gourmet store and cafe in the same location.

I am looking for a cheap commercial space to rent. Location doesn’t matter, size doesn’t matter it just has to be cheap. Anyone know where I need to look or ask?

Never mind, problem solved.

Spotted this Fiat 500 outside Shamiya Coop today. Although I love the car I don’t think it looks that good in Kuwait.

I took my Tamiya Lunchbox out for the first time today. After all the hard work with the paint job I ironically managed to scratch it while it was still in the trunk of my Wrangler. If that wasn’t bad enough, 10 minutes into my run the Lunchbox lost died on me. It was performing really well, taking some great jumps while my dog was busy trying to catch it when suddenly it just stopped moving. When I got closer I realized the motor was working but the wheels weren’t spinning which meant something was wrong with the gears.

I got home, took apart the car again and turned out it was a problem with one of the gears, the pinion gear which is the one thats connected to the motor was loose. I tightened it back again and used some blue thread locker and its now working perfectly again. I think I am going to spend most of my time breaking my cars and then try and fix them… I love that.

If anyone is wondering where the place is in the pictures above its the huge park off the first ring road.

Q8Life posted about how the ad above is a national disgrace due to the fact that the currency is torn in half. Does anyone else find it offensive? I personally don’t. [Link]

Trojan Women
Directed by Christopher Gottschalk

Playing daily from the 21st to the 24th of January, 2009
Show starts at 8:00PM in the AUK Campus

Tickets are sold on campus for KD5 and also at the door before the show starts. Reservations can be made by calling 99093464 or 97323274.

Only females can watch the play. (segregation…)

I received two emails regarding a fire at the Avenues mall this morning. The last email I received stated that the damage from the fire effected the area from Debenhams up to as far as Top Shop and that some stores were still closed as of this moment and the mall was full of smoke and water.

According to an employee of iCity, a restaurant next to Starbucks caught fire. I also called D*lush and they told me that a large portion of the mall was currently cordoned off by police and that they couldn’t get close enough from their side to see what had happened. An employee of the store Carbon Fiber told me he didn’t know the name of the place that caught fire but it was near Columbus Cafe.

Update (11:55AM): My original source emailed back with an update. Currently the word is the cause of the fire was electrical and thats why it spread really fast. Esprit has also been completely obliterated which means that the fire also spread to the second floor not just the first.

Update (6:32PM): The Slider Station owner sent me a picture of some of the damage from the Avenues. I posted it above.

Update (11:12PM): According to my original source, the fire started on the 2nd floor (ESPRIT) and spread quickly. The sprinkler system came on and ended up flooding the stores below (Top Shop, Foot Locker). The smoke re-circulated through all of the air conditioning ducts and has smoke damaged all of the products in the stores below.

I am not usually a fan of parties in Kuwait but Groovimania (Jan 8th) looked pretty cool. Hard to believe the video above was actually shot here in Kuwait. [YouTube]

Update: The DJ removed the video from YouTube so it’s no longer available

It seems there was a nasty oil spill a couple of days ago here in Kuwait. The beach from the Free Trade Zone up to the hospital has been badly contaminated. This is the email I received regarding this incident:

Can you please spread the word on this issue. Very important.
There has been a terrible crude oil spill on Jan 14, which stretches from the free trade zone to the hospital. It has already killed many birds and is going to injure thousands of flamingos and other birds.

Governmental and volunteer organizations have visited the sites and witnessed the disaster, yet they have done NOTHING to solve the problem.

Please if you know anyone who can help spread the word. You must act NOW!!

Check photos
https://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14906&l=eadae&id=1255022280

I hope this post brings this oil spill into the spotlight.

Extreme Sports and FISE (Festival International des Sports Extreme) are back at Marina Mall for their third extreme sporting event, and it keeps getting better every year. In addition to having a demonstration by professional riders; this event is also a competition for Kuwaiti potentials participating at the FISE Montpellier in France.

Since its foundation in 1997 Festival International des Sports Extreme represents today the biggest extreme sport context in Europe and the Middle East. With the success we generated in the last two editions. The 2008 event is anticipated to attract between 200 and 300 elite competitors from over 13 countries, this event will attract national and international media and tourists.

KUWAIT FISE 3rd edition will host 28 professionals BMX, Skateboards and Inline skaters (Rollerblade) competing in the State of Kuwait. The event will include a demonstration by pro riders: Street, Dirt, FMX , Flat land and Half Pipe, as well as local amateur competitors (street only), with qualifications for FISE Montpellier 2009 in France. The winners will represent their country on the biggest European extreme sports event, the FISE Montpellier.

Time and Place
Start Time: Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 11:00am
End Time: Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 11:00pm
Location: Marina Crescent

FISE Kuwait Website [link]
FISE Kuwait 2008 teaser on youtube [link]

Posted by K.

In support of the Kuwaiti National team Jazeera Airways are opening one special flight to Oman (Muscat) from Kuwait so people can catch the Kuwait vs Saudi Arabia game on Wednesday 14th Jan 2009. Fares are for 85KD round trip(same day return), including taxes. I think thats a great move by Jazeera Airways. [Link]

I found this video on YouTube, its a short amateur movie that was shot in Kuwait back in 1992 by a guy called Ali. If you consider the fact that this movie was shot and edited by a teenager in the early 90s without a computer, its actually pretty cool.. in a geeky way. [YouTube]

For some reason I now feel like watching The Dirt Bike Kid

I was checking out Safat when I found a post by Intlxpatr talking about a Kuwaiti restaurant located next to Marina Mall. She had posted a bunch of pictures and the place looked really interesting and since it was on the same street as my house I decided to pass by and try it.

I have no clue how I never noticed this place before but even if I had I don’t think I would have thought much of it since from the outside it looks pretty average. Once you walk inside though you’re suddenly transformed into an old Kuwaiti city. The private cabins are actually little old Kuwaiti houses and to get to a cabin you have to walk through small narrow corridors, kinda like the old tight streets between the houses.

The menu is full of Kuwaiti dishes as you can expect, I ended up ordering hummus for starters followed by mourabian (yellow rice with shrimps on top) for my main course. The hummus was fine, the bread was weird, kinda like crepes but it was good. My main course also wasn’t bad at all and for KD2.500 was pretty cheap for the quantity. I prefer Oum Habbibs mourabian but that’s also nearly twice as expensive and located all the way in Kuwait City while this place is just minutes from my house.

Nothing I had tonight was wow but the place is an experience and I still have a ton of stuff to try on their menu. Prices are VERY cheap and you can actually check out most of the menu in Intlxpatr’s post. I passed by around 9:30 and the place was pretty packed. Overall it was a good experience and will definitely pass by again. They are located on the same street as Marina Mall, opposite Kwik Kopy, first floor, entrance is from the back next to the red truck (motor hamar).

To check out a lot more pictures of Freej Soeleh check out Intlxpatr’s post by clicking [Here]