2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
I don’t know if anyone has any news about this or pictures, but my friend just called me telling me that the ice skating rink is completely on fire. I wonder how that could have happened or if they put it out, its an ice rink how could it catch on fire, its cold and has ice. And if it is damaged to the point its beyond repair would they build a new one?
Does anyone have anymore updates?
It seems Nandos is finally opening their Avenues branch. According to a user in the forum invites were sent out in preparations for the launch which could be sometime this week or next week. You can check out pictures of the invite and more info by clicking [Here]
Thanks Sin!
On paper it doesn’t take much to open a store in Kuwait, the business process is comprised of the following: get money, get franchise, get location. The same store you visited a few years back on your summer vacation to an Arab hotspot (London, California, DC) has now shown up in your neighborhood avenue. In the past ten years, most Kuwaitis have grown accustomed to the growth of shopping malls and their associated brand names. The Midases of Kuwait who do come up with their own names are merely an amalgamation of other brands.
So what is one to do if the franchises (or combination of them under a local name) do not carry the products you are looking for?
You make it yourself.
Well, that is what one company recently did with Baroue… The concept was realized by Fahed Al-Mutawa after a bout of frustration finding items for his then newborn. After realizing the need for a child superstore; the idea behind Baroue was hatched, and it came to life through MS (Mutawa/Sayer) Retail (Restaurateurs in previous ventures).
What differs Baroue from any other children’s’ store?
Baroue has gone beyond the cookie-cutter approach of reselling items and retaining franchises; They have created a complete brand/franchise from zero. Their design studio (clothes) is based in London, their factories are in India and their head office is home sweet home, Kuwait.
Their first store is the third largest at the Avenues and carries everything from clothes and toys to a huge dragon that is a playpen in itself. And they have plans of expanding to other countries shortly.
For those who have had the theme song playing endlessly in their head (Baroue, Baroue, Baroue) .. You can blame Yuri Mrakdi, who originally came onboard as a Marketing director (and later sang the song). For the techies, you can track your children (RFID armbands) playing in the dragon through the kiosks scattered around the store.
Well not really cheap but cheaper than what a lot of people are selling their iPhones for. Click n Buy are selling the 8GB iPhone for KD219. Compared to Eureka’s KD399 price and compared to individuals who are selling their phones for KD230-KD250, suddenly Click n Buy looks like a good deal. [Link]
Did you know that you can purchase the waffle cones from Baskin Robbins without ordering ice cream? The regular sized waffle costs 100 fils while the large waffle cone costs 150 fils.
Quick Waffle Desert
Ingredients:
1 Large waffle cone
2 Bananas
Jar of Nutella
Instructions:
Chop up the bananas and place them in the cone.
Pour Nutella over them.
Eat.
I passed by McDonald’s today for a quick bite to eat and noticed they had spring rolls on the menu. I hadn’t had McDonald’s since before ramadan so I don’t know how long they’ve been serving them but I decided to give it a shot.
It’s very rare for a fast food place like McDonald’s, KFC, Hardees or Burger King to introduce an appetizer and have it succeed. The only successful appetizer I can think of is the popcorn chicken at KFC. With that in mind and with the fact that chinese food is the last thing I would think of finding at McDonald’s, I proceeded to order my spring rolls with caution.
I know this might sound crazy, I know that my taste buds can be screwy sometimes and I know the Chinese are going to hate me for saying this but… the spring rolls at McDonald’s weren’t bad at all. In fact they were pretty good. I’ve tried nearly everything that McDonald’s in Kuwait ever introduced to their menu and this is why I know to always expect the unexpected with them. When they introduced their Mushroom and Swiss burger I expected it to be the best burger they’ve ever created and it turned out to be the worst burger ever.
The spring rolls comes with a sweet chili sauce which is actually a big part of the reason the spring rolls are good. The price is also good, 550fils for 6 pieces. In the end, these spring rolls are not the best spring rolls in the world. They are not even close to being the best spring rolls in Kuwait but compared to what other fast food places are offering like the crappy Hot Rods at KFC or the overpriced cheese sticks at Burger King, these spring rolls are the best appetizers being offered at the moment and best value for money. I give them a 3.5 out of 5.
A few months back I noticed a new sports store was opening up in place of where Boushari was located in Salmiya. I was pretty excited because I thought it was a new franchise opening but then I found out it was just Sport Corner and I lost interest. Sports Corner was already open further down the street near Thuraya Complex and I didn’t like the place so I wasn’t expecting this new one to be better. I even got invited to the launch of the new store but I wasn’t interested.
Tonight though I decided to go in and it was pretty impressive. The store is 4 floors and although I don’t think the floor space is as big as GoSport, its still pretty packed with stuff especially in the basement. The ground floor is dedicated to Adidas, the second floor to Reebok, the third floor is Champions and the basement is packed with weight lifting, exercise equipment, bikes, punching bags, rackets and just a ton of stuff. The place is worth a visit if anything just so you know whats available in Kuwait in terms of sporting gear. GoSport still caters to a wider range of sports while I would say Sports Corner has a larger variety of weight lifting and exercise equipment.
The Kuwait Flour Mills started producing a new type of burger bun. Or at least I think its new since I never spotted it before and its still not listed on their website. The new bun is similar to the buns used at places like Burger Boutique and Johnny Rockets and doesn’t come with sesame seeds on the top. By the way you have to check out the Kuwait Flour Mills website, its really strange. They have an online shop which doesn’t seem to work, they have a section called “Attractive Corner” and they have a weird flash intro. On the bright side, its cool they have a site. [Link]
A reader in the forum reported seeing a meteor on the first day of Eid over Kuwait and managed to take some pictures. I’ve never seen one live before not even a shooting star so I am kinda pissed I missed out on this. You can see the rest of the pictures in the forum. [Link]
Update: And here is a video of it! [YouTube]
Thanks Fattboa and q8h2o
Last night was the launch for the movie theater at Avenues which I think its the largest one in Kuwait. According to their press release there are 11 theaters in total including 2 VIP theaters. The ticket for the VIP theater costs KD6, has only 22 seats, personal service and electric lazy boys with built in massagers. Although the theater launched last night, it will officially open to the public on the first day of Eid. Ahmad Helmi will be there also for the premier of his new movie but I’ve never heard of him so I don’t know if thats a big deal or not.
Also I was reading yesterday on Hilaliya’s blog that the movie The Kingdom is banned from playing in Kuwait. I hope that doesn’t turn out to be true because I was looking forward to watching it.
A friend of mine asked me if I could post this job vacancy ad:
We are looking for two persons to join our retail operation (he or
she) for the following positions:APR Development Coordinator
To coordinate and communicate with Apple Middle East & Europe on the apple center development and implementation, a lot of reading on guidelines and implementing them, doing some casual marketing, follow-up with me on the latest development, training the apple centers employees on the latest technologies form apple and marketing techniques .. etc.Designer
To design and create in house flyers, brochures, booklets, merchandising .. etc for our apple center operation. Helping in the design of our web page.Marketing Executive
To help in the marketing of Apple products in Kuwait and coordinate Apple special events.
If interested send an email to [email protected]
How many people received the following SMS yesterday?
Love and date !!! Call me now: 002434200061
Taken from the Little Treats website:
Pink Ribbon Awareness
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. we will be donating our profits from this line to Kuwait’s Cancer Association. Join us and be part of the community!!
You can order the cupcakes by phone or visiting their store in Wataniya Complex, Salmiya.
The Choowy Goowy website has been redesigned. It’s now flash based (urgh!!!) but the site does look much better than it did before. They have all their latest cookie flavors listed including our Mark & Nat oreo cookies. So check out their website and leave any comments or feedback on the new design below. [Link]
