Categories
Kuwait Things to do

A Day in Jahra

Over the weekend I visited Jahra for the first time with a friend and I have to say it turned out to be a lot more interesting than I was expecting it to be. Below are some things I would recommend doing if you do decide to visit (listed in the order I visited):

Al Sabeenat
Al Sabeenat is a traditional Kuwaiti restaurant located in Jahra. The place is pretty spacious and on a Friday for lunch we had no trouble at all finding a place to sit. I had the morabyen and it was pretty good and price wise they seemed similar to Freej Swaileh. The restaurant is also located near a resort, a mall and The 99 Village which makes it a convenient starting point. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Random Art
I found this by chance hidden behind a building and I thought it was pretty cool and very random. There were two walls, one had bicycles mounted all over it while the other had designs created with hubcaps. To find the place you need to enter the mall near Al Sabeenat and come out the other side where you will find a Red Tag store. The two walls are located behind Red Tag so you need to make your way to the back of that building (there are some hidden stairs behind the mosque). Here is the location on [Google Maps]

The 99 Village
Take an amusement park and slap some stickers with The 99 superhero characters and you end up with The 99 Village. Wasn’t that disappointing a visit since they had a sack slide which I was able to slide down a few times. But sadly they didn’t let me jump on the trampolines. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Hungry Bunny
Hungry Bunny was one of the first fast food burger joints in Kuwait and so it holds a big nostalgia factor. I had the Super Bunny and I thought it was pretty decent and tasted very similar to what I recall a Super Bunny tasting like in the 80s. But, unless you have childhood memories of the place, Hungry Bunny might not be for you. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Red Fort
We ended our visit to Jahra with a tour of the Red Fort (or Red Palace). The Red Fort was the site of the Battle of Jahra in 1920 between Kuwaiti and Saudi forces and so has historical importance. The fort was smaller than I expected it to be and not that exciting as well but entrance was free and it was nice to walk around inside. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Even though nothing we visited had a wow factor, when combined all these places provided for a pretty entertaining afternoon.




Categories
Events Kuwait Movies

The Green Caravan Film Festival

The Green Caravan Film Festival is back for the 4th time and will be taking place in Kuwait from March 9th to March 12th. The film lineup for this festival are the following:

CHASING ICE
Follow National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic as he deploys time-lapse cameras designed for one purpose: to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT
A rare behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s ‘number one domestic terrorist threat.’

THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
Survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan’s recent tsunami find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins.

THE CITY DARK
THE CITY DARK is a feature documentary about the loss of night. After moving to NYC from rural Maine, filmmaker Ian Cheney asks a simple question – do we need the stars? – taking him from Brooklyn to Mauna Kea, Paris, and beyond. Exploring the threat of killer asteroids in Hawaii, tracking hatching turtles along the Florida coast, and rescuing injured birds on Chicago streets, Cheney unravels the myriad implications of a globe glittering with lights – including increased breast cancer rates from exposure to light at night, and a generation of kids without a glimpse of the universe above. Featuring stunning astrophotography and a cast of eclectic scientists, THE CITY DARK is the definitive story of light pollution and the disappearing stars.

THE ISLAND PRESIDENT
After bringing democracy to his country, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, takes up the fight to keep his homeland from disappearing under the sea.

The film festival is taking place at Bayt Lothan and admission is free. For more information including the schedule visit the festival website [Here]




Categories
Kuwait Photography

Mutla Ridge in 360

If you’ve never been to the Mutla Ridge up in the north of Kuwait you can now view it online in a 360 virtual tour. It was created by Alex, the same guy behind the Ahmadi Lights in 360 last month. [Link]

Thanks Alex




Categories
Kuwait Music

Nothing like Kuwait

Khaled Al-Asfour (aka O-Zone) released the song above for Kuwait’s National Day called “Nothing Like Kuwait”. Not bad considering he’s just 15 years old and recorded this at home. [SoundCloud]




Categories
Kuwait News

KD1,500 is proposed minimum wage

Members of Parliament have proposed increasing the minimum wage for Kuwaitis to KD1,500. According to Arabian Business that would be by far the highest in the world beating Luxembourg (which currently has the highest) by three times! That’s just mind-blowing. [Link]




Categories
Kuwait

National Day Air Show


[YouTube]

For those of you like me who were out of Kuwait during the holidays, we ended up missing the air show that was held on the Gulf Road. They painted the sky with the Kuwaiti flag colors and going by the pictures and videos it looked like an event that shouldn’t have been missed.


[YouTube]

Photos by Rampurple




Categories
Kuwait Videos

Kite Festival from the Sky

Two guys have been experimenting for some time now trying to shoot aerial photography in Kuwait and they’ve recently cracked it and released their first video. They went to the Al-Farisi Kite Festival and using an RC helicopter were able to shoot the video above. It’s a really cool perspective. [YouTube]




Categories
Kuwait Photography

360 Virtual Tour of the Ahmadi Lights

Ahmadi currently has a beautiful light display up and one of my readers took it upon himself to create a 360 Virtual Tour of some of the displays. It’s a great way of experiencing Ahmadi at night without having to go there so check out the 360 shots [Here]

Thanks Alex




Categories
Kuwait Photography

If Kuwait had mountains

Photo by @lolalovepabulum




Categories
Animals & Wildlife Kuwait

Hedgehog on the loose in Abdaliya

Big news for wildlife in Kuwait when K’S PATH, together with KOC, released the first mammal into the recently completed Abdaliya nature preserve. The animal in question, a long-eared hedgehog, was found in a garden near the city. Long-eared hedgehogs are solitary mammals that spend much of their lives alone, except during breeding season which occurs in March, just after hibernation. This year, we are planning to relocate many more hedgehogs and fox into the preserve, taking them from high-risk areas or from areas where they are abundant.

Our goal is to create an ecosystem thriving with native wildlife. In the coming months, we will begin efforts to release more hedgehogs as well as Ruppell’s Fox in to the preserve and will be installing nesting boxes and perches for native birds.

You can look forward to more updates on this project soon. Want to make a difference? Keep wildlife wild. Don’t hunt. All forms of hunting are illegal by Kuwait law. Illegal hunting (poaching) has caused the local extinction of many species, and we are constantly finding dead birds around Kuwait. Finally, keep up with or even contribute to our work by visiting K’S PATH on [Facebook]

Post by John Peaveler
Managing Director
Kuwait Society for the Protection of Animals and Their Habitat (K’S PATH)




Categories
Automotive Information Kuwait

Find out about your traffic violations by SMS

The Ministry of Interior launched a new service where you can sign up to receive notifications on your traffic violations by SMS. They will also send you a notification when your Civil ID or car registration are about to expire among other things.

The subscription fee is KD1 and then it’s 40fils per SMS. If you want to sign up click [Here]

Thanks Fahed




Categories
Food & Drinks Information Kuwait

Menus Restaurant Complex

The Menus Complex is located in Abu Halifa and by the looks of it will be opening pretty soon. As of now the complex will house the following restaurants:

Ribs and Rumps
Elevation Burger
Zaatar w Zeit
Lorenzo
Millions of Milkshakes
Nestle Toll House
Stone Grill
Dip n Dip

The first restaurant that will be opening at the complex is Elevation Burger (pictured above) and they’ll be opening this coming Tuesday. Compared to Spoons this complex seems to have more parking space and less traffic in the general vicinity so that should make it more convenient. Menus is located right after Hilton (if Hilton is on your right hand side). Here is the location on [Google Maps]




Categories
Activities Animals & Wildlife Kuwait Things to do

A day at the Kuwait Camel Race Track

Yesterday me and some friends headed to the Kuwait Camel Race Club in Kabd. I had never been to a camel race before and when my friend proposed it I figured it would be something exciting to do on a quiet Saturday afternoon. My friend got in contact with a person at the track so when we got there we had a guide waiting for us.

[YouTube]

The guide got into the car with us and took us past the security gate into the center of the race track where the camel owners drive alongside their camels during the race. The Kuwait Camel Club no longer use human jockeys but instead use robotic ones due to the controversial child jockey problems faced in the past. During the race the camel owners drive down the track alongside their camels controlling their robot jockeys with wireless controllers. The guide made me tune into 93.1mhz on the FM radio because there was a live broadcast of the actual race so we could follow it that way. You could watch the short video above to get a feel of the view from inside the car. During the start of every race all the cars drive to the starting line where the owners make last checks on their camels. The camels don’t start in front of the spectators stand but 3KM away from the finish line. Once the camels are ready they are lined up and the race begins. The cars drive alongside the camels all the way to the finish line and then the cars drive back to the starting line to check on the other set of camels. We did this maybe five or six times until all the races had been finished and then we drove back to the spectator stands.

There was a black tent near the track where the winner was given his prize. Afterwards we were invited to some dates with camel butter and camel milk. The butter was absolutely delicious and even the milk didn’t taste bad at all, kinda like something between buttermilk and laban.

If you’re interested in visiting the tracks to watch a race it’s very easy to find and do. Take the 6th Ring Road and if 360 Mall is on your right keep heading straight past the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. Keep driving until you pass the new Kuwait University campus on your left (currently just hills and hills of sand surrounded by hoarding) and then after that in a bit you’ll see a sign for the 604 exit. Once you take the exit stop at the traffic light and then take a left and pass under the bridge. Then keep driving straight until you get to a roundabout, drive straight past that roundabout and keep driving until you get to a second roundabout. Once again pass that roundabout and keep driving until you hit the third roundabout. At the third roundabout go left and then head all the way till the end of the road. Once your read the end go right until you get to the end of the road again and you’ll spot the Kuwait Camel Club on your left. The whole ride shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes. There is no entrance fee and races are held every Saturday from 2:30pm between October and April. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

UPDATE: I posted an updated guide, 2021 edition which you can check here.




Categories
Activities Interesting Kuwait

House of Mirrors


Lidia al-Qattan explaining the Big Bang Room

I’ve being thinking about this post for the past few days trying to figure out what I was going to write exactly. The place turned out to be such a cool and surreal experience that I just couldn’t figure out where to start or how to say what I wanted to say. In the end I decided that I’ll be brief and not go into details so that you go there with no expectations other than having a good time.


Me posing outside the house with @kuzmoz

Last week a friend asked me if I wanted to join them on a tour of the House of Mirrors and since I had never been I decided to join them. The House of Mirrors belongs to Lidia al-Qattan, the widow of Khalifa al-Qattan, a renowned Kuwaiti artist. She started decorating one small wall with mirrors and through time more and more walls were decorated until the whole house inside and out was covered with mirrors.


The reception area with munchies

As I said, I’m not going to go into details because I don’t want to ruin the experience for you but simply put Lidia is such an amazing person. We were expecting the tour of the house to take around 30 minutes but it took us 3 hours and the 3 hours literally flew by. She was such an incredible host full of stories and the whole experience was seriously pretty trippy.

If you’ve never been to the House of Mirrors you should and when you do make sure you go with a bunch of friends since its an experience that should be shared. The cost of the tour is KD2 per person on weekdays and KD3 on weekends. The location of the house Street 94 Qadisiya, House 17 Block 9. You need to call ahead and make an appointed on this number 22518522.




Categories
Information Internet Kuwait

Kuwait didn’t request any user data from Twitter

Twitter updated their 2012 user information request page and it turns out Kuwait did not request any data about any local users from Twitter last year. Actually the only Arab country to request user information was surprisingly Qatar. Check out the full list [Here]

via @Nibaq