If you’re looking for a fun activity to do, the Kuwait Bowling Club in Salmiya has reopened again. The bowling alley which is one of the largest in the region with 48 regular bowling lanes and 10 VIP lanes originally opened in the summer of 2019, but then closed down during the pandemic. Now it’s open again but only for those who have been vaccinated.
The price has also gone up slightly, it’s now 3KD per game per person (previously 2KD) while the VIP is 5KD (previously 4KD). Their opening hours are from 8:30AM to 1AM and for more info on the club, check out my previous post here.
Since the weather is getting cooler the Kuwait Offshore Sailing Association (KOSA) is kicking off its new season this weekend. No sailing experience is needed, neither is a boat since the club has various ones which you get assigned to depending on your experience.
If you’re a non-member the cost to sail is KD20. They have three different outings this weekend with limited spots so if you’re interested, go to kosakwt.com
Also follow KOSA on instagram to stay posted on upcoming outings @kosakwt
I’ve previously posted about renting bikes from Extreme Sports on the Gulf Road but there is also an alternative option. Bike Station is another bike rental option on the Gulf Road with two locations, one in the Pearl Marzouq parking lot and the other next to the Kuwait Towers.
Their bikes seem to be in good condition and they charge 3KD for 1 hour or 5KD for 2 hours. If you rent the bike for longer then it’s a flat 2.5KD per hour rate.Because of the summer heat, they’re currently only operating from 6PM to 1AM. For more info check out their instagram @bikestation.kw
There is a new fitness store in Avenues called Befit that recently opened up and they carry a couple of cool brands including Rogue and Concept2. Concept2 rowers have been difficult to come by since the start of the pandemic and when found are usually overpriced so I was pretty surprised to see they were selling them for normal Amazon prices.
On their website, Befit have the Concept2 rower listed for KD443 (with free shipping) but in-store they have it listed for even less at KD427. The store is pretty small so they don’t have a lot of equipment on display but if you’re trying to get your hands on a Concept2 it’s worth passing by. They’re located in the corridor behind the new Adidas store that’s opening in Grand Avenues.
Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Rashidi just won a bronze medal in the Men’s Skeet Shooting competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Abdullah had previously won bronze at the 2016 Rio Games but as an Independent Olympic Athlete. Source
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is currently in progress and below is the schedule of events in which the Kuwaiti participants are taking part in. Sadly the timings of the events are all in the middle of the night for us except for the swimming competition:
July 25 – 3AM to 10AM
Abdullah Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
Mansour Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
July 26 – 3:50AM to 11AM
Abdullah Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
Mansour Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
July 28 – 3:25AM to 10AM
Talal Al-Rashidi – Men’s Trap Shooting
Abdulrahman Al-Faihan – Men’s Trap Shooting
July 29 – 3:50AM to 11AM
Talal Al-Rashidi – Men’s Trap Shooting
Abdulrahman Al-Faihan – Men’s Trap Shooting
July 29 – 1PM to 3:30PM
Abbas Qali – Men’s 100 m Freestyle Swimming
July 30 – 1PM to 3:30PM
Lara Dashti – Women’s 50 m Freestyle Swimming
July 30 – 3AM to 6:30AM
Mudhawi Al-Shammari – Women’s 100 m
August 3 – 1AM to 4AM
Yacoub Alyouha – Men’s 110 m hurdles
August 4 – 4AM to 6:25AM
Yacoub Alyouha – Men’s 110 m hurdles
August 6 – 4AM to 11:45AM
Mohammad Al-Mosawi – Men’s Karate
If you want to watch the Olympics you can do so with BeIN Connect. The price is $5 for a day or $12 for a month and you can get more info on that on the BeIN website.
If you’re looking for an activity to do this Eid how about renting a jet ski? There are a number of places up and down the Gulf Road and they generally all have the same guidelines.
You don’t need any special license to take out a jet ski but you do need to keep your Civil ID with them as collateral and you also have to sign a waiver. Some locations offer lockers to put your stuff in but I would recommend you keep everything in the car anyway and then either leave your keys with them or get a small waterproof pouch to take your keys with you. Most places also have a tap/shower to rinse off the saltwater and sand once you’re done.
The price for an hour of jet ski rental at the location next to TGIF is 25KD an hour but other locations might be cheaper. They also open daily from 9AM to 6PM and don’t require you to be vaccinated.
Ten Kuwaiti athletes will be competing at the Tokyo Olympics due to take place between July 23 and August 8. The athletes are:
Yacoub Alyouha – Men’s 110 m hurdles Mudhawi Al-Shammari – Women’s 100 m Mohammad Al-Mosawi – Men’s Karate Lara Dashti – Women’s 50 m Freestyle Swimming Abbas Qali – Men’s 100 m Freestyle Swimming Abdullah Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting Mansour Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting Abdulrahman Al-Faihan – Men’s Trap Shooting Talal Al-Rashidi – Men’s Trap Shooting Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel – Men’s Single Sculls
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of buzz around the athletes even though there should be. They actually should have plastered them on billboards all around Kuwait similar to how Talabat did with restaurant owners last month.
You can follow the official account of the Kuwait Olympics on Instagram where they’re currently sharing stories of the athletes in Tokyo. @kuwaitolympic
If you’re into MMA then check this out. Kuwaiti fighter Mohammad Alaqraa just got called a beast by UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. I hadn’t heard of Mohammad up until now, his MMA record is currently made up of just 1 win with 0 losses and he seems to be training out of the popular gym AKA. Based on a video Khabib posted it looks like Mohammad was sparring with Khabib’s cousin and must have impressed Khabib. If you end up missing Khabib’s story, here is a screenshot and you can follow Mohammad on Instagram @mo_alaq
Decathlon, the French sporting goods retailer opened their second store in Kuwait at The Avenues Phase I. They’re the third sports shop to open in that very location, GoSports was the first followed by Lillywhites and both ended up closing down. But, Decathlon are doing things a bit differently since they were able to take over some shops on the main side and open up a main entrance there. They now have two entrances, one off to the side where GoSports and Lillywhites had their entrances, and a second new main entrance in the front. This could make a world of a difference to them trafficwise.
The store itself is pretty huge, not as big as their Marina Mall location but I didn’t notice anything that was missing. All the main sections are there just a bit smaller than the Marina location. For some more photos you can check out their post on Instagram here
I love interesting stories about Kuwait and this one is particularly fascinating because I was able to get so much information, photos, and newspaper clippings to go along with it. Last week I got an email from someone telling me that their dad back in 1970 became the first and only Kuwaiti to ever be drafted by the NFL. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in telling the story and obviously, I jumped all over it! I really wanted to know how someone from Kuwait in the 60s ended up in the NFL so I met with his two sons and managed to get the full story.
Back in the 60s, their father Maher Barakat graduated from Shuwaikh High School for boys and received a government scholarship to attend the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. When Maher was in Kuwait he used to play soccer with his friends and family and he was known to be a powerful striker who was accurate and usually scored a lot of goals. It was soccer that got him into the NFL, and it was also soccer that ended his NFL career.
During one of his PE classes in college, Maher was given an opportunity to Punt (kick) a weird-shaped ball into a U-shaped goal. He hadn’t played American Football before but apparently, it was very easy for him to kick the ball as he used to when playing soccer. The coach then asked him to do it again and Maher scored the ball again. The coach then moved him to different points around the field and kept asking Maher to try and score from there and Maher would keep kicking the ball through the posts. After completing the assessment, Maher was given an offer by the coach to join the college football team as their starting punter and Maher accepted the offer.
Though his punting style was unconventional (leaning more towards a soccer kick), Maher Barakat became a star at South Dakota. He ended up breaking college and division records, which is most likely how he was spotted by NFL scouts. Maher became really well known in his college town and earned the nickname Bear-Cat.
Maher was officially drafted by the NFL in 1970 and became the first football player from his college as well as the first Kuwaiti to ever be drafted to the pros. Bear-Cat was approached by a number of NFL teams such as the Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, and St. Louis Cardinals but ended up choosing to sign with the Broncos.
In the summer after signing his NFL contract, Maher Barakat flew back to Kuwait to see his family and share the good news. Once back in Kuwait he was eager to play soccer with his friends just like he used to in the old days and that’s where the story takes a turn. Unfortunately while playing soccer with his friends, Maher ends up fracturing his toe. Even after healing, he couldn’t kick the same anymore and that was the end of his American Football career.
Maher eventually graduated and moved back to Kuwait where he worked in the Ministry of Electricity until the early 80s when he decided to leave to start his own business. He ended up opening what eventually became the popular video store, Blue Belt (حزام أزرق) and held the rights to WWF (now WWE) for the GCC (that needs a whole separate post). In the 90s he also became the partner in IVC, the video store located next to Fanar Mall.
Maher had kept all the newspaper clippings and photos from his college years and his sons passed them to me to share. There were a lot but I chose to share the ones I thought were the most interesting and informative. I’ve shared some in this post but you can download the PDF with all the articles, photos and letters I scanned by clicking this link Maher-Barakat.pdf
There is very little information about Maher online so I really appreciate that his sons decided to share this with me. According to them their dad doesn’t like talking about himself and so very few people know of his story and accomplishment. Hopefully, after today he’ll get the recognition he deserves.
The Khaldiya skatepark has been there since at least 2010 but I just found out about it for some reason. So now there are two skateparks that I am aware of, this one and the Extreme Sports one in Marina Waves.
Are there other ones I don’t know about? Here is the location of the Khaldiya Public Skatepark on Google Maps.
This year’s curfew was completely different from last year’s. I think mostly because there was less fear since we’ve all been dealing with Covid for the past year and are more informed on it, while last year the whole thing was still a mystery.
One thing I noticed this year was how every area had different activities going on like at one point I think Surra had a carnival during curfew. In Salmiya once the cars disappeared everyone came to the old souk where I live and turned the streets to mini badminton courts. I didn’t post about it on my social media or on the blog at that time because I didn’t want to bring it any unwanted attention, but it was so much fun. There were even mini badminton courts drawn in chalk all over the streets. It was kinda like a block party.
Li3ib is an app that allows you to book different sports activities around Kuwait. During regular days you could use the app to book tennis, squash, basketball and volleyball courts, football fields and also rent bicycles. But due to the closure of everything sports at the moment, the only thing available is bicycle rental.
I actually wanted to wait and post about this app once sports stadiums reopened so people can make good use of the app but, because the weather is so good right now I know people will want to take advantage of the bicycle rentals. All you need to do to rent a bike with the app is choose a date and a drop-off time and they’ll deliver the bicycle to you and pick it up again the next day. Renting a bike for 24 hours is KD10 which is really reasonable.
If you’re interested in any of the sports I mentioned above or want to rent a bicycle easily to go out riding this weekend, download the app using this link.
Since the gyms are closed I figured I’d post about Apple Fitness+ and how much I like it. Last month I decided I’d get back into yoga, I used to do it frequently a few years ago and then just stopped and never got back into it. Last year I tried doing yoga while watching a YouTube video and didn’t like the experience, but in September Apple released Fitness+ so I decided to try it out and see if it was any better. To use it you need to have an Apple Watch set up on your phone, I didn’t have an Apple Watch but I had borrowed one from a friend last year to try it out and I guess my phone still thought I had it. I couldn’t get Fitness+ working on Apple TV or my iPad but it was fine on my phone which was ok for now since I could stream from it to my TV. I decided to try a yoga exercise and to my surprise, my experience was great!
I started doing yoga with an instructor called Dustin and I just clicked with his style right away. I liked his pace, I liked his soothing voice and very chill demeanor and I’ve now started doing yoga with him practically on a daily basis. Apple Fitness+ is basically the same thing as watching an exercise video on YouTube except for the fact that it’s organized really well in the app and if you have an Apple Watch, the app connects your heart rate monitor to Fitness+ and you get a data exchange between the two (you can see your data on the TV as well). I really didn’t care for the Apple Watch, not really a fan of it nor do I like collecting data while working out since I tend to become data-obsessed and it ruins things for me (it why I stopped rowing for cardio and why I had stopped riding my bike for a long time). But I really am enjoying Fitness+ a lot. It’s become my go-to now after finishing up my weight lifting at home.
I mentioned at the start how Fitness+ was somehow working for me on my phone because at one point I had an Apple Watch set up on it? Well, that didn’t last long and it started giving me errors and not letting me stream onto my TV. I didn’t want to stop using Fitness+ so I decided to buy an Apple Watch so I could set up Fitness+ properly. Fitness+ requires an Apple Watch Series 3 or above to work so I looked around for a cheap second hand Apple Watch or a cheap brand new one since all I needed it for was Fitness+. In the end, I found out that Xcite in Jleeb had a Series 3 Apple Watch in stock, size 38mm, and selling for KD64.5 with a free additional strap. This was the cheapest new Apple Watch I could find so I ended up picking that up and setting it up with my phone. Now Fitness+ works on all my devices including Apple TV and my iPad. I also picked up a couple of Manduka yoga blocks from Ananda since I’m currently as flexible as a concrete brick.
Fitness+ has a bunch of workouts you can pick from other than yoga including Hiit, core, strength, treadmill, cycling, rowing, dance, and mindful cooldown. You need an Apple Watch to be able to set up Fitness+ the first time but after that, you don’t really need to wear the watch unless you want to know how many calories or monitor other data. In addition to an Apple Watch, Fitness+ costs $9.99 a month but it came included for me with my Apple One premier plan. Yes, you can use YouTube but I tend to like services focused on one thing and Fitness+ makes finding a workout, bookmarking and following a specific trainer all very easy. Plus if you want to track your heart rate and calorie count then the combination of the Apple Watch and Fitness+ works great and you can also get various notifications on your watch like when you’re past the halfway point of the workout or when you’ve achieved a new record.
Since gyms are closed, Fitness+ could be a great alternative especially if you already have an iOS device and an Apple Watch. They have a free trial period so you don’t need to commit to a membership unless you think you’d use the service.
