Category: Videos

There is a guy on YouTube called hero_ kw who has been compiling videos of Kuwait Police chases and releasing them as compilations. As of this post, he’s got 8 compilations uploaded that are a mixture of new and old footage stitched together. What I find interesting about the videos is that most of them are taken from inside the car of the getaway drivers. Most of the time when you watch police chases they’re from the perspective of the cops, so it’s interesting watching videos from the perspective of the getaway drivers. But, his compilations also include videos from the cops perspective as well as some traffic cam footage.

If like me you’re into amateur footage of cop chases, here are the links to the 8 parts:
Kuwait Police Chase Video 1
Kuwait Police Chase Video 2
Kuwait Police Chase Video 3
Kuwait Police Chase Video 4
Kuwait Police Chase Video 5
Kuwait Police Chase Video 6
Kuwait Police Chase Video 7
Kuwait Police Chase Video 8

To stay posted on newer videos you can Subscribe to him on YouTube or follow his Kuwait Police Chase Video playlist.

I know it feels weird talking about Kuwait Airways and plane interiors when most of us aren’t planning to travel any time soon (or at least until the 2-week quarantine on arrival rule is removed) but, around a week ago, Kuwait Airways took delivery of the world’s first Airbus A330-800.

This is a brand new plane built from scratch for Kuwait Airways and can accommodate 235 passengers, 203 in Economy Class, and 32 in Business Class. The interior is as current as you can get and the Kuwait Airways Business Class finally looks competitive. Check out the interior yourself in the video above.

The General Dept of Traffic instagram account @traffic_kw should really be turned into a series of some sort like the show COPS. They’re very active and constantly posting videos of cars usually racing or drifting and then pictures of the cars impounded. In some of their videos, they’ve even had footage from inside the cop cars chasing people and it’s all pretty entertaining to watch.

If there is one government Instagram account to follow this would be it. So if you haven’t checked it out click here.

Note: They’ve got similar videos on their YouTube channel as well but their Instagram videos seem higher resolution. Link

If you’re looking for a new fun Instagram account to follow then you should check out the office gang @eatingintheoffice. I just started following them a couple of days back and loving the account so far. They’re an odd bunch and their videos of them eating are super cute. 100% wholesome goodness.

They only launched a week ago but they already have a ton of content up so check them out @eatingintheoffice

A lot of people dislike TikTok and I think it’s because they associate it with just videos of people dancing to cheesy music. I actually love TikTok to the point I avoid it because once I start watching videos I don’t stop until I start running out of battery. It’s pretty addictive, fun, and can also be informative. During the Mahboula lockdown for example I started following a few low-income workers who were living there and they basically were providing me with their point of view on how life was there during the lockdown. During the US riots recently TikTok was providing me with on the ground footage of what was happening there. But I also follow some completely stupid shit but that’s what makes TikTok so great, it’s whatever you want it to be.

My account is just filled with so much random (not even curated) stuff from various people living around Kuwait it’s become super entertaining especially now that TikTok knows what I like and so shows me more of the same. I tried to put together a list of some interesting accounts I follow and below are a few of them:

@sadiqleader – An employee at Jawad AlSaffar. It’s exactly what I’d expect their TikTok to be except it’s his personal account and it’s in Indian.

@fahad9881 – A firefighter, posts videos of various fires he’s fighting as well as cute animal rescue videos.

@in_ga_me – A Ukrainian female motorbiker living in Kuwait. The account is of her and her Honda CBR cruising up and down the Gulf Road.

@kuwaitrescueteam1 – Account of a local rescue team and it’s mostly videos of them getting cars unstuck from sand.

@_7xvo – The account of a Al Qabas newspaper journalist, was pretty useful during the lockdown.

@gooshbaker – Guy posts videos of interesting places around Kuwait. Kinda like a blog but tiktok.

@x_dexter_x1 – This is an account of a Syria guy living in Kuwait who re-engineers everyday appliances or electronics but using random bits and pieces of scrap. Kinda like science projects.

@alsarheed82 – Account of a shawarma place owner, he posts videos of his shawarma.

@shahibwtayb – A odd old guy with a super long white beard who drives a bright green Camero and never wears the same sunglasses or hats twice.

@ismayeelrana – This guy is an employee at Alsarraf Motors and posts videos of the cars they have as well as of him driving them around like they’re his.

@amorsisilin – Probably the most popular account I follow and also the most tiktokish. Belongs to a 24-year-old Kuwaiti hybrid and the videos originally were mostly of her dancing to music around my neighborhood, but now it’s mostly just dancing with her friends in different places.

@venudancer..kuwait – Lots of super cheesy skits, so cheesy and lame to the point they become good. Stuff that’s so bad you save the video to show your friends. It’s in Indian (I think) with lots of terrible acting. It’s great.

If you have interesting/weird/fun local TikTok accounts I should follow, let me know in the comments.

So this is a bit of a bizarre coincidence. I don’t remember what I was doing but over the weekend I stumbled upon an article about Dalal, the elephant that survived a bullet wound and abuse by the Iraqi soldiers during the 1990 invasion.

Then, randomly today, a friend mine who works at the zoo messaged me so I decided to ask her if she knew how the elephant and other animals survived during the 1990 war. She told me it was because of two brothers and then sent me a link to a short film called “Aziza” that came out yesterday and is based on the story of the two brothers. You can watch the video above.

March 1991. Starved lions in their cage at the Kuwait City Zoo. Photo by Steve McCurry

Ali Mubarak Al-Hohti, was a 35-year-old sanitation department inspector, and his brother Suleiman, 30 was a motorcycle policeman. During the war they took care of the animals at the zoo and they called the elephant Aziza (not knowing her real name). The short film which I’ve embedded on top is in Arabic but there is a great article on the New York Times on the two brothers which you can read here.

March 1991. A loose hippo at the Kuwait City Zoo. Photo by Steve McCurry

Just one quick note, I haven’t watched the film yet but will being doing so later tonight. But, if like me you are worried there might be scenes of animal cruelty, I’ve been assured the film doesn’t contain any. So it’s safe to watch.

Thanks Tammy!

My cousin used to go to Al-Jamil but I had no idea it was that old. I actually just googled it and found out it originally opened back in 1960! This is from Wikipedia:

Al-Jamil Private School, Salmya was created in 1960 by a partnership including its first principal, Khawla Rizk, a Lebanese woman who was residing in Kuwait at the time. Al-Jamil started out as a private school in a hangar belonging to the Caterpillar, Inc. dealership in Surra, now a suburb of Kuwait City. In the late 70’s the school had nearly 1200 students in 1st through 12th grade. It produced some of the top students at the national level. In 1980 three of the top 10 national secondary school certificate list came from Al Jamil. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991, the Surra school campus became deserted and was later relocated to Maydan Hawalli. The old campus still remains deserted a reminder and a standing testimony to the damage caused by the tyrant of Iraq.

Does anyone have any footage from Sunshine School between 1980-1990? If you do, let me know I’ll help you digitize it.

This fire took place late last night so there isn’t much info out on it yet. I did find one article this morning saying it was extinguished but based on snapchat video below shot by a firefighter at around 7:45AM, it looks like the fire still hasn’t been put out.

A short video recorded back in 1988 showing various parts of Kuwait including the now-demolished Al Salam Building, Souk Mubarakiya, the stock exchange and Sultan Center (which looked a lot better than it does today). If you want to check out other videos recorded back in 1988 including one of ASK, click here.

via Reddit

It’s starting to look like one of those abandoned Soviet parks. On the bright side, they’re building a new Entertainment City soon in its place although as a nostalgic person I just wish they keep the park as is and just refurbish it.

Thanks Alex

I got the email below from a reader who used to live in Kuwait back in the 50s. Not sure how I never came across the video above myself!

Ahmadi In the 50s
I moved out there in 49 and went to the Anglo American school as did my sister Vivienne, In 54 I was sent to school in England and returned every summer to Kuwait on the lollypop Special flights. Most of the Holiday was spent at the Hubara Club around the pool and I remember going to the outdoor cinema with just a chair on the sand.

My last visit was in 1966 with a friend from the uk and I took some movie pictures of my time out there, this has been on Utube for some time under the title “Holiday in Kuwait 1966” which some of you may find interesting enjoy

– Nigel Horner

This happens every year but no idea why it was more severe yesterday.

Spotted this in Dubai over the weekend. It’s an autonomous vehicle that just drives around until someone waves at it and then it stops. Once it stops you can then buy water and snacks from it.

I have a series of old posts called “Life in Kuwait back in the 1950s” that still attracts some of the most amazing comments today by people who used to live in Ahmadi in the 50s. I’ve even previously posted about how a bunch of kids who grew up in Ahmadi together were able to reconnect after 60 years in the comments of one of these posts and now someone left another very interesting comment. Mike Green grew up in Kuwait in the early 50s and he converted some of his parents old 8mm film to digital and uploaded the footage to youtube. Below is his story along with the videos:

My Dad (Cliff Green) arrived in Kuwait in 1953, and the rest of the family left rainy Manchester in a Dakota the following year. My final time in Ahmadi was 1968 when I started work in the UK, and Dad left in 1971. I have converted some old Standard 8 film to digital and that along with some interspersed photos and modern film I have posted on YouTube.

Many of the “second generation” along with now very few older generation meet each year for an Ahmadi reunion which has been running now for nearly 50 years. In 2010 my sister and I visited Ahmadi on our way to Dubai and it was very strange to see the old haunts still there but there have been many changes to the housing (etc).

The Hubara Club has been renovated but there are still some remnants of the old days which were not destroyed during the invasion. Particularly (and how strange is this memory) the power socket on the outdoor stage is still the same one I used back in 1966 with Chris & Glyn Gustar, and Kerry Scott as our “holiday band” got into full swing – supporting, if I remember “The Twisters” I must consider putting down on paper more of the life we had as “privileged kids” during the 1950’s and early 60’s.

I spend more time on YouTube than I do Netflix which is why when YouTube launched their Premium ad-free service a few years ago in the US, I signed up to it right away. The cost was $9.99 a month and it was worth it since it meant I no longer had to watch long ads before and in the middle of my videos.

But last week YouTube Premium became available in Kuwait and for a cheaper price! YouTube Premium costs $5.99 if you live in Kuwait and a family account for 5 people costs just $8.99. So this morning I canceled my YouTube Premium on my US YouTube account and signed up to it again from my Kuwait YouTube account. $5.99 is a really good price if you hate all those YouTube ads.

If you want to sign up to Premium then click here.

via Reddit