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Best Leisure Activity in Kuwait 2015 (Adults)

secretgarden

nima

Winner: The Secret Garden
A common refrain you hear from people here, expats and locals alike (no fighting, children), is that “there’s nothing to do here.”

Common Mack! Sure there is!

Why, you could perhaps go to the airport and GTFO AND GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM! Or you know…take a vacation. I personally love Kuwait’s locale. You could literally go anywhere from here. Go somewhere new! Try the local food! And in general, you could be less of a bitch. We have more holidays a year than anyone and centrality to use it to experience something new.

But what do you do when you’re between vacations?

The Secret Garden Project.
The instagram account @mimikuwait is how I found out about these entertaining events. She’s a force of good, tenacious and talented. The project hosts weekly events a few times a year during the cooler months when people stop bitching about how hot or dusty it is, and start bitching about how cold and dusty it is during those few minutes between being inside a severely over-air conditioned building and a severely over-air conditioned car. The mini-market is located at a tiny park off Baghdad street. Lots of good food, like the gentlemen who re-karaked chai karak and the merchant prince of smoked ribs, Roc. It’s a swell place to take your spouse or the girl who somehow responded positively to you yelling at her from you car (please don’t have children). It’s also a good place place to bring the kiddies for some fun activities that don’t require them rubbing their disgusting fingers all over the phone you put next to your face 20 times a day. It’s the kind of place women walk around repeatedly saying the word ‘cute’ incessantly. kinda like…

Runner up: Qout Market
For personal reasons, I couldn’t make most of the early Qout Markets this year (I had nothing to wear). But the ones I visited had the same elements it did last year: great atmosphere, great food, and lots of random small stands selling everything from jams to t-shirts. My only reservation is how people going to Qout overdress. Last time I felt compelled, as I often do, to make a statement by overdressing just. that. little. bit. more. Some of you may have seen me in the final Qout Market of the year.

nima
Photo by Hind Al-Awadi

The gauntlet has been thrown ladies and gentlemen, do you accept the challenge?

mark

Winner: The Secret Garden
During the cooler seasons if you ever want to know where to find me on a Saturday morning, it’s usually at The Secret Garden. The Secret Garden is a small park right off Baghdad Street in Salmiya that was turned into a community garden by the talented chef Mimi. Every so often she invites a bunch of other talented chefs and together they hold a brunch or dinner at the park. It’s a very chill atmosphere with picnic tables spread all about, good music playing and a lot of interesting people all around. It’s a great social event and a great way to spend Saturday mornings. If you haven’t been to a brunch or dinner yet at the park then make sure you do, whenever there is one taking place I tend to post it with the “Things to do this Weekend” list so keep an eye out for it or just follow Mimi [Here]

Runner up: Madeenah Tour
The Madeenah Tour is another activity that takes place during the cooler months of the year since it usually involves a lot of out door walking. Once a week Madeenah takes a group of people on an educational and informative tour around a specific area with historical or current significance. They tend to stay off the beaten path so you’re always bound to discover something new. Like with The Secret Garden, whenever there is a tour taking place I list it under the weekly weekend activities list but you could also follow them yourself and find out directly from [Here]

15 replies on “Best Leisure Activity in Kuwait 2015 (Adults)”

A hipster that looks like he just came off the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn, in Kuwait. Now I’ve seen everything.

I wish there was a way to know all of the booths that would be at qout, so I can figure out if it’s worth going to or not.

I think you mean “I wish Nima would stop writing.”
Because I’m pretty he can. He just won’t.

Teehee

Kuwait is a big foodie country – love that you have Madeenah in there! How about another Liesure Award thats not food related since Secret Garden and Qout are primarily food… ??!!

Good call Nads! Next time hopefully.

One thing I really enjoyed this year was the architectural walking tours hosted by Ricardo Camacho. I went to one in Hawally and I had a great time.

If i remember correctly Dana Jouder hosted one through…kuwait city? bneid al gar? I can’t remember as i was out of town. But they’re a great time, educational and great when the weather is nice.

You learn to actually look at some of the buildings you’ve driven past day after day, year after year.

the markets in kuwait are beyond ridiculous. Markets, as i understand them in other countries. are supposed to be places where people from different backgrounds can mingle and offer wares. Sure some of them are expensive but some aren’t – they’re supposed to be laid back places. Kuwait has somehow injected pretention, high prices and anally retentive individuals in both the organisation of and the attending of these markets.

I concur wholeheartedly! A lot of people do. When you go to a farmers market on the West Coast where they’re especially popular, you see people from all walks of life. Here, it’s typically people of a certain mindset and they’re not that pleasant. Oh hell, I’ll just say it, they’re tools.

The Middle East, as a whole, has a way of infiltrating anything that the white man propagates and ruining it. People should not blame colonialism, India isn’t like that at all.

I still go though. It’s got a huge variety of delicious organic and gluten-free (I got a disease that doesn’t allow gluten so back off vicious people) products that I purchase.

You need to come too! And bring all your friends. You all can help balance the place out. To be fair, Qout is becoming more & more diverse which is a great thing.

Nima, challenge accepted! I am a gentleman dandy at heart but every time I dress up I realize I have nowhere to go dressed like that, and end up changing back to my preppy uniform.

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