If you’re bored and looking for a new skill to learn then you might be interested in welding. There is a place in Kuwait called Safety Group that offers welding workshops for both men and women.
The course is for beginners and will give you a background on welding, welding safety, the different kinds of welding techniques, and of course, you get to weld.
It’s a 4-day workshop and costs KD90. It’s in Arabic and if you’re interested check out @q8welder on instagram or get in touch with them on 66644873.
Haraka Center for Movement Arts (HCMA) is a new dance and movement center that just opened up in Shuwaikh. Their classes will focus on ballet, modern, contemporary dance, other dance styles, and movement-based classes.
HCMA is for women of all ages and levels (no classes for men). They started a few days ago and their full upcoming schedule is available on their website harakacenter.com. Drop-in classes are for KD15 while their packages start from KD40. If you’re looking for something to do then check them out, also make sure you follow them on instagram @haraka.center
Buenos Aires and Berlin-based architecture studio Jasper Architects won an international competition to design a hotel located in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert.
The project was inspired by sand dunes and the renderings that have been published look very cool. I’m really curious to where in the desert they’re going to build this since we don’t have sand dunes here, just flat open space.
According to the article, the project is currently in the design phase and is expected to be completed in 2024. For a lot more renderings and details, click here.
One of our company employees has been stuck in the US for months due to the restriction on expats coming into Kuwait and while there she got her vaccination. When the airports reopened she uploaded her vaccination paperwork to the MOH website to be validated but it still hasn’t gotten approved even though it’s been nearly a month.
She ended up missing her flight back to Kuwait so instead, she applied for a Saudi visa online since we have an office there, and in contrast, it took just 3 minutes to get her vaccination validated and visa issued!
Based on the responses under my previous post, I know a lot of you are still waiting for your vaccinations to get approved, but for those of you who already got it approved, how long did you have to wait??
If you’ve ever researched stainless steel flasks or mugs then you’ve most likely come across the Zojirushi brand. They usually top the best vacuum insulated mugs list and their most popular model has over 22,000 ratings and 5 stars on Amazon. I have one and love it, it keeps my coffee hot for hours when I’m on the go and it’s super easy to take apart and clean. I’ve even ordered them for friends because they weren’t available locally but this weekend I noticed True Value now carry the brand.
Their standard and most popular flask sells for around 7.800KD on Amazon without shipping but True Value is selling them for 13.950KD which is double the price. So it’s actually cheaper if you just ordered it online where you get a much larger choice in colors, but at least you now have the option to buy them locally.
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
According to the latest Speedtest Global Index, Kuwait’s 5G speeds ranks 7th fastest in the world but behind neighbouring countries UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Norway had the fastest. According to the index, Kuwait’s 5G speeds average is 338.97 Mbps which sounds about right compared to how fast my 5G is.
When I first got 5G I was averaging 700 Mbps but over the years it’s slowed down to an average of around 200 Mbps for me. To check out the full article, click here.
More and more companies are introducing electric cars and a few months ago Mercedes launched one themselves called the EQS. Unlike other manufacturers, Mercedes is trying to capture the premium electric car market and not the budget end which is an approach I like.
The first thing that caught my attention when Mercedes launched the car was the very futuristic interior. It’s actually why I was excited to check out the car when Mercedes invited me for a sneak peek earlier this week. The EQS is currently in Kuwait as part of its worldwide roadshow and I got to spend a bit of time with it but I didn’t get to drive it.
In-person I didn’t like the front end of the car much but the rear with the long one-piece tail light definitely looked futuristic. But really it’s inside the car that things start getting very cool. The whole front dash looks like one giant screen that starts from the driver’s side and ends on the passenger’s side and the software it’s running is fairly smart and intuitive.
The EQS doesn’t officially ship until later this year and although the official price gets announced next week, the rumor is that it will cost around KD40,000. Since this is an edition one car it’s not going to be available for public viewing while in Kuwait. The car is here for a short while just for private viewing and then will fly back out. For more info on the car though click here.
I don’t post about coffee shops anymore because they’re just too many of them and too much of the same thing but GOODCUP has one cool thing going for it, the location. GOODCUP opened up a couple of weeks back and as soon as I saw photos of the space on social media I really wanted to pass by and check it out.
The coffee shop is located in an old building inside Souk Mubarakia and it’s pretty big with two floors. The coffee shop occupies one part of the ground floor and the rest is divided into smaller spaces that are available to rent to other businesses. As you can imagine and see from the photos, the coffee shop is very instagrammable so most of the people there were there to grab photos and leave since the seating is pretty limited.
Finding the location is easy, just find Freej Swaileh first in Mubarakia (Google Maps). Once you’re standing in front of Freej enter the souk on the right of it (Souk Al Hareem), and then around 20 meters in you’ll find GOODCUP on your right-hand side. They’re also on instagram @goodcupkw
One of the oldest Korean restaurants in Kuwait, Koryokwan is now called Korea Gwan. Don’t know why they changed it, maybe because nobody could remember the name Koryokwan? I know I couldn’t. They also gave the interior a bit of a facelift although I think the new lights are too bright. I didn’t see anything new in the menu though but it’s been given a facelift as well.
On a side note, I just spotted their very old original logo on their instagram account (pictured below) and it looks very familiar. There used to be a Korean restaurant on mezzanine 2 of Salhiya in the 80s and I remember they had a very similar logo outside the restaurant but don’t think they’re the same restaurant.
From what I know, Koryokwan was opened by Mr Kim in 1989, just before the Gulf War. Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea and was then brought to Kuwait by Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to coach the Kuwait boxing team back in 1982.
Mr Kim (in yellow) helped Kuwait win two bronze medals at the Asian games and later helped train the Kuwaiti police and army. After leaving boxing in 1988 he teamed up with Carlton Hotel to open up Koryokwan. In 1991 after the Gulf War he got into a disagreement with Carlton and they split ways. He ended up opening a super trippy hair accessories store while someone else teamed up with Carlton to run Koryokwan. A completely random story which you can read in more detail here.
Korea Gwan is open daily from 10AM to 9:30PM. They’re also on Instagram @koreagwan_kuwait
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.
Yesterday residents who have been stuck outside Kuwait for over 7 months were finally allowed to come back home. Based on the video above it looks like the procedures on arrival is really smooth which is encouraging.
But, a lot of people are facing difficulties either trying to get their vaccination approved by MOH or having difficulty trying to register in the immune app.
If you’re stuck outside of Kuwait and trying to come back in but are facing issues, let us know about them in the comments. Maybe we can help!
Today marks the 31st anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, and every year on the anniversary, I like to share some links related to the war. Here they are:
Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.
Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.
Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set on August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.
The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting classmates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
Politics of War
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)
BBC Documentary: The Last Flight to Kuwait
A series of documentaries on Iraq begins with a look at the fate of British Airways flight BA149 to the Far East in 1990. As the plane landed in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded, capturing its crew and passengers.
The Aafaq bookstore opened up in Avenues around 2 years ago but I never really passed by it because I never came across it. This weekend though I took a wrong turn while looking for another store and ended up right outside Aafaq.
It’s a fairly large store, probably their biggest one taking up two floors. They had English and Arabic books as well as a large selection of children’s books and games.
Finding the store isn’t easy and if you aren’t looking for it I doubt you’ll ever come across it. The easiest way to find Aafaq is heading to the H&M store in Grand Avenues. Go inside H&M and then head upstairs to the mens section and walk out the back of the store. You’ll find Aafaq in that courtyard in the back.
