2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

This has to be the most bizarre story to come out so far this year. I first heard about it a couple of days ago but then yesterday Associated Press published the story and so got picked up by the international media.

An Egyptian expat posted a video on TikTok during the dust storm last week complaining about the weather. That video caused him to get arrested and legal action will be taken against him. Arrested over a video complaining about the dust storm!

I just watched the video and can’t figure out what in it would cause him to get arrested. There isn’t anything in the video that should get him in trouble, the worst thing the guy said is that it was a shitty morning. I’m not gonna embed the video here because I don’t know anymore what can get someone arrested or deported, but here is a link to it, it’s still up on his TikTok account @ahmed_krombo. The guy seems like a chill dude based on his tiktok videos so whats going on? Why all this drama? I’m so confused.

I found this old aerial photo of Kuwait taken in 1960 but I can’t figure out where that area is today. There are some major clues to help, the school on the bottom, the mosque across the street and what looks like another school behind the mosque.

All three structures should still be standing today but I couldn’t find a similar combo on Google Maps. If you’re bored and looking for something to kill time with today, help me find the location! Here is a link to the super high res copy of the image.

Update: With the help of a reader it looks like we might have found the location and it seems to be Farwaniya. Here is the link to the mosque on Google Maps and I’ve taken a screenshot of the map and rotated it to match the direction of the original photop=. I also highlighted all the similar areas that existed in the original photo and that still exist today. The old huts/shacks in the background of the original image look to be what today is Ishbilia and Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

Image Source

The Kuwait Boy Scouts have been around since 1935 and officially became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1955. On their website they have a section that contains old black and white photos from back in the 60s and 70s but with no caption or specific date mentioned under the photos. Still, they’re worth checking out if you’re curious and like old photos of Kuwait. Here is the link.

I also found an old AP video shot in 1960 at a scouts camp in Kuwait where they were preparing for a visit by H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak. The video has no audio but is surprisingly great quality so check it out as well.

Bonus: Their Facebook account contains a few more photos including ones of the Kuwait Girl Guides which was founded in 1957. Their photo album is completely unorganized though so you go to scroll to a lot of random stuff to find them. Here is the link.

Thanks Maha

Does anybody remember these? The ad above is from a 1992 newspaper but I remember these bottle cap rewards from the 80s.

Yesterday I dropped by the pet store Zue to check out their indoor park. Zue opened around a year ago but due to the pandemic, they had to scale things back a bit. But now they’re fully open and I think it’s such a beautiful place for dogs.

When you first walk into Zue you walk into their shop front which has a nice-looking cafe on the far right. They sell pet food and accessories for dogs and cats only and if you continue to walk into the space further, you end up at the grooming section which is fairly large and divided into two rooms, one room for small pets and the other one for large ones. The whole section is surrounded by windows that overlook the Zue park and benches for customers to sit on while waiting.

The park is why I was there, I had seen pictures on Instagram and wanted to check it out myself. It’s divided into two floors, the ground floor for large dogs and the top floor for smaller dogs. The top floor also has an area to rent out for birthday parties and when I passed by yesterday they were getting the area set up for one. The dog park is pretty huge for an indoor one and has fake hills and grass, water pools as well as obstacles and tunnels for the dogs to play with. There were large windows on the roof that let in bright sunlight and if I had a dog I’m sure he would have loved playing there especially with other dogs.

I really like the idea of the indoor park especially with how hot it gets here during the summer and also because of the lack of places dogs can go to socialize with other dogs. Accessing the park requires a membership fee which is 75KD a month for a large dog, and 60KD for a small dog. The price doesn’t increase much if you have more than one dog, for example, the membership for 2 large dogs is 90KD a month and two small dogs is 75KD a month. The membership gives you 30 hours of access a month and you’re allowed to bring one guest with you.

If you want to check the place out here is their location on Google Maps, also make sure you check them out on Instagram @zue.kw

I spotted a compact electric composter a few days ago at a small business and it looked really practical. It was an Oklin GG-02 and I hadn’t seen one similar before so decided to track down the dealer to find out more about the unit so I could post about it.

A compost bin is a container into which you place organic waste to turn into very rich plant nutrients. You would throw in your leftover food, your coffee pucks, fruit peels, etc and with time it would get converted into compost which you could then use in your garden or your house plants.

I had only ever seen regular compost bins, ones that are just plastic or wooden boxes you put in the garden and fill in with waste. But what caught my interest with this Oklin unit was that it was electrically powered. The Oklin is a home appliance, you could place it in the kitchen, on a balcony or anywhere you want and just keep it plugged in. Whenever you have organic waste you just empty it into the Oklin and in just 24 hours it would convert it into compost. It can convert up to 4KG a day which should be more than enough to handle a large household.

If you’re interested in composting and looking for an easy quick solution I can’t think of anything more practical than this. The price is KD350 and the dealer is Advanced Technology Company. They don’t have a storefront so to enquire on the Oklin you could call or Whatsapp Zahra on 99912663, or email her at [email protected]

Update: The dealer for the product is now TP Green and the price has increased from KD350 to KD385. But on the bright side, they have a website which you could order the Compost and other green items from which you can check out https://tpgreen.shop

Yesterday I was driving by the Abdullah Salem Cultural Center and it was PACKED. There were cars backed up all the way outside the museum entrance, a scene I hadn’t seen since the museum first opened. That reminded me that I should probably post about the fact that museums are finally reopening again! If you’re looking for something to do, below is a list of my favorite museums and their current opening hours:

Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
They’re open from 10AM to 8PM with the last admission at 7PM.
Fridays they only open from 2PM to 8PM and Sundays they’re closed.
You can find photos and information on the museum here.

Bait Al Othman Museum
They’re open daily from 9AM to 1PM and then evenings from 4PM to 8PM.
Fridays they only open in the evenings.
You can find photos and information on the museum here.

Tareq Rajab Museum
They’re open daily from 9AM to 1PM and then from 4:30PM to 8:30PM
You can find photos and information on the museum here.

Al-Salam Palace Museum
One museum I think a lot of people are interested in visiting is the Al-Salam Palace Museum. That museum was set to open just as the pandemic hit. Their Instagram says they’re opening soon but they haven’t mentioned a date. A friend of mine who had previously booked a tour before the pandemic hit got a call recently though to set up a new date so I think right now they might be going through the backlog of people who had booked early last year. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the museum before they opened and you can check that post out here.

Update: Due to high demand, ASCC now opens from 10AM instead of 2PM.

Yesterday I read a story about a guy who drove his 1982 Mitsubishi Galant from Kuwait to Delhi, India during the 1990 invasion. The family still owns the car today and the son is now trying to restore it. If that wasn’t interesting enough, there is a similar story of another guy who drove his 1984 Mitsubishi Galant from Kuwait but to Kerala, India, and also still has his car today. Both cars seem to be the same color and they both might have been in the same convoy of cars that left Kuwait to India by road during the escape.

The journey from Kuwait to India took around 110 days and involved driving through Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan before finally reaching India.

You can read the story on the 1982 Galant journey here.
You can read the story on the 1984 Galant journey here.

The 1984 Galant and the owner Mathunny Mathew seem to have gotten more coverage online. There is a video interview with the owner on YouTube but it’s in Malayalam so I couldn’t watch it. But, there is another very cool video on YouTube where the Petrolhead Motor Garage guys attempt to start the car. It’s not in English but there is very little talking, it’s mostly them taking apart the engine to try and start the car which is a total rust bucket. It’s a chill video and I’ve embedded it above.

I love stories like this so if you know of anymore, let me know!

Thanks Fahad

I have Snapchat on my phone but I barely ever use it. In fact, I realized the other day that whenever I do use Snapchat it’s for checking out fires. Snapchat has this cool feature that allows you to look at a map of Kuwait and then click on an area to see Snaps taken there. So want to check out the parties on Kubbar on the weekend? Just click on Kubbar, want to see if the Marina Mall to Scientific Center walkway is busy? Click on any part of that walkway. It’s a great feature I wish Instagram had. Firefighters tend to use Snapchat a lot, even during an active fire so whenever there is a big fire somewhere, I just find the location on Snapchat and then check out all the videos they’ve taken.

On Saturday morning for example as I was heading towards Avenues when I noticed a large plume of smoke coming from Shuwaikh. The first thing I did when I parked was to check out Snaps from that area. I ended up finding videos taken by Snapchat users of what looked like a warehouse that caught fire, but the firefighters had still not arrived by then. So I checked back again later in the day by then there were a whole bunch of videos taken by the firefighters that ranged from videos of their colleagues working on putting out the fire, to videos of them during rest breaks. One firefighter even filmed a petty cool and creepy-looking walkthrough of the warehouse after the fire had been put out that had a very Silent Hill vibe because he was walking around in complete darkness which just the flashlight lighting up different spots.

So if like me you like watching behind-the-scenes footage of fires, I guess kinda like a firefighters mini reality show, next time you see a large plume of smoke in the distance or hear about a large fire that took place, just open up Snapchat.

A few years ago I scanned and uploaded a Kuwait TV Guide issue from back in 1989. Back then we didn’t have satellite channels just regular UHF and VHF stations with the English one being KTV2. If the weather was humid, we used to get Saudi Channel 2 and Dubai Channel 33 sometimes but we mostly survived on KTV2 and video rentals.

But after the 1990 invasion, we started to get access to satellite television. I remember we had around 8 satellite channels with the main English one being Star Plus. A few weeks ago I found a 1994 and 1995 copy of the TV Guide and I decided I’d scan the 1994 one. It’s got the KTV2 guide as well as Star Plus, Prime Sports, Zee TV, Star TV Music and the CNN and BBC guide. I also added a bonus Showbiz ad that was in the Arabic section.

If you want to flip through the PDF or download it then click here.

Last week I think I had the best brownies I’ve ever had. They were Sea-Salt brownies from The Big Bad Brownie and they weren’t overly sweet at all. I can’t remember the last time I posted about a dessert I liked so you know it must be good. They have different kinds of brownie flavors but I only tried the Sea-Salt which costs 12.5KD for the tray. The only negative really is that you need to preorder at least 24 hours ahead of time so sadly (or thankfully) no impulse ordering. Check them out on Instagram @thebigbadbrownie

This is a follow-up post to one from last year where I posted about how PayPal started allowing users in Kuwait to withdraw money. I got an error back then when trying to withdraw and so did a lot of people, but yesterday I had some money on my PayPal and decided to try and withdraw it and it worked!

It was also pretty instant, less than a minute after requesting the refund with PayPal I started getting messages from my bank NBK saying that a refund is being processed and then a minute later got confirmation that the amount was in my account.

So if you’ve previously tried withdrawing money from PayPal and it didn’t work, try now.

Over the weekend the government announced that starting June 27th, only those who’ve been vaccinated will be able to dine at restaurants, visit large malls, go to the gym or visit the hair salon. Obviously, the reason behind this decision is to push people to get vaccinated, but many expat residents have signed up to get vaccinated since December and have yet to get an appointment. I think so at least because I still get comments on older posts of people complaining they registered in December or January and have still not gotten an appointment.

Seems pretty unfair so here is a quick poll to get a rough idea of how long people have been waiting for their appointment:

[poll id=”17″]

A lot of you might have noticed some issues in the food industry over the past year or so. Maybe your food is taking longer to arrive, maybe you’ve noticed more errors with your orders, or maybe you no longer see your favorite staff at a restaurant anymore. What a lot of people might not know is that the local restaurant industry is currently going through a crisis and here is why:

When the pandemic hit last year, restaurants were forced to shut down so a lot of staff left the country and a lot got fired and left as well.

When Covid restrictions were eased and restaurants started to reopen, many had fired their employees and needed to rehire. But, no new employees could be brought into Kuwait, and old employees with valid visas couldn’t come back to Kuwait either.

This caused a major scarcity of employees and meant that whatever employees were left in Kuwait were now much more valuable.

One large company for example started offering double the salaries to poach employees from other smaller companies. A lot of employees also started jumping ship to any restaurant that offered them more money causing high turnovers in the industry.

Many businesses couldn’t afford to pay the new higher salaries or even if they could, couldn’t find the right staff or the number of staff they needed. So a lot are currently understaffed and some companies are being forced to temporarily (or permanently) close some of their weaker performing locations or concepts so that they can move their staff to their more successful ones.

A lot of restaurants went out of business over the past year because of the pandemic and it’s sad. The above are just some of the issues from the restaurants’ side but delivery platforms also have their own set of issues as well.

Platforms have fewer drivers due to many leaving but also have more orders than before due to people being home more. The result is slower delivery times and slower customer service.

I know nobody wants to get their food cold or find pickles in their burger when they specifically asked for no pickles. But hopefully, this post explains why things aren’t perfect right now, and people can be a bit more patient with restaurants and delivery drivers.

Last year when I asked for recommendations on favorite shawerma places, nobody mentioned Ebn 3my but it’s recently become my favorite place.

I think what I like about them the most is the bread they use. It’s freshly baked and similar to Shakir except it’s smaller and slightly fluffier. I only have the chicken shawerma and their garlic is also pretty on point. Because of the smaller unusual size I tend to have 4 shawermas although sometimes I could do with only 3.

The price of the shawerma is 550fils which is pretty reasonable in this day of age where a lot places are hovering closer to the 1KD mark. They have two locations, one in Jabriya and one in Salmiya according to their Instagram but google maps is showing a location in Sabah Al Salem too so 🤷🏼‍♂️

The only downside is they don’t have juices but other than that they’re great. You can check them out on Instagram @ebn_3my