2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

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.

Layla is a new Lebanese gourmet grocery store that opened up in Salmiya opposite Marks & Spencer. They carry a lot of imported Lebanese products ranging from Bonjous and Master Chips (Lebanese equivalent to Sunkist and Kitco), to Lebanese dairy products, fruits, bread, pickles and more.

It’s actually very similar to the other Lebanese store Lama, except instead of the Lama branded products Layla carries their own brand. If you want to check the place out they’re on Instagram @laylalbkw and here is their location on Google Maps.

Ora, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants opened up in Avenues a couple of weeks ago. The new location is called Ora Blu and it’s a much smaller space than the main Ora with a similar but also smaller menu.

They’re located in Phase 4 near Arabica and it’s walk-ins only so no reservations needed. If you want to check out their menu click here.

A couple of years ago I got my Wizr t-shirt printed in Dubai. I had it done on a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer which is basically an inkjet printer that prints directly onto fabric. Compared to the usual heat transfer prints, DTG prints look a lot better, as if the t-shirt was store-bought.

Back then I had asked if there were similar services in Kuwait and I got a few recommendations. Sadly most of them seem to have shut down last year due to the pandemic. But, I did eventually find one place that was still active called Inkservice. They’re a print shop with various locations around Kuwait but their DTG service is located at their Shuhada Co-op branch. I had an old Rambo advert printed on one of my white t-shirts and it came out perfect so I’m going back to print some more things.

The cost is 4.5KD if you provide a t-shirt and 6.5KD if they provide one. If you’re looking for a place to print on t-shirts check these guys out. It takes a few minutes to print so you can wait there till it’s done. They’re on instagram @inkservice and here is their location on Google Maps.

Is it me or does anyone else find it weird that the first activity listed on the Kuwait Tourism website are the smart toilets? It’s even more apparent on mobile phones since the first activity that comes up when scrolling down are the toilets.

This is some completely random info to wake up to but I just found out that Freddie Highmore, the star of the popular TV series Bates Motel and The Good Doctor at one point was living in Kuwait and interning at Gulf Bank. I thought the info was made up but it’s mentioned on IMDB in the trivia section and there is a photo of him at Slider Station.

If you don’t know Freddie as an adult then you might recognize him as Charlie from Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well as playing Peter in Finding Neverland.

Mind blown!

Thanks forzaq8

There is a Turkish restaurant in Avenues called Seyami Usta that now accepts cryptocurrency as a means of payment. They’re the first local business I’m aware of that accepts cryptocurrency and it’s odd that it’s a restaurant and a Turkish one at that. Payment is done through Binance Pay and is only available at their Avenues location.

If you’ve been there and paid with crypto, let us know how your experience went.

Thanks abalawadhi

@thedodo, the super popular animal stories and animal rights instagram account just posted a video of puppies in Kuwait that were rescued by @raf.kw. It’s a feel good video and in just 4 hours already gotten 800,000 views. Watch the video above and make sure you visit and support @raf.kw

Thanks Basmah

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

Sheraton Hotel in Kuwait was the first Sheraton to open outside of North America. It opened up in 1966 and I’ve always had a connection to it due to the fact my family used to have lunch there every Friday when I was a kid in the 80s. Sadly like all nostalgic places in Kuwait, they eventually get demolished or they get an ugly facelift. In Sheraton’s case, it’s the latter. I think the facelifted building has lost its charm and history and now looks too generic.

But the bigger story here is that the Sheraton Hotel will become the St. Regis Hotel. The rumor is that the main building pictured above will become St Regis while the hotel extension (back right of the building) which was built in 1979 will become Sheraton Hotel and have it’s own separate entrance. Sheraton Four Points behind that will remain as is. Here are some more tidbits taken from the Skyscraper City Forum:

• The plans to rebrand are confidential and relatively unknown.

• The hotel renovation project was supposed to have the main wing done by the end of 2020, the 1971 extension done in 2021 and the 1979 wing renovated over the course of 2021 and handed over by 2022. Due to COVID, they are now two years behind schedule.

• The renovation on the main building may look done, but they fast-tracked the exterior completion so that they could give the hotel a clean appearance instead of having torn green tarps hanging off the façade.

• The interior of the main building is still very much under construction; due to COVID and Kuwait’s closed borders, the interior designers and foreign contractors are unable to come to the site and oversee the works, so whatever little the hotel can do locally, they’re doing it at a slow pace.

• With the closed borders and no events taking place, the hotel’s occupancy is EXTREMELY low – I’m talking four or five rooms occupied, max.

Sheraton Hotel in the 1960s

Thanks ChaoticTranquility

Update: Here is a bit of random info. The first customer at the Kuwait Sheraton Hotel was Edmond Ghantous – June 26, 1966.

If you have Netflix and are feeling nostalgic, the popular and hilarious Kuwaiti play Bye Bye London is available on the platform to watch. Link

It looks like it’s been there for a year now but didn’t really notice until someone pointed it out. The quality of the video is the best I’ve come across yet and it even has English subtitles.

Searching for “Kuwait” on Netflix brings up some other local shows and movies but the only other one I recognized is Back to the Future inspired movie, Back to Q82.

Thanks Nidal

For people looking to get into making espresso coffee at home, the Gaggia Classic Pro machine is considered to be one of the best starter machines you can buy. It’s an affordable single boiler machine that allows you to pull an espresso shot and steam milk for your latte. Previously if you wanted a Gaggia the only option was to order it from abroad but now the brand is available locally at Xcite.

The Classic Pro machine is priced at 179KD in-store at Xcite but listed for 199KD on their website for some reason. On the Gaggia UK website, it sells for 177KD so 179KD is actually a great price for it.

So if you’re looking for a great affordable semi-automatic espresso machine you can now pick up a Gaggia in Kuwait.

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.

Check out @kuwaitolympic for the latest updates

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.

Here are three jet ski rental locations on the Gulf Road:
– Villa Fayrouz
– Green Island
– TGIF

If you’re planning to go to Avenues during Eid and are worried about finding parking, here is a quick tip, you can pre-book a parking spot using the PASS App. There are over 140 parking spots reserved for PASS customers in Avenues Phase 4 which you can find by going down the Saveco parking entrance, Gate 28. The cost is 500 fils an hour and your hour starts from the moment you book the spot. For more info, click here.