2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The Classifieds section is getting a theme update so if it looks a bit weird while trying to use it now you know why.

The story below was sent to me by John Beresford who has been contributing to the blog with old interesting stories about life in Kuwait during the 1940s to the 1960s when he and his family used to live in Kuwait. To check out some of his previous stories click here.

In 1968 Ramzi Kayello, an artist, put on an exhibition of his paintings in the Hubara Club in Ahmadi. My parents went and later asked him to paint them a picture of ‘Old Kuwait’.

The image is pretty standard; mud houses, wooden doors with nails in, dusty streets, and the frame is very 1960s.

The interesting thing is the man in the white dishdasha. He is carrying water buckets. With no piped system water had to be bought and transported back to the home and the traditional Arab buckets, made from an entire sheep or goatskin, were too small and with the way Kuwait was developing, fewer people in the town could keep flocks. This was where new technology came in. The increase in the number of vehicles was increasing the number of worn-out tires lying around – what to do with them? Some could be hung around boats and on quay-sides to minimize the bump when coming alongside. Others could be used as buckets. It was possible to get about 3 buckets from 1 truck tire, they were strong, pretty well indestructible, waterproof and the wire in the tires stopped them flopping about and spilling. And of course, if you found an old tire lying about you could make up your buckets for free! With rope handles they were fine. So the water carrier is using water buckets made from truck tires; this was pretty standard and my parents specifically asked for this to be included in the painting.

I also include a bit that my father wrote about water in Kuwait when he arrived there, in April 1949. Later on, there were ships built to go up the Shatt al Arab, vent their ballast tanks and pick up river water for the return journey, thus making the smaller dhows redundant.

The other explanation I should give concerns about the Kuwaiti water supply. I mentioned the brackish water wells. There is no fresh water at all anywhere in the state of Kuwait. Brackish was obtained from shallow wells, close to the coastline and provided water for livestock and limited garden growth. The poorer element of the town also had to drink it; it’s not very palatable, most times when I was offered it in poorer Arab houses they added sherbet to it to make it more palatable but, really, I used to think it made it worse! In addition to about a 14% salinity it also had a quantity of magnesium salts in it: Magnesium sulfate or Epsom Salts, being the most common.

For many years fresh water was brought to Kuwait from the Shatt al Arab River, a major world river formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As this river is tidal to well above Basrah, the collecting dhows were required to go well upstream and then, while waiting for the tide to run out, collect the water from the top, less dense, layers.

Some imported water was less good than others, it depended upon the tide, time available, weather and the temperament of the dhow skipper.

The water so imported was sold by the old gallon kerosene or gasoline tin full at 2 rupees a time. This didn’t suit the company and just before I arrived gave up on relying on the dhows.

I haven’t played pool since university and not interested in playing it either but, someone on Reddit was looking for good quality cue sticks and a person recommended Dr Cue. So this post is for google in case someone else in the future is looking for billiard equipment in Kuwait. Dr Cue have cue sticks, cue cases, tables, balls, and various accessories. They can also perform maintenance on your equipment as well as customize your sticks with engravings or leather wrapping. I don’t think everything is listed on their website so I’d get in touch with them directly in case you’re looking for anything specific not listed there.

If you’re interested, their Instagram account is @drcue.billiard, their phone number is 99000303 and their website is dr-cue.com

Thanks Tengokuq

I’ve been visiting the old Sultan Center in Salmiya since I was a kid in the 80s, I even spent my after-prom with friends at the Jeans Grill Restaurant that used to be open 24 hours a day upstairs. They used to have a Sega Genesis demo unit connected to a TV upstairs in the 90s, so when I ditched school I’d head to Sultan Center to play videogames (dumbest idea since that’s where my mum did her grocery shopping). Back before there were malls in Kuwait, Sultan Center used to be a go-to place on weekends which sounds bizarre now, but if you think there isn’t anything to do in Kuwait today, you should have been here back when there really wasn’t anything to do.

Over the years I’ve heard multiple of times that they were planning on closing down the location. I think the rumors started when they opened the Shaab branch (which later closed down) and then the rumors got stronger after they opened in Boulevard. But that doesn’t look like it’s happening anymore since they just completed a major facelift and renovation to the store.

Because of all the nostalgic memories I have with the place you’d think I’d be upset about such a major facelift but honestly, the place now looks so much better. It’s probably the nicest looking supermarket in Kuwait reminding me of places like Waitrose in Dubai. They also now have Xcite and Intersports branches upstairs now which is another positive. The only issue I really have with the refurbishment is the check-out area seems smaller than it was before, but other than that I really like the new look. They even uplifted the exterior dropping the light beige color for dark grey. Not a bad job at all really, I’m impressed.

There are a bunch of local sites that focus on video games but Retro Games is the only one I’m aware of that focuses on old consoles and everything related to them. The store has categories for old gaming systems like the MSX, Sega Saturn, PS1, all the way up to the last-gen consoles. They sell things like an HDMI cable adapter for your PS1 to get it working with new TVs and the consoles themselves although they don’t sell any games.

So if you’re feeling nostalgic and looking to get an original SNES, they’d be the place I’d check out before heading to Rihab Complex or ordering online. They also sell various emulation consoles like the LDK which I’ve previously reviewed. If you’re into old games check them out at retrogameskw.com

Claudia Al Rashoud has been a photojournalist in Kuwait since 1979. She was the first professional female photojournalist at the Arab Times newspaper and has written a number of books on Kuwait’s history and heritage with beautiful pictures. She recently launched an Instagram account @claudia_alrashoud where she has been sharing stories from her long journalistic career and also launched a small website where people can purchase her books on Kuwait.

All sales from the website will pay for veterinary care for stray, abandoned, and abused animals from Touch of Hope Kuwait, so not only will you be getting some great books on Kuwait, but you’ll also be helping animals. So checkout her website.

Misfits is a local online store that sells vinyl records as well as record players and music-related merchandise. They currently have around 50 different records for sale but also a whole bunch of other things including record and cassette players, t-shirts and sweatshirts, and accessories like vinyl cleaning kits and vinyl storage.

If you’re looking for records or merchandise, check out their website misfitskw.com

The official iPhone 12 prices got published today and you can check them all out below:

iPhone 12 Mini
64GB – 256.900 KD
128GB – 274.900 KD
256GB – 310.900 KD

iPhone 12
64GB – 289.900 KD
128GB – 309.900 KD
256GB – 345.900 KD

iPhone 12 Pro
128GB – 359.900 KD
256GB – 395.900 KD
512GB – 469.900 KD

iPhone 12 Pro Max
128GB – 404.900 KD
256GB – 439.900 KD
512GB – 510.900 KD

How do the prices compare to US and UK iPhones? If we take the iPhone 12 Pro 256GB as an example then Kuwait is slightly more expensive than the US price but a lot cheaper than UK prices:

iPhone 12 Pro 256GB
Kuwait – 396 KD
United States – 377 KD (including US tax and shipping to Kuwait)
United Kingdom – 451 KD (including shipping to Kuwait)

If you’re looking for a new series to watch this weekend, below is a list of some shows I just recently watched.

What We Do in the Shadows
Based on the 2014 movie with the same name, What We Do in the Shadows is a comedy that came out last year on Hulu. If you’re a fan of mockumentaries like The Office and Parks & Recreation then you’re going to love this show. What We Do in the Shadows follows the lives of three vampires who’ve lived together for over 100 years, on Staten Island, in New York. It’s the funniest and dumbest thing ever, I highly recommend it.

Tehran
I started watching this series with low expectations because my friend undersold it to me but it turned out to be really enjoyable to watch. I think I binge-watched the whole season over two or three days. The show focuses on the conflict between Israel and Iran with an interesting storyline involving Mossad agents living in Iran trying to infiltrate it from the inside. If you were a fan of Homeland then this is for you. Tehran is available on AppleTV+.

The Queen’s Gambit
You’ve probably heard about this show since everyone has been talking about it for the past couple of weeks. The Queen’s Gambit is a mini-series that recently came out on Netflix and is about a young orphan girl who discovers and masters the game of chess. I really liked the show but this one I think was actually overhyped. The way everyone has been talking about the show led me to believe it’s the best thing to come out this year but it’s not. It’s fun to watch, but it’s not the best thing ever.

Ted Lasso
This was another show I think was overhyped. Ted Lasso originally started as a character in a 2013 NBC Sports promo and now turned into a proper TV series. Ted Lasso is an American football coach who is hired to coach a professional soccer team in England. Ted has never played soccer in his life, nor does he know the rules so it’s pretty funny watching him get to grips. But, that quickly wore off for me after a few episodes and honestly, the series trailer and the original NBC Sports promo show the funniest bits. Ted Lasso is available to watch on AppleTV+.

The new iPhone 12 was released by Apple recently but there hasn’t been any announcement of a local launch date yet. I figured it might be related to logistics and production issues due to the pandemic so I checked with a contact of mine who told me that the telecoms, Apple Premium (Gait) and Apple Authorized Resellers (Digits, Xcite, etc.) hadn’t received their unit allocations yet.

But, looks like they finally did because yesterday some resellers started announcing a pre-order date. Starting this Friday, November 13th pre-orders for the new iPhone 12 will begin. Previously you’d have super long lines outside Apple resellers on launch day but with the pandemic right now that wouldn’t be the best idea which is why most likely the only way to get your hands on the new iPhone 12 on launch day would be by pre-ordering online. If it’s going to be anything like the iPhone X launch then there will also be a very limited number of units at launch.

Oddly, there still isn’t an official launch date for the devices, maybe that will be revealed on Friday as well. I’m personally going to be trying to get my hands on the iPhone 12 Pro to replace my 11 Pro. I always loved the way the iPhone 4 looked like and the new phones look basically the same.

The all-new Xbox Series X officially launches today but I was lucky enough to get mine yesterday so I could play around with it and have a post ready for today. I purchased mine from Geekay on September 22nd when they launched the Xbox pre-orders. I was hoping to get a hold of a unit before the launch date by a few days but the Geekay shipment of Xbox’s only cleared customs yesterday afternoon and so only got to pick up mine after that.

Not sure about other local sellers but Geekay will be either delivering all the pre-orders today. They also contacted their customers and arranged a pickup timeslot for today if they didn’t want to wait for delivery. My brother for example is gonna have to wake up early today to pick up his Xbox at 9AM, so it was a lot of fun sending him photos yesterday of my Xbox.

There are a lot of unboxing videos and reviews on YouTube by much better gamers than me, but in this post I’ll go over some of the things regarding our Middle East edition.

• Firstly, the Middle East version of the box is bilingual. The front side is the same as the US version but the rear of the box and all the fine print are in both Arabic and English

• Once you open the box there isn’t a manual, but the getting started guide is bilingual

• The power plug is the UK Type G plug

• The console works with 220v so no need for a transformer

• There is no power brick, just a regular cable from the Xbox to the wall plug (this is the best thing ever)

• I have a US Xbox account and it works perfectly fine with the Middle East edition Xbox (well kinda)

• I ran into a minor issue buying games from the Xbox store and I think it’s because I have a US Xbox account but a Kuwait-based Microsoft account? I pay the monthly Microsoft Office subscription fee using a Kuwait address but I have my location on my Xbox account set to US so maybe there is some sort of conflict

• Because of the issue I had of purchasing games directly from inside the Xbox store I ended up using Amazon to buy the digital copy of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I used a Florida address so I didn’t pay any tax and got the game for the listed price of $59.99 and then installed it on my Xbox using the code Amazon sent me

• On starting the console there was a 775MB update I had to install. This was downloaded and installed by the time I was done setting up the Xbox

• On my Zain 5G, Valhalla took around 2 hours to download. It’s a 47GB file and was downloading on average at speeds of 45Mbps with the occasional jump to around 65Mbps and drop to 35Mbps. The game was ready to start halfway through the download but because I installed it before the launch date I couldn’t play it

• I only installed two games on my Xbox for now, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Killer Instinct. Quick resume worked perfectly when flip-flopping between the two games

• The packaging and overall design of the Series X is minimal and smart, I personally love it. I think the new PS5 is ugly (sorry Sony fanboys) while this is a lot less flashy and it fit into my TV cabinet perfectly

• The controller feels great, there is a new texture on the backside which gives it a much better grip when held

• The official price of the Xbox Series X in Kuwait is KD167 while the smaller Series S costs KD104

If anyone has any questions, let me know and I’ll try to answer it in the comments.

Recently while riding my bike on the Gulf Road, I noticed an Extreme Sports truck loaded up with bicycles parked in one of the lots. I didn’t know what it was for at first but then spotted an employee a few days ago and decided to stop and find out what they were doing. Turns out it’s an Extreme Sports bicycle rental truck. For KD3 an hour you could rent a bicycle from them to ride up and down the Gulf Road.

I’ve previously posted about their bike rental location at Marina Waves, this one on the other hand is located at the Green Island parking lot. If you don’t have a bicycle but feel like riding one, this is a pretty good option. Here is the location of the rental truck on Google Maps.

My shawerma life needs a bit of an upgrading. Anytime I feel like having shawerma I tend to hit up the old school place Jeita which is down the street from me or Shawerma Shakir and that’s about it. I passed by another old time favorite recently, Bader Al Badoor but the shawerma was pretty dry and unexciting unlike I remember it so I don’t think I’d go back there. But, yesterday I tried a place on Restaurant Street called One Cut (pictured above) based on a recommendation by @thetravelingapron and it was pretty great. Made me realize I’m probably missing out on so many new shawerma places that have popped up over the years.

So I’m curious, what are your favorite shawerma places right now? Might revive my old Shawerma Review series again (circa 2007) if there are enough places I should check out.

If you’re looking for a safe place to ride your bicycle, Kuwait Motor Town is bringing back bicycle days. Bicycle days are when they open the race track to the public so that people can ride their bicycles on the road in a safe car-free environment. Bicycle days are on the following two days:

Tuesdays: 4PM to 8PM
Saturdays: 6AM to 10AM

Access to the track is free and if you’ve never been to KMT before this is a great way to check it out. Here is the location on Google Maps.

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.