2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

So earlier this week I took my mum to the airport since she was leaving for the States and the experience felt really strange. I think being at the airport after so much time away and seeing it basically deserted felt a bit eerie. The long term park for example was completely empty which I’ve never seen before and Emirates which used to have flights every few hours now has only one a day and it’s barely filled.

For those of you planning to travel out of Kuwait, here are a few things that I noticed are different:

• No more porters. Don’t know why we needed so many porters in the first place but just by them not being there it made the airport feel a lot emptier. You now have to get your own cart and push it around yourself #firstworldproblem

• You’ll have your temperature taken as you enter the airport.

• Before arriving to the check-in desks there is a checkpoint where they scan your Kuwait Mosafer QR Code. I was accompanying my mum who had a QR code but I didn’t have one and it wasn’t an issue. I also saw some other people pass through without having to show a QR code either.

• The same checkpoint also checks your PCR test results. In my mums case the guy also called a number to confirm the result of the test, I guess that’s to stop people who are using fake test results.

• I read that you aren’t allowed into the airport unless you’re traveling or accompanying someone elderly. I never got asked why I was in the airport but not sure if that’s because I was with my mum or if it was because the rule wasn’t being enforced.

• My mum traveled with Emirates and the check-in area wasn’t busy at all. There were clear markings on the floor to show the distance you need to keep between other travelers in line and that spacing was being enforced.

• While at the check-in counter about to finish up with my mum’s check-in, some airport guy came up to us and was like we both can’t be standing next to each other. I tried to explain she was my mum and we came to the airport together and I’m helping her check-in, but he insisted we social distance. That was very bizarre and I would have gladly continued arguing with him to find out the point but by then we had already finished up with Emirates so didn’t bother.

• Waiting area seatings after passport control now have dividers.

• Kuwait Airport isn’t allowing carry-ons, neither is Emirates supposedly, so to my mum’s dismay I forced her to pack a small backpack (which according to the guy I spoke to on the phone was allowed). Once my mum boarded the plane the first thing she did was send me pictures of people who had a carry-ons and I’m now no longer her son.

• Restaurants inside the airport are open and adhering to social distancing rules. (update: supposedly just Shake Shack and Starbucks)

Hope the above was helpful, I might have missed something so if you want to add anything to the above just leave it in the comments below.

Shems Youth Yoga and Kuwait Reggio Center are doing a fundraising drive to provide families in Kuwait affected by the corona pandemic with art & school supplies, toys, and books. It’s a great initiative and there are 4 ways you can help:

1. If you or someone you know are struggling to provide toys, books, art & school supplies for your children fill out the PLAY-TO-GO REQUEST FORM

2. Donate money to help them buy more supplies for families in need by clicking on the DONATE button.

3. If you want to donate gently used toys or books, click on DONATION DROP OFF to find out how.

4. If you want to volunteer to deliver boxes to families in need, fill out the VOLUNTEER FORM.

Check out the highlights on their Instagram account for more on this fundraiser @shemsyoga

Getting a PCR test for COVID-19 is much more accessible now then it was just a few months ago. My mum needed to get one since she was traveling and my followers on twitter recommended different places to go. One place that caught my attention was Wara Hospital since they offered a drive-thru service. I read a lot of stories about long lines or crowded clinics with people waiting to get tested so a drive-thru option sounded like the most convenient.

Then the following day I had a bit of a scare, I’m barely seeing any of my friends but one guy I had seen over the weekend messaged me to tell me someone at his office had tested positive for the virus and he was going to take a PCR test to be safe and wanted me to know. I was really appreciative that he told me, it’s an awkward situation to tell someone you might have gotten them infected but you need to do it. In my case when I got the message the first thing I did was also inform the people I work with on the situation and that I was going to leave to work from home till my friend’s results came out. But the next morning I decided to just get tested myself at Wara since I can also then write about my experience.

I called up Wara to see if I needed an appointment and you don’t, you just need to drive up to the back door of the hospital anytime between 7AM and 12PM and there will be a team there waiting. When I got there I was the fourth car in line and the whole process took around 20 minutes. You never leave your car, and you only interact with three people, the first nurse provides you with forms to fill, the second further down the line takes the sample and the third person is for payment. LifeProTip: Bring your own pen and a clipboard or a hardcover book so you can fill out the forms on it.

In my case, I got the results in 48 hours but when my mum had hers done she got the results in 24 hours. They WhatsApp you a photo of the result and also SMS you. It’s certified for travel and so if you need a printed copy of the result you could pick it up from their laboratory. The price of the test is 38KD which isn’t the cheapest, I think 27KD is the cheapest price I’ve seen for a PCR test but the convenience factor makes up for it. My friend’s test came out negative and so did mine which was a relief. I was so excited with the result I sent it to everyone I work with so they could also be relieved. If I had Tinder I would 100% have had my negative test result as one of my profile pictures or something. It feels like an achievement not getting the virus with it being everywhere basically.

Anyway, if you want more information on the Wara Hospital drive-thru PCR test, they have some posts and videos on their Instagram account @warahospital

LOYAC’s Art and Performance Academy (LAPA) yesterday launched a virtual art fundraising exhibition with the proceeds of the exhibition going to renovate the homes of those that were affected by the tragedy in Beirut earlier this month.

The exhibition includes all types of artwork from artists in Kuwait as well as the region and will continue until September 5th. There are some great pieces so check them out on Instagram @riseupbeirut_art

For some odd reason, it’s actually pretty difficult to find a picture of the original Arby’s that opened up in Kuwait back in the 80s. But a follower on twitter managed to find one taken by a US soldier back in 1991 called Keith O’Brien. According to Keith, this photo was taken right after the war. He was assigned as a driver/bodyguard of a Brigade Commander and he wanted to see Kuwait City. Up till then, they had only been in Saudi, Iraq, and Bahrain so they drove around and he took some photos of various places which you can see here.

Two of the most memorable things about this Arby’s for me was the touch screen ordering system which was super way ahead of its time, and the arcade machines in the basement.

Thanks @Alblogy

Don’t think I’ve ever posted the video above even though it’s been on YouTube since 2012, but I saw it the other day on @classic_kw_ and looks like it was shot in the early 90s. It got me thinking about all the classic cars we have in Kuwait but are falling apart because they’re just parked outside homes in the harsh environment and aren’t being driven. Sometimes I feel like rescuing cars in the same way people rescue stray animals.

Speaking of cars that aren’t being driven, there is a guy with a purple Diablo parked in Shaab that hasn’t been driven in probably a decade. If anyone knows the owner, please connect us!

Just like gyms, restaurants and coffee shops are reopening today but with social distancing rules in place as well as some new safety measures. For example, restaurants can only use disposable cutlery and are required to have a 2 meters gap between tables (amongst other rules).

I’m really curious to see how this plays out because unlike gyms where you’re meant to keep your mask on the whole time, you’re not expected to keep your mask on while eating.

But with all the concerns I have, I’ll probably be dining out, but maybe once the initial rush subsides since I’m expecting the first couple of weeks to be super busy.

There are loads of car clubs in Kuwait but all the ones I’ve seen are male dominant which can be intimidating for women to join. This is why I like the idea of Kuwait Motorsports, an all-female car club.

The aim of Kuwait Motorsports is to give women a safe environment where they can meet up, show off cars, hold drag races, and even take part in different workshops. It’s similar in idea to RoadRush, except instead of just being a female-only racing event, it’s a community with all-year-round activities. Joining the club is 100% free and there are perks which include discounts from various brands. The club just recently opened so the more members they get, the more perks and offers they’ll get from brands.

I do wish they had a less generic name than Kuwait Motorsports, but generic name aside, if you’re female and over 18 years of age and want to sign up, visit their website kuwaitmotorsports.com

Khaleej Times published a short story on an Argentinian and British couple who escaped Kuwait during the 1990 invasion. Jorge Ferrari was a photographer while his wife Rebecca was a flight attendant for Kuwait Airways. The story also has photos I hadn’t seen before so check it out here.

I managed to get my hands on renderings of Al Shaheed Park 3. The two in this post are final versions but I also have some more renderings and pages which I’m waiting on a confirmation to share. One new bit of information I found, the new phase of Al Shaheed Park will have an indoor skydiving facility that will be part of the Extreme Sports Building.

If you missed my previous post on Al Shaheed Park Phase 3 you can check it out here. Once I get approval to share the other images and renderings I’ll post them here. For now you can check out the larger version of the renderings above with these links:

Park Render 1
Park Render 2

Thanks Dragos and A

Gyms will officially be opening up in a couple of days and I’m still deciding if I’m going to go back or not. The number of cases isn’t going down, the number of tests isn’t increasing and we’re all kinda just going about our lives trying our best not to catch it.

So far I think I’m most likely going to go back to the gym again. I’ve been renting gym equipment for the past few months but the gym is going to want them back now since they’re reopening. It’s also still pretty impossible to buy proper gym equipment so that’s not really an option.

I’ve been checking different Instagram accounts of various gyms and all the ones I’ve checked are trying to make sure their environment is as safe as possible. They’re all going about it differently but the gyms that lucked out the most are the ones that have classes where each client uses the same equipment throughout the class. Other gyms where you share equipment is going to be slightly sketchier but if you bring your own towel and disinfect the equipment before and after you use it, then it should be ok.

I guess I might just wait a couple of weeks for things to settle before deciding.

Picture on top from @inspirepurefitness

The last time I bought a bicycle was just over 10 years ago. It was a full-suspension mountain bike meaning it had shocks both in the front and in the rear which you’d need if you were doing some crazy ass downhill mountain riding. Since I wasn’t riding down any mountain, I quickly realized over the years that although the bike looked good, the full-suspension setup was overkill for my needs. My favorite bike path is from Corniche Club all the way up to the Kuwait Towers and back so I really didn’t need any sort of mountain bike frankly.

One night during the lockdown, I came across a video on YouTube called “Reasons you only need a gravel bike“. That caught my interest since I was curious to know what a gravel bike was and so over the next 6 days I watched 196 videos on bicycles (I counted them). By the time I was done I had decided that it was time for me to get a new bike and I wanted one from the brand Canyon. What differentiates Canyon from other bike manufacturers is that they sell directly to consumers, no middle man, and so there are no shops that carry their bikes, it’s just you buying directly from their website which means you get a lot more for your money and it also means it’s perfect for us in Kuwait. Since their business model revolves around online orders, then they can easily ship a bike to Kuwait and the package you get includes everything you need to get your bike set up since all their customers have to do it worldwide because there are no local dealers.

I ended up ordering their Roadlite CF 8.0 bike, they had different versions of the bike to choose from but I decided to splurge and buy their higher-end model since I was buying a bike just once every 10 years. The top of the range model was the Roadlite CF 9.0 but I ended up going for the CF 8.0 instead which was specced out with Ultegra components, DT Swiss wheels, carbon fiber handlebar and seatpost, and a bunch of other great components. The 9.0 came with the Dura-ace components instead of Ultegra but that would have been a waste of money for my needs (even Ultegra honestly is a waste of money for my needs). For those of you who don’t know, bicycles are made up of different components from different manufacturers. So brands like Canyon, Trek, Scott, Santa Cruz etc.. design a bike frame and then fit wheels, handlebars, drive terrains, brakes and shocks from other manufacturers who specialize in these components. The performance, weight, quality, and price of those components vary greatly which is you can have a bike costing $1,500 but the same frame with higher-end components costing $6,000. The reason I went with their Roadlite series and not another model was because of my requirements so what works for me might not work for you.

Canyon ship directly to Kuwait via UPS and shipping cost me around 100KD. It arrived well packaged with a step by step manual and all the tools needed to put it together. If you’ve never put together a bike don’t worry, neither had I and turns out it’s not that complicated. You only need to connect the handlebar, seat post, pedals and the wheels to the bike which are all very easy to do especially if you’re good at following instructions. Canyon sell a lot of accessories and gear on their website as well so I had ordered other items with my bike like a bell, a bottle cage, water bottle, rear LED light, some Canyon stickers and probably my best purchase of the year, the CLUG bike rack. Seriously the CLUG is incredible, so simple and yet has made storing my bicycle so practical.

I’ve now had the bike for over a month and been riding it around 3-4 times a week and loving it. One of my favorite things about the bike is that it weighs just 8.3kg. That’s so light I could literally lift the bike with one finger (I actually tried it). My previous mountain bike really wasn’t considered that heavy at around 14.3kg, but the difference in weight between my old bike and the new one is night and day. I notice it mostly when I’m carrying my bike around but also while riding in a headwind or jumping off curbs or raised bits of the road. The bike is so light that when I fit my two water bottles in my bottle cages, the bike ends up feeling considerably heavier.

I didn’t really have a budget when I initially started looking at bikes but I assumed I would pay somewhere in the range of 300-400KD. In the end, I ended up paying 700KD including the 100KD for shipping. It was way more than I ever expected to pay for a bicycle but the odd thing is, it’s not even that expensive compared to some other models. Maybe I’m out of the loop in the bike world or something, but top-end mountain bikes are in the 1,500-2,500KD range with most basic ones starting somewhere around 400KD. So yeah, it all depends on your mindset and how deep your pockets are more than anything else really. In my case, I’m having a lot of fun riding again so that’s made the bike worth it for me.

If you’ve been thinking about getting a bike and didn’t like the locally available options then you should really check out Canyon. Their customer service has been pretty great as well, I’ve had to get in touch with them about some technical questions and they’ve been very quick in getting back to me. Here is a link to their website.

This place isn’t new but I only found out about it recently from TikTok (via @ruqiaalmurshed) and since it was a few minutes drive from my place, I decided to check it out. The store is located a few buildings down from Promenade Mall in Hawalli and can easily be missed if you aren’t paying attention.

Like Singarea, Haiso is an Asian market where you can find all sorts of Korean and Japanese food products. The store is small, but every single item there is imported and not items you’d usually find at your regular supermarket. They have all sorts of dry and canned goods but the store also has lots of frozen items as well as a large selection of Asian drinks. Check out this video I found if you want to see more items on their shelves.

I actually think Haiso belongs to the Ginza Market owners who are major importers of Asian food products in Kuwait. Both Ginza and Haiso are located in high traffic areas so just visit the one that’s more convenient for you since both places basically carry the exact same items. Here is their location on Google Maps.

Just a quick post because I like the shop and want to support this small business. My favorite custom picture frame guy had to move his shop location due to the fact they’re demolishing his old building. He’s now still in the same area (Shuwaikh) but just a few blocks further down. If you want to get a custom photo frame he’s the guy I get most of my frames done at. He’s quick, he’s affordable and during this pandemic, he wears a mask properly. So check him out.

I’ve been blogging for what now 15+ years? and I can count the number of posts I’ve removed. Even the Benihana posts which I went to court over and lost are all still up on the blog. I’m very against removing posts which is why I’m upset I had to remove one now.

Earlier today I posted about a new online business that launched and then someone from that business started leaving fake reviews in the comments. They were so obvious, not only because of the tone of voice or the fact they shared similar IPs, but also because some of the comments were responding to comments that were still under moderation waiting for me to approve them. Meaning only I and the original commenter could see those comments and nobody else.

As much as I hate removing posts from my blog, any business that has to resort to this kind of bullshit and waste my time is not going to get any sort of promotion on the blog.