I’m still trying to find anything I can about the Hunt Room, a restaurant that used to be located in the Sheraton Hotel before the 1990 Gulf War. Not sure why I’m so obsessed with it, I never ate there.
My family used to have lunch every Friday at the Al Hambra which was located on the other side of the hotel on the same floor. Once we were done with lunch I’d wander around the hotel as a kid would do, but I mostly spent my time at the telex counter reading the latest news headlines and that was located near the Hunt Room. So I’d always take a peek inside and I remember they had a huge lobster aquarium outside. But thats as far as my interaction with the place was which is why its confusion for me why I’m fascinated by it. Maybe because I never experienced it?
Not sure but whatever the reason, I’m constantly looking for anything I can find about the restaurant, Sheraton themselves don’t seem to have anything either. But I recently found this cute little plate on eBay. It’s such a great find because it has the Hunt Room Logo and the colors which I now remember clearly.
If you have anything related to the Hunt Room, memories, photos, whatever, just let me know in the comments.
When I was studying design in college, one of the yearly annual competitions we’d look forward to was the “50 Books | 50 Covers” competition by AIGA (The American Institute of Graphic Arts). This competition started in 1923 and became an annual staple in the design community so we were always pretty excited to see what covers and books they selected. A couple of days ago, AIGA announced the latest winners for their 50/50 awards, and this year a Kuwaiti designer was one of the winners.
Fahad Al Hunaif won Best Book Design of the Year for his exhibition catalog, “Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility” designed for the Guggenheim Museum. Fahad describes the 256-page book as capturing the concept of duality to align with the exhibition. The stark, black exterior contrasts an interior filled with generous white space and subtle material changes, highlighting the tension between invisibility and hypervisibility.
I’ve been a huge fan of Fahad’s work since back in 2013 when he was still in New York studying at Parsons School of Design. He got his first 15 seconds of fame after @caradelevingne was photographed wearing his profane Cartier parody cap, “Cuntier”. Cara was backstage at a Jeremy Scott Runway Show when the ultra-famous fashion photographer @terryrichardson snapped some pictures of her wearing the cap. The photo went viral and eventually landed Fahad in a bit of trouble after Cartier slapped him with a cease and desist letter. I posted about him back then and you can check that old post out here.
Today, Fahad is a partner at TB.D, a multidisciplinary design studio that has worked on branding projects like Boost, ODE, and RA. You can check them out at tbd.studio or visit AIGA Design to see more winners.
This is pretty disappointing news but it doesn’t look like there will be track days this year at Kuwait Motor Town. Supposedly the contract with the company that was running KMT expired and it wasn’t renewed and neither does anyone else seem to want to run it. So all events that were scheduled to take place at the race track were canceled and there won’t be any open track days until a new company takes over. Sucks.
Al-Rai Media Group is entering the entertainment industry by launching a mega musical project, ‘The Spirit of Kuwait,’ in partnership with Kaif Production.
‘The Spirit of Kuwait’ will be a Kuwaiti heritage-based musical work presented in orchestral form with a modern twist. It will also be the largest artistic orchestra in Kuwait, comprising nearly 100 musicians and featuring some of the country’s top musical talent. The orchestra will be led by maestro Dr. Ahmad Al-Oud, with Salman Al-Amari and Abdulaziz Al-Mesbah as the primary vocalists. Maestro Mohammed Salem Al-Qahoom, one of the Arab world’s most prominent composers and orchestrators, will orchestrate the musical pieces.
Alongside this all-star roster, the show will also utilize the latest in concert technologies. It is expected to last an hour and a half and will feature state-of-the-art audio-visual systems to immerse the audience in a captivating experience, blending traditional Kuwaiti heritage with modern artistic innovation.
The first performance of ‘The Spirit of Kuwait’ is expected to be in May 2025. To stay posted on this project, you can follow @alraimediagroup and @kaif_kuw.
One of my favorite things about my blog is putting random information out onto the web, only to have someone months or years later leave a comment saying they were involved in the project or have more information about it. It constantly happens and it’s always pretty rewarding.
Back in March 2023 I posted about the Mothercare tree, the huge animatronic tree that used to be located at the Mothercare store in Salmiya. I didn’t think a lot of people remembered it, so I was pretty surprised with the amount of engagement that post got.
19 months after my post, a person by the name of Roger left a comment saying he had worked on the project and had more photos. Roger came to Kuwait in 1998 to install the tree along with his team. His company supplied and programmed the tree and all the animated animals and their soundtracks. He had photos of the tree being built as well as ones from inside the tree. Roger had gotten the job because he had previously been involved animatronics when he worked for Madame Tussauds and Rock Circus.
The pictures were taken with his first digital camera and so aren’t that high resolution, but it’s definitely better than nothing. I’ve uploaded all the photos to Flickr and you can check them out here.
This past week I watched two movies, the original Planet of the Apes from 1968, and Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Both were pretty great, Planet of the Apes I originally watched in the early 80s so didn’t really remember much of it. It’s actually had a great storyline and although the special effects are really dated, it didn’t bother me much. Wolfs was also a lot of fun, it has a 6.5 rating on IMDB but that doesn’t reflect the film accurately. It was very entertaining and had some funny moments, and thats really all I ask from a film sometimes.
I also started watching the series Agatha All Along which is meant to be the sequel to WandaVision. First episode was confusing but I’m 6 to 7 episodes in now and it’s pretty ok. I also watched the first episode of High Potential starring Kaitlin Olson from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Wife is loving the show, hopefully by the end of the season she’ll want to see more of Kaitlin and then I can suggest we binge watch It’s Always Sunny which she really hates.
This week I also decided to upgrade my TV life. I’m replacing my 55″ LG B1 OLED TV with a 65″ LG C3 OLED TV. I should have honestly gotten a 65″ back when I got the B1 but I didn’t for some reason, maybe cuz I didn’t want to pay more than I did. The C3 should be brighter and also supports 120hz refresh rate so curious to see how it turns out. I’m also upgrading my AV receiver from the Onkyo TX-NR686 to the Marantz Cinema 60. I was trying to decide between it and the Yamaha RX-A2A but then the Xcite lady offered me a 10% discount on the Marantz and I decided to go for it. Both should be delivered today so pretty excited about it.
Now I’m contemplating picking up an SVS subwoofer but need to pass by Xcite and see what they have in stock because the website isn’t showing much. I have the SB1000 Pro connected to my KEF LSX speakers and it’s incredible, so thinking of getting the PB1000 Pro for my TV room. Sometimes the Xcite website says something is out of stock but on their in store system it shows units, like my Marantz unit is out of stock on the website but there was 1 new piece in Avenues location according to system. With the subwoofer I’m hoping they only have display models left since they give you an automatic 15% discount on display items which is a nice little discount.
Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.
Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:
Camel Racing is back for the 2024/2025 season, running from October to March, with races every Saturday at the Kuwait Camel Racing Club. The races start at different times each week but this Saturday they’ll kick off at 1:00 PM with a total of eight races.
There is no entrance fee and you can either watch the races from the sidelines, drive up to the starting lines and watch the start of the race, or just drive around the track in your car following the race (it can get chaotic).
It’s really fun, especially if you’ve never been before and it’s never that busy and everyone is pretty friendly. I tend to drop by anytime I feel like having a photoshoot for one of my cars, or if I just feel like driving somewhere far.
Here is the link to the location and entrance on Google Maps.
The Kuwait Pavilion at last year’s International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale was titled Rethinking Rethinking Kuwait (pictured above). The project was an ongoing investigation aimed at rectifying the effects of modernist urban planning, which led to the erasure of much of Kuwait’s historic built fabric.
That same pavilion has now been moved and reinstalled here in Kuwait. This is the first time this has happened; usually, if you miss the pavilion in Venice, you’re out of luck. But this year, they decided to pack up the exhibition and bring it to Kuwait, where it’s currently on display at the Yarmouk Cultural Center – Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah.
The pavilion examines Kuwait on a national scale, with a focus on Kuwait City as a prototype features over 30 Kuwaiti exhibitors.
If you’re interested in checking it out, it’s open daily from 10 AM to 7:30 PM, except on Fridays and Saturdays when it’s closed. For more information and photos head over to @rethinking.kuwait
I’ve been a fan of A’s Chicken since 2014, so when they approached me for this promoted post, I knew it would be an easy writeup. I can’t remember how I first heard about them, but I do know their taouk sandwiches were what got me hooked initially. Since then they’ve kept improving, first with a major rebrand followed by an updated and expanded menu as well as more delivery locations.
What I like the most about A’s Chicken is that I can have them when I’m trying to eat clean, but also on my cheat days, and that’s because they have both grilled and fried chicken options.
They have grilled chicken and taouk platters, but you can also get the taouk sandwich which is what I usually order. If you’re craving fried chicken, then they have fried bone-in chicken, fried chicken sandwiches, and fried chicken wraps, popcorn and wings. I don’t eat bone-in chicken, but my wife and best friend both love the A’s Chicken one, and it’s become their weekly goto option since the boycott of brands started (she also says to make sure you order it with a side of Angry Honey Sauce). When I’m cheating, I personally go for their Nashville Chicken Sandwich and Royal A’s Junior Sandwich.
A’s Chicken have multiple delivery kitchens around Kuwait to ensure you get your food fast and hot. They’re on all the major delivery platforms including Talabat, Deliveroo, Cari and Jahez. They also have their own website which is aschicken.co, and you can follow them on Instagram @aschicken_kw
I thought I posted about @q8knight79 before on the blog but I just checked and don’t think I have. He’s a guy I follow on my cars account and he’s got a super 80s vibe.
Last year he flew to the US, bought a 96 Corvette, then did an epic road trip with the car before shipping it to Kuwait. He uploaded the video a couple of weeks ago to YouTube and I thought it was pretty entertaining.
I kinda need to do the same thing now, fly to the US, buy a first generation Viper, do an epic road trip, crash it, and then fly back.
The Big Bounce Arabia, the Middle East version of The Big Bounce America, is bringing the world’s largest touring inflatable theme park to Kuwait. Starting November 21st at The Green Island, the park will stay there for 17 days before moving to another location within Kuwait (possibly Khiran). After Kuwait, the park will kick off a regional tour that will span 10 countries.
The park will feature the world’s biggest bounce house, obstacle courses, interactive zones, and themed areas like the Sport Slam and Airspace as well as a thrilling 275-meter-long obstacle course.
The Big Bounce is for anyone aged two and above, making it perfect for the whole family or a group of friends. Tickets go on sale November 1st on the official website, thebigbouncearabia.com, with three ticket options available:
Juniors (under 100cm height) KD8
Guardians (can accompany juniors) KD5
Standard (100cm height and above) KD13
The price is for a session which lasts 2.5 hours. There will be 3 sessions a day during the middle of the week, and 4 sessions a day on weekends. Oh and The Big Bounce can hold up to 1,300 people which is insane.
Yesterday I downloaded the new COD on the Xbox Game Pass and started playing it. I really wouldn’t have been as interested in the game if it wasn’t for the fact it was banned in Kuwait due to some of the action taking place during the 1991 Gulf War.
You don’t even have to play through the game to get to the hot stuff, the first mission of the game places you right in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert, I love it. I didn’t get beyond the first mission yet since I had to stop playing to watch UFC, but can’t way to keep at it later today so I can see what part of story exactly caused the ban, because it couldn’t have been banned just because it took place during the Gulf War.
According to the MOI, a new law will soon be implemented where expatriates in Kuwait will no longer be allowed to own more than one vehicle (source). Thats so ridiculous! I’m trying to understand what issue they’re trying to solve by doing that. It can’t be reducing traffic since even though I own 7 cars I can only drive 1 of them at a time. The only thing I can think of is solving the parking situation in densely populated areas.
I live in Salmiya and I’m lucky my building has plenty of underground parking, but most of the other tall residential towers have like 6 or 8 parking spots under the building and thats it. A lot of the buildings which have underground parking had them converted to storage which they rent out commercially. Instead of disallowing that, or requiring buildings to have enough parking for every resident, the easiest solution is just ban expats from owning more than a car. How many expats own multiple cars anyway? I’d assume most are probably just dad’s the have their wives and kids cars registered under their own name.
Last week I mentioned I wanted to watch Sweetpea and I ended up watching two episodes after signing up to the streaming service STARZ. Only two episodes are out yet and third one coming out tomorrow and it’s so good. If you’re a fan of Ella Purnell (Fallout, Yellowjackets, Sweetbitter) then you’re gonna really like her in Sweetpea.
Other than that I rewatched 28 Weeks Later in preparation for the upcoming 28 Years Later. My wife hadn’t watched either 28 Days Later nor 28 Weeks Later so wanted her to watch them. 28 Days Later isn’t available to buy or stream digitally anywhere, at least I couldn’t find it but 28 Weeks Later was on Hulu. For those of you too young to know this but 28 Days Later was pretty much the first to invent zombies that run fast. A super scary idea at that time. Also, 28 Days Later was directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire).
Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.
Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:
The Kuwait Int Outdoor Expo is taking place at the Mishref Fairgrounds. I passed by yesterday to check it out and didn’t really see or find anything interesting. I wanted to possibly pickup a Solo Stove but nobody had it for sale. Most of the shops were selling fishing gear which I didn’t care for.
I couldn’t take a decent photo mostly cuz it was pretty busy but also because it’s mostly just tight aisles of stores so you wouldn’t be able to see much in a single shot.
If you want to pass by and check it out yourself, it’s taking place until October 26 and it’s open from 10AM to 10PM. They’re located in hall 4A.
