2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last week when I posted about the teachers getting deported for working illegally, I received many emails from teachers on the subject. One email that caught my attention was from a British teacher who had gotten deported for driving without a Kuwaiti license. I thought that was a sort of an urban legend or a law at least the police were being “selective” on who they apply it to. I’ve always wondered how the deportation process works, do they give you time to pack? Do you get to close your bank accounts and transfer your money? Do you get a court hearing even? Well this is what the teacher had to say on this subject (I’ve posted two of his emails below):

I am a British teacher working in Kuwait who has been deported for not having a Kuwaiti driving license. I am not a criminal and have many parents, students and people who will vouch for my good character. I have been treated like a dog in the deportation center where there are no human rights – you are seen as a worthless animal. This abuse must stop.

—————–

I have a British and International driving license, I have not had an accident in 12 years and have never been in trouble with the authorities before.

I was stopped by the police and immediately they started shouting at me, and swearing at me, I showed them my license and they said no that is not enough. My daughter was with me who was crying, I called my friend to collect her, they took me to the police station, booked me in and then to the prison in Talha. I was treated like a piece of shit by the police, I told them I want to speak to my embassy who visited me and said if I stay and wait for a decision I will be here for a long time, so it is better to leave. I told my family to pack up there things and take the same flight as me.

Whilst in prison I was not allowed to use the bathroom, we slept in filthy conditions and ate on the floor like animals, all for not having a Kuwaiti license – which incidentally the standards are much lower compared to British driving standards.

All the people getting deported where not criminals, there where business men, designers, sales executives, teachers, all whom contribute in a positive way to the country, yet we are being deported.

This needs to stop.

I know that this story is going around on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I now have to start my life again, no job, no money, no house of my own, no school for my kids, I will get back on my feet, I accept i have broken the law, but is this sentence not too harsh for such an offense.

I have to agree, I also believe this sentence is too harsh for such an offense in a similar way to how I found the KD1,000 fine for illegally barbecuing to be out of proportion (and later replace by deportation), or how you could get deported for fighting in public or merely being annoying on a jetski. I have no idea why the answer to everything is deportation but whatever their reason might be, I hope I never end up on the wrong end of the stick.

Photo from Kuwait Times

Frankom posted a video on his blog showing the menu of a bakala boat (can’t think of anything else to call it) with ridiculously overpriced items. Obviously because the bakala is out in the middle of the sea near the islands he’s got a sort of a monopoly going on. He’s selling BigMacs for KD15, Quarter Pounder for KD10, a single piece of a tiny Caesars pizza for KD2 and Red Bull for KD5 among other things. I can’t decide if the guy is a genius or an idiot, check it out [Here]

I expected this weekend to be quiet but looks like there are a few cool events taking place. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Distorted Realities: A Group Show
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sirdab Movie Night: Interstellar
Opera Benefit Concert

Friday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Grow Your Own Food

Saturday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Yoga for K’SPATH
Organic Sounds – Tribute to Nepal Concert

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events for the month click [Here]

Someone sent me the video above of a car that crashed into a Starbucks. According to the person shooting the video this happened at Starbucks Jabriya. Since I didn’t have anything better to do at 1:30AM I decided to pass by and check it out. I passed by three Starbucks in Jabriya and all three seemed to be in one piece. So unless there is a fourth Starbucks in Jabriya which I don’t know about I have no idea where this incident took place. [YouTube]

The last time I was in Dubai some friends of mine wanted me to come and play a live escape game called HintHunt. The concept was fairly simple, you and your friends get trapped in a room and you have 60 minutes to figure out away out by solving various puzzles. Due to the shortage of time I never got to experience HintHunt but a similar concept recently launched in Kuwait called Room of Clues.

In Room of Clues you and your friends need to break into an office of a rich sheikh, find the account number of his bank account and then get out before he’s back. You also have just 60 minutes to solve all the puzzles.

The games are run every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 3PM to 10PM. The price is KD8 per person and the game can be played with a minimum of two people and a maximum of five. If you’re interested you can find more information on their website [Here] or check out their instagram account [Here]

One of my favorite blog perks is that whenever I see an interesting car, I can just contact the dealer and request to take it out for a test drive. I’ve been lucky enough to drive nearly all my favorite cars and all the dealers have been extremely good to me. Well most at least, Audi and VW don’t seem to want me to take out their cars for some odd reason (VW put me in a Golf already!). This past weekend I took out a car that recently sparked my interest, the Lexus IS 350 F Sport. When I had my surgery on my ankle a couple of weeks back I was being driven around in my dads Lexus LS. It was my first time in his car and I was sitting in the backseat playing with the massage option thinking I could live like this. It was comfortable, quiet, had a ton of leg room, it was everything my FJ Cruiser wasn’t. But I also knew that if I end up getting an LS that would basically mean I was admitting I was getting older. That was going to happen. A few moments later we pulled up to a traffic light right next to a new Lexus IS. The new Lexus IS has been out for awhile now but it only really caught my attention for the first time that very moment. I suddenly started loving the way it looked and a few days later I contacted the dealer and asked them if I could borrow the car for the weekend.

Before picking up the car there were two things I was hoping for, one the car wouldn’t be maroon since I believe thats the ugliest color on the car, and the second is that the interior wouldn’t be beige. Luckily my prayers were answered and they even handed me the keys to an F Sport version of the car which looks and is a lot cooler than the standard version. I’ve never thought of Lexus as exciting, but their new IS and NX cars are just so hot. Once I got in the car I fell in love with the interior as well, it’s very minimal with clean lines and all tastefully put together. The digital dashboard board is inspired from the Lexus LFA sports car and physically moves. I’ve never seen that in a car before, you can choose to have the speedometer in the middle with information running on both sides or with a press of the button have the speedometer slide to the right to reveal a larger screen with information displayed. Very cool.

[YouTube]

Most of the cars I take out to review I start to fall in love with as I spend more time with the car. With the Lexus IS, I fell in love with the car as soon as I got in it, and was still in love with it when I had to give it back. The car is just really comfortable to drive and I think it’s one of the hottest looking 4-doors in this price bracket. But the best part about it is the fact that its a Lexus so you know it’s going to be reliable. I’ve got a friend who drives at 12 year old Lexus that still looks new and she’s only now considering getting it replaced. Their cars are bulletproof.

The only thing that probably let the car down is the lack of features. The fully loaded Lexus IS I drove didn’t have any of the new features you would find on the new luxury cars like lane keeping assist, collision detection, blind spot information etc… It wasn’t a major let down for me but it could be for people who care about these gizmos more than the way the car looks. The sound system on the other hand was one of the best I’ve heard in a car and surprisingly was brand-less. It was just their standard 8 speaker sound system but yet I found the sound impressive.

In Kuwait the dealer has three different IS models, the IS 250, the IS 350 and the IS 350 F Sport. The main difference between the IS 250 and 350 is the engine size while the main differences between the IS 350 and IS 350 F Sport are mainly visual upgrades like spoilers, sportier seats, larger wheels, the digital dashboard I mentioned earlier and a few other things. The price of the IS 250 starts at around KD12,000 while the top of the line F Sport is around KD16,900. Would I buy this car? Yes in a heartbeat. If I was in the market looking for a 4-door sporty looking sedan then this would be right there on the top of the list. For more information on the Lexus IS you can check out the dealers website [Here]

Last month I read an article about teachers being deported after public authority inspectors started doing random checks at schools and finding out many of them were working on visit visas. I didn’t think of it much at first since I thought these incidents were taking place at random no-name schools around the country.

Last night though I found out from a teacher friend that some of the top ranked schools in Kuwait were being busted with one of the American schools in Hawalli having had 30 teachers deported. Another American school made 50 teachers not come into school for 3 days because they were expecting an inspection.

My guess is after the child sex offender was found working at a local American school, the government probably ran an investigation to see how he slipped through their background checks and realized that he was working here illegally. Obviously this is the fault of the schools but what I don’t understand is why they don’t get the teachers proper work permits in the first place. Is it to save money or are schools having visa issues like every other company in Kuwait?

Last week I posted about a new restaurant that opened called Bao. Well the same owners opened up another restaurant right next door called Haute specializing in gourmet hot dogs. I passed by a couple of days ago to try it out and unlike my visit to Bao, this time I left disappointed.

The interior of Haute is pretty trendy looking with graffiti on the walls and lots of bright red everywhere. The place was empty when I passed by but it wasn’t lunch nor dinner time but somewhere in between. Their menu had 7 different hot dogs to choose from, they all used the same beef hot dog but each had different toppings. I like my hot dogs very simple so ordered the classic which came with just ketchup and mustard (KD2.000).

When I first saw pictures of the hot dogs on their instagram page, I thought I would have an issue with the bun they were using. It didn’t look soft in the photos but in reality they were and they also turned out to be the best thing about the hot dog. The hot dog itself on the other hand was disappointing. According to their instagram, their hot dogs are smoked and made in house using the finest beef. But I didn’t like the flavor of it and thought it tasted very average. So for my hot dog fix I’ll continue to stick to Shake Shack for the time being.

Like Bao, Haute is located in Sharq near the Sharq Police Station [Here is a Map]. They’re also currently open from 4PM to 10:30PM. For more information you can check out their instagram account [Here] and here is a link to a clearer shot of their [Menu]

For the crossfitters who read my blog, a friend of mine just started importing the Inov-8 brand of training shoes to Kuwait. They have four different models available including the FASTLIFT™ 335 pictured above. Right now they’re selling them over the phone by calling or whatsapping 66786789 for orders but they’ll soon be available at various crossfit boxes around Kuwait.

I personally ended up getting a pair of Nike Metcon 1’s instead and I’m loving them as well although they’re not tried and proven like the Inov-8’s.

I love these KDD guys that park on the side of roads. They help make our extremely hot summers slightly more bearable.

One of my favorite restaurants Street by Al Makan launched a new expanded menu last month. There are now much more to choose from and I got to try a few which I found delicious like the Butter Chicken Milanesa Sando, the 7hr Lamb and Chutney Bun as well as the Flame Grilled Tenderloin & Teryaki Asparagus. They’re also now open daily for lunch from 12PM onwards so check them out.

Update: Here is a larger image of the menu [Link]

Speaking of abandoned places, does anyone still go to Rays One on blajat street in Salmiya? It’s been there for as long as I remember and even back in the 90s it was always empty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone inside and yet its remained open all these years.

Update: Just found the following snippet from the US State department “Weekender’s Guide to Life in Kuwait – 2007 Edition”

RAY’S ONE RESTAURANT: This restaurant has a fish festival every Thursday and Friday serving a variety of fish cooked in a variety of ways – fried, steamed, grilled, smoked etc. During the week it serves an international cuisine.

A couple of weeks back while driving by the Scientific Center I noticed the fenced wall around the abandoned Kenny Rogers Roasters had come down. I decided that once I was off my crutches I would head there and try to see if I could get inside but it looks like I was beaten to the punch. Over the weekend the blog Life in Kuwait visited the location and shot some pictures and video of the inside. The place seems to be in much better condition than I expected it to be and it’s also a lot larger than I imagined as well. Check out the photos and video of the place [Here]

Over the weekend I was over at the Sahara Restaurant Village and noticed a trampoline park was opening up. The location is pretty big so I’m hoping it’s going to be similar to Bounce in Dubai where it’s as much for adults as it is for kids. No idea when the Sahara location is opening up but based on their instagram account, it looks like they’ve opened up a smaller version in Hawalli.

This weekend looks a bit quiet with not many events taking place. There is the Red Bull Car Park Drift taking place on Friday but it’s all the way on the 7th Ring Road. You also have two yoga events taking place, the Living Yoga Festival on Friday and the Yoga for Nepal on Saturday. Finally if you haven’t watched it before, Saturday night Cinemagics will be showing The Royal Tenenbaums. Check out all the events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Exhibition: Abolish 153
Mommy and I: Play Together
Rooftop Movie: Ship of Theseus

Friday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Culinary Event: Perfect Cakes and Frosting
Red Bull Car Park Drift
Living Yoga Festival 2015

Saturday
Exhibition: Geometry of Colour
Yoga For Nepal
Rooftop Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums
How to House-Break your Dog

There is an interesting event also taking place on Wednesday at Bayt Lothan called Sidra Nights. It’s not on the weekend but figured I’d still mention it.

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events for the month click [Here]