2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last year when I was in Dubai having lunch I started chatting with the waiter and it turned out he had just moved to Dubai from Kuwait. He was in Kuwait getting training for just a short period of time before being sent to their Dubai branch. I asked him what he thought about Kuwait in the time he had spent here and he replied saying he was surprised at how dirty it was. Usually the most common response is that Kuwait is too hot or the fact they hated it because there was no social life or alcohol but that was the first time someone had told me they thought Kuwait was dirty. That comment stuck with me ever since because it made me realize, I’ve kinda gotten immune to the garbage like I’ve gotten immune to the heat or the fact that there is sand everywhere.

The photos in this post are my latest submission to the Deera App. All this garbage is located in a sand lot behind my apartment building, the same sand lot which at one point someone had dug a large pit to dump all the garbage in.

The way I see it there are a few things that need to be done to solve the garbage issue:

1) Clean up the garbage. Not sure how much money is allocated to cleaning up the garbage but either they should allocate more money or work more efficiently. In this one sand lot behind my place a quick solution for now would be to add more bins. When people dug a pit in the lot to throw garbage it was because the 7 bins weren’t enough. Instead of adding more bins to solve the issue they removed two leaving just 5 so obviously the garbage is going be overflowing. But its also not just about the garbage bins, there is litter all over the floor all around Salmiya and that never gets cleaned up.

2) Educate people. A nationwide anti-littering campaign would be a good start. I can’t even remember the last time there was an anti-littering campaign in Kuwait, maybe back in the 80s.

3) Fine people for littering. This is far fetched of course because I’ve seen cops let people run red lights and not chase them so I doubt they’re going to fine people for littering.

4) Finally put me in charge of Salmiya because whoever is in charge now obviously doesn’t give a shit about the area.

Update: Just a quick note, it took two trucks but thanks to the Deera App the garbage was all cleaned and the building that had caused most of the waste in the first photo was also fined.

Failed Kuwaiti carrier Wataniya Airways is reportedly planning a comeback as soon as the first quarter of 2015. The airline has begun efforts to re-launch by attempting to raise KD24m ($85m) and lease an initial two planes, according to Kuwait Times.

The company has asked the Ministry of Commerce to publish the minutes of an extraordinary assembly meeting held this week and will then contact the Capital Markets Authority so it can prepare for a new initial public offering (IPO). The airline needs a minimum of KD11m in capital to re-launch operations, a company source was quoted as saying. [Source]

Looks like Wataniya Airways is finally coming back to life. I wonder if they’ll fly out from Sheikh Saad Terminal along with FlyDubai or if they’ll be joining the rest of the airlines at the main terminal?

Looks like the runaway maids account @mn7asha which I posted about last week got closed down. Yesterday Aljazeera posted about the account and when I tried to access it today on Instagram I got a user not found error. I am not sure yet if instagram shut down the account or if the owner did but whatever happened the account is gone for now.

I took the photo above a couple of hours ago while heading back to the city from the Hilton Resort. A public transportation bus had run off the side of the highway flipping over in the process. Not sure how many people were hurt but I counted at least three ambulances on the scene.

According to @KuwaiT_ALYoum, British authorities are looking for a Kuwaiti teenager who was filmed hunting ducks with a slingshot in Hyde Park. I couldn’t find another source for this information but I did find the video that went viral and you can watch it below (its safe).

[YouTube]

Yesterday I had a meeting at the Kuwait National Library and to kill time before the meeting I wandered off into the small English books section and started checking out the books. I was pretty surprised that the majority of the English books were really old but then I found the advertising section and I knew I hit jackpot.

Right away I noticed, these weren’t just any ordinary advertising books, these were vintage advertising books from the 40s and the 50s! These are the books Don Draper would have on his bookshelf on the TV show Mad Men. I found an empty shelf and started collecting the books I liked and lining them up next to each other. In the end these were my favorite books that I found:

How to Build Modern Furniture (1957)
Five Hundred Years of Printing (1959)
The Watch Repairer’s Manual (1949)
Advertising – a guide for business man and student (1947)
Advertising and Psychology (1954)
The Technique of Advertising (1940)
Successful Television and Radio Advertising (1959)
Advertising (1953)
International Handbook of Advertising (1964)
Colour in Advertising (1956)

I thought they were all very fascinating so once my meeting was done I headed to the main office to sign up for a library card so I could check them out. Thats where I got an even bigger surprise, turns out the library isn’t open yet and is actually opening in two weeks and even once it’s open they won’t allow anyone to check out the books, you can only read them in the library.

I left the library in love with it but at the same time a bit confused.

If they’re not open yet, why are all the English books so old?
Where did they even get these books from?
and WTF?

But then it hit me, this is the perfect library. Other than the fact that old books are fascinating, by having all these old books, its as if the library has been around for 50 years instead of just opening now. You’re also not going to find these books on the Kindle so thats another reason to visit the library. Smart move. Once the library is open in two weeks I would definitely recommend you pass by. The library is pretty big and I’m not sure if there was another larger English section but even if there wasn’t, the small section is interesting enough to check out.

The library is located right next to the National Museum on the Gulf Road and here it is on [Google Maps]

PS: If anyone from the library is reading this, please PLEASE remove the horrible window sticker on your building and install a proper sign instead.]

A few days ago I posted about how the construction of the new Kuwait airport was been put on hold indefinitely and oddly enough, some people were actually pleased with the news. One of the comments was that the new airport would make Kuwait very difficult to live in (because more people would come to Kuwait) while another person didn’t think anything was wrong with the current airport.

[YouTube]

I personally would love a new airport especially the Foster + Partners design that got approved (watch the video above). I travel a lot and arriving at a clean, bright and organized airport is a much more positive experience than arriving at a crowded, gloomy and depressing one. I’d love to pass through an eGate and avoid the long lines at immigration or wander around a large duty free to kill time before my flight. Also the first thing new visitors to Kuwait will see is the airport and first impressions matter. Kuwait is so much better than what the current airport leads you to believe.

But that’s my opinion, I’m curious to know if I am alone in this because I don’t think I am. Do we need a new airport?

BBC have an article and a short video report on De La Rue, the company that designed and printed the new Kuwaiti Dinars. In the video below the reporter is at the factory while they’re printing the Kuwaiti Dinars and you get to see her hold an uncut sheet of the notes as well as discuss the currency a bit with an employee. Check out the video below and then the article [Here]

Thanks Neil

Earlier today the BMW dealer launched the i8 Hybrid Supercar to the members of the press. Remember the BMW i8 that had arrived at the airport last month? Turns out it belonged to the dealer and the arrival of the car was meant to be a secret. Due to a nosey employee at the airport, that didn’t happen.

The cost of the car is currently set at around KD55,000 although it hasn’t been finalized. A source of mine last week told me that 10 cars had already been booked with 3 confirmed sold (this is before todays launch) but the dealer isn’t willing to confirm this to me.

Check out the Chris Harris review of the BMW i8 on [YouTube]

@Mn7asha is a local instagram account where people can send photos of house keepers who’ve run away. Notice the chain on the house keepers leg in their profile picture? That profile picture alone sums up the mentality of the people running the account, the people submitting photos to this account as well as the reason why the house keepers most likely ran away in the first place.

Thanks @gharabally

The popular social video sharing site Telly is currently featuring Kuwaiti Short Films on their website. There are 12 films available to watch and they are:

Heaven’s Water (May Aljannah)
The Sniper (Alqannas)
The Neighborhood Cop (Shurty Alfreej)
The Youngest Son (Ju3da)
The Detective (Thabet)
Mustache (Shanab)
Sneeze (3atsah)
Someone (Fulan)
Saloon
Vanish (Ikhtifa2)
Ka3bool
9oorat

So if you’re interested in watching some short Kuwaiti films check them out [Here]

Post by Amy Freeman

This post is a little outside the box from the usual fitness and health stuff but I feel it is an important issue especially in this day and age where most woman (and men for that matter) are striving for perfection. It is really easy to see why, especially with all these ‘reality’ shows, celebrities and now social media that give a very idealistic view of real life.

I have had a lot of insecure woman that have had children admit to being ashamed of their bodies, specifically stretch marks on their stomachs. Some wont even let their husbands see their body and in some extreme cases I’ve heard of woman that are back in the gym a week after birth, eating next to nothing and breast feeding all in the hope to reach that pre baby body in minimal time.

This has been playing on my mind for a while and it makes me feel sad that these woman feel so much pressure from society that they are so hard on themselves. On top of that they are so consumed with snapping back into shape, they aren’t able to enjoy the first weeks of their baby.

Pregnancy is such an individual thing and everyone’s experience is different but the bottom line is nobody has the right to make a woman feel ashamed of her body for growing a human. I mean even Kim Kardashian stayed out of the public eye for around 3 months post baby because she didn’t want to be seen.

The media has a lot to do with causing this shame amongst woman. It seems like a lot of celebrities can get back into shape no problem at all and a lot of woman are influenced by this totally screwed up, twisted reality.

The reality is that it usually takes around a year to lose baby weight safely. Yes, sometimes it takes less time and sometimes more, this also depends on whether you had a C-section or a natural birth, it depends on any complications, how much abdominal separation occurred, it depends on your genetics, it depends on what kind of shape you were in pre and during pregnancy, it depends on how many children you have had and it depends on your age. The list goes on.

So, I thought that I would include some of my tips that I give my clients that have had a baby, on what I think are key things to help you shed the baby weight while staying healthy.

– If you are breastfeeding your body’s metabolism is higher than usual which means you might be hungrier. Make sure you fuel your body with nutrient dense foods to fill you up like fruits, vegetables, nuts, salmon, lean meats and carbohydrates such as brown rice, quinoa, sweet potato and oats, also include lots of healthy fats rich in omega 3.

– Make sure you are drinking 2-4L of water per day.

– Don’t do any form of exercise till your doctor clears you.

– Remember that your body will still be recovering from birth for at least the first 6 weeks post birth so start with very light exercise and if possible, hire a trainer so they can keep you on the right track.

– Once you start your exercise routine just keep an eye on your milk quality if you’re feeding. In some people, long periods of intense exercise can reduce the milk quality so just keep an eye on it.

– Don’t be hard on yourself if it is taking longer than you thought to lose the baby weight. I 100% believe that consistency over time is what gets results, not perfection for a short time. Trust the process and be patient.

Just to finish, here is a photo of one of the most beautiful women in the world. She was and still is idolized all over the world by both women and men. Cindy Crawford, after 2 children still embraces her body with stretch marks for the world to see. So to mothers out there, give yourselves a break, train regularly, eat clean consistently and don’t get caught up with perfection because it doesn’t exist.

Happy training Kuwait.

Post by Amy Freeman, a Strength and Conditioning Coach from New Zealand and currently a Personal Trainer at Inspire Pure Fitness in Kuwait.

The construction of the new airport terminal that was designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners has been placed on indefinite hold after most of the contracting companies quit bidding due to the conditions they were required to agree to.

Construction was originally set to start back in 2012 and it was a project everyone in Kuwait was looking forward to seeing completed so this is pretty disappointing news.

I’ve finalized the categories on the blog and the last and final addition is the Entertainment section. It was previously called the gaming section and was being run by my brother but I’ve now got two friends who will also be helping out in that section with movies and music.

Tarek J, the guy behind the weekly Cinemagics rooftop movies will be handling the movies part of the section. Tarek is a walking film encyclopedia and has pretty good taste in movies so I’ll be personally keeping an eye out for his recommendations.

Amin Fari is the second friend who will be helping out. Amin is a talented local musician and he will be handling the music stuff in that section. He’s already a got a few posts up and you can check them out [Here]

Next step is to update the iPhone app.

Kuwait has the second highest number of millionaire families among the GCC countries and fifth highest internationally with 9 percent, which means 99,000 families are millionaires. [Source]

That’s insane.

via Expat and the City