2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The Kuwaiti futsal team scored a pretty strange free kick goal against the Jordanian team during their game over the weekend. Check it out in the video above. [YouTube]

Thanks Allen

I passed by The Cheesecake Factory at The Avenues this morning for breakfast. Every Saturday morning from 10AM to 2PM they have a special brunch menu and I was curious to try their pancakes since I had heard they were really good. I ended up ordering two dishes for myself, the Monte Cristo Sandwich and the Buttermilk Pancakes. What is the Monte Cristo? This is the description from their website:

Monte Cristo Sandwich
Crunchy French Toast Stuffed with Bacon, Grilled Ham, Scrambled Eggs and Melted Swiss Cheese Dusted with Powdered Sugar and Served with Strawberry Preserves.

The Monte Cristo was ridiculously good, probably my favorite breakfast dish right now. Their pancakes now are also easily my favorite pancakes in Kuwait. They were really fluffy and light and I had to stop myself from finishing them. Which brings me to a very important problem with this breakfast.

THE CALORIES!

If you’re a calorie counter you’re in for a treat. The Monte Cristo Sandwich is a whopping 1,618 calories while the Buttermilk Pancakes are 1,310 calories. Try to figure out a way to burn those.

Service was so so. Took me a few tries to explain to the waiter I wanted pancakes and even when I pointed at it in the menu he thought I was pointing at another dish. I also told him to bring all the food together but my Monte Cristo came first. Not major issues but still worth noting. The pancakes cost KD3 while the Monte Cristo I think was KD4.250. I highly recommend both dishes and it’s too bad they only serve them on Saturdays. Oh and of course I wish they were both just 500 calories combined instead of being nearly 3,000…

Everyone who’s been to the Kuwait Zoo knows how sad and depressing the place is. I’ve written about it a number of times and it’s just something that has bewildered me for a very long time. Why is the zoo the way it is? I always figured the people who worked at the zoo didn’t care about the animals but after meeting a few of the staff members recently I now know that’s not true. Turns out there are two main reasons why the zoo is a disaster, the first is the zoo visitors and the second is they just don’t have enough money to make it better.

The Visitors
Majority of the people who visit the zoo do not respect the animals nor do they respect any of the rules. On one trip to the zoo during the daytime when it was fairly empty I witnessed three different incidents in a space of 15 minutes that summarizes the problem with the people at the zoo. The first incident took place at the elephant enclosure. We noticed a woman with her young kid had climbed over the fence, through the cactuses all the way to the wall of the elephant enclosure and were taking pictures next to the trunk of the elephant that was sticking out. One of the zoo employees who was with me yelled at the women to get away from the elephant because it was dangerous and the woman just coldly took her time making her way back out over the fence as if she had done nothing wrong. A few meters away on the other corner of the enclosure there was a kid next to his mother with a bag of oranges throwing them at the second elephant. Again the zoo employee had to stop the kid from throwing oranges at the elephant while the mother was pretending she wasn’t noticing any of this.

The third incident occurred just a short distance away at the baboon enclosure. As we arrived we noticed a kid was on top of the fence sticking french fries into the baboon cage trying to feed them. His mother and his sister were standing next to him watching and then the baboon stuck his hand out of the cage and the little boy tried to kick it hard but ended up missing and hitting the cage. The zoo employee I was with yelled at the boy to get down and then pulled the kid down but the kid kept climbing back up wanting to feed the baboons. The employee was telling the kid how dangerous it was since the baboons can bite and scratch people when his mother started shouting at her. She told the employee that no one cares about her kids more than her and if this was dangerous she wouldn’t be letting her kids feed the baboons. I was just standing there going WTF?

Visitors are one of the biggest issues of the zoo. I’ve already posted about how some kids try to kill the animals with slingshots and how the trash people throw into the cages end up killing the animals as well. A lot of kids are uneducated and abusive throwing whatever they can at the animals or in the case above trying to kick them. This is why the zoo tries to protect the animals using chicken wire (a fence with very small openings) around the cages, cactus plants, higher fences and security guards. But even those defenses fail all the time, people still manage to shove food into the cages, they pull down the chicken wire fence and put it on top of the cactuses so they can walk on them towards the cages. Even security guards get ignored and the guards are too afraid to confront the visitors anyway.

No Budget
Now this second issue is the bigger of the two. The zoo has limited financial resources. Although Kuwait is a rich country, the zoo and animals aren’t really a priority. Right now there are two major enclosures for example that need to be changed or fixed but the zoo staff haven’t been able to secure the budget for them.

The first problem is the elephant enclosure. Right now there are two elephants and the enclosure is pretty tiny. The larger of the two elephants has started destroying the walls of the enclosure because of frustration. The zoo submitted a proposal to double the size of the enclosure since there is an empty plot right next to the elephant enclosure but the proposal was rejected. Instead a construction company was brought in to install large metal beams around the elephant enclosure as a solution (pictured above).

The second problem that is in dire need of attention is the chimpanzee cage (pictured above). There are four chimps in one of the most depressing cages I’ve ever seen. They have no entertainment whatsoever inside, it’s just a rectangular dark cage with concrete floors and thats it. But, there’s a great spot in the zoo which the staff want to convert to a chimp enclosure. It’s a large space (see below) that can be planted with trees and greenery and chimps can roam free in it. The plan was proposed but rejected due to budgetary reasons. So now the space is gonna be turned into a reptile enclosure filled with a few crocs and turtles which is going to be a complete waste of space.

So although the staff do want to improve the zoo they just don’t have any money do so. It’s very depressing. Even when it comes to fixing enclosures or purchasing new medical equipment it’s all handled in the same low priority “put a bandaid on it” way.

The Solution
The visitors problem is very difficult to fix. One way would be to increase the prices of the tickets (currently it’s 500fils) in hopes that would stop or lessen the amount of visitors that come to the zoo. Educating the parents and the children is too large a task for the zoo to handle and signs and leaflets really have no effect. The most realistic solution to the people problem is to continue and try to protect the animals (I suggested replacing cactus plants with barbed wire) and hiring Kuwaiti security to replace the current expats.

The solution with the budget should be simpler… just increase the budget, but that’s not happening. A more realistic option we discussed is sponsorship by private companies. Companies could sponsor an animal enclosure and the money would be used to build it or improve it. It’s something that’s done in other zoos around the world and in this situation it would be a great way to solve a lot of the problems.

By the way you’re a company and are interested in doing this, email me for more details [Here]

It’s really sad that the zoo doesn’t have any money to improve the situation for the animals. It’s not only the elephants and the chimps that are in trouble but those two are the priorities right now. The baboon cage for example has around 70 baboons inside and is over crowded. The tiger needs more space, the hippos need a new water filter for their pool and one of the giraffes is limping but they don’t have a portable xray machine to check and see why. They even have one animal enclosure nicknamed Guantanamo because it’s that bad.

The problems with the zoo are major and hopefully I was able to bring it some exposure.

Thai Chow King is a small hole in the wall Thai food restaurant that was recommended to me by one of my readers. It’s a tiny place run by a Thai family. The father who used to work at Sheraton before does the cooking while his wife waits on tables. This little gem of a place has suddenly become my favorite Thai food place.

I passed by for lunch today with a friend and we ended up ordering the following dishes:

Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp KD1.500
Tom Kha Kai Soup with Shrimp KD1.500
Shrimp on Toast KD1.500
Fried Shrimp Wanton KD1.500
Seafood Salad KD1.500
Red Curry Beef KD1.500
Pad Thai with Chicken KD1.250
Mixed Vegetables KD1.250
Chicken with Cashew KD1.500
Steamed Rice KD0.500
Large Water KD0.250

Notice anything with the prices? The most expensive dishes we had cost just KD1.500! This place is such a good deal specially since the food was really good. The curry was delicious, the pad thai was also really good and the chicken with cashew dish was nice and crispy (although had only 2 cashew pieces). Even the shrimp on toast and fried wantons were appetizing and served with great tasting dips.

The restaurant is small with just 5 tables and every dish on the menu has a picture next to it which makes choosing something very easy. I really can’t think of anything to fault about the place. I loved it and how could I not when the food was delicious, filling and our bill came out to just KD13.750.

Thai Chow King is located in Al-Regae and their phone numbers are 24893338 or 66527388. Finding them is easy, here is their location on [Google Maps]

I’m not a fan of the Super Bowl but I love the commercials. You can check out most this years ads on YouTube [Here]

[YouTube]

I’ve featured a lot of talented Kuwaiti musicians on the blog from the likes of Faisal Al-Salem who’s a lead singer for a very popular Japanese thrash metal band and Naser Al-Marzouq, the young and blind Kuwaiti piano player. Mubarak Al Rashed is another Kuwait musician who I think is also really talented.

I found out about Mubarak a few days ago when a reader emailed me telling me about him. Mubarak is a cop by day and an extremely talented Hindi singer by night. It’s a pretty strange combination but if you watch him sing in the video above you’ll see how great is. There are even more videos of him singing [Here]

I also found this old cached Kuwait Times article which has a bit more information on Mubarak and how he got into Hindi music. You can check that article [Here]

Thanks Francis

Yesterday me and some friends headed to the Kuwait Camel Race Club in Kabd. I had never been to a camel race before and when my friend proposed it I figured it would be something exciting to do on a quiet Saturday afternoon. My friend got in contact with a person at the track so when we got there we had a guide waiting for us.

[YouTube]

The guide got into the car with us and took us past the security gate into the center of the race track where the camel owners drive alongside their camels during the race. The Kuwait Camel Club no longer use human jockeys but instead use robotic ones due to the controversial child jockey problems faced in the past. During the race the camel owners drive down the track alongside their camels controlling their robot jockeys with wireless controllers. The guide made me tune into 93.1mhz on the FM radio because there was a live broadcast of the actual race so we could follow it that way. You could watch the short video above to get a feel of the view from inside the car. During the start of every race all the cars drive to the starting line where the owners make last checks on their camels. The camels don’t start in front of the spectators stand but 3KM away from the finish line. Once the camels are ready they are lined up and the race begins. The cars drive alongside the camels all the way to the finish line and then the cars drive back to the starting line to check on the other set of camels. We did this maybe five or six times until all the races had been finished and then we drove back to the spectator stands.

There was a black tent near the track where the winner was given his prize. Afterwards we were invited to some dates with camel butter and camel milk. The butter was absolutely delicious and even the milk didn’t taste bad at all, kinda like something between buttermilk and laban.

If you’re interested in visiting the tracks to watch a race it’s very easy to find and do. Take the 6th Ring Road and if 360 Mall is on your right keep heading straight past the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. Keep driving until you pass the new Kuwait University campus on your left (currently just hills and hills of sand surrounded by hoarding) and then after that in a bit you’ll see a sign for the 604 exit. Once you take the exit stop at the traffic light and then take a left and pass under the bridge. Then keep driving straight until you get to a roundabout, drive straight past that roundabout and keep driving until you get to a second roundabout. Once again pass that roundabout and keep driving until you hit the third roundabout. At the third roundabout go left and then head all the way till the end of the road. Once your read the end go right until you get to the end of the road again and you’ll spot the Kuwait Camel Club on your left. The whole ride shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes. There is no entrance fee and races are held every Saturday from 2:30pm between October and April. Here is the location on [Google Maps]

UPDATE: I posted an updated guide, 2021 edition which you can check here.

From what I know it’s illegal to make/get permanent tattoos in Kuwait but I found a local tattoo artist based in Salmiya advertising his services with a banner on Facebook. Dude, tip #1: If you’re doing something illegal you shouldn’t be advertising it. [Link]

One of the rooms inside the House of Mirrors was a private library filled with old books dating back to the early 60s. Amongst the vintage Tell Me Why’s, one book grabbed my attention called The Kuwait Urbanization. It’s an old book published back in 1964 and it was filled with old sketches and photos of Kuwait. Near the end of the book I even spotted artists sketches from the competition to design the Kuwait waterfront (Gulf Road).

I checked online to see if I could buy the book but I couldn’t find it anywhere but luckily a follower of mine on Instagram had a PDF version which she was nice enough to email me. I’ve also decided it’s worth sharing this book with everyone so if you’re also interested in old Kuwait you can download the 166MB PDF file from [Here]

Lidia al-Qattan explaining the Big Bang Room

I’ve being thinking about this post for the past few days trying to figure out what I was going to write exactly. The place turned out to be such a cool and surreal experience that I just couldn’t figure out where to start or how to say what I wanted to say. In the end I decided that I’ll be brief and not go into details so that you go there with no expectations other than having a good time.

Me posing outside the house with @kuzmoz

Last week a friend asked me if I wanted to join them on a tour of the House of Mirrors and since I had never been I decided to join them. The House of Mirrors belongs to Lidia al-Qattan, the widow of Khalifa al-Qattan, a renowned Kuwaiti artist. She started decorating one small wall with mirrors and through time more and more walls were decorated until the whole house inside and out was covered with mirrors.

The reception area with munchies

As I said, I’m not going to go into details because I don’t want to ruin the experience for you but simply put Lidia is such an amazing person. We were expecting the tour of the house to take around 30 minutes but it took us 3 hours and the 3 hours literally flew by. She was such an incredible host full of stories and the whole experience was seriously pretty trippy.

If you’ve never been to the House of Mirrors you should and when you do make sure you go with a bunch of friends since its an experience that should be shared. The cost of the tour is KD2 per person on weekdays and KD3 on weekends. The location of the house Street 94 Qadisiya, House 17 Block 9. You need to call ahead and make an appointed on this number 22518522.

A few weeks back the local photography store AAB World provided me with the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 full frame lens to try out. My current collection of lenses that I use with my Nikon D800 are the Nikon 24mm f/2.8, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 and the Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8. So at 35mm, the Sigma fit snugly between the 24mm and 50mm lens. Actually a bit too snugly because I stopped using both those lenses while I had the Sigma with me.

The first thing that caught my attention with the Sigma lens was the build quality. The lens is a lot larger than both my prime lenses and due to its all metal casing it felt more durable and a lot more solid. The reason I love prime lenses is because they’re so bright and with an open aperture of f/1.4, this Sigma lens is really bright.

I used the lens frequently during the period I had it with me and the 35mm range proved to be very versatile. The physical size of the lens didn’t bother me much and I actually found the larger lens easier to grip and balance the camera with while shooting. Nikon also have their own 35mm f/1.4 lens but costs around KD470 on Amazon. The Sigma on the other hand is selling for KD240 locally (cheaper than Amazon). That’s nearly half the price for what is basically a very similar lens. The lens is also available for Canon cameras.

If you own a full frame Canon or Nikon camera then you’re in for a treat because AAB World want to give away one of these lenses to my readers. The only requirement needed to win this lens is for you to own a full frame Nikon or Canon camera. To get a chance to win this lens just post the model of your camera in the comments below and I will randomly choose a winner tomorrow night using random.org.

Rules: Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond within 24 hours another winner will be randomly chosen. When collecting the prize you NEED to have your full frame camera with you.

If your camera isn’t one of the following you don’t qualify
Canon – 6D, 1D X, 5D Mark III, 5D Mark II, 5D, 1Ds Mk III, 1Ds Mk II, 1Ds
Nikon – D3, D3X, D3S, D4, D600, D700, D800

Update: I’ve closed the post for commenting and will be conducting the random draw this weekend.

Twitter updated their 2012 user information request page and it turns out Kuwait did not request any data about any local users from Twitter last year. Actually the only Arab country to request user information was surprisingly Qatar. Check out the full list [Here]

via @Nibaq

With all the problems with the Kuwait Zoo we sometimes forget it still can be a nice place to visit. A friend of mine passed by last week and she wrote about it in a much more positive way than I could ever do.

Did you know that the entrance fee is [500 filss] ONLY?! And now that the weather is still breezy & the sun isn’t eating our heads, half a KD will grant you scenery, active animals, great open space, clear skies, and best of all- an adventure to remember.

Her pictures are also really great so check out her post [Here]

If you’ve got an iPhone 5 and are using Zain then you’re lucky because they just activated the service for your phones.

Thanks Essa

Note: Make sure you update to the latest iOS software

Elmnet in collaboration with Qualitynet are currently giving away 2Mbps internet for free at InfoConnect. Sounds too good to be true? Well it kinda is. Here are some things you need to know:

Pros
– It’s for everyone, expats and Kuwaitis
– It’s free and it’s 2Mbps

Cons
– You can only use their software to browse the internet
– You can only browse the internet and do nothing else internet related (no torrents, no online gaming etc.)
– You will have three ad banners on the screen the whole time framing the browser, one on the left, one on the right and one below
– You can only use it on a computer. You can’t use it on your smart phone or any other device like your gaming system or tablet
–

The salesman wasn’t sure if it would work with Macs or Linux operating systems

works on Macs but not Linux

Update: According to a spokesperson from Elmnet the connection isn’t limited to just browsing. You can use the connection for other internet activities like downloading torrents and streaming music from apps like Spotify etc.