2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 just started and the first episode was hilarious. It got me thinking about my top 5 funniest shows ever and I think Curb definitely makes the list which would look like this (in no particular order):

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Parks & Recreation
• The Office (US)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Seinfeld

If it was a top 10 list I’d squeeze Veep and Arrested Development into the list, maybe Lucky Louie, Malcolm in the Middle, Party Down, Master of None, Extras, and Eastbound and Down. Ok that would be a Top 13 list. I also feel like I’m forgetting a show.

This past week I also tried to watch “The Curse” but couldn’t get into it. I actually still have no idea what the show is, might have to try again later. I also started Griselda, I’m two episodes in and I like it so far.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve watched anything interesting this week.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Autumn and the Black Jaguar (6.7)
Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (7.2)
In the Land of Saints and Sinners (6.1)
Peter Five Eight (N/A)
Skeletons in the Closet (N/A)
Sorry, Charlie (5.4)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Argylle (6.2)
Cult Killer (5.3)
Migration (7.5)
No Way Up (5.3)
Riki Rhino (5.8)
The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession (7.2)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (5.8)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Titanic (7.9)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

According to a source of mine, the popular South African franchise Nando’s is targeting to open in Kuwait on February 20th.

Nando’s originally opened at The Avenues back in 2007 but ended up closing down shortly after. This time, Apparel Group are bringing them back to Kuwait, the same company that brought Tim Hortons back, and also recently opened Jamie’s Italian.

Nando’s will have two locations in Kuwait initially, one in The Warehouse Mall and a second in Al Kout Mall. The tentative opening date could change due to unforeseen circumstances, so make sure you follow @apparelgroupofficial for the official announcement.

I posted about Autocapital last year, they’re a very easy to deal with one-stop shop that buys, sells, leases and rents cars. They’ve been around since 2018 and have been growing rapidly.

Last week, Autocapital opened their brand new showroom in Al-Rai, in place of where the Aston Martin dealership used to be. The new showroom is huge encompassing three floors with lots of cars on display.

I passed by the showroom to check it out for this post and I ended up getting a full tour of the facility, including the VIP area where they display supercars for sale that their owners prefer to keep private.

They had a pretty nice collection of cars on display, ranging from electric vehicles for lease, like Teslas and the Mercedes EQS, to cars for sale, like the Yaris GR, a classic 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline, and rare cars like the Hummer H1 Alpha. There’s a car for everyone and even motorbikes available for lease.

With high-interest rates and the cost of cars getting higher, lease-to-own or buying used makes a lot more sense nowadays. To find out more about Autocapital, visit their location in Al Rai, near The Avenues, autocapitalkw.com or their Instagram @autocapital.kuwait

Valentine’s is next week and if you haven’t already booked you should since most of the popular places tend to fill up really quickly.

Below are 9 romantic places for a perfect Valentine’s day dinner.

Some restaurants have a set menu, which is the minimum price you can pay for the dinner. Places without a set menu do not have a minimum price, and you just order from their menu as usual.

All the places shared have something going on for Valentine’s from live music to decorations, call the restaurant for more details.

Cantina
No Set Menu

Cure
35KD per person

Dai Forni
90KD per person
125KD per person if on the balcony

Mei Li
45KD per person

Peacock
50KD per person

OFK
75KD per person

Riccardo
75KD per person

Roka
No Set Menu

Vigonovo
No Set Menu

I found out about Nawaf (@bo7mood58) through a friend of mine a few years ago. Nawaf has a warehouse filled with boxes of old books and magazines which he’s acquired over the years from various sources and he sells them on his instagram account. But, a few of times a year, Nawaf also opens up his warehouse for people to visit in person.

This year, Nawaf is opening his warehouse daily for the whole month of February.

I’ve been to a few of those open days over the years and I’ve always left with lots of great books. It’s a very chill atmosphere, the books are laid out on the floor and you just sift through them one by one. Once the piles start to decrease, Nawaf brings out another box of books, so every time you visit you’ll find a different bunch of books. You can also find old newspapers, and every now and then, boxes of VHS tapes or records.

Majority of the stuff is in Arabic, but there are plenty of old English books and magazines as well.

The hospitality is great, Nawaf usually has a box of disposable gloves for you to wear (highly recommended since most of the books are dusty), as well as water and sweets. He’s really nice and friendly, and he doesn’t try and price gouge you or anything either.

Here is a pro tip, once you get there, put on disposable gloves, grab an empty carton and a stool if one is free, and move them around with you from pile to pile as you search for books. When you find an item you like, put it in your empty carton. Once you’re done searching for the day, take your carton to Nawaf and he’ll price the items for you. You can pay by cash or payment link.

If you want to visit the warehouse, it’s going to be open daily in February from 4PM to 10PM. Location of the warehouse is in Sulaibiya, Block 6, for the exact Google Maps location, here is the link.

I recently heard that any expat wishing to travel by car outside Kuwait now requires a car “TripTik”. No idea why they announced this new rule but it basically means you need to get an additional paper now for your car before traveling.

A reader recently had to get this paper done at KIAC and this is what he shared:

There are 2 options for the TripTik, 1 month & 12 months validity. 1 Month was recently introduced by KIAC on announcement of this new rule to make it more affordable for expats, but if you travel a lot you should get the 12 months validity. The TripTik will be stamped entering and exiting the border similar to a passport.

Here is what’s required:

For 1 Month
Fee: 20KD
Deposit: 50KD that you’ll get back when you’re back from your trip
Paperwork Required: Civil ID, passport, and car registration

For 1 Year
Fee: 50KD
Deposit: 50KD that you’ll get back when you’re back from your trip
Paperwork Required: Civil ID, passport, and car registration. In addition to that you also need a Kuwaiti guarantor as well. The Kuwaiti guarantor needs to have their Civil ID as well as salary certificate.

Issuing the TripTik takes a few minutes after submitting all the correct paperwork.

In case you’re traveling by car, please double check the above information since it might change over time. You can contact KIAC on 24827524 if you have any questions or visit their website kiac.com.kw

As someone that travels often by car I’m personally really annoyed by this.

Thanks Uzair

UPDATE: According to a number of readers, they were able to travel to Saudi without requiring the TripTik. So looks like it might not be required or they haven’t started requesting them yet.

UPDATE2: I just went to Saudi yesterday and came back, didn’t require TripTik and nobody asked me about it either.

Café Kitsuné, the popular sub-brand of the trendy French-Japanese lifestyle brand, Maison Kitsuné, is opening in Kuwait tomorrow (Sunday).

Their first location in Kuwait is opening outside the Abdullah Al-Salem Co-op and has a trendy interior with the Sadu pattern incorporated into the ceiling. It was designed in house by Café Kitsuné, but project managed locally by @soufikw.

For those of you who are fans of their music playlists, I was told the local playlist is controlled and streamed directly from Paris. So expect the same style of curated music.

They’re one of the cafes I tend to pass by for coffee while I’m in Paris, so it’s pretty cool that they’re now opening in Kuwait. If you want to pass by, starting tomorrow they’ll be open from 10AM to 10PM.

Here are the events taking place this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, February 1
Charcoal Live Cooking Experience
HENRY V
Murouj Market
Astronomers Diwaniya
Celebrating Contemporary Textile Artistry
The City Vibes Market
MEGA 3 Expo

Friday, February 2
Charcoal Live Cooking Experience
Murouj Market
Al-Farsi Kite Team
The City Vibes Market
MEGA 3 Expo
KMT Race Weekend
Red Bull Car Park Drift

Saturday, February 3
Charcoal Live Cooking Experience
Murouj Market
Qout Market
The City Vibes Market
MEGA 3 Expo
Women’s Wellness Event
KMT Race Weekend
Korean Game Day & Picnic

Two episodes of Masters of the Air is out on AppleTV+ and I watched both this week. The first episode was pretty slow and not that great, but things picked up in the second episode. As I’ve previously mentioned, I watched both Band of Brothers and The Pacific in preparation for Masters of the Air which is considered the third companion to the series. I feel it’s still too soon to judge the show with just two episodes out, so not sure how it already has an 8.0 on IMDB, but in any case, I’m looking forward to the third episode.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve watched anything interesting this week.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Argylle (6.2)
Cult Killer (5.3)
Riki Rhino (5.8)
The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession (7.2)
Zodi & Tehu – Princes of the Desert (6.1)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Bad Connection (5.8)
Confidential Informant (4.1)
Migration (7.5)
Mother, May I? (5.2)
No Way Up (5.3)
Thabo and the Rhino Case (8.1)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (5.8)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Titanic (7.9)
The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

This weekend, Kuwait Motor Town will be hosting the first and second round of the newly launched, F4 Saudi Arabian Championship. But, there are also a lot of other things happening at the circuit this weekend.

KMT has been actively hosting international events over the past two seasons, and this year, they’re aiming to make the events more accessible to the public so they’ve made these races free for spectators. There are no tickets this year, all the races taking place this weekend are free to watch.

Not only that, but in addition to the F4 races, the Red Bull Car Park Drift is taking place this weekend at the track along with the Toyota GR Yaris Cup races, and Bugsha Market.

Spectators are free to come throughout the day to watch the races and the various activities happening at the track. There will be something suitable for all ages ranging from food trucks to bouncy castles.

F4 Races
Friday and Saturday

Red Bull Car Park Drift
Friday at 7PM

GR Yaris Races
Friday and Saturday

2K Races
Friday and Saturday

Bugsha Market
Friday and Saturday
10AM to 8PM

For more information, visit @kmtkw, @redbullkuwait, @gazooracingkw, and @streetfoodkuwait

Photo on top by @mubarakalqattan

If you have children and are looking for activities to stimulate their minds, this post should interest you.

Let’s Explore is a dynamic program dedicated to nurturing creativity and curiosity in children aged between 4 and 12. They pop-up in different places around Kuwait and this month they’re based at the Yarmouk Cultural Centre.

Their classes are designed to inspire and empower young minds through hands-on experiences, and lots of exploration. It’s a great way for kids to discover new interests while also making new friends.

There are two types of classes currently available, Little Explorers and Future Engineers:

Little Explorers:
– 🧪 Chemical Engineering with Sensory Play
– 💡 Electrical Engineering
– 🔬 Science
– 🎨 Arts and Crafts

Ages: 4 to 6
Days: Monday and Wednesday
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

Future Engineers:
– 🤖 Robotics
– 🛠️ Mechanical Engineering
– ⚡ Electrical Engineering
– 🚀 Aerospace Engineering

Ages: 7 to 12
Days: Monday and Wednesday
Time: 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm

There are limited seats available so if you want to sign up your child, click here.

You should also follow them on Instagram if you want to find out about their upcoming Ramadan location, they just shared it with me and it’s going to be really fun for the kids. Here is their account @letsexplorenonstop

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced online database of perceived consumer prices, real property prices, and quality of life metrics. According to their 2024 report, Kuwait is the cheapest place to live in the Gulf while Dubai is the most expensive.

The most expensive place to live in the world according to their report is Bermuda, while the cheapest place is Karachi, Pakistan.

Here is how the Gulf countries rank:

1- Dubai, UAE
2- Abu Dhabi, UAE
3- Doha, Qatar
4- Manama, Bahrain
5- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
6- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
7- Sharjah, UAE
8- Muscat, Oman
9- Kuwait City, Kuwait

Numbeo’s cost of living index is calculated using the relative prices of consumer goods like groceries, restaurants, transportation, and utilities. The index doesn’t take into account accommodation expenses such as rent. For the full list, click here.

Aladdin Sweets (بوظة وحلويات علاء الدين) has been an iconic part of Salmiya for around 60 years. I used to walk by it as a kid, and look through the window at all the sweets and ice cream on display. If I was lucky, my mum would let me go in and get my favorite ice cream combo, chocolate and strawberry.

While walking by the other day I spotted a sign on the window saying they were closing down, moving to a new location and renaming to “Revani”. I asked them when there last day would be and they said January 30th.

If you want to pass by one last time, you have till tomorrow. They’re the ice cream place located between White Tower (برج ابيض) and Marina Mall. Google Maps

The Henley Passport Index is released every year and is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). A passport is considered powerful based on how many countries people from that country can visit without needing a visa.

For 2024, Kuwait ranks 55 on the list with 102 visa-free destinations (check image below). Compared to neighboring GCC countries, Kuwait has the 3rd best passport coming in behind the UAE and Qatar.

Here are how some other countries ranked compared to Kuwait:

1 – France
4 – United Kingdom
7 – United States / Canada
11 – United Arab Emirates
53 – Qatar
55 – Kuwait
59 – Bahrain
60 – Oman
61 – Saudi Arabia
80 – India
87 – Egypt
95 – Lebanon

If you want to check out the full list, click here.

So many things happening this weekend, check out the full list below but if I missed anything, let me know.

Thursday, January 25
Improv Everywhere: Ha Ha Happy New Year
Muruoj Sport Event
Light Expo
Quantum Con
Sports Square – Sulaibikhat
Creative Printing Art Exhibition
Bugsha Market
Season Expo
Shop Local Food Hall
Circle Talk: Starting a Conscious Business
Kashta with Madang
Macbeth Film Night
Future Kid Grand Opening – Mubarakiya

Friday, January 26
Muruoj Sport Event
Light Expo
Quantum Con
Sports Square – Sulaibikhat
Show Jumping Event
Live Show: The Space Race
THRF Marketplace
Bugsha Market
Season Expo
Shop Local Food Hall
Lets Go Hiking
Art with Dried Flowers
IKEA Carnival
Cars & Coffee

Saturday, January 27
Muruoj Sport Event
Light Expo
Quantum Con
Sports Square – Sulaibikhat
THRF Marketplace
Show Jumping Event
Hanji & Hansik
Wejha Bazaar
Bugsha Market
Season Expo
IKEA Carnival
Workshop: Digital Art for Fabric Printing
Shop Local Food Hall