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The 3rd GCC Games started yesterday and the dust storm didn’t stop them. You can check out some pictures from yesterday’s events on the @kuwaitolympic twitter account. Currently, Bahrain is leading the games with 6 gold medals while Kuwait is in fifth place with 2.

The games are being broadcasted on KTV3 so if you can’t attend the games you can still watch it on TV or online via the MOI website. If you want to stream the games online, click here.

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) a comedy show is taking place at AUK with a celebrity line-up from LA, featuring Tacarra Williams, Melinda Hill and Nina Kharoufeh. Local artist Zahra Al-Mahdi will also make an appearance as a special guest. Tickets start at 25KD and they’re selling fast, so if you want to go you need to book right now.

It’s been a while since I last posted a restaurant review, but there really hasn’t been any that interested me until now. Midar is a new Kuwaiti restaurant opened by the team behind some of our favorite places like Burger Boutique, White Robata and Slider Station. I passed by Friday for lunch and left wanting to go back.

Midar opened during Eid a couple of weeks ago in The Gardens area of Avenues phase 4. I had seen pictures of the space ahead of time and it looked really pretty but in person, it looks even better. The restaurant was smaller than I imagined it being but I liked it more this way since it felt cozy. I had a reservation that I had made a couple of weeks earlier so I was seated as soon as I arrived. We were given a choice of either sitting inside or in their outdoor space, I chose inside and that’s what I would recommend. The outdoor space is pretty generic and so you’d miss out on the beautiful interior.

Once seated it took a pretty long time to be attended to by a waiter. Service was actually the only issue I had with the place, not because the service was bad or the waiters were not any good, they were just not attentive. Their menu like most places today was digital and you can check it out by going to midar-me.com/menu. Midar is a Kuwaiti seafood concept so all their dishes are seafood related and you won’t find any chicken or beef on their menu. I ended up ordering Jahra St. Hummus to start with and then a Grilled Medium-sized Seabass and Fresh Shrimp Mumawash for our mains, followed by the Sticky Date Cake for dessert. Oh and we also ordered their super spicy Special Mabooch on the side.

The food all looked great, the portions were fairly big, and everything we had ended up being delicious. The fish was brought next to our table and then cut open and plated, it reminded me of the one I have at Shemam except this one was obviously elevated and better. The Mumawash when mixed with the special mabooch and the sauce they bring with it on the side was my favorite thing (and really spicy). Finally the dessert, I mean it’s such a basic thing, a sticky date cake, but it was easily the best one I’ve ever had, it actually caught me off guard since I’m not really a sticky date cake guy. Once the meal was done we had a choice of complimentary regular or lumi tea which is a nice touch.

The final bill, including a mocktail, soft drink and water came out to around 35KD which is pretty reasonable for a place like this. Really the only odd thing was the service. The waiters just never seemed to be around even though the place isn’t that big. But, they also just opened and the whole restaurant industry is suffering with a lack of staff so it’s understandable and I’m sure they’ll work out the kinks quickly (their concepts tend to have the best service in the industry). I’d definitely go back and I actually have a to-do list of things I want to try next time.

Since Midar just opened they’re going to be really busy during prime hours, so even though they do accept walk-ins, you’ll have a better chance of getting a table if you reserve through their website midar-me.com

Below are various events that are taking place this weekend. If I missed anything let me know.

Thursday
Music: Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Exhibition: ‘Graduation ceremony’ by Aseel AlYaqoub (extended)
Glow City

Friday
Music: Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Workshop: Make your own Dinosaur
Glow City
3rd GCC Games

Saturday
Grand Mosque Tour
Workshop: Make your own Dino Mask
La Caro Designs Open Studio
Glow City
3rd GCC Games
Trash Hero: Free Trade Zone Beach Cleanup

Fresh, a cafe that has been around since the 90s at Al-Khalid Complex in Salmiya has closed down. I’ve never been to it, I don’t even know how it managed to last for so long but I do know it’s one of those places a lot of people went to back when there was very little to do in Kuwait.

As I mentioned in another post, Al-Khalid Complex recently went through a major refurbishment and new places are opening up including Boost coffee shop. Another place similar to Fresh that also is surprisingly still open is Astra Lounge. I guess old-school places like these still have a cult-like following helping them stay afloat.

The 3rd GCC Games will be held in Kuwait in three days’ time and the Kuwait Olympic Committee yesterday published the schedule of events on their Instagram account along with the venues. Sadly the schedule isn’t very legible because it’s too tiny and it also doesn’t include any timings. They also haven’t updated their website with any information yet nor is there any mention if people can attend the events or if we need to get tickets.

Also, how come the streets aren’t decorated with flags and posters celebrating the event? It sounds like a big event but you wouldn’t tell that it’s taking place in Kuwait.

The GCC Games include a number of sports including sailing, basketball, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, weightlifting, futsal, padel, ice hockey, table tennis, esports, and more. The games are held every 4 years but the last one was held in 2015 in Saudi Arabia. At the first GCC Games Kuwait came first with 14 gold medals, 8 silver, and 7 bronze.

For more information visit @kuwaitolympic

Update: Thanks to a reader I found out that the games have an official website that includes the full schedule including the timings and venue locations. No mention of tickets so I’d assume it’s open for all on a first come first serve basis. The GCC Games website is kuwait2022.org

Photo by Ahmad Dashti

Back in 2015 I posted about an abandoned zoo project off the 6th Ring Road. Turned out the abandoned project was a small zoo. Around 10 years ago there used to be a small zoo in Fintas called The Little Jungle but it closed down when the government took over the land to convert it to a residential area. To compensate the owner, the government gave him a much larger land off the 6th Ring Road so he could rebuild his project. I guess the owner ran into financial problems and the project was abandoned until last month when the project was completed and The Little Jungle finally opened its doors again.

Photo by Abdulghani Abulkareem

The Little Jungle is a mini zoo with various exhibits holding a variety of animals including giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, and even weirdly, a Pomeranians exhibit. I haven’t passed by the place but I had a couple of friends visit during Eid and one complained about the terrible organization while the other told me it’s no better than our main zoo but can still be fun for really young children.

Photo by Khaled Aljeeran

The weather has gotten pretty warm but they are opening in the evenings from 4PM to 9PM so it still is doable. Entrance is 2.5KD per person and they have a bunch of videos and highlights on their Instagram account that showcases the zoo @littlejunglekw. If you want to visit the place, here is their location on Google Maps

If you’ve been there let us know about your experience in the comments.

The Ahmadi Music Group have been pretty active this season, I think they’ve had three events already this year and this weekend they’re having another one. This coming Thursday and Friday, AMG will be holding a lecture concert about Beethoven and the 5th symphony which many consider being the best-known piece of classical music ever written. The event is taking place at JACC and tickets are on sale now starting at KD10. Click here to book.

Not sure what feels weirder, the fact that Slider Station has been open for 15 years, or the fact that I’ve been blogging for so long that I have a review of Slider Station when it first opened. Time does fly!

Back in 2007 the food scene was a lot different in Kuwait, there were definitely not as many burger places or cool restaurants as there are now. It’s not easy for a restaurant to stay consistently good or relevant for so long, and the fact that Slider Station has managed to accomplish that is incredible.

The same company that owns Slider Station just opened up a new restaurant last week in Avenues called Midar that serves authentic Kuwaiti seafood. I booked a table for this weekend and can’t wait to try the place out.

Yesterday the non-profit media organization NPR posted an audio and written newstory on the Bidoon hunger strike that recently took place in Kuwait. If you’ve always wanted a better understanding of the situation with Bidoons, it’s worth a listen and at just 5-minutes long it won’t take too much of your time. Link

Photo by Dave Tavani

The LEGO store at The Avenues moved to a new larger location closer to the food court, the same location where Tim Hortons (RIP) used to be.

Judging by the photos, it doesn’t seem to be that much larger than the older space, but the storefront is definitely bigger and since it’s on a corner, the space looks more inviting with all the glass windows. The store officially opens later tonight.

Update: Just got the press release and it seems the new store isn’t larger than the older one, just a different location with a new look. There is a replica of the Kuwait Towers made using 21,591 LEGO bricks, a LEGO magnifying glass that allows you to view a model in detail, and there are hands-on play opportunities.

Flora is a fresh flower wholesaler and supplier located in the basement of a building in Salmiya. I live within walking distance from it and didn’t know they existed until a couple of years ago so doubt a lot of people know about it unless they’re really into flowers.

There is no sign outside, no display, it’s just a door that takes you down into a basement of a building. Once you’re done it’s pretty cool because it’s not something you’d expect to find. The space is divided into two main parts, the unrefrigerated area which usually contains plants, dry flowers, and various florist tools, and the refrigerated area which contains all their fresh flowers.

There are two large walk-in refrigerators in the back of the store that house the flowers. The refrigerators have glass sliding doors and there is a switch outside you need to press to open them to get in. So if it’s your first time there you can either have them open the door for you or look for the switch. Once you open the door you can just walk into the fridge and check the flowers they have and pick what you want.

I’m not a flowers person so don’t know much about the varieties they carry so thankfully they do have a website which you can check out that lists all their available flowers with their prices thefloraonline.com

The prices are going to be cheaper than elsewhere since they’re suppliers. They also do make bouquets and arrangements for you, so you can pick what you want and they’ll put it all together. If you want to check the place out, their Instagram is @thefloraonlinekw and here is their location on Google Maps. Once you get to the location you’ll see a flower shop on the ground floor, that’s a different shop, the entrance to Flora is to the right of it.

The Subway brand changed ownership in Kuwait recently. Kout Food Group who have Pizza Hut, Burger King, Taco Bell and Applebee’s have now taken over the Subway brand. According to their Instagram account, they became the new owners starting March 25th.

A couple of days back ago I got back from a 10-day trip to London. Other than a day stopover in 2018 on my way from LA, it was my first time back in London since 2015. I flew Kuwait Airways which btw, is so much better than flying British Airways. Firstly the timings of the flights make a lot more sense (no late night flight so no need to sleep on the plane) but also the overall experience is better because of the Kuwait Airways airport and the less busy flight. Because I was staying for 10 days I needed a reasonably priced hotel that wasn’t a shoebox, was somewhat trendy looking and located in a great area. After doing a ton of research I decided to stay at the Kingsland Locke in Dalston.

I hadn’t heard of Dalston nor had I been to it up until this trip. It’s an area in East London, part of the Hackney borough. If you’ve been to Shoreditch before then it’s around a 30-minute walk up from there. Dalston turned out to be the best place I could imagine staying. I had the award-winning bakery The Dusty Knuckle like a 5-minute walk from my hotel so that sorted out my breakfast and coffee routine every morning. Instead of losing weight on this trip because of all the walking, I think I put on weight because of all the pastries I was having every morning. I was also within walking distance from the bar 🔶🟥🔵 which became my go-to spot for a nightcap and to chill at the end of the day.

I was also surrounded by loads of grocery stores including M&S and Amazon Fresh (post on that coming soon). There was also a Pret-A-Manger, a community garden and an amazing Indian restaurant called Attawa all a few minute’s walk.

The area is connected to the rest of London via Overground and there were two different stations next to the hotel, one that was a 2-minute walk and another a 5-minute walk. Both stations were on different lines so it made getting anywhere rather simple and quick. Shoreditch and Peckham were both reachable without swapping any trains while areas like Oxford Circus or Notting Hill would require swapping to the Underground line which was just 2-stops away.

The hotel itself was pretty cool. It gave off a slight hipster vibe but it was subtle. The interior was nicely designed, and the staff were friendly. The hotel works like a short stay apartment which it what helps keep the costs down. It’s like a tiny studio apartment so you get a fully functioning kitchen in the room and a laundry area in the basement if you need it. There isn’t a daily cleaning service, depending on how long you’re staying you might get a complimentary clean included or you can request it for an extra cost. If you want new towels, shampoos, toilet paper etc, you can just request those at the front desk.

I stayed in their City Studio room which was fairly small but larger than the room I stayed in last year at The Hoxton in Paris (which also cost twice as much). The bed and pillows were super comfy, and the whole room gave a very cozy vibe. Even though this hotel was one of the affordable ones I found, it still cost KD60 a night, so it’s attainable but wouldn’t call it cheap. You can obviously find cheaper rooms but don’t think you can find one that has as cool a personality and vibe that was located in a good area. I’d totally stay there again if I go back.

If you’re traveling to London this Eid and haven’t booked a place to stay in yet then check this place out. Here is a link to the hotel website Link

A couple of months back I got a new iPad Mini from Xcite and posted a review about it. I spoke about how it would most likely replace my 12.9″ iPad Pro for traveling because of it’s small form factor, and since that post, I’ve actually done just that. I’ve taken my iPad Mini on three trips so far and here is a quick followup review.

Firstly, as I had predicted, the size of the iPad Mini is perfect for traveling. It’s light so it doesn’t add much weight to my backpack, and it’s small enough to fit on the plane’s dropdown table even when not fully extended. I wish I had a photo but I also managed to fit it right next to my food tray, I just had it angled on a corner so I could eat and watch my shows at the same time. The battery life has also been great, unless you’re on a long-haul 16-hour flight from Dubai to LA, you’re not going to need to charge the iPad Mini for the whole trip.

I did come across a downside though and that’s the storage space. I have the 64GB version which I thought would be more than enough for storing shows and movies for my flights but that’s not the case. Well, I also like to take a lot more shows and movies than there is time to watch because I like to have options. So for a two-hour trip I’d like to have around 20 hours worth of content to watch and I can just choose what I want. I mix it up with different genres as well as durations, so some 20min shows, some longer 50min ones, some comedy, some drama etc. But now I’m traveling to London tomorrow and I don’t have enough space to carry the ratio of content to trip duration (In my case it’s like 10:1 I guess 😅). So far this is the content I have downloaded for my trip:

Amazon Video
The Outlaws – 6 Episodes

Apple TV+
CODA – Movie
Severance – 1 Episode
Slow Horses – 1 Episode
The Afterparty – 4 Episodes

HBO MAX
Julia – 3 Episodes
Raised by Wolves – 4 Episodes

Netflix
Indian Matchmaking – 4 Episodes
Formula 1: Drive to Survive – 3 Episodes
Cobra Kai – 6 Episodes
Space Force – 6 Episodes
The Tinder Swindler – Movie
Kate – Movie
Murderville – 6 Episodes

Paramount+
Star Trek: Picard – 4 Episodes
Mayor of Kingstown – 4 Episodes

Showtime
American Rust – 4 Episodes

Not sure if you think that’s a lot or not but for a 6+ hour trip that’s not enough content for me to pick and choose from. In addition to the above, I have around 21 magazines downloaded and I just tried downloading one more and it’s telling me I don’t have enough space. So unlike what I originally stated in my review, 64GB actually isn’t enough and I’d now recommend the 256GB version instead. Other than that, the iPad Mini is the perfect media companion on flights. Here is a link to my previous review.