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Buenos Aires and Berlin-based architecture studio Jasper Architects won an international competition to design a hotel located in the middle of the Kuwaiti desert.

The project was inspired by sand dunes and the renderings that have been published look very cool. I’m really curious to where in the desert they’re going to build this since we don’t have sand dunes here, just flat open space.

According to the article, the project is currently in the design phase and is expected to be completed in 2024. For a lot more renderings and details, click here.

Thanks Hind

I don’t post about coffee shops anymore because they’re just too many of them and too much of the same thing but GOODCUP has one cool thing going for it, the location. GOODCUP opened up a couple of weeks back and as soon as I saw photos of the space on social media I really wanted to pass by and check it out.

The coffee shop is located in an old building inside Souk Mubarakia and it’s pretty big with two floors. The coffee shop occupies one part of the ground floor and the rest is divided into smaller spaces that are available to rent to other businesses. As you can imagine and see from the photos, the coffee shop is very instagrammable so most of the people there were there to grab photos and leave since the seating is pretty limited.

Finding the location is easy, just find Freej Swaileh first in Mubarakia (Google Maps). Once you’re standing in front of Freej enter the souk on the right of it (Souk Al Hareem), and then around 20 meters in you’ll find GOODCUP on your right-hand side. They’re also on instagram @goodcupkw

One of the oldest Korean restaurants in Kuwait, Koryokwan is now called Korea Gwan. Don’t know why they changed it, maybe because nobody could remember the name Koryokwan? I know I couldn’t. They also gave the interior a bit of a facelift although I think the new lights are too bright. I didn’t see anything new in the menu though but it’s been given a facelift as well.

On a side note, I just spotted their very old original logo on their instagram account (pictured below) and it looks very familiar. There used to be a Korean restaurant on mezzanine 2 of Salhiya in the 80s and I remember they had a very similar logo outside the restaurant but don’t think they’re the same restaurant.

From what I know, Koryokwan was opened by Mr Kim in 1989, just before the Gulf War. Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea and was then brought to Kuwait by Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to coach the Kuwait boxing team back in 1982.

Mr Kim (in yellow) helped Kuwait win two bronze medals at the Asian games and later helped train the Kuwaiti police and army. After leaving boxing in 1988 he teamed up with Carlton Hotel to open up Koryokwan. In 1991 after the Gulf War he got into a disagreement with Carlton and they split ways. He ended up opening a super trippy hair accessories store while someone else teamed up with Carlton to run Koryokwan. A completely random story which you can read in more detail here.

Korea Gwan is open daily from 10AM to 9:30PM. They’re also on Instagram @koreagwan_kuwait

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion, and every year on the anniversary, I like to share some links related to the war. Here they are:

Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.

Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.

Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set on August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting classmates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Homemade video from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Video clips taken by a Kuwaiti family during the Iraqi invasion

Desert Storm Photos
Photos taken by soldiers during Desert Storm.

Short Animation: Sandarah
A captivating story based on true events that took place during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

First Account of Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait
Interviews with various Kuwaitis that were in Kuwait during the 1990 invasion.

Iraqi Invasion Pictures
Photos of the Gulf War aftermath.

Politics of War
A tumblr account with some not so commonly seen photos from the Gulf War. (Warning some are graphic)

BBC Documentary: The Last Flight to Kuwait
A series of documentaries on Iraq begins with a look at the fate of British Airways flight BA149 to the Far East in 1990. As the plane landed in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded, capturing its crew and passengers.

Top photo by Steve McCurry, the rest by Bruno Barbey

Layla is a new Lebanese gourmet grocery store that opened up in Salmiya opposite Marks & Spencer. They carry a lot of imported Lebanese products ranging from Bonjous and Master Chips (Lebanese equivalent to Sunkist and Kitco), to Lebanese dairy products, fruits, bread, pickles and more.

It’s actually very similar to the other Lebanese store Lama, except instead of the Lama branded products Layla carries their own brand. If you want to check the place out they’re on Instagram @laylalbkw and here is their location on Google Maps.

Ora, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants opened up in Avenues a couple of weeks ago. The new location is called Ora Blu and it’s a much smaller space than the main Ora with a similar but also smaller menu.

They’re located in Phase 4 near Arabica and it’s walk-ins only so no reservations needed. If you want to check out their menu click here.

A couple of years ago I got my Wizr t-shirt printed in Dubai. I had it done on a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer which is basically an inkjet printer that prints directly onto fabric. Compared to the usual heat transfer prints, DTG prints look a lot better, as if the t-shirt was store-bought.

Back then I had asked if there were similar services in Kuwait and I got a few recommendations. Sadly most of them seem to have shut down last year due to the pandemic. But, I did eventually find one place that was still active called Inkservice. They’re a print shop with various locations around Kuwait but their DTG service is located at their Shuhada Co-op branch. I had an old Rambo advert printed on one of my white t-shirts and it came out perfect so I’m going back to print some more things.

The cost is 4.5KD if you provide a t-shirt and 6.5KD if they provide one. If you’re looking for a place to print on t-shirts check these guys out. It takes a few minutes to print so you can wait there till it’s done. They’re on instagram @inkservice and here is their location on Google Maps.

@thedodo, the super popular animal stories and animal rights instagram account just posted a video of puppies in Kuwait that were rescued by @raf.kw. It’s a feel good video and in just 4 hours already gotten 800,000 views. Watch the video above and make sure you visit and support @raf.kw

Thanks Basmah

Sheraton Hotel in Kuwait was the first Sheraton to open outside of North America. It opened up in 1966 and I’ve always had a connection to it due to the fact my family used to have lunch there every Friday when I was a kid in the 80s. Sadly like all nostalgic places in Kuwait, they eventually get demolished or they get an ugly facelift. In Sheraton’s case, it’s the latter. I think the facelifted building has lost its charm and history and now looks too generic.

But the bigger story here is that the Sheraton Hotel will become the St. Regis Hotel. The rumor is that the main building pictured above will become St Regis while the hotel extension (back right of the building) which was built in 1979 will become Sheraton Hotel and have it’s own separate entrance. Sheraton Four Points behind that will remain as is. Here are some more tidbits taken from the Skyscraper City Forum:

• The plans to rebrand are confidential and relatively unknown.

• The hotel renovation project was supposed to have the main wing done by the end of 2020, the 1971 extension done in 2021 and the 1979 wing renovated over the course of 2021 and handed over by 2022. Due to COVID, they are now two years behind schedule.

• The renovation on the main building may look done, but they fast-tracked the exterior completion so that they could give the hotel a clean appearance instead of having torn green tarps hanging off the façade.

• The interior of the main building is still very much under construction; due to COVID and Kuwait’s closed borders, the interior designers and foreign contractors are unable to come to the site and oversee the works, so whatever little the hotel can do locally, they’re doing it at a slow pace.

• With the closed borders and no events taking place, the hotel’s occupancy is EXTREMELY low – I’m talking four or five rooms occupied, max.

Sheraton Hotel in the 1960s

Thanks ChaoticTranquility

Update: Here is a bit of random info. The first customer at the Kuwait Sheraton Hotel was Edmond Ghantous – June 26, 1966.

If you’re looking for an activity to do this Eid how about renting a jet ski? There are a number of places up and down the Gulf Road and they generally all have the same guidelines.

You don’t need any special license to take out a jet ski but you do need to keep your Civil ID with them as collateral and you also have to sign a waiver. Some locations offer lockers to put your stuff in but I would recommend you keep everything in the car anyway and then either leave your keys with them or get a small waterproof pouch to take your keys with you. Most places also have a tap/shower to rinse off the saltwater and sand once you’re done.

The price for an hour of jet ski rental at the location next to TGIF is 25KD an hour but other locations might be cheaper. They also open daily from 9AM to 6PM and don’t require you to be vaccinated.

Here are three jet ski rental locations on the Gulf Road:
– Villa Fayrouz
– Green Island
– TGIF

Since we have a few days off for Eid I thought I would share a new list of shows you could binge-watch. If you want to know how to stream HBO, Hulu, and Disney+, check out my old post on this subject here.

Sweet Tooth
I’m a sucker for anything that involves a post-apocalyptic world so when I watched the trailer for Sweet Tooth I knew I had to watch it. Sweet Tooth takes place in a world that has collapsed due to a deadly virus leading to the rise of human-animal hybrids. The show felt like one big adventure and never got boring with the only negative really being the fact there are just 8 episodes. If you have Netflix check it out.

Clarksons Farm
Jeremy Clarkson is best known for his car shows Top Gear and The Grand Tour but you don’t need to be into cars to enjoy this show. I actually found it much more entertaining than anything else Jeremy has done, it’s a very chill and funny show so I really hope he’ll film a second season. This one is available to watch on Amazon Video.

Mare of Eastown
A crime drama that revolves around a murder that takes place in a small town. The show keeps you guessing who the murderer is till the very end and since it’s just 7 episodes long, it’s a quick watch. Not as good as The Killing but I mean nothing really is. This show is available on HBO Max.

Shadow and Bone
I’m generally not into fantasy worlds but the trailer for Shadow and Bone caught my attention and then the show just grabbed me from the very start. It’s also a short series with just 8 episodes so you’ll be able to finish the first season in a day or two. This one is on Netflix.

Bonus: Not a TV show but if you’re looking for a movie to watch I thought the Dinsey film Cruella was surprisingly great and fun to watch. I rented the movie on Disney+ but I think you could rent it on Amazon Video and YouTube as well. I also watched Chris Pratt’s new Amazon Original movie called The Tomorrow War. It was ok I guess, I wouldn’t pay to watch it but it’s free if you have Amazon Video.

Ten Kuwaiti athletes will be competing at the Tokyo Olympics due to take place between July 23 and August 8. The athletes are:

Yacoub Alyouha – Men’s 110 m hurdles
Mudhawi Al-Shammari – Women’s 100 m
Mohammad Al-Mosawi – Men’s Karate
Lara Dashti – Women’s 50 m Freestyle Swimming
Abbas Qali – Men’s 100 m Freestyle Swimming
Abdullah Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
Mansour Al-Rashidi – Men’s Skeet Shooting
Abdulrahman Al-Faihan – Men’s Trap Shooting
Talal Al-Rashidi – Men’s Trap Shooting
Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel – Men’s Single Sculls

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of buzz around the athletes even though there should be. They actually should have plastered them on billboards all around Kuwait similar to how Talabat did with restaurant owners last month.

You can follow the official account of the Kuwait Olympics on Instagram where they’re currently sharing stories of the athletes in Tokyo. @kuwaitolympic

A few years ago I sold my Nikon D800 and Sony RX1 and replaced them with the incredible Sony A7 III. I never regretted selling the Nikon but I did regret selling the RX1. There are only 3 cameras I’ve owned that I’ve felt very passionate about, The Panasonic GF1 and GX1, and the Sony RX1. They were compact cameras I carried with me everywhere and used extensively for the blog. I was hoping the A7 would replace the RX1 but due to its size that never happened.

Then a few weeks back I passed by the new Fujifilm store in Boulevard and it got me thinking about the new X100V. I’ve always loved the way the X100 series looked but I’ve only ever used the original one that was released back in 2011 and I didn’t like it. Since my original review, Fujifilm released the X100S followed by the X100T, X100F, and now the X100V. According to all the reviews I read online, the X100V was considerably better in every way over all the previous versions. On Amazon they sell for around KD422 without tax or shipping. In Kuwait they have a summer offer right now and are priced KD399 after discount, so I ended up picking one up. They were originally out of stock but they had a shipment coming in so I waited around a week before getting the call to pick it up. I also ended up getting a slightly better discount on the camera due to a blog reader so ended up saving quite a bit more over the Amazon price.

I’ll eventually post a detailed review on the camera but I wanted to post about it now since the offer might end soon if it hasn’t already. The camera so far has been fantastic, and I’m really loving it. It was between the X100V and the X-E4 but ended up with the X100V because of some extra features that I prefered like the larger viewfinder and slimmer body. If you were thinking about ordering the X100V online, check it out locally first. The local Fujifilm website shows it’s out of stock and priced at KD435, but it might not be updated so I’d check their store in Boulevard.

A reader shared some photos of an old Sinclair game he still had which he purchased from a computer store in Kuwait back in the early 80s. The store was called AL RUSHAID and the tape had the following info on it:

AL RUSHAID Trading & Contracting Co. (RTC)
P.O. Box 25443, Safat-Kuwait
Tel: 412404, Telex: 23721 KT

He also had this info to share (I’ve edited it slightly):

While I do remember the computer store at the Salhia complex and it was my favourite shop for a while (and my description on your website remains the way I remember it), I am not sure the branded cassette I’ve shared is from the store at Salhiha. There was another nearby computer store that I used to visit as well which also used to sell ZX Spectrums and games. I couldn’t tell you the street name, but I think it was on the main shopping street, somewhere between The Grand Stores, Salhia Complex, and Al Muthanna Complex. Definitely, it was not near Al-Sharq Tower because that was far away from the shopping area.

Another thing you probably know is when Al-the Khalejia department stores first opened, they used to have a small section that sold computers like the ZX Spectrum, they had some original games on sale. I think the computer section didn’t last long and it disappeared sometime later.

Later around 1985 I used to get games for my computer by visiting the Hilton Hotel, there was an international magazine shop inside the hotel that used to sell computer magazines from the UK, there were several ones for the ZX Spectrum (and the Commodore 64). Many of these magazines came with a free demo cassette with free games and previews of upcoming games.

best regards
Sufian

PS. My parents were expats in Kuwait, and I lived there until I was 18, then left abroad to the US to study, and then moved to Belgium as my mom is from Belgium. I still have lots of my school books from Kuwait in Arabic, and other things that I grabbed with me when I left Kuwait in 1988.

Since the game was branded RTC I thought it might be the same RTC as the electronics shop in Hawally since according to their about us page they’ve been around since 1983. But after talking to RTC Electronics I was told pre-1990 they were called Babel so they’re not the same place. If anyone remembers where Al Rushaid was or have any info on it, let me know!

Update: Found a news clipping and an ad in an old Kuwait Times newspaper

I’ve been using a 2013 iMac 27″ as my main computer since well, 2013. It was the entry-level 27″ at that time with a 3.2ghz quad-core i5 processor and I had upgraded the RAM to 24GB and the hard drive to a 1TB SSD. It was showing its age but it held up great over the years and honestly could have survived a couple of more if Apple hadn’t released the redesigned iMacs a few months ago.

As soon as I saw the new iMacs I realized I wanted one, in green, and ASAP. I ended up pre-ordering one from Apple online with 16GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive in addition to an Arabic English keyboard. When I had placed the order the iMacs hadn’t been shipped yet and so I basically ordered it blindly based on photos hoping it would look as good in real life. Well, it does. Now that I’ve been using the new iMac for a few weeks, here are some points:

• With the new iMac I decided to go completely wireless everything. I had a Kensington trackball which I love and had been using for 11 years but it was wired so I decided to get the wireless version of it for my new iMac. The wireless trackball uses a USB-A wireless adapter but the new iMacs only have USB-C. Luckily BEST sells a tiny USB-A to USB-C adapter and it’s not an issue. The trackball does work with Bluetooth but it was super laggy when I set it up that way.

• My KEF LSX speakers were previously connected to my iMac using the headphone jack but on the new iMac, the headphone jack is on the side which meant the cable would stick out. I decided to ditch the wire and instead connect the speakers via Bluetooth. Here is a tip, to stop your Bluetooth speakers from constantly disconnecting from your computer every time it went to sleep, turn off that energy-saving feature.

• Probably the main reason I got the new iMac is for the touch ID keyboard. I use 1Password to manage all my passwords and it’s a lot easier to use my fingerprint to unlock my passwords. In use, it’s been flawless, with a touch of a button I can wake up and unlock my iMac similar to my MacBook Pro which is super convenient.

• The webcam on the new iMac is great, not only is it a lot sharper and higher resolution than all my other Mac webcams, but I used to have an issue when video calling on my previous iMac because I have a large window behind me. During calls, the camera tended to adjust the brightness based on the windows and so I’d end up really dark and barely visible. I no longer have that issue with the new iMac.

• It’s fast, much faster than my older iMac and so far seems as fast or faster than my 16″ MacBook Pro.

Anyway if you’re considering getting one of these new iMacs and have any questions let me know in the comments. I’ve only seen two colors in Kuwait, blue and green. Gait in Avenues has a blue one on display and Xcite also in Avenues has a green and blue one. If you’ve seen any of the other colors anywhere mention it in the comments. The iMac upgraded with a 1TB hard drive and 16GB of RAM cost me around KD605 KD635 shipped to Kuwait.