Categories
Information Kuwait

People in Kuwait Getting Unhappier

The World Happiness Report was recently released by the United Nations and Kuwait once again dropped down the list from the previous year. When the list originally came out in 2012, Kuwait was ranked 31st under the list of happy nations. But, since then, Kuwait has been falling back every year and in the latest report Kuwait is now ranked 41. The scoring is based on answers submitted by people who were asked to evaluate the quality of their current lives on a scale of 0 to 10. In comparison, the UAE came in 28th place while Saudi Arabia came in 34th. Let me repeat that one more time. Saudi Arabia came in 34th place. No clue how that happened.

The happiest country in the world? It’s Denmark. Download the full report from the World Happiness website [Here]




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

This weekend starts off a bit slow but picks up considerably on Saturday. A few things to look out for, the Taste of Q8 food festival is taking place this weekend, Qout Market is back again as well (make sure you pass by Tiger Tiger) and finally Cinemagics are showing Nightcrawler on their roof this Saturday. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Edge by Abdulrahim Sharif
Taste of Q8
Rooftop Movie: Dear White People

Friday
Taste of Q8
Taichi in the Park
Yoga at the Park (Hatha Yoga)
KNES Charity Fun Day

Saturday
Taste of Q8
Yoga at the Park (Vinyasa Flow – Women Only)
Yoga at the Park (Yoga with the 3)
Qout Market
Beauty and the Beast – A Full Scale Dance Show
The Secret Garden x Bayt Lothan
Madeenah Tour: Harmony & Change in East Hawalli
MedTalks
Concert: Isbells
Rooftop Movie: Nightcrawler

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.




Categories
Commercials

Kuwaiti Agency Produces Commercials for Etisalat Dubai

With all the creative agencies available in Dubai, the Dubai based telecom operator Etisalat ended up going with a Kuwaiti one called Caviar for their latest series of commercials called “No More Drama”. You’ve probably seen some of Caviars work since they’ve done most of the NBK Ramadan commercials as well as a few old MTC (now called Zain) ones. Personally I didn’t like these Etisalat commercials but I still think its impressive how they were able to beat Dubai agencies to get this project. The video above is one of three “No More Drama” commercials, the other two are linked below.

No Drama Network – The Operator
No Drama Network – Mission Improbable

etisalat




Categories
Cars & Bikes

Lotus Cars Coming to Kuwait

lotus

Alghanim Motors are bringing the Lotus brand to Kuwait and they’re opening their first showroom in Shuwaikh opposite The Historical, Vintage and Classic Car Museum. Lotus is a British car brand and currently have some really hot looking cars like the Exige and Evora range. They aren’t a mainstream brand but they do have a bit of a cult following.

I’ve also heard rumors that Alghanim Motors acquired the Ford brand but I haven’t been able to verify that so I’m treating it as just a rumor for now. I heard that Ford and the current local dealer weren’t getting along and so Ford gave the brand to someone else. We’ll find out soon enough, I’m just glad that someone finally brought Lotus to Kuwait.




Categories
Information

The Most Powerful Women in Kuwait- 2016

Once a year Arabian Business releases a list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” and every year I go through the list and find all the Kuwait based women and list them on the blog. Last year the list was the smallest since I started keeping track of it with only 5 women making the list and 2013 had the highest number with 11 women making the list. This year things have improved slightly with 7 women making the list including a few new comers like Noor Al Qatami, the owner of SaveCo. Shaikha Al Bahar is also back on top as the most powerful Kuwaiti woman after losing that spot last year to Maali Alasousi, who went from 25th most powerful Arabi women to no longer being on the list. Here are the most powerful women in Kuwait for 2016:

48- Shaikha Al Bahar (-27)
56- Maha Al Ghunaim (-5)
74- Sara Akbar (+20)
76- Eaman Al Roudhan (New)
83- Elham Yousry Mahfouz (New)
89- Noor Al Qatami (New)
94- Rasha Al Roumi (-48)

Note: The (-) is how many spots they dropped from the previous year, (+) is how many spots they’ve moved up and (New) means they weren’t on the list last year.

For the full list of most powerful Arab women, click [Here]

Update: Changed the post title to reflect the fact not all the powerful women in Kuwait are Kuwaiti.




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

Another busy weekend and the weather looks like it will be nice and sunny. The biggest event taking place this weekend is the HVOB concert but there are a bunch of other musical events taking place as well. If you’re a car fanatic then you might want to pass by Murouj this weekend since the Gulf Run car show is taking place there. Finally on Saturday there is the charity Sport Relief Mile in the morning which should be fun, if you’re interested in participating in that don’t forget to register.

Check out the list below for this weekends events:

Thursday
Exhibition: Edge by Abdulrahim Sharif
Gulf Run Car Show
Ecco Pop Up Event
ADASA Festival
Rooftop Movie: Breathless
Concert: Dorsaf Hamdani

Friday
Gulf Run Car Show
Ecco Pop Up Event
ADASA Festival
Taichi in the Park
Red Bull Music Academy Presents Kuwait Rising
Pop Up Movie Night

Saturday
Gulf Run Car Show
Ecco Pop Up Event
ADASA Festival
Sport Relief Mile 2016
Yoga at the Park (Vinyasa Flow – Women Only)
Bait Al Arab: Kuwait State Stud
Yoga at the Park (Men & Women)
5:46 Light A Candle For Bayt Lothan
Rooftop Movie: Theeb

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.




Categories
Information Kuwait

The Kuwait Towers – Everything You Need to Know

kuwaittowers1

Yesterday the Kuwait Towers officially opened to the public for the first time in over 4 years. Here is everything you need to know in case you’re planning to visit it.

kuwaittowers2

Entrance Fee
There are two main areas in the Kuwait Towers, the restaurant’s sphere and the viewing sphere. If you want to go to the viewing sphere it’s KD3 per person. If you want to go to the restaurants there is no entrance fee. If you eat at the restaurant then you can go to the viewing deck for free as long as you keep your meal receipt. Children under 4 go in for free. If you’re going to the restaurants you can also park inside the Kuwait Towers parking lot.

kuwaittowers3

The Viewing Sphere
This sphere is located in the top most part of the Kuwait Towers. It’s split into two floors with the top floor having a rotating platform and a small food stand. It’s open from 9AM to 11:30PM.

kuwaittowers4

The view from the top is spectacular and better than before since we now have a beautiful city skyline because of all the new skyscrapers like Hamra Tower.

kuwaittowers5

For a closer look, they’ve kept the original coin-operated binoculars.

kuwaittowers6

The only issue I had with the viewing deck is that it smelled of popcorn because of the food stand. The food stand really should have been a Starbucks since right now it reminds me of those small dodgy food stalls located under the stairs in old Salmiya. They have drinks, a few cold sandwiches, soft serve ice cream and popcorn.

kuwaittowers7

The Restaurant Sphere
There are two restaurants and a lounge in the restaurant sphere which is also divided into two floors. The first restaurant is called Horizon (pictured above) and is located on the top floor of the sphere. It’s an open buffet and they’re open from breakfast to dinner, here are the details:

Breakfast Buffet 8AM to 11:30AM for KD7.5
Lunch Buffet: 12:30PM to 4PM for KD14
Dinner Buffet: 7PM to 11:30PM for KD14

For reservations, you can contact them on 22081999 or 1806806

kuwaittowers8

There is a second restaurant (pictured above) which as of this post hasn’t opened yet. Its located on the lower floor of the sphere and it’s called Le Cafe (but it’s going to be a steakhouse). It looks slightly more fancier and instead of being a buffet it will have an à la carte menu. Once it’s open the timings will be 8AM to 12AM (midnight).

kuwaittowers11

Right outside the second restaurant on the lower floor is a small lounge. You can order beverages there but it’s a fairly small lounge with only three seating areas similar to the one pictured above so good luck trying to find an empty one.

kuwaittowers10

Finally, if you’re taking a guest to the Kuwait Towers and they were hoping to leave with a souvenir well they’re going to be disappointed. According to an employee at the Kuwait Towers, the souvenirs shop that was originally located on the ground floor has been closed down and will be converted to a prayer room.

If you’ve never been to the Kuwait Towers I would highly recommend going. If you’ve been to it before I’d also recommend passing by just for the nostalgia. It’s still by far one of my favorite places to take visitors who come to Kuwait.

Update: I added a bit more information to the post, specifically the reservation numbers and information regarding souvenirs.

Update2: Le café Steak House doesn’t exist anymore, the restaurant is now Japanese instead and called Amimoto. The gift shop was also not converted to a prayer area, it remained a gift shop.




Categories
Animals Videos

Video of Kuwait’s Cats Show *REPOST*

Incase you missed the biggest cat event in the Middle East that was held in Kuwait last month, someone uploaded a video of it onto YouTube. It’s a pretty long 18 minute video though so you probably might just want to just skim through it. [YouTube]

cat

Update: Video is back up so reposting this.




Categories
Food & Drinks

Water Enhancers Available in Kuwait

Last week I was making ice cream and had trouble getting Vanilla Extract so I ended up ordering Vanilla Paste (and 100% unsweetened cocoa) from Gourmet Shelf’s website. When they delivered my items they told me that they now had most of their products at The Approved Market and since I hadn’t been there in awhile, I decided to pass by this weekend to see what new items they had. Turns out The Approved Market now sells water enhancers.

waterdrops

I only found out about water enhancers when I was in LA last summer since they’re pretty big over there. Water enhancers are basically liquid drops you add into your water to give it a flavor. It’s mostly for people who have trouble consuming enough water during the day and also for people looking for healthy alternatives to soda. I hadn’t seen water enhancers being sold anywhere else in Kuwait so figured I’d post about it here.

Since we’re on the subject of items that we can’t find in Kuwait, when Gourmet Shelf dropped off my items they asked me if there was anything I wanted but I couldn’t find in Kuwait. They’re looking to start importing more products to Kuwait and need some ideas of what to bring. So if there is a food item that you love but can’t find in Kuwait or think they should bring, mention what it is in the comments below so I could pass it to them.




Categories
Information

Vapes and E-Juices Now Legal to Import into Kuwait

vape

Vapers can rejoice, according to the official customs instagram account, it is now legal to import vapes and their juices into Kuwait. Not sure if this means vape bars will start popping up all around Kuwait but at least current prices of vapes and juices should drop since it’s a lot easier now to bring the stuff into Kuwait.

Also who knew customs had an instagram account? And I love how they posted a picture of a shipment of vapes and juices they had confiscated and then a few hours later post that its now legal. Check out their instagram account [Here]

Thanks Salem | Image Source




Categories
Videos

The Kuwait Towers Opening Ceremony

In case you missed the fireworks show this past weekend, you can now watch a video of the Kuwait Towers opening ceremony on YouTube courtesy of Kuwait Television. [YouTube]

kuwaittowersfireworks

I find it odd that a huge event was held for what is essentially nothing new. I mean the Kuwait Towers were closed for 4 years for unclear and mysterious reasons, then they spent 2 months quickly refurbishing the restaurant and reopened it with a fireworks show that most likely cost more than the refurbishment itself? The whole thing is just very strange.




Categories
Giveaway Music

Giveaway: Win Two Tickets to the Kuwait Rising Music Festival Featuring HVOB

kuwaitrising

Kuwait Rising is an alternative Arab music festival which is going to be held in Kuwait this coming weekend (March 11) and feature artists from around the world including HVOB, Perfect Timing, Bosaina and Etyen. The event is hosted by Zahed Sultan at DAI in Yarmouk with limited tickets costing KD15 each.

hvob

248AM has teamed up with Zahed Sultan and Red Bull to giveaway two festival tickets to one lucky winner. All you need to do to enter the draw is leave a comment below mentioning the brand of the energy drink in the flyer above.

I will stop accepting entries in the comments section by tomorrow (Tuesday March 8th) at 11PM and then randomly choose one winner and notify them via email.

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, another winner will be randomly chosen.

For more information on the event click [Here]

Update: I closed the post for comments and then using random.org drew a number. The first number was 115 (Dheeraj) but that person had left two comments so they were disqualified. The second number I drew was 49 (Kapish), but that person didn’t have the correct answer so they were also disqualified. Finally the third number I drew was 86 (Amal) so thats the winer and I just sent them an email.

86




Categories
Information

Drone No Fly Zones Around Kuwait

noflyzones

Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now coordinating with popular drone manufacturer DJI in outlining no fly zones around Kuwait. DJI drones have a safety feature that would stop drones from accidentally entering no fly zones and their map now includes different locations around Kuwait. The no fly zones around Kuwait are mostly military zones, oil fields and VVIP locations. You can check out the map of no fly zones by clicking [Here]

Thanks Abdulwahab




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

If you’ve been driving by the Kuwait Towers the past few days you’ve probably noticed they’ve been setting up for a big event. Well that event is for the official Kuwait Towers opening ceremony which will be taking place this Saturday. Other than that event there are a bunch of other things taking place so check them out below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Tefaseel
Exhibition: Edge by Abdulrahim Sharif
Conference: SME Development & Entrepreneurship in Kuwait
Rooftop Movie: Spotlight
MENA Baseball & Softball Tournament
Anime, Manga and Gaming Expo (PLAMO CON)

Friday
Exhibition: Tefaseel
Yoga at the Park (Hatha Yoga)
Taichi in the Park
Anime Art Workshop
Red Bull King of the Rock Kuwait Finals
MENA Baseball & Softball Tournament
Anime, Manga and Gaming Expo (PLAMO CON)

Saturday
Qout Market
Yoga in the Park (Vinyasa Flow – Women Only)
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Madeenah Tour: Beyond the Wall
Taste of Boubyan
Rooftop Movie: Blue Jasmine
Kuwait Towers Opening Ceremony
MENA Baseball & Softball Tournament
Anime, Manga and Gaming Expo (PLAMO CON)

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so double check info with organizers.

Update: Just found out about an Anime, Manga and Gaming Expo thats taking place this weekend and added it to the list. For Grendizer fans, Jihad Al Atrash the voice actor behind Daisky will be there as well!




Categories
Music

HVOB Coming to Kuwait

hvob

The Red Bull Music Academy finally released their list of musicians who will be performing at the Kuwait Rising music festival next month and one of the artists coming will be HVOB. I got to watch them perform live in Beirut around 2 years back and they put on a great show so it’s pretty cool that they’re coming to Kuwait. Actually, just an odd tidbit, remember last week in my Tumi bag review I posted about seeing a beat up and dented aluminium Rimowa at an airport once and falling in love with it? Well that suitcase actually belonged to one of the band members of HVOB who I ended up running into at the airport the day after their performance. So pretty weird coincidence considering I posted that last week and now this. Details on the event are still being fizzled out but for now you can check out the latest info [Here]