Search: “kuwait”

Kuwaiti line umpire Aseel Shaheen admits she is living a dream after she got selected to be part of the officiating staff at the All England Club.

Dressed in a blue pinstripe shirt and beige pants – the uniform for all officials here at Wimbledon – the hijab-wearing Shaheen quickly stands out.

London may be swarming with veiled Arabs, especially in the summer, but the sight of a woman in a headscarf in tennis circles is definitely not common.

“It’s an indescribable feeling being here. It’s something big, it’s a challenge. I’m the first female from the Arab world to be an umpire at Wimbledon. I was worried that they wouldn’t accept me because I wear a hijab but on the contrary, they really accepted me,” Shaheen told Sport360° at the All England Club.

Another fantastic accomplishment to add to the list for Kuwaiti women. [Link]

Thanks Nibaq

In a move that will make privacy advocates cringe, Kuwait passed a law yesterday making DNA tests mandatory for all residents. According to the AFP, people who refuse testing will face a year in prison and a hefty fine.

The draconian law will establish a comprehensive database of all residents in Kuwait, presumably making it easier for law enforcement to track down criminals after the fact. The country’s 1.3 million citizens and 2.9 million foreign residents will all be affected. Roughly $400 million has been set aside to implement the national DNA database program.

Many countries, including England, Sweden and the United States, routinely store the DNA of convicted criminals. Kuwait’s program would be the first such mandatory DNA test for every resident of a given country, regardless of criminal history. [Gizmodo]

Not sure how I feel about this. Don’t think I’m allowed to have feelings on this anyway, it’s compulsory so if I don’t like it I’ll have to GTFO or else I’ll have to spend a year in jail.

Last year I was contemplating what to get Nima (a close friend of mine) for his birthday when I decided to give him a 24 hour pass to post whatever he wanted on the blog. He’s always critical of what I write so I was like here, take my blog and see if you can do a better job. He took the pass and started thinking of various ways he could use the blog, maybe even turn it into one of his art projects.

Months after I gave him the pass we were sitting down and I asked him what ideas he had come up with and after sharing some with me one stood out. He was joking around about how he wanted to give a “Chinnah Mo Kuwait” award to a place that made you feel like you weren’t in Kuwait. “Chinnah Mo Kuwait” translates to “It doesn’t feel like Kuwait” and I thought that was actually a brilliant idea. It’s the best compliment you can give a place in Kuwait so, instead of just a 24 hour pass, I told him we should expand this idea and turn it into a proper awards with different categories and different winners. Now this is the plan, starting next week both Nima and I will be announcing winners for the following categories and in the following order:

Best Coffee Shop
Best Local Store
Best Shopping Mall
Best Bank
Best Hospital
Best Fitness Center
Best Art Gallery
Best Cinema
Best Internet Provider
Best Customer Service
Best Leisure
Best Restaurant

I won’t be editing Nima’s opinions nor censoring them. So if you have any complaints with his writing then direct it to him. Without further ado, here is Nima:

————————–

“It doesn’t feel like Kuwait”

The aspiration of anyone with means. To build a house, garden, restaurant that filter out the elements of the everyday ‘struggle’ of being here. Our mutual disdain for the loud, hot, smelly, smoggy, honk-happy traffic. To filter-out loud and obnoxious riffraff. To trip-up the loud screaming children who insist on playing football with anything remotely shaped like a ball and foot. This, my dear loathsome friends is the highest compliment we can offer.

Oh, shut up, don’t act so incredulous. You’ve said it too. Maybe you were at your grandfather’s farm or a friends chalet. And they’ve spent considerable effort to build walls up to block out the sounds of the road, mere meters away and traffic mere centimetres apart. They lined the walls with trees and bushes to block out the…lets say…overly enthusiastic sun. They’ve hired gardeners and maybe an agricultural engineer to keep the plants from incinerating. And you refuse to pay him the greatest complement in this countries vernacular?? I think not. This is so nice, it doesn’t feel like you’re in Kuwait. Chinnah Barees.

That is why we, the custodians of current events in Kuwait feel it is high time to pay the ultimate respects to the gems of this country we all call home. Here’s to that extra effort people put to be not half-assed. We are a full-assed people. Here’s to the complete package!

– Nima

Update: I’ve made some changes to the awards, for details click [Here]

When I was in London back in February I passed by the Tate to check out some of the exhibits. One of the exhibitions that was taking place there was called “Conflict, Time, Photography”. I didn’t end up seeing this exhibition since it turned out I had to get a ticket and to do that I needed to go back down to the ground floor. Problem was the escalators weren’t working that day and I had already walked up like 4 or 5 floors so really didn’t feel like going back down and up again. Anyway I basically missed out on that exhibition and now I found out Kuwait played a role in it.

The French photographer Sophie Ristelhueber exhibited her photos of Kuwait at that exhibit. Sophie traveled to Kuwait in 1991 soon after the end of the first Gulf War and took photographs of the ravaged desert. She later published 71 photos in a book called “Fait” (Fact in English) and those photos were displayed at Tate. I found the video above in which Sophie discusses the photos and in which you can get a glimpse of the photos. The exhibition ended back in March. [YouTube]

A friend sent me the new Kuwait Airways commercial and I couldn’t stop laughing once I watched it. Basically what I got from the commercial is that a guy purchased a business class ticket for himself and his wife (I am assuming she’s his wife). Once they board the plane, the guy finds an old man sitting in his seat. The guy insults the old man and then goes and sits in economy because I guess the flight attendants couldn’t sort out the problem (it’s Kuwait Airways after all). The guy then negotiates his way to another economy seat and then lies his way back into a business class seat and forces a business class passenger to go back into economy. Finally after all the hustling the old man who was sitting in his seat decides to get up and give him back his seat. I guess the new revamped Kuwait Airways is just like the old Kuwait Airways… a mess. Check out the commercial above. [YouTube]

Thanks Musaed

I’ve spent the last 30+ minutes trying to figure out what to write. I tend to have a difficult time with words but never like this. By now you’ve probably heard about the devastating explosion that took place at a mosque today during prayers. As of this post at least 13 people are reportedly. I’ve been getting a steady supply of photos and videos via Whatsapp of this tragedy but I won’t be sharing any of them here out of respect. It’s so sad, I can’t believe this happened. If you want to stay up to do date on whats going on, please use this [Link]

This is heartbreaking, may they all rest in peace.

I have to say, putting this list together was a painful experience. If I have to listen to one more commercial breakout into a musical I’m going to puke on someone. I would say 99% of the commercials below are just horrible and I wouldn’t recommend watching them. The only two that actually stuck out for me were from Zain, one is called “The Open Minded Girl” which I’ve embedded above while the other is called “The Golfer“. Here are all the Ramadan commercials so far for 2015:

Americana
Asnan Tower
Bayan Dental
Boubyan Bank
BMW
Brite
Chocolateness
Deer&Dear
Gulf Bank 1
Gulf Bank 2
KDD
KFH
KIB
Krispy Kreme
Maidan Clinic
Ministry of Youth
NBK
Ooreedo
Pay it
Sable
Shrimpy
Slice
Talabat
Viva 1
Viva 1
Zain 1
Zain 2
Zain 3

If you think I’ve missed a commercial then let me know.

Update: Just added some more commercials to the list

One of three excavators demolishing the Kuwait Airways building (from the roof down) fell nine stories when the floor underneath the excavator collapsed. The operator of the excavator sadly passed away. [Source]

I drove by the building earlier today on my way to my barber and noticed they had firetrucks blocking the main road in front of the Kuwait Airways building. I figured it was for safety incase the building collapsed into the street. Only while I was getting a haircut did I get an email from the blog Sala6a informing me of the collapse. So when I left the barber, I passed by the site and noticed an excavator busy digging around the area of the collapse. I couldn’t see the excavator that fell but I could see the other two abandoned excavators on the roof.

It’s dangerous enough when it’s just one excavator on the roof, but three??? How many workers have to die before the authorities put a stop to this? The video on top, shot with a drone shows where the excavator fell through. The other two excavators were lucky to survive.

I usually post this list at the start of Ramadan but this year I had a difficult time getting in touch with some of the restaurants so I had to physically pass by them. This is the most comprehensive list I have put together with over 30 restaurants listed. Majority have buffets but a number of them have set menus instead.

Like they do every year, many of the restaurants have increased their prices compared to the previous year (some have decreased). I’ve highlighted the increase in red and the decrease in green. The most expensive option available is The Garden Cafe at Jumeirah, they’re charging KD19 for their buffet this year. The most affordable option is Avanti palace, their set menu is just KD3.3. Check out the full list of places below:

Abdel Wahab
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 1821000

Al Forno
Set Menu Price: KD9.5
Telephone: 22214996 or 22283498

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort – Taima’a Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD10
Telephone: 24590000

Al Noukhaza Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.950 (+1.000)
Telephone: 24757775 or 1823888

Al Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD8.950
Telephone: 25756273

Applebee’s
Set Menu Price: KD8 (+1.050)
Telephone: 1844466

Assaha Lebanese Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22533377

Avanti Palace
Set Menu Price: KD3.300 – min 4 people (-0.300)
Telephone: 25751081

Boccini Pizzeria
Set Menu Price: KD15
Telephone: 22200669

Burj Al-Hamam
Buffet Price: KD12.5
Telephone: 22529095

Cafe Blanc – The Avenues
Buffet Price: KD7.750 (Buffets only on weekends)
Telephone: 22597568

Courtyard by Marriott
Buffet Price: KD13 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22997000

Crowne Plaza – Al Ahmadi Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD12.950 (+0.450)
Telephone: 1848111

Dean & Deluca
Set Menu Price: KD9.950 – min 4 people
Telephone: 22242224

Hilton Resort – Teatro Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD15.500 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22256222

Jeans Grill
Buffet Price: KD7.750
Telephone: 22264503

Jumeirah Messilah Beach – Garden Cafe
Buffet Price: KD19 (+3.000)
Telephone: 22269600

JW Marriott
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 22455550

Katsuya
Set Menu Price: KD12.5 – serves 2 to 3 people
Telephone: 22283195/6 or 22214985

Kosebasi
Set Menu Price: KD10
Telephone: 22251303

Leila
Set Menu Price: KD9 – min 6 people (+1.000)
Telephone: 22996414

Millennium Hotel & Convention – Lamar International Restaurant
Set Menu Price: KD13
Telephone: 22050505

Movenpick – Free Zone – Bays Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD11.9 (-1.600)
Telephone: 24610033

Movenpick – Al Bida’a – Breeze Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 22253100

Naranj
Buffet Price: KD13 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22268666

Qasr Al-Saraya
Buffet Price: KD8.5 (+0.500)
Telephone: 25711101

Radisson Blu – Al Bustan Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14 (+1.000)
Telephone: 25673000

Red Lobster
Set Menu Price: TBA
Telephone: 22200536

Ruby Tuesday
Set Menu Price: KD6.950 (+1.200)
Telephone: 22444454

Sheraton – Coral Tent
Buffet Price: KD17.250
Telephone: 22422055

Symphony Style Hotel – Luna Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD14
Telephone: 25770000

THE One
Buffet Price: KD9.800 (+0.300)
Telephone: 22244511

The Regency Kuwait – Silk Road Restaurant
Buffet Price: KD18
Telephone: 25766880

The Southern
Set Menu Price: KD9 (-0.500)
Telephone: 98949799

Vapiano
Set Menu Price: KD4.950
Telephone: 22597171

Veranda
Set Menu Price: KD12
Telephone: 22283141

Villa Fayrouz
Buffet Price: KD13 (+0.500)
Telephone: 22650052

Zafran
Buffet Price: KD7.5
Telephone: 25750647

Zahr El Laymoun – 360 Mall
Buffet Price: KD8.250 (+0.250)
Telephone: 25309511

If you’d like to add a restaurant to the list above [Email Me]

Update: Added Al Forno and Lamar International Restaurant
Update2: Added Jeans Grill, cheapest buffet on the list as of now
Update3: Original price listed for Jeans Grill was their Suhoor buffet
Update4: Added Burj Al-Hamam, Al-Sanawbar Lebanese Restaurant and Taima’a Restaurant
Update5: Added Katsuya

Burger & Lobster, one of my favorite restaurants in London in opening up in Kuwait at The Avenues. It’s so very odd since they’re only located in England and New York at the moment. As the name suggests, they only serve two things, burgers and lobsters. There is no food menu just a drinks menu since the food menu consists of just 3 dishes, a hamburger, a whole lobster and a lobster roll. All three dishes are priced the same, £20 in the UK and $20 in the US.

No idea how it’s going to work here since lobster prices in Kuwait are insane. They can’t seriously charge KD20 for a lobster roll here, can they? £20/$20/KD20? Burger & Lobster will be opening in Grand Avenues on the top level right next to Figs. So if you’re standing outside Cheesecake Factory just look up and you’ll spot it.

The blogger Crazy in Kuwait posted a few pictures of some interesting looking houses in Kuwait and the one that caught my attention was the house that looks like an American suburban house complete with a white picket fence. Check out the other houses [Here]

This weekend, specifically Saturday is just insane with a ton of interesting events taking place. Probably the most oddest thing however is the K-Pop World Festival thats taking place in Mishref. That’s definitely something worth checking out. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Study for a Domiciled Gallery
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo
Health Informatics

Friday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo

Saturday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo
Yoga for K’SPATH
Concert: Taksim Trio
Ride With Us
It’s Story Time
K-Pop World Festival
Reddit Meetup

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

Update: The K-Pop World Festival venue has changed, the event is now taking place at the Korean Embassy

Last year British Airways aired the first part of its four part series on Kuwait onboard all their flights. The film was well received and since then the team has been busy working on part two of the series which they just released last night. Check it out above or on [YouTube]

I still haven’t been to the Museum of Modern Art in Kuwait but after receiving the image above it looks like I’m headed there in the morning to check it out. There is currently a study being exhibited at the museum and based on the photo above it looks like a beautiful setup. For details on the exhibit click [Here]

I expected this weekend to be quiet but looks like there are a few cool events taking place. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Distorted Realities: A Group Show
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sirdab Movie Night: Interstellar
Opera Benefit Concert

Friday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Grow Your Own Food

Saturday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Yoga for K’SPATH
Organic Sounds – Tribute to Nepal Concert

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