Search: “kuwait”

I’m a huge Tamiya fan even though I haven’t put together a Tamiya model in years. But, I recently found out that we have an online Tamiya store here in Kuwait which I’m tempted to impulse buy from.

They don’t have a huge collection of cars, but it’s a fairly decent one especially if you aren’t looking for anything specific. Prices are also higher than prices online but similar if you include shipping. They also have a large selection of paints and tools as well to help you with the build.

I don’t think I’m going to order anything even though I want to, this would have been perfect during the covid lockdowns but I don’t think I have the time or patience for it anymore. If you’re interested though their website is q8tamiya.com

Last month IKEA launched the cheapest falafel sandwich in Kuwait priced at just 50 fils. Initially, the post was going to be about that, but I just realized, this might actually be the cheapest sandwich in Kuwait. I can’t imagine any sandwich costing less than 50 fils and I think the cheapest I’ve ever come across is 100 fils.

If you know of a sandwich cheaper than 50 fils, let me know. Also, what other sandwich can I get in Kuwait for just 50 fils if any?

Dubai’s beach-born concept SALT is coming to Kuwait next month and they’ll be popping up at the new Blajaat project in Salmiya.

Although SALT is mostly known for their iconic Airstream trailer, over the past few years their pop-ups have turned into beautiful and elaborate setups, so should be interesting what they’re planning for Kuwait.

The exact date hasn’t been finalized but they should be popping up the last week of November.

I thought the events were starting to pick up but I guess it might be still a bit too warm. Below are some events I found taking place this weekend, if I missed anything, let me know.

Thursday, October 12
Bunka x Cadillac

Friday, October 13
Game Night at Bonjiri

Saturday, October 14
IFK Brunch in the Garden
Storytelling with Aseel AlYaqoub
Sunrise Paddling
Risograph Workshop

Exhibitions
The Eye of The Sky Drone Photography Exhibition
Sacred I by Yasmine El Hazek
SIF, An Introduction by Mohammad Kassem

A few years ago I came across the photo above taken by George Rodger in 1952 of the first elephant in Kuwait. Initially, I thought the elephant was for our current zoo, but that couldn’t have been possible since the zoo opened much later, in 1968. Turns out there was another zoo in Kuwait before that called “Salwa Garden”.

Salwa Garden was the first zoo in Kuwait and the first modern zoo in the Arabian Gulf. It was established in Rumaithiya by Sheikh Jaber Al-Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 1954 back when the area lacked basic infrastructure like roads or electricity.

Sheikh Jaber traveled to India and Africa in search of animals, and whenever he got the animals he also brought with them their minders to help ensure that the animals received proper care. He also strived to establish near-normal conditions for the animals. For the Himalayan bear for example, he purchased ice slabs for it from the Al-Ghanim ice factory until it adapted to Kuwait’s climatic conditions. He also made sure that all the animals were well fed and medically cared for.

The garden was called “Salwa” because it was an Arabic term for recreation and entertainment. Admission was free because Sheikh Jaber wanted to share his love for nature with others and it the garden ended up attracting both locals and foreigners.

A decade after establishing the garden, Sheikh Jaber decided to close it due to rapid urbanization and the establishment of the Kuwait Zoo in Al-Omariyah which he ended up donating most of his animals to.

It’s a really interesting story and if you want to read more about it, there is a great paper written by Rua Alshaheen, Yousef Alharoun and Mohammed Alajmi called “A case study of Kuwait’s Salwa Garden” which has a lot of info and where I got most of mine from.

There is also a book called “Salwa Garden” that was published by Mona Al-Sabah which contains information as well as a lot more photos of the garden.

Kuwait is currently holding the 2023 IBF World Bowling Championship and I don’t think anybody knows. The international sporting event which started on October 4th and is ongoing until October 15th is taking place at the Kuwait Bowling Sporting Club in Salmiya. The bowling alley is one of the largest in the region with 48 bowling lanes and when I passed by yesterday, they were all being used for the event.

The men’s competition includes teams from Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, UAE, Oman, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Czechoslovak, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Colombia, Canada, Egypt in addition to Kuwait.

The women’s teams include Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Denmark, Germany, Colombia, Canada in addition to host Kuwait.

There is plenty of seating if you want to go and watch the event live. When I passed by there were multiple matches taking place simultaneously and I just moved from one area to another to watch the games. Entry to watch the event is free and the matches start at 9AM and continue throughout the day till around 5PM. You can check out the schedule below.

The event is also being streamed live online. They have 4 cameras streaming simultaneously and you can watch those on YouTube. Link

Don’t miss the Draconid meteor shower tonight.

The shower will be visible just after sunset and throughout the evening hours. Expect to see around 10 meteors streak across the sky per hour which is less than other showers, but the advantage is, they’re going to be moving slowly. The Draconid meteors are know to move slower than other showers so they should be visible for one or two seconds instead of disappearing in a blink of an eye.

You don’t need a telescope or any special equipment to view the shower, but if you want the best viewing conditions then it helps to be as far from artificial light as possible.

Russell Peters, the incredibly popular stand-up comedian is coming to Kuwait for the final leg of his Act Your Age World Tour. It’s pretty crazy how we just got Mo Amer last month and now we’re getting Russel Peters as well.

He’s only going to perform in Kuwait for one night only and it’s happening on November 8th at The Arena. Tickets just went on sale and they start from 20KD for the Bronze and go up all the way to 120KD for the VIP.

If you’re interested to book, head over to The Arena website. Link

Below is this weekends list of events. The camel races are also back but because of the hot weather the races start at 5:30AM so I’d wait till the weather properly cools before going to one.

Thursday, October 5
Lego Show
Comedian Around Cars Getting Coffee

Friday, October 6
Lego Show
Fera Championship

Saturday, October 7
Lego Show
Speak Up Kuwait Mic Night
Assima Mall Kids Reading
Fera Championship

Exhibitions
The Eye of The Sky Drone Photography Exhibition
Sacred I by Yasmine El Hazek

Back in May I posted that Nando�s, the popular South African franchise was coming to Kuwait and looks like it’s now official.

Yesterday two opening soon hoardings came up, one at The Warehouse Mall and a second one at Al Kout Mall announcing that Nandos was opening this December.

Nandos originally opened at The Avenues back in 2007 but ended up closing down shortly after. This time Apparel Group are bringing them back, the same company that has Tim Hortons and Jamie’s Italian (which is also opening in Kuwait).

Thanks Ram

Two common complaints people tend to have are that there isn’t anything to do in Kuwait or they’re frustrated they found out about an event after it was already over. It’s mostly why my “Things to do this Weekend” list gained so much popularity. Then you also have complaints from people who are trying to organize workshops or events and find it difficult and frustrating to do so. This is where PIQR comes in.

PIQR is a newly launched social media app that allows people to find and attend various events like concerts, workshops, seminars, and more. From the other end of things, it also allows people and brands to organize and host their own events.

Hosting your own public or private event through the app is very simple to set up. If you’re a business planning an opening for a new store, you can easily create and promote the event using the app and extend the invitation to the public. Alternatively, if you’re organizing a birthday celebration for just you and your friends, you can set up a private event within the app and invite only the people you know.

As an event host, you’ll discover a variety of useful features such as the capability to effortlessly check people in and out of your events, as well as the option to send invitations to your followers. As a user, you’ll appreciate the ability to share tickets and invitations with friends, and you’ll love the convenience of having your unique QR code serve as your entry pass to all the events you’ve booked for.

The app just launched so it’s slowly starting to fill up with events but the more people use it the more useful it will become. If you want to download the free app, head over to @getpiqr for the link.

I only watch two sports, Formula 1 and UFC which is why I find this news so exciting. Former 7-time UFC champion and future hall of famer José Aldo is coming to Kuwait! He is going to be the guest of honor for the FERA Championship which is taking place this coming weekend.

In addition to Aldo coming to Kuwait, Renan Barao, the former UFC bantamweight champion is making his return to the fighting scene after leaving the UFC 4 years ago. Barao at one point had one of the longest unbeaten streaks in MMA history and was regarded as one of the best mixed martial artists in the world.

The FERA Championship looks like it’s going to be a pretty huge event. It’s being held over two days at The Arena and they’ll be hosting 11 fights, 7 of which will be MMA while the remaining 4 will be Muay Thai fights. The first day of the event will be the weigh-ins, meet & greet with the fighters and the music show. The second day will be the meet & greet with Aldo followed byall the fights.

Tickets start at 20KD and you can book them through The Arena’s website. José Aldo meet & greet tickets will be sold on the spot and will cost a 10KD.

A few days ago Saudi Arabia approved a major high-speed rail link that will connect Riyadh and Kuwait City together. This rail link shouldn’t be confused with the metro project and instead is meant to connect Kuwait with the rest of the GCC via rail. Source

I actually watched a TikTok video recently of someone who took the train from Riyadh to a city near the borders with Jordan. The train carried cars and passengers so once he got to the last stop, his car got unloaded from the train and he continued his journey to Jordan by car. I hope the train linking Kuwait and Riyadh also carries cars since it means we potentially could easily transport our cars around the region to speed up road trips. I’ve been wanting to do an Oman road trip for example but it’s around a 16 hour drive, not worth it unless I’m planning to spend a couple of weeks in Oman.

Giancarlo Esposito, the actor who played Gus on Breaking Bad and Moff Gideon on The Mandalorian was in Kuwait this past weekend for the comic festival. While here he ended up visiting the Kuwait Towers and he took some cool fun shots which he ended up posting on his instagram account. Check them all out here.

The weather is getting cooler and so the events are starting to pop up again. This weekend there are a bunch of cool things happening, check them out in the list below:

Wednesday, Sep 27
Mozart Concerto
Auto World Show
Mini Zoo at The Gate Mall

Thursday, Sep 28
Mozart Concerto
POP UP by Comfest
IMPROVengers Comedy Night
Slow Days Pop-up by Thrf
Auto World Show
Mini Zoo at The Gate Mall
A Night with Miami

Friday, Sep 29
POP UP by Comfest
Slow Days Pop-up by Thrf
Auto World Show
Mini Zoo at The Gate Mall
A Night with Miami
Cars & Coffee

Saturday, Sep 30
POP UP by Comfest
Wejha Summer Bazaar
Auto World Show
Mini Zoo at The Gate Mall
A Night with Miami
Riso Print Workshop