Search: “kuwait”

Nvidia has signed a deal to deploy its artificial intelligence technology at data centres owned by Qatari telecoms group Ooredoo in five Middle Eastern countries, Ooredoo’s CEO told Reuters.

…

It will make Ooredoo the first company in the region able to give clients of its data centers in Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, Oman, Kuwait and the Maldives direct access to Nvidia’s AI and graphics processing technology, Ooredoo said in a statement.

Providing the technology will allow Ooredoo to better help its customers deploy generative AI applications, Nvidia’s senior vice president of telecom Ronnie Vasishta said.

Basically what that means, companies in Kuwait who use Ooredoo data centers can now provide their customers with AI features. So for example if a company currently uses a dumb bot to handle initial customer support communication, with this new Nvidia tech they would be able to have AI take over that job from the bots. Obviously they’ll be able to do a lot more with AI than just talk to customers. Link

Fashion Way, the complex right across the street from Fanar Mall in Salmiya is getting demolished. I personally don’t have much attachment to it but I know a lot of people do.

Construction on that building started in the late 80s and it was rumored to be Safeway the supermarket chain opening there, right next to Sultan Center. The building wasn’t covered in the ugly grey alucobond panels like today, I think I remember it being white ribbed metal panels. But then the 1990 invasion happened and the main Safeway store in Farwaniya got burnt down and they never reopened in Kuwait again. I also just realized while digging up old photos of Safeway that Americana owned it in Kuwait. I never knew that even though it clearly says Americana right next to Safeway on their sign. It now makes sense why Americana had their fast food brands there 90s onwards.

The building eventually finished construction and opened in the mid 90s I think. I remember Sbarro Pizza opening there, it occupied the whole area where Americana was today, but back then it was just Sbarro and it was a dine in experience. Hardees was located in a blue and white colored standalone building next door where Starbucks is right now. When that Hardees building got demolished, they eventually moved in with Sbarro and KFC into Fashion Way.

Inside Fashion Way was Mothercare with their huge animated tree inside. Mothercare was still there until they closed down a couple of months ago as well.

I just tried finding out when Sbarro opened in Kuwait but couldn’t find anything. I found an article from 1995 in the New York Times which mentions Gennaro (Jerry) Sbarro being 29 years old when he came to Kuwait to open Sbarro. I tried to find his date of birth online and I found multiple Jerry’s but the closest one might be 1966 which means Sbarro opened in 1994-1995. I contacted Jerry to find out and see if he has any photos, will see if he responds.

Anyway, the building is getting demolished. Not sure what the plan is, but my guess is they’re going to build an office tower in its place.

If you work at Americana, get in touch with me since I’d love to dig up old stuff with you together. I previously got in touch with the Wimpy social media team because I was working on a post about the history of Wimpy in Kuwait and they were a disaster. Firstly they replied saying they would get in touch with me if there was a potential for future collaborations. I told them they misunderstood and I wasn’t looking for them to advertise with me or send me free food. I explained that I just needed some information for a post I was working on. So then they gave me a phone number to call.. the Wimpy delivery phone number. I called them out on that move and they just copy pasted the same information all over again about how they would get in touch with me in the future if there is potential for a collaboration.

At some point over the past few weeks, you’ve likely encountered Instagram ads about BIGGIE finally being in Kuwait. At least I did, and when I clicked on the ad to find out who BIGGIE was, there wasn’t much information, just a guy holding a banner. Well, last week the mystery was finally revealed: BIGGIE turned out to be a new burger concept and it just opened.

I know what you’re thinking: “Another burger joint?” When the owners (2 brothers) reached out to me, I asked them about this, and they had a pretty good response. Burgers are extremely popular in Kuwait, and no matter how many burger joints open up, there’s always demand for more. Plus, it’s always been their dream to open a burger joint and build a company specializing in F&B concepts, and BIGGIE is their first step. Btw, it’s BIGGIE like the rapper since they’re fans, but they also chose the name because it refers to the size of their burgers.

The menu at BIGGIE is straightforward: five kinds of burgers and five kinds of fries, and that’s pretty much it. They use the highest quality beef, bread, and cheese. Despite the higher costs, one of the brothers is a chef and so his background drives him to maintain high standards without compromising on ingredients. They wants their customers to enjoy a clean, feel-good burger that offers the best value for their money.

So if you like burgers and want to try a new spot out, BIGGIE is now available on all the major delivery platforms including Talabat, Deliveroo, Jahez and Cari. They’re open from 2PM till midnight and you can check them out on instagram @biggie.kuwait

Shandiz, one of the best (might be the best) Persian restaurant in Kuwait is opening a new location in the city. On my way home I spotted their signs up in the same building as where ALOHA is in the city (Google Maps).

The current Shandiz store next to Muthana Complex is pretty small, so I’m guessing they’re either opening a second location to cater to more customers, or the building they’re currently in is getting demolished and so they needed to find a new spot.

Although this new location is near my office, it’s actually a terrible location due to the parking situation (there isn’t any, well there is just not close to being enough). The whole block is heavily congested and at night people just double park on the main road.

Update: A reader pointed out it says seafood on the sign, so it looks like it’s going to be a different kind of Shandiz.

Yesterday in the comments, I was having a discussion with a reader about the whole practicality of flying to UAE and back just to use the pool there and I found out from him that a return flight to Abu Dhabi is now just 6.750 KD!

Turns out Wizz Air are having a summer sale right now and if your dates are flexible, you can get tickets as cheap at 6.750 KD this summer. I tried it now and it’s real. As long as you don’t add any options like checked-in luggage and other extras, you can get your ticket for $21.98.

I’ve never flown Wizz Air but I have heard both positive and negative comments about it. As long as you manage your expectations it seems like an OK experience. wizzair.com

One day late but because I was flying back to Kuwait yesterday so didn’t have time to put this together. While in Copenhagen I got to watch Furiosa and it was ridiculously good, and Anya Taylor-Joy is such an incredible actress. I’d highly recommend you watch the movie while it’s still in the theater, and I don’t think anything would be cut in Kuwait, maybe 1 useless scene but that’s about it. One weird thing about my movie experience, I went to watch the film in one of their most popular and largest theater, but out of the 1,000+ seats we were just 6 people in total watching the film. It was weird but since the weather was good I figured most people wanted to spend the evening outdoor even though I went to the 10PM showing. No idea.

On the plane yesterday I got to watch the first 6 episodes of The New Look and loved it. Such a great story and now that I’m back home I can’t wait to watch the rest of the episodes.

Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Week:
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (6.8)
Dragonkeeper (5.8)
The Watchers (5.7)

Other Movies Showing:
Asphalt City (6.1)
Damaged (4.6)
Darkness of Man (4.5)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (8.1)
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (6.5)
IF (6.8)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (7.4)
Kung Fu Panda 4 (6.4)
Possessions (3.9)
Tarot (4.9)
The Fall Guy (7.3)
The Garfield Movie (6.0)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Classic/2001) (8.9)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Classic/2002) (8.8)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Taw9eel, the biggest online retailer in Kuwait recently launched a new store called Taw9eel FAST. It’s their 30-minute delivery service accessible in over 100+ areas around Kuwait and includes various items such as groceries, home accessories, electronics, makeup, video games and more.

To kick off this new 30-minute delivery service, 30 heavily discounted items will go on sale everyday for just 500 fils. I actually ordered a bunch of things before I traveled when I wanted to try out the service including a case of ALSI Cola Zero, 2 packs of bottled water, a travel adapter, USB-C cable, and a few other items. It took them less than 30 minutes to deliver which was convenient since I was midway packing for my trip and needed to pack the travel adapter and USB-C cable to take with me. But really the highlight for me were the deals I got on some of the items like the ALSI Cola. It’s a Saudi soft drink brand I recently tried and liked, so now is my alternative to Coke Zero and Diet Pepsi.

In addition to the above, Taw9eel are also offering free delivery all summer long if you use the code “FST”. But, as a special offer to my readers, they created a second code “248” which you can use to get 15% off your cart total. You can only use one of these codes at a time so use the code FST if you want free delivery, or 248 for 15% off on your cart total.

To try it out, get the Taw9eel App or head to taw9eel.com and click on the department Taw9eel FAST.

Philippe is a New York-based high-end Chinese restaurant by Executive Chef Philippe Chow. They are opening their first location outside the US at JACC this coming Thursday, June 6th.

The restaurant is known for its sophisticated dining experience, and its New York location is a popular destination for celebrities and food enthusiasts. The cuisine is considered modern Beijing-style, and they are especially famous for their Peking duck and satays.

The reservation link is on their Instagram page, but there doesn’t seem to be any dates available. You could try your luck as a walk-in without a reservation since most restaurants in Kuwait tend to have a no-show rate of around 20-30%. @philippechow.kw

I’ve always been fascinated with Ahmadi because of how different it looked to the rest of Kuwait. Most of it hasn’t changed since it was originally built in the late 1940s, but over the decades, some important landmarks, including the Ahmadi Cinema and Market, fell into disrepair. Now, the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters has a very cool project to save them.

I was given a tour of both sites, but the first we visited was the cinema. It was designed by the renowned architect Sayed Karim in the 1960s. The ground floor has shops and restaurants which are still used today, but the upper floor where the cinema was is closed off from the public and empty. The large hall that used to hold over 1,200 cinema seats is now empty and derelict. But, a lot of the interior is still intact and original, which is why it was interesting to explore the building. The cinema stands as one of the last cultural centers in Kuwait, and is the only remaining building of its kind in the country. The rehabilitation project aims to restore it to its original state and function while supporting and enhancing the local performing arts industry.

The second location we visited was the market. Similar to the cinema the aim will be to restore the market to its original state. The market is in pretty bad shape and so will be a more difficult project for them to restore. But, one building has already been refurbished and I got to tour that as well. One thing I only discovered while on the tour was that the metal beams on the building facade are actually functional. They open and close to control the amount of sunlight that comes in. That must have been so ahead of its time back when it was built.

This restoration project is the pilot model for the NCCAL, which aims to create policies and procedures to preserve and protect heritage sites throughout Kuwait. The Ahmadi Township is also being considered for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site which would a huge benefit to Ahmadi and Kuwait if that happens.

I feel relieved knowing that there are now people working on preserving Kuwait’s history and I can’t wait to see their future projects. Follow @ahmadi_township if you want to stay updated on the Ahmadi project.

For more photos which I took on the tour, click here.

If you haven’t gotten your biometric scanning done yet and can’t find an appointment, here is a tip, if you’re traveling soon do it on the way out.

I got my biometrics done last year at the Saudi/Kuwait border but my wife hadn’t done hers yet and was worried we’d have to get stuck in line on the way back to get it done. But, a friend who recently traveled from Terminal 1 told me she got her biometric scan done after passport control on the way out, and she didn’t have to wait. So this morning while leaving from Terminal 4 we asked passport control if my wife could get her biometrics done and he pointed towards a blue booth in the corner. We went to it, no line, no appointment and no waiting. She got her biometrics scanned and now she’s done with it.

If you try getting your biometrics scanned on arrival, good luck cuz I’ve heard the lines are a nightmare.

I hadn’t heard of “F1 in Schools” before so was confused when I found out they were opening in The Avenues. I thought it might be a racing school but it turned out to be engineering related. This is how it’s described on Wikipedia:

F1 in Schools is an international STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) competition for school children (aged 11–19), in which groups of 3–6 students have to design and manufacture a miniature car out of the official F1 Model Block using CAD/CAM design tools. The cars are powered by CO2 cartridges and are attached to a track by a nylon wire. They are timed from the moment they are launched to when they pass the finish line by a computer.

While researching I found out that in Kuwait, BSK were already involved with F1 in Schools (Check the post above). With The Avenues location opening the program will become accessible to more children. The Avenues location will be managed by the non-profit organization Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity and KFAS.

I’ve reached out to find out more about this and when they’re planning to open, but for now you can check f1inschools.com for more information or watch the video above to watch the 2023 world finals

Ten years ago, Kuwait held the largest sand sculpture festival in the world, the Remal International Festival (@remalfest). The festival took place at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds and covered an area equivalent to six football fields. Now a decade later, Damon Langlois, the creative director behind the project is releasing a book called “Stories in Sand” that documents his experience.

Damon was a five-time world champion and Guinness World Record holder for the tallest sand castle before getting hired to come to Kuwait and lead the project that would be based around the Arabian Nights. He spent over seven months researching and designing the scenes before bringing together 72 of the world’s best sand artists to reimagine the stories from 1001 Nights.

The sculpture park was constructed out of only sand and water, it was a major artistic feat, and extremely risky. The artists were all reminded of this when the park was destroyed by a devastating three-day storm halfway through the build. At the time, it was the worst storm to hit Kuwait in over 50 years.

I remember reading that “some” sculptures had been damaged, but now I realized how bad it really was. The destruction caused Damon and his team to feel defeated after all the hard work had been washed away. But, they were able to recover and complete the project, and the park eventually opened in January 2014 before closing 4 months later in April.

Damon’s book “Stories in Sand”, is part art and part storybook. The initial print run is set at only 260 books and contains 276 pages filled with behind the scenes and final creation photos and stories. There are limited copies of the book so if you want one you need to act fast. I’m assuming they will get sold out quickly after this post which is why I already ordered my copy. The book doesn’t ship to Kuwait directly so I had to put my Shop&Ship address instead.

If you want to pre-order a copy, here is the link to the Kickstarter.

For my old posts on the Remal Festival, click here.

When I first started this blog I was posting maybe 5 times a day? It was constant content but mostly non-Kuwait related. Then overtime I realized people were more interested with the Kuwait content so my topics because Kuwait focused and I dropped down to around 2-3 posts a day. Then, it dropped down to 1-2 a day. 14,000+ posts later and now I’m barely managing 1 post a day.

A lot has changed obviously in the 20+ years since I started. Back then the only other source for content were physical newspapers and magazines. Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok didn’t exist and so my blog was the only source of interesting Kuwait related content that was fast/live. Magazines you had to wait till the end of the month to read about something and newspaper were just not interesting and still aren’t interesting.

But now with soooo many sources for content I’m still finding my way of how to still be relevant and interesting. I think 99% of the content out there is trash, and I still don’t get this yelling salesman style of tiktok videos that people seem to do.

It’s been over a year since I launched my Instagram account and I really don’t think there is anything like it in Kuwait, mostly because of the wide range of content I cover. I at least think it is all interesting. Well based on the engagement people are also finding it interesting. But I really haven’t changed my content style much, it’s always been random. Scrolling through my Instagram account now makes me more aware how my brain is all over the place.

But, content is also taking a lot longer to put together. I use the app Simplenote for my blog, basically anytime I have a topic idea I create a new note. Then as I collect information on that topic I fill in that note. As of right now I have 203 potential future topics to post about, with some of those topic ideas even broken down further. For example, I have a “Design Highlights” note but under that I have 9 future posts. And these are solid topics, not random restaurants I’m invited to try, which I have zero interest in going to.

Yet I can barely scrape together 1 post a day for some reason. I’m trying to understand why and I think that’s mostly because it’s taking me longer than before to collect the information for posts. I’m now turning 46, I was 25 when I started blogging. I have a lot less free time, I have more responsibilities now and I don’t think I can do slapstick posts, basically random posts without substance. I understand that because of my Instagram account where I’ve set a personal benchmark where every post needs to be a blockbuster hit, but I should be able to post random shit here. My Instagram posts take a lot longer to put together than my blog because I spend so much time on the photo, and so much time getting the headline interesting without having to clickbait, and then I need to manage my writing since I’m limited to just 2,100 characters on Instagram. But, I do a lot of random posts on twitter than I do here.

As I just wrote that last sentence, I think I answered my own question. It’s a lot easier to post on twitter than it is on my blog where I need to sit down in front of a computer and do it. I no longer get on my computer in the evenings, I don’t have a laptop open in front of me while watching TV. Maybe that’s what I need to change, either start getting on my laptop again in the evenings, or just get comfortable posting on the blog through my phone.

I tried posting from my phone maybe 10 years ago and it would mess up the look of the post. But the WordPress app has changed a lot since then and so has my blog theme so maybe it’s not an issue anymore. I’ll try to post from my phone again and if it works it should hopefully improve things moving forward.

We have the habit of demolishing old structures instead of restoring them in Kuwait, so when I found out the old Al-Othman Mosque in Hawalli was being restored, I reached out to the team working on it asking if I could write about it.

The mosque restoration is being spearheaded by Eng. Adnan Al-Othman and sponsored by the Abdullah Abdulatif Al-Othman Charitable Trust. Adnan’s father is the one who built the mosque so he’s very familiar with it.

Al-Othman Mosque was established in 1958 and later opened for public use in 1961. It was one of the first grand mosques to be built in Kuwait, and also the first to have a dome, making it an important landmark.

Since its opening over 60 years ago, many changes were made to the mosque, some permanent, but most were thankfully superficial. The mosque originally had a colorful design that was unique for the time, but over the years it got repainted a monotone beige and white blending it into it’s Hawally surroundings. The interior which was covered with intricate decorations and script were also all covered with white paint erasing a lot of what made the mosque so unique and special.

The restoration team dug up as many photos and videos of the original mosque as they could find, so that they could better understand all the changes that were made over time. They also started the process of removing structures that weren’t there originally, like metal shading over the courtyard and an extension to the mezzanine floor. Additionally, they began stripping the paint from both the interior and exterior of the building, revealing some of the old decorative art and colors (samples above).

The restoration team’s plan is to restore the mosque as close as possible to its original state. They’re deep into the restoration process now, but they don’t have a clear timeline for completion since the work must be slow and careful. Once this project is finished, I hope more people will realize and appreciate the importance of preserving old Kuwait.

This is just a quick review of this really great tiny and cheap Bluetooth transmitter/receiver. I’m posting about it for anyone googling a solution for their Bang & Olufsen A9 like I did.

Back in 2013 (so over 10 years ago which is crazy), I bought a Bang & Olufsen A9. Not sure what had gotten into me, probably related to some trauma from my divorce back then, but I somehow thought it was ok then to pay 890KD for it. The speaker actually ended up costing me more than that because after setting it up at home and realizing it didn’t look as good in my apartment as it did in the shop, I ended up redecorating my whole apartment around it (true story)!

Fast forward to today, I got married again and so redid my apartment and the A9 is back in the spotlight again. It looks even better now with my new aesthetic, but because technology has come a long way since I bought the A9, I was having issues streaming music to it. The AirPlay would work on and off, sometimes I needed to reboot the speaker to get it working right and it was just annoying to use, and so it was there for looks only. I was then googling to see if the unit had Bluetooth and confirmed it didn’t, but then I came across some people asking if there was a way to get bluetooth installed and someone mentioned getting a Bluetooth receiver. So I started researching and realized that, if I found a bluetooth unit tiny enough and ran off USB power, I could potentially strap it onto the back of the A9 with velcro or something, and just like that I’d have Bluetooth on my A9.

After doing some research on Amazon, I eventually decided on the LAICOMEIN 2-in-1 Bluetooth Adapter. It was both a Bluetooth receiver and transmitter, it was tiny, could be powered with USB, and it cost just $30. Now that I have it I can’t believe how perfect this little thing is.

My B&O A9 has a small compartment on the back with a cover. Inside the compartment is where you connect the power cable, ethernet, and RCA inputs. But, there is also a USB port which was used to connect to the iPhone during the first time setup. The LAICOMEIN came with everything I needed to connect to the A9 and the set up was SUPER easy. I just had to put the switch on the bluetooth unit to receiver mode, I then connected the USB cable and line-in cable to it, and then plugged the other end of the USB cable to the back of my A9 and the line out into the RCA inputs. As soon as I plugged it into the USB port a red light came on to let me know it had power, I then pressed and held the power button down to turn it on and switch to pairing mode. That was it! The A9 automatically detected there was a device connected to the RCA input so switched to that, and then my bluetooth turntable saw the A9 and connected to it. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes to set up.

The LAICOMEIN is also so small that I didn’t need to figure out a way to strap it to the back, it just fit inside the tiny compartment at the back of the A9, and then I just closed the cover and you can’t even tell there is anything there. It’s perfect!

Speaking of my bluetooth turntable. I recently found a great deal on a Pro-ject T1 BT turntable on eBay. It was a brand new open box unit and I managed to snatch it up for $284 with tax and shipping (add another 30KD to ship to Kuwait). In comparison it costs $499 on Amazon without tax so I basically got it for half the price. But, the T1 BT has the WORST implementation of bluetooth I’ve seen on any device ever. The bluetooth module is a separate unit at the bottom of the player with a separate on and off switch. The plan originally was to pair it with my KEF LSX speakers, but I couldn’t get the pairing to work. There are no lights on the T1 letting me know if bluetooth is on, if it’s connected to anything, or if it’s pairing and I just couldn’t figure it out. Eventually I gave up on it, but as soon as I installed the bluetooth receiver into the A9, I turned on the bluetooth switch on the side of the T1 just out of curiosity to see if anything happens, and right away it connected! So now my record player is connected to my A9 and I think I like this setup now.

So yeah, at just $30, LAICOMEIN 2-in-1 Bluetooth Adapter is a great purchase and I’m now thinking of getting one for my B&O Beolit 12 which I also purchased 11 years ago and also only has AirPlay. If you want to get Bluetooth on an old device, I totally recommend this, here is the link to it on Amazon.