Last week a video popped up on my feed that I thought was fascinating. A guy called Hamad AlMuzaini (@hamad.muzaini) had spotted a little piece of architecture history at a scrap yard in Amghara, the Maison Bulle (Bubble House) by French modernist architect, Jean-Benjamin Maneval.
The Bubble House which was conceived in 1963 is considered to be one of the most successful designs for “futuristic plastic houses“. Only 300 of these prefab homes were ever built and so it’s pretty incredible that not only did one end up in Kuwait, but the fact that it survived and is in fairly decent condition is a miracle.
Hamad is an architect and designer who lived and worked in the US for roughly 13 years. Most of his work experience revolved around modular and prefabricated construction, which is why when he spotted the Bubble House roughly two years ago, he immediately recognized that it was a novel system and had immense value. But, Hamad only realized recently what he had spotted when an account he follows posted a similar Bubble House. So Hamad went back to Amghara and called the number of the scrapyard asking if it was for sale. From there he purchased the house and started planning its relocation.
Most of the images online consistently depicted the Bubble House set against nature, making a really beautiful composition of something quite futuristic. So he decided to move the Bubble House out of the scrap yard and onto his family’s farm.
Currently Hamad is focusing his efforts on restoring the structure without permanent and damaging procedures. He wants to restore it as close to the original as possible but without an interior layout, leaving it as an open floor plan. He hopes to one day host events with some community engagement surrounding the Maison Bulle, but for now his focus is to restore it.
How the Bubble House ended up in Kuwait in the first place is still a mystery, but at least it’s in good hands right now.
Similar to the ‘A-Frame‘ Farm which I posted about a couple of years ago, the ‘Countryside Farmhouse’ is another picturesque farm in Wafra that is also available to rent.
The 3,000m2 farmhouse features 4 master bedrooms, a cozy living room, both an indoor and outdoor kitchen, and various outdoor seating areas including a rooftop with a beautiful view. The farm which can host up to 10 guests also has a swimming pool, gardens all around, and a dedicated kid’s play area, so plenty of room for you and your friends.
What initially caught my attention was the beautiful Mediterranean look of the farmhouse which is what I think makes this place feel like a secret getaway. The price to rent the farm is 165 KD per night during the weekdays, and 485 KD if you want to book it for the whole weekend. Not too bad if you split the cost with friends. If you want to check out more photos or to book, head over to their instagram account @countrysidekw
I just read a nice little article by Bothayna Al-Essa on her story of how she opened Tawkeen Bookshop. It was a pretty entertaining read and she basically explains how things first started, and some of the struggles she had.
If you’re looking for something to read, check it out.
This might be one of my favorite projects so far in Kuwait. Inspired by Kuwait’s traditional courtyard houses, the Zen Villa features a deliberate minimalist design intended to envelop residents in a panoramic view of surrounding palm trees and horse barns. It was designed by the local award winning firm Fikrr Architects, and is located in Wafra.
Each room in the Zen Villa was designed with expansive windows spanning the full width of the walls, connecting the family with the surrounding nature.The interior palette and materials were influenced by the surrounding landscape, echoing the desert through hues of yellow, beige, and green. This approach harmonizes the villa with its environment, infusing it with the warmth and tranquility of the natural world outside.
Even the roof was given attention to. By maintaining a clean and uncluttered roof, the architects overcame the challenge of heat impacts that would be generated by heavy equipment such as AC units which could then travel into the center courtyard.
For more  photos of the villa, check out their instagram @fikrr and their website fikrr.com
The Palestine Film Festival Kuwait kicks off tomorrow, (Thursday, April 25th) as part of the Palestine Days event that’s taking place this weekend at the Contemporary Art Platform in Shuwaikh.
The festival is dedicated to promoting and celebrating Palestinian life, art and culture, and they will be showcasing a curated selection of feature films, documentaries and shorts.
In addition to the films, there will also be book launches, talks and an exhibition by the Palestinian Cultural Center in which they will be selling beautiful, artisanal Palestinian products.
The event and screenings are free, but registration is required for the films as seats are limited. Find the registration form in the festival’s bio @palestinefilmfest_kuwait
I’ve only been drinking coffee since 2016, and since then I’ve been mostly been making my coffee at home. I started off with a De’Longhi bean to cup coffee machine, and then later upgraded to the Breville Oracle, followed by the Rocket Appartamento and then finally to a La Marzocco Linea Mini a couple of years ago. Along the way I upgraded my grinders as well, the first two machines had grinders built in, but with the Appartamento I got a Rocket Faustino Grinder for it, and with the Linea Mini I got the Mahlkönig X54 grinder.
I didn’t end up liking the X54 at all even though I love the Mahlkönig brand (they make some of the best commercial grinders). The X54 wasn’t very consistent, it was slow, and the grind adjustment knob felt horrible, the whole tactile experience actually was poor. Compared to the experience of using the commercial quality Linea Mini machine, the X54 felt very plasticky. So I decided I’d upgrade my grinder to one that would match the quality of my coffee machine. I did a lot of research and had eventually settled on the Ceado E37s.
I found a website online that would ship it to Kuwait and after their Black Friday discount and removing VAT, the price shipped to Kuwait was 525KD. Not cheap, but it was commercial quality, had large 83mm burrs and highly recommended by reviewers online. Just as I was about to make the plunge, I found out about the Mahlkönig E65S GbW. GbW stood for grind by weight, it was a new grinder by Mahlkönig where you could set the weight of coffee you wanted grinded, and then just place the portafilter into the machine and it would grind enough beans till it hit your weight. It was also fast, commercial grade, had a large adjustment ring as well as a large digital screen. It wasn’t cheap, online I found it for around 690KD after discount shipped to Kuwait, but since I knew the local dealer, I figured I could try and get a better deal locally.
The local dealer referred me to Coffee Tools who were selling the machine for a whopping 836KD (they since dropped it down to a more reasonable 731KD). I tried to work out a barter deal but that didn’t pan out but they did offer me a 25% discount which brought the price down from 836KD to 627KD. It was around 70KD cheaper than the price I found online so I decided to pull the trigger and get it (along with a much shorter 250g hopper). It was the best decision I made.
The E65S is such an incredible grinder. Firstly performance wise, it’s fast grinding out 18g of coffee in under 6 seconds (compared to 18-20 seconds of the X54). It’s also been really consistent and I’ve been using it daily since January. I don’t adjust the grind settings as much as I used to, and if I do it’s generally minor adjustments. It’s also really easy to adjust the grind size since the adjustment ring is large and the screen displays a digital read out of the distance between the two burrs. So I have my baseline set at 0.094mm and I generally adjust anywhere between 0.088 and 0.0096mm. It’s minor adjustments which I can do accurately because of the digital read out. But, the best feature is grind by weight. I use 18g of beans for my coffee, with regular grinders you use a timer to measure that out. So for example with my previous grinder, 18 seconds would grind around 18g of coffee, sometimes it would grind 16g in that time, sometimes 19g. It wasn’t a very efficient workflow either. You’d first put the portafilter on the scale and reset it to 0g, you’d then place portafilter in the grinder and have it grind for 18 seconds, you then put the portafilter on the scale again and see how much coffee it grinder, if its under 18g you have to put it back in grinder and manually grind a bit more coffee, if it’s more than 18g then you have to remove some coffee. It was a slow process and messy. The new workflow is so much better because of the grind by weight feature. All I have to do is place the portafilter into the grinder, and the grinder takes over and does all the calculations for me. As soon as I place the portafilter into the machine it starts grinding the coffee while measuring the weight. I think I read somewhere it does 6,000 calculations a second. Once the machine grinds 18g of coffee out, it stops and flashes green to let me know it hit the weight.
My coffee making process in the morning is a much more pleasant experience. I know a lot of people won’t understand or care about any of this, but as I’ve gotten older and I can afford nicer things, I’ve started caring about my experiences with objects a lot more. It could be a fork, it could be a car, I just like the experience of using nice things. My grinder and coffee machine are the first things I interact with in the morning. Then it’s my computer and then it’s my car. So having a good coffee making experience, then sitting in front of a fast computer with fast internet followed by driving to work in a 1970 Alfa Romeo, it’s really a great way to start the day. So would I recommend this grinder, yes. Do I recommend investing in expensive coffee equipment, for most people no. But if you enjoy using nice equipment and like the process of making coffee then yes. It’s actually cheaper to spend 3,000KD on coffee equipment than to have two coffees a day at a coffee shop. If you have 2 coffees a day, thats around KD1,460 you’re spending a year. So you’ll make your money back pretty quickly making coffee at home. If you’re married and your wife also drinks coffee then you’re going to make your money back twice as fast. And a commercial grade coffee machine is going to last a pretty long time at home.
I also highly recommend La Marzocco in Kuwait, their customer service department is one of the best I’ve experienced in Kuwait. Because they’re commercial machines, anytime I have an issue I’m treated like a coffee shop where any downtime is bad for business. I usually get a service person over either the same day if I report a problem in the morning, or the next day if I report a problem in the evening. So 5 stars to them.
A couple of years ago I posted about the issue with getting the Sahel app translated to English. Everyone was assuming it was just about getting the app translated, but in reality that wasn’t the issue.
According to a source back then involved in the project, the app had the English option available for a while now but they couldn’t launch it because some of the entities that are in Sahel had not finished adapting to English and English data. So until they do, the app has to remain in Arabic.
But, someone on Reddit posted a loophole that forces the app to display the English version of the app. Here is how to do it:
iPhone
– Launch Sahel app then exit and go to the phone settings
– Under settings go to Keyboard and add Arabic. If you already have the Arabic keyboard, remove it
– Go back to the app, it should now be in English
Android
– Same as the iPhone version except instead of getting to keyboard settings, go to language settings and change your default language to any other form of English (for example UK or US)
You’re going to be limited with what you can do in the App and what you can read, but at least it could help you navigate around and learn where everything is.
Yesterday I was at Chipotle Avenues Mall (they’re not open yet, I was just given access) and here is everything you need to know.
Opening Date:
They still don’t have an exact date, it will be during Eid that’s for sure, possibly April 10th. (Update: The opening date is officially April 9th)
Prices:
They’re going to be slightly more expensive than the US, but just slightly. For example, the burrito in Kuwait starts at KD 3.5 which is around $11.5, the same burrito in the US would cost around $10.5 (with tax). Here are all the items and their prices:
Ordering:
There will be 4 ways to order from opening day, you can either stand in line and build your order with an employee, or you can order from their digital kiosks, order through a QR code on the table, or order through the Chipotle Middle East app which will be available at launch.
Delivery:
Won’t be available at launch, but will become available as they open more branches.
Tidbits:
Some of the staff were brought in from Chipotle in the States and will be here permanently including the manager. Their prep and cooking kitchen is open and visible while waiting in line (I love that). Everyone I met and saw while there seemed happy and thrilled. I’m not very familiar with the brand since I only had it twice before, but the vibe I felt was really upbeat and fun, they’re really excited to open.
Hmmm, I think that’s all there is to know. I didn’t eat anything because I wasn’t really hungry, but I did leave with some fresh chips and guacamole.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments. And this is my last Chipotle post, I promise 😅
Last year, Chipotle announced a partnership with Alshaya Group to introduce its franchise to the Middle East, and they’re now ready to open their inaugural location.
The first Chipotle in Kuwait is set to open at The Avenues (next to VOX Cinema) this Eid. While an exact date hasn’t been finalized, they’re aiming to open soon after their private VIP event on April 8th. So stay tuned.
Update: They just informed me that the official instagram account for the Middle East is @chipotle.me and will go live later today
Netflix has officially announced that the popular Kuwait-based series ‘The Exchange‘ will be returning for a second season. The show which had a very successful first season will see the comeback of the two main stars, Farida played by Rawan Mahdi, and Munira who’s played by Mona Hussain as well as the director Jasem AlMuhanna and producer Abdullah Boushahri.
Although I was hoping the show will be moving into the 90s for the second season, it looks like it will continue to remain in the 80s. Production is currently underway but Netflix hasn’t mentioned an air date but I’d imagine it’s Q4 of this year or Q1 of next year.
Back in 2016, a beautiful wall mural by the award winning artist Jad El Khoury was commissioned on the side of the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) building. The project had been sponsored by Jedareyat, a local volunteer group that scours the city for dead walls, and artists who can transform them into picture-worthy landmarks.
In 2020, controversy arose when the mural was painted over with white paint, completely destroying it. A lot of people were obviously upset about the incident, and what was a beautiful wall in the city turned into a generic white surface.
But there is now some good news!
Jad has been brought back to Kuwait and has been commissioned to paint a brand new mural on the same wall again. The new artwork was commissioned by Froyo, the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters and in collaboration again with Jedariyat.
The building has been undergoing preparation over the past few days and is now ready to be painted on. Jad will be starting work tomorrow (Friday) and is expected to complete the artwork by next Wednesday. If you want to watch him paint his new mural, then you can pass by over the coming days during the day to check him work.
Jad’s previous artwork was titled “Single Man” and was inspired by him moving from Lebanon to Kuwait for work. The mural had represented a single person trying to fit into a new chaotic environment.
If you’re a UFC Arabia subscriber then you probably already know they’re shutting down the service at the end of the month. UFC Arabia was the best way to watch UFC fights if you live in Kuwait (or the GCC). The service and features were great and the price was cheap, like 2KD a month and it included pay per view events which cost around 25KD each in the US.
But, they’re now shutting down the service and telling everyone to sign up to STARZPLAY, the new home of UFC Arabia.
I signed up to it and watched the last PPV event (UFC 299) on STARZPLAY and it SUCKED. I had two major issues:
First issue, you can’t rewind a live event. Most of the pay per view events start in the middle of the night and by the time I wake up around 7AM they’re nearly done. What I used to do with UFC Arabia is get on, press play, and quickly rewind to the start of the event so I don’t see any spoilers. I can even pause after rewinding so I can then make my coffee, sit down and start watching the fights.
With STARZPLAY you can’t do that, you have to watch live where the event is and you can’t rewind. So if I get on and it’s in the middle of the fight it’s like tough luck, I can’t do anything about it except maybe just not watch the fights in the morning as they’re happening and instead wait till after work or something.
The second issue I had was that midway through the fights the STARZPLAY video stream died and didn’t come back. Thankfully UFC Arabia was still functioning so I just got on that and continued to watch the event there.
The whole STARZPLAY interface also sucks and it’s just too busy with so much going on. I tried watching old fights but it wouldn’t even let me change the commentary language, so I was forced to watch it in Arabic. It’s just a horrible experience compared to UFC Arabia.
So basically, if you’re a UFC fan living in the GCC you’re pretty much out of luck now.
Lumière have been around since 2017 and are famous for “Fluffs”, their super soft and fluffy stuffed donuts. But, Lumière also have a very large selection of cakes and desserts as well.
Other than their usual popular cakes like their Cream Brûlée Cheesecake and Pistachio Trifle, this Ramadan they’ve launched a number of exclusive items. Firstly there is a new chocolate cake they’ve called “Billionaire”. It’s a cake that they’ve been working on for sometime now and decided to launch it finally since they’ve managed to perfect it.
The Baklava Cheesecake is their other new Ramadan exclusive cake. They’ve taken their popular cheesecake base and infused it with baklava stuffing and crispy pastry layers on top.
Finally, they also launched two new Ramadan exclusive Fluffs, a rahash stuffed Fluff and a saffron stuffed Fluff. Their Fluffs not only look pretty in the photos, but they also look like that in real life. They’re also as soft and fluffy as they look.
Here’s some good news to start the day, according to TEC, the Wall of Peace sculpture by Kuwait artist Jafar Islah which is located behind Burger King on the Gulf Road will NOT be demolished as part of the refurbishment of the waterfront.
Last month the first phase of the waterfront refurbishment was completed from Green Island to the Kuwait Towers, and now they’ve started the second phase which is from SVN all the way to Green Island.
They’ve already started bulldozing all the greenery and it’s really sad to watch. It didn’t really show much when they did it in the first phase because that strip wasn’t that green to begin with, but the strip from SVN to Green Island is actually very green with dense trees in some areas. The refurbishment although looks really nice lacks much greenery and so it’s going to be a pretty grey view on my way to work once the second phase is completed.
One thing I’m worried about is the wall of peace sculpture by Jafar Islah which is located next to Burger King. I saw them working in that area today, hopefully they’re not planning to remove it.
Update: Looks like a lot of people are up in arms about the removal of all the trees so TEC issued a statement about it which you can read here.
Update2:According to TEC, the Wall of Peace will NOT be demolished.
