Search: “kuwait”

The Blajat project has been open for a couple of days only and they’ve already gone and reduced their prices. There was a lot of backlash on social media over their pricing structure so my guess is that might have played a roll in this. Whatever the reason is, here are the old and new prices for comparison:

Sunbeds
Old Price: 8KD
New Price: 5KD

Beach Cabanas
Old Price: 45KD (up to 4 people)
New Price: 25KD

White Floating Cabanas
Old Price: 45KD (up to 6 people)
New Price: 25KD

White Floating Pool
Old Price: 10KD
New Price: 6KD

Kuwait TAG Obstacle Course
Old Price: 7.5KD
New Price: 6KD

Kids Water Park
Old Price: 5KD
New Price: 5KD (didn’t change)

They also added two more activities:

Beach Volleyball – 5KD an hour
Bossaball – 24KD an hour (up to 10 people)

I passed by earlier this morning just as they were opening to check the project out and it’s pretty nice. There was chill background music playing, the sand looked super clean (no idea about the water), there’s now a proper walkway and the whole project looked well put together.

But there were two things I didn’t like. The first is that you’re not allowed to walk your dogs on the walkway and the second is no bicycles. The first I kinda can understand but the no bicycle thing is a bit weird since there was plenty of space to build a bike path.

If you haven’t passed by to check it out, you should, even if you aren’t planning to swim. @blajatkw

Last night, I had the privilege of attending Miami Band’s final dress rehearsal at The Arena before their sold-out 5-night performance, and it was a pretty fun experience.

I wouldn’t call myself a Miami Band fan, I know a handful of their songs because I grew up with them but Arabic music isn’t really my thing. I think last night might have actually been my first Arabic concert and I didn’t get bored, maybe during a couple of their slower songs but the show was entertaining and it mostly had to do with the fact there was always something happening on stage.

This Miami Band concert is produced and directed by Free Jabriya who brought in massive international designers and content creators to help out including:

Studio Flint (@studio.flint) – The content creators behind the Coldplay ‘Music Of The Spheres’ world tour

Woodroffe Bassett Design (@woodroffebassettdesign) – The lighting designers behind the recent Elton John farewell tour

Susan Kulkarni – Costume designer for movies like The Peripheral and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’

Rebecca Brower (@rebeccabrower) – Stage designer who worked on the opening and closing ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics

The show was a visual journey that celebrated the life of the band. In between songs the stage transformed into an animated story book in which the band shared random moments and stories from the past. I’ve been to a lot of concerts and I’ve never seen that and I think Miami Band fans are going to love it.

As of this post 3 out of the 5 nights are already sold out and there are only a handful of seats available for the last 2 nights. The seats don’t seem great when you look at the floor plan but I think they’ll actually be fine. You might actually end up having a good view of the band performing from those seats. So if you’re a Miami Band fan, book them before they’re gone. Tickets Link

Earlier today, TEC opened their Blajat project, and just a few moments ago, they also launched their TEC booking app.

It’s a one stop app for all their projects including Blajat, Winter Wonderland, as well as their second entertainment park, the South Subahiya Park which is opening right after Winter Wonderland.

Currently, this app is only available for iOS devices but the Android version is coming soon. To download the app, head to the app store and search for TEC Kuwait.

TEC have been really active with new projects lately and they just announced on Instagram that tomorrow they’ll be opening their Blajat project to the public.

The Blajat project is located in Salmiya and runs the distance from the Bida’a roundabout all the way down to Showbiz. It’s being launched in phases and the first phase has now just been completed.

The Blajat project includes a revamp and refurbishment of that whole strip of coastline with new facilities and ameneties added that include:

– A free public beach
– Rentable sunbeds
– Private cabanas on the beach
– Private cabanas out in the water
– An inflatable water park
– Restaurants and cafes
– A brand new walkway

The regular sandy beach is free to use and there is no entry fee. For the activities and facilities you’ll have to buy tickets through their website or soon to launch TEC app. You’ll also be able to purchase tickets at their ticket booth on location.

Since it’s a public beach it will be mixed-gender and open to everyone.

As for the restaurants and cafes, there will be a bunch of cool brands including Bakehaus, McDonalds, KDD, Subway, Roto and Dhahia Juice.

I’ll post more photos and more accurate information as I get access to them, but for now you can follow the Blajat instagram account @blajatkw and keep reloading their website blajat.kw till it goes live.

Update: So I got the prices and they are the following:

Sunbeds – 8KD per person
Beach Cabanas – 45KD (up to 4 people)
White Floating Cabanas – 45KD (up to 6 people)
White Floating Pool – 10KD per person
Kuwait TAG Obstacle Course – 7.5KD per person
Kids Water Park – 5KD per person

Update2: The website is now live and contains all the details! blajat.kw

Just a quick heads up since I noticed it’s a common question on Reddit. If you have anything you want to sell the blog has a pretty active classifieds section. If you’re on your phone you might not have realized that since the link is hidden in the menu but if you click the 3 dots on the top right you should spot the link. So check it out. classifieds.248am.com

I also get people asking me what happened with the section Kuwestions. Basically, I had to shut it down. The software it was running on hadn’t been updated by the creator in years and bots and spam had taken over the database to the point just the user database alone had grown in size to over 500MB making it extremely sluggish. But, I had created Kuwestions to replace my previous Forum which both were created back when the Kuwait Reddit community wasn’t very active. Now that r/Kuwait is active, I didn’t see a reason for another forum anymore

From all the projects currently taking place in Kuwait, I think this one is the one I’m most excited about.

Back in June I posted about the new 9.7-kilometre-long waterfront project that stretches from the Yacht Club in Salmiya all the way to the Kuwait Towers. The project involves facelifting the waterfront while also offering essential amenities for people which includes a dedicated bicycle and jogging path among other things.

We now have a first look at how the new pathway is going to look like and I’m super excited!

This small strip in the photo is not a rendering, it’s a real strip that was constructed for testing purposes. I’ve been told this is the final approved design that will now be implemented along the whole waterfront.

What I love the most about the design is how the walk path and bike path are separated with plants, benches and other amenities. This means you can’t accidentally walk into the bike lane which is what I tend to do when I’m in Europe.

Another cool thing I like is the bike racks which you can barely make out in the photo, they’re on the top left next to the bench and black colored street light. This means I can now park and lock my bicycle if say I want to take a quick dip in the sea (something I’m probably never going to do but I like the option). The whole thing looks really tastefully done, it looks really great.

Maybe the best part about this project is that it’s real, it’s already under construction and they’re targeting to have it completed by February. As someone who rides their bike all the time on the Gulf Road, you don’t understand how much I’m excited about this.

Burger King Kuwait is currently running a pretty cool campaign where depending on the last number on your car plate, they’re giving away free tenders!

All you need to do is order any meal at one of their 39 drive-thru locations around Kuwait and whatever the last digit of your car plate is, you’ll get that number of tenders for free. I checked my cars and I have one that ends with the number 8 so I’m pretty much set.

It’s a limited time offer so if you want your tenders, go get them now.
To find out more, visit their instagram @Burgerkingkw

The pre-orders for the new iPhone 15 and 15 Pro will go live tomorrow September 22nd, but some authorized resellers like Xcite are going to go live from midnight tonight.

So if you were hoping to be one of the first to get the new iPhones at retail prices, you most likely need to pre-order to get your hands on one early. Here are the list of authorized Apple resellers in Kuwait according to Apple:

Alpha
Carrefour
Digits
Eureka
Gait
Lulu Hypermarket
Virgin
Xcite

The second season of Winter Wonderland is going to start soon and there will be a bunch of changes this year. Last year, the Touristic Enterprises Company (TEC) was taken by surprise at the park’s unexpected popularity, but they are well-prepared for it this season.

Everything is bigger and better about the park for this season. Firstly, the physical footprint of the park increased by 40% which in return allowed the number of games to increase from 22 to 35 while also increasing the number of cafes and restaurants available.

The park will also be open for 7 months this year while longer operating hours that start earlier in the day.

The biggest challenge last year was the limited ticket availability. However, this year they’re making 15,000 tickets available for sale every day which should resolve the issue. The ticket price will also remain unchanged at 5KD but this year they will be sold through their soon to be released app.

They’re aiming to open the park by the end of September but depending on the weather it could be delayed to early October. The official Winter Wonderland account is @wwlkuwait, but for unofficial progress updates check out @mohamedalwazzan. Mohammad lives across from the park and is constantly posting video updates on the construction with short entertaining videos.

Back in July, the Armenian national carrier, Fly Arna started direct flights to Kuwait twice a week. I got excited because the flight from Kuwait to Armenia was only 2 hours long and ticket prices started at 82KD which made it very accessible.

Last week I decided I’d book a flight for the end of the month and when I went to their website I couldn’t find Kuwait. They had even removed the image posted above from their Instagram account. Turns out they canceled the route due to lack of interest.

I found that really weird, obviously it’s going to take time for people to find out there are now direct flights to Armenia and then plan their trips. Now the next best flight is a connecting flight that’s over 5 hours long which sucks.

Starting a side business in Kuwait isn’t very easy but Bzaaarz is a new app that is trying to make it easier.

Bzaaarz is an e-commerce app that allows anyone to open an online store and sell items with just a few clicks. The items you can sell are from their vast library of products that encompasses everything from electronics, perfumes, cosmetics, pet food and accessories, video games and a lot more.

The way it works is you create an account with Bzaaarz and then select from the thousands of items they have available in their library for you to sell. Anything you sell from your store you get a small percentage of the profits and the whole thing is fully automated and officially backed by the ministry of commerce and local banks.

If you’re an online influencer this could also be perfect for you. Imagine doing a makeup tutorial and then having all the items you used in the video available for your followers to purchase instantly from your store.

To download the app and find out more, check out @bzaaarz.partner

The Restaurant & Bar Design Awards announced their list of winners for the Middle East & Africa category, and one of my favorite designed places in Kuwait just won.

Abuelo which was designed by Studio Nesef and is located in The Avenues won the award for the best designed cafe. I’m glad it did because I really do believe it is one of the nicest designed places in Kuwait. When it first opened I actually messaged Studio Nesef to let them know how much I liked the interior, it’s so visually interesting.

If you’ve never come across the place, it’s located in the alleyway adjacent to % Arabica in Avenues Phase 4.

To check out who else won, visit @restaurantandbardesignawards

So last week I asked for recommendations of shows to watch on my 6 hour flight to Paris. I ended up watching two things, Cocaine Bear and binge watching Poker Face. Cocaine Bear was one of the best movies I’ve watched in a long time, it was hilarious, really silly, had lots of famous actors and was a lot of fun to watch. It’s extremely underrated! Highly recommended.

Poker Face is a Peacock original show and I started watching the first episode just to see if I liked it or not and surprisingly it was great. Not sure how many episodes I ended up watching back to back, maybe 4 before I finally arrived to Paris. I’m heading back to Kuwait today and I’m hoping to continue binge watching it on the way back.

Now Barbie. I watched it a few days ago here in Paris, obviously the uncensored version although now that I watched it I have no clue what was censored and why it was banned to begin with. I focused so hard throughout the film trying to figure out what was so controversial and I have no idea honestly, like zero clue. There wasn’t even a kiss in the whole movie, no gay characters or lesbians, there was nothing! Maybe one scene with a rainbow in the sky in the background but no flags, trans or even bad language. WHY WAS THIS BANNED? I am so confused!

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

New This Weekend:
Blue Beetle (6.8)
Haunting of the Queen Mary (4.9)
I’ll Be Watching (3.9)
Retribution (5.7)

Other Movies Showing:
Cats Museum (4.4)
Elemental (6.8)
Gran Turismo (7.0)
Haunted Mansion (6.3)
Meg 2: The Trench (6.0)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (8.2)
Oppenheimer (8.7)
Sound of Freedom (7.8)
The Adventures of Jurassic Pet (3.7)
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (6.5)
The Secret Kingdom (5.0)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Inside Man (6.6)
Flubber (5.3)
Training Day (7.7)

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

Amorino, the popular French gelato chain is set to open in Kuwait this coming weekend at The Avenues. Thursday and Friday will be by invitation only, but on Saturday it will be open to everyone.

I’m actually excited about this since I like their ice cream a lot. They’re located in Phase III of The Avenues, in the back next to the escalators and where the English Tea Lounge used to be.

Their instagram account is also now live and they’ve started a countdown for their opening @amorinokuwait

Yesterday I got a tour of The Warehouse mall and it was a pretty cool experience since it was very busy with the mall and businesses all getting ready for the opening tomorrow (August 16). The mall looks really great and very different to other malls which is what caught my attention the first time I visited back in May.

The Warehouse has an industrial look with lots of bricks and metal cladding everywhere. The roof is covered with a glass and steel structure that casts interesting shadows onto the floor during the day. It’s really well designed mall with a lot of creative touches, even the bathrooms are worth checking out.

Theres a large variety of stores in the mall with the main anchors being IKEA, ABYAT, LC Waikiki and LuLu Hypermarket. You also have some new restaurants opening there that aren’t available anywhere else in Kuwait yet like Jamie’s Italian and Nando’s. Regulars like Milk Bun, Shake Shack and Raising Cane’s are also opening there as well as one of my favorite coffee shops, Earth Roastery. There is also a Cinescape, Xcite, Starbucks, Zain, and a bunch of other “mall-must-haves”. There’s even an area called Auto Zone which houses a bunch of car dealerships.

If you want to pass by and check the mall out, starting tomorrow The Warehouse is going to open daily from 10AM till 10PM except on weekends where it stays open till 11PM. The mall is located in Ahmadi, right off highway 30 or 40. @thewarehousekuwait