Search: “kuwait”

The Gulf Road is one of my favorite places in Kuwait but the lack of a bike path is very frustrating. I ride my bicycle on the walkway close to the water but the path isn’t wide enough for both bicycles and people when it’s busy and even when it’s empty the pathway is fairly rough to ride on using a road bike. Because the only other alternative is riding on the road with the cars ,I put up with the issues because I don’t really have another choice.

But looks like we’re finally going to get a dedicated bicycle path.

SSH, the architecture and engineering consultant firm have just taken over the waterfront project. SSH are the same people behind such projects as the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre (JACC) and the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC) so I’m very excited about this.

The 9.7-kilometre-long waterfront project will stretch from the Yacht Club in Salmiya all the way to the Kuwait Towers and offer essential amenities for visitors, over 60 commercial and investment opportunities for local businesses, various sports activities, swimming areas, a bicycle path, a jogging path, and a recreational area for children.

The project timeline is 1 year.

If you’re experiencing slow internet it’s not just you. According to Citra, an internet cable was accidentally cut during construction work on Cairo Street which is what is causing all the problems. They’re trying their best to get things fixed quickly so hopefully this will get sorted today.

تأثرت بعض شركات الاتصالات يوم الأحد الموافق ١١ يونيو ٢٠٢٣ لضعف في تقديم خدمة الإنترنت لمشتركيها نتيجة انقطاع الكابل الدولي الذي يربط شبكة الكابلات الدولية في الكويت بشبكة الاتصالات للشركات المشغلة للكابلات الدولية

— الهيئة العامة للاتصالات وتقنية المعلومات (@CitraKuwait) June 11, 2023

via Frankom

I’ve been a Caramel customer since the early 2000s, they’ve always been my favorite place to pick up cakes from so I was a bit lost when they closed down for renovation. But, they’re now back and with a brand new very minimal and stunning look that was designed by @atelierazizalqatami.

Caramel originally opened back in 2001 and is run by a mother and daughter. The original store was in Kuwait City but later moved to Bneid Al Qar, where it currently remains. The redesigned space now has a very Japanese design aesthetic, characterized with a monochromic color palette. I imagine the new monochrome look is deliberate so that all the attention is drawn to the cakes.

They just reopened a couple of days ago with all our old favorite cakes, but they’re going to be introducing some new items as well next week. They’re also on Instagram @caramel_kuwait

For kids who grew up in Kuwait back in the 80s, Iftah Ya Simsim was our Sesame Street and one of our favorite shows. We looked forward to every episode and I think every kid wished they would end up on it one day. Maybe the only other show we wanted to be on more was Mama Anisa, but Iftah Ya Simsim looked like a lot of fun and we all wanted to meet the muppets Nu’man and Malsoon.

The show started filming at the Kuwait Television Studios back in 1978 and then released in 1979 before stopping production in 1989 due to the Gulf War. It never resumed again but the show did continue to live on in the hearts of every 80s kid.

Recently I came into possession of behind the scenes photos from Iftah ya Simsim. Some I had seen before and some not, but even the ones I had seen I hadn’t since in this quality before which is why I wanted to share them.

Malsoon the parrot was played by a Syrian actor called Tawfiq Al Asha, you can see him in one of the photos standing behind Malsoon. Tawfiq sadly passed away in 2018. Nu’man on the other hand was played by Kuwaiti actor Abdullah Hubail, and he’s on Instagram @abdullah_alhubail.

I was in Barcelona for a friends wedding last week hence the lack of any updates, but I’m finally back in Kuwait again and I’ve got a bunch of interesting posts lined up for this week. Since Kuwait Airways will start flying to Barcelona at the end of summer, I wanted to share a Barcelona guide which you can bookmark and use if you ever decide to head there (you should).

Eat
El Xampanyet (@el_xampanyet), Cal Pep (@calpepbcn) and La Plata (@barlaplata) were definitely my favorite places for tapas. With El Xampanyet and Cal Pep expect to wait in line, with La Plata just go stand at the bar and order fried fish.

Other notable places, my favorite gelato place is Oggi (@oggibarcelona). I also had lunch at the Michelin Star Japanese restaurant Koy Shunka (@koyshunka) as well as dinner at their sister Japanese restaurant Shunka (@shunka_bcn). For both I had to book online before I got to Barcelona. Between the two I preferred Shunka because all I ever want is nigiris.

Drink
Oddly not that many third-wave coffee shops in Barcelona but my three favorites were Nomad (@nomadcoffee), Casa Taos (@casa.taos) and Skye (@skyecoffeeco). There are a lot of bars all over the city and most have non-alcoholic cocktails so if you don’t drink you can still visit and experience places like Paradiso (@paradiso_barcelona) which was voted the #1 bar in the world.

See
I can’t list everything to see obviously but here are a few that you might not find in your regular Barcelona guide. If you like flea markets then Mercat dels Encants Barcelona (@encantsbarcelona) is a great looking one to visit. The nicest sneaker store in Barcelona is Solebox (@solebox) and my favorite sunglass brand is Wilde (@wildesunglasses). Finally if you’re into vintage furniture then check out Noak Room (@noakroom).

Sleep
I stayed at The Hoxton Hotel (@thehoxtonhotel) located in the trendy neighborhood of Poblenou. Not a lot of tourists in that area, its a 5 minute walk to the metro and there are some very cool places near the hotel. If you do want to stay in a more touristic area, Sir Victor Hotel (@sirhotels) was my Plan B and that’s located in a more popular area.

I’m currently in Barcelona on vacation hence the lack of postings. I should have posted this before I left Kuwait but I just had so many things to do I didn’t have time. I’ve been here for 4 or 5 days already and today is the first time I got my laptop out. Thats how much I don’t want to be online posting while I’m here. Will be back to Kuwait in a few days and things will go back to normal then. I actually have a couple of really interesting posts lined up so can’t wait to get started on them.

Ecru, the Kuwait-based lifestyle brand inspired by the ethos and culture of Arab hospitality is celebrating their ten years milestone with a pop up at Sadu House. I remember when they launched back in 2013 it felt like a sigh of relief that someone was opening something other than a cupcake business (If you’re too young to remember, back then everyone had a cupcake business).

I dropped by the pop up earlier to pick up a copy of the book “ABCs of Kuwait”, (more on that in a separate post) and the Ecru setup was really something. They completely transformed the space and as you can see in the photo, it looks really really beautiful.

If you’re looking for something to do, tomorrow is the last day for the pop up. They’re there tonight till 8PM and tomorrow (Thursday) from 11AM to 5PM. Also make sure you check out their retrospective highlight on their Instagram account for their story on how it all began. @ecruonline

Formula One picked up in popularity over the past few years because of the Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive” so a lot of new (and some old) F1 fans in Kuwait will find this tidbit interesting.

Back in 2014, Red Bull brought their junior driver Carlos Sainz along with their F1 car to Kuwait and then had him race up and down the Gulf Road. I managed to get some photos as well as a video from that day which you can check out here.

If you’re an F1 fan then you know that Carlos Sainz is now Ferraris main driver and so you might be kicking yourself for not meeting him back when he came to Kuwait as just a young Red Bull junior racing team driver.

Those of you who remember when the Korean supermarket Singarea was in Dajeej might remember they had a very cool Korean restaurant upstairs. That restaurant closed in 2012 and since then Singarea has moved out of Dajeej and opened several stores around Kuwait including their most recent one at Boulevard in Salmiya. When I first visited that location, I noticed they had an area in the back for a small restaurant and I got excited since I used to be a fan of the one in Dajeej. Yesterday morning the owner of Singarea got in touch with me and invited me to pass by for a tasting.

The whole invitation thing happened quickly and last minute since I’m traveling this weekend and we were trying to make it work before I left. I even struggled to find a friend to come a long but luckily I did because there was a lot of food to try. Since I was a fan of the previous Singarea restaurant, I didn’t really ask any questions about the place, I just headed there not knowing what to expect but figured it would be the run of the mill Korean restaurant.

But, when I got there and sat down, a few things caught my attention. The first were the expensive Devialet Phantom II speakers hung around the restaurant, then I noticed the heavy brass side plates on the table with handmade lacquered chopsticks. I didn’t think of it much until they brought out the first dish and my friend was like Mark, I think this is fine dining.

They didn’t have a menu because it was still being worked on so they brought out dishes for us based on their recommendation. The first dish was a custard egg with seafood, something I’ve never had before and the presentation looked pretty fancy. Right away they captured my interest and I was now really intrigued about the place. One by one the dishes started coming out, we got a grapefruit yuza salad next, then a seafood pajeon, tteokbokki (the best rice cakes I’ve had), both a beef and seafood Albap served bento box style, and more. It was a lot of food and a lot of different and exciting flavors to try. The seafood pajeon (the pancake like dish) is now probably my favorite Korean dish ever, it was so good and bursting with so many different flavors, it’s the dish thats going to keep me going back. But really everything we tried was visually interesting and delicious except for probably the galbi steak dish which I felt needed some sauce on the side to dip into.

Once we were done I sat with Penny the owner of Singarea, a young trendy looking guy with long hair and cool kicks. His father opened Singarea in Kuwait over 40 years ago and now he’s taken it over. He explained to me his concept of wanting to serve premium Korean dishes but without the high prices usually associated with it. He’s starting off small (the restaurant has only 6 tables) but has the ability to expand later. They hadn’t finalized the prices or menu yet when I visited, but they’re aiming for an average paycheck of around 8-10KD per person.

KI:WA (or just Kiwa) is aiming to open next week on June 1st. It’s located at the back of the Singarea store in Boulevard next to the lake, and they’ll be open for both lunch and dinner. You can stay posted on the restaurant and the opening by checking @singareamarket or @kiwa.q8

Update: So turns out the galbi steak dish came with a pepper cream sauce but I didn’t see it since it was hidden from my sight behind the dish 😅

This is really good news for anyone looking to open a business in Kuwait or currently pays rent on an office that they never use. Yesterday the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it is no longer required for businesses to have an office if they don’t have employees.

Previously if you wanted to get a business license you had to have an office even if you didn’t need one. So what people would do is rent out cheap 250-300KD offices in basements of dodgy complexes in Hawalli and other cheap neighborhoods which they would never use or even visit. People had to pay thousands on rent just so they could have a business license. With the new rule, the home address can be used to obtain a license.

This is going to help out a lot of people and encourage a lot of new businesses to open in Kuwait.

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, the San Francisco bakery that went viral in 2017 with the invention of the cruffin, officially opened in Kuwait today.

I dropped by yesterday for the soft opening that was hosted by @pltq8 and other than sweet and savory pastries, they also have a few sandwiches, protein shakes, juices and coffee.

They open 6am to 10pm daily and are located in Kuwait City next to Eighty Six burger, on the same strip as Crystal Tower.

Aquapark, which was the first water park in Kuwait got demolished a few years ago to a lot of people’s dismay. But, another waterpark was built in its place from the ground up with new games and it was given a new name, BayZero. The new park is the largest water park in Kuwait and this past weekend they reopened again for the new summer season.

Entrance to the park is 6KD and they’re open daily from 10AM to 10PM. The park is located right under the Kuwait Towers, behind McDonalds. Tickets can be purchased from their website bayzero.com.kw. For more info and photos, their Instagram account is @bayzero.kw

I’m in Saudi this week and yesterday I randomly came across Arby’s while on my way to a meeting. I was a bit surprised to find it because I come to Riyadh often and I wasn’t aware they had Arby’s here. Turns out they’ve only been open for less than a week! Obviously, I ended up passing by and grabbing a roast beef with cheddar.

It sucks they ended up closing down in Kuwait, I don’t eat much fast food anymore but Arby’s was one of the few places I couldn’t resist. No idea why they ended up closing down since they were always busy when I passed by so I assumed they were doing well.

Another brand that they have here which should come back to Kuwait is Popeyes. Like Arby’s, I’m not sure why it closed down since it also seemed to be doing well.

Tonight (Tuesday, May 9th) is going to be pretty busy at the Contemporary Art Platform with multiple openings taking place. Here is everything happening tonight:

I am Every Woman by Rasa Romanova
A solo exhibition by Kuwait-based Lithuanian artist Rasa Romanova.

Hundred Best Arabic Posters by 100/100
An Arabic posters exhibition in collaboration with @100bestarabicposters and @sharafstudio

An Oasis in the Desert of My Soul
A collaborative exhibition by calligraphy artist Abderrazak Hamouda based on poems by Bahraini poet Dina Bseisu.

Voices of the Occupation by AUK
An exhibition focusing on personal narratives during the time of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, highlighting the importance of storytelling to preserve and document the history of Kuwait and its people.

All the openings are taking place between 7PM and 9PM. The Contemporary Art Platform is located in Shuwaikh at the Design District where @cure.kuwait and the new @ovokwt are located. For more information check out @capkuwait

A few weeks ago I was invited to the opening of a new burger concept opened called Pattie Pattie. My first thought obviously was that we had too many burger joints already, most tasted the same and we really didn’t need any more. But I still went to the opening and although the burger was forgetful, the space wasn’t.

Pattie Pattie has to be one of the coolest-looking burger joints in Kuwait. I love spaces that bring something visually new to Kuwait, places that transport you to another place, there are a few spots that do it really well, Boost and Ovo for example are two that come to mind. Pattie Pattie is another place now that does the same.

The design of Pattie Pattie was created by the local creative studio WEFT and was inspired by the American fast food culture and the iconic mid-century architecture of California.

The design of the building was born from the limitations imposed on that plot of land. The land measured 365m2 but the permit limited the building size to just 5x18m (90m2). The exterior space had no particular restrictions, as long as the vertical structure was 90m2. As a result, WEFT designed a large canopy cutting across the full width of the plot in a dynamic diagonal composition. To further enhance the size of the small restaurant, they raised the plot by 30cm to frame the building and create a larger sense of scale.

Every design element had a reason from the bold colors to the integration of design-driven playful accessories. The result is basically this beautiful vibrant space that has now become a landmark in the neighborhood. If you want to check out the place in person here is the location on Google Maps or click here to see more.

Photos by @mashkanani