Search: “kuwait”

The new Netflix series starring comedian Mo Amer was released a few days ago and has been getting great reviews. You might know Mo from the popular Hulu series ‘Ramy‘ who is also a creator of this show.

A few months ago I discovered Mo was actually born in Kuwait and lived here till the age of 9. I only found out when he brought it up during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel (embedded below). The only reason Mo left Kuwait was because of the 1990 Iraq invasion.

If you have Netflix and are looking for a new funny show to watch, here is the Netflix page for Mo.

The luxury hotel Waldorf Astoria will be opening today at The Avenues. It will be the second hotel at The Avenues and the mall entrance is in the Prestige area near the curved escalators. There aren’t any photos of the hotel online other than renderings, but if you want to check them out here is the link.

I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I rarely eat at new places anymore. Well, that’s not completely true, I’ve just gotten a lot pickier with where I eat. I have my goto places that’s for sure, and Cocoa Room is my favorite breakfast spot. Earlier this year Cocoa Room launched a dinner menu and yesterday I decided to pass by and try it for the first time as part of my new goal to try a new place once a week.

The Cocoa Room dinner menu is Mediterranean influenced and so the mains section has lots of pasta, a couple of steaks, one seafood dish, and a burger. Not a big variety to pick from, and nothing really interesting but that’s because their starters section is where all the exciting dishes are. Thankfully they had an iPad with photos of all their items because all the dishes were in French and I had a difficult time visualizing what they were (You can check out the full menu here). I ended up ordering the following items:

Milefeuille D’avocat
Brioche De Champignons Crémeuse
Carpaccio De Boeuf
Spaghetti De Capri
Gratin de Maiz

Picking just three starters was difficult and if I had to pick again I’d probably go with the seabass carpaccio instead of the beef only because it’s not something I’d find elsewhere. For the pasta, I decided on the Capri because I wanted to try a new flavor and I never had a zesty spaghetti before (it was pretty ok).

Overall everything I had was good, the avocado millefeuille was probably my favorite dish while the mushroom brioche my least favorite (not enough mushrooms). The only complaints I have with the menu is the item names being in French and the lack of interesting mains. Lots of places in Kuwait have pastas and steaks so I was looking for something a bit more different to try. Also the desserts section wasn’t that appetizing but you can always head to Burger Boutique after dinner for their chocolate brownie pudding.

The total bill came to KD27.500 so expect to pay around KD15 per person. I had to reserve before heading there although there were empty tables so you could probably just walk in. Cocoa Room is definitely my favorite breakfast spot in Kuwait, but not sure I’d go back as often for their dinner.

I assumed everyone already knew about this place since they’ve been open for a while now but recently I realized that wasn’t the case. There is a little bagel shop in Kuwait City next to Solo Pizza called While I’m Baked. If you head there in the morning before they sell out, you can get some of the best bagel sandwiches in Kuwait. I always order either their Turkey Avo Boi or the Kramer, and now while I’m typing this out I’m craving a sandwich so I’ll probably pick one up on my way into work this morning.

If you want to check them out, here is their location on Google Maps and they’re on Instagram @whileimbaked

Last week I posted about Khazal Palace possibly losing its heritage site status due to major alternations in the restoration, but on the other hand, there is good news for Naif Palace in Kuwait City. Last week it was designated an Islamic Heritage Site by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

Naif Palace, which covers an area of 28,802 square meters, was built in 1919, during the reign of Emir Sheikh Salem Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. It has 219 rooms and also houses a mosque, a garrison dormitory, and an ammunition depot.

For more on this, here is the link to the original news story.

On a side note, does anyone know if the palace is open to visitors on regular days? I know they open it during Ramadan for the canon firing but what about the rest of the year?

Ozone, the first indoor skydiving in Kuwait is set to open this Thursday, September 1st. Ozone is going to be the third indoor skydiving center in the region with our center having the most powerful wind tunnel of the three.

Right now until August 25th they have a 20% early bird discount so if you’re planning to try out indoor skydiving, it’s a good idea to take advantage right now. 2 flights will cost you 16KD with the discount while 4 flights will cost you 28KD. They also have a group price, 5 people for 68KD. If you’re interested, here is the link.

The Khazal Palace (also called Alghanim Palace and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jabir Palace) located in Dasman near the British Embassy is finally being restored after being left to crumble for decades. But, yesterday a photo surfaced showing that concrete columns were planted inside the palace as part of the reconstruction.

What does this mean?

The palace dates to 1916 and was constructed with clay, it was one of the last Persian-style archaeological building in Kuwait. Since the palace was listed as a heritage site in Kuwait, it was protected and had the highest priority for conservation. With conservation projects it is paramount to restore the building back to it’s original state using as much of the original construction material as possible. The Kuwait antiquities law states that it is prohibited to modify, alter or distort immovable monuments. By pouring concrete into the palace it means it no longer is being restored correctly and thus loses its heritage status.

To try and simplify what this all means, imagine demolishing the palace completely and then rebuilding it again using modern day materials, is it still a heritage site? No because it’s now a new building and not an old building that was saved and restored. This is basically what has happened in this case to some degree. The building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list back in 2015, but because the restoration process is being done incorrectly, it will now no longer qualify to be on the list and so will not have any of the protection that comes with that status. Similar story to what happened with the Kuwait National Assembly Building, because they constructed the curved/wavy office building on the side of the main structure, the Kuwait National Assembly Building was disqualified from ever becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Kuwait Towers on the other hand which is currently going through a restoration process (the blue discs are being restored or replaced) is abiding by the strict restoration rules. The process is also being overlooked by the Getty Foundation “Keeping it Modern” grant which the towers received in 2020 (1 of just 77 grants given worldwide):

All of the orbs possess a remarkable shimmering quality thanks to 41,000 enameled metal discs in shades of blue, green, and gray that stud their surfaces in a carefully variegated spiral pattern.

Due to more than five decades of marine climate exposure, however, some of the decorative metal discs have detached and fallen to the ground. Guided by a recent conservation management plan, the project team will conduct a technical study to identify the underlying problem behind the disc detachments and develop conservation protocols for carrying out repairs and maintenance. Because the conservation of modern architecture in Kuwait is an emerging field, the project team will collaborate with international experts and leverage the opportunity to share their research with local Kuwaiti architects, conservators, and engineers.

School trip to the Kuwait Museum – 1970

A couple of years ago I heard rumblings about the fact they were proposing to restore the building with concrete (easier/cheaper) and that many local architects were against it and wanted the restoration to be done properly. Not sure if anything can be done about it now, but at the moment it looks like Kuwait lost another important part of its landscape.

For more information, check out this post on Instagram.

Update: Just got a bit more information. The basement of the palace is the oldest basement in Kuwait, more than 100 years old. Unfortunately, it was removed completely to make way for the concrete intervention. Source

After a bit of a lull, JACC are back to hosting musical events again. They currently have six different events coming up and I have four tickets to Guy Manoukian’s concert to giveaway!

After his recent sold-out concert at L’Olympia in Paris, and packed houses from The London Palladium all the way to the Sydney Opera House, Lebanese composer and pianist Guy Manoukian will be in Kuwait and performing for the first time at the Jaber Al Ali Concert Hall on Thursday 18th of August 2022.

One person will have a chance to win four platinum tickets worth KD240 to this concert.

[gleam url=”https://gleam.io/TTwHH/win-platinum-tickets-to-guy-manoukian”]Your Competition Name[/gleam]

To win the tickets for you and your friends, all you need to do is enter the draw above. As usual, please make sure you use a working email since that’s how I will be contacting the winner. If the winner doesn’t respond by tomorrow noon, another winner will be selected. Draw closes tonight at 8PM. Good luck!

For more information on the concert, click here.

Update: Winner was randomly selected and contacted!

Tim Hortons, the popular Canadian coffee chain is reopening in Kuwait today at 5PM. According to their Instagram post, the first 50 customers will be getting free drinks every week for a year. They’re opening 5 locations today which include:

• Awtad Tower
• Argan Al-Bidaa
• Argan Square
• Blajat Corniche
• Dining DT The Dining Complex

I don’t know where the last two locations are, but if you do, let me know in the comments so I can link them.

Grand Hyatt, the new hotel thats part of the new 360 Mall extension is soft opening today. I posted a sneak peek of the hotel last month but today it will be opening to the public. So if you want to check it out and try out any of the new restaurants, now you can. @grandhyattkuwait

A couple of years back when the MOI banned scooters on the roads I was against the idea because people had no other place to ride their scooters. But, now I think the scooter riders have also gotten a bit too cocky and out of hand. The other day on my way to work I was stuck behind a lady on a scooter riding in the middle of the road. I’m fine with them riding on the side of the road, but it’s not a motorbike, they shouldn’t be occupying a full lane.

Even when they’re not occupying a full lane they’re still driving pretty dangerously. On more than one occasion I’ve come across scooters coming out of a street dangerously the wrong way as I’m about to enter it. I’ve also seen people ride their scooters on the side of the Gulf Road, not on the sidewalk, but on the actual road.

I really can’t understand the thinking process, they must know riding a scooter on the streets of Kuwait is dangerous so why not be extra careful about it, that’s what I’d do.

Monday I headed to Saudi for the first time in my new Hilux. I wasn’t sure if I had all the correct paperwork to make it past border control since I’m an expat driving a pickup truck that isn’t mine and I so heard I needed a lot of different papers and permissions. But, I made it!

As I previously mentioned, as an expat I can’t own a pickup truck so I had to get the car under a friend’s name. The only paperwork I needed to travel with the car was a power of attorney stating that I was allowed to drive and travel with the car. Getting a POA is a super easy process which I posted about. So that was great.

What wasn’t so great is on my way back yesterday there was a major dust storm. Once I got to Kuwait I realized the dust had sandblasted my windshield and the car’s forward-facing camera. I had PPF on the front of the car but not on the camera and not on the windshield. So now I got to figure out how to get this shit sorted out and how to stop it from happening again (if you have any ideas let me know, especially about the windshield!). I now need to see if both the camera and windshield can be polished or if I need to get them replaced. Not something I wanted to do on a brand new car…

I used to be a huge Subway fan back when I was in university in Lebanon and then again once I moved back here and started work. Then around 10 years ago I stopped eating there until just a few weeks ago.

Back in April, I posted about how the Subway brand changed ownership in Kuwait and moved to Kout Food Group. They ended up opening their first location in Salmiya next to AUK and it’s probably the nicest Subway I’ve ever been to anywhere.

Firstly there is a drive-thru, but more importantly, the branch is super clean. It’s tiny but everything inside looks really appetizing and the store smells of freshly baked bread. I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and since then have been back a bunch of times. So if like me you wrote off Subyway years ago, its worth giving another shot now. Here is their location on Google Maps.

Aqua Motif is a local business that creates custom aquarium reefs. Just going through some of their work on Instagram makes me want to get an aquarium even though I have zero interest in fish. The one pictured above is their Kuwait skyline reef but they’ve got some other amazing ones including (and completely random), a Gorillaz band reef.

They’re located in the Pearl Marzouq complex in Salmiya but you can check out their work on Instagram @aquamotif

SodaStream is a very popular company that makes home carbonation appliances. It’s a small kitchen appliance that allows you to create sparking water by forcing carbon dioxide into regular water making it fizzy. You can also add different flavors to create your very own mix. The only problem is that SodaStream is an Israeli company so we can’t get their machines or CO2 canisters in Kuwait.

But, there is now a local brand that just launched called Gulf Soda that sells a machine that does the same thing. They’re selling the soda machine for 50KD without the gas cylinder and come in three colors. The CO2 gas cylinders cost 15KD each and 5KD to refill. So you’re going to pay an initial cost of 65KD to start making your own home carbonated drinks.

If you want to check out their products, their website is gulfsoda.com and their Instagram is @gulfsoda