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Kuwait Nights 1984
When I was in Japan last month, one of the things that caught my attention were the Gashapon machines, which were basically everywhere. Gashapon machines (also called gacha) are toy vending machines that dispense cylindrical capsules with a small toy inside. Each machine usually focuses on a specific theme, and within that theme there are variations. The capsules are blind boxes, so you won’t know which variation you’re getting until you open it.
In Japan the machines were everywhere, and you’d just look for one that had something you related to or wanted. For example, I spent most of my trip looking for a machine that dispensed Land Cruiser toy cars, while my wife was after the Polly Pocket machines trying to collect the different variations.
When I got back to Kuwait, I thought it would be fun to bring gacha here, and while talking to the owner of the Korean restaurant Sinjeon Topokki, she told me about @gacha.vault, a local business that had already done exactly that.
Gacha Vault was started by Naser Aljutaili after a trip to Japan in 2023. He and his daughters went crazy for the gacha machines, and once he returned to Kuwait he decided he had to bring that experience back and he did. He’s installed the machines in various places around Kuwait and built a pretty solid fanbase. The toys in the machines get swapped out once or twice a month, or sooner if a collection sells out. They import their high-quality gachas from Japanese brands like Bandai and Takara Tomy, so their selection is similar to what you’d find in Japan right now.
Their machines are currently available at the following places:
Cozy Den – Qurain Market
Game Store – Al Kout Mall
Good Game – Sanabel Tower
Meme Curry – Mall 30
Meme Curry – Avenues Mall
Meme Curry – The View
They’re also going to be in more locations soon since they recently partnered with a big brand (he didn’t tell me which one). They also pop-up at different comic cons and events.
The machines are fun and an easy way to experience a bit of Japan in Kuwait so if you spot one, try it out.
Kuwait Space Rocket is a project established in 2018 to build and launch the Arab world’s first suborbital liquid rocket. The team is made up of highly talented individuals from different STEM fields:
Naser Ashknani – Mechanical Engineer
Sulieman Alfuhaid – Aerospace Engineer and Propulsion Engineer at SpaceX (Currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering)
Hassan Almutawa – Mechanical Engineer
They first reached out to me back in 2019, and going through our old emails now, I realized I regretfully didn’t take them too seriously. Their mission then, and still today, is to launch the first Arabian rocket into space and capture footage of the Kuwaiti flag with planet Earth in the background.
Since I last spoke to them, they’ve had five launches. Two were ground-tested only, while the other three were full rocket launches, with the highest altitude reaching 1,366m.
The team follows a goal driven engineering process that lets them move quickly and efficiently from concept to construction. They start with the design phase, using software like SolidWorks, Matlab and ANSYS to map everything out. Once the designs are ready, they move into the build stage, relying on tools such as 3D printing, welding, drilling, milling and CNC machines to bring the parts to life. Finally, everything goes through rigorous testing, including static testing to make sure every component performs the way it should.
Tomorrow (Saturday, December 6) at 8AM, the Kuwait Space Rocket team will attempt to launch their fourth rocket, AMBITION 3, to an altitude of 15 km. It’s a world record attempt for the highest altitude reached by a single stage sugar fueled rocket.
Since the launches take place inside a Kuwait military defense base, spectators aren’t allowed, but they’ll be streaming the attempt live on their Instagram. If you want to watch the launch tomorrow at 8AM, follow them @kuwaitspacerocket
Update: The record attempt failed after the rocket sadly exploded during launch
There are a whole bunch of outdoor activities taking place this weekend from markets to hikes, check them all out below.
Thursday, December 4
Kuwait Burger Festival
RAPUNZEL – The Panto
TK Market
Bloom Market at The Avenues
Alghanim Used Cars Carnival
Friday, December 5
Kuwait Burger Festival
RAPUNZEL – The Panto
TK Market
Al-Farsi Giant Kites Show
Mutlaa Desert Cleanup
Short Film Screenings
Bloom Market at The Avenues
Mutlaa Group Hike Trip
Coffee Festival at Al Shaheed Park
Alghanim Used Cars Carnival
Gardenia Pop-Up
Saturday, December 6
Kuwait Burger Festival
RAPUNZEL – The Panto
TK Market
Screening & Sketching – Spirited Away
Farmers Market by Foodhall
DAI Story Time – Dinosaur Dance!
Bloom Market at The Avenues
A Christmas Carol
The Garden of Earthly Delights
KES Winter Fair
Coffee Festival at Al Shaheed Park
Alghanim Used Cars Carnival
Gardenia Pop-Up
This weekend the Grammy award winner Jon Batiste will be performing in Kuwait at JACC. The largest food festival in Kuwait is also happening, along with a bunch of other interesting events and activities.
Thursday, November 27
Kuwait International Book Fair
Murouj Market
The Avenues Shopping Marathon
Kuwait Food Festival
Literary Open Mic
Lush Fun Day
Quantum Con
Sons of Yusuf Album Drop
A Night of Short Films & Theater
Friday, November 28
Kuwait International Book Fair
Murouj Market
The Avenues Shopping Marathon
Kuwait Food Festival
Lush Fun Day
Quantum Con
Junk Journal Workshop
Saturday, November 29
Kuwait International Book Fair
Murouj Market
Finding Your Voice as a Creative
The Avenues Shopping Marathon
Kuwait Food Festival
Jon Batiste Live
Quantum Con
KTAA Winter Bazar
Kashta with Madang
Paper House Shop Launch
I just read on gulfnews.com that expats are now eligible up to 15 years. The 15 years requires expats to be investors and although they don’t mention the details I’d imagine it’s not for us normal folks. But, the article also mentions that certain expats can receive up to 10 years residency. The article doesn’t mention how just the following:
Up to 10 years for select categories
While standard residency permits may be issued for a maximum of five years, the regulations allow certain groups of expatriates to receive residency of up to 10 years, subject to meeting specific conditions set by the authorities.
Does anyone know what the conditions are to get the 10 year visa? Link
Yesterday Leica officially opened its first store in Kuwait at 360 Mall. The shop is located in the original phase of the mall near the fountain outside Bloomingdales. It’s a small space that looks like a pop-up, but I think it works really well for them. The photographer Jassim Ahmed Almuhanna (@jassimpix) took some cool photos during the opening, which I’ve shared on Instagram.
Boushahri Group were the local Leica dealers previously but the brand is now with the Qatari luxury group Ali Bin Ali. The store is open daily from 10AM to 10PM and until 11PM on weekends. @leicastorekwt
Thanksgiving is coming up so I put together two lists: one for restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinner, and another for spots offering Thanksgiving meals to take home.
This year there are a bit more places offering dine in, but in case I missed a spot just let me know in the comments.
Dine In
Crowne Plaza
Rib Eye Steak House – KD 14 per person
Holiday Inn & Suites
Al Diwan Terrace – KD 13.9 per person
Park Inn By Radisson
Al Maha Restaurant – KD 10 per person
Radisson Blu Hotel
Al Bustan Restaurant – KD 19.5 per person
Symphony Style Hotel
Cucina Restaurant – KD 18 per person
Waldorf Astoria
AVA Restaurant – KD 26 per person
To Order
Baker & Spice
Four Seasons Hotel
Madison & Heig
Holiday Inn & Suites
Oak and Smoke
Paul
Radisson Blu Hotel
Santolina at SVN
Sawsan
Symphony Style Hotel
The St. Regis
Photo from Four Seasons Hotel
A friend of mine shared this link with me which is basically a search engine for all the books available at the book fair. I’m actually surprised that it exists because not only will it tell you if the book is at the book fair, it can also let you know which hall, which stall and the price.
That’s super cool, check it out here.
Thanks Forzaq8!
Over the weekend I was invited to Sahara Arena, a new upcoming area of Sahara Resort. I wasn’t there to check out the arena itself, which is still in the early stages of construction, but to get a sneak peek at a new pop-up called The Diwaniya Show.
The Diwaniya Show is being described as Kuwait’s first dining show to feature a full Broadway style production. It’s a project created through a collaboration between three local brands: the creative agency Beattie+Dane, the production company Massive Content, and Seazan, the team behind the Melenzane By the Sea experiences. With all three teams involved, you can expect the same elevated experience they’ve become known for with their previous projects.
Similar to the previous By the Sea experiences, The Diwaniya Show is a large installation that’s being built from the ground up. They took over a large section of the Sahara Golf Resort and built a large theater along with an outdoor retail and entertainment space that overlooks a beautiful artificial lake and the golf course’s green hills.
The idea behind this year’s experience is to give guests an immersive evening where the storytelling, music, and performances all take place just a few steps from their dinner table. There will be two daily shows with dinner, running five days a week. Although it might not look like it from the photos, The Diwaniya Show is expected to open at the end of this month. They just launched their Instagram account, so if you want to stay posted, head over to @aldiwaniyashow
For more photos, click here.
Yesterday I passed by the Kuwait Book Fair and it was pretty packed in the morning, filled with buses and kids from different schools around Kuwait.
The book fair is divided into three halls, 5, 6 and 7. The English book stalls are all located in a corner of hall 6. Compared to the Arabic books the English stalls make up a very small part of the fair but even if you’re there just for the English books I’d walk around the rest of the fair since there were a few Arabic book sellers that also had some English books for sale. The main English stalls though were the following:
Al Sadu House
Austin Macauley Publishers
Awtar Publishing
Brijbasi Art Press
Harvard Press
Hachette
KISR
Macmillan
National Geographic
Oxford University Press
Qatar Press
Samarkand
Scholastic
Thames & Hudson
The English Bookshop
USBORNE
US Embassy in Kuwait
WH Smith
From the list above all the stalls are in hall 6 except for three, the US Embassy, KISR and Al Sadu House, those stalls were located in hall 7. I’m not sure if I’m just imagining it or not but the English books section seemed smaller than the previous years. Still worth checking out though.
If you’re into Kuwait’s past, there is a great book called ‘Screen & Memories Since 1954’ that documents Kuwait’s movie theater history. I picked it up last year and it’s really nicely put together and bilingual. You can find it at the Maraya Publishing booth in Hall 6, Stall A26.
And if you’re planning to pass by the fair, just take into account that it’s open at different timings on Friday and Saturday compared to the rest of the week.
Mornings 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Afternoons 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Friday 3:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Lots of things happening including book fair, the powerboat championship, AKON and a couple of markets.
Thursday, November 20
Kuwait International Book Fair
The Improv Show Battle Night
Murouj Market
Bugsha Waves Market
XCAT Powerboat World Championship
Friday, November 21
Kuwait International Book Fair
Samaa One Day Retreat
Stargazing Trip
Theater: The Lion King
AKON
Murouj Market
Mindful Journaling with Coffee
Charm Sewing Hangout
Winter Club Pop-up
Bugsha Waves Market
Fabric Collage Art Workshop
XCAT Powerboat World Championship
Jam Sessions
Saturday, November 22
Kuwait International Book Fair
Theater: The Lion King
British Academies Carnival 2025
Women’s Community Bike Ride
Fantasy Themed Gathering
Souq Al Hareem Photo Walk
Murouj Market
Bugsha Waves Market
Story Time at Amricani
Soof Wool Mill Tours
XCAT Powerboat World Championship
The 48th Kuwait International Book Fair kicks off this Wednesday, November 19 at the Kuwait International Fairground and runs until November 29.
The book fair debuted in 1975 and is the largest held in Kuwait, usually offering a massive selection of Arabic books along with a good range of English ones.
The fair will be located in Halls 5, 6 and 7, and the opening hours will be:
Mornings 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Afternoons 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Friday 3:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM
For more information, head over to @kw_nccal
If you’ve got a dog come by to the Pet Gala on Saturday, I’ll be there as one of the judges. Check out all the events below.
Thursday, November 13
The Social on the Roof
AIU Film Festival Movie Screenings
Friday, November 14
KEF Tour 2
The Social on the Roof
Cultural Centre Fall Festival
Picnic Potluck at the Farm
Oil Pastels & Coffee
Salt Beats Live Band Session
Joy Hub Opening
Saturday, November 15
KEF Tour 2
Home Alone Screening
The Social on the Roof
Coffee, Canvas & Connect
Da Gusto’s Pet Gala
Paint & Sip Japanese Edition
Voltaire Market
Note: Camel Racing starts at 1:30PM this Saturday
Aseer Time, the largest juice shop franchise in Kuwait, made headlines a few months ago after opening their first store in China. Now they’re back in the news again after becoming an official sponsor of Spanish football team Sevilla FC.
Sevilla FC, founded in 1890, is based in Seville and known for its passionate fans and strong European record. They’ve won the UEFA Europa League a record seven times, making them one of Europe’s most successful clubs in that competition.
Aseer Time isn’t just a sponsor, they’re also the team’s official juice for this season.
If you’re interested in learning more about the partnership or owning an Aseer Time franchise, you can contact them on WhatsApp at +96567090966.