Search: “kuwait”

I had heard of the store Arts & Craft awhile back but never passed by it until just last week. A friend of mine was looking for a linen canvas roll and after searching all the art shops in Dasman Complex to no avail, we decided to pass by Arts & Craft to see if they had it. They did… along with a ton of other stuff.

Arts & Craft is a huge two story shop carrying everything you could think of related to arts and crafts. There are of course a lot of places that sell arts and craft supplies in Kuwait for example, Dasman Complex has a bunch of stores, Jarir has a pretty decent section and then stationary shops like Mogahwi also sell arts and crafts supplies. But, what makes the store Arts & Craft so unique is the sheer amount of variety all in one place.

If you’re looking for any kind of art supplies related to painting, drawing, printmaking, calligraphy, various crafts and more, then they should be your go-to place. Their store is located in Shuwaikh on Canada Dry Street [Google Maps] but, they also have an online store you can check out at artsandcrafts-kw.com

This past weekend I got to fly out of the new Jazeera Airways Terminal (T5) and I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s a brand new terminal and our current main terminal is a horrible mess so you would think flying out of this brand new terminal would be a far better experience, but, it really wasn’t that much better.

Parking & Check-in
Firstly, I used the Jazeera Airways Park & Fly service to check in. It’s a service they have where you park your car in their parking lot located away from the terminal, you then check in at the parking lot and take their shuttle back to the main airport. The reason I did that is the service costs KD2.5 a day while parking at the Jazeera Airways parking lot costs KD6 a day, so its a considerable amount of savings. I’m glad I checked in from their remote location since when I arrived to the main terminal, I noticed the check-in area was pretty packed, and they didn’t have their self-check-in machines installed yet either.

Passport Control & Security Check
Passport control wasn’t too bad, there weren’t a lot of people and so I didn’t spend too much time in line. The area did look a bit messy though, I don’t understand why the airport, both this one and the old one can’t get belt barriers set up in straight lines. Anyway the issues started right after passport control beginning with the security check. Between passport control and the security check there really isn’t enough space to set up a proper queueing system so we were standing a bit disorganized. The security machines were also pretty small without any prep space before it. By prep space, I mean an area before the machine to put your bag and start unpacking the laptop or removing your belt, watches etc. Also they didn’t have any bins to dispose of liquids in before the machine, you had to put your liquids in the machine and then dispose of them on the other side. Finally, not sure if its the same now in the main terminal, but the last time I flew out from the main terminal they were using the private security firm G4S for security control. At the Jazeera Terminal the Port Authority is in charge and I’m not exaggerating here, it looked like they were on their first day of the job. They were completely disorganized and looked like amateurs with very little confidence or experience to manage the security check. I’m 99% sure this must have been their first day in charge of security because I can’t imagine another reason why they were so all over the place.

The Terminal
Once I was done with the security check I decided to walk around and explore the terminal but there really wasn’t anything to explore. The duty-free section hadn’t been set up yet and there were no restaurants and very little seating. The terminal still looks unfinished, it was basically in the same state I had seen it in before they had opened. Thankfully, the Jazeera terminal is connected to the old main terminal so I just headed to the lounge there to kill some time and then passed by the newly opened Pick to grab a bite. When it was close to boarding time, I decided to head to my gate back in the Jazeera terminal to wait there, except it turns out there isn’t enough seating at the gate so you have to queue outside the gate until they’re ready to put you on the bus. Once you get into the gate you need to pass through another security check and like the first security check, it was a disorganized mess. This security check also lacked bins to dispose of liquids so people were just placing them on the floor around the security machine.

The Plane
Not related to the airport but still worth mentioning. Our plane was the brand new A320neo which they had just received like a week or so ago. It was very comfortable and not that noisy (engine sound). The thing I found odd was that the interior of the plane was a dark maroon color, both the carpets and the seats. It felt like I was on a Qatar Airways flight and not a Jazeera Airways one. Aren’t the interiors meant to be blue? I thought they were because of their press release photo (pictured above) so I found that odd. I kinda feel like this plane was possibly meant for Qatar Airways but was then taken by Jazeera? Can’t imagine why else it would be in this color. No screens, USB ports or any seat amenities of course, but that was ok with me since I carry everything I need with me anyway. I just wish they had screens somewhere with the live map so we knew how far into the trip we were but that’s the only issue I had with the plane.

Arrival
Coming back into Kuwait was a far better experience. Passport control went pretty smooth and so did the carry-on security check right after. After the security check is the baggage conveyor belts area which felt small. Our baggage did take forever to come out but I’m not sure Jazeera have any control over that. The airport is small so the distance from passport control to baggage pick up to airport exit is very short so if you’re only with your carry on, then you could be out pretty quickly from the terminal. Once I was out there were no signs telling me where to go for the shuttle bus back to their Park & Fly area, I also couldn’t find a Jazeera Airways employee to ask so I asked a security guy who told me to go to the side of the building. The shuttle was just arriving so I didn’t end up waiting long and ended up back at my car fairly quickly.

In Conclusion?
If you fly with Jazeera Airways right now you need to manage your expectations and treat their new terminal like it’s still in beta testing with a lot of bugs that need to be sorted out. Is it better than the main terminal? I mean I guess but marginally. Only the passport control area is an improvement but that’s about it. The conveyor belt area was a bit tight, there are two belts and the space around them is smaller than the number of people per flight so it gets crowded very quickly. If two planes land at the same time I can imagine it looking like a total mess but I think it would still be better off than the main terminal, but just slightly. The worst aspects of the new terminal are the unorganized and inexperienced security personnel along with the horrible gates that can’t hold passengers (at least Gate B3). I imagine things will get better but for now, don’t expect too much.

Kuwait’s Public Prosecution have arrested popular social media influencer 3bodka for misusing the platforms and abusing the Kuwaiti people.

3bodka, whose real name is Abdulla Al-Jassir, is being investigated for a video he posted on his social media page using an insulting word to describe the Kuwait people, after receiving criticism previously for posting a video of his dog that drowned in a swimming pool. The authorities received complaints from 20 different individuals about the video. The crimes that are being investigated carry a prison sentence of five years and KD100,000 fine.

He has been detained for three days as investigations continue, however, his detention is expected to end today. [Source]

I have to say, I am pretty surprised they actually arrested him. I thought for sure nothing was going to be done about it. If you’re out of the loop on what this is all about, check out my previous post [Here]

If you’re a long time reader of the blog you know about my obsession with seedless watermelons. A few years ago we started getting them in Kuwait but they were just too expensive ranging in price from KD1.4 to KD3 per kilo depending where you got them from. But, last week I noticed Sultan Center started getting Egyptian seedless watermelon and they’re pretty cheap at just 595 fils a kilo. They’re not easy to come by since they seem to sell out quickly, I actually had to visit three different Sultan Centers before I managed to find some.

If you’ve never tried seedless watermelon, they’re just like regular melons but without the black seeds!

A couple of weeks ago there was a very interesting discussion on Reddit called “What if I don’t want to fast?” about the laws that punish people for eating in public during Ramadan. Since Ramadan is nearly over, I wanted to ask my readers what their opinion about this is.

Personally, because I don’t cook, my biggest issue is with the law regarding restaurants having to be closed during the day. I actually don’t know if its a law, or just an unspoken rule, but whatever the case is, I don’t think restaurants should be forced to close, not unless you also want to close other sources of food like supermarkets and baqalas. I’ve basically spent most of this Ramadan having Chinese food since China Kitchen is one of the few places that deliver from noon and they’re located in Salmiya so the driver doesn’t get stuck in traffic. I actually don’t think I’m having Chinese food ever again once Ramadan is over.

Do you fast? Would you mind it if restaurants were open during the day? Do you mind if people drink water in front of you? I’m curious to know.

There have been rumors for some time now that Mercedes-Benz was planning to leave the current dealership in Kuwait and yesterday a letter started making its way around social media which confirms it. According to the letter which was sent to employees, the dealership agreement between Mercedez-Benz and Al Bisher & Al Kazemi Group of Companies will be terminating on December 31st, 2018.

I’ve already contacted my source at the dealership to confirm the authenticity of the letter and once they get back to me, I’ll post an update here. But, if it is actually true, then the next question is who will be taking over the brand? Currently, the rumors are pointing towards Al-Mulla Group who are also the dealers for Acura and Mitsubishi, but I had also heard that Al-Sayer were interested in acquiring the brand as well (but I’ve been told that’s not happening).

Al Bisher & Al Kazemi have been the dealers for Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait since the 1950s. The last time a big change like this took place in the local car market was when Arabian Motors Group lost the Ford and Lincoln dealership to Alghanim in 2016.

Here is another positive airport post, a variety of improvements have been made to the main terminal to accommodate the extra traffic for Eid and the summer. Below are some of the main points taken from an AlQabas article.

– 15% fewer passengers due to the opening of the Jazeera terminal
– Terminal 4 opening in July will also reduce load on main terminal
– Some budget airlines will be moved to Sheikh Saad Terminal (T3)
– New hall for transit passengers
– New hall for visa issuing
– Improvement of air conditioning performance in the airport
– Additional support workforce for the airport
– Luggage drop-off outside the main terminal for Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways
– Self check-in machines
– Installation of shade and cooling sprinklers in departure drop off area
– Additional seating in the arrivals area and the check-in areas
– Check-in areas Zone 2 and 3 will have their on carry-on baggage security checks bypassing the main security check area
– Carry-on security check machines have been increased from 5 to 9
– An increase from two to four immigration entrances on departure. The new entrances are now divided up as follows: First Class and Diplomat passengers, Kuwaiti and GCC citizens, expats and finally, aircraft crew.
– Arriving luggage will be security checked before hitting the conveyor belts speeding up the exit process
– Luggage home delivery with Pearl Assist. They’ll pick your bags up from the conveyor belt and deliver them straight to your home.

There is no mention in the article if they improved immigration services on arrival since currently, that’s probably my least favorite part of the airport.

The brand new Kuwait Airways terminal (T4) will be opening next month on July 25th [Source]. All Kuwait Airways flights will depart and arrive from the new terminal which should greatly reduce the traffic flow at the main terminal.

According to an article in AlQabas newspaper, the opening of the Jazeera Airways terminal has alone reduced the traffic at the main terminal by 15%, so I’d expect the opening of T4 to reduce that by at least another 30%.

For my previous post on Terminal 4, click [Here]

I wasn’t planning to post about this because:

a) Nothing is going to be done about it
b) A lot of people will probably think there isn’t anything wrong with this

But, I’m being bombarded by people on instagram to write about this so clearly, a lot of you do think what he did was wrong.

Last night a video and photo started making their rounds on social media showing a local influencer unlocking the trunk of his car revealing his Chow Chow dog inside. The video is also accompanied by a photo taken I’m assuming on a different day of the same dog dead in the bottom of a pool with the caption that he committed suicide. Stuffing a Chow Chow in the trunk of your car in this heat is obvious abuse and sharing a picture of your dog dead is just tasteless. What makes this situation critical is that he has nearly 700,000 followers. When his followers see that he stuffs his dog in trunk, they might think that’s something normal to do (which it’s not).

If you want to read more on this and check out the videos/pictures, you can do so [Here]

Update: I’m curious to see if there will be any repercussion from his advertisers. If something like this took place in the States, his advertisers would drop him. So I’d be interested to see if any of his current advertisers like Kuwait International Bank (KIB) will distance themselves from him.

The Ministry of Interior app wasn’t working for me for the longest time but they’ve finally gone and updated it and it now works with the latest version of iOS as well as making the app take advantage of iPhone X’s extra tall screen.

The app allows you to check a bunch of things including your traffic violations, driving license status, car registration status, travel bans etc.. as well as allowing you to pay any fines. If you don’t have the app you can download it from the Apple Store by clicking [Here]

A friend shared the commercial above with me yesterday and my first reaction was wtf? In the commercial, a husband walks into a kitchen and starts screaming and hitting his wife for buying the wrong honey. The wife looks terrified and is being apologetic while the husband continues to shout at her before leaving the kitchen angrily.

The commercial got a lot of negative reactions for normalizing domestic violence so I assumed the brand removed the video from their Instagram account, except they didn’t.

Last week another friend of mine shared the screenshot above on her instastory which she took from a show on KTV called “Block” where they had a blackface character.

I don’t think I’m a very PC or an over sensitive person but, I do find it disturbing how the majority of people seem to be OK with this. I’m assuming the majority are ok with it or else the commercial would have been removed and the show would have apologized or been canceled for blackfacing. Yet neither has happened but oddly enough, the commercial below for Mug Coffee House was supposedly suspended by the Ministry because they found it Masonic. So bizarre.

Back in October, I posted a rumor that the American food concept Eggslut was coming to the Middle East. A lot of readers said that would never happen because of the name, well it’s happening. Yesterday I got confirmation from an inside source that the local company Al-Thiqa (who own Shrimpy) have gotten the rights to the Eggslut franchise. They’ll be opening their first location in Lebanon followed by a second location in Kuwait. They’re targetting Q4 of this year for the Kuwait location and if their under construction website is anything to go by, the Kuwait location will be based in The Avenues.

Eggslut is an LA-based gourmet food concept where all the items on their menu feature eggs. It currently looks like their Instagram account will be either @eggslutme or @eggslutkw so stay tuned.

Last month I posted a list of our terminal numbers that was put together using whatever information was available at that time, and a bit of common sense. But a few days ago, the Civil Aviation Authority released the official list of terminal numbers and the list I put together was pretty much on point.

When I posted my list there was a bit of a disagreement with the Terminal 3 name. I had used it for the Sheikh Saad Terminal but a reader noted that it was most likely reserved for the expansion of Terminal 2. I did a bit of research and turns out that was a possibility since the only time Terminal 3 was ever mentioned online was when they mentioned the Terminal 2 mirror expansion. Well now looks like that’s not the case and Sheikh Saad Terminal is actually going to use the Terminal 3 name.

Check out the official list of terminals below along with the descriptions by the Civil Aviation Authority:

Terminal 1 – Main Terminal
Terminal 2 – New Terminal (Under Construction)
Terminal 3 – Sheikh Saad Terminal (General Aviation)
Terminal 4 – Kuwait Airways Passenger Terminal
Terminal 5 – Jazeera Airways Passenger Terminal

I’ve had a few friends ask me about places to store their cars and I didn’t have any I could recommend until I found out about The Vault, a hidden underground parking that provides vehicle management and storage solutions.

Parking in Kuwait is a mess, majority of homes and apartment buildings have outdoor streetside parking that’s usually overcrowded and messy. Unless you live in a pretty fancy area, you usually don’t want to park your nice car out on the streets. Kuwait’s weather is also pretty harsh so you also don’t want to leave your car parked outside all summer long especially if its an older classic car. That’s when a service like The Vault comes handy.

Accessing The Vault is an experience by itself since to get down to the basement you’ll have to take your car via one of the two car lifts. When I arrived at the complex someone was waiting for me outside and helped me take my car down. Once the doors of the lift opened up in the basement, I drove into The Vault to find a bunch of interesting looking Porsches parked on one side, and then a line of Ferraris parked on the other. I instantly knew I was in for a treat. I love cars so it’s always exciting to check out other peoples special cars, no matter what they are. Special cars don’t have to be expensive, they just have to be interesting or unique. Since The Vault can only hold 45 cars, the owner is being choosy with what cars he accepts, think of it as being a boutique parking lot. And like I said, it isn’t about how expensive the cars are. Inside The Vault I spotted the super cute Nissan Figaro and a 1975 Land Rover Defender, both of which aren’t that expensive. But then you also had a like-new-condition classic Ferrari 348 and Zaid Ashkanani’s championship-winning Porsche GT3 Cup car parked nearby.

The Vault stores both cars and bikes and their “promotional” prices right now are as follows:

Cars
1 Month: KD75
3 Months: KD213
6 Months: KD408
12 Months: KD720

Bikes
1 Month: KD38
3 Months: KD108
6 Months: KD204
12 Months: KD380

They offer trickle charging for your car so the battery doesn’t die, they also offer car washes and they’ll check your car routinely and notify you in case your car develops a leak or something. Anytime you want to take your car out you can come to the facility, park your current car and drive off with the stored one. Really practical especially since The Vault is located near three major roads, the 6th Ring Road, Highway 30 and Gulf Road. If this is a service you’re interested in you can contact them on 94083166 or send them a DM @vmskw

Update: Their promotion is over and the prices have now changed.