Search: “kuwait”

I’ve posted about archery classes in Kuwait a couple of times already, but they seem to be moving the classes to different spots. Right now they’ve started offering the archery classes at the Palm Beach Resort every Friday and Saturday. The classes are for both kids and adults, so if you’re interested in taking up a new activity, you can whatsapp them on +96566013056 for more details.

Two years ago, the non-profit organization Bayt Lothan sadly closed down. The community center had become an important part of the local culture scene, hosting a variety of workshops and events, but the owners of the building decided they wanted to move on to other things.

Now the historic building that used to house Shaikh Sabah Al Salim, the former Amir of Kuwait, is getting demolished.

The odd thing is, when I passed by this morning, there were no trucks or workers. It kinda looked like a bulldozer had driven in through the main structure, turned around and then driven back out. The building was also not surrounded by any sort of fence so anyone can right now just walk in and walk around, even though the building is partially demolished and could collapse at any second. Pretty dodgy, kinda like they decided to this now quickly due to the amount of publicity the building was starting to get again on word that it was finally getting demolished.

So sad. For pictures of the location before it closed down, click [Here]

Update: I was just informed that it won’t be turned into a food complex. They might build a boutique hotel or something along those lines, they’re still undecided, but it definitely won’t be a food complex. Also a fence will be put up shortly.

“Birds Endless Migration” is a documentary series that will show the birds’ migration journey through Kuwait. The series will be aired this year and was filmed by Kuwait Environmental Lens, a project to document, monitor and protect the wildlife environment in Kuwait. Can’t wait to watch this, the footage in the trailer looks great. [Vimeo]

The administrative court recently issued a verdict by powers of which the cabinet is to issue a decision banning the usage of water guns in National and Liberation Days’ celebrations. The verdict was made in response to a case filed by lawyer Mona Al-Arbash demanding the ban for public interest, on grounds that thousands of water gallons are wasted every year during national celebrations, costing the country – which is already poor on natural water resources – a lot of money. Use of water guns and water cannons during national celebrations have become very popular in recent years after the government banned the use of spray foam for environmental reasons. [Source]

I’ve really hated what the celebrations have turned into over the past years, and I’m sure a lot of other people as well. So glad we’re finally done with this.

Image via Getty

There are a number of collaborative workspaces in Kuwait like Niu and Reyada, but Wejha is the first one to target artists and musicians. The collaborative space opened up a few weeks ago at Pearl Marzouq in Salmiya, and I got a small tour of it last week while checking out the F160 exhibition.

The space is pretty big, if you attended Qout Market when it was being held at Pearl Marzouq a few years ago, then you’ll most likely recognize it. It’s the area where the kids section used to be. The space is divided up pretty nicely with a large collaborative space overlooking the Pearl Marzouq garden, and then various small studios spread out all around. They offer a number of benefits to artists including offering them exhibition space, both public and private, meeting rooms, workshops and the possibility to meet and interact with other artists that are based there.

The only downside is their prices which might not be in reach for a lot of young artists and musicians who may just be starting up. If you want access to just the coworking space the cost is KD150 a month, but if you’re looking for your own private studio, then the prices start at KD250 and go all the way up to KD450. Actually, KD250 might not be bad for a studio since I’ve seen dodgy spaces in basements in Hawalli going for as much.

If you’re interested to find out more, check out wejha.com and also their instagram page @wejha.arts

ORA used to be one of my favorite sushi places in Kuwait before they closed down their location in Arabella. Now, they’re reopening again and I got a sneak peek of the space earlier today, and I’m in love with it. It actually might have the nicest looking interior of any restaurant in Kuwait, and that’s saying a lot since we’ve got some pretty great looking places here.

The new ORA (or what I like to call ORA 2.0) will be located downtown, on the mezzanine floor of an AGi Architects designed building on Ahmad Al Jaber Street [Map]. As soon as I walked into the new ORA, one of the first things that caught my attention was a golden colored wall lamp and right away I asked if it was by PSLab? (it was). PSLab are lighting consultants based out of Lebanon whom I’ve been obsessed with for years. Like super obsessed, to the point, I recognized the wall lamp as being designed by them even though I had never seen it before. They’re insanely talented and you’ll find their lights all around the world in some of the most beautiful spaces including a bunch of Aesop shops. And the new ORA is no exception, their interior is also stunning.

When it opens, the new ORA will be divided into two main areas, a lunch space, and a dinner space. The dinner area is structured in a way where it could be divided up. It could be either one large room, or two medium-sized rooms or one medium-sized room and two smaller ones. So if you’ve got a private dinner party, you would be able to book a room and not have to interact with the rest of the restaurant. You’ll actually be able to get into your private room through a back door so you don’t even have to walk through the main dining area.

I didn’t get to try any food since tastings haven’t started yet but expect your favorite ORA dishes to make a comeback, along with a bunch of new ones. ORA is expecting to open on January 10th and I’m really looking forward to it. Follow them on instagram @ora.kw

I found out earlier today that Burger & Lobster are opening up in Kuwait City, in place of where Cereal Killer used to be located.

I like this location and I think it should end up doing a lot better than the Avenues one which always felt too out of the way to pass by for a quick meal. The new location is right next to Arabica in downtown, here it is on [Google Maps]

Over the weekend I watched Sting live at the cultural center, it was my first time watching an event at JACC so I wanted to share my experience.

Firstly, I think its pretty cool that we’re finally getting proper concerts here in Kuwait. Although I’m not a huge Sting fan, I do like concerts and being able to watch an artist perform locally instead of me having to be on vacation in some other country is such a great feeling. I really hope this Sting concert turned out to be successful and profitable so that they’ll continue to bring more artists in.

But, I’m not so sure how good a venue JACC is for concerts like Sting. Although it’s a beautiful space, it just felt very formal and stiff for a concert, at least for one like Sting. A concert like Sting should have taken place outdoors, on the beach (like Dubai’s Sandance) or in a large park, like Al Shaheed. The only concert I’ve ever been to which had a similar formal mood to it was Bob Dylan at the Royal Albert Hall, but that was Bob Dylan.. at the Royal Albert Hall!

The second issue I had was with the fact that photos were not allowed to be taken during the event. From 50+ concerts I’ve been to in my life, not once were photos not allowed to be taken. Only one time, and one time only when watching The Lumineers perform, the lead singer requested the audience to politely put their phones away during one song so they could enjoy it. And that’s it. So it was super odd that JACC didn’t allow photos to be taken at this event. The bigger issue is actually how they tried to prevent people from taking photos. If you happened to take your phone out, maybe to take a photo, maybe to just check your WhatsApp messages or maybe you got bored and wanted to check Reddit, the ushers would automatically shine a red laser beam all over you and your phone. So while sitting there trying to watch the concert, I was distracted the whole time by red lasers being pointed all over the concert hall at anybody who happened to be looking at their phone. It was super annoying and it completely distracted the audience who were just trying to watch Sting. JACC, you can’t prevent people from taking photos, it’s just not physically possible to stop 2000 people from using their phones, so why ruin the experience for everyone with these distracting red lasers?

Finally the last and biggest issue I have with JACC is the disconnection between the restaurants and the theaters. Even though they’re located right next to each other, the gate that connects the two spaces is permanently kept closed. So after the concert when we wanted to go eat we were told the only way to do so would be to take our cars, drive out of the parking lot and then drive back into the restaurants parking lot and park there. If you didn’t want to take your car then your only other option was to take a 15 min walk through a maze in the parking lot to get to the other side. When I asked an usher why the gate was closed, I was told for security purposes. Very frustrating.

Overall though, I’m just glad we’re finally getting concerts here and I’m sure things will just keep getting better from this point forward. Can’t wait to see what concerts we’re getting next year.

Over the weekend I went to the Modern Architecture Kuwait conference and attended a talk by Prof. Alberico B. Belgiojoso titled “The 1970 Vision for Kuwait City”. It was a pretty interesting talk and made me realize how young Kuwait City was.

Prof. Alberico worked with the architectural firm BBPR back in the 60s on various proposals on how to bring Kuwait City into the modern era, into the city you see today. One of the interesting things he discussed was how the original master plan of the city, they proposed to build all these parking structures around the city included underground and overground passageways, shaded paths and even monorails that would connect parking structures to main areas and buildings. I’d imagine if we had any of those today, less people would be inclined to park illegally just to avoid walking long distances in the summer months.

Prof. Alberico also shared the visual above on their proposal for Safat Square which looks a lot more accessible and visible compared to how the square looks today. I kinda wish someone would revisit the old plans for Kuwait and implement some of the cooler ideas from them.

According to a contact of mine at the Touristic Enterprises Company, Shaab Park will not be reopening again. Back in August, the park along with Sultan Center and other businesses in that block were closed down and the whole area cordoned off due to contract issues. I was under the impression that the park was owned by TEC, but turned out only the land is actually owned by them.

I still have memories and photos of when I used to go to Shaab Park back in the 80s. It was a lot greener back then and it wasn’t fenced up as it is now (I should dig up the old photos). Even though I wasn’t a fan of the current iteration of the park, it was a place for young guys and girls to go hang out and meet up in so I’m sure it will be missed by many.

Photo from Fried Junk

A few pictures have been uploaded online by the company fabricating some of the wildlife that will be placed inside the Natural History Museum at the soon to open Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre, and they look really really good.

The other day I said you could see what looks like a shark hanging on display while driving by on the Gulf Road, turns out its a primitive whale (a Basilosaurus, pictured above).

The Quetzalcoatlus pictured above even got featured in the November issue of National Geographic! [Link]

To check out some more photos, click [Here]

Thanks lovelykuwait

If I was stuck on an island and could choose to have one dessert with me, it would probably be an eclair (or a Kinder Bueno). It’s one of my favorite desserts and I recently found a place in Kuwait that had a good variety of eclairs to choose from as well as millefeuilles. The place is called Millesaveurs and until a few moments ago I thought it was a French franchise. But, while trying to get some information for this post I realized its actually local creation. I haven’t tried anything other than their pastries so can’t recommend the food, but what I can say though is that their eclairs are pretty good and you should try them out if you’re an eclair fan. Their packaging is also pretty premium looking and presentable so it would make a great gift when invited to dinners.

If you’re interested, Millesaveurs is located in the basement of Crystal Towers but they’re also available on Carriage. Their instagram account is @millesaveurskwt

Later today some parts of highway 50 and the 5th ring road will be closing down due to the GCC Summit. There are expectations that the closures will result in traffic chaos, but as of 9AM, there seems to be less traffic than usual. This will probably change once the roads close down at noon, but not a bad start to the day.

Update: A reader made me realize that at 12PM Google updated the map of Kuwait to highlight the closed roads. Impressive.