Search: “kuwait”

Jazeera Airways hoped to synergies its processes with Kuwait Airways, including operations at Kuwait International and using the Kuwaiti national carrier’s long-haul network to feed its own regional flights.

According to Hubbard, the low-cost hybrid carrier is looking at starting flights to London, Paris and possibly Singapore, if it can no longer purchase a controlling state in Kuwait Airways.

I wouldn’t mind flying to London with Jazeera Airways as long as the planes are clean. I stopped flying with them to Beirut and Dubai simply because the plane interiors got so old and worn out.

Jazeera Airways plans to build its own terminal, including valet parking — an oddity for low-cost airlines in Europe but not the Gulf where a hybrid model has seen the introduction of business seats and included baggage allowance.

The terminal construction, built onto the four gates Jazeera Airways is operating from at Kuwait International, will likely start in the first quarter 2016 and take a year to complete at a cost of €20 million (Dh112.67 million), Hubbard said.

There has been talk on Jazeera building their own terminal for some time now, in fact there are two Jazeera terminal renderings I am aware of which I’ve shared in this post. If they have their own entrance separate from the current airport thats going to be a huge plus for sure until the new airport is built. Check out the full article [Here]

Essena O’Neill had half a million followers and made an income off her posts. She boldly quit the platform last week to bring attention to problems spawned from social media.

I generally don’t link to articles I read on Facebook but I felt this one relates a lot with whats going on in Kuwait with most of the female celebrity instagrammers. [Link]

Some of you might have already seen the video above of a fight taking place on the streets of Hawalli where a person gets run down and killed by a driver of a pick-up truck. According to Arab Times the fight was over a Sony PlayStation:

The deceased was hit and killed with a pick-up driven by a Kuwaiti youth in the course of a fight between a group of Kuwaitis and Egyptian nationals at the commercial complex. The prime suspect who’s in his 20s admitted knocking the late Egyptian down with a vehicle in an attempt to free his friend during a fight over KD 19 price difference of a Play Station. [Source]

The original news report stated the fight started in Rehab Complex and that’s what I had originally heard as well but, the video shows the fight taking place in front of Al-Muhallab Mall. How did the fight end up all the way there? Also, I had originally heard the fight was over a game and not a PlayStation console, specifically the new Call of Duty: Black Ops III game.

According to their Kuwait instagram page, as of this post Burger & Lobster at the Avenues are set to open in just 9 days. As I’ve previously mentioned, Burger & Lobster’s menu consists of just 3 dishes, a hamburger, a whole lobster and a lobster roll. All three dishes are priced the same, £20 in the UK and $20 in the US so I’m still curious to know what the pricing will be like in Kuwait. To check out some teaser photos of the place plus keep track of their launch date check out their instagram page [Here]

360 Mall have released new renderings as well as a video showcasing their upcoming mall expansion which will include a tennis complex, a hotel and additional shopping. The tennis complex will have a combined stadium seating for over 7,600 people across two main arenas, each with the capacity to hold 4,000 and 1,600 people respectively, eight indoor courts with over 500 seats and eight outdoor courts with 1,500 seats. The tennis arena will be called “The Sheikh Jaber Al Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah International Tennis Complex” and is expected to become one of the world’s best tennis facilities.

In summary, we should basically all start learning tennis so we could take advantage of the facilities once they open up.

On a side note I’ve managed to confirm that Bloomingdale’s will be opening up where the exhibition hall at 360 Mall is located right now. What I wasn’t aware of was that the exhibition hall is actually three floors tall but because they hadn’t installed the escalators yet, it never showed. Regarding the 5-star hotel thats opening up in the new expansion, all the renderings are pointing towards Hyatt making a comeback to Kuwait. I’m still trying to get confirmation on this but I haven’t been able to as of now. My contact just confirmed the hotel that will be opening is Grand Hyatt and that an official announcement will be made shortly.

SOLO PN, the local pizza joint were recently invited to compete in a pizza competition at the Italian Cuisine World Summit 2015 that was held in Dubai. At first they ended up winning first place in the GCC under three categories, Best Pizza Napoletana, Best Special Pizza and the Fastest Pizzaiuolo. That took them to the world finals in which they ended up coming in third place. A pretty impressive achievement by itself but the fact that it’s by a pizza joint based out of tiny Kuwait is even more impressive. I’m sure it caught everyone by surprise. Check out their instagram account for more details. [Link]

Thanks teenum

Zain have just started an interesting project, they’ve found a creative way of using instagram to tell children stories. Their first story is called Zain and the Stars and you can read it by going to the instagram account @zain_andthestars on you phone. Once you open the account you start reading the story by scrolling down. They’ll be uploading a new story every month under a different account with the hope of having a large library of good Arabic books by the end of the project. Whenever there is a new story they’ll be announcing it on their @zainkuwait account but for now, check out their first one by visiting @zain_andthestars from your phone.

Note: The stories are in Arabic

Nuqat is the largest creative conference in the MENA region and the upcoming one is taking place next month. They’ve just announced the various workshops that are taking place during the event so if you’re interested in registering for one check them out [Here]

I previously interviewed Mohammed Taher, the Kuwaiti creative director and founder of the Brave Wave record label. Since then he’s been busy helping in the releases of various projects like Keiji Yamagishi’s (Ninja Gaiden’s composer) first solo album, Shovel Knight’s soundtrack and an album by duo composers Saori Kobayashi (Panzer Dragoon) and Yumiko Takahashi (Suikoden) under the name of AKANE.

It doesn’t seem like he or Brave Wave take any breaks because they recently started a new label called the Generation Series. Under the Generation Series name they’ll be releasing definitive, remastered soundtracks of classic games. The first game they’re working on is Street Fighter II. The Verge recently interviewed him and sound engineer Marco Guardia about the challenges they faced working on such a huge project.

The project is interesting for various reasons. First of all, convenience. Video game soundtracks are hard to come by and when you do find them they usually cost more than they should because of rarity. The reason I personally think the Generation Series is interesting is the idea of preservation. Other forms of media (like film) have people restoring and preserving them. Preservation is a new concept when it comes to gaming, especially video game music, so I really appreciate Brave Wave taking the initiative.

It’s great to see Kuwait being represented by someone like Mohammed Taher, so be sure to visit Brave Wave’s releases page to support them.

120 of the best athletes from around the world are coming to Kuwait this weekend to compete in Battle of the East, the most recognized and respected crossfit event in the Middle East. The event it taking place at Marina Crescent this Friday and Saturday and if you’re interested in watching the event you need to purchase a ticket. For more information on the event and tickets click [Here]

Netflix has confirmed they will be launching in the Middle East soon. In an email to IGN ME, Netflix’s Joris Evers said, “We plan to complete our global expansion by the end of 2016. Of course the Middle East is part of that, hence our hiring.” [Source]

Around 10 days back a local redditor noticed that Netflix had changed their usual error message while trying to access Netflix from his Roku device. The usual error message “Sorry, Netflix hasn’t come to this part of the world yet” was replaced with “Good news! Netflix will be coming soon to this part of the world. Stay tuned.” Now it’s actually confirmed which is pretty interesting news.

I wonder if the regional library of films and shows will be similar to that of the US. But I think I’m even more curious to see how this will affect OSN as well as the other regional streaming services like Telly.

A good friend of mine is hosting a Zumba event early next week. She’s bringing the international recording artist and world renowned Zumba instructor Liana Veda to Kuwait for this event. If you’re interested in taking part, it’s for women only and you can get more details [Here]

Update: Just remembered I previously posted her impromptu dance in Japan with a bunch of strangers [Here]

The Aquarium Lounge is the ideal touristic platform for exploring sensational dining while enjoying top-notch panorama: a truly one of a kind experience. The dining outlets carefully handpicked exclusively present unparalleled offerings at Aquarium Lounge that features only the finest restaurants.

Because we need another restaurant complex, Aquarium Lounge is another one that’s being constructed in Mahboula. It will be trying to set itself apart from all the other food complexes by having restaurants overlook a huge aquarium. No word on completion date but the project has already started. For more information click on the different sub-categories of “Projects” on the developers website [Here]

Thanks lovelykuwait

Will I get slower WiFi as an expat?

Update: For those arguing that this is “just for research” purposes, replace the nationality question with one asking if you’re Sunni or Shia or if you’re straight, gay or bi or if you’re white, black, colored or whatever… Would that be ok even if it’s “just for statistics”? Obviously not and asking if I’m Kuwaiti or an expat is exactly the same thing. It’s invasive and it’s promoting segregation and all just for free wifi.

Last month when I visited the GCCJPPI headquarters in Kuwait I requested a few things from them. One of the things I requested were a few episodes of the 80s show Salamatak so I could upload them onto YouTube. So last week they gave me four full episodes which I’ve uploaded onto YouTube for everyone to watch. I believe these are the only full episodes available on YouTube so check them out below for some nostalgia:

[YouTube]

[YouTube]

[YouTube]

[YouTube] (kinda NSFW)

Thanks Nawaf