Search: “kuwait”

A twitter follower sent me a link to a picture he took of a Shake Shack now hiring sign he spotted at the Al Bairaq Mall food court. I really hope they aren’t opening their first branch there. [Picture]

Thanks Nawaf

This is Ayeshah Al Humaidhi’s presentation at Pecha Kucha Kuwait night #6. Ayeshah is the person behind Animal Friends and K’s Path the animal rescue and protection organization here in Kuwait. [YouTube]

Anyone know where I can get an alarm clock like the one pictured above here in Kuwait? Found it on Amazon for just $10 but figured I would try my luck locally first. I originally wanted to get one with iPhone integration or maybe a Chumby or a Sony Dash. But, in the ended I decided I don’t need to browse the Internet while I am asleep and really just need a clock to wake me up.

Anyone know whatever happened to Latina Mina the 99.7 DJ who was drunk and started cussing on the air? Did she ever end up getting arrested? Did she leave Kuwait or is she still here?

Back in May I linked to a PDF taken from a 1969 issue of National Geographic and spoke about the Villa pictured above because I loved the design of it. Well a reader just landed across my post and commented the following:

Hi, this is our house, it used to belongs to my father and 2 brothers, Mohamed, Nasser (my late father) and Faisal Al-Duaijani. It was built and finished in 1968 and we moved into it when I was 5 years old after previously living in Do3′a (Farwaniya now).

The house is located at the intersection of the 4th ring road with Damascus street in Al-Rodah and it was sold to Mr. Al-Mokeazeam (cant recall his first name.. sorry) back in 1985. There was some modifications done to it, they completed the 3rd floor and closed the balconies which really made it lose its futuristic (at that time) looks. The villa was also shown in (Tarbiya Wataniya) elementary school book back in 1979 as one of the landmarks of Kuwait with my uncle Faisal shown standing in the first floor balcony. The villa just next to it was built and owned by my aunt and her husband the late Mr. Jasem Al-3otaiby. It had the same features and it still exists (also with some modifications) but it was sold directly to Al-Banwan family which i guess they’re still living in it.

I’m sorry I can’t recall the name of the architect and I’ll try to ask about it and give tell you if I find out. From what I recall we had big disputes with him about the mocked copies of the villa, the one in 3deliya and the one in Khaldiya about the exclusivity of design and rights to it which believe it or not was stronger back in the 60′s & 70′s than today!!

Aaahh, I’m 45 years old now, where did the good old days go??!!

Thanks,
Abdulla

My brother went to the abandoned Amiri Hospital in Kuwait City and took a bunch of pictures. The place looks extremely freaky. My favorite shot has to be the one above, the coffin plus the word HELP scribbled onto the wall is just chilling. You can check out some of the pictures he took on his flickr account [Here]

Update: Below is a screen shot of my brothers flickr statistics, it shot up from 200 views to 10,100 views a day.

I was showing a friend of mine a couple of weeks back a post a friend of mine did on Blog Baladi about a popular taouk place in Lebanon called Massaad. My friend told me that the brother of the owner of Masaad actually has a small place here in Kuwait where they made similar taouk sandwiches and that the place was near my house. So I decided to go there and try it out.

I am a huge fan of a place in Lebanon called Malak al Taouk. They’re another popular Lebanese taouk place and they’re known for their HUGE sandwiches (check picture above). Tilal Lebanan doesn’t have sandwiches as big as theirs but they do have taouk sandwiches that are the closest thing to a Malak al Taouk sandwich in Kuwait.

Finding the place was pretty easy for me but I drew a map for anyone else who’s interested in finding the place. It’s located on traffic light street in Salmiya, I don’t know what the name of the street is but if you are on the 4th ring road and you take a right to exit Amman Street, head left on the first traffic light and then you should find the place tucked off the side of the road after I think the second or third traffic light. The place doesn’t look fancy at all, he has a few tables outside and inside but I just pass by pick up my sandwich and leave. He does a taouk platter and other variations of the taouk but I’ve just tried one of their sandwiches which is their regular taouk sandwich. It usually comes with garlic and pickles but I tell them to make it with fries and cabbage salad (similar to Malek al Taouk). I would recommend you have the sandwich my way since for one thing you don’t have the garlic issue.

I think their taouk sandwich is really great. I’ve had it a few times already and I love it. I do wish their cabbage salad was a bit better and they added more of it (an easy fix) but overall I think it’s the best taouk sandwich I’ve had in Kuwait. Price? Just KD1. One sandwich can be filling, I usually have around one and a half though. Their telephone number is 25615218

Update: I was just informed that Tilal Lebnan no longer belongs to the brother of the Lebanese Massaad restaurant. Seems he recently got into a fight with his partners and he has left Tilal Lebnan.

Salad Creations are opening their second branch at 360 Mall. Their first branch is located near my office in Baitak Tower which is practical during work days but not on the weekends or evenings since Baitak Tower is like a ghost town after working hours. The 360 Mall branch should make their healthy salads and wraps easily accessible to a lot more people and hopefully start a trend with more healthy restaurants popping up at shopping mall food courts. They’re soft launching this Monday and I wish them the best of luck. [Link]

Kuwait has the highest ratio of domestic workers to citizens in the Middle East. The country’s more than 660,000 migrant domestic workers constitute nearly a third of the work force in this small Gulf country of only 1.3 million citizens. But domestic workers are excluded from the labor laws that protect other workers. They have minimal protection against employers who withhold salaries, force employees to work long hours with no days off, deprive them of adequate food, or abuse them physically or sexually.

[YouTube]

The weather is great and so the Cinemagic movie nights are back on. For this month they have everything from chilling thrillers to hot dramas, from warm romances to cool comedies, everything that will enrich your taste and love for movies.

Thursday, October 14th at 7:30PM
REVANCHE
Director: Gotz Spielmann
Country: Austria
Release: 2008
Genre: Thriller | Drama
Running time: 122 minutes
Language: German | Russian | English Subtitle
Awards: Winner BIFF 2008, Oscar Nominee Best Foreign film 2009
Rated: R

Saturday, October 16th at 7:30PM
ONCE
Director: John Carney
Country: Ireland
Release: 2006
Genre: Drama | Music | Romance
Running time: 88 minutes
Language: English | Czech Subtitle
Awards: 18 awards and 13 nominations
Rated: R

Thursday, October 21st at 7:30PM
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Director: Victor Fleming
Country: USA
Release: 1939
Genre: Adventure | Fantasy | Musical | Family
Running time: 101 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 2 Oscars, 5 other wins and 8 nominations
Rated: PG

Saturday, October 23rd at 7:30PM
SURPRISE FILM
Director:
Country: Germany, France
Release: 2006
Genre: Drama | Thriller
Running time: 147 minutes
Language: English | English Subtitle
Awards: 12 wins and 12 nominations
Rated: 15+

Thursday, October 28th at 7:30PM
THE HOST
Director: Bong Joon-Ho
Country: South Korea
Release: 2006
Genre: Horror | Drama | Comedy
Running time: 120 minutes
Language: Korean | English Subtitle
Awards: 6 wins and 1 nomination
Rated: R

Saturday, October 30th at 7:30PM
CZECH DREAM
Director: Vit Klusak, Flip Remunda
Country: Czech Republic
Release: 2004
Genre: Documentary | Comedy
Running time: 88 minutes
Language: Czech | English Subtitle
Awards: 6 wins and 1 nomination
Rated: PG

Cinemagic Kuwait, is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by Increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagic movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the roof on top of Alghanim Electronics and LG. There is a KD1 charge for the venue fees which includes refreshments, popcorn and much more. Here is a link to their facebook group [Link]

A sheep, known for its particularly good breeding ability, has sold for a record KD25,000 in Kuwait. The sheep is named Mayzoon and breeders are willing to pay up to KD200 for use of it for just one evening, Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported on Tuesday.

I am at a loss for words. [Link]

via The Buz Fairy

Interesting fact, 9.7% of all loans in Kuwait defaulted in 2009, that’s the worst rate among the GCC countries. On the other hand Qatar had the lowest level with just 1.7% of loans defaulting. With the financial crisis UAE went through I would have figured the rate there would be higher but in UAE only 4.6% of the loans defaulted. Weird. [Link]

Thanks FYI

Even though the official opening of the Historical Vintage & Classic Cars Museum has been postponed till next week, the museum is actually open right now. Their timings are from 9AM to 12:30PM and 5PM to 8PM. They’re located across the street from Tilal Complex in Kuwait City. Tilal Complex is right next to City Center for those of you who don’t know it.

A friend of mine, Laila Al-Gharabally, wrote and illustrated a children’s book called “Al-Hadiya” (“The Gift” in English). She will be selling and holding a book signing at her publisher’s booth (Arab Scientific Publishers) on October 14 in the evening at the Kuwait International Fair’s 35th Book Fair in Mishref.

The annual book fair held at Kuwait’s International Fair (www.kif.net) is the biggest book fair in Kuwait and will last for ten days starting from October 13th to October 23rd. For more information on the book fair click [Here]

Last week I was leaving Shuwaikh when I spotted the Historical Vintage & Classic Cars Museum. I hadn’t seen it before but since I was late to work I figured I would pass by again another time. Turns out the museum still wasn’t open and the actual opening is happening tomorrow (10/10/10). The event will start off with a gathering at Kuwait Towers. The Kuwait Riders Bikers Team, Porsche Club Cars & Muscles & Old Cars group will be meeting up in the Kuwait Towers parking lot at 6PM 4:30PM and then drive off towards the museum at around 6:30PM 5PM. The museum is located in the area across from Tilal Complex and will contain over 150 cars. As a huge car fan I can’t wait to visit the place.

Thanks Ramez

Update: I just got a phone call telling me that the event has been officially postponed. No date is yet set but it would most probably be next week.