Search: “kuwait”

Last weekend I signed up and took part in the first open track event at the Kuwait Motor Town. It was probably the only sport left in Kuwait other than bowling that hadn’t restarted and I couldn’t understand why. It’s a sport where everyone is alone inside their cars driving around an outdoor circuit, so it’s pretty much perfect for social distancing. After taking part in the first event last weekend, I ended up leaving really impressed with the whole experience.

For this COVID era, KMT has introduced some new rules and changes to make things even safer than usual. Here are some of the important ones they’ve introduced:

Number of Participants
The number of participants at a race has been reduced to just 30. Previously it was anywhere from 60 to 90 participants per open track event. This means a lot less people everywhere and even spectators are no longer allowed at the events.

Registration
Previously on arriving to the track, you had to park your car, go into the reception area and wait in line till it’s your turn so you can sign in and collect your tags. You then have to go back to your car and drive up the scrutineering area where a group of guys run a number of safety checks on your car. The new process now is when you enter the parking lot you register at the gate while still in your car. While registering the scrutineering team will check your car and then when they’re done you enter the track. You don’t have to leave your car and really this process was so much more efficient than the previous way, they should permanantly have it this way.

Pitlane Garages
Pre-COVID, you’d enter the pitlane and park in any of the garages you wanted to. Now every garage is assigned to an individual and the separators between the garages are closed. So you basically park in a large garage by yourself and you don’t see anyone or interact with anyone. Every garage has it’s own bathroom and they’ve also provided gloves, masks and hand sanitizer for you.

Briefing
Before a race, every participant needs to attend a briefing session. Previously we’d all squeeze into a tightly packed overcrowded room. Now the number of participants has been reduced down to just 30 people and on top of that, the briefing session has been split into two groups. So there is plenty of social distancing during the briefing.

Other Points
Due to the number of participants only being 30, the track was pretty much empty the whole time with no traffic. KMT have installed new digital flags all around the track so we can now see the various warning flags when they’re shown. KMT now also has a fuel station and they accept Knet!

Really the only negative thing about KMT right now is the lack of proper night lights. They’re using regular street lights around the track which barely light up the track because they need to be positioned behind the safety barriers which are quite a distance from the track. There has been talk every year about getting proper flood lights but it hasn’t happened yet.

As I said at the start of the post I left the event impressed. If there was a local sport that is setting a good example of how to host an event safely during COVID, it’s KMT.

● Burgers take the lead as the most ordered cuisine in Kuwait
● The most expensive late night order wasn’t food
● Kuwait is officially the king of sauces, with extra sauce orders being the highest in the region

The home-grown region leading food and grocery delivery app, talabat, has compiled a list of some of their Kuwaiti customer’s best, weirdest, and wonderful ordering habits of the year. 2020 has been a year that we don’t want to repeat – however that doesn’t mean that we can’t find fun in some of how we’ve used talabat!

Lockdown: What was the most ordered cuisine?
We’ll give you a hint: two buns, salad and a meaty filling. That’s right – burgers! Of the top 20 most-ordered foods during lockdown, the first six, and twelve in total were from burger joints! Now the big question; Burger King, Elevation Burger or McDonalds?

This year, Burger King reigned supreme, featuring six times on the top 20, with the Chicken Royale Meal crowned as the most loved lockdown meal, with 2.5x more orders than the Elevation Burger’s cheeseburger – which came in second place product on our list. McDonald’s was also featured in 20th spot, with their McChicken Medium Meal.

The biggest late night order in Kuwait? 608 KDs
From the tales of the weird and wonderful, we’ve uncovered this little gem. This year’s biggest late night order came in the form of two air conditioners: 1x Hyundai Wall Mounted 24K and 1x Hyundai Wall Mounted 30k.

We’ve heard about the perils (or joys) of late night shopping, but this takes it to the next level!

Kuwait: The undisputed sauce loving champions of the region
It’s official. Kuwaiti’s are the undisputed sauce loving champions in the region. Our top three purchased extra sauces, headlined by the Santa Fe Sauce from Hardees, followed by Mayo and Ketchup Mix Sauce, also from Hardees and Sweet Chilli Sauce from McDonalds were ordered over 330,000 times this year. To put that into context, that’s 125,000 more sauces than the next closest market, Egypt.

Sharing kindness following a few taps
Food and groceries (and air conditioners) were not the only ways that Kuwaiti citizens and residents used talabat – they also used it to donate!

With over 35,000 KD donated during COVID, Kuwaitis have really shown their kindness. Customers also took part of donating to Beirut’s recovery in the #lunchforlebanon campaign. With over 115,000 orders placed during #lunchforlebanon, region-wide, talabat donated 100% off all profits as well as an extra 150,000 euros.

This is this weekend’s to-do list, if you’ve been looking for a desert activity then the Car Boot & Dine event is the one to check out:

Thursday
Kuwait Motor Town Open Track

Friday
Car Boot & Dine [Location]
Ultimate Frisbee Pick Up Game

Saturday
Car Boot & Dine [Location]
Trashtag Messila Beach Cleanup
Trash Hero Subiya Cleanup

If I missed an event let me know.

Earlier this week I posted a list of car and bike brands that were acquired by BNK and one of the brands I listed was Vanderhall Motor Works. Vanderhall is an American vehicle manufacturer that produces three-wheeled roadsters and yesterday I took a spin in one around the block.

I’m really not a big fan of three-wheeled cars but was curious to try one, and having tried one now, I’m still not a fan. It’s not a motorbike or a car and there is no way to avoid potholes in a three-wheeler. The roadster is hot looking but would look ten times hotter if it had four wheels! Definitely a toy car.

If you’re interested, they’re going to sell for around 10-14K at the local dealer depending on the model and you can get more info by visiting their instagram account @vanderhallkw

Due to the pandemic, all racing at the Kuwait Motor Town track had been put on hold but they’re finally back! There will be two open track events to end the year, one this coming Thursday the 24th, and the next on the 31st. The dates were announced yesterday but tickets only went on sale this morning and sold out in a few minutes. I was literally refreshing the website all morning and so managed to quickly buy tickets for both days, but a lot of people I know either managed to just get a ticket for one day, or weren’t even fast enough to get any tickets at all.

Because of the pandemic, they’ve got new rules for this season:

• Temperature checks will be done at the gate
• Face mask required
• Helmet hire is unavailable (BYOH)
• Only 1 assistant per participant will be allowed on site
• No spectators allowed
• Contactless payment only, no cash accepted

I can’t wait, this is gonna be a great way to end this bizarre year.

Top photo captured by @hamed__ashkanani

Someone on Reddit shared a vintage RCA ad for air conditioners that mentioned Kuwait. They shared a black and white version but I managed to find a colored version which you can check out here. If you want to read the text on the ad click here.

At the start of the pandemic, I shut down the events section since everything obviously stopped. But, a few things are starting to pop up and I’m going to start posting about them here and once things really take off, only then reopen the events section again. For now here are a few things taking place this weekend:

Friday
Trashtag Kuwait x Solarity
Sound Healing
Straw Blown Acrylic Pour
Yin Yan Yoga
Kuwait Cricket Desert Championship Finals

Saturday
Saracen Race 2020

If I missed an event let me know.

Pre-Covid we weren’t known for taking care of our environment and now during Covid with everyone staying here things have gotten worse. People here have a terrible habit of littering be it at the beach or in the middle of the desert and with the increase of kashtas, its become even more apparent. So the EPA launched an awareness campaign in the hopes of making people more aware of the garbage they’re leaving behind.

It’s a great short animation with humor which I think works since more people will end up sharing it. But, it’s in Arabic so not all my readers will get it. @EPA_kw

I’ve lived on Salem Mubarek Street in Salmiya for the past 40 years so I basically know it inside out, yet for some reason, I just found out that the first Wimpy opened up on my street back in 1969! There used to be a Hardee’s on my street which I’ve known since I was a kid but turns out before Hardee’s it used to be a Wimpy. The photo above is supposedly from 1972 and below is the last photo I have of that building dating back to 2008 when it was about to get demolished. The corner store is where Wimpy and Hardees used to be.

Update: Below is another photo from 1973

Source 1 Source 2

I recently found out that the oldest Persian restaurant in Kuwait was located down the street from where I live. Layali Tehran was the first Persian restaurant in Kuwait and has been around now for over 50 years. They were originally located in Sharq but had to move to Salmiya years ago. I don’t know much about Iranian food other than kebabs so I’m not the best person to ask about the food, but, I think the most interesting thing anyway is the idea of dining at the oldest Iranian restaurant in Kuwait.

If you want to try it out they’re located on Amman Street. Parking is a bit difficult but I parked across the street where there was less traffic and just crossed over. Their phone number is 25613312 and here is their location on [Google Maps]

This got me thinking, I wonder if the first Chinese or Italian restaurant in Kuwait still exists? I previously posted about the oldest restaurants in Kuwait and there were some good examples in the comments, check those out here.

Also just shared some interesting stuff on Twitter related to the oldest restaurants in Kuwait:
Oldest “liver” restaurant in Kuwait
Opening of Muwaffak Jabri Restaurant in 1961
Opening of the first Wimpy in 1969
Photo of the first burger restaurant in Kuwait Haroon El-Rasheed

When I started making my own coffee I watched hundreds of hours on coffee making and coffee machines so I could learn as much as I could about coffee. But, not everyone wants to watch hours of videos and a lot people are actually looking for an activity to do which is why a place like Brewever is interesting.

Brewever is a local coffee academy that gives courses related to coffee. They’re members of the Speciality Coffee Association which means they can hold SCA exams and hand out SCA certificates to those that complete a course. It’s also why I’m guessing their courses are pretty pricey and fairly long. They have different kinds of coffee-related courses depending on what you want to learn about like ‏Sensory Skills, Brewing courses, even Barista skills.

Some local coffee shops hold coffee-making classes every now and then and are usually a lot more affordable so that’s probably a better option for most people. But if you’re really into coffee or want to get a lot more serious about coffee, then you should check out Bewever on Instagram @Bewever

There is a guy on YouTube called hero_ kw who has been compiling videos of Kuwait Police chases and releasing them as compilations. As of this post, he’s got 8 compilations uploaded that are a mixture of new and old footage stitched together. What I find interesting about the videos is that most of them are taken from inside the car of the getaway drivers. Most of the time when you watch police chases they’re from the perspective of the cops, so it’s interesting watching videos from the perspective of the getaway drivers. But, his compilations also include videos from the cops perspective as well as some traffic cam footage.

If like me you’re into amateur footage of cop chases, here are the links to the 8 parts:
Kuwait Police Chase Video 1
Kuwait Police Chase Video 2
Kuwait Police Chase Video 3
Kuwait Police Chase Video 4
Kuwait Police Chase Video 5
Kuwait Police Chase Video 6
Kuwait Police Chase Video 7
Kuwait Police Chase Video 8

To stay posted on newer videos you can Subscribe to him on YouTube or follow his Kuwait Police Chase Video playlist.

CD stores used to be plentiful a few years ago but for obvious reasons, they’ve all disappeared. I’m lucky enough to still have all my CDs although I don’t have a CD player set up at home but that’s on my to-do list. I am curious though to find CD stores in Kuwait that sell English CDs so if you know of any, let me know in the comments.

I found one place in Salmiya that sells CDs although at a ridiculous price. Most of the CDs looked used with their boxes all scratched up and the store wanted KD5 per CD! The store is called CoolQ8y in case you’re still interested and it’s located in Salmiya.

The story below was sent to me by John Beresford who has been contributing to the blog with old interesting stories about life in Kuwait during the 1940s to the 1960s when he and his family used to live in Kuwait. To check out some of his previous stories click here.

In 1968 Ramzi Kayello, an artist, put on an exhibition of his paintings in the Hubara Club in Ahmadi. My parents went and later asked him to paint them a picture of ‘Old Kuwait’.

The image is pretty standard; mud houses, wooden doors with nails in, dusty streets, and the frame is very 1960s.

The interesting thing is the man in the white dishdasha. He is carrying water buckets. With no piped system water had to be bought and transported back to the home and the traditional Arab buckets, made from an entire sheep or goatskin, were too small and with the way Kuwait was developing, fewer people in the town could keep flocks. This was where new technology came in. The increase in the number of vehicles was increasing the number of worn-out tires lying around – what to do with them? Some could be hung around boats and on quay-sides to minimize the bump when coming alongside. Others could be used as buckets. It was possible to get about 3 buckets from 1 truck tire, they were strong, pretty well indestructible, waterproof and the wire in the tires stopped them flopping about and spilling. And of course, if you found an old tire lying about you could make up your buckets for free! With rope handles they were fine. So the water carrier is using water buckets made from truck tires; this was pretty standard and my parents specifically asked for this to be included in the painting.

I also include a bit that my father wrote about water in Kuwait when he arrived there, in April 1949. Later on, there were ships built to go up the Shatt al Arab, vent their ballast tanks and pick up river water for the return journey, thus making the smaller dhows redundant.

The other explanation I should give concerns about the Kuwaiti water supply. I mentioned the brackish water wells. There is no fresh water at all anywhere in the state of Kuwait. Brackish was obtained from shallow wells, close to the coastline and provided water for livestock and limited garden growth. The poorer element of the town also had to drink it; it’s not very palatable, most times when I was offered it in poorer Arab houses they added sherbet to it to make it more palatable but, really, I used to think it made it worse! In addition to about a 14% salinity it also had a quantity of magnesium salts in it: Magnesium sulfate or Epsom Salts, being the most common.

For many years fresh water was brought to Kuwait from the Shatt al Arab River, a major world river formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As this river is tidal to well above Basrah, the collecting dhows were required to go well upstream and then, while waiting for the tide to run out, collect the water from the top, less dense, layers.

Some imported water was less good than others, it depended upon the tide, time available, weather and the temperament of the dhow skipper.

The water so imported was sold by the old gallon kerosene or gasoline tin full at 2 rupees a time. This didn’t suit the company and just before I arrived gave up on relying on the dhows.

Claudia Al Rashoud has been a photojournalist in Kuwait since 1979. She was the first professional female photojournalist at the Arab Times newspaper and has written a number of books on Kuwait’s history and heritage with beautiful pictures. She recently launched an Instagram account @claudia_alrashoud where she has been sharing stories from her long journalistic career and also launched a small website where people can purchase her books on Kuwait.

All sales from the website will pay for veterinary care for stray, abandoned, and abused animals from Touch of Hope Kuwait, so not only will you be getting some great books on Kuwait, but you’ll also be helping animals. So checkout her website.