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I’m not a big fan of interviews but I do like stories especially interesting ones. This is why I’m going to try and post one interview a week with someone I think has a story worth sharing. For my first interview I met up with two intriguing brothers, Simon and Adrian Nelbom who make and sell karak tea under their self created brand, Mr karak. I first met them at one of the Secret Garden brunches so when they proposed we meet up there for the interview I thought it was very appropriate.

Two Danish brothers in Kuwait making Indian karak tea? I needed to know how, what and why.

A year and a half ago Adrian had just finished his studies in Copenhagen and Simon was working in a very famous organic bakery. They were both in periods of their lives where they didn’t know what they wanted to do. After a bit of contemplation they both decided to come to Kuwait since they had relatives from here. One of their families’ closest friends of 50+ years was a Danish woman married to a Kuwaiti. During the interview they kept referring to them as relatives and understandably so because of the close family ties.

When I think of Danish drinks, I think of Carlsberg or Tuborg beer and definitely not karak which is why I wanted to know how all this came about.

When Adrian and Simon came to Kuwait their relatives introduced karak to them. Simon had traveled to India back in 2012 and he had chai all the time while there. He didn’t know what it was but he was having it wherever he went. So when his relatives introduced and explained karak to him he loved the idea of milk with tea since they didn’t have it in Denmark. Karak was also relatively new to Kuwait. It was popular in places like Bahrain and Qatar but it was still picking up here in Kuwait. When Simon was working at the bakery in Denmark they used to have the best milk and the best coffee, so he decided to take it upon himself as a challenge to try and make the best karak he possibly could.

They started researching the local market and realized majority of the people were using either long life milk or canned milk. The idea of using canned milk, which had a 1-year shelf life didn’t make any sense to Simon. He told me milk should come from a cow and you drink it, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Milk is not supposed to last a year sitting on a shelf. That’s gross. He then continued telling me that was the first thing they decided, no long life milk. Fresh milk is available in Kuwait so they started using it.

With that as a starting point they continued the same principle across all the ingredients, they wanted to create an all fresh and natural karak. They kept experimenting with different fresh ingredients and even started importing ones they couldn’t find like Cinnamomum verum. The fact that they were both Danish made things difficult since they don’t drink and eat a lot of Cardamom so they started adding other ingredients. Finally after lots of tasting sessions with their Kuwaiti relatives, they finally ended up with karak that everybody liked. Once they were ready they signed up for Qout Market and launched their brand. That was back in March of last year.

Other than just using the right products, Adrian and Simon both spend a lot of time educating their customers on the benefits of their ingredients. For example the most popular cinnamon used is cassia (Chinese cinnamon) which when you look up you’ll realize has health risks. The real cinnamon comes from Sri Lanka and is called Cinnamomum verum. Not many people know this (I didn’t) which is why Qout Market was a special launch place and still is a great venue for them. The people who visit them at Qout are always interested to listen and learn about their products. Later on they got another seal of approval when they finally became part of the Secret Garden family. To become part of this family meant getting an approval from the culinary genius and shakshooka and Secret Garden mastermind Mimi. They’re now regulars there as well albeit without their Mr Karak brand due to strict Secret Garden rules.

The brothers now serve a variety of different karaks including “The Original” and “The Masala”. The first consists of ginger, saffron and cardamom while the second consists of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and mint leaves. They also have a nondairy version which was another story of experimentation as well since the first thing that comes to mind is using soya milk. But soya milk isn’t that great for you which is why they tried using the much healthier almond milk. But when they started boiling the almond milk, they were ending up with texture they didn’t like so they kept looking for another alternative. After a bit of a search they found organic coconut milk which ended up working really well especially with all the spices. So those are the three main kinds of karaks they have but they then came up with two more. They were getting ready for the April Qout Market last year and the weather was fairly warm so they wondered if people would want to drink hot tea out in the sun. They started brainstorming ideas and they came up with karak shake using vanilla ice cream (I personally tried it at the last Qout and loved it). But what about the people who were counting calories? They decided to make another cold karak using crushed ice. So their menu now is composed of five types of karak drinks.

Other than karak the guys also serve chapatti. Again they use all natural ingredients to try and make it as healthy a chapatti as possible and even try to use healthy spreads (no Nutella or Kraft Cheese).

One thing both Adrian and Simon wanted to make clear through out the interview is none of their success would have been possible without their amazing team who have mostly been with them since day 1. They also hinted that they’re currently looking for a place to set up a permanent shop but haven’t found a good location yet.

Sitting with the brothers it was very clear that they’re extremely passionate about their karak. In fact the interview was around an hour long but I tried to share as much as possible here without making this post so long that no one would want to read it. I highly recommend you try their karak (especially the shake) and I also recommend having a chat with the two since they’ve got so much more to share. If you’re interested, they’ll be taking part in the Street Fest market this coming weekend and hopefully if they get approved they’ll be at Qout Market next month. Here’s a link to their instagram account @mrkarak

Hungarian chimney cakes (Kürtőskalács) are a traditional Hungarian pastry that are hand rolled, coated with sugar and baked in a special oven. I saw them being made on the streets in Prague when I was there a couple of years back and I recently found out we have them in Kuwait at a very odd location, the Sea Wave kiosks on the sea side in Salmiya.

According to the employee at the kiosk the owner is Hungarian and he decided to make and sell these cakes at the kiosks to test the market and see if there is an interest. I hadn’t tried one before so I bought one and it was actually pretty good, very similar to sugar brioche.

The chimney cakes are baked fresh at the kiosk and come rolled in different flavors. Not sure why the owner hasn’t considered making them at markets like Qout since it’s something new and its easy to have while walking around. In any case you can check them out on instagram @hungarian_chimney_cake_kuwait

Top photo taken from cnn.com

Once a year Arabian Business releases a list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” and every year I go through the list and find all the Kuwaiti women and list them on the blog. This year the list seems to the be the smallest since I started posting them with only 5 Kuwaiti women making the list and all at lower slots than the previous year. Shaikha Al Bahar whom back in 2012 was in #8 dropped to #21 last year and is currently at #31. This years leader in my most powerful Kuwaiti women list is Maali Alasousi, a newcomer. I hadn’t heard of her before but according to an article on Knowledge@Wharton, “Maali Alasousi gave up a comfortable life in Kuwait to live in Yemen, dedicating herself to developing social programs in a country that is among the most impoverished in the world”.

Below is this years list of most powerful Kuwaiti women with their 2014 ranking in between parentheses:

25- Maali Alasousi (new)
31- Shaikha Al Bahar (21)
46- Rasha Al Roumi (43)
51- Maha Al Ghunaim (27)
94- Sara Akbar (67)

For the full list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women” click [Here]

Last week the local food delivery company Talabat was sold for KD50,000,000 making it the largest purchase of an internet company in the Middle East to date. I think everyone (including me) was shocked with the acquisition, at least with the price it got sold for so I thought I would share an interesting article that talks about the sale as well as how Talabat started. Check it out [Here]

The Scientific Center have brought the award-winning and international blockbuster exhibition “1001 Inventions” to Kuwait and today was their first opening day. I just got back from it and I loved it or at least loved the fact that for the next month kids have an exciting and interactive educational exhibition they can check out. The experience starts off with a short 10 minute film and once it’s done, everyone is led into the main hall where various stations are manned by different performers who act out the role of an inventor and tell their story. If you follow me on snapchat (mark248am) you most probably saw some of the performers since I snapchatted a few OF THEM. I actually snapchatted more but my snapchat has a habit of crashing with the videos disappearing on restart.

The various displays around the exhibitions have videos and a certain degree of interactivity making the experience very entertaining but it’s the performers that stood out for me. The exhibition is bilingual and that includes the performers who are able to act out in both Arabic and English. Surprisingly they only had two weeks to rehearse. The “1001 Inventions” exhibition is taking place outside the Scientific Center in a large tent and the entrance fee is just KD2 or KD1.5 if when you buy a Scientific Center ticket. They are running starting from today and up until March 7th. Their opening hours are:

Sunday to Thursday
9AM to 1PM and 4:30PM to 9:30PM

Friday
2PM to 10PM

Saturday
9AM to 9:30PM

It’s definitely worth passing by to check out and expect to spend an hour there to experience the whole exhibit. For more information click [Here]

Anytime I need to get any paperwork from the government I cringe. In the past month I had two papers I needed to get sorted and in both cases things didn’t go so smoothly. I hate how I have to approach all the employees in a way where it’s like I am asking them for a favor.

The first paper is related to a business I’m launching. To setup a company I need a paper from my sponsor giving me permission to start a company. I got that paper from him and went to Government Mall (located under the Liberation Tower) to get it notarized. When I presented the document the government employee took a look at it and told me the format was all wrong, he wrote down the proper format, I went downstairs got it typed and came back to show him. He told me it was fine and I now needed to get it signed by my sponsor. So I left and came back two weeks later with the document signed. I went back to the same employee and handed him the signed document, he looked at it and was like what is this? I explained to him what it was and he once again told me it was in the wrong format. I was like what do you mean its the wrong format? You wrote it for me, I got it typed and approved by you and all you said I needed to do was get it signed which I did! He was like no this is the wrong format. I asked him if he could write down what I needed to change, he told me he won’t write anything and then shooed me away. I’m now getting someone to get this document sorted for me since I can’t deal with that crap again.

The second paper I needed to get was permission from the police to replace my damaged bumper. I headed to the Salmiya police station and walked up to the information desk and told them what paper I needed. They instructed me to go into the first office on the left. I went to the first office on the left and the police officer there told me to go upstairs. I went upstairs and there were three rooms but only one was occupied. So I walked in and waited until the two police there finished their conversation before I asked the cop seated at a desk about the paper. The cop told me to go to the office next door. I told him I did but there was nobody there. He then got agitated and told me obviously there isn’t anybody there since its his office and he can’t be in two places at once. As if I was somehow supposed to have know that was his office. So I go wait in his office for a few minutes and then he walks in. He’s like I need you to get me a photocopy of your license, car registration booklet and your civil ID. I thought to myself why couldn’t you have told me that earlier instead of making me wait here. So I leave the police station and drive to the nearest photocopy shop and then come back with the copies. I go upstairs again and this time the same cop is sitting at a desk in the third room. In my head I thought that was hilarious because it felt like the police station had only one employee who changes offices and pretends to be a different person every time. He ends up filling up the papers and then sends me down to the Salmiya area commander for one last signature.

How I hate this. I know a lot of people (mostly Kuwaitis) would disagree with me on this but I would rather they replaced all the ministry employees with expats. When was the last time you walked into McDonalds and was greeted by a grumpy employee who made you feel like he was doing you a favor?

A few days ago I found out Lu&Lu is opening up down the street from my house in the basement of the new AlSalam Mall. This will be their 5th location in Kuwait and this one will be walking distance from my house making it super convenient for me. For everybody else good luck finding parking. [Map]

Dairy Queen is returning to Kuwait a decade after the Edina-based ice cream chain left the Middle East country.

The company plans to open 20 DQs in Kuwait over the next five years, according to Bloomberg . A franchisee had operated restaurants there from 1979 to 2003, but then the franchisee decided to leave the business.

Kuwait Dairy Queens will have a similar menu to U.S. locations, but will also have some different items, like a spicy Gyro sandwich. [Source]

My memories of Dairy Queen goes back to the mid 80s since there was a branch near my place in old Salmiya. Not that big a fan anymore though, would rather A&W be making a comeback.

This postcard picture is from the 1960s. Kids celebrating Christmas with Santa Claus near Al Jahra gate and Ministry of Finance in Fahad Alsalem Street. – via @abdullahalkhonaini

A few weeks back I got tagged in an Instagram account of a mother that was hand making Christmas ornaments. The post stated the following: “All Christmas related orders will not be accepted as my family and I are being threatened.” Turns out the mother was getting threats by an Islamic fundamentalist.

This reminded my of an incident I had to personally deal with when it came to q8books. Last year we publicized a “Spooky Book Night” writing competition during Halloween. The purpose of the competition was to get young adults to be creative and express themselves and although a good amount of school students took part and enjoyed it, I started getting threats by email, non-stop. They claimed that they will not support the bookstore anymore and that celebrating a western day is illegal according to commercial law. Funnily enough they didn’t know I was a commercial lawyer at the time and I had never heard of any such laws. So I respectively answered back asking them to highlight laws in question and also giving each one of them a free voucher for books (I honestly thought those people needed to be educated more).

Anyways what I am trying to say is that these people are intolerant and have no legal basis. Kuwait is a civil country and there is no commercial law that makes celebrating Christmas illegal. Also the Kuwaiti constitution clearly states that we all have freedom of belief so its such a shame that I have to write about such issues. I honestly do not understand how celebrating other religions is an offense to Islam. Just keep in mind people of different religions come to Kuwait and give back to our community, they leave their families and its not easy for them. They deserve to celebrate their believes. Be kind, be tolerant, respect others and don’t just repeat what other people are saying without taking a minute to think about it yourself. I sincerely apologize that I have been preaching of late, Merry Christmas to my Christian brothers and sisters and happy new year to all of you.

Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to annanounce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

I decided to be a lawyer because I strongly believe that if more people have their rights and get justice, kuwait would be a better place. Even though I am not really helping much, I am still humble and grateful that I get a chance to post here and create some sort of awareness (thank you kindly Mark). I know my topics might be negative lately, but remember I get inspired to write by the cases I have and the emails I receive.

Some of the companies out there are MONSTERS (not the cute ones like monster inc but more like I don’t know I am not really into sci-fi) but seriously some companies are evil.

I have noticed in the past few years an increase in cases dealing with contractors. Contractors are brought to Kuwait from their home country and put to work doing various jobs for companies or entities that are from their home country. These contractors are told that because they work for their countries Army or Navy or whatever, then Kuwaiti Labor Law doesn’t apply to them but their countries law does. NOT TRUE YOU EVIL ******!

If you are working as a contractor for I don’t care who in Kuwait, it doesn’t matter if it’s for the King of Utopia or Queen Elizabeth. If you have a working permit and you are registered under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour then Kuwait Labour Law applies to you. So what does that mean?
You get paid overtime! I have noticed that some contractors have signed a contract that says they are willing to work 12 hours a day. Fortunately though, the law clearly states that the employee can not agree on something different than what the law states unless it’s beneficial for the employee (contractor). The law states maximum 8 hours, so unless you think working 12 hours a day without overtime is beneficial for you, you can ask for compensation for all your hard work. Also:

– The law also requires the sponsors to open a Kuwaiti bank account for contractors and transfer the contractors salary to the bank account. These sneaky companies pay the contractors in their bank accounts back home and deposit small amounts of money in a Kuwaiti bank account, making the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor believe that the contractor’s salary is a lot less than what they really make. Since compensation is based on salary, these contractors won’t be getting compensated fairly.

– Termination indemnity, yes you heard it right, contractors deserve termination indemnity in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law.

– Days off in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law.

– All other rights in accordance to Kuwaiti Labor Law (please read my labor law post for more information).

If you are a contractor and you are being mistreated and you want your rights, please let me know ask@fajerthelawyer (or any other legal questions). I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Last week I wasn’t posting as much since I was taking two workshops at the Nuqat design conference, a furniture design workshop from 9AM to 1PM followed by a fashion design workshop from 2PM to 6PM. They both turned out to be a lot of fun and the whole experience was memorable.

Furniture Design: Defy the Existing Function
The furniture design workshop was done in collaboration with IKEA and was run by the award winning furniture designer Younes Duret. It was basically an IKEA hack workshop in which we had to repurpose one product out of the 35 they had made available to us. There were around 26 people taking the workshop with many of the participants coming in from around the region to take part. The final work was pretty astounding since there were quite a bunch talented people taking part.

Fashion Design: Fashion Meets Technology
The second workshop I took part in involved wearable technology and as a geek/designer I wanted to see if there was anything I could possibly bring to the table. The workshop was run by the super talented Sarah Hermez of the non profit fashion school, Creative Space. While the furniture design workshop was held at the Sadu House, the fashion design workshop was held at Fab Lab. What is Fab Lab? Fab Lab is part of MIT’s Fab Foundation and the Kuwait Fab Lab is part of the world wide network which spans 30 countries. It’s a ridiculously cool place where you can go fabricate products as well as take part in educational workshops (all for free). They have 3D printers, CNC machines, laser cutters, a robotics lab and even an in house patent registration office. I’m actually going to post a separate post about them since the place is just insane. After experimenting with different technologies over the four days, for my final project I ended up creating a fashionable and functional pair of mountaineering boots that came with a built in frostbite detector (pictured above). I also just for the experience learned how to drape a dress which if you were following me on snapchat you would have gotten a glimpse of my undeniable talent in making sexy dresses.

The Nuqat workshops were filled with positive energy and I got to meet a lot of people and learn quite a bit. I’ll definitely be taking part again next year although most likely I’ll take just one workshop next time since two was just too exhausting.