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On more than one occasion I’ve been asked if I know a place that sells Swarovski crystals, usually by girls who might have had a crystal element fall off their shoe, purse or some other kind of accessory. I’ve previously sent them to Barakat but because they don’t have that big of a collection of elements, the girls usually don’t find what they’re looking for.

Yesterday I was heading from my gym to MEAT by foot and spotted this small place with jars on display in the window. I was curious so I got closer but I still couldn’t really tell what was inside the jars, so I walked into the shop to get a closer look. Turns out the shop was covered in these jars and inside each one were different kinds of Swarovski crystals. It was just a shop dedicated to selling Swarovski crystals.

So if you ever need any crystals to replace ones that have fallen off, you probably won’t find a place in Kuwait with a larger collection than this place. The shop is located behind Crystal Tower in Kuwait City [Google Maps] and their phone number is 22419172.

The weekend events are starting to pick up again with a ton of stuff taking place over the next few days. Check out the list below for some of the most interesting events taking place around Kuwait:

Thursday
Exhibition: The Box
Exhibition: Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Live Music: Be Cafe Opening
Live Music: Armored Groove
Movie Night: The Founder
Barba Private Dinner: Sleepy Hollow

Friday
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Live Music: The Afterthought

Saturday
Run Kuwait
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
KTAA Winter Bazaar
Beach Cleanup
Chess & Backgammon
Live Music: The Bandaids

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article in Bidoun magazine on the history of The Sultan Gallery and the art scene back in the 1970s. I already knew the gallery had an interesting history and I remember I wanted to post about it but I don’t know why I never did.

If you’re into art or historical articles on Kuwait, then you’ll definitely like this article. [Link]

You’ve probably noticed by now that for the past couple of weeks I’ve been posting a lot of food posts. That probably has to do with the fact that I’ve been hanging around @chefkb and so we’ve both been going through our long list of places we’ve been meaning to try. Dampa Feast was one of those places we both had on our list so we decided to pass by last week along with another friend of ours @chefbasmah to try it out.

Dampa Feast is a seafood restaurant thats located in Souk Salmiya. It opened up around 3 months back and I didn’t think a lot of people knew about it so I was completely shocked when I got there to find a large crowd waiting outside and a two page long waiting list. Keep in mind this was a Monday night and not a weekend. We put our name down on the list and headed to Daiso to kill some time. Finally just over an hour later we managed to get our table and sat down to order our food.

Their menu is made up various seafood dishes that include shrimp, lobster, mussels, crab, squid and salmon, all cooked in a variety of spices. We decided to go with their signature Dampa Feast menu which included shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, corn and unlimited rice. You also get to choose the kind of sauce its mixed with like cajun, soya, chipotle butter, hot garlic etc.. The Dampa Feast is meant to be enough for 2 to 4 people yet for some reason we decided to order two Dampa Feast menus, one using their hot garlic sauce and the other using their schezwan sauce. We also ordered some cajun mussels on the side. With the Dampa Feast menu you also get 2-liters of mocktails, we went with their Sex Appeal mocktail and their Lindsay Lohan one. Yeah it’s hilarious I know.

At Dampa Feast you don’t get any cutlery or tableware, all the food is served to you on the table itself and you have to use your hands to eat. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty you can wear disposable gloves which they provide but I think that takes the fun out of it. The food is poured out into the center of the table then the rice is placed along the sides to capture all the sauce. We kinda destroyed it that night and barely left any food on the table even though one Dampa Feast was definitely enough for the three of us. My favorite flavors were the hot garlic and cajun sauces with the schezwan sauce being the blandest of the three. The food was pretty good but really its the total experience that sold us on the place, it’s a lot of fun. The waiters had Hawaiian shirts on, the place was blasting good 80s music and the company was the best.

Their pricing is pretty reasonable, you can check out the whole menu [Front] and [Back] but for example the Dampa Feast cost KD13 which is really good value. The only negative thing about the place is the fact that there is a waiting list and they don’t take your phone number down or hand you a buzzer. You basically have to hover around the area and keep checking on your status every 15 minutes or so. It’s definitly worth trying and we’re for sure going back with more friends the next time. Dampa Feast is located on the top floor of Souk Salmiya near the food court and they’re open from 12PM to 11PM. You can also check them out on instagram @dampafeast

Kenny Rogers Roasters the chicken chain used to be open in Kuwait next to Scientific Center but then ended up closing down back in 1996. Their location next to Scientific Center is still there but abandoned, you can actually check photos of it [Here]. Now it looks like it’s reopening again in Souk Salmiya next to Dampa Feast (that post is coming next).

If you’re wondering where you might know Kenny Rogers Roasters from, it could be from an episode of Seinfeld when they opened up across the street from Kramer. That’s at least how I found out about them. You can check out some clips from that episode on YouTube [Here]

Thursday night I picked up my iPhone X from Digits in Marina Mall. They’d given me early access to buy one so that I could review it on the blog, but they made me promise that I wouldn’t turn it on until Friday morning 8AM. Apple is pretty strict with these things so I understood their concern. I know someone who had gotten an iPhone X a few days earlier, and when they turned it on, Apple sent the authorized reseller he had gotten the phone from a warning that they had 2 hours to shut it down or else. I wasn’t in a rush, I didn’t mind waiting till the next morning to play with the iPhone X, I was just glad I had my hands on one and didn’t have to wait in any line to get it.

I’m not the kind of person that upgrades phones every year, I was actually using an iPhone 6S until last week and was perfectly fine with it until my company handed me an iPhone 8. The iPhone X is the first iPhone in years that I’ve really wanted, and after using it over the weekend, here are my first impressions:

No Home Button
The iPhone X no longer has a home button and I was worried it would take time to get used to the new swipe up to go home gesture. But, I got used to it within the first few minutes of using the phone. To me it feels natural and so much slicker and faster than clicking down on the home button. So goodbye home button, you won’t be missed.

Face ID
This is probably my favorite feature in the iPhone X. It just works. The best way to describe it is that it’s as if your phone doesn’t have a passcode. To unlock your phone, you pick it up and then you swipe up to go home. Super simple, super fast. If for some reason your phone doesn’t wake up when you pick it up, you just tap the screen to wake it up and then swipe up. Again super fast. But Face ID has other advantages than just using it to log into your phone. When I get to a website that asks me to log in with my username and password, the phone checks my face and when it recognizes me automatically fills in my username and password. Another cool feature of Face ID is with notifications. When you get say a whatsapp message on your phone, you won’t see a preview. Pick up the phone and Face ID will recognize you and then show you a preview of the whatsapp messages [Example]. That’s a really smart feature because it means you can leave your phone out in the open and not worry about anyone reading your notification previews, but it also means you yourself can still read those previews. If you’re also wondering, Face ID works under different lighting so if you’re in complete darkness or out under bright sunlight, Face ID will still be able to read your face. Face ID was still able to read my face even though I had sun glasses on and even when my face was half stuffed deeply into my pillow.

The Screen
It’s huge and I’m loving it so far mostly because the blacks are so black. One of the biggest advantages of OLED screens (which is what the iPhone X uses) is the blacks are pure black. That’s because unlike LCD’s, to get the color black on an OLED screen it shuts off the pixels that are supposed to be black. So black is parts of the screen not lit up. Am I making sense? Imagine a room with no windows and one light bulb, to turn the room black you just turn off the bulb. No light = complete darkness = black. The “notch” on top of the screen isn’t annoying at all by the way, in fact I barely notice it. I mean its there, but it doesn’t hinder the experience of using the phone in any way. For those of you who are also concerned that not all apps are yet adapted to take full advantage of the iPhone X, from all the apps I use I think only 2 or 3 still display a black border on top and the bottom of the screen. The rest of my apps all display full screen and so it’s not really a big issue, and whatever apps don’t display in full screen I’m expecting them to by their next update.

Wireless Charging
I picked up a Belkin Qi charger from Xcite for around KD6 and have it on my bedside table. I noticed compared to the iPhone 8 the iPhone X has a larger wireless charging sweet spot. With the iPhone 8 it wouldn’t always start charging when I placed it on the charger but I haven’t had that issue with the iPhone X. If like me you use a magnetic mount for the phone it can still work with wireless charging. I have the metal plate sandwiched between my silicone cover and the phone, but I moved the plate all the way to the bottom of the phone and turned it sideways. That way the center of the phone is clear and the metal plate won’t interfere with charging.

Size vs iPhone 8
The iPhone 8 and X are virtually the same size. The iPhone X is slightly taller and thicker but too minor to even notice.

The Camera
Finally the camera, probably the most important aspect of the phone for me. I was always jealous of iPhone Plus owners since they had two lenses on their phones, the regular wide one and a more zoomed in one. Other than the added advantage of being able to zoom in closer to a subject (while maintaining the image quality), having two lenses allowed Apple to create the “portrait mode” feature in which it blurs the background making it look like it was shot with a DSLR. The iPhone Plus is too big a phone for me so I never considered getting it, but the iPhone X has the same camera system as the plus, with more features like a brighter aperture (f/2.4 vs f/2.8) and optical image stabilisation for both lenses not just the wide one. I haven’t really taken that many shots with it, just a few of my brothers cats and some of my friends and so far I really am loving the portrait mode.

So yeah as you can tell, I’m really loving the iPhone X so far. Although it was a big chunk of change to spend on just a phone, I think its worth it. If you’re looking to pick one up, Digits sold out their stock on launch, but are getting another shipment in around a weeks time. They currently have a waiting list so you can go and reserve a phone. The prices of the 64GB version is KD353 and the 256GB version KD405. A friend also just picked up a phone from Zain this morning but I think you have to sign up to a plan or something to get it (i.e. don’t think you can just straight up buy it from them).

A lot of things happening this weekend including Battle of the East 2017. They’ve changed the venue location this year and it’s now going to be held at the Green Island which is pretty interesting. Below are the events taking place this weekend:

Thursday
Bikers Opening Season Carnival
Live Music: South of Eden

Friday
Bikers Opening Season Carnival
Kuwait Rugby Sevens Tournament
Saracen Race 2017
Battle of the East 2017

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Bikers Opening Season Carnival
Battle of the East 2017
Shuwaikh Market
Movie Night: Coraline
Dasman Live in Collaboration with Not Necessarily Famous
Back to the Secret Garden

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Yesterday while I was in Al Shaheed Park I spotted a large Cartier structure near the Circle of Peace. I tried to get more information on it but security there wouldn’t even let me take a photo of the building (wtf?) let alone answer my questions. Does anyone know if this is a permanent structure or not? My guess is that its a temporary one for some sort of event but seems overkill financially for just a 2 day event or something.

Update: Its a two day event called ‘Cactus De Cartier’, more info [Here]

Somehow my three favorite breakfast spots in Kuwait all ended up next to each other at the cultural center. I used to go there just for Baker & Spice but in the last two weeks Cocoa Room opend up there and then Rococoa introduced a new breakfast menu. Just like that, JACC became an overnight breakfast and brunch hotspot.

Cocoa Room
The new Cocoa Room opened up recently at JACC with an updated breakfast menu and a completely new lunch and dinner offering. I passed by twice during their tastings but haven’t been able to get a table since due to their popularity. This past weekend I dropped by twice at around 10AM but they had already closed the breakfast waiting list because the it got too long. I even got their reservation number last night and tried to book a table for this coming weekend and they’re already fully booked! If you’ve never been they have a large assortment of breakfast items including a huge list of pancakes and egg Benedict’s to choose from along with a huge dessert list. Recently they added an eggplant fetteh dish to their menu (pictured above) which has become my new favorite breakfast item but their turkish eggs and Cocoa Room eggs Benedict are also two of my favorites. If you’re interested in passing by them either do so early, or try and reserve ahead of time by calling 22083195. They only have a few tables available to book by phone, the rest are reserved for walk-ins.

Rococoa
In the past week I’ve gone to Rococoa a total of five times, I went to their breakfast and dinner tasting early on in the week and then back again three times with friends for their breakfast. The last two were because Cocoa Room was fully booked, but also because I really like the new Rococoa breakfast menu. Rococoa launched a new menu last week that include a bunch of interesting items like my favorites, the Scotch Egg Tart (pictured above) and the Cloudy Eggs. Both those dishes are pretty unique and so make breakfast a little more interesting. The service can be super slow at times but the food makes up for it. For reservations you can call them on 55222244.

Baker & Spice
Last but not least is Baker & Spice. Located between Cocoa Room and Rococoa, they’ve got a pretty good breakfast as well. I’m usually there for their Turkish eggs or omelette and since the food is light, it doesn’t feel like a cheat meal and so I never feel guilty afterwards. But like Cocoa Room, Baker & Spice tends to fill up pretty quickly but you could call and reserve ahead of time by calling them on 98002331.

The weather is getting better and better so if you’re looking for a good breakfast or brunch spot to go to, I can’t think of a more convenient place to go to other than JACC. Just try and book a table ahead of time or be prepared to walk around the fountain area while you wait for a table to free up.

The 7950 Sunset block in WeHo is ready for a new tenant in 2018, the Kuwaiti burger chain, Rock House Sliders. With six locations throughout Kuwait, the restaurant is owned by the Kuwaiti-based Marafie Works Group.

Though former Luca On Sunset space has been empty since 2014, Marafie Works Group will commence the build-out in October. Management at 7950 Sunset had trouble finding a tenant to fill the large retail space after Luca’s closed because of irreconcilable landlord differences. Once complete, the newcomer will keep sit next to 9021 Pho and EVO Kitchen on a very busy stretch of Sunset Blvd near Hayworth.

The team at Marafie Works Group adopted American culture into the growing Rock House brand, with images of attractive urbanites enjoying the burgers. The mini burgers start on a potato bun with a choice of fried chicken or beef. The toppings include items like jalapeño and bacon, or truffle mushroom, and diners choose an accompanying sauce such as barbecue, chipotle mayo, buffalo mayo, chipotle barbecue, along with their own mystery sauce. They offer milkshakes, too.

Rock House Sliders’ U.S. entry is a curious choice. It will be even more interesting to see the response to this popular Kuwaiti brand bringing American-styled food to Los Angeles. [Source]

This actually makes a lot of sense to me since I keep telling people that L.A. has similar taste in food to Kuwait. But, they’re opening down the street from The Comedy Store, the same street that has In-N-Out and Chick-fil-A so they’ve got tough competition in the neighborhood. If they can make it there, then they’ll probably do really well opening up anywhere else.

A lot of events are taking place this weekend including a few interesting food ones like Alice & Co’s Brunch and Burrata Notte. Also the first market of the season is here with the Shuwaikh Market this coming Saturday. Check all of this weekends events below:

Thursday
Private Dinner: Burrata Notte
A Night of Musicals
The Peace Festival: Ibn Arabi

Friday
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
KIN’s Vegan Pop-Up
Alice & Co’s Brunch

Saturday
Discover America 5K Fun Run/Walk
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Habitat Museum
Alta Fitness Fun Day
KIN’s Vegan Pop-Up
Shuwaikh Market
The Peace Festival: Voices of Peace led by Salman Al Ammari

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Not to be confused with the new and huge Terminal 2 airport thats being constructed, and also not to be confused with the new Jazeera Airways terminal thats also under construction, this third terminal that’s also under construction is meant to alleviate the pressure from our current airport until the new main terminal 2 is completed sometime in 2020.

This terminal will be exclusive to Kuwait Airways and is being built adjacent to the cargo terminal. It’s expected to be completed and in operation by Q1 of next year. And yes we currently have three new terminals under construction.

For more photos and information, click [Here]

Thanks ChaoticTranquility

Kuwait Wataniya Airways announced launching flights to Beirut, Lebanon, as of November 9, with four flights weekly to and from Kuwait International Airport.[Source]

Has anyone flown with Wataniya Airways? If yes then how was your experience? They’re currently running a buy one get one free offer on all their destinations. [Link]

Yesterday I was tagged on instagram under an image where a British teacher wanting to work in Kuwait was complaining about a school she applied to that wanted her to take her hijab off. The recruiter told the teacher that parents wanted their kids taught by teachers that didn’t wear hijab, and so if she was interested in joining, she would have to remove her hijab. I thought it was pretty bizarre that a school in Kuwait would discriminate against the hijab so I contacted the original poster who forwarded me all the emails and turns out its true. Below are the conversations between the teacher and the recruiter which I copy pasted from the emails. I’ve removed the name of the school and also replaced the names of the teacher and recruiter with fake ones. I’ve also forwarded the emails to Fajer the lawyer to get her opinion on the legality of this situation as well as contacted the school for their statement.

I’m curious if this is a widespread problem in Kuwait or just an isolated incident. How many teachers at this specific school ended up removing their hijab so they could get the job?

———-

Good morning Carla,
I emailed you about keeping me in mind for any other positions that may be available in the future but have not received any reply from you. Please will you destroy my passport documents if you are completely not interested anymore. In all honesty I feel gutted as I feel like I was not given a chance to show you that I would be ideal for the job. Surely I am entitled to an interview and then you can make decisions upon that.

Regardless of the situation, I am still interested and it would be very much appreciated if you could get back to me. Have a wonderful day.

Kind regards,
Faiza.

———-

Good Morning Faiza

Thank you for your emails.

I am so sorry I didn’t reply as I have been out of the office. I am happy to interview you as we may well need teachers for January 2018.

I do need to ask you if it would be possible to remove your hijab whilst teaching in the XXXX XXXXX Nursery school as our Kuwaiti parents like British Teachers but not wearing hijab. I know this is a delicate area and hope you do not feel offended in any way.

Please have a think about it and let me know if you would like to proceed to interview.

I look forward to hearing back.
Kind Regards

Carla
Recruitment
HR Department

———-

Afternoon Carla,
I have read your email and just wanted some clarification. I am extremely interested in this role but just wanted to know if it is necessary for me to remove my hijab in order to be successful for the job. Also Is it imperative for me to remove the hijab in order for me to go head with the interview process? Please could you let me know as soon as possible.

Kind regards
Faiza

———-

Hi Faiza
Thanks for your email.
It wouldn’t be necessary for you to remove your hijab to have a first interview with me but probably for second interview and we would need to have a photo of you without your hijab for Management purposes if you were successful, as your passport photo is of you covered.

Just for your your reference, in the XXXX XXXXX Schools, there are only female staff.
I look forward to hearing back.
Kind Regards.

———-

Hi Carla,
I partly understand what you are saying but still have a few questions. If I was to be successful would I have to teach with no hijab on or even meet parents with no hijab. Am I able to wear my hijab in my own time or is this an issue as well. As you can imagine I am a little bit confused as I felt the hijab would be preferred and encouraged in Kuwait more than anything as it is a predominately Muslim country- one of the main factors that reeled me into the job. I can understand for security and management purposes a non hijab picture may be necessary but I am finding it difficult to understand that Kuwaiti Muslim parents may be against the Muslim head wear. Please clarify when and where I will be able to observe the hijab or not. Thankyou for your time.

Kind regards Faiza

———-

Dear Faiza

The customer (the parents) do not want their children taught by covered teachers. It is an English School. You can wear the hijab whilst not on the school premises but not in the school.
If this isn’t acceptable to you I wish you every success.
This is non negotiable.
Kind Regards

A bunch of things are taking place this weekend, check them all out below:

Thursday
The Divan’s Movie Night: The Lunchbox
Ragheb Alama’s Concert

Friday
Community Table: Bahārāt
Pilates for Beginners with Ana Mattos
Urban Culture Week Finale
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Rugby: Kuwait Scorpions vs Muscat

Saturday
Community Table: Bahārāt
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Q8 Readers Book Club Meeting
The Peace Festival: Hind Hamed

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Update: Links fixed!