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Jazeera Airways recently rebranded their identity, and as part of the rebranding process, Jazeera revealed they will also be giving their plane interiors a new look.

One of the biggest complaints about their current interiors is how aged they look so the facelift is a much needed one. They’re still sticking with leather seats but instead of the light grey color they’re currently using, they’ll instead be going with a blue tone.

The new interior is currently being rolled out and the whole process should be completed before the end of the year.

In their red, white and blue uniforms, Kuwait’s first female ice hockey team is training hard in the desert ahead of their debut world tournament later this month.

Affectionately dubbed the “ice ladies” by local media, athletes in hijab or with their hair hastily tied in topknots pull on their helmets before taking to the rink in the Kuwaiti capital — where temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on a sunny October afternoon. [Source]

The team will play their first international game on October 30 at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Bangkok.

A couple of weeks back LeNotre reopened their 360 Mall location with a revamped look and a new menu. I had heard they brought in the former chef for Le Petit Maison and LaSerre in Dubai, chef Izu Ani to work on the menu so I was really looking forward to trying it.

I ended up passing by Friday morning and LeNotre along with the rest of the mall was pretty empty. There was just one other table occupied so atmosphere wise, it was a bit too chill for my liking. The menu on the other hand looked really appetizing. We got handed a tablet with photos to flip through and everything just looked visually stunning. Like, I wanted to order everything on the menu because everything looked that good. I’d say all of the dishes were just straightforward breakfast dishes like scrambled eggs, omelets, egg Benedict’s etc.. but with each dish having a small twist to make it a bit special. They’re all light (aka not saucy) breakfast dishes you can eat and not end up in a food coma an hour later.

I ended up ordering the sunny side up on toast mixed with mushrooms, my friend ordered the shashuka and we also shared Turkish eggs and French toast. My sunny side up eggs were delicious and the French toast was just crazy good, I couldn’t stop eating it even though I had originally planned to just have a bite or two. The Turkish eggs on the other hand was pretty disappointing since I didn’t think there was enough labneh in the dish. I actually thought they forgot to put any until my friend pointed to what we concluded was a bit of labneh on the plate.

The location in 360 Mall isn’t very exciting but until the new menu launches at other locations, this is the only branch right now that has the new menu. The Marina Mall location which is currently undergoing a similar revamp is supposedly opening in the next coming weeks as well. The prices were very reasonable with my sunny side up dish costing KD2.850, the Turkish Eggs and Shahuka KD3.500 each and the French toast KD3.750. The presentation of all the dishes was really impressive and I’m definitely going to go back to try the rest of the dishes. If you want to see more pictures or get more information, you can check out their instagram account @lenotrekw

Back in 2015, Kuwait passed a law making DNA tests mandatory for all residents. Anybody who refused testing would end up facing a prison sentence along with a hefty fine. I obviously found this an invasion of privacy and made that clear in a number of posts on the blog, but some people were actually for this and were defending the decision. Thankfully, it doesn’t matter anymore, Kuwait’s Constitutional Court overturned the law ruling it unconstitutional.

This means the government will not be collecting DNA samples of every resident in Kuwait as well as tourists. Thank you to the lawyers who fought this law in the courts. If you want to read a bit more about this, Ars Technica has an article about it [Here]

This new terminal is currently being constructed to the left of the existing airport and is expected to be completed sometime next year. This terminal is completely different from the new airport/terminal that is being constructed near the Sheikh Saad Airport.

The Jazeera Airways Airport Terminal aims to both alleviate the current overcrowding at Kuwait International Airport and meet the requirements of travelers in Kuwait for many more years to come.

One of the largest-scale and most important infrastructure projects currently under construction in Kuwait, the new terminal will divert 1.5 million passengers a year from the extremely busy airport once it opens in early 2018. This will increase to over 2.5 million travelers per year in the next few years.

I couldn’t find any more pictures but you could read more about the design over [Here]

A few different events taking place this weekend from musical performances to a ladies rugby match. Check out all the events taking place below:

Thursday
Consumer Gifts Exhibition
RAF Red Arrows Airshow
Music: The Ashes

Friday
Consumer Gifts Exhibition
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Fairouz Musical Night
Kuwait Scorpions Ladies Team vs Doha Team

Saturday
Consumer Gifts Exhibition
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Arab Organization Headquarters
MARKETSPACE by ARTSPACE
Book Club: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

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.

Just a random tidbit. If you’re ever taking an official airport taxi back home keep a lookout for taxi car #1 (they’re marked on the side). The cab is easy to spot and you’ve probably already seen it before since its the only one with a satellite dish on the roof. The cab is driven by Abou Ali who is currently the longest working taxi driver at the airport. He originally started picking up passengers from the airport back in 1964, before the current airport even existed. That’s more than 50 years ago if you can’t do the math.

I actually used to dislike taking airport cabs back home since they seemed to always avoid highways. But most of the drivers are actually pretty interesting to talk to since they’ve all been working at the airport for many years and have tons of interesting stories to share. So next time you take an airport taxi, don’t be shy to strike up a conversation with the driver.

I’ve been getting emails from readers letting me know that my iPhone app no longer works on their phones after updating to iOS 11. The thing is, I’m surprised people actually still have the app on their phone. Apple removed my iPhone app from the store around 5 years ago (maybe longer?) and I haven’t it had on my phone ever since. Yet somehow it managed to survive on other peoples phones and now I’m getting complaints that it isn’t working.

So in case you still have the app and you aren’t aware:

1) The app doesn’t exist anymore, if you have it you’re lucky, I don’t even have it
2) If you upgrade to iOS 11 the app will no longer work

There are no plans for another 248AM app in the foreseeable future, but what I’d like to do is eventually have a mobile friendly version of the website. But I don’t have a timeframe for when that will happen.

As we’ve been going manaeesh crazy over in the PantryBee kitchen we thought we’d share a super simple manaeesh dough recipe that you can make to enjoy at home. For those who don’t know manaeesh, or manaakish, or the singular manoushe, it’s a popular levantine dish consisting of flattened dough topped with a variety of toppings ranging from za’atar to minced meat, cheese and more.

This recipe yields enough dough to make 8 manaeesh and is from our Chef friend Khaled AlBaker chief manaeesh maker over at Meem Cafe.

1 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp sugar
3 cups flour
1 cup water

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add wet ingredients and knead for 15-20 mins continuously (work them arms out!). Roll into a ball and cover to rest for 1 hour at room temperature. Use it straight after resting or leave it overnight in the fridge for later use.

Note: If you use dry yeast 1/2 tsp will do. To activate the yeast add it to the sugar and water and stir. Wait approximately 10 mins until the mixture starts to bubble then it will be ready to use.

Post by Hind
CoFounder of PantryBee where home cooking is made easy.

Over the years I’ve posted about different things to do in Lebanon and different places to go, but I’ve never really posted about any outdoor activities you could do (well except for paragliding and ATVing, but that was ages ago). I tend to like doing one outdoor activity whenever I go down to Lebanon, usually camping, but if I don’t have enough time then hiking. Hiking is actually something thats really easy to do in Lebanon and doesn’t require much in terms of prep, you just need transportation and a good pair of hiking shoes (or old sneakers). If you’re interested in hiking the next time you’re in Lebanon, below are two places I highly recommend.

Tannourine Cedars Forest Nature Reserve
The Tannourine reserve is a really great place to go hike and for a number of reasons. Firstly if you enjoy driving then you’ll enjoy the drive to the Tannourine village. The roads are long and winding with beautiful views so I’d highly recommend you rent a convertible for it. Secondly because the reserve is so high up the mountain, even during hot summer months the weather up there is bearable. Finally and most importantly, the reserve is beautiful and filled with huge cedar trees throughout the trail.

The reserve is also pretty well organized. The website isn’t that great but once you get to the reserve you get handed a map at the entrance along with a explanation of all the trails available. There are three trails available with the shortest lasting an hour and the longest nearly three hours. The hike isn’t that difficult although there are some areas that are steep, so you need to be a bit fit or else you’re gonna keep stopping for breaks. The trails are also clearly marked with wide paths and various signs at various intersections so it’s really difficult to get lost. The entrance fee is just 5,000LL (KD1) and the reserve is on Google Maps so it’s really easy to find. For more information you can check out the reserve website [Here]

Shouf Biosphere Reserve
The Shouf reserve is really easy to get to if you’re staying in the Beirut area. If you try to head to the Tannourine reserve during the middle of the week it could easily take you up to 3 hours while the Shouf reserve would take you half that. Like the Tannourine reserve, there are 3 main hiking trails with the shortest lasting just 20 minutes and the longest over 3 hours. But the trails are pretty tough due to the fact that the first half involves a very steep uphill climb to get to the top of the mountain. The trail is actually so tough that you really don’t get to enjoy the beautiful forest until you start making your way back down. The trails also aren’t clearly marked and there are barely any signs. Most of the time you’ll wonder if you’re heading in the right direction or if you’ve veered off the trail and are heading into the middle of nowhere. But its because of that I like this trail, it’s more exciting and feels like a proper adventure. You’ll spend a lot of time on the trail second guessing yourself, wondering if you should have gone left instead of right or right instead of left.

The biosphere’s website is also pretty well put together with a lot of information on all the different trails available as well as information on where to stay or where to eat in the area. The entrance fee to the reserve is 7,000LL and its also easy to find on Google Maps. For more information you can check out the biosphere website [Here]

If you’re really into hiking and camping, and have a bit of time then you could attempt one of the official Lebanese Mountain Trail hikes. The LMT trail is 470km long and divided up into 26 sections. You can get more information on the LMT by clicking [Here]

Like I mentioned at the start of the post, whats great about the two reserves I shared is that they’re easy to get to and very doable if you’re in Lebanon for the just the weekend. It’s a perfect escape from the city and great stress reliever. And best of all, both reserves are close enough that you’ll still have enough time to get back to the city and party after sundown.

A few weeks ago I got contacted by the US Embassy telling me that US ambassador Lawrence Silverman wanted to meet up for coffee. Originally they wanted to know if he could come by my office, but I thought that might be a bit weird since I currently work in a government office and it would be kinda awkward if the US ambassador came to our offices with his entourage just to meet with me. So I asked them if we could meet somewhere else and they were like sure, where?. Now in my head I was thinking, can the US ambassador actually have coffee anywhere? I didn’t know if there were any rules or security protocols that prevented him from doing so, but I wanted to meet somewhere casual, so I figured I’d ask anyway. So I proposed Arabica at Arraya and they agreed. First thing I then did was get in touch with Arabica and see if I could book a table. I didn’t want to get there with the ambassador and then not have anywhere to sit so Arabica ended up hooking us up.

I actually just got back from having coffee there with the ambassador since our meeting was this morning. His arrival was pretty dramatic as expected, first I got a message from the Cultural Attache saying “We’re approaching” and then I saw all the flashing lights of his convoy pull up a few moments later. He then walked over to Arabica with his security detail who ended up hanging out around the area until we were done with our meeting. It was my first time meeting with ambassador Silverman. I had met the previous ambassador when we flew together to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, but ambassador Silverman has only been in Kuwait for a year and so we hadn’t had the chance to meet yet.

The meeting turned out to be pretty enjoyable surprisingly, I was worried we wouldn’t have anything to talk about and end up with awkward moments, but there wasn’t a dull moment throughout the hour we were together. We kinda clicked from the start since we were talking about Oman and I mentioned how me and some friends of mine were planning to send our sport cars there for a road trip, and he mentioned that Audi recently launched their RS3 in Oman. I was like wtf? (in my head) How did he know that? Me and my friends were actually watching an RS3 review video that was shot in Oman when we decided on this trip. Turns out the ambassador had watched the same video and himself is a car guy so the conversation pretty much flowed after that with us talking about cars mostly.

Close to the end of the meeting we brought up the idea of him possibly guest posting on this blog, similar to how the previous British ambassador had his “Mondays with Matthew” posts. He was interested so expect those posts to come soon. I have to say, its occasions like this that make me enjoy what I do so much. It’s unreal.

A friend of mine mentioned The Great British Bake Off over dinner a couple of weeks back and that same night I found it on Netflix and watched the first episode. Since then I’ve been binge watching the whole series every night until I finally finished watching all the seasons that were available on Netflix. It’s now probably one of my favorite food related shows right up there with Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (not to be confused with the American version Kitchen Nightmares).

The Great British Bake Off is an amateur baking competition which starts with 12 contestants and then every episode one person leaves until you finally have a winner. What I love about this show is how super chill it is. Unlike the majority of the American competitive shows, there’s no dramatic music, heavy editing or any forced drama at all. Anyone who has watched the UK version of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and then the US version would know what I’m talking about. The humor on the show is great and the two judges and the two hosts are really entertaining. Even the personalities of all the competing bakers are usually interesting, quirky or funny.

But there’s one major issue with the show. Ever since I’ve started watching it I’ve also started craving and eating so much dessert. All I’ve been doing the past two weeks is either trying to bake myself, or going from one bakery to another looking for interesting bread, pastries, pies or cake to get. On more than one occasion I put an episode on pause and then walked down to the Paul near my home to get some bread or pastries. The other night at 10PM I actually drove all the way to Avenues just to pick up some stuff from a bakery over there. Thats why I was trying to get through the show as quickly as I can, just so I could stop pigging out and go back to eating healthy again.

So if you’re into food shows and haven’t watched this show already then you should. Just be warned that you’ll probably put on weight doing so. The show is available on Netflix US to stream but not on the Kuwait. I use Smart DNS Proxy to get Netflix US working here and you can get more info on that at this [Link]

It seems a lot of people who own/drive/borrow yachts in Kuwait have very basic understanding of how to boat and have no idea what do in case of emergencies, not to mention the basic principles of navigating and driving a boat. So to promote safety on the waters in Kuwait, Al Kout is launching Marsa Al Kout Boat School. The Boat School will be organized in partnership with Maritime Concept Sea School and International Yacht Training, and will provide internationally recognized power-boating and yachting courses for residents of Kuwait free of charge.

The first question I asked them once I got their email was if there was a catch and there isn’t. The school will run from September 17th to October 7th and be divided into four groups with a limited number of people per group. The first two groups already filled up and only the third and fourth groups still have available spots. The course is 12 hours long and divided across 3 lessons (2 theory and 1 practical on the boat). After the course the instructor asses you using a test, and if you pass you get certified.

To sign up or for more information, you can call Al Kout on 23930101.

Over the past couple of years Al Hamra has been trying to reinvent itself by not focusing on just being a luxury mall, and it’s been working. A lot of new places have opened up and the mall as a whole has become a more interesting place, at least to the thousands of employees who work in the business tower. As part of their transformation, Al Hamra created two pop-up shops in the basement and also set up an art gallery on the ground floor. If you’re a small business or an artist then you might find this post useful.

Pop-up Spaces
Al Hamra have two spaces in the basement available to rent for short term use. One of the spaces is larger than the other and they’re both aimed at small businesses or individuals who require a temporary physical location. Depending on the availability, you could rent the space for just a few days, a few weeks or even longer. You could the space to host an event, setup a shop or even a food related business as long as no cooking is involved.

The Gallery
A couple of months back Al Hamra opened up an art gallery on the ground floor. The space is fairly large and the content is all curated by them. The cool thing about the gallery is that as an artist you could approach Al Hamra and ask them to display your artwork. If your artwork fits in with their requirements, then they would display your work for free, and only take a cut in case your artwork sells. The gallery also contains two rooms which they also rent out to people who want to hold workshops or lectures.

So if any of the above interests you then you should get in touch with the guys at Al Hamra by calling them on 182900 Ext: 6008 or 6009, or emailing them at [email protected].

Jarir Bookstore just opened their new location at the Boulevard project in Salmiya. Their new location is pretty big consisting of two floors and surrounded by floor to ceiling windows which bring in a ton of daylight. The top floor is dedicated just for books along with some seating area for reading, while the bottom floor contains the rest of their items ranging from electronics to arts and craft supplies.

I wasn’t really a fan of their Hawalli location, parking was always problematic and I personally don’t like heading into Hawalli unless I really have to. Boulevard is a much more chill location and the Jarir store is in a standalone building outside the main mall. So you don’t even have to enter the mall if you don’t want to and parking is plentiful.

Their opening hours are from 9AM to 11PM daily except for Fridays when they open from 4PM to 11PM. If you don’t know where Boulevard is, here is Jarir’s location on [Google Maps]. Their phone number is 22610111.