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This definitely isn’t a coincidence, after posting about the lack of news on Apple Pay this morning, it was just announced that Apple Pay will be launching in Kuwait on December 7th. Source

If you’re looking for a cool and free spot to watch the World Cup matches then you should probably head over to the Sheikh Jaber Causeway. Castra who were in the news last week because their desert lounge setup got shutdown for not having a license are back now (with a license) and have set up a World Cup viewing area on the Southern Island of the causeway (called Al Saji Island).

The Castra setup is right on the edge of the island with a beautiful view of Kuwait City and is surrounded by food trucks and plenty of seating. Although they were still working on setting up a kiosk area for pop-ups when I visited, they’ve been open and broadcasting the games daily.

There is no entrance fee which is great and because it’s located on the Southern Island of the causeway I think makes this location really fun and interesting to visit. Weirdly, there isn’t anything posted about this anywhere, not even on the Castra Instagram account which is @castra.kw

If you want to head to the location, here it is on Google Maps

Last month the Ministry of Finance and the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority reached an agreement with Apple to operate Apple Pay in Kuwait after removing all the obstacles that prevented the service from operating here.

That announcement was followed by a lot of hype with banks testing Apple Pay and even launching the service on their websites. But, that was a month ago and since then the Apple Pay pages were pulled down from the bank websites and there hasn’t been any news, not even leaked videos or photos.

I wonder what happened since it looked like they were set to launch at the start of the month.

Is it me or is Kuwait getting a lot of Overlanding tourists this year? Back in September, I posted about Petra, the German lady traveling around the world in her huge MAN KAT 8×8 but I keep spotting other visiting overlanders parked on the Gulf Road or mall parking lots. Yesterday one tourist overlander posted a photo showing three other overlanders parked near him. It seems they all use the app iOverlander which has a list of safe to camp spots in Kuwait and around the world which is how they all end up parked in the same spots.

Speaking of places to park, all the Gulf Road parking lots are starting to look like RV campgrounds with lots of motorhomes (not overlanders) parked each taking up multiple parking spots. We clearly don’t seem to have any regulation against this and you know what that means, eventually they’ll just ban motorhomes so they don’t have to deal with it.

Anyway back to the subject, currently, there are at least 4 overlanders passing through Kuwait, @aufaufunddavon_, @the_travely, @busleven and @defendter_. It’s really interesting checking their accounts and watching what they do while they’re in Kuwait. They all seem to really love it here, @busleven for example have spent the most time in Kuwait than any other place they’ve been to so far because of how much they’re liking it. So check out their accounts, they usually all have great photos as well.

Last week I posted a couple of ways you could watch the World Cup tournament including subscribing with TOD for $80. But, a reader left a pretty negative review of his experience with the service after trying to watch the first game yesterday:

Tod is the Worst app on the planet , missed most of the game , it keeps crashing . Its a waste of money, its a scam not worth 80 dollars subscription, you cant even contact them. I watched 10 min of the game then it stops , after resting the app it tells you you need to register the device. I registered my tv maybe 10 times. Dont recommend it at all. And even on your phone it takes a long time to work if it works.

Did you stream with TOD? How was your experience?

In other surprising news, the container park KWT FAN BOX did in fact open in time yesterday to broadcast the opening of the World Cup.

The poster below is of the first-ever Kuwait International Book Fair that was held 47 years ago in Kuwait back in November of 1975 (source). The current book fair taking place at the Fair Grounds is #45 and I passed by it last week to check it out.

This year the event looks a lot better than before since the standard booths seem nicer, or maybe they’ve changed the carpet but either way, it just looks visually better overall. There are English books but not many and isolated to a small corner in one of the halls. It’s still worth passing by and checking out especially since it’s going on for another 6 days. For timings and more info check out my previous post here.

Below is this weekend’s list of events taking place. If I missed anything let me know in the comments.

Thursday, Nov 17
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
WAGMI Talk Sessions
Plant a Tree at Boulevard
Healing Circle

Friday, Nov 18
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Gulf Run
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Doll Making Workshop
Grounding Beach Art
Football: Belgium vs Egypt
Disney Store Meet & Greet

Saturday, Nov 19
Kuwait International Book Fair
JACC: The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Gulf Run
Operation Turtles Beach Cleanup
Treasure Hunt at Al Shaheed Park
Family Medicine 5K Race
Storytelling Through Songwriting
Art Sandsation
Al Andalus Retro Poster Workshop
Ceramics Workshop: Qahwa Cups
Cooking Class: Fried Chicken 101
KTAA Fall Bazaar
Disney Store Meet & Greet
Grand Mosque Tour

Exhibitions
The Divine Agent by Lilia Nour
Ghada Al Kandari x Mercedes Benz

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

The World Cup 2022 starts in just a few days and the only way to watch it legally at home (from what I’m aware) is through beIN Sports. Fifa+ doesn’t support Kuwait and KTV hasn’t announced if they’ll be broadcasting the games for free as of this post.

There are two ways to watch the games on beIN, if you already have a beIN receiver and a subscription, you can add the World Cup package to your existing subscription as an add-on. If you don’t have a Bein box then you have two options:

beIN Sports
Subscribe to the World Cup 2022 stand-alone package with beIN but this setup isn’t going to be cheap since the stand-alone package will cost you $225 without the receiver.

TOD Tournament Ticket
TOD is a subscription-based streaming platform that launched early this year. They exclusively host beIN SPORTS content and offer a World Cup 2022 package for $80. With this subscription you get unlimited access to beIN SPORTS channels MAX 1-6 from the 1st of November to the 31st of December. Their app is available for both iOS and Android devices and supports the ability to cast onto your television using Airplay or Chromecast.

If there is an alternative way to watch the World Cup 2022 legally, let me know in the comments.

The Touristic Enterprises Company is nearly done constructing a container park on Salmiya’s Blajat beach which they’re calling “KWT FAN BOX”. The container park is being built to broadcast the World Cup 2022 matches which are going to start on November 20th and continue into December.

The container park will have various entertainment and sports activities, cafes, and restaurants as well as five screens broadcasting the games. Four of the screens will be distributed around the container park with a fifth main and gigantic 11x6m screen located in the center. There will be 1,500 parking spots available which hopefully should be enough or else there will be even more major congestion on that already heavily congested street.

Some of the restaurants and shops that will be opening at the park include:

300f
A Store
Al Rifai
Ebn 3amy
Face/Off
Froyo
Haagen-Dazs
Illy Cafe
Joy Cafe
Kalemat
Lulu’s Tea House
Meme’s Curry
Ole
Ratio Cafe
Rib Eye Steak House
Sakura
Saray
Shake Shack
Starbucks
Tuta Sushi
Yoosee’s Chicken

KWT FAN BOX is expected to open on November 20th but I passed by yesterday and it looked like there was still a lot of work to be done so I’m very curious to see if they’ll manage to finish on time. Once it does finish the park will be open daily from 10AM until midnight.

Ticket prices are as follows:

Entrance ticket per person: 2.5 KD
Entry is free for children under the age of five
Entry is free for the domestic workers accompanying a family
For groups of 4 people or more, the entrance ticket is 2 KD per person

Here is the location of the park on Google Maps. To stay posted on the project, check out their Instagram account @kwt.fan.box

Update: KWT FAN BOX is now open.

Kuwait Motor Town will be hosting the final round of the 2022 24H Series endurance race early next month and tickets just went on sale for it.

The ‘Hankook 12H Kuwait’ is a 12-hour uninterrupted race that starts at 12 PM and goes on until midnight to ensure competitors experience racing during the day and night. The race takes place on Friday, December 2nd, but there are qualifications and practice sessions the day before. Tickets start at KD3 for a one-day pass, and KD5 for both days. They also have VIP tickets.

If you’re interested to find out more or buy tickets, visit the KMT website kmt.kw

The garbage situation next to my house isn’t anything new, I mean, I’ve been complaining about it for over a decade now. But last week I had an interesting interaction with the Kuwait Municipality (baladiya) over it. At one point the garbage overflowed as it usually does due to the limited number of bins, but the garbage men were emptying the bin and leaving the overflowed garbage on the floor. The trash was just lying there for 4 days straight and the stench was horrible, you couldn’t drive by it without having to roll up your windows.

Eventually, I had enough and decided to contact the municipality over their WhatsApp number. I sent them a message at 8:22 AM, it was a photo of the garbage taken from my window and the location pin. A minute later they asked for more information which I replied with.

An hour later (9:36 AM) while leaving my house I noticed there was a baladiya bobcat and workers picking up the garbage and throwing it into the bin. They actually acted on the issue super fast. I wasn’t sure if the whole send a complaint thing over WhatsApp was still active so glad it was. ‭If you want to also WhatsApp the municipality over a problem you have their number is 24727732‬.

I was only out for a day but I feel like I missed out on a lot of action.

I’m heading to Riyadh this weekend for the Noor Festival so I’ll be missing out on a couple of my favorite events this weekend, the Fall Festival at the Yarmouk Cultural Center and the BLS Winter Bazaar. If you’re here don’t miss out on them. Let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Nov 10
Ali Alghanim & Sons – Padel Tournament
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Chinese Cultural Festival
IFK Cinema Night: Comme un Lion
Healing Powers of Cacao
Healing Circle at Art Therapy
Art N Dine: Desert Eyes Painting Experience
Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri

Friday, Nov 11
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Festival
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Bazaar
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri
BLS Winter Bazaar
Hot Rods & Classic Cars Festival

Saturday, Nov 12
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Story Time: The Rabbit Listened
Miseen Scene: You Will Die at Twenty

Exhibitions
Sara Shamma “Age”
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

Singarea, the popular Asian supermarket has officially opened their new location in Salmiya. This is their third location in Kuwait, the other two being in Shuwaikh and Mahboula.

The new location is around the lake in Boulevard Park, right next to the restaurant Izmir. When I dropped by they were still unpacking some boxes but the space was looking good although didn’t seem as big as their Shuwaikh location, neither did it have as many freezers and fridges will all those food items.

Their Salmiya branch is open daily from 10AM to 10PM and if you want to pass by and check it out, here is the location on Google Maps. Just a note, at the time of this post there was no signage outside but just head to Izmir and it’s the building right next to it.

The November schedule for JACC’s Cinema Hall is out and this month they have 5 indie films playing:

90 Days – Saudi Arabia
Farha – Jordan/Palestine
Beirut Hold’em – Lebanon
Frère et Soeur – France
Official Competition – Spain

There is only one showing per movie so if there is one you’ve been meaning to watch don’t miss it. You can book your tickets on Jacc-kw.com