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Over the weekend Kuwait kicked off a sanitization campaign to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Trucks were going up and down the streets spraying disinfectants on the roads but I’ve got two questions which hopefully a reader might explain to me:

First question, why are roads being disinfected? I tried to find an answer online but can’t seem to find any solid answer to why it’s effective, I’ve found articles explaining why it’s useless but nothing that supports it. It’s not just Kuwait doing it, other countries are also sanitizing the roads like China and the UAE. In Dubai, they’re even using drones to do it although that might just be a PR stunt. So if anyone has a theory or an article on this please share it in the comments. I’m genuinely curious.

My second question is, why are they using ice cream truck music? You can hear it in the video above. It’s kinda funny because whenever I heard the music yesterday I ran to my window. It reminded me when I used to spend my summers in the States as a kid because I’d run to the window whenever I heard the ice cream truck music as well.

Interestingly, the baladiya are on my street today cleaning up the area around the garbage bins. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while then you know I’ve had lots of drama with the baladiya and the garbage on my street. This is the cleanest I’ve seen the bins area and I think it’s part of this sanitization campaign which is great!

There is a book I’ve been wanting to post about since September, but I held myself back since I wanted to at least get a copy of the book for myself before I tell everyone about it. The book is called “Aftermath” and was originally published back in 1992 in French under the name “Fait” (which means fact) and a year later published in English. The book is by the French photographer Sophie Ristelhueber who came to Kuwait at the end of the Gulf War to document the traces of conflict. Her series of photographs were then published in her book as well as being exhibited in galleries and museums around the world include the TATE Modern Museum. In the short video below by TATE, Sophie discusses her photographs, her journey to Kuwait and why she captured what she captured.

SOPHIE RISTELHUEBER (French, b. 1949) traveled to Kuwait at the end of the Gulf War to record the physical traces of the conflict. Entitled Fait or Fact, the resulting series of photographs—aerial and ground-level, in color and black-and-white—depicts trenches and tank tracks, bomb craters, dense smoke rising from blazing oil wells, battle detritus scattered in the sand. Ristelhueber hangs the large prints in an expansive grid that at first reads as a beautiful abstract field, then reveals itself to be a reconstitution of the battlefield on the gallery wall. –MoMA

The book isn’t that difficult to come by if you’re willing to throw money at it. Right now there are three copies on AbeBooks but with prices ranging from KD150 to KD230, you might find them for slightly cheaper at around KD130 if you look around the web. Personally, I didn’t want to pay so much since I tend to buy a lot of old books and trust me, it adds up. So I waited and waited for the right copy until a few weeks ago a bookseller in Germany put an original French version up for sale for around KD90. I guess due to the current situation I was able to negotiate the price and bring it down to a much more reasonable KD50.

Unlike other books and photographers of the 1990 war, there is something beautiful in the way Sophie captures the scars. You really need to watch the video above to understand why she captured it the way she did but the end result is breathtaking.

The fact it’s the French version isn’t an issue since the book is filled with photos and just has one spread that actually has any text on it. If you have the chance to purchase it, I highly recommend you do. If you don’t want to spend so much for the original, there is a publisher called Errata that has published the book as part of their books on books series. It doesn’t come in the original form factor, but it does contain all the photos and is priced at just KD15. You can find more info on that here.

There are around 70 photos in total but if you’d like to see more then check out Sophie’s website here.

Update: Sorry video wasn’t embedded properly, just fixed it

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A post shared by The British School of Kuwait (@bsk_kw) on Mar 28, 2020 at 4:14am PDT

Some British School of Kuwait band students got together virtually and performed the Kuwait National anthem online as part of a virtual ensemble. Check out the video above.

Over the weekend I got outbid on some Harvey Llyod slides of Kuwait dating back to 1979. They were being sold as part of an estate find and according to the seller, there were 180 film slides of Kuwait covering a wide range of subjects. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in them but I ended up getting outbid on them by someone I’m guessing is some kind of collector in Kuwait since their bidding history involves a lot of old Kuwait stamps.

So in case whoever won these slides reads my blog, can you please get in touch with me? I was planning to scan all the slides and share them here so maybe we can still do that.

Yesterday the Kuwait Municipality announced that starting today you can only get your coffee delivered. Up until yesterday you could still pick up a coffee from your favorite coffee shop or use their drive-thru service. I’m guessing the reason behind this decision is that having your morning coffee isn’t considered essential and so no reason for you to leave the house or wait in a busy line just to get it. On the bright side, most coffee shops are now on the delivery apps and Arabica have started delivering hot coffees as well.

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A post shared by مركز الشيخ جابر الأحمد الثقافي (@jacc_kw) on Mar 25, 2020 at 11:11am PDT

The song above was created for JACC by a bunch of local musicians whom played their parts individually while in isolation in their homes.

A couple of days ago my friend was telling me that she went to her local Co-op and spotted the chairs outside with people sitting and waiting to get in. So she went up to the guy in charge and asked him where she should wait. He then asked her if she was Kuwaiti and when she said yes he told her she didn’t have to wait and they let her in. This morning I read a post on reddit about a similar situation where they were also letting Kuwaitis enter without having to wait in line while expats were forced to wait. It doesn’t seem to be happening at all co-ops but it’s still pretty messed up that it’s even happening. It’s like every time I feel like the rift between expats and locals closes, something like this happens to open it up again.

I was out on the balcony awhile ago during the curfew because there was a loud noise down the street. A large group of people were yelling Allahu Akbar (out their windows I’m guessing) so I took out my phone to try and record it when I noticed an undercover cop car coming down the street. I had seen three guys standing under their building so I knew things might get interesting and decided to record the cops. As expected they ended up spotting and then catching the guys.

They didn’t arrest them, they let them go but not sure if they gave them a warning or took their ID cards or something. It’s pretty cool to see my back streets being patrolled during the curfew and with unmarked vehicles which is pretty smart.

I know why they implemented a curfew for us, I think it’s great that they did, but it’s still gonna suck. For someone who is usually constantly out and about, since the public holiday started I’ve spent 99% of my time at home working during my work hours and then playing videogames and watching TV for the rest of the day.

But, whenever I felt like I needed to reset, I’d hop in my car and just go for a long drive. Now I won’t have that freedom anymore. It sounds like something small, but it was my way of coping with the whole thing and it helped me not feel like I was stuck at home.

Like with everyone (I’m assuming), it’s been pretty difficult having to adjust to this new lifestyle. My eating habits have changed, I no longer exercise, I don’t see people and now I’ve got three more weeks of this left at least. I’m gonna end up like Tom Hanks in Castaway at this pace.

How is everyone else coping with all this? Are some of you still going in to work or is everyone now working from home?

Qortoba Co-op are sterilizing all the shopping carts after use and then covering the handles with a plastic seal. I love how everyone is adapting to the current situation and fairly quickly too.

Thanks Aisha

A lot of you don’t know this but for the past two and a half years I’ve been working in the restaurant industry. It’s a really challenging field and I’m working harder than I have ever done but I’m also loving every minute of it. Right now the restaurant industry all over the world is facing a major crisis. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of restaurants have had to stop operating dine-in and those who offer delivery have had their sales drop considerably.

I’m still ordering food in as I usually do and in the rare occasion when I need to get out of the house, I’m going and picking up the food myself. But, a lot of people have stopped ordering and that’s really hurting restaurants (of all sizes). I’m trying to do my part in trying to support local restaurants and with the number of discounts and offers right now it’s a good time to be a customer. Below are some of my favorite places which I’m supporting:

Delivery
Abby Shawaya – Best pulled chicken sandwiches (musa7ab)*
China Kitchen – My favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant
CHKN – Best fried chicken sandwiches in the world* (I’m serious)
Clean Eats – My favorite vegan restaurant
Enab Beirut – They’re one of my favorite Lebanese delivery places
Frankies – One of the hottest breakfast spots in town now delivers
KAU – One of my favorite burger places right now (order the truffle burger)
Lavan – My favorite Indian restaurant now also deliver
Momo Zaa – The Bhutanese dumpling place now deliver
Leila Min Lebnen – My other favorite Lebanese restaurant
Lucky Bun – Another favorite burger place (order the Ooh Mami with an extra patty)
Madison & Heig – Probably the best bakery in town right now
Roto – Delicious wood-fired rotisserie chicken
Rustic Thai Kitchen – Authentic and delicious Thai food
Tampopo – Best Ramen in town easily!
Vigonovo – Still my favorite Italian restaurant in Kuwait
Wachamean – Order the Wacha Burger with an extra patty

Pick up
BBT – I love this tiny burger place
Shawarma Shakir – Their spicy meat shawerma is the best

You can also support your favorite restaurants by following them on instagram and writing reviews about them. If you have a favorite little place you want to support, let us know about them in the comments below and what kind of food they serve.

*One of the brands I work for

Because everyone is trying to stay at home right now, I realized it was the perfect time to post an updated version of my local shopping websites list. I’m sure I’ve missed a few so if there are any local websites which you think I should add, let me know in the comments.

Categories (click link to jump to the section)
Babies / Children
Beauty / Self Care
Books
Car Accessories
Coffee
Computers
Electronics
Fashion
Flowers / Perfume
Food Products
Furniture
Hardware
Hobbies
Homeware / Kitchenware
Lifestyle / Accessories
Music
Pets
Pharmacies
Phones & Accessories
Photography / Video
Plants and Garden Supplies
Sports
Stationary
Supermarkets
Toys / Board Games
Video Games
Other

Babies / Children
Bonboni’s
Dinoo
Ivy Babdies
Mothercare
Oleana Boutique
Sniggles

Beauty / Self Care
Apotheca Beauty
Bath & Body Works
Bloomingdales
Creamat
Etheco
Jothen
K7L
Klarif
L’Occitane
Rskin

Books
Aafaq Bookstore
Books Room
Brilliant Company
Books for Cancer
Claudia Al Rashoud
Litterae Used Bookshop
Page Turner
Qasr Al-Thaqafa
Red Balloon Books
Saint Books
The English Bookshop

Car Accessories
Auto Depot
Garage Shuwaikh
Garmin
Mafra
Motorworks

Coffee
48 East
Caffeine
Coffee Tools
Qahwety
Stock Room

Computers
Alpha Store
AryCart
Cameoo
Digits
Gait
Personal Computer Center
Quadra
Smartek
Sunmoon
Want it Buy it

Electronics
3RoodQ8
Adawliah
Ali Abdulwahab Al Mutawa
Best
Blink
Eureka
EVA
Garmin
H&S Store
Jashanmal
RTC
X-Cite

Fashion
Alostoura
Bloomingdales
Casio
Centerpoint
Crocs
Dog House Collective
Fjällräven
Footlocker
Grain
H&M
Hind
Local Tees
My Dikaan
Nalbes
Our Trend
Pink Moon
Sprayground
Thahab
Thouqi
Zara

Flowers / Perfume
Arablly
Beidoun Online
Beauty
Bleems
Boutiqaat
Floward
Souq Perfume

Food Products
Alaman Coop
Baqala
Blue Passion
e-Baqala
eGroccery
Exotic Snax
FAME
Furdtk
Gourmet ME
Gourmet Shelf
Healthy Shop
Ikil
Kolita
Natureland
Sinbad Filipino Store
Taw9eel
The Approved Market

Furniture
Abyat
IKEA
My Athath
Pottery Barn
Safat Home
The ONE
West Elm

Hardware
Ace Hardware
Al Qatami Fire Fighting Equipment
Bin Nisf
I Buy Safety
Jawad AlSaffar
Makhazan
Makita
Mawady
Royal Tools
Safety International
Sanam

Hobbies
7erafy
Al Zame
Arts & Crafts
Camp N Sea
Dr Cue Billard World
Explorers Base
Ikarus
Mogahwi
Pro-Hobbies
The Horse Co
The Sandy Needle
Wood Crafter

Homeware / Kitchenware
Lawazm
Mabrook
Tavola
TP Green

Lifestyle / Accessories
Caravan
Craft and Company
Ecru
Fen’Teg
Fk Jewellers
Ontime
Paper & Nest
theblockdown
The Soap Box
The Yard
VisionE Boutique

Music
Adawliah
Misfits
Salmeen Music
Vinyl Destination

Pets
Pet Center
Pet House
Pets Market
Pet Zone

Pharmacies
Alessa
Hadi Pharmacy
International Optics (Contacts)
Dowa
Kindi
Pharma Zone
Pharmatee
Ultramed (Dental)

Phones & Accessories
A Store
Anker
Cavaraty
Chips Store
Huawei
MoBax
Mobile 2000
Switch
Vortek

Photography / Video
35MM
AAB World
Ajas
CRATE
Falcon
Fuji Film
Gulf Pixel
Lumen Store

Plants and Garden Supplies
Bio Hydro
Grow
Mashatel
Organic Value
Plant More
Q8 Orgnanic
Sustainable Organic

Sports
53 Sports
Al Sabih Marine
AlNasser Sports
Ananda
BeFit
Beyond Equipments
Champion
Decathlon
Extreme Sports
Float & Ride
Gym Doctor
HYPRID Fitness
Intersport
Kuwait Watersports
Nomad Strength Co.
Perform Athletics
ProSports
Q8 Kite Boarding
Sportsman
Sports Group
The Horse Co
The Magic Shop
Wawan

Stationary
Maktaba
Mogahwi
Nottah
Pilot Pens
Starlight
Stationary Online

Supermarkets
Lulu
On Cost
SaveCo
Sultan Center

Toys / Board Games
Board Games Q8
Bricks
Fairy Hub
Fantasy World
Games United
Good Game
Ufff

Video Games
Alfuhod
AX Store
Blink
ComplexQ8
Feesha
GamesQ8
Game Store
Level Up
ProGaming
Retro Games
Taw9eel
Xcite

Other
As Seen on TV (Random Stuff)
Sheeel (Daily Deal)
UTC (Department Store)
Yoghi (Office/School Supplies)

If you’re bored at home and looking for a good book to read, Aafaq Bookstore have an offer at the moment in response to the Coronavirus situation where they will deliver any book to you for free, no minimum order required. Their website is still under construction but you can use it, for now, to browse for books and then call them or whatsapp them to place the order. They have over 1,400 English books available and over 2,400 Arabic ones. Their website is aafaqbookstore.com and to place an order call or whatsapp them on 55524066

This offer is valid until March 29th when the public holiday is over.

Update: Their website is now live! Use the code KAFD for free delivery in Kuwait except for Sabah Al-Ahmad residential area and Ali Sabah Al-Salem.

When considering your ideal workspace, it is essential that your surroundings speak as a testament to your chosen environment. Methodically thought-out plans and endless hours of laboring over various design options, floorplans, furniture and accessories are only part of the labor of love required to envision, and then fully see that vision come to life.

Interior design as a concept is actually more than just what you see around you; rather, it’s about how the space that surrounds you makes you feel, and how it captures your singular and exclusive personality whether as an individual, or a brand.

Thus, was born the idea of A-LINE DESIGN, an independent interior design studio committed to the planning and execution of conceptual spaces for commercial projects and residential as well. Based in Kuwait and Lebanon and servicing the GCC and MENA region, A-LINE DESIGN is led by experienced interior architects and designers, the studio considers passion as the essence of their design journey, according to their vision statement.

If you find yourself asking, “Why would I consider an interior design studio when I can do it on my own?” The answer is simple: at A-LINE DESIGN, the team has studied meticulously the way your environment can relate to you, thus becoming responsible for creating spaces that are not only rich in beauty and function, but also ones that exude aesthetic positivity and evoke comfort and wellness. A-Line can help by enriching the experience through the utilization of the space to its fullest potential.

Not interested in the ordinary or mundane, A-LINE DESIGN instead seeks to create spaces that inspire the mind and spirit, constantly exploring creatively so that every room, every project is its own unique, one-of-a-kind space.

Working together with the client – considered a design partner and active member of the team – A- LINE DESIGN takes time to fully understand your needs to help you create a harmonic and dynamically impactful design. After thoroughly inspecting the space and learning your inimitable requirements, the team then prepares the concept design as it aligns with your objectives. This process of conceptualizing is in fact what A-Line Design considers the key to their success.

A-LINE DESIGN is a studio that is driven by passion and the desire to create masterful and distinctive spaces that inspire and stimulate. There is no singular ‘signature’ style, as every individual or brand carries a uniquely original sense of self, one which A-LINE DESIGN can help hone.

If you’re thinking about renovating your home or workspace to a more impactful and rousing design, look no further than A-LINE DESIGN.

You can follow A-LINE DESIGN on insta @a_linedesignco or by giving them a call on +965 55882881 or by email: [email protected]

Instagram: a_linedesignco
Facebook: A-line design

I was talking to my friends in Dubai on Thursday letting them know what was going on in Kuwait and to my surprise, life was still normal over there. People were still going to work, going out drinking and partying, going to the gym as if there wasn’t a global pandemic.

It made me realize how on top of things Kuwait is right now. We were one of the first countries to shut down schools, we were given a public holiday not because we have an emergency but because they were being proactive in avoiding an emergency. Over the weekend cops were blocking off access to the beach so people don’t end up hanging out there and last night they announced the closure of malls and hair salons.

Things aren’t perfect for sure, but I can’t think of any other country I’d rather be in right now during this pandemic.