We’ve got a long weekend coming up so I’m trying to find different events happening on every day. Below is what I’ve found so far but check back over the next few days because I’ll update the list as more things pop up.
Last year I posted about how to get custom car covers but they weren’t cheap costing upwards of 40KD per cover. But what if you wanted a much cheaper alternative?
I was looking for a cheap option for myself and found a local Instagram account that sells plastic car covers for cheap:
5 covers for 10 KD
10 covers for 15 KD
15 covers for 20 KD
20 covers for 25 KD
These prices include delivery.
Most people won’t need more than 5 covers but you could buy more covers and just give them to friends. The covers are basically oversized shower caps and are one size fits all. They won’t provide any protection from the sun and would probably fly off with a strong gust of wind, but they do work really well indoors to stop your car from getting covered in dust. I’ve even seen some people who use these covers over their factory covers (like the ones that come with Ferraris) so those covers don’t get so dirty. They’re cheap and so if they get damaged, ripped, or dirty you can always just throw it away and use another one.
If you want to order these the Instagram account is @car_cover_kw and their WhatsApp number is 55356645. They also have smaller versions for motorbikes.
I’m at the airport now waiting to board my flight to Istanbul so I wanted to post a quick update regarding flying out with the new rules that came into effect two days ago.
I’m flying Jazeera Airways and at the airport, most people are wearing masks. That hasn’t changed since the mask guidelines are still in place. What did change is that I wasn’t asked for my PCR test at any point. Turkey doesn’t require a PCR test for entry and you aren’t required a PCR test to leave Kuwait nor Jazeera require one to fly with them. Instead, they just checked to see my vaccine status. Some airlines and countries do require you to get a PCR test so just because Kuwait no longer requires one doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get one.
The only issue I did have actually today is with Jazeera themselves. For those of you traveling with them this holiday, you should be aware that they don’t have a long parking solution and their park & fly is not active. I asked their Instagram account about long-term parking and was told that park & fly was active and I should park on the 3rd or 4th floor of their parking lot. But when I got to the airport I started asking around if there was anything I needed to do other than just park my car on the 3rd floor and no employee had any information. In the end, after talking to a supervisor, I found out the service wasn’t active yet and if I had left my car in their parking lot I would have been surprised by an 80KD fee on my return (it’s 9.5KD a day). I had to take my car out of their parking and move it to the long-term parking lot in the regular airport terminal and walk back to Jazeera.
The second issue is the fact there is nowhere to sit inside the Jazeera terminal once past passport control. The terminal is tiny and there are more passengers than seats available so there is major overcrowding. People are just standing around, leaning on pillars, or roaming around. So that’s something to be aware of as well.
If anybody has any questions just let me know in the comments.
I’ve had these photos in my archive for a couple of years now, I forgot where I got them from but I guess it’s about time to share them. Some of the photos are really great but I’m not 100% positive about the date of the photos.
They’re a mixture of photos ranging from 1975 to 1977. I think 1977 because in one of the photos you can see the Kuwait Towers in the background and it looks like construction on it was completed, but that only happened in 1977. But in other photos, you can see the dates 1975 and 1976 so it’s a mix.
No matter the dates the photos are really great and with all the silly drama with yoga taking place now, vintage photos like these are now more important than ever to share. You can view and download them all in hi-res by clicking here.
In addition to the photos, there is also a video taken from the AP archive showing the 1975 parade. Usually, I’d say bring back the parades but even if we did, I don’t think it would ever be the same. Kuwait was so different back then.
A lot of people are traveling this holiday now that PCR tests are no longer needed but if you’re staying put and are looking for some shows to watch, here are a few I recently finished watching:
Euphoria
I already posted about Euphoria last year but season 2 is out now and somehow they’ve managed to make the show even better. Season 2 Episode 3 is probably one of my favorite top 10 episodes from any show of all time and the whole series is a must-watch. If you find yoga offensive, skip this show. Euphoria is on HBO Max.
The Shrink Next Door
I didn’t really like this show that much but I’m putting it here since when I was stuck at home with Covid I killed a lot of time by binge-watching this series. The Shrink Next Door stars Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd and is based on a true story. It’s available to stream on AppleTV+
The Book of Boba Fett
Is it me or are the shows based on the Star Wars movies actually better than the movies themselves? First, it was The Mandalorian and now The Book of Boba Fett. Even if you’ve never watched any of the Star Wars film you’ll still really enjoy this series as long as you’re into scifi. You’re going to need Disney+ to watch it though.
And Just Like That…
Quick confession, I was always a huge fan of Sex and the City but mostly because of the character Mr. Big played by Chris Noth. And Just Like That… surprisingly was fun to watch, not too cringy and somehow relatable. The girls have all grown up, they have families now and we get to watch them adulting while they also try to be their old selves. This show is streaming on HBO Max.
City on a Hill
If you’re a fan of detective shows like The Wire, you’ll enjoy this a lot. The first season was better than the second season but was still good to watch. City on a Hill is produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon while starring Kevin Bacon in one of his best roles yet. If you’re my age you’ll also recognize a bunch of actors from old shows like Rescue Me, The Sopranos, and of course, The Wire. Really easy to binge watch and it’s also streaming on HBO Max.
Dexter: New Blood
As a huge fan of Dexter, I thought I wasn’t going to enjoy this reboot but I just finished it last night, and shit, that was a pretty great series. Except for the last episode that is. No spoilers but I didn’t think it made sense, and going by the reviews online it seems nobody else liked the last episode either. To watch Dexter: New Blood you need to subscribe to Showtime.
If you don’t know how to stream the shows, it’s pretty simple. You need to sign up to a smart DNS service first (easier than a VPN). I use Smart DNS Proxy (affiliate link) and they have step by step guides on how to set it up on your system (I use Apple TV). I then subscribe to all the networks through my Apple TV using my US Apple account.
This weekend is incredibly busy with lots of things happening including two large events. Starting today till Saturday you have the Bugsha Market taking place at Green Island. Then on Friday and Saturday, you have the Made Food Festival taking place at Kuwait Motor Town. I’m coincidently taking part in the Car Open Track on Saturday at KMT so it should be interesting with the event happening there as well at the same time. If you have a bicycle you could go Saturday morning and ride your bike at the track and then when done, enjoy the festival or chill and watch the racing events at the track.
Anyway, below is the full list of events for this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a Los Angeles based chain that was started back in 2017 by four Armenian friends in a parking lot with just $900. Today they have over 40 locations, Drake as a major investor and will soon have 30 more locations opening up in the Gulf. According to the press release that was published yesterday, the company that got the rights to Dave’s Hot Chicken in the region is the UAE based Lavoya, a company that also has the rights to Joe & The Juice.
The press release doesn’t mention an opening date only that they will be opening 31 locations in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. I’m trying to remember if I ever had Dave’s Hot Chicken while in LA since the logo looks familiar (plus they’re Armenian) but can’t seem to find any photos of the food in my vacation albums. The food does look really really good on their instagram account so you can drool over those for now @daveshotchicken
Does anyone know the process of replacing an old/damaged license plate? I’m currently in the process of restoring a car and I need to replace the front license plate with a new one since the one on the car currently is bent and worn out. I’ve only ever gone through the process of swapping a square plate to a Euro-style license plate so not sure what the process is for replacing a worn-out plate (if thats possible even).
Give is a local non-profit organization that aims to improve the process of donating. Their online platform connects donors with registered Kuwaiti charities in order to make it easier to discover what charitable projects are available and to donate to them all in one place.
The Give website lists different projects in various countries you could donate to not just Kuwait, so if you want to donate to a certain cause that’s not local, you can also do that. Locally as of this post, they have 33 different projects you could donate to ranging from snacks for low-income workers to sponsoring an orphan child. Navigating the various projects and finding one that is of interest to you is a very easy process, the whole experience actually is very simple and I really like that.
The process of donating once you find a cause is incredibly fast and more importantly, anonymous. You don’t need to create an account to donate, you don’t even need to give them your name or email address. It took me less than a minute from the moment I found a project I wanted to donate to till I checked out and finished paying. One thing to note is that Give charges a 500fils service fee when donating. They don’t explain what it’s for on their website, but I’m guessing it’s to fund the service. Update below
Give also have apps for both Apple and Android devices if that’s something you prefer. That way whenever you feel like donating you can just launch the app and find a project to donate to. I’m really impressed with the whole concept and I definitely recommend checking them out so visit their website give.org.kw
Update: Give made me aware that they do actually mention what the service fee but during the checkout process. I just didn’t notice it.
Pixel artist Comet Confetti yesterday posted a really great 8-bit art recreation of the famous photo of a Kuwaiti girl and her lamb taken right after the Gulf War. If you’re into 8-bit art like me then you should check out her instagram account for more of her work @cometconfetti
On a side note, what’s the story behind the picture? I couldn’t find anything about it online and I’m guessing the girl in the photo is around 40 years old now. I wonder where she is?
On Friday I visited the Liberation Tower for my first time ever after booking an appointment earlier in the week. I had booked a 4PM spot back when you could book a time slot, but decided to pass by at 2PM instead. The process to enter the tower was very simple. I parked in the underground parking across the street and then headed to the main tower entrance on the main road. There was a guy standing at the gate who was scanning the ticket QR code, he wasn’t checking the time slot just that you had an active QR code or not. Once I got through him I just needed to show my vaccination status to another counter and then was pointed in the direction of the elevator.
I’d never been to the Liberation Tower before so I was really excited to get to the top. I saw the tower being built as a kid, and as an adult I drive by it all the time so I was really looking forward to finally be able to go inside. Once I stepped out of the elevator onto the observation deck I was actually surprised, it looked nice. Because it’s an old government building I think I was just expecting it to look rundown but instead it was actually very clean and looked brand new. As part of this one month opening of the deck they had some vintage telecom and postal service related items on display but without any explanation or information. They also had an old phone booth which was cool and viewing binoculars spread out around the deck. It was very chill, I liked it.
When I posted photos of my experience on Instagram a lot of people messaged me to ask if it was worth visiting or not. That’s difficult to answer. My office in Hamra Tower was higher than the observation deck at Liberation Tower so you are’t going there because it’s the tallest structure in Kuwait. I think it’s one of those places worth visiting just because of what they are, an important Kuwaiti landmark.
To book tickets you can do so by visiting LiberationTower.com but like I mentioned in my previous post you’ll get a “Sold out” error if you do so. Instead, you need to get tickets through the loophole I found which is by booking through this page. People who booked through that page have confirmed they were able to visit the Liberation Tower at the day and time of their choosing and were let in without any issues. Just make sure you have a QR code for every person in your group.
