Recently I found out that we have a suicide hotline number in Kuwait which is great news. Sadly, it’s only available from 9AM to 12PM!(UPDATE BELOW)
I’m actually hoping that isn’t really true and that the conversation between me and the Social Development Office (pictured above) got lost in translation. Having a suicide hotline that was only available 3 hours a day would be pretty ridiculous. In any case, the below information might be helpful to some readers especially if you’re looking for therapy:
Hotline for Police Community (managed by therapists)
94000435 – 94000463
Social Development Office (FREE) and have many therapists
94069304 (Masella Branch)
94082761 (West Mishref Branch) Main Office
22402409/7 Hotline 22440904/22402401 instagram.com/socialdoffice
Update: They no longer are available for just three hours a day. Here are the suicide hotlines and working hours from the Social Development Office (as of September 24, 2020):
94702266 – 10AM until 4PM (for Teenagers and Adults)
99670675 – 2PM until 7PM (for Adults)
66022448 – 12PM until 7PM (for Teenagers and Adults)
99603997 – 11AM until 8PM (for Kids and Teenagers)
65079596 – 4PM until 10PM (for Adults)
93332007 – 5PM until 9PM (for Teenagers and Adults)
66220282 – 6PM until 9PM (for Adults)
Most of these suicide hotlines are available from Saturday until Thursday. Friday is off.
Update (May 2023): The above numbers no longer work, I’m currently trying to find updated numbers.
If you have a Kuwaiti passport you no longer need a visa to enter the UK, all you need is a visa waiver. A friend of mine recently got the waiver two hours after applying for one. It’s cheaper than getting a regular visa and pretty convenient if you’re planning an impulse trip.
The cost for an electronic visa waiver is £15 but it’s only valid for one entry. You can apply for the EVW by visiting the EVW website [Here]
This story broke out over the weekend and it’s been picking up A LOT of media traction internationally. Local Instagram celebrity @sondos_aq recently went on a rant on the new local regulations requiring a weekly day off for Filipino domestic workers. You can watch her rant in the video above. To summarize, she thinks its ridiculous that domestic workers have to get a day off every week and that she doesn’t believe domestic workers should be able to keep their passports. Pretty racial comments and the worst part is, she has over 2.3 million followers.
Last month the Instagram celebrity 3bodka was caught abusing his dog, and now we have another influencer posting racial comments. Looking at how this is blowing up I wouldn’t be surprised if local authorities decide to create new laws or regulations to prevent situations like this from occurring again.
If you want to read more about this incident, check out the articles on CNN, Independent and Buzzfeed amongst other.
Found this show by accident and fell in love with the storyline right away. White Gold is a show about a team of double glazed window salesmen living in Essex, England in the early 80s. The idea of a show that combines Essex, the 80s and window salesmen is so absurd that I couldn’t resist not watching it. White Gold turned out to be such a great show that I quickly became a huge fan and started pushing it to all my friends.
If you have Netflix and like 80s based shows then you need to check this one out. There is only one season and just six episodes so shouldn’t take you long to zip right through it. [Link]
Last night I spotted a recycling machine at Sultan Center Salmiya. It wasn’t working so I’m assuming they’re still setting it up but from what I managed to find out its a TOMRA Reverse Vending Machine.
One of the benefits of these machines is that it works with a loyalty program, so how I am assuming the way they will be used is when you recycle plastic bottles or cans, instead of getting money back you’ll get points added to your Sultan Card. If that’s the case then it might just get people to recycle.
Things usually slow down considerably during the summer months because of the heat but there are still things you can do and one of them is wakeboarding.
Q8 Balance is a wakeboarding school that charge by the hour. They provide you with all the gear you need to wakeboard and they use one of the best wakeboarding boats available. All the wakeboarding is done inside the lagoons in Khiran which is great especially for beginners since you don’t have waves to deal with. Q8balance charge KD35 per hour which is pricey, but what I usually do is go with a friend or two and split the cost since it’s too exhausting to wakeboard the full hour alone plus, not as fun.
I book my sessions over WhatsApp a week ahead of time since they’re usually super busy. So if you’re interested in wakeboarding, they’re on instagram @q8balance and their WhatsApp number is 66130092.
In case you’re curious about the cost of repairing a water damaged iPhone X at an authorized dealer, here is what I found out when I took mine to Digits.
– They opened my phone to find the interior still wet even though I had my phone in a bowl of rice for three days. They dried out the interior and put the phone back together, the cost of that was KD10.
– My rear cameras were still fogged up. Because the camera assembly is enclosed they can’t open it up themselves to dry it out. The solution they offered me was to replace the whole camera assembly which costs KD55. I decided not to do that.
– My front facing camera was working perfectly now (not foggy anymore) but Face ID was still disabled in the settings with no way to turn it back on. According to support if the problem didn’t resolve itself, then the only way to fix it would be to replace the internal phone board. That isn’t something Apple does instead what they do is allow you to swap your damaged phone for a brand new one. The cost of that? 230KD. For a phone that’s badly damaged, I can see that being worthwhile but not in my situation.
Anyway I took the phone home and dumped it into telephone rice again. By evening time the rear cameras were no longer fogged up but Face ID still didn’t work. I’m just gonna keep it in rice for a few more days and if Face ID still doesn’t work I’ll just use the phone without it.
Until just recently, if you wanted good ramen in Kuwait you were basically out of luck. There weren’t many places that had ramen and the places that did usually had a pretty average bowl. But, last week a new ramen place opened up in Kuwait called Tampopo and it’s great!
The chef behind Tampopo is Maryam Alnusif (or Mimi), many of you might have heard of her since she is behind Shakshooka and The Secret Garden project. Tampopo is actually right next to the Secret Garden, it’s a small place with a main seating area composed of a bar running along the kitchen counter, as well as a bar facing the opposite wall and another bar stretching across the main storefront window. The menu is extremely simple with just three ramen dishes to choose from: Chicken, duck and vegan ramen. They also have a few cocktails and surprisingly, really great tasting non-alcholic Japanese Asahi beer.
I was there with some friends and so we ordered one of everything. My favorite ramen bowl was the vegan one followed by the duck and then the chicken. Because we got there early at around 6:30PM, we managed to find seating, but by the time we were done with our bowls, the place was already packed with people waiting to be seated. I loved the food, the atmosphere and all the people behind Tampopo so I’m definitely going back again this week. Plus its walking distance from my home which is pretty convenient.
Because Tampopo is still in a soft launch phase, they’re only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 6PM to 10PM. But, starting next week they might start opening on Mondays as well. They also right now only accept cash but should start accepting knet next week. For a map of the location and to stay up to date on their store timings, check out their instagram page @tampopo.ramenshop
So last week there was a case of mass food poisoning in Kuwait because of a falafel restaurant in Hawalli. Supposedly the former partner of the restaurant conspired with an employee to poison the falafel and today Kuwait Times mentions they found the food to be contaminated with salmonella and other types of bacteria. Around 300 customers got food poisoned and yet none of the newspapers or news outlets have mentioned which restaurant had their food contaminated (at least none of the English outlets). I really don’t understand why news media continue to shy away from posting the name of the restaurant especially in a case like this where many other people might be infected and not know they are.
When there was an E. coli outbreak at Chipotle in the States, all the news outlets wrote about it, but if the same outbreak had taken place in Kuwait they’d probably just describe Chipotle as an American franchise.
Haven’t done this for a while but here is my Lebanon summer guide for 2018 in case you’re heading there in the next couple of months.
//////// FOOD ////////
Coara
Since I was with four vegans on my last trip, one of the places we really wanted to try was Coara. It had been on my todo list ever since I watched the video above. The food was incredibly delicious and the husband and wife that cook and run the place were extremely hospitable. I highly recommend it and it’s just an hour away up in the mountains from Beirut.
Onno
Originally a small Armenian restaurant in the poor neighborhood of Burj Hammoud, Onno became popular with the tourists after Anthony Bourdain fell in love with the place. The restaurant has now expanded with multiple locations around Lebanon, but the food is still great. My favorite location of theirs is in Badaro, it’s walking distance from the Smallville Hotel and it’s surrounded by some decent bars.
Kalei Coffee Co.
This is my favorite coffee spot in Lebanon. Not only is their coffee good but they’ve got a very chill garden area to just kick back in and take a break.
Hanna Mitri Ice Cream
I honestly have no idea what the place is called, I just know the name of the owner and I think that’s what most people go by. It’s a hole in the wall, literally, but he has the best Arabic ice cream you’ll ever have. All the ice cream is made fresh daily and depending on what time you pass by he might have sold out of specific flavors or even closed down early because he sold out of everything. There usually is a small queue outside the door but it’s never that bad. Oh and make sure you know what you want since the owner is the equivalent of Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi. If there is a queue and you get to the front and are confused, don’t expect to get any ice cream. If you’re stuck, just ask for a mix of everything.
Smoking Bun
Still my favorite burger spot and that mostly because it’s located in Mar Mikhael near all the bars. This is the #1 burger place to stumble into half drunk at 2AM. They even have a vegan burger which wasn’t bad at all.
//////// BARS ////////
Internazionale
This has been my goto place for a few years now. It’s located right on Mar Mikhael street and its a very chill bar with good music and a small outdoor seating. This is a great place to sidewalk drink while watching people walk by and a great place to socialize with complete strangers.
Anise
This is a small bar also located on Mar Mikhael and a few stores behind Internazionale. Their super pro bartenders probably make the best cocktails on the strip and their smoked rosemary whiskey sour is insanely good. This is the place if you want to have a good cocktail.
People – Aishti Rooftop
If you’re in the downtown area and are looking for a mid-day break then this is a nice place to stop in for a glass of chilled white wine or Prosecco. It’s located on the rooftop of Aishti and it’s usually pretty quiet during the day.
//////// BEACH ////////
Colonel Beach
Located to the north of Lebanon in the beach town of Batroun, Colonel beach is part of the Colonel beer brewery and restaurant. It’s not that big but its cozy and obviously they’ve got a great selection of their own beer to choose from. Check their schedule if you’re interested in beach yoga since they take place pretty frequently during the summer time. There is no entry fee to access this beach.
Lazy B
While Colonel is located in the north, Lazy B is located in the south in the town of Jiyeh. They have multiple pools including one just for adults and they also have a pretty large sandy beach area. What I like about Lazy B is that they don’t have loud music blasting and they have lots of private shaded areas with hammocks scattered all around. Lazy B also has a good selection of poolside food to choose from and there is alcohol of course. The entry fee is $30.
//////// ACTIVITIES ////////
Hiking
One of my favorite things to do in Lebanon and I always recommend visitors to go on a day hike. The Tannourine Cedar Reserve is a place I recommend often since the location is incredible and the trail fairly organized. Check out my previous post on hiking in Lebanon [Here]
ATVing in Lebanon can be pretty fun and adventurous especially if you head up to Faraya and take one of their 6-hour excursions. I’ve done it three times with different friends and we’ve always had a blast. For more information on this check out my previous post [Here]
If there are any other places you want to recommend, let people know by leaving a comment below.
Yesterday after passing by the clays and crafts store Herafy, I happened to see a sign for the “International Academy of Arts”. I was curious to know what it was, so I walked in to find an old cinema projector in the entrance and then the hallways covered with black and white old film photos. So I kept exploring until a guy who works there came up to me and asked if he could help. He ended up giving me a tour of the facility and explained to me what they do.
“International Academy of Arts” is a film school that teaches acting, directing, cinema makeup, editing, sound recording, radio broadcasting and more. They had different rooms for different subjects and they all seemed to be pretty up to date. No idea if the school is any good but if this is something you’re interested in it might be worth checking out. Their website doesn’t seem to be working at the moment but you can check out their instagram @i.a.arts.
Kuwait is on its way to become “a country with the strongest and fastest Internet in the Arab world” through the use of optic fiber cables, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a source close to the Sate Ministry for Services. The source pointed out that majority of the advanced countries provide Internet with a speed of 50 gigabytes, whereas the ministry will provide 100 gigabytes starting from August. [Source]
And somehow I’m still stuck barely getting 10Mbps because I live in Salmiya.
