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The annual camel racing tournament starts this Saturday, February 4th, and will last until February 9th. If you’ve been meaning to go to the races but have been putting it off, now would be the best time to go.

There will be races every morning and afternoon except for the last day when it will only be held in the afternoon. Below are the start times of the races:

Sat Feb 4 – 8AM and 3:30PM
Sun Feb 5 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Mon Feb 6 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Tue Feb 7 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Wed Feb 8 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Thu Feb 9 – 3:30PM

There is no entrance fee and you can either watch the races from the track stands or drive up to the starting lines and watch the start of the races.

Here is the location on Google Maps.

This might come in handy one day, a reader recently lost one of his license plates and decided to share the process of getting a new one in case it happens to anyone else. Here are the steps he had to take:

1. Go to the police station and get a police complaint

2. Go to your traffic department and get an application typed by the typing center there (tell them you need to get a new license plate). You will need your civil ID copy, a copy of the car registration, and the original copy of the police complaint from the first step

3. You’ll need to purchase a stamp, the amount depends on the type of license plate you have

4. You need to go to the department head and get his signature and stamp. He will also ask you to write your name, number and sign the paper.

5. After getting your paper signed you will have to go to one of the computer counters. They will enter your details and then call you and ask you to take photocopies of two papers and go to the license plates room. Make sure you don’t have any fines before giving them your papers or else they’ll give them back to you and ask you to go pay your fines first

6. The license plates person will give you a small sheet of paper with details attached to the photocopies you gave them

7. Take the paper and then head to the Assima traffic department in Shuwaikh and head to the license plate factory there which is on the ride side of the main building (Google Maps)

8. Give the paper to the guy at the reception and he will ask you to get a signature from the manager. When you get that signature give the paper back to him

9. He will ask you to wait and 5-10 minutes later you’ll have your new license plate

Thanks Uzair

Bonjiri, the Yakitori bar by Chef Maryam Alnusif (Mimi) last night became the second restaurant from Kuwait to make it to the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Bonjiri came in the No.50 spot, a few spots behind White Robata which came in 42nd but still an amazing accomplishment considering all the competition in the region.

If you’ve never been to Bonjiri before, check out my review here. For the full top 50 list, check out @theworlds50best

The annual list of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants was revealed last night and for the second year running, White Robata won the award for The Best Restaurant in Kuwait for 2023. They came in 42nd place overall in the Middle East & North Africa, one spot higher than last year.

The best restaurant this year was Dubai’s Orfali Bros Bistro. For the full top 50 list, check out @theworlds50best

The Red Bull Half Court is a 3×3 basketball tournament that takes place in 29 different countries including Kuwait. This year the tournament will be taking place in Kuwait from February 3rd to the 11th and there are still spots for teams available to sign up.

If you and your friends want to compete, it’s free to register. The tournament winners will get an all-expense paid trip to Serbia later this year to compete in the world finals.

To register your team simply go to redbullhalfcourt.com and sign up.

Sirdab is a new local online store that just launched yesterday that sells furniture that’s second-hand, antique, vintage, or handmade. Even though they launched yesterday their store has a ton of items for sale already including chairs, tables, lamps rugs, and various accessories. The website is also surprisingly good, it’s fast, easy to navigate, and easy to sort.

Delivery starts a 2KD for small items and goes up to 10KD for the larger stuff. If you want to check them out their Instagram is @shop.sirdab and their website is shopsirdab.com

Aseer Time are the largest juice shop franchise in Kuwait and they’ve been around for over a decade now. They have over 200 branches around the world including stores in Bahrain, KSA, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Denmark, and USA. They’re actually the first Kuwait brand to open more than 5 stores in the US.

With their continued transformation into a globally recognized brand, they’re looking for new franchise partners and you could be one of them.

The steps to joining Aseer Time are simple and straightforward:

1. Submit the Franchise Request Form
2. Get to know each other physical meeting or through video conference meeting
3. Signing of the Franchise Contract
4. Secure a site and construct your shop
5. Training the team to be ready to run the business
6. Grand opening

If you’re interested in owning a Aseer Time franchise, contact us on:

WhatsApp: +965 60065377
Email: [email protected]
Website: aseertime.com

The Grand Mosque is holding a tour in English this coming Saturday, January 14th. The tour will take place at 10:00 AM and last up to an hour.

The tour will take you through the Arabic calligraphy exhibition, the main prayer hall, and the Emir’s hall.

Dress Code: No sleeveless shirts nor shorts for men, and full-length cloaks and headscarves for women

Parking: Available at gate 5

Meeting Point: The visitor’s diwaniya

These tours aren’t held every weekend and aren’t always in English so don’t miss it if you’ve been meaning to go. No pre-booking is needed and no tickets either. This is a free tour.

According to the Ministry of Communications, starting February 2023, regular mail that arrives to Kuwait will be delivered straight to your home for a small fee. This means you no longer have to figure out which post office your package arrived at and then go through the hassle of picking it up yourself.

The package tracking system is also being revamped and improved since the current one is fairly basic and not that informative.

This is really good news because if the post office starts delivering mail straight to me I might just start shipping more stuff to them instead of using more expensive couriers like Shop&Ship and MyUS.

My favorite breakfast spot in Istanbul @namligurme is opening here in Kuwait in Avenues Phase 1. Namlı Gurme is a deli-style restaurant in Istanbul which I love because it’s super casual and serves a delicious Turkish breakfast.

The way it works in Istanbul is when you first walk into the place you stand in line at the deli counter and when it’s your turn, you order whatever you want from their fridge displays (cheeses, cold cuts, olives, jams, etc) as well as eggs with whatever you want with it. When your food is ready the waiter will bring it over to your table and I always get a jug of Turkish tea to have with it. It’s my favorite kind of breakfast.

When I say it’s my favorite breakfast spot in Istanbul I’m also not exaggerating, I literally have breakfast there every day, that’s how great this place is. I’m pretty surprised they’re opening in Kuwait because the concept is based of their local produce, but while prepping for this post I found out they’re actually also open in Bahrain (@namlibahrain) so if the concept works there it should work here. @namligurmekuwait

One of the best things about Istanbul is the food, the Turkish cuisine is really great but I’ve also had one of the best pastas I’ve ever had there (@ilcortileistanbul). They know their food and flavors really well which is why I’ve never had a bad experience.

But, my favorite restaurant in Istanbul is a small place called Yeni. I found it by mistake one night on my first trip to Istanbul and it’s now my go-to place while I’m there.

The menu is based on Turkish cuisine but the chef is always deconstructing classical Turkish dishes into more contemporary and exciting versions. Everything I’ve had there was incredibly flavorful and the presentation is always interesting. You can’t go wrong ordering off the menu blindly, even things I wouldn’t usually eat I make an exception for at Yeni since I know I’ll end up loving whatever I try. They have a tasting menu (9 and 7 courses) but I always go the à la carte direction.

The price is considered to be on the high side for Istanbul and so expect to pay around 20KD per person without drinks or 25KD if you go with the 9-course menu. Reservation is required especially on weekends when they’re super busy. Check them out next time you’re there @yeni.lokanta

MEI LI is a new Pan Asian fine dining restaurant that is opening at the end of this month at the Grand Hyatt.

I briefly posted about MEI LI in my Grand Hyatt sneak peek post. Back then I wasn’t able to show too many photos of the space but now that they’re getting ready I wanted to share the photos I had taken because it really is a beautiful-looking restaurant.

The restaurant is located near the main lobby of the hotel and their Instagram account is @mei_likw although as of this post there isn’t anything there.

Urban Outfitters, the lifestyle retailer opened its first store in Kuwait at The Avenue this past weekend. I passed by to check out my favorite section which is the lifestyle area that usually has vinyl records, film cameras, and various books but they didn’t have any of that here instead they had just homeware items. My guess is that wasn’t really in their control.

Pricewise we are pretty similar to the Dubai store prices if not exactly the same, but we’re around 7-10% more expensive than the stores in Europe (the tags all have the Euro prices on them to compare).

Urban Outfitters is located in Avenues Phase II, between Dean & Deluca and Baroue.

Kei, the first and oldest Japanese restaurant in Kuwait is reopening next month outside Assima Mall.

Kei first opened in Kuwait in 1980 and was initially located at the now-demolished Hilton Hotel in Bneid Al Gar. When the hotel got demolished, they moved to JW Marriott where they remained for 20 years until they had to move out again because the hotel was undergoing a major renovation. Kei is now moving to Assima Mall and for those of you who’ve been long-term customers, you’ll be pleased to know the majority of the old staff will be coming back as well.

The new Kei will be called Kei Downtown to differentiate it from the Kei Restaurant that will eventually reopen again at the JW Marriott. The new Kei will be a more casual dining experience with a more relaxed atmosphere.

The new location is in Assima Mall but on the outside and on the back with no mall access and adjacent to the entrance of the soon-to-open Marriott Executive Suites. To stay posted on the opening, follow @kei_downtown

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.