Sunday, January 31, 2016

Festival City Kuwait


The Festival will take a place at “Kuwait National Fair (Heritage City) from 4th of February till 5th of March 2016.
A wide range of Activities and Shows from all over the world will be at Festival City.

The Unforgettable Shows
Kids Shows Zone
The Voice Karaoke
Old Souk
Luna Park Zone
International Restaurants and Coffee Shops


I am assuming this is taking the place of the annual Proud to B Kuwaiti event? You can find more info on their website and FB.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

More restaurant complexes coming Soon- The Flamingo, The Dining and Tasters Eat Retreat

I've noticed several restaurant complexes coming up along highway 30, I didn't realize just how many there were. There are about 10 in the process of being built from Messila down to Abu Hasani area. Here are some of the ones in Abu Hasani.

The Flamingo complex is being built on the land that once had the Flamingo Oasis Hotel hence the name 'Flamingo'.
 I didn't see any name for this one..

 A few feet from the one above is one called 'The Dining'...
 Further down in the area is the nice looking 'Tasters Eat Retreat'



Some of these are being built on land that should have houses, I feel sorry for the people living in the area next to these places, they are going to see crowds, traffic and noise soon. The one above is a little difficult to get to as it is on a side street in front of the highway surrounded by houses. I wonder how they come up with the names of these places.

Friday, January 29, 2016

Hala February 2016- هلا فبراير

Hala Febrayer Festival 2016 will start on Thursday the 28th of January and will end on Wednesday the 24th of February. It has started later this year as January 8 was the kick off date last year.

You can find more on the Hala Feb website which is in Arabic but you can translate it to English and try your best to understand it. There are a few concerts coming up as well, the first one being held on Jan 29, here is the concert link to buy tickets.

Gulf Road closed for Hala Feb Celebrations

KUWAIT: Relations and Security Department at the Interior Ministry said that preparations have been made for Hala February carnival, including security and traffic. Gulf road will be closed from 1:00 am today – starting from Third Ring Road to the British Embassy cross-roads (from the seaside) – then both directions will be closed starting at 9:00 am. Several public’s parking lots have designated. They include; Graduates society parking and the open area next to it; Parking next to the embassies area; The Martyrs Hall parking; Daeya Coop parking; Parking across from Sharq police and the open area across from Souq Sharq.

A.      Hala February Theater
B.      Heritage vehicles exhibition
C.      Kuwait Al-Atta (giving) march
D.      Vehicles exhibition
E.     Children play ground
F.     Medvac (choppers)
G.      Restaurants
H.      Embassies
I.     Small business
J.     Children exhibition
K.     Youth skills
L.     Info Ministry Studio
M.     Sea show
N.      Air show
O.      VIP stand
P.      Sea performance
Q.      Air performance
R.     Kuwait Atta vehicles march
S.     Concert

Kuwait Al-Atta March activities:
Time

1:00 pm     Sea show
2:00 pm     Air Show
3:30 pm     Kuwait Atta Vehicles March
8:00 pm     Concert

--I bet Kuwait will be trying its best to attract tourists and make it seem like a place to put on one's bucket list.

Snow in Kuwait?

KUWAIT: Videos and photos from social media claimed to show snow falling in Kuwait near the Salmi border, possibly for the first time in modern history. Temperatures in Kuwait can reach 55+ C in the summer months but will often sink to as low as 2C during the short winter period. An unusual cold front pushed into Kuwait Thursday, with temperatures reaching as low as 3C in some parts of the country during the early morning hours.

There is no known record of snow ever having fallen in Kuwait though hail and frost as well as dust storms and the occasional rain are normal. Northern and southern parts of neighboring Saudi Arabia, however, often experience snow falls. Temperatures are expected to recover quickly in Kuwait, with predictions for the rest of the week of highs of 20C though lows are expected to continue to be down around 6C through Sunday before creeping back up. In northern Saudi Arabia, the weather is also set to improve, and temperatures will increase to a high of 19C.

Several of the videos and photos circulated on social media purported to have been recorded in Kuwait but none could be officially or independently verified.-KT

----All I know is the weather is really cold and I was just about to pack up my jackets.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Symphony Style Mall

We were running from the rain when we stopped by Symphony Mall to get breakfast at Johnny Rockets. On our way out I took a look around the mall and was surprised at how many shops are coming up there. There are a few shops open already, like the DXL shop offering clothing for big people, some sweet shops, Johnny Rockets, Trapped Inn -a place for people to try the escape game and coming up Sultan Chef.








When all of the shops are open it should be a nice place to visit.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Johnny Carino's coming to Abu Halaifa?

I saw this sign up in the Light complex (which btw has been sitting there empty for a couple years now) announcing JC coming to the complex. Their sign was up years before advertising on the complex in Mahboula which was built and then demolished so it seems they have changed locations to the new Light complex. Only time will tell if any of those restaurants open up but Sultan Chef is open and bringing in business now.

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Kuwaiti Dialects


Kuwaiti dialect rich in geographical diversity

KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti dialect is rich with diversity in pronouncing one word in different ways and using different vocabulary to indicate one meaning based on the area. Depending on the dialect, Kuwaitis can tell where a person comes from, be it from the areas of Qibla, Al-Murqab or Sharq. For example, people from Sharq pronounce the word sugar as “shekar”, while in Qibla it is pronounced “shakar”.

There are different reasons that created such diversity in the Kuwaiti dialect, researcher Khaled Al-Rushaid said yesterday. The main occurrence was the spread of the plague in 1831, killing 90 percent of women then, while men survived as they were away for the pearl diving season, he said. Later on, the men married other women from neighboring countries, thus introducing new vocabularies and dialects in the country, Al-Rushaid explained.

The second reason was called “the year of hailag”, where a famine drove many people in neighboring countries to settle in Sharq area. The newly-settled groups led Persian words like zooleya (carpet) and khaisha (a sack for rice or sugar) to blend in with the Kuwaiti dialect, he said. Moreover in 1930, an outbreak of smallpox spread in the country killing large numbers of citizens, leading people to marry from other countries again, the researcher added.

Meanwhile, upon the discovery of oil in the 30s of last century, Kuwait started bringing in foreign and Arab experts to work in the oil field. The foreigners introduced English words that Kuwaitis use up to this day, such as double, wire and ariel, Al-Rushaid said. The Indian language also played a role in adding vocabulary to the dialect, with words like tijoury (a safe), dairam (lipstick) among others. – Kuna

Friday, January 22, 2016

American females arrested for Drugs


KUWAIT CITY, Jan 21: American Woman Michelle Jackson is collecting signatures to be presented to the US and Kuwaiti government seeking the release of her daughter who is serving time in Kuwaiti prisons, reports Al-Rai daily.

The mother said her daughter was arrested by the Kuwaiti authorities along with her female compatriot friend for possessing and trafficking in drugs. They have been handed long prison terms between 20 and 25 years, says the daily. Michelle told the media in the State of Georgia her daughter and her friend were picked up by the Kuwaiti police in the first week of May 2015 on suspicion of trafficking in drugs. She pointed out her daughter has served in the US Army for 7 years and most of those years were spent in Kuwait. After the expiry of the service period, she said, her daughter decided to remain in Kuwait and worked for a contracting company before joining the American girlfriend, identified only as Larissa, who is involved in music education.

She went on to say, her daughter with her friend were preparing to travel to the United States in early May to celebrate Mother’s Day, but the Kuwaiti police raided their apartment on the same day and seized a quantity of a substance which looked like tobacco but suspected of being drugs.

Michelle claimed results of the laboratory test proved it’s not against the law and a lawyer told her at that time that her daughter would be “released in a month or two or at the most three”, but it did not happen. The mother said her daughter has two children and both of them are now assisting her to collect signatures to petition the governments in the US and Kuwait. So far they have collected more than 5,000 signatures. She added, she also plans to collect donations online to hire a lawyer in Kuwait.

---when are contractors going to learn they can't do the same things they do in the US in Kuwait?

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Smart parking in Qatar

I screenshot this from Snapchat, I've read about this kind of parking but never saw it implemented. It looks pretty cool and scary at the same time.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Kuwaiti Village- Sharq

My friend who arrived eight months ago introduced me to an old Kuwaiti village place for families beside Sharq Mall. It was freezing, thankfully there was a lot of warm foods to choose from. There are grilled foods, soups, snacks, bakala and a place for different kinds of coffee and teas.
Rides for the kids

 Tea guys
 Regular tea and karak tea
 Potato on a stick
 Outside seating area

If you plan on going any time soon make sure you bundle up and bring a blanket, next time I will be more prepared and bring my farwa.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Food Circle Mishref

There's a quiet little complex close to the Applebee's in Mishref with rides for kids, restaurants and Starbucks. It's a nice little place to chill without the crowds.






The only down side is the parking.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Fahaheel Park

This is the first time I knew there was a park in Fahaheel close to Al Kout. Although there aren't any slides or swings it's a nice clean place to ride bikes, play soccer and maybe have a picnic.










If you go straight through the round-a-bout by the back of Al Kout you will see it on your right side.