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It’s been long time since I visited Kuwait Towers, but I’m planning to during this week. Despite the many new high rise buildings in Kuwait, Kuwait towers remains to be the main monument representing Kuwait’s identity.

I saw these rare photos for Kuwait towers under construction back in the 70′s. They were designed by a Swedish architect named Sune Lindström.

The construction works were done by two companies; Energoprojekt and Vatrostalna from Yugoslavia and Bosnia. All this time I thought they were built by Japan !

They were opened to public in March 1979, the main tower is 187 meters high and the viewing sphere rises to 123 meters.  See the opening ceremony by late Sheikh Sa’ad Al Abdullah Al Sabah below.

Images via [Sky Scraper City]

Info via [Wikipedia]

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Over 25 years have passed and I still recall how all kids gathered in the A.M to watch the amazing space adventure cartoon “Grendizer“ created by the Japanese artist Go Nagai. One of the things I loved about Grendizer is the theme song and the voices, and I always wondered whose voice is that, and after 25+ years I got the answer !

His name is Sammy Clark, very well-known Lebanese singer and famous for his golden voice and successful music history. A friend of mine sent me a video of Sammy Clark being interviewed on Al Hurra TV channel and singing Grendizer theme song and that alone brought back a bunch of lovely memories.

He sang for other cartoon themes such as Jazeerat El Kanz and others. He has a nice facebook page and a website too.

Facebook

Website

New Grendizer Theme Song from Sammy Clark

  [Gallery not found]

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We paid a little visit to Beit Al Sadu, translates as House of Traditional Weaving, The term “Sadu” is an old Kuwaiti word for “Weaving Process” which was an old craft in Kuwait.

I like to visit traditional places, or whats left of them, to connect to the old Kuwait and to promote our heritage and help younger generations and expatriates get an idea of Kuwait’s past.

The story’s behind Beit Al Sadu is quite interesting; It was built in 1936 by Yousef Al Marzouk, he built it with stone using concrete to reinforce its structure – the first such house in Kuwait – and was constructed by Rashid Al Banai.

Stepping inside, I could sense the old past, I saw four open courtyards (Housh), luckily the house was bought by Kuwaiti government in 1976 and preserved since then. I noticed the Indian style decorations such as doors and windows.

In 1978, the house was used for the weaving project; a private initiative by group of Kuwaitis to preserve the art of weaving.

 I saw many traditional customs made by the weaving, there were two types of weaving in Kuwait; The nomadic Bedouin which was carried by a women, and the Urban which was made by Men.

The woven items such as the tent and its colorful dividers, storage bags, animal trappings, and horizontal ground loom. Urban weaving used for bisht (man’s cloak) and woman caftans.

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Today marks the 21th invasion anniversary, a day we would not forget. I still remember that day (2nd of August, 1990), the smoke, the flames, and shooting.

We paid the “Not To Forget Museum” a visit and had fantastic tour that brought back the sad memories of the invasion and lovely ones of the liberation.

This is my first time to visit the memorial museum and its a really great touristic spot for those who wants to know about Kuwait history and the invasion.

 The museum tries to recreate the horror of the Iraqi invasion through a guided tour with special lighting, sounds effects and narration for only one dinar.

I loved the crafted models, the illumination, and the option to choose narration in Arabic or English.

Also it was great how the events were put in order so the visitor can get the correct time frame, and the detailed information.

Some of the highlighted events are the night of invasion, the Al-Qurain house, Kaifan police station, Dasman palace, torturing, destruction of Kuwait airport, Bayan palace, oil fires..etc

In addition to the models, there are many photos and paintings for the wide range of characters and events related to the invasion and liberation.

I would highly recommend everyone to visit the Kuwait House of National Memorial Museum, only there we can learn that “We can forgive, but we will never forget”.

Phone: 24845335, 24846336

Address: Northern Shuwaikh Villa No 32, next to the Shabi Theater.

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I just saw that Cinescape will show the film “Hathi Kuwaitna” that brings rare pictures about the history of the State of Kuwait, the history of its rulers, the Kuwaiti people, and the loyal men. The entry is for 1 K.D and running time is 72 min.

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شاهدت هذا المقطع عن طريق احد الاصدقاء للفنانة أصالة نصري وهي تغني “في قصص الشعوب” مقدمة الكارتون حكايات عالمية على قناة سي ان ان العربية. جميل بالفعل ولكن ليست كما كنا نسمعها قبل 25 سنة.ا

شكرا م. على

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I had a casual visit to the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) historical museum today at Ahmadi city. KOC is the first Kuwaiti oil company founded in 1934 and is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter.

Its great to learn about the major source of income in Kuwait, the oil, and the company that produces it from the drilling wells.

The museum had nice models for oil exploration, drilling rigs, location of oil wells in Kuwait, oil spells formation, oil tankers, oil fires in 1990 in addition to many other interesting things.

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My buddy Abdullah sent me pictures for a rare Kuwaiti dinar note issued by the Central Bank of Kuwait  in the year 1993 as anniversary for the liberation.

Thanks [Abdullah]

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