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The weekend is almost here and my friend is standing next to me, asking me the same question I hear almost every week – what are you up too this weekend? I smiled and asked the same question back. “I’m probably going to head to the beach.” Why do we always just do the typical things to do here in Kuwait and then we end up complaining that “there isn’t much to do,” and “let’s travel for the weekend for a change.”
There are things to do; we just choose not to do them. So, I put together a list of the things I decided I’m going to do on weekends from now on:

1.)    Green Island! Even though my parents used to take us there when we were kids, I haven’t stepped foot in Green Island since (and I bet a lot of you haven’t either). Green Island is the perfect spot to spend the whole day and enjoy your time with family and friends. This beautiful Island is open from 8 AM – 11 PM daily with an entry fee of just 1 KD. There are many activities for children as well as adults, and on both sides of the Island there are restaurants serving local and international dishes, as well as other attractions like a theatre where concerts and plays are exhibited live, and a tower 35 meters high from where you can have a good view of the city. Contact No: 22526153

2.)    Paint Ball. Feel like killing someone? LOL, take them out to the paintball field and shoot them! Besides relieving stress, this activity is good exercise as well as an excellent experience if you’ve never tried it. The field is 5000 square feet and they will provide you with a variety of action packed games, guns, and equipment. Call 22431101 for more information.

3.) Remember the story behind the House of Mirrors? 77 tons of mirror and 102 tons of white cement have been used to create the mosaics that decorate the entire house. I heard that Lidia Al- Qattan, the owner, is very friendly and anyone is welcome to visit at any time. But try to make sure to call ahead of time (22518522) just so that you’re not intruding. The address is Qadsiya, Block 9, Street 94, House 17.

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Good Morning Sunny Kuwait, Good Morning readers, Good Friday and Great Weather! Hope all of your weekends started off on good tracks. I was thinking that today I wanted to do something different than the usual, so I wanted to take ideas from all of you. What are you doing this weekend? What would be something different? Any ideas? Share your thoughts, i’d really appreciatte it. May you all have a blessed Friday.

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I’m a regular visitor to The Scientific Center, I just like how they keep coming up with new activities and events for family. I passed by the TSC yesterday and saw a poster for The Robot Zoo at the adventure zone, it’s a traveling exhibit that showcases the biomechanics of giant interactive robot animals to explain how real animals work, nice. My favorite part of this expo is that it shows how mechanical/electrical engineering and human technology have developed, it’s certainly an exciting exhibit.

They say the expo will be open for visitors till November 2013, it’s a great weekend activity for the family.

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Whenever I drive toward Kuwait City I see Liberation Tower standing tall in the far horizon, as far as I remember it always impressed me since it was the tallest structure in Kuwait City until Al Hamra Tower came along. The intriguing part that I never had the chance to get inside Liberation Tower and see how it looks on the inside or how Kuwait City looks from the top of the tower because I always heard from friends that it needs special permission to get in.

This was the case until I finally decided to try to get to the top of Liberation Tower so I headed to the tower yesterday in the afternoon but they said the management isn’t there and that I should pass by in the early morning. So on the following day which happens to be yesterday I went to tower again and met with the management, I didn’t know what to say or how to explain the purpose of my visit but I went ahead and said “I’d really love to get to the top of the tower and enjoy the view of Kuwait City, is that ever possible?”. I could see the “weird look” on their faces when I said that but to cut things short I tried really hard to persuade them to give me permission, it wasn’t easy at all but at the end they said ok, bingo.

Later an engineer from Ministry of Telecom. has escorted me to the first platform which is 150m high, I wanted to go to the upper levels but obviously that wasn’t allowed by any means unless of course I got some sort of “Super Wasta” which clearly I don’t. Little about Liberation Tower, it stand at 372m high and the construction started back in May 1981 and has been interrupted during the invasion 1990, later the reconstruction was resumed on January 1994 and was completed in 1996.

As I said the tower’s height is 372m and I think it’s currently the 21st tallest tower in the world, the lower part of the tower is made of armed concrete while the upper part is made of steel with antenna at 372m high. It’s currently used for telecommunication purposes, I remember I heard that there’s a revolving restaurant at 150m high plarform and that an American investor will manage the restaurant.

I got excited as I got inside the high speed elevator which took less than a minute to reach the 150m high platform and as the door opened I saw an empty round-shaped revolving platform resembling that one of Kuwait Towers, sadly there was no restaurant, it was actually totally empty. I asked about the restaurant but they said that Baladiya didn’t give the necessary permits as of yet, I hated Baladiya for that! Liberation Tower can be a great touristic attraction and having 360 degrees revolving restaurant overlooking Kuwait City is one awesome idea. I admit that I was kinda let down but anyway I know things are slow moving in Kuwait, I was walking around enjoying Kuwait City skyline using the auto-focus fixed telescopes to spot popular buildings and places in Kuwait.

The glass was dusty but they said they have it cleaned two times a year but due to dusty weather it gets dirty pretty quickly, they also say that Failaka Island can be easily seen at night. I gotta say that visiting Liberation Tower was such an enjoyable experience but I wish that Baladiye will allow them to open the revolving restaurant.

Note: Mind the pictures quality as I used my phone camera.

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After returning to Kuwait I decided to immediately restart my training and exercise, as you see there were many cheat days in the U.K., well quite honestly I spent all the time there cheating, literally. So instead of going to Marina or Scientific Center walkway I decided to find a new and non-typical place. Simultaneously, I was told about this new Environment Friendly Park that was opened just recently at Yarmouk area so I headed there in the A.M. to check the concept and do my early morning warm up exercises before I hit the gym back, so two in one.

As I said in above line it’s located in Yarmouk area, block 2 just opposite to the Mosque. There was a signboard near the entrance stating that this is a first of it’s kind park in Kuwait and was made by Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (AKA KISR). The idea of this park  is quite interesting where everything inside it was made of recycled and waste material produced by Yarmouk area, they say over 12 ton of waste such as tyres, hoses, plastic, bottle, glass, paper and even electronic boards and chips were used to fabricate seats, fountains, monuments, kids swing…etc. Simply brilliant!

I was walking around the park and saw creative concepts, I’m loving the idea big time because this is exactly what we need in Kuwait to help preserve our suffering environment, I recall I read somewhere that Kuwait is classified as one of the top waste-producing countries in the world, let alone the tyre fires at Amghara junk yard every now and then. I dream that one day soon Kuwait begins to have real development toward recycling domestic and consumers waste materials. The sad part is that I observed there were acts of vandalism in the park, some the stuff were damaged on purpose even though it was just opened! WTH with these retarded people can’t they just stand to not damage public property?

Address: See map below.

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A friend of mine who’s working with the team handling the preparations of Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium (AKA Jaber Stadium) official opening has invited me for a tour at the stadium today. I always heard and read controversial news about Jaber stadium but actually never had the chance to visit it before so I decided to go and see if the issues were rectified, it was planned to officially open on the 17th February but opening was postponed for a reason that I don’t know yet. I arrived in the evening at Gate#8 and I noted there were 13 gates, I saw there were tickets kiosks scattered around the parking area which is good idea for buying tickets and preventing future congestion.

A short brief about Jaber stadium before I take you on a tour; it’s a multi-purpose stadium in Ardhiyah area and can be seen from 6th Ring Road, it was completed in 2009 but there were many issues and claims regarding the structural integrity but thankfully they were resolved, it’s constructed in 4 levels and has a capacity of 68,000 seated spectators and 6,000 car parkings which makes it the largest stadium in Kuwait.

I recall there was a problem with the turf a few months ago but I saw that this was also resolved. There were many volunteers working hard to get the stadium ready for the opening, they said the new opening date is between February 25th and March 5th. As a civil engineer, I loved how the stadium was designed yet I expected it to be bigger though it looked beautiful from every angle. My first remark was regarding the absence of multi-car parking because clearly 6,000 parking are not adequate for 68,000 spectators but they said the parking area was expanded to reach around 50,000 parkings, also I wish if they start marking the emergency evacuation exits. I walked around the stadium and checked the facilities, there were two large LED screens fixed, a royal and VIP platforms in addition to normal platforms, specialized boxes for media, large speakers, and solar panels that they say are used in case of power failure.

They said there will a huge festive event for the grand opening (laser and fireworks show) and that there will be an international football team coming to Kuwait for a friendly match (most likely Brazil like I said before) and that there will also be an event to break Guinness World Record by making the biggest flag in the world. Did I mention that I went to the top of the stadium? The view was spectacular.

I generally liked how Jaber Stadium looked but there were small shortcomings related to the design and some of the facilities (no Olympic swimming pool, small toilets…etc.) but I suppose they can be addressed, I’m defintely going to visit Jaber stadium for the opening event.

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Ahmadi City was and still one of my favorite suburbs in Kuwait, I always feel like I’m not in Kuwait when ever I’m there and I simply like how streets and houses were designed with an American layout because it was mostly dwelled by British expats in 40′s and beyond, it also has historical significance since it’s one of the oldest cities in Kuwait and oil (AKA black gold) was first discovered in Kuwait in Ahmadi back in early 30′s. As for the name it was named after late Sheikh Ahmad Al Jaber who ruled Kuwait during the period 1921-1950. The great news is that during my work related visit to Ahmadi today I saw that they placed hoarding all around the old abandoned buildings in Ahmadi Souk that was built I think during 40′s to restore/preserve it as historical monument, awesome.

Finally the mentailty is changing in Kuwait and the “demolish & re-build” policy was neglected this time, thankfully. I heard that people of Ahmadi and Kuwait Oil Company has demanded to preserve the old buildings instead of being bulldozed by Baladiya or whoever, and the plan now is to have them restored by National Council for Culture, Arts & Literature (NCCAL) and registered in UNESCO. I hope they will also inlcude the Drive-In Cinema in their restoration plans. I hope I made your day with this news, who’s excited?

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Every time I drive across Sharq on Gulf Road and stop by the traffic light near the new Central Bank of Kuwait and across Sharq Market I see the signs for Heritage Village Project and start to wonder why it’s taking this project forever to complete. I remember I was so excited when I first read about this touristic project on the papers but that was many years ago and the project seems to be in long suspension period. So this time I decided to have a look inside and try to find someone to ask if there’s an on going issue preventing the project from being completed.

Inside I saw no one was working (well actually no one at all), the work site seemed rather deserted and all I saw was a small temporary site office so I approached it to see if anyone is there, and out of nowhere a security man suddenly appeared yelling “photos not allowed this is public property”, he kinda got me freaked at first. I asked him about the project progress and if there’s any works going on, he said the works stopped for long time and that project was there since 2005 (that’s over 7 years) but he has no idea why works were suspended. The Heritage Village initial cost was around 22 Million Dinar and covers around 82,000 sq. meter and it was supposed to envisage Kuwait past in a modern way with mud-like buildings, so it’s basically an old Kuwaiti styled village with classic shops, mosques, cafe shops, exhibition halls, a hotel… etc. 

I’m not sure who’s the main contractor and what is the underlying issue but all I know is that the project was implemented on B.O.T basis, any idea? 

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