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.
My friend sent me photo for Sprinkles Cupcakes bakery preparing for the opening at The Avenues, they were supposed to open last week but they postponed the opening for a reason I do not yet know. This is the first Sprinkles Cupcakes branch outside the U.S. and I think they will also open in Dubai shortly. I expected it to be bigger, I hope their prices fall within reasonable range.
It’s located opposite to Harvey Nichols at Grand Avenue District.
I just came across this hilarious video for presumably grandfathers in Kuwait dancing Gangnam Style way on the Valentine’s Day, I musy say I’m quite impressed with their dancing skills despite their age. Do you agree with me when I say Gangnam Style is one of the most viral things ever happened?
I saw on the paper that Council of Ministers has agreed to re-name 5th Ring Road to Sheikh Zayed Road, this is indeed a great initiative from Kuwait to show little appreciation for late Sheikh Zayed and United Arab Emirates. Though I find it little hard to re-imagine the Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai as the congested 5th Ring Road, what do you say?
Remember the horrifying possessed serial killer Chucky from Child’s Play; the 1988 horror movie series that made many of us hide under our beds back then. I remember I saw at least 4 or five parts of that movie and that toy is indeed scary as hell, and if you thought that it’s gone after all those years, think twice and thrice because Chucky’s back and this time in Kuwait, it’s wandering among us in places you wouldn’t even expect. So if you thought that going to The Prestige District of the Avenues or camping in Kuwait desert or even getting yourself a fast meal from McDonald’s in safe, think again.
An old fellow of mine was trying to bring Chucky back, seemingly doing resurrection, he basically took Chucky almost everywhere around Kuwait and took shots. The funny part was the kinda “scared look” people get when ever he shows off Chucky. I suppose the hunt from the childhood is still there for many people, including me sometimes. Can you imagine that my friend has a room in his house full of characters from movies (see video above).
Follow him on his instagram (@Chucky_1977) and see many great shots for Chucky in Kuwait. Now let’s see where did Chucky go in Kuwait, so beware next time you are out because Chucky might get you anywhere;
Cioccolato Italiani will not open:The Italian chocolate cafe that I was patiently waiting for sadly won’t open, I don’t know what happened but apparently it will be replaced with Hédiard which I read is a luxury shop/outlet specialized in gastronomy from Paris.
Ted Baker Now Open: It was just opened at level 2, I’m noting that more and more British franchises are opening in Kuwait lately though I’d like to see HMV, Fred Perry, Lillywhites, Waterstones, and Mad House opening in Kuwait. The other Ted Baker boutique is located at 360 Mall
Loriblu: I never heard of this brand but seemingly it’s an Italian fashion brand and will open soon at level 1 of the mall.
A reader emailed me this photo, she says she was looking for a parking spot at Adan hospital today and she spotted this complete jerk stupidly double parked, I thought this was only an issue with high value cars but obviously not. Why jerks are proliferating in Kuwait?
One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Kuwait Altissimo which is currently located in Al-Nassar Tower in Kuwait City has just opened another branch in Belajat street in Salmiya opposite to Shaikha Complex’s Starbucks. They call this one Altissimo Express because it’s more like casual dining than luxury with simple tables and seats, also the staff wear dressed casual. The supervisor said they serve the same menu items and that they are currently in soft opening. They have a tasty crispy shrimp platter but I can’t recall the exact name, I remember the window tables had an amazing view at their Al Nassar Tower branch.
I received this story from a blog reader who says it was published on the paper, a cheetah on the loose has attacked 7 guys that were camping at Mutla’a bur (desert) north of Kuwait. Apparently, the campers were enjoying BBQ and playing cards in a tent, it was almost 10:00 pm when suddenly they heard purring and chirping right outside their tent, moments later a wild cheetah invaded their tent and started attacking them savagely causing bad wounds to one of them. Luckily they were able to escape and hide in their cars after leaving their unfinished dinner behind.
The guys waited in their cars and started chasing the running cheetah but hunting it was near impossbile since cheetahs are known for their high speed that reaches 120 KPH but before the hunt ends they saw a man waving to them who later turned out that he’s the owner of this wild cheetah and he was using it for hunting. So my advice is that next time you are going for camping make sure to sharpen the pitchforks and be prepared to face a wild lion or cheetah! Read the full story here [link]
It has been a while since I cheated on my strict diet plan, I’m glad that I managed to stay healthy and eat clean for a few months now and I’m doing great in the weight loss department. Good news is that I’m finally starting to see my 6 packs (I’ll write a separate post on my experience for getting 6 packs) but I still have a long road ahead to get my abs more prominent. So I decided to invite myself for a cheat full of guilt meal at the newly opened Lord of the Wings (no not the movie) restaurant.
So I finished my workout at the gym and instead of having my healthy low-fat & low-carbs & high-protein meal I headed to Discovery Mall at Soor Street in Kuwait City. As I arrived at Lord of the Wings (from now on I’ll call it LOTW) I noted that design was pretty simple with tables scattered around, I can tell the waiters got kinda confused when they saw me in my training shorts and Nike t-shirt sitting at the table but they were friendly enough to give me a warm welcome. So I picked the relatively small menu and saw a variety of traditional food items (Viz. salads, soups, burgers, beverages among others) but clearly I was there to taste their chicken wings.
They handed me a pencil to help me with customizing my order and it kinda reminds me of college years back in the day, those pop quizzes remember? They basically serve three kind of chicken wings; traditional, grilled & boneless. To help minimize the guilt I scanned their menu for any healthy & low calorie items (I know I’m in the wrong place) but fortunately I managed to find some items. For starters I picked their plain nachos that comes with tomato sauce (tasty & light with the sauce), grilled potatoes with blue cheese sauce (tasty but the potatoes felt like they needed a little more pepper & salt but that’s easy to tackle).
As for the main dish I tried their grilled wings (tasted good when dipped in the Buffalo mild sauce), there was a variety of sauces for the wings plus the free soda refill. The restaurant manager insisted that I try their boneless wings along with the Garlic Parmesan sauce, I was reluctant at first but I gave it a go and my impression is that the taste was good but my remark to them is that the wings were soaked in oil but they said customers can ask for less oil if they wanted. The funny part is that they provided me with gloves so I don’t have to worry about getting my hands all smeared, they also used stickers to differentiate between customized orders, good idea. Prices-wise, they varied between KD1.5 to around KD3.5 . So to sum it up, I was satisfied with LOTW because we don’t have restaurants that are specialized in wings in Kuwait since Nando’s was shutdown long time ago.
Every year Ahmadi turns into a dreamland (or should I say Disney Land?) with colorful lights for celebrating National Days, my friends and I were there last night enjoying a drive and I must say this year the beautification works look more beautiful. Many people came to see the lights and take photos and videos.
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.
Cioccolato Italiani will not open: The Italian chocolate cafe that I was patiently waiting for sadly won’t open, I don’t know what happened but apparently it will be replaced with Hédiard which I read is a luxury shop/outlet specialized in gastronomy from Paris.
Ted Baker Now Open: It was just opened at level 2, I’m noting that more and more British franchises are opening in Kuwait lately though I’d like to see HMV, Fred Perry, Lillywhites, Waterstones, and Mad House opening in Kuwait. The other Ted Baker boutique is located at 360 Mall
Loriblu: I never heard of this brand but seemingly it’s an Italian fashion brand and will open soon at level 1 of the mall.
It has been a while since I cheated on my strict diet plan, I’m glad that I managed to stay healthy and eat clean for a few months now and I’m doing great in the weight loss department. Good news is that I’m finally starting to see my 6 packs (I’ll write a separate post on my experience for getting 6 packs) but I still have a long road ahead to get my abs more prominent. So I decided to invite myself for a cheat full of guilt meal at the newly opened Lord of the Wings (no not the movie) restaurant.
They handed me a pencil to help me with customizing my order and it kinda reminds me of college years back in the day, those pop quizzes remember? They basically serve three kind of chicken wings; traditional, grilled & boneless. To help minimize the guilt I scanned their menu for any healthy & low calorie items (I know I’m in the wrong place) but fortunately I managed to find some items. For starters I picked their plain nachos that comes with tomato sauce (tasty & light with the sauce), grilled potatoes with blue cheese sauce (tasty but the potatoes felt like they needed a little more pepper & salt but that’s easy to tackle). 
As for the main dish I tried their grilled wings (tasted good when dipped in the Buffalo mild sauce), there was a variety of sauces for the wings plus the free soda refill. The restaurant manager insisted that I try their boneless wings along with the Garlic Parmesan sauce, I was reluctant at first but I gave it a go and my impression is that the taste was good but my remark to them is that the wings were soaked in oil but they said customers can ask for less oil if they wanted. The funny part is that they provided me with gloves so I don’t have to worry about getting my hands all smeared, they also used stickers to differentiate between customized orders, good idea. Prices-wise, they varied between KD1.5 to around KD3.5 . So to sum it up, I was satisfied with LOTW because we don’t have restaurants that are specialized in wings in Kuwait since 
