ProntoWash- Get your car washed at your Home

It seems like the haris of the building may have some competition when it comes to washing cars of the tenants. Now everyone can get there cars washed, waxed and cleaned at home instead of having to drive to the car wash.

Another booth at the P2BK event

Arrive in Style- London Limo

Want to arrive in style? Check out the "London Limos", a new taxi concept. The cars are so cute.

Beats the smelly roaming taxis.

Natureland/Raha Stone Mill- Healthy eating in Kuwait

This was one of the booths at the P2BK event. They make healthy foods and the ingredients are fresh and freshly ground. They also have gluten free items.

It's great to see Kuwaiti owned small businesses. The owner my mom talked to was Kuwaiti/American.

Old Kuwaiti items- Proud 2 B Kuwaiti event

These pics are from the P2BK event. This booth had old Kuwaiti documents and items.

This is also the booth that had the Kuwaiti driving license for the late emir. I read in the Arab Times someone had stole it, good thing I got a picture of it. It's really sad when someone can't display historical items without the fear of some lowlife stealing them. I wonder if they recovered it?

Old Kuwaiti Recipes

Since I'm addicted to "khabooth" (however you spell it) I looked online for the recipe. I could not find it at all. I'm so sad. I looked on amazon for any old Kuwaiti recipe books and only found one which is pictured below. It's from the 70's but they want $60 for it? Really???? A friend of mine has a website which featured some old recipes, I copied them but no recipe for Khabooth. I can't really explain khabooth except it's like a thick soup with meat, spinach? and dumplings. Next time I will take a picture of it.

Hubby says his mom knows how so maybe she can show me but I'm bummed that there aren't any old Kuwaiti recipe books. So if anyone wants to contribute some old Kuwaiti family recipes please do. I would love to make a recipe book for my daughter to have in the future. Everything from the past is slowly disappearing....


This book is from the 70's but I would never pay $60 for it. So readers if you have any old Kuwaiti recipies please send them to me kuwait411@yahoo.com as I would love to try to cook some.

Old Kuwaiti exhibit- Proud 2 B Kuwaiti Event

I was so happy to see an old Kuwaiti exhibit at the Proud 2 B Kuwaiti event. It was awesome to see the guys making the clay pottery items and pounding each gold tack into the wooden chest. I wish there were more people interesting in learning the old Kuwaiti building techniques. If there were more areas that focused on old Kuwaiti arts and crafts then maybe more people would be interested.

The area where Lulu Hypermarket is located is supposed to be a "handicraft" area that's why they want to close down Lulu. They closed down several other businesses as they were not "handicraft" type businesses. I haven't seen any markets for arts and crafts. I would love to fill my house with old Kuwaiti items but I have only seen work at Sadus House for bedouin rugs and some ladies selling a few items at Friday Market. If only people would focus some attention to the fading arts and crafts of the old days instead of getting everything from China.

There should be a dedicated area in Mubarakiya for them. There should be more classes for people who are interested. The next generation will only know about these items when they see them in books or in museums. It seems like other GCC countries still try to preserve their heritage with "heritage villages" for arts and crafts but sometimes I get the feeling as if everyone here is trying to forget where they came from. Everyone is too focused on driving fancy cars and wearing the latest trends. I'm trying my best to buy items and books from the old days to give to my little ones so they can see where their father and grandfather came from instead of going to the museum.

There's not too many old people left which means very few stories about the old days will be told. Shouldn't someone take the time to preserve what little bit of history is left?

I looooooooove Freej Soeleh!!!!!!!!

I was so lucky last Saturday, after finishing with Esther's Attic the founder of Operation Hope ordered lunch for everyone from Freej Soeleh! OMG it was so good!!! I'm addicted to Kabooth (or however you spell it). I love love love it!

I had the soup in a bread bowl (as pictured) it was good too!

The long long wait sucks but the food is worth it.

Hope everyone gives it a try!

Group of Americans sue, seek dues as per Kuwaiti Laws

Group of Americans sue, seek dues as per Kuwaiti laws:

‘Violation of global rules’

KUWAIT CITY, March 21: The Court of First Instance has referred a case filed by a group of Americans employed in some companies associated with the US Army in Kuwait to the Experts Administration for the calculation of their dues.
Case files indicate the plaintiffs have been deprived of some employment privileges stipulated in Kuwait’s Labor Law because the companies are implementing the American law, which is against the international agreements on the application of Kuwaiti laws.
Attorney Mussa’ed Jamal Al-Riyahi, who represented the American employees in court, argued his clients should receive privileges as per the Kuwaiti law.

Sounds like another ITT problemo. ITT has to answer to the stateside lawsuit already. Although I've heard KBR ex-employees have also filed a claim to get their money. SWEET! Can I add my name to the list?

Salsa & Bachata

I wish I had the stamina I did a few years ago.

Cancelled my cooking class with AWARE

After really thinking about the whole situation I decided not to continue with the cooking class. When my husband called the AWARE center to ask for a refund he got a rude awakening by the lady who answers the phone. She proceeded to bombard him with questions as to why I didn't want to continue and so on. My husband rarely gets angry but she must have said something that made him raise his voice.

The effort was great the first day although I found out after I decided to cancel that the person who was scheduled to show up didn't make it so they found the Iraqi guy to suddenly fill in. The class was held in a really small kitchen, we sat around a table in the middle of it. We were all bumping in to each other as space was limited. Majority of the class was Arabic which is fine for me but the other women spoke English. Seven ladies including myself showed up, if there were any more it would have been impossible to fit.

I was told last week there would have been a Kuwaiti lady speaking English for the class but I couldn't sit on those plastic chairs for another 2 hours. The food was good but the first day of chaos turned me off to sitting through any more classes. I think 30 KD per person was also a little steep as TIES offers Kuwaiti cooking classes for 20 KD.

I attended the class with a French lady. Maybe she will let me know about the rest of the classes if she continued.

Makeup Differences

I'm sure eveyone living here has noticed how much makeup women wear here. Sometimes it's so bad you have check out the hands to see what's their real skin color. I still can't understand why such thick makeup is so popular, it's like some women try to change their looks completely by using a gallon of coverup and tons of eye shadow and then there is the fake contacts.

Why can't people work with what they were born with instead of trying to hide behind layers? Fake hair, huge flower clips that make them look an alien, fake contacts and who knows what else lies underneath. Of course parties and weddings are the exception but just going out to the grocery store? At OH we had clothing donated that had a ring of makeup on them and they had to be thrown away.

Minimal makeup enchances beauty.

Real blue eyes are beautiful but work with what you were born with.

Anything real?

How long does it take to remove it?

I admit I did a makeup shoot for a friend wearing bird feathers for eyelashes. It took me a good 30 minutes to get all the makeup off and another 20 minutes to remove the 50 bobby pins in my hair.

Free rations end next month

Free rations end next month:

KUWAIT CITY, March 14:
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in a statement said the period of distribution of free ration for Kuwaitis which came in the form of an Amiri grant will end next month, reports Al- Kuwaitiah daily.

The daily added until now there has been no reports of any extension for free ration.
The Ministry has called on all concerned authorities related with distribution the free ration to stop work on due date and carry out the stock taking activity.

Well the "free rations" have come to an end already. No money this year and now no more freebies it was great while it lasted. But the prices of food and necessities continue to rise with no end in sight. No one will ever get ahead at this rate.

Where have all the waiters/waitresses gone to?

I had lunch at Applebee's in Abu Halaifa last week and noticed the staff was all new. There were only a few Filipino waiters/waitresses left. The new staff was Egyptians. Where have all the Filipinos gone to? Sorry, but the they make the best staff for restaurants. They understand me and I can understand them as well. I know Buffalo's replaced the staff with waiters from India a couple years ago. I'm sure most of the Filipinos have gone to KBOSS contract on Arifjan, it's a lot more money for them. I say congrats but now it's a little more complicated trying to order at the restaurants in my area.

I've heard it's really expensive to recruit Filipinos as a lot of them have some type of hospitality degree. One American guy who married one of the Filipina waitresses was asked to pay 1000 KD for her release. I think the Egyptian manager was trying to make some money. He might have had to pay back her recruiting cost but 1000 KD? Sorry but it's sometimes difficult to understand Indian and Egyptian waiters so I let my husband order in Arabic in hopes they understood what I wanted. It's a shame, the old Filipino manager was a really nice guy. Times are changing...

Independence Carnival Photos

We went to the "carnival", in reality it's a bunch of stands selling knock off items from China. The latest fashion seems to be the a long dress/shirt (picutred below) as everyone was buying them up from the Arab sellers. There were spices from Oman and Saudi. It was a nice function.

Any kind of event is worth going to. You never know what you will find!

Restaurant Updates

Taco Bell- Abu Halaifa
I don't know about the other locations but it seems they have run out of taco sauces. They have new nacho chips too. I went to the Abu Halaifa branch and discovered the differences. It's like all of the other American restaurants that get their items from the states, at some point they run out of something and it takes forever to re-order. I do have a secret stash of sauces but I don't like the new nacho chips.

Rupiya Restaurant- Abu Halaifa
I decided to try them out last night. We ordered the maroubian and ghaboot. I waited 2 hours for them to fix ghaboot. Finally at 8 pm we got the order. It doesn't even compare to Freej Swaeleh. Some of the shrimp were hard even though we ordered the "fresh" shrimp plate. I wasn't feeling too great after that. Disappointed to say the least.

Naif Chicken Shawerma- NOT!

I wanted to buy something that is easily prepared for the kids. I saw this box and thought chicken shawerma would be an ok quick meal. Well the box is completely misleading!!!

Once I opened the box and took the package out I saw something weird. Long blocks of some kind of processed chicken. It looked like hot dog type meat and was disgusting. Talk about false advertising! It went straight to the trash. Yuck!

New restaurant serving Kuwaiti food in Abu Halaifa

It seems like the blogging buzz these days is all about Kuwaiti food. I just got a new flyer for an Indian type restaurant that serves Kuwaiti food and it's in my area! If anyone tries it let me know.

I took the first Kuwaiti cooking course with the AWARE center last night. Not sure if I will continue. More on that when I make my decision.

Mechanic workshop for Chicks

Ok ladies it's time you learned the basics of car mechanics!

Date: March 19-April 4
Days: Mondays & Wednesdays
Time: 6 pm- 7 pm
Location AUK auditorium
To register: Pick up registration form at Student Life, A building at AUK.
For more info call: 6703-9627

Desert Camping Event

Desert Camp brought to you by Abraj events.

Prices: Adults 15 KD, kids 5-9 (6 KD), 4 and under free

Date: March 16

Time: 10 am- 10 pm

The tickets include: Lunch buffet, shisha, morning snack, shows, games/gifts, sports activity, henna, art/face painting for free, live singers (Arabic, English, Latin), souq al madina, Lebanese dabkeh show, DJ, karaoke, cartoon characters, fireplace for roasts, billiard hall, tennis table and much more.

Ramy Sabry is scheduled to sing.

Kuwaiti Food Cooking Course- AWARE Center

So I had a craving for Kuwaiti food on Saturday and I decided to visit Freej Swaeleh restaurant. I will post about it tomorrow. Oh wow! I just loooooove this place. Now I want to learn how to cook some of the recipies and AWARE center has classes!!!!! Good thing the AWARE Center is right around the corner from my mother-in-law's house so the hubby and chill there while I take this class.

AWARE Center:

08 Mar 2012, 6:00 pm

Have you tried Arabic food but wonder if it's Kuwaiti?Curious to discover what really is Kuwaiti food? What do Kuwaiti's cook athome? Heard of Michboos? Murubian? Gaboot? Meet Kuwaiti's who will cook their traditional dishes for our Kuwaiti Cooking Course. A great way to experience real Kuwaiti food.

Thursday's March 8th -29th from 6 -8.30pm Very Limited Seats, so advance registration required. Kindly call the AWARE Center in the evening (5:00 - 9:00 p.m.) to register.

I actually had Murubian and Gaboot...... I loooove it!!!!!


UPDATE: I took the first course last night. I'm still deciding if I will continue or cancel the course.

Proud 2 B Kuwaiti Annual event- Mishref Fairgrounds

The annual Proud 2 B Kuwaiti event will be held at the Mishref Fairgrounds in Hall 8.

The event will be held from March 7-10, 2012.

Hours: 10 am- 2pm and 4 pm- 9:30 pm, I think as I am reading the hours in Arabic.

Independence Carnival- Mishref Fairgrounds

There is a shopping carnival going on at the Mishref fairgrounds, halls 4, 5 and 6. It will continue until March 3.

Kuwaiti Cookin'

Yes, finally a cooking class I would go for. Due to the increase in fast food and restaurants on every corner Kuwaiti cuisine has gone to the back burner. I don't really get to sample Kuwaiti food as my mother-in-law is from Morocco so the only place I would got fo it was Bait 7. It is a awesome old restaurant serving Kuwaiti food.

There is of course the other Kuwaiti restaurant next to Marina Mall but it was overcrowded and noisey.
Make your reservation!