Bait Al Othman Museum - New Sections

A reader suggested I check out the new section of the museum that opened recently so I took my friend and her children to visit and show them my favorite museum. There have been many changes since my last post and I was so excited to see the additional areas. There is now a place for children to color old Kuwaiti characters as seen below.

This is a display of the Kuwaiti 'yalwa' wedding

 New section of the museum

A lot of the items have been donated by families and you will see their names on gold tags attached to the items

 There is now a cafe set in a dwaniya type room which is beautifully decorated

 You can order tea, coffees and juices while eating dates and sweets

 Sports Authority room

 This is the best part of the new wing, it is made to look like the desert with real birds flying around

 There are ducks, finches, fancy pigeons and other types of birds running around

 I met with Mr. Anwar Al Refai who took us to a secret area under construction. This is the attached home of one of the wives of Abdullah Al Othman which is being turned into a hotel and GCC exhibit hall. The lower rooms will each represent the five GCC countries while the top will have four hotel suites decorated with traditional Kuwaiti furniture.

 Mr. Refai also gave us a sneak peak of a new room about to open dedicated to Abdullah Mubarak Al Sabah which includes his personal items, furniture and pictures.

The entrance fee is 1KD which goes back into the museum as government funding and support is minimal if any. Historical landmarks are not on the top list of priorities (Bayt Lothan for example) even though everyone wants more tourism, rather building huge hotels (that will probably never be filled) and restaurants are more of a hot commodity now. News flash! No one wants to travel to the Middle East to eat hamburgers or cupcakes!

Five Guys Kuwait

Today we tried to eat at Five Guys but the line was too long as it's the new thing in Kuwait to go to. I'd give it a month and then there will probably be plenty of room to sit. Someone recommended visiting after 4 as the crowd dies down, considering Ramadan is around the corner every place is totally chaotic as if the world is about to end, that's why I did my grocery shopping last week.

Nice setting, bad parking. There is valet available or else you can park behind the building and walk to avoid getting stuck in traffic. You can visit their Kuwait website for more info and check out their menu, they're located in the Tijari Building across from Al Shaheed Park in Kuwait City.

Kuwait ranks as one of the world's top 15 retail Destinations

Dubai has been ranked fourth among the top cities worldwide for retailing with other Gulf markets are also making their mark on the global shopping map, according to JLL’s Destination Retail report.

While the list is dominated by cities in Asia Pacific, those in the Middle East are coming on strong, propelled by an ever-increasing array of international retailers, the report said.

One-third of the top 15 global retail cities are located in the Middle East, with Dubai placed fourth, Kuwait City finishing within the top 10 at nine, Abu Dhabi at 11 and Jeddah and Riyadh tied for 12.

Dubai’s history of ‘shopping tourism’, which has included hosting the world-renowned Dubai Shopping Festival for over two decades, has seen the emirate become a hub for major retail brands. It also has one of the highest levels of retail floor space per capita globally, JLL said.

It added that GCC markets each have large quantities of affordable retail space, supported by franchise structures, which present viable options for international retailers and reduce their operational risk at entry.

Additionally, the domestic retail market in the Middle East is not as mature as other regions, allowing international brands to enter without too much competition from domestic brands. JLL’s report found that pent up shopping demand across the region has spurred some of the highest sales volumes for retailers. Andrew Williamson, head of retail, MENA for JLL, said: “Retail will continue to be a key pillar of the Dubai economy, and this report shows its strategy of attracting leading international retailers is working.

“As Dubai looks to welcome 20 million visitors by 2020, retail will play a crucial role in drawing in visitors from all over the globe. The city has an impressive history which is unmatched in the region when it comes to retail. And its position globally can only be enhanced given the high quality retail space on offer to the world’s best-known and most loved brands.” In a battle between historic, established markets versus modern newcomers, JLL said London stands at the fore front of international retailing while Asia Pacific outranked all regions with 18 cities making the cut driven by sheer market size.

The report said cities in the United States make up just over one-quarter (26.4 percent) of the top 50 cities, with only one city (New York) in the top 15. JLL’s report examined the presence of 240 international retail brands and 140 international cities, including the drivers of their growth, opportunity and barriers, and also ranked and assessed the vitality and attractiveness of cities.

Fintas Park face Lift

I stopped by Fintas Park for a walk and saw workers fixing the basketball courts by adding padding and new basketball hoops. I was disappointed to see them take out the volleyball area but maybe they will add it with a padded ground. They also added some huge shades but out one of the play areas.

It's nice and clean but I doubt it will last long due to the kind of people living in the area. The park is fairly new and most of the exercise equipment has been broken and the padding for the play areas has been tossed around with some ending up in the ocean. But it is nice to see the place being fixed, now if they would help out the masjid that caters to English speaking Muslims that would be awesome.

Firebird kit on a Camaro

Of course this stopped me in my tracks and I had to take a picture.

Firebreather...pretty cool

Thief chases woman and steals her Purse

Kuwait is becoming a scary place with the increase in violence and drugs.

Trip to Dubai

This trip to Dubai I spent a day and a half instead of the one day which took two days to recover from. As we were driving I saw a Wendy's advertisement and knew I had to find one. I found one in the mall and ordered my chili and frosty that I've missed so much. I also had Baja Fresh and Taqado Mexican food.

I gave Ski Dubai another try this time and also got to hug a King penguin which was amazing, unfortunately the didn't allow photos, only the ones they would sell to us.

I almost got knocked out in these balls

I had to find a historical attraction as I see malls and restaurants everyday in Kuwait. We stopped by the Dubai Museum which was awesome

Around the corner from the museum is a historical shopping area with a coin museum located in one of what looks like old houses

Grendizer

The only problem was trying to flag down a taxi!

Sultan Chef

After seeing their IG page @sultanchef I always wanted to give it a try. They recently opened up a new location in Abu Halaifa in the "Light Complex," with it being so close I figured why not. We weren't familiar with the menu and I have little experience with Turkish food so we asked the waiter for his recommendation. We started off with drinks, I got the fruit drink pictured below which was really good.

We both tried salads, I got the Roca salad, they came in huge bowls which could've been shared. We also tried the grilled soujouk, a grilled Turkish sausage plate. Unfortunately the sausage plate was so salty I couldn't eat it. 

Our meat recommendation was the rack of lamb carved by our waiter.

Tibet Temple

Grilled soujouk

 Rack of lamb

 Antep baklava

 Of course we had to try the special Antep baklava and tea. The baklava dish is a show in itself.

The restaurant was beautiful and the waiters were awesome but it is really pricey. Our order which consisted of 2 drinks, bottle of water, 2 salads, one appetizer, rack of lamb and dessert came out to a whopping 52 KD and the food was good but not 52 KD good. All I can say is even though it is pricey there are always a lot of people in the restaurant so business is booming with all of the new locations opening up across Kuwait.