Category Archives: Life In Kuwait

Green Island, Kuwait – Our next barbecue spot!

10 Tuesday Jan 2017

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After 10 years of living in Kuwait, we visited the Green Island for the very first time last Friday.

Why, oh why, did we never bother before??

Everyone I have ever asked about it had always been quite vague; which led us to believe it wasn’t worth a dime.

On New year’s Day, we decided we would try and visit all possible, visit-able places in Kuwait EVERY weekend. We never know how long we’ll be here, so we might as well make sure we see everything there is to see. No matter how boring it may seem. So that’s how we thought of Green Island, despite the fact that no-one seems to go there.

But we were in for a surprise. The place was packed!!

We went last Friday afternoon. The weather was cool and everything looked extra bright and crisp. The sea and the sky looked bluer, the leaves looked greener & the air felt fresher. It was a lovely day. Contrary to what I thought about the island being an actual island away from Kuwait mainland, it is actually just a little extension out into the sea like in the picture below :

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The entrance fee costs KD1 per person. Children less than 3 yrs go free. We got in and roamed around a bit just to get an idea of the place and immediately saw its potential!

Kuwait does not really allow barbecuing anywhere. There are only 1 or 2 beaches and 1 or 2 parks that permit this, but its banned every where else. And every time we plan a barbecue event, its always at the same beach and I think we’ve already done 4 family get-togethers there. So this was right up our strasse because the island has specific places meant for barbecuing. We staked out the entire island and finally decided on the precise spot we would have it –

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Another thing I noticed about the place was how clean it was. The grass areas that were packed with people were, of course, littered. But once they’re gone, I’m pretty certain the place is well-maintained.

The island has a little train that takes you around its entirety. Cost us 500 fils per person (children below 3 exempted).

They’ve also got bicycles for rent – the normal ones as well as the roofed ones that take on 2 to 4 people at a time. We didn’t get the opportunity to rent them. I’m quite certain the kids would’ve enjoyed it. Next time!

It was a great outing and I’m desperately hoping we have a get-together real soon (hint! hint! to a certain pretty lady reading this :D. Yes, its you, Mrs. P!).

Happy New Year!!

01 Sunday Jan 2017

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Happy New Year to you all!

While a lot of people from Kuwait have been spending their New Year’s eve out of the country, we decided to spend ours by giving the newly opened Sheikh Jabar Al-Ahmed Cultural Center a visit yesterday.

The construction of this center was something we passed by on our way to work every morning and the more it progressed, the more I liked the way it was turning out to look.

The Cultural Center comprises of 4 beautifully constructed buildings with geometric designs on them that made them look like jewels. It includes concert halls, state-of-the-art theaters, cinemas and exhibition halls, a large public park and a musical fountain.

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– Picture Courtesy Google Images

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– Picture Courtesy Google Images

When the center officially opened on the 31st of October (2 months ago), the legendary Andrea Bocelli had given a performance that day. I don’t think the show was open to the general public, though. It wasn’t really advertised, you see. There were some major fireworks that night. But we had to sadly give it a miss because of the crowd expected and the dreaded parking issues.

I had heard that the musical fountain show took place every evening and I really wanted to go see it for myself. I had also heard it was similar to the Dubai Fountains, but on a much smaller scale. I, for one, LOVE fountains. All kinds of ’em. Its just one of those things that make me happy.

And it didn’t disappoint! These are some of the pictures I had taken along with a video 🙂

 

 

We hung around for 2 more shows (one of them to the tunes of Andrea Bocelli’s “Por ti Volare”) before our stomachs rumbled. There were a couple of Arabic Restaurants at the Center, but they were all packed. We were told it would be a long wait of at least 2 hours before we could get a table. Looked like the rest of Kuwait who didn’t travel decided to come out here on this very day! We would’ve waited but the kids rebelled. So we went to our favorite Fridays joint and had a soul-satisfying meal of steaks and molten lava cake!

So that’s how our New Year’s eve went this year.

We had a lovely evening and these fountains can definitely look forward to a visit from us more often now 🙂

On the crochet front, I’ve decided to be a part of the “Make it for Me” event held by Elk Studios. You can read all about it here. So that’s an entire month of daily crocheting and Day 1 project is out already today. I hope I can get them all done too.

Have a Blessed and Beautiful New Year every one!

 

Hello!

15 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in Life In Kuwait, Writing

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Just wanted to say Hello to you all!

I’ve been MIA for over 2 weeks; but I’m still here.

I had forced myself to take a break from crocheting and blogging because work has been overwhelming. And most days, I had been dragging it home with me. Its the holiday season in this region and being a part of the travel industry means I do not get a minute of free time. Planning peoples’ holidays and sorting out all sorts of hiccups along the way really gets me tired mentally. On days that I do not get bogged down with phone calls and messages at home, I’m busy planning my own vacation (end of July! YAY!) even though all I wanna do is just curl up and sleep for a long, long time.

Although I have definitely missed reading all your blogs, I think I will continue with this break until end July when I’ll be off on my hopefully refreshing holiday and will then get some time to do some of my favorite things.

Sending lots of love your way and hope to catch up soon!

The Greatest thing

 

Stray Memories

20 Monday Jun 2016

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We had the joy of taking care of 4 little kittens and its mother until a week ago. They were housed in a small cubicle-like ventilation shaft near the staircase of our apartment floor. They didn’t belong to anyone. The mother cat had given birth to them on one of the floors above us (I don’t know when) and brought them down into this shaft almost 3 weeks ago. The kittens had grown a little by then; but they were still on the mother’s milk and too small to venture out anywhere on their own.

So we had been feeding Mama cat all the time she was there. She even let us pet her little ones. Maybe she decided we were safe. My 2 yr old kept insisting on going to the staircase every now and then to watch.

It was amazing to see her love for her little bundles. She was always nuzzling and licking them clean and I could feel my heart burst with these little displays of affection. A mother’s love is such a powerful feeling.

Until a week ago.

When we had to witness acts of cruelty by human-beings toward the helpless. Our horrid watchman took all 4 of them and gave them away to some boys who proceeded to torture them. All my shouting and screaming did nothing to deter them. They just laughed at my anger and ran away grabbing the poor little babies by their tails and swinging and flinging them around.

I cannot imagine what must have become of them. But we are now left with Mama cat crying piteously for her babies; she’s constantly going up and down the stairs looking for them and keeps coming back to stare into the shaft.

We are left with rage at the cruelty that human beings are capable of inflicting. I do not blame the boys. They are young. But I am angry at the watchman. He knew what would happen. But he still went ahead and let it without a moment’s thought. Washed his hands of the responsibility of leaving strays in the building.

What does it take to show some kindness? Is it so hard to be a little considerate? Very hard to pity the helpless? To just let them be? They would grow up soon and go away, anyway.  Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised. With all the terrible things happening in the world that even innocent little children are not spared, what place do tiny kittens have?

Watching Mama cat now breaks our heart. She keeps approaching our door, probably in the hopes that her precious babies are in our home. I do not open the door any more when she comes crying. There is nothing I can do to help and I can’t bear to see her loss.

This is a picture I took of them when they all popped their heads out one by one to get a lick from her –

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And now, they have become only a memory that will soon fade.

Aroma Sense Luxury Showerhead : Review

25 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by in Health, Life In Kuwait, Reviews

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This post is basically just to rave about a product that has finally made a difference to a heady problem that I’ve been trying to deal with since the past 2-3 yrs.

I’ve been living in the Middle East for almost 28 years of my 36 year old life. The majority of my expat life (childhood included) had been in Dubai and I moved to Kuwait just 9 years ago.

But despite the fact that I love my life in Kuwait tons better than I did in Dubai, the extreme dryness of the weather here, not to mention the chlorinated water that my hair has been subjected to these past few years has seriously taken its toll. Dandruff, itchy scalp and hair loss became a problem I grieved over every single day. I’ve tried out so many shampoos and natural remedies and its all become a useless, tiresome affair, really.

Until I read somewhere about shower-filters (never heard of them before) and decided last month to at least try it out and see if it fixed the water problem.

And it did!! Why didn’t it ever cross my mind to check this out earlier??

Its still early days, but I can already feel the difference! My scalp does not itch so much any more, my hair feels SO soft, doesn’t tangle up as much as it used to, and the dandruff has drastically reduced! I don’t expect it to completely disappear, because, well.. what can one do about the weather..

So! The Aroma Sense Shower Head that I’ve got is a US product (made in Korea) and is used in quite a few leading 5 star hotels. The one I have is the Large hand-held option that I bought from a fellow expat-mum who had a few in stock (for KWD23/-). I think the price online is around KWD31/-

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It uses the concept of Aromatherapy – a process that uses natural oils from plants that helps to stimulate brain function and enhances psychological and physical well-being. They have a choice of 5 aromas (Lemon/Citrus Mango /Eucalyptus/Lavender/Jasmine) that’s stored in a cartridge in the handle portion of the shower-head.

Mine is Lemon. So every time I turn it on, my bathroom is infused with a lovely lemony fragrance.

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Cleaning and maintenance is easy. The official site has a few videos on how to install and maintain the shower-head too.

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The only draw-back is replacing the Aroma and Vitamin C cartridge when they run out. And since I don’t really think this product is sold here in Kuwait by any retailers, I will have to shop it online from Dubai (which I can see costs approx. KWD15 for 3 cartridges + shipping). This might prove to be a little expensive, but I don’t think I can give it a miss because even if I’m ok to go without the aroma, the Vitamin C neutralizes the chlorine in the water. Which is the whole purpose of me getting this product.

And when I do order them, I am definitely getting the Jasmine fragrance next 😉 .

Overall, I am very pleased about the condition of my hair and the fact that I get to enjoy a spa therapy in my own bathroom :). And I am so hoping to see more hair on my head and less on my hairbrush soon too!

Have any of you tried it? Let me know if you have and what you think of it.

Image Courtesy : Google Images.

New Blooms

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in Life In Kuwait, Nature

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Spring has come and gone and summer is definitely out in full force! By 8:30 a.m, its already scorching hot.

I have a little garden in my office – potted plants; and today, I came to work and saw my gardenia have its first bloom of the year! I am so happy just watching it :). Showing it off to whoever comes near my window.

Got 3 more buds to flower on this little one.

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Gardenia

My Jade plant is also in its flowering stage and I should be seeing them bloom later this week or the next! Its 7 yrs old and this is the second year its flowering. I have a total of 3 of these clusters now.

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Jade Plant

The last flowering plant I have is the Adenium (Desert Rose), and that is still in its infancy. A slow growing one. Might take years to see it bloom! But just to give you an idea of what the flowers would look like, this is it :

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Adenium (the ones in the pots close to the window)

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If it ever blooms, this is how it would look.

But I’m content with what I have now! Be blessed and flourish, my little lovelies!

 

 

 

Visit to Blue Lake Farm, Abdali

28 Sunday Feb 2016

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We visited a farm for the first time since we moved to Kuwait 8 yrs ago. We’d always heard about these farm visits from our friends and family. But on Friday, we actually made an effort to go to one (recommended by dear sister-in-law). The Blue Lake Farm in Abdali that we went to is a little more than an hour and a half away from Kuwait city. Almost at the border of Iraq. Very easy to find if you have navigation means since sign-boards are mostly in Arabic and would be a challenge for the non-users. Another 20 km and we could practically step foot in Iraq. We did have a moment of insanity back there where we thought we would cover the distance to take a peek just for the fun of it. Its only 20 km after all.. But then, good sense came whooshing back and put our heads back right.

Anyways, back to my farm talk..

The farm is open to visitors only on Fridays. We had one main purpose to our visit and that was to pick our own strawberries. I think they’re seasonal; so might not be around come summer. By the time we got there, it was quite crowded and I worried a little that there wouldn’t be any left for us. The farm mainly comprised of a couple of green-houses; inside one of which were rows upon rows of beautiful and bright strawberries in all stages of growth. No chance of running out of them!  I’m having one now as I type this post. They were red, ripe, succulent and yum! The strawberry flowers looked so pretty too. Its the first time I’m seeing strawberries grown. Loved the scene.

The other green-houses had different varieties of flowering plants, herbs, vegetables and fruits. All organic. They had a separate area that sold organic milk, eggs, cheese and branded herbal tea named Nabla (I had a yummy lemon-grass and ginger flavored cuppa).

Outside, in a separate area, they had a little lake with livestock, ducks and geese. The 2 yr old was over the moon when he caught sight of them. Went about being busy feeding the goats dead leaves he found on the ground. By feeding, I mean just throwing the leaves at their faces :D. He wasn’t too keen on the idea of having them feed off his hands. Had a little episode back at the green-house when one of the hens took a nip at his finger.

Got back home late afternoon really, really tired . A short nap would have been welcomed but was out of the question. We still had to make it to my brother’s place for my younger niece’s 2nd birthday celebrations before heading out to dinner. Sister-in-law baked a cake with icing of vibrant blues. Cake was delicious. We all ended up with blue lips n tongues. Dinner was at Pei Wei’s. Yummy food there too. Went back to his place for more cake and story telling.

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Finally got home at 1 in the morning, dead beat but so content. Really glad we had a yummy day!

Turtle Trouble :(

18 Thursday Feb 2016

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This week has seen me filled with turtle-related worries and anxieties.

Its been a month now since we got our pet turtle – a red eared slider. It’s about 5-6 months old and I don’t know yet if it’s a male or a female. My 11 yr old calls it Turbo, in any case. But almost 3 weeks ago it stopped eating. Any food I leave it to eat goes untouched. Like the tiny shrimp in the picture which is so close to its mouth. But never gets eaten.

We’re new to seriously taking care of a pet and I had not realized that a small, quiet thing like a turtle involved so much work. I’m ashamed of myself for treating it lightly and not doing enough to ensure it is happy, healthy and safe.

But I had read that turtles can go for several weeks without food. So I thought that must be the case here. Until I realized it hadn’t been opening its eyes either for quite a while. And the eyes sort of looked swollen. That’s when I started taking this seriously. And began researching on what turtles need. And from the looks of it, the swollen eyes indicate a lack of Vitamin A.

The main thing it needs is sunlight for a couple of hours daily to bask under (our apartment has no possibility for natural light). Poor little Turbo has been without sunlight for a month now which seems to have led to the beginnings of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). It’s also got tiny white patches on its shell.

The only thing I seemed to have done right in all of this is cleaning its water. I do that everyday.

So 3 days ago we visited a really nice pet store called Petzone. Got a UV lamp and Basking Light by Zoo Med. Installed that and kept it on most of the time. The UV lamp provides UVB rays that reptiles need for Vitamin-D production and Calcium Metabolism. And it also states that it can help to reverse the MBD. So counting on it to do its job of reviving the little fellow.

I also read that vitamin and calcium injections might be needed too, since it hasn’t eaten for so long. Yesterday I checked on veterinary hospitals and found 3. But apparently only 1 – The Royal Veterinary Hospital treats exotic pets like our turtle. So we’re going to try that out today and see if they can help..

I’m so hoping Turbo recovers. I don’t think I want to lose him/her (will find that out too today).

 

 

 

New Crafty Supplies and a WIP

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Crafts, Crochet, Family, Life In Kuwait

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The better half went to Vegas for 2 weeks to attend a trade fair. Came back with a few lovely crafty things that he got from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores.

One of it was not really a surprise because I had told him specifically to get it. Its a Martha Stewart Knit and Weave Loom set that I wanted to learn to do. I had seen it on one of the video posts on Facebook (by Petals to Picots, I think it was) and wanted to give it a try.

My 11 yr old saw the video too and said she would learn to do it instead. She even went ahead and assigned us roles : I would stick to crochet and she would learn to weave. Was I glad she showed an interest 🙂 ! She had wanted to learn to crochet too; but she couldn’t get her fingers and hook to behave the way they were supposed to. So gave up on it.

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We still haven’t taken the loom out of the packaging. She’s got her finals coming up in 2 weeks and once that is done with, we’ll jump to it. Until then, its stashed out of our way so we don’t get enticed.

Other crafty things in the bag were 2 varieties of Pom-Pom makers, bunch of fancy and cute buttons, a coloring book by Leisure Arts (I soooo love them; I could sit for hours with it and forget there are needy humans in the house.), a scrap-book kit and 2 sets of paint-by-numbers for my 11 yr old (she’s only just begun learning to paint with water-colors).

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Really pleased with them all. These are sure to bring us some mother-daughter quality time together :). The 2 yr old can just watch us and kick up a fuss for not including him.

This evening after work, we saw another beautiful sunset. Drove past the beach to admire it more. We sat in the car for a while watching it, listened to some old Indian music, talked about nothing in particular and got lost in our day-dreams 🙂

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Later at home we had a game of Snakes and Ladders. Its been ages since we played a game together. We didn’t have the actual board with us. So my 11 yr old drew one and made chits with numbers from 1-6 to choose from 😀 . We played 2 rounds and she won both.

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And lastly, I’ve been working on a small new project since 2 days – The Mantilla Doily. Making it in a solid color.

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I decided to spend time on smaller, pretty projects; especially the ones that I had saved on Pinterest since I’ve already got a large one – the Moogly CAL afghan – in the works. Will put up the completed pic of the doily once done. I have more of them lined up to make 🙂

So that’s that for this week! Looking forward to reading all about yours too 🙂 !

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Park Trip, A Glass Bowl Garden and a New Pet

16 Saturday Jan 2016

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We had an interesting weekend. I get a full day off on Friday and a half day on Saturday. The weather was G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S. on Friday. Which is not very often. And it would have been a shame if we didn’t take advantage of it. So we went to visit one of the newest addition to the parks we have here – The Al Shaheed Park – the largest urban park in Kuwait. Its actually a park that displays the country’s history and culture with 2 museums (which we didn’t see), gardens, lake with a musical fountain, walking and jogging tracks. It was beautifully built. They were also supposed to feature an aviary, but that’s not operational yet. I think we saw the space meant for it. So maybe in the near future.. The only downside was they didn’t have any allocated play areas for kids and they didn’t allow us to take the ball in (my 2 yr old  never goes anywhere without it). So after wrestling it out of his hands and the loud screams subsided, we began to enjoy the visit. Here are some of the pics we took –

We then went to Friday Market – one of the oldest, popular, open-air market where you can get endless things; right from a needle to a pet. We went there with a purpose. My brother (an extremely creative person who doesn’t take his creativity very seriously), made a little garden in his unused fish-bowl. So we went to get a bowl and the plants to make a similar one. Here they are :

The first one is my brother’s. Very pretty isn’t it? We still need to get some decorative elements and stones to put in ours (the second one), and I have one more plant left over to put in but I have another idea forming in my mind. Not sure how it would look, so not going much into the details here. I’m currently keeping fingers crossed that first of, the plants would grow well together.

And for the finale, much to the excitement of the 2 cheeky monsters, we got ourselves another new pet. An unexciting turtle! 😀

So that’s another grand week gone by 🙂

Wish you all a great one too!