Streets of Kuwait: Part 3

Sunset at Marina Bay

When finding a fun leisure activity around busy Kuwait, it's never a dull moment to hang out around the coastline. You may ask what the locals and expats both love to do during weekends..if not shopping (for the rich ones) it's obviously chilling out on marina bay. What other thing is also good about it? Well.. I guess the fact that it's absolutely free! You can either go for a swim, take your fishing skills to the test, ride a water boat, chitchat with your friends, jog, run, relax or just lay down under a palm tree for a quiet time.

The pics below covered the long bay stretch from the Scientific Center to Marina Mall.

There's a food shop inside the Scientific Center (Burger King, Pizza Hut etc) if anyone wanted to eat. That afternoon, my friend and I preferred a BK kid's meal hence Simpson on the bay side standing with his arms wide open

You can check out the local boat rides. Not sure how much the fares cost. Will have that separate post once I get the chance to be on it soon-ish 

Old Kuwaiti boats. I featured these ones in a previous post HERE!

Where's ze captain?!

Not sure what that small circular thing was. But my friend told me she think it's  like a boat-toilet or something.

The KAIT boat description

This reminds me of the "bangka" I used to ride on when I was younger back in my mom's province. Although this looks a bit majestic with its paint and stuff

Who wants to jog?

Unfortunately I don't know what this structure is called so I just call it The Umbrella

It's fishing time!

The CATS are EVERYWHERE! Fun thing is...they look like they have good  breeds

No clue on what the sign says. I still can't read arabic *sigh*

This structure makes me think of a gazebo. I'm no architecture major so I don't really know what this is called.

Docks probably used for smaller boats or yachts? 

Gazebos everywhere...

The park. The trees look interesting.

Fountain or small pool? No idea.

Playground for kids

Restaurants along the coastline

Mesmerizing coastline amidst the busy street

Streets of Kuwait: Part 2

When in Kuwait..one thing that someone must always put in mind is how crazy ( I mean really really annoyingly crazy) dust storms can be. They can go for a week straight or show up in intervals. They're sometimes unpredictable too. But, scientifically speaking, they do appear whenever there's a change of season so that's always a hint for newcomers like me who have never experienced these kinds of dust storms in my life. Well this time around the dust storm is probably a hint to tell everyone that the weather is now changing from Spring to Summer...

This was taken in the daylight..but whenever the sandstorm worsens,  it's usually zero visibility

Streets of Kuwait: Part 1

My Dad, who is a frequent traveller would always tell me that "in order to really feel what it's like to be in a new place, it's always good to check out where the locals would go." This of course would instantly tell me to go and search for the hotspots where everyone would hangout with, but obviously  that would either be the gazillion restaurants in Kuwait, numerous malls, theme parks or the long stretch of Marina bay. (Note: Kuwait is a coastal country) But instead, what my Dad really wants to tell me was to be in places were the locals would really be found...where culture would be very evident.

First stop.. the Mosque. Unfortunately though, I'm not a Muslim so it would be weird for me to go in there and take pictures. Although there's a foreign-based group here called the AWARE CENTER that cater tour guides for expats. It so happens that my schedule just couldn't fit  theirs. Maybe next time..haha.

And yes..the Wet market. Interestingly, all the salesmen wear white labcoats and the whole fish market was centralized with AC. That's a new thing for me because back in Manila, only supermarkets have centralized ACs. But this is a public wet market! But what's the best thing? You can buy cheap chunks of big fish like Tuna, Blue Marlin, etc for only less than 1.5KD a kilo.

Ice Skating in Kuwait

I've always loved to skate..on ice. It was a childhood dream that I always fancy, more so after watching the movie The Cutting Edge and a few years later, Ice Princess. Unfortunately, it doesn't snow in the tropical island country where I live so I never had the opportunity to experience what they'd call White Winter. Although there were Ice Skating rinks available at the malls, I used to remember that I couldn't afford to try one since the fee for the hourly Ice skate is different from the Skate shoes rental plus the tutorial for the beginners' session. The tutorial was an option but for an elementary school kid, everything is just plain expensive.

Luckily, I did have my chance when I was in High school but that experience was a total mess. I couldn't even stand on my two feet and all the time I just kept on holding onto the rails for life support! That expensive precious one-hour of my hopefully glorious first try to Ice skate turned into hell since I would always fall on my butt flat on the hard ice. I also still couldn't afford to get a tutorial since my budget was only fit for the Ice skate usage and skate blade rental. The overall experience made me feel uninterested plus the fact that I have to travel almost 2 hours just to get to the mall to try that Ice skating experience.

Never did I imagine that I'd be able to try it again here in Kuwait for the second time. The fee was way cheaper as compared back home since the skate shoes rental is already included in the payment. I obviously don't have any clue about the mechanics of Ice skating in general except on how to tie the skate shoes properly though interestingly, it took me only a couple of minutes to finally get a grip on myself to stand on the ice without falling! That gave me an odd sense of joy to start with. And as the minutes passes, by after I started to move my two feet atop the hard ice, my excitement started to grow more. It's as if I was a kid again dreaming of becoming a great figure skater like Michelle Trachtenberg in the Ice Princess movie! Yeah that was a bit overboard, but every time I let myself loose in trying my very best to keep my balance while gliding on the ice, all the time carefully following my friend's basic instructions, I couldn't stop myself from being overly thrilled! Unlike my first try, the experience that took place was definitely worth repeating even though I slipped a couple of times, five to be exact plus adding the faint bruise I received as a souvenir on my left palm. But whatever the case, the experience was worth it and I can see myself, this time, coming back for more!

Credit: Chickee Pante for the Photos XD

Marina Waves

While walking at the bay area of Marina Mall with my SFC friends yesterday, I couldn't help but try to take a shot of the yacht area and the big ship-like structure called the Marina Waves even though the place was jammed pack with people or that it wasn't my first time to be there. Maybe it was the low light natural effect I was after that caught my attention. It was obviously one of Kuwait's main hub where you'd see tons of people doing picnics, strolling along the coast line or just simply hanging out for a coffee especially now that the weather here is getting chillier everyday.

Green Island Picnic

This is my first Eid Holiday and luckily we were invited to attend the CFC Kuwait Family Ministries' Picnic held at Green Island. It was a whole day affair with tons of activities to do. This social gathering reminded me of the ones we have back home. What makes it more awesome was that majority of the attendees were Filipinos.

During break time, I wander around the area to check out what the place has to offer. Guess what? Jet skis! I was excited to rent one when the owner told me that the water was too low. I kind of forgot that it's obviously low tide. So maybe next time... T_T