be your host tonight
I do not normally get ill- so looking back on my trip to Kuwait in 2016 it was quite rare for me to be full of cold. It usually happens when the weather changes here in the Middle East , or i get run down and exhausted at work and my immunity weakens and then I spend my vacation being sick! If you have read the two earlier blogs from Kuwait you will know everything was closed and it was not going well. Friday, my final full day, is the day of rest in the Middle East and after a slow start things started picking up.....
Kuwait – day three
Good morning all from Kuwait! It was my final day there as I was flying back to Bahrain at 18.20 in Saturday night. I was really tired on Thursday night so we ate at Pizza Express at Marina Mall (another 30% Alysha staff discount meal!) and then I was asleep in bed by 9 pm. I know how to live eh! It was the weekend in Kuwait and everyone was out enjoying themselves (in spite of the cold and light rain) and I was heading back to the hotel to sleep. Of course my sleep did not last long and I was awake at 3 am to pack (just managed to get everything in my Adidas sports bag) and dose myself up on Panadol cold and flu, Panadol Sinus tablets and Strepsils. The new box of soft tissues the room attendant bought me the day before had nearly gone and I hoped my voice would return for my contractor Environmental Induction at 8 am on Sunday back in Bahrain!
We had a later start on Friday as it is the first day of the Middle Eastern weekend and everything opens later. After our healthy Hotel Ibis breakfast buffet we walked along the coast to the Scientific Centre. The sun was out and everyone was out fishing, cycling, jogging, having coffee in the sun and walking. There are some great Dhows outside so after Jeyboy’s photo shoot we headed inside to buy our tickets. Having learnt his lesson from day one when everything was closed in the morning Jeyboy had checked the Scientific Centre website and thought they opened at 10 am. However when we arrived at 11 a.m. everything was very closed and eventually a cleaner told us it opened at 2 pm! So we walked back to the main road and got a taxi to The Avenues, Kuwait’s biggest Mall built in 4 phases, out of town ( 2.5 KD in the taxi!). The Avenues is where Jeyboy works so I think I had the name on the brain when I wrote yesterday’s blog! American Eagle and Pizza Express are at Marina Mall.
We started at the Avenues Ballroom which is the high end fashion section with retailers like Abercrombie, Louis Viton , Prada etc. It’s a shopaholics paradise of gold and glass and lovely fresh flowers, fountains and high ceilings. From there you move into phase two which has a more European feel with cafes on either side and people just sitting people watching and strolling window shopping ( reminded me a bit of Villaggio Mall in Doha) and then finally we reached the mainly restaurant section with the largest Cheesecake factory in the centre.
We met Jeyboy’s boss and everyone came over to say hello and we ate some starters and had some water. Then we continued our Pasalubong shopping with some great bargains in Max and just down the road behind the Avenues. We found a special toy for a friend with a cat! Finally we went to the huge Carrefour to get some Pinoy food treats for a friend back in Bahrain who still has not had his December salary and has no food at home!
After a coffee and a final check of the Pasalubong list ( that morning I had double checked and overall we were spot on budget for Jeyboy’s Christmas present and all the Pasalubong at 50 KD which included a Starbucks Kuwait mug for my growing collection ( Kuwait, Bahrain, India and America) and a big wooden frog fridge magnet.
We decided to give the Grand Mosque a miss ( and afterwards I realised it would have been closed to non Muslims due to Friday prayers) and headed back to the hotel to have Hot Chocolate and sort out the photos and read the papers.
The Crescent at Marina Mall- very popular at night when the Kuwaitis finally come outEventually we decided to venture out again for dinner but as neither of us had much energy left after all our walking and shopping we just went back to Marina Mall as Jeyboy had said it was bustling at night. He was right! The place was packed and all the restaurants overlooking the Marina were full with queues as the big families sat huddled around the heaters in their winter shawls and scarves and hats! I laughed at how different Kuwait in winter is from the excessive heat of the summer when I worked here in 1999. Then the temperatures got up to 54 degrees, now they are down to between 11 and 21 degrees depending on the time of day. Kuwait is much further North than Bahrain and is influenced by the cold air from Jordan and Iran and so on. There in the mountains they often have snow in January. Whilst the region is called the Middle East and Europeans think of it as one place and see people on the beaches of Dubai in December, there are also very cold parts as well in the winter months. However the locals love the opportunity to get outside walk, sit and talk and wear their winter finery after being restricted to home and work and the air-conditioned indoor malls in the oppressive heat of the summer.
After we walked around people watching for an hour we were hungry and cold and on the way back we found a Pizza Express that was only half full so we sat inside and had a warming bowl of mushroom soup and a pizza. As we walked back to the hotel afterwards it started to rain so Jeyboy got the taxi back to his place and I retired to bed to get some sleep and feel better for my final day in Kuwait and my return to work.
This is Blogger Neil , on his last day in Kuwait, signing out. The rain has gone, the sun has just come up and whilst Jeyboy is tucked up nice and warm in his bed at home I am off for a long walk by the sea before breakfast
Have a good day wherever you are!
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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