Sail away

There are various paintings done on small, box like rooms. This one is outside a school (in Abu Halifa). Makes the surrounding a little colourful in the otherwise beige, sand filled country. I don't know what's inside .... Electricity meters I presume.

Abhijeet Sawant

A photograph from my files. This cute fellow is the 1st Indian Idol Winner (a la American Idol). His name is Abhijeet Sawant.

I clicked these photographs (105 photographs actually!) at the Indian Republic day show organized at the Al-Shaab Leisure Park in Kuwait, on the 26th/Jan/2007.

Have you been to any celebrity shows in your country?

Old door

Here's another water dispenser I saw. It's shaped like an ancient Kuwaiti door... or atleast that's what I think. (You are welcome to correct me if I'm wrong.) I have absolutely no idea what those black sticks are doing there protruding from the top of the water dispenser.

Cute but ....

Stickers are not permitted on cars in Kuwait. But this one is just a kind of put and remove thing. Do you have a bumper sticker on your car? What does it say?

Hail Mary

Devout Roman Catholics praying at Our Lady's Grotto at the Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait, on Friday morning. There are an estimated 300,000 Catholics belonging to different Rites - Latin, Maronite, Greek Catholic, Coptic Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Chaldeans, all united in the same faith under the Holy Father. Among them, the largest group consists of those belonging to the Latin Rite or what is called the Western Catholic Church. In Kuwait, the Latin faithful come from India, the Philippines and other Arab States; a small number are from Europe, Africa, America, other Asian countries and the Far East. Link

Yippee! Camera repaired

Yippeeeeeeee! Nikon repaired my camera and it's working fine. (My generous brother had gifted it to me.) Now if only I can find the USB cable to transfer the pics I clicked yesterday!!!!

Villa

A pretty looking Kuwaiti villa in the Shamiya area. This belongs to one family. What I mean is one `building' is one house! Due to the extreme climate, we rarely see children playing outside their homes. Every area has a garden and the beach is always a 10 or 15 minutes drive, so that's where parents with their kids head most evenings. Shopping, ofcourse, is another favourite activity in Kuwait. What do you do most evenings?

Jug

This is a water dispenser. Many villas in Kuwait have water dispensers placed at the entrance so that passers by can quench their thirst. These water dispensers come in many different designs. There is a filter in the rear to filter the water. I particularly liked this one. It's so............ Alibaba!

Did you have your eight glasses today?

Camera gone for repairs

My camera has still not come back from repairs and I'm making do with an older camera or the mobile. Please excuse the resolution of my pics.

Bus Stop

That's a bus stop. Not all bus stops look alike and I'll post other bus stops in future. Believe me when I say that no Kuwaiti has or ever will ride the bus. Busses are made use of by Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Iranians, Egyptians etc. etc. but NEVER by the Kuwaities. They are not being snobbish. They have cars, petrol is cheap and they have no need for busses!!

Sofa set

Most all residential buildings in Kuwait will have a sofa seat or two placed at the entrance by the watchman (called the `Haaraas'). Rarely, if ever, you will see anyone sitting on them, though. Very often, it's left to the cats to make use of this!

Lorry ride

Despite extreme temperatures, very often we see workers in the rear of a half lorry, bearing the extreme heat or cold, on their way to work. When I clicked this pic it was a `bearable' 38 deg. Cent at 5:30 in the evening.

Going home

They are road cleaners. I don't know their work timings, but it was 11 a.m and it looked like they were heading home. I am told they earn Kd.22 a month i.e. approx. Indian Rs.3000 or US$ 73.

Catechism Class

Children going for Catechism Class on Friday morning at the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait.

Speed check

This is the only bridge that I have seen that has those speed check thingies. I don't think it really works though. Most of the time the first lane reading shows 109kmph. (Yes ... Kilometers per hour, not Miles!) 120kmph is the maximum speed limit. I was driving from Ahmadi to Riggae doing a decent 80! I wonder if there are any other bridges in Kuwait that have this kind of speed reading contraption.

Ahmadi Expressway

View of the Ahmadi Expressway from my 9th floor office window. Still a lot of empty spaces available in the city!

Friends forever

Kuwait always shows her gratitude to the Allies for helping her during the horrific and senseless Iraq Invasion of Kuwait.

PIFSS Parking

The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS - Kuwait city) staff parking lot. The buildings in the background are the Chamber of Commerce, 3 banks etc. etc. PIFSS site: www.pifss.gov.kw. This is, supposedly, a temporary parking space for the PIFSS' staff.

Click on this picture thumbnail

to see the architect's view of the new car park building with an underground tunnel being built for the staff's cars. (Capacity 1250 cars).

Bridge

The bridges/flyovers in Kuwait are usually sponsored by a Company for maintenance. So you will see the Company's ad on the bridge. This one is sponsored by KUFUMA. I wonder what that fellow is doing walking in the pit lane of the fly over.

Little Moppet

Baby Nikita - clicked in the Ace Hardware showroom in one of the display wash basins. No... she didn't object!