Living In Salmiya

How long in Kuwait? 18 months

Why did you move to Kuwait? My husband got a job here

Family circumstance: married without children here (they are at University in the UK)

A bit about me/us: It was very difficult being here at first, I felt quite lonely without my children and with my husband being at work. However I have made some lovely friends and joined the British Ladies Society and so I now feel much happier.

Accommodation Options: Here in Salmiya accommodation is mainly apartments. There are some low rise and higher blocks and some have views of the Gulf or perhaps a shared pool and/or gym.We are fortunate to have a funished apartment overlooking the Gulf.

Facilities: There are so many facilities in this area. It is quite 'built up' and some people think it is a little noisy and busy but we have everything we need close by. There are good hospitals, many schools, Shopping Malls, Marks and Spencers, food shops (including the Sultan Centre), many cafes and restaurants, cinemas, the sea etc. We also have the 'Scientific Centre' with its IMAX cinema, aquarium and Discovery Centre here and the new Olympia Centre just across the road with it's very popuar Syrian restaurant called Naranj.

Marina Mall and Crescent is here, which is one of my favourites. We can walk there and there is a cinema, good clothes shops, nice restaurants including Pauls, PQ, Ayyam (lovely arabic food), Asha's, Pinkberry etc.

For a different shopping experience there is also the 'City Centre' which is more souk like and you can pick up a bargain here, or have a Starbucks and do a big food shop in the Department Store.

There is also a Hard Rock Cafe along the Corniche and a climbing wall and restaurants at 'Marina Wave' which are very popular. Along the beach you will find inflatables for children to play on and there are also many parks along the Corniche which the children play on.

Why I/ we like living here: I love having a sea view and all the facilites in Salmiya are just over Arabian Gulf street. We can walk for miles along the Corniche and we also have made some lovely friends in our apartment block.

What do you enjoy doing with your time? I enjoy meeting up with friends, exercising and walking along the Corniche. Also shopping and trying out some of the many restaurants with my husband at the weekends and having friends around for dinner.

About Salmiya

Salmiya is located 12 kilometres southeast of Kuwait City and is one of the largest areas in Kuwait consisting of both commercial and residential areas. Salmiya is arguably Kuwait's flagship district being a major cultural and commercial hub. It is well connected to the rest of the country having a multitude of significant highways and roads passing through it en-route to the capital, Kuwait City.

Salmiya is administratively divided into 12 blocks. The blocks located closer to the interior of the district tend to be mostly residential, while those located beside the Arabian Gulf coastline have a great deal of commercial and up-scale residential real estate. The interior residential areas boast a huge population of foreigners consisting mainly of those from the Indian sub-continent and other Arabs who are not native to the Arabian Gulf area.

Salmiya has been a model district in the context of modernization. It has undertaken a major face lift in recent times primarily due to ever-expanding commercial real estate on the Gulf Road. The popular Salem Al-Mubarak Shopping strip is in relative close proximity to the capital.

The influx of foreigners to Salmiya is of historical importance dating as far back as the 1960s. During the Gulf War, Salmiya was destroyed by invading Iraqi occupation, but from 1993 onward it was gradually rebuilt and re-populated. The old rugged 3-storied buildings and open fields that Salmiya was famous for have given way to high density layouts of high-rise apartments and complexes. The beach front, once a hub and harbor for the fishing and pearl diving community, has been transformed into a well-developed and modern bustling commercial avenue.

The Salem Al-Mubarak Street shopping districts, commonly known as Salmiya Center, runs down the outer blocks of Salmiya. It is one of the oldest and largest shopping districts of Kuwait. It is a remnant of Kuwait's once numerous traditional souk bazaars, similar to the ones located in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Kuwait City. Well known in the past for pearls, gold and jewellery, it now consists of a wide array of world-renowned retail giants and local outlets. Much of the old souk had been built over, but the feel and atmosphere of the past albeit remains visible at the traditional precincts of this shopping district. The experience varies from modernised (and Westernised) in the strip malls, to a true Kuwaiti experience on some of the back streets. It is notable to point out that the more eastward away from the capital one moves along the strip, the fancier and pricier the shops are in general. There are many gold and fabric shops in the "Old Souk" area located onwards from the intersection of the 4th Ring Road and the strip.

Salmiya is also host to numerous mosques, an aquarium, a Scientific Center, an IMAX movie theater, football stadium, medical centers, a Roman Catholic Chapel, the district passport office ("Jawazat") and a well-equipped park beside the 5th Ring Road. Notable malls include the Souk Salmiya Mega-mall, Marina Mall and the Omniya mall. The Gulf Road is coveted for its amazing sea vistas and is the main hub for new construction of future buildings and renovations. A boulevard passing through much of coastal Salmiya is a reflection of Kuwait's drive to modernity.