2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

If you’ve come across a photo booth in Kuwait, maybe at an event or mall, it was probably a Calling Marilyn booth. Calling Marilyn was born when popular studio photographer Salma Alessa brought her studio’s signature high-end aesthetic and attention to detail to a wider audience. A luxe photo booth where people can have fun and capture moments with friends turned out to be the perfect way to share her photography style beyond the studio.

Not only do the photos look great, but the booths themselves are just as impressive. Each one has a unique design inspired by its environment and is created locally. No two are alike, and all are built in collaboration with local artisans and creatives. They also like thinking outside the box, literally. Last year they turned a vintage Cadillac convertible into a booth just for fun, and people had a blast with it.

Another cool aspect is that the photo booths don’t store or save digital copies. It brings back the old school magic of physical copies, while also being a privacy feature. The photos you print will be the only copies that exist.

If you want to check out one of their public booths, you can find them in various spots around Kuwait, including 360 Mall, Assima, Al Andalus, Al Thuraya, Khiran Mall, Marina Mall, and more.

Check them out @callingmarilyn

A couple of weeks ago I used AliExpress for the first time, for two orders back to back. I never had a reason to buy anything from AliExpress before but it just strangely happened that I needed to buy two different things from them.

I wanted to buy a CD player called the SMSL PL100. They were out of stock on Amazon but found it available on AliExpress with free shipping to Kuwait. Basically was going to be the same price as Amazon or maybe slightly cheaper. I placed the order on August 3rd.

The next thing I wanted to get was the new ANBERNIC RG 477M game console. It was available on the Abnernic website but they were charging $50 to ship to Kuwait. It was the same price on AliExpress with free shipping to Kuwait. So I placed the order on August 6.

I wanted the Anbernic for my LA flight which is later today and wasn’t sure if I’d get it in time. To my surprise both items were delivered to my door on August 13th. I thought they would arrive to the post office but similar to TEMU, my items got delivered to my home.

Overall it wasn’t a bad experience. I only had difficulty at first creating an account, both accounts I created were locked up instantly because it thought I was a bot or spam or something. Nearly put me off but then got it working. There are always offers as well it seems, and I used a coupon to get a discount on my Anbernic order as well. I’ll probably order more items from AliExpress in the future but with Amazon free shipping I’m not sure how often that will be. I always prefer buying from Amazon, but at least now I have a second site to compare prices with, at least with items that come from China anyway.

Yesterday, TEC announced that Winter Wonderland is getting the largest indoor roller coaster in the world called the Höllenblitz. Technically it’s not the largest indoor roller coaster in the world, it’s the largest indoor roller coaster in the world that is portable, in the dark, and doesn’t contain any loops. But all of that doesn’t sound as catchy and wouldn’t have fit in my headline anyway.

The Höllenblitz was designed and built by the Renoldi family, who first released the world’s largest transportable indoor roller coaster at a fair in Frankfurt back in 1992. The ride was called Magic Mountain but was redesigned and renamed Star World in 1998, inspired by Star Wars. Years later, Klaus Renoldi Jr. watched Indiana Jones and was so impressed that he decided to transform Star World into an Indiana Jones–themed roller coaster, launching it as the Höllenblitz in 2007.

The roller coaster is an impressive 860 meters long and was inspired by the mine cart scene in Indiana Jones. Its structure resembles a rocky mountain, complete with a 30-meter waterfall, suspension bridges, fog, fire, and rotating gondolas.

Here’s an interesting bit of roller coaster trivia. Did you know that Shaab Park once had an ultra-rare, one-of-a-kind ride called the Spiral Coaster? I’ve posted about it previously here, it was a pipeline coaster, meaning the train rode between the tracks instead of above them like traditional coasters. The concept was meant to be the next big thing in roller coasters and was even featured in a National Geographic special while the concept was being tested.

The Spiral Coaster was marked as standing but not operational from 2005 until 2017 in the online roller coaster database. It had closed for maintenance in 2005 but never reopened. When Shaab Park was demolished in 2017, the coaster disappeared and the online roller coaster community lost track of it. Over the years, there have been numerous posts and even videos investigating its fate, but nobody seems to know what actually happened to it.

I’m really surprised how many things are still taking place every weekend even through the summer. Usually it gets pretty quiet, but there are still plenty of things to do. Check out my favorite ones below and as always, double check the event details with the organizers.

Thursday, August 14
Korean Movie Night: Harbin
Story Time at PCC

Friday, August 15
8 15 Mini Market
Sunrise Paddle
The Gathering

Saturday, August 16
Girls Only Game Day
8 15 Mini Market
Sunrise Paddle
DAI Story Time Zoo
DAI Family Day
Social Game Night
Matcha Workshop with Oysa
Lumen printing
Visual Journaling

@VisitKuwait posted the 4 different categories that were recently introduced for the Kuwait tourist visa. source

The cost of the tourist visa is just KD 3 so around $10. source

I wasn’t expecting my last post to get such an emotional reaction. I knew it would spark a respons but I expected more debate and less outrage. About 99.9% of the comments strongly disagreed with the gym’s explanation for why women’s prices were higher than men’s. That was made very clear.

One thing that stood out to me, since it was mentioned multiple times by different people, was the claim that women pay three times more than men for the same gym. So I decided to contact 16 gyms in Kuwait, basically every gym I could find that offered facilities for both men and women, to see which one was charging three times more for women. Here’s what I found:

Men pay more at 6 gyms
Women pay more at 4 gyms
6 gyms have the same price for men and women.

When men pay more, it’s by 18.8% on average.
When women pay more, it’s by 25.6% on average.

I couldn’t find a gym where the women’s membership was three times more than the men’s. Maybe that comparison is being made between different gyms, like a one-year subscription at Oxygen in Mangaf for men (KD 200) versus a one year subscription for women at Platinum Sabah Al-Salem (KD 720). In this specific case, women would be paying three times more, but it’s not a fair comparison.

There were comments about Platinum’s Sabah Al-Salem branch specifically. The membership there is KD 390 a year for men and KD 720 a year for women. Oxygen has a men’s gym in Sabah Al-Salem that charges KD 440 a year, so Platinum is likely keeping the men’s price lower to compete is my guess.

In any case, if you don’t like that your gym charges a pink tax, leave the gym. If a gym charges a pink tax and women are still paying it, the gym has little incentive to reduce their prices.

Check out the list below of gyms in Kuwait that offer membership to both men and women. These are the yearly membership prices:

ARGAN Albida’a Club
Men KD 1,250
Women KD 825

C Club
Men KD 1,750
Women KD 1,350

Circuit+
Men KD 670
Women KD 828

Elite Fitness
Men KD 1,100
Women KD 1,100

ERA Members Club
Men KD 650
Women KD 650

Flare Fitness
Men KD 595
Women KD 720

Edge Fitness (Holiday Inn)
Men KD 479
Women KD 445

Inspire
Men KD 1150
Women KD 1150

Platinum
Men KD 750 (all branches)
Women KD 870 (all branches)

Privus Health Club
Men KD 1,400
Women KD 1,200

Rafa Nadal Academy
Men KD 800
Women KD 800

Spark
Men KD 670 (single branch)
Women KD 950 (single branch)

SVN
Men KD3,000
Women KD2,600

The Burrow
Men KD 1,100
Women KD 1,100

The Champion
Men KD 250
Women KD 250

Viking Club (Radisson Blu)
Men KD 1050
Women KD 825

Note: When checking the prices, keep in mind that some gyms have offers or include additional services with the membership. For more details, DM the gym or call them.

Wplace is a collaborative, real-time pixel canvas layered over the world map. Anyone anywhere in the world can paint and create art together. I just checked out Kuwait and the map was packed with tags.

It’s really bizarre, kinda like the graffiti you’d find on neighborhood electrical substations, but if they were done by 10 year olds. No idea why this is popular. Link

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the price difference between men’s and women’s gyms in Kuwait. Women’s memberships are often more expensive with no clear explanation to why. So, I reached out to a gym (they want to remain anonymous) that operates both men’s and women’s branches to find out why their women’s membership costs slightly more than the men’s. These are the 5 main reasons they say women’s gyms cost more:

Prime Locations
Women’s branches are in safe, central spots like malls and shopping centers. Great for comfort and accessibility, but rent in these areas is expensive.

Specialized Coaches
Finding top female coaches in Kuwait is not easy, especially those with international certifications and skills like prenatal training, yoga, and Pilates. Getting them here means covering relocation, visas, housing, and benefits, which all add to costs.

More Equipment Variety
Women’s gyms often have a wider mix of machines compared to men, from Pilates reformers to functional rigs. This means bigger investments and more frequent maintenance.

Higher Operating Costs
Women’s gyms operate in fewer peak hours while still carrying full overhead. Maintenance also has to be done after hours, often late at night, which costs more.

Maintaining Quality
Dropping prices could mean overcrowding and faster wear and tear. Keeping memberships at a certain price helps maintain a comfortable and high-quality space.

What do you think?

Photo courtesy of @trainwithg

One of the best things about having so much competition now in food delivery is that everyone is upping their game. Talabat I realized have been adding a lot of new features recently and the latest one is for their Pro customers and is called “On-Time Guarantee”. If your order is delayed more than 15 minutes beyond the estimated time, then you’ll be eligible for a compensation from Talabat:

15 Minutes Late = KD 1 voucher
30 Minutes Late = KD 1.5 voucher
45 Minutes Late = KD 2 voucher
60 Minutes Late = KD 2.5 voucher

On more than one occasion when an order of mine has been late I’ve had to completely cancel it. Not because I’m trying to be a dick or anything but sometimes I have to be somewhere and if the food is delayed I’ll have to leave the house. I’m talking like estimated delivery time of 20-30 minutes and an hour later still not getting my food. In those situations Talabat have canceled my ordered and refunded me the full amount, so I’m hoping that won’t change now that they’ve introduced this compensation fee.

Yesterday a friend sent me this post he came across online. The account had 200K followers and the post at that point around 8,000 likes (it’s over 12K now). I hadn’t come across a Rolex vending machine nor heard about it so assumed this was fake news, but I reached out to the dealer anyway just to confirm that which they did (that it was not true).

But this is pretty much what the Internet is nowadays, tons of fake news and pictures just created to generate clicks. Anything interesting or cool I come across I need to triple check just to make sure if it’s real or not. I think I prefer the web back when it was harder for people to create and share content.

Here are my favorite events taking place this weekend.

Thursday, August 7
Bloom Market
Italian Collage Night on Tote Bags
Storytime at PCC

Friday, August 8
Bloom Market
Sunrise Paddle

Saturday, August 9
Bloom Market
Women’s Circle
Second Chance Book Sale
Back to the 200s Junk Journal Club
Girls Only Board Gaming
Island Escape to Qaruh

Russell Peters is coming back to perform live in Kuwait on October 20 at The Arena as part of his Relax World Tour. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Thursday) at 11AM through The Arena’s website.

Fame Entertainment, the same company that brought Fluffy, Craig David, and Blue to Kuwait, are the ones bringing him back.

Tickets will start from KD25. If you want the best seats, make sure to grab your tickets as soon as they go on sale. thearenakuwait.com

According to a reliable source, Spinneys, the popular supermarket chain, might be coming to Kuwait and partnering up with Alshaya.

Spinneys is considered a premium supermarket and is popular in the UAE and Lebanon, with locations also in Egypt, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. In the UAE, Spinneys also operates the Waitrose brand.

This isn’t the first time Alshaya has been in talks to partner with a supermarket chain. Back in 2011, they were reportedly in talks with Tesco before that deal fell through. At the time, I was told Alshaya was looking to replace Carrefour in The Avenues with their own supermarket concept. I have no idea if that’s still the case, but I’d imagine that would be the most likely scenario.

Back in June Amazon started offering free delivery to Kuwait which I’ve obviously been taking advantage of. One incident recently happened to me which I thought was worth sharing.

I was looking for a DAC that would take digital audio from my Mac mini and convert it to analogue to send to my KEF LSX speakers. I was using the Apple USB-C to headphone jack dongle but wanted something better. I previously ordered an optical in analogue out converter but it didn’t allow me to control the volume from my Mac mini, I had to do it from the speaker which I didn’t want to do. Anyway, after a lot of research with ChatGPT, and a limited budget of under $100, ChatGPT recommended I get the iFi UNO. According to ChatGPT I’d be able to control the volume from my Mac which was perfect.

ChatGPT was wrong. Last time I’m using it to help me buy electronics. Once plugged in I had to control the volume either from the speakers or the DAC but the volume control on my Mac wouldn’t do anything. I had bought it for around $80 plus I had ordered some high quality cables with it so I was down over $100. I was just going to dump it in my electronics box but decided to see if I could return it. I had thrown the box and manuals out already so wasn’t hopeful. I checked the return policy for Amazon and it turned out that if I returned the item even though it was without the box I might be entitled for possibly a 50% refund. Figured that was better than nothing.

So I applied to return both items. Returning the items was free of charge, I just had to print the DHL labels Amazon gave me and go to the DHL store to drop them off. Process at DHL took like 5 minutes, I didn’t even have to bring any packaging, they just dumped them into the standard DHL bags and shipped them. I mailed them back July 25, on July 31 I got a full refund back from Amazon!

That’s crazy. Forget the fact that they’re shipping the stuff for free to Kuwait, you can actually return the items for free as well, that’s really insane.

I’ve posted about Deboned before since they’re my go-to spot when I want to eat clean or healthy. I like their grilled chicken because it’s packed with flavor, and since they have branches near me, delivery is always quick. To keep things exciting, they’re constantly introducing new flavors, and yesterday they launched their latest one, Sweet & Chili.

The new Sweet & Chili flavor is available across all their chicken dishes, including Shawarma, Wings, and of course, the Half and Whole Chicken options, served with either oven-baked fries or rice.

Their Friday Meal Boxes are also available with the new Sweet & Chili flavor, and they’ve introduced a new Mango flavor for their Rice Pudding dessert.

The last time I posted about Deboned I found out they had branches in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. For now, the Sweet & Chili flavor is only available in Kuwait and for a limited time only.

If you’ve never tried Deboned before, or if you want to try their new flavor, head over to their Instagram page for more info @deboned.kw or order directly from debonedkwt.com