Author: Mark

If you weren’t aware, there is currently a plant-based meat craze that’s taking over in the U.S. with brands like Beyond and Impossible both being the two most popular plant-based meat suppliers. Even fast food brands like McDonalds and Burger are both hopping onto this trend and South Park had an episode about it a couple of weeks back.

Locally, plant-based meat hasn’t really picked up yet but there are now a couple of places that offer it with one of the newest being Holy Cow. Holy Cow is a new vegan burger bar concept by the people behind the popular vegan delivery concept Clean Eats. It’s basically a burger restaurant except they’ve swapped out all the animal-based proteins with plant-based ones so you still have your meat burgers, chicken burgers and fish burgers except they’re all vegan.

They just opened up a couple of weeks back so they’re still in their soft launch phase so open only from 6PM to 10PM on Carriage. If you’re looking for a new vegan option or just curious to try plant-based meat then check them out. They’re on instagram @holycow.kw

I can’t imagine a weekend getting busier than this. This has to be the largest things to do this weekend list I’ve ever put together, there is just so much going on! The Nuqat creative conference starts today, the 44th International Book Fair started yesterday and GulfRun GP starts tomorrow and the RunKuwait Charity Race is on Saturday. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Fareed Abdal – A Solo Exhibition
Korean Art Exhibition by Ms. Lee Hyang
MNWR – An Exhibition by Hafez Gallery
Exhibition: Cemetery of Banned Books
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Nuqat – State of the Elastic Mind
44th International Book Fair
‘Fate or Heaven or Whatever You Want To Call it…’
Al-Sawaber Exhibition
Ruins to Reality – VR Experience
Hamlet
Movie Screening by Zeina Daccache
The Juke and Friends Live at IFK

Friday
Korean Art Exhibition by Ms. Lee Hyang
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Nuqat – State of the Elastic Mind
44th International Book Fair
‘Fate or Heaven or Whatever You Want To Call it…’
Ruins to Reality – VR Experience
Hamlet
GulfRun GP at Kuwait Motor Town
White Expo GulfRun Market
DJ Set by Cascou
Fun Turkish Language Exchange
Musical: Wicked
Stargazing in AlSalmi Desert

Saturday
Korean Art Exhibition by Ms. Lee Hyang
MNWR – An Exhibition by Hafez Gallery
Exhibition: Cemetery of Banned Books
Come Play with Us!
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Nuqat – State of the Elastic Mind
44th International Book Fair
‘Fate or Heaven or Whatever You Want To Call it…’
Ruins to Reality – VR Experience
Hamlet
GulfRun GP at Kuwait Motor Town
White Expo GulfRun Market
Choreography of a Desert Fountain Exhibition
Guided Tour: Arab Organization Headquarters
Music Performance by Bisher
Caffeine & Wheels
RunKuwait Charity Race

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

Screenshot from 21 Bridges

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
10 Minutes Gone (3.5)
21 Bridges (5.7)
Behind the Trees (N/A)
Last Christmas (6.6)
The Shed (4.1)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Abigail (5.0)
Abominable (7.3)
Charlie’s Angels (3.7)
Countdown (5.3)
Doctor Sleep (7.5)
Frozen II (7.1)
Haunt (6.3)
Joker (9.4)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (7.0)
Midway (4.9)
One Piece: Stampede (8.3)
Playing with Fire (5.1)
Terminator: Dark Fate (6.5)
The Addams Family (5.8)
The Good Liar (6.5)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Turtle Odyssey (7.7)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) has a section on their website filled with statistics. Below, for example, is their list of the top 10 jobs in Kuwait:

Kuwaitis
1- Inspector of Government Department
2- Other authors (no idea what this is)
3- Military Army
4- Correspondent and passport representative
5- Secretary (Clerk)
6- Accounts Clerk – General
7- Other education specialists
8- Data Entry Device Operator
9- Public Writer
10- His own trade business

Expats
1- Servant
2- Private car driver
3- Ordinary laborer
4- Seller on the market
5- Cleaning worker for buildings and residential buildings
6- Manual cultivation worker
7- Electric worker on high voltage networks
8- Nurse
9- Light transport vehicle driver
10- Correspondents, baggage carriers and other parcels

I don’t think there is anything surprising in the list, I’m just surprised we actually have these lists. The PACI page also has other stats like the oldest ages. The oldest male in Kuwait is 115 years old (Kuwaiti) while the oldest female is 119 years old (also Kuwaiti). The oldest male expat is 113 while the oldest female expat is 118.

The most populous nationalities in Kuwait? They are:
1- India
2- Egypt
3- Bangladesh
4- Philipines
5- Syria
6- Saudi
7- Pakistan
8- Seri Lanka
9- Nepal
10- Jordan

Percentage of workers in the private sector?
4% Kuwaiti – 96% Expats

You can check out other interesting stats on the PACI website here.

GulfRun is an annual motorsport event that started back in 2005 as a weekend getaway for a group of friends passionate about racing. Because Kuwait didn’t have a racetrack, GulfRun used to take place in Bahrain and all the cars would get sent there for the weekend event and then brought back once it was over.

But, now that Kuwait has it’s own racetrack, GulfRun will be taking place in Kuwait for the very first time!

GulfRun will be taking place this coming Friday and Saturday at Kuwait Motor Town. As part of the GulfRun event, there will be a market taking place at the track, various car dealership experiences and my favorite thing, Caffeine & Wheels.

If you’re looking for something to do this weekend or if you’ve been waiting for a specific event to visit and check out the racetrack, then this is the one. I’ll personally be there on Saturday for the Caffeine & Wheels event and I’ll be bringing my Alfa to take part in it so if you see me come by and say hello.

For more information on the event, click [Here]

Altersal, the lead singer of my favorite local band Galaxy Juice released a new EP last week along with a new music video which I’ve shared above. This is what he had to say about his latest release:

“You Never listen” is an ep that follows up to my debut album “Wifi Dreams” that was released in January last year 2018. It is a deep expression and reflection of some personal incidents and low points that I was experiencing with my relationships this year so I tried to transfer all my negative feeling and emotions and turning then into a beautiful bouquet of flowers that I can share with everyone’s who’s been through the same hardship in their personal lives and so that they can dance and sing their troubles away just as I did.

Unlike the music I play with my band Galaxy Juice which is a mixture of guitars and synthesizers. This project is more electronic-based and even though the guitar is my first instrument, I didn’t use any guitar or acoustic instruments so this is a full-on electronic synth-based project that I really enjoyed creating.

The project was mastered by a great engineer called Charlie Vella who produced music by one of my fav bands called Twin tribes, so he helped me take my production to a new level that I’m really happy with.

Here are the streaming links to “You Never Listen”: iTunes / Spotify

Previously I used to renew my driving license once every 10 years since that’s how long they used to be valid for but ever since the government changed it to match the residency period, it’s become the worst thing in the world to do. Trying to get your driving license renewed in Kuwait is a terrible experience because the traffic department just wasn’t prepared to handle the vast amount of people. The lines at the traffic department would be incredibly long and there was no guarantee if you waited in line you’d get your license renewed since they would limit the number of renewals per day. That meant you’d have to go multiple times and it was just incredibly stressful.

This year I used a company called Khadamat Express to renew my driving license and it was a really good experience. They charged me KD10 to do the license renewal for me and another KD10 to pick up my paperwork and old license and then deliver the new one to me when done. The process took around 2 days and it was worth every penny.

But, according to the MOI, you can now renew your driving license online and then pick it up from machines around Kuwait including one that’s in Avenues. Oddly though, I can’t seem to find the link to online renewals anywhere on their website so maybe someone uploaded the video a few days early. In any case, once this is live it’s going to make the renewal process so much easier! If you can find the renewal link please share it in the comments below so I can add it here.

Update: To renew your license you need to click this link and login using your MOI mobile app username and password or register if you don’t have an account.

Update2: Umm wtf, this seems too good to be true. I just renewed my motorbike license in under 5 minutes via the link above and the only document they asked for was a digital copy of my civil ID. After paying the 5KD renewal fee it told me I could go to any kiosk and print out my new license. This is crazy good!! Not only that but it actually gave me a digital copy of my new license right on the spot!

Like Chili’s, McDonalds and a lot of the restaurants on the Gulf Road, Corniche Club also lost the bid for their location earlier this year and now have to move out. Originally the rumors were that Alshaya won the location and were going to turn it into Equinox but that rumor didn’t turn out to be true.

On the other hand, the latest rumor I’ve been hearing is that Corniche Club will now be moving to Arabella instead. I’ve known for some time now that Arabella was repositioning itself and I had also heard rumors that it was turning into a hotel, so it would make a lot of sense if it turns out Corniche is taking it over. Sadly, that whole strip is already too congested with Palms and Radisson Blu right next door so I’m not really excited about this.

After closing for renovations for what seemed like an eternity, Barba reopened again a couple of weeks back and I think the place looks amazing, maybe even the nicest looking in Kuwait just because the space is unique being that it’s located inside a warehouse. Before Barba closed for renovation and expansion, the place hosted some very cool events so I’m hoping with the winter season just getting started they’ll be hosting some cool events again soon.

If you’re looking for a casual place to have a good pizza or burger then check them out, the Solo Pizza guy is one of the partners so you know the pizza is going to be great. Here is their location on Google Maps and you can follow them on Instagram @barba.casa

The Nuqat creative conference starts in a few days and as part of the conference, there are a bunch of workshops taking place. I have one workshop entry valued at $365 to give away.

The Nuqat workshops you can choose from as part of this giveaway are the following:

1. Elastic Societies with Dr Raffi Tchakerian (24th to 28th 6pm to 9pm)
2. Photojournalism with George Azar (24th to 28th 2pm to 6pm)
3. Placemaking with Rony Jalkh (24th to 28th 2pm to 6pm)
4. Public Planet Partnerships with Tarek and Leena Al Olaimy (24th to 28th 6pm to 9pm)

You can get more information on the workshops above by clicking here.

If you’d like to win an entry to the workshop all you need to do is enter the giveaway below. Easy as that.

Nuqat Workshop Giveaway

I have only one entry to giveaway so please check the timings and make sure you’ll be able to attend the workshop. I’ve listed the timings of the workshop above and they’re 3 hours a day over 5 days.

Not one of the busiest weekends but there are still quite a few things going on. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Halal Nights by Mohammad Al-Hemd
Fareed Abdal – A Solo Exhibition
Talk: Types & Sizes of Dinosaurs
French Institute of Kuwait Cinema club – “Les Grands Esprits”

Friday
Talk: Types & Sizes of Dinosaurs
Lecture & Workshop: Tree of Life – Birds
The British Ladies Society Winter Bazaar
Doga – Yoga with your Dog

Saturday
Gulf Bank 642 Marathon
Lecture & Workshop: Tree of Life – Birds
Come Play with Us!

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Charlie’s Angels

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Charlie’s Angels (3.7)
Frozen II (7.1)
Haunt (6.3)
One Piece: Stampede (8.3)
Shakira in Concert: El Dorado World Tour (8.3)
The Good Liar (6.5)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Abigail (5.0)
Abominable (7.3)
Born a King (8.8)
Countdown (5.3)
Doctor Sleep (7.5)
Gemini Man (5.2)
Joker (9.4)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (7.0)
Midway (4.9)
Motherless Brooklyn (7.4)
Playing with Fire (5.1)
Terminator: Dark Fate (6.5)
The Addams Family (5.8)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

New This Weekend:
Turtle Odyssey (7.7)

Other IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

Nuqat is one of my favourite conferences that takes place in Kuwait and this year will mark their 10 year anniversary which they will celebrate over 10 days with activities including talks, workshops, exhibitions, and entertainment. Over the 10 years Nuqat has evolved and developed to become one of the largest creative conferences in the region and most of their activities are free to atend. Actually, all of their activities from talks to musical events are free to attend with only the workshops that require a registration fee.

This year’s Nuqat conference is titled “State of the Elastic Mind: New Mindset for Old Barriers” and will be taking place from November 20 to 29 at various venues around Kuwait. All the talks will be held from the 21st to 23rd at the Amricani Cultural Centre with the workshops, exhibitions and various music events being held in different places all over Kuwait.

There is A LOT going on and I spent the good part of the morning uploading all the workshops and cultural events to the events page and you can check those out here.

If you’re interested in attending a talk then you could check all the different talks talking place here.

Nuqat 2015

You don’t have to attend every single talk and I tend to pop in and out during the day just to watch a specific talk I’m interested in. It’s an informative and educational conference while also being a great event to network and socialize in. If you haven’t been to Nuqat before then I highly recommend you do.

To register for Nuqat (it’s free) just click here.

Kuwait’s first official Rimowa store opened a couple of weeks ago at the Avenues and I was curious to check out their prices. I bought a Rimowa bag from the Dubai store a couple of months back and so was curious to know the price difference between the two stores. Surprisingly, Kuwait is cheaper!

The Kuwait store is 5% cheaper than the Dubai store and the reason for that is the new 5% taxes you pay on items in Dubai. So a Rimowa Original Cabin size bag in silver aluminum costs KD325 in Dubai after-tax, but KD310 in Kuwait. Not that much of a difference but still a saving. So if you were trying to figure out if you should buy a Rimowa bag locally or abroad, you now know.

Back in September I posted that the popular UK based Italian bakery Princi was coming to Kuwait but didn’t know where they were opening. Well, they’re opening in Avenues Phase 4 since the store hoarding went up recently in the Grand Avenues. Princi was created by the restaurateur Alan Yau who is behind other popular brands like Wagamama and Hakkasan.