Author: Mark

I’m sure many of you have noticed strange looking devices similar to the ones above lying all over Kuwait. These devices are part of KOC’s exploratory campaign called Deraya to explore Kuwait’s geological layers. Over 50,000 of these devices have been placed all around Kuwait so that specialized vehicles like the one pictured below can perform seismic surveys.

When I first started seeing these trucks rolling up and down the Gulf Road I though they were electric generators but turns out they’re actually seismic vibrators. These trucks drive around Kuwait and stop at various locations to perform seismic vibrations which are then picked up by the sensors.

The aim of this campaign is to study and record data about Kuwait’s different underground layers to form a basis for future studies. KOC have a video explaining the whole process which you can watch above. It’s in Arabic but it’s an animation so you can still figure out whats going on.

I found out about the Kuwait International Book Fair earlier today so I decided to pass by and check it out to see if there were any English books available. The book fair is taking place in halls 5, 6 and 7 of the international fairground and so its pretty huge. 95% of the books are in Arabic which makes it sound like there aren’t many English books but due to the size of the fair, 5% is still a lot. In hall 6 there were two large aisles stretching from one side of the hall all to the way to the other end full of English books ranging from educational and kids books, to novels and more. The amount of people at the fair tonight was insane and parking was crazy so I’d recommend parking far like at hall 8 and then walking over to the book fair. The fair is going to be there until the 26th of this month.

The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre website just got a facelift along with an updated events page that now lists all the upcoming events that will be taking place there as well as the option to purchase tickets. Check out [Here]

Thanks Fatima

A few cool things taking place this weekend, firstly the Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open is taking place this whole weekend and they’ve taken over and converted the ice skating rink for the event. You also have the Tania Saleh Concert taking place tonight at Al Shaheed Park, The British Ladies Society Winter Bazaar tomorrow and the Gulf Bank 642 Marathon on Saturday. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Ain’t Nowhere to Hide
Exhibition: Poor Image by Khalid Al Gharaballi
A Fifteen-Year Journey: The Art of Amira Behbehani
Exhibition: Precious Fragments
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Tania Saleh Concert
Kuwait International Book Fair

Friday
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Macro Photography Workshop
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
The British Ladies Society Winter Bazaar
Full Body Cardio – Weight Loss Program
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Voices & Verses Open Mic Night
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Kuwait International Book Fair

Saturday
Kuwait International Jiu-Jitsu Open
Gulf Bank 642 Marathon
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Old Kuwait City
Kuwait International Book Fair
Jumo Coffee Community Brunch

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.

Shakshooka, the nomadic farmers market is coming back again this year. If you are a passionate person who likes making things from scratch, are crafty and a foodie then they’re looking for someone like you. The food has to be handmade by you, nothing processed, no nutella, no lotus, no cookies and no cupcakes.

To be part of the Shashooka market contact Mimi on [email protected]

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

New This Week:
A Street Cat Named Bob (7.4)
Bleed for This (6.4) ♦
Complete Unknown (5.5)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (8.3)
Ghost Coins (7.5)
Raven the Little Rascal – The Big Race (7.6)

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Doctor Strange (8.0) ★
Hacksaw Ridge (8.8) ★♦
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (7.4) ★
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Operation Chromite (6.3)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (6.8)
Shut In (N/A) ♦
The Accountant (7.8) ★
Trolls (6.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

If you don’t know what the mannequin challenge is, it’s basically a new craze that went viral a couple of weeks back where people freeze in a scene. A ton of celebrities have made their own videos including, Hillary Clinton with Bon Jovi, LeBron James with Michelle Obama, Ronaldo, Sesame Street and so many more. I’ve been kinda waiting for a Kuwait version to pop up and it did yesterday. It was shot at a Nuqat workshop and if it wasn’t for the people in the background it would have been pretty flawless. Check it out above.

For the gamers who are interested in picking up the new NES Classic Edition console, I just got back from Rehab Complex and nobody has it, not even for an exorbitant price. Most of the places I asked didn’t even know what I was talking about even after showing them a picture. One shop did tell me that they might be getting it this Thursday. I gave them my number and they’re going to call me up if they do. Will keep you posted.

Aerial yoga seems to be the current “in” activity to do. I haven’t tried it and don’t think I will, but it seems fun and it takes place outdoors so should be great to do in this weather. Aerial yoga is similar to traditional mat yoga but instead of the mat you’re suspended in the air with soft fabric hammocks.

Fly High Kuwait are holding classes aerial yoga classes in Jumeirah and the classes start from KD15 a session. If you’re interested to find out more, check out their website [Here]

Update: I thought they were ongoing till Thursday since that was written on their website, but turns out they made a mistake and the last day was actually yesterday. So it’s over now.

So as you’re aware I’ve been inviting more and more people to write on the blog recently. One of the new people I’ve invited to write is Grant, the brand manager of % Arabica Coffee. He’s the guy who got me into coffee and is a real coffee geek. The reason I’ve asked him to write about coffee is because I noticed a lot of people drink coffee, but don’t know much about what goes behind a good one. Based on the comments under some of my coffee posts I know there are quite a few coffee geeks who read my blog so you’ll appreciate Grant’s posts. For the average joe, I think you’ll still find Grant’s coffee posts informative and not that technical, so I think you’ll enjoy them. His first post is up, check it out [Below].

Elsewhere is a a new ingenious concept that opened up next to Elevation Burger on the Seif strip. The concept is actually owned by TABCo, the company that owns Elevation (who are one of my advertisers). It’s an experimental space created for local entrepreneurs who have ideas and concepts they want to try out for limited time periods. Currently the space is occupied by Richard’s Coffee for the next 76 days whom I wrote about a couple of weeks back.

The space doesn’t have to be occupied by a coffee shop or a food related concept, they’re open to different ideas like fashion, retail or even some sort of activity. Even the amount of time you could rent the spot for is flexible, it can be as little as you want it to be as long as its an idea that will help bring traffic to the area. The rent is very reasonable as well for the space/location. I’m not sure I can share it on the blog because I’m assuming it’s not a one price for all, but I can say that they’re definitely not profiting from the rent. The rent is low to attract the interesting concepts who in return will bring traffic to the area and indirectly promote and bring traffic to Elevation Burger next door. It’s a smart marketing idea.

Currently nobody is lined up to take the spot after Richard’s, so if you’re interested in renting the spot you could contact them on [email protected].

Previously on my iPhone, whenever I got a spam message, blocking it was fairly simple, you clicked on the sender on the top and then a “Block this Caller” option appeared and I’d click it. But, with the new iOS, things are a bit more complicated and the “Block this Caller” option is now hidden in a different menu without an obvious way of getting there. It actually took me a bit of googling to figure out how to block callers in iOS10 so I figured I’d share it on the blog since spam messages are pretty common in Kuwait.

Step 1
Instead of clicking on the sender like you previously would do, you now need to click the little “i” on the top right of your phone (photo on top)

Step 2
In this second menu, you need to click on the senders name

Step 3
Once you’re at the last menu you’ll now notice the “Block this Caller” option is available again at the bottom of the screen.

Burger & Lobster is a British franchise that opened around a year ago in Kuwait. Their menu is very straight forward and simple with just 3 items, a burger, a lobster roll and a lobster, each for the same price which in Kuwait was just KD8.950.

That simple formula I guess didn’t do so well in Kuwait because last month Burger & Lobster expanded the menu by adding a lot more items while also revamping their pricing system. Now their 3 primary items have 3 different prices, the burger got dropped down to KD7, the lobster roll to KD8 while the lobster had its price increase and is now KD10. As I mentioned, they also added a bunch of other items to their menu ranging from soups to sliders. You can check out the full menu [Here]

Personally I go there for their lobster roll so none of their new items interest me. But, if it means these new items will help drive traffic and keep the place open, then I’m all for it. Their lobster roll is so good.

I wonder if they finally ended up catching him.

Yesterday I noticed Fantasy World was selling the Oculus Rift virtual reality system. I’m not sure they’re being sold anywhere else but the price at Fantasy World is a ridiculous KD399. I say ridiculous because you could order it from Amazon UK and have it shipped to you directly to Kuwait for just KD194 including customs which is half the price. Here is the Amazon [Link]