Author: Mark

Just a reminder, the fireworks show for the Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre opening is taking place tonight at 7:30PM. For more information click [Here]

Currently sitting on my comfy couch eating my gummy bears while watching people do burpees. Over 400 athletes from 35 countries are taking part in this event right now at Marina Crescent. [YouTube]

Update: Video updated to the Day 2 live stream.
Update2: Event is now over.

Described as the first of its kind, the UAE’s new “national law of reading” was announced by UAE president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, earlier this week. It will allow government staff time to read at work – although they must focus on reading matter about professional and personal development within the context of the workplace.

The law will also oblige coffee shops to offer reading material for their customers, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice-president and Dubai’s ruler, and will see branches of libraries opened in malls, as well as exempting books from fees and taxes. [Source]

Can we please just get a decent bookshop in Kuwait? We’re not asking for much.

I’ve asked a few people and it seems the video above is current but don’t take my word for it. Lifting a car with a forklift is a pretty extreme move considering the cars would most likely get dented or scratched. In any case, I’d avoid parking illegally for the next few weeks until the cops go back to their usual routine.

I also got the screenshot below supposedly showing the new fines for breaking the law. I doubt its real though since there are a bunch of spelling mistakes and translation errors, but then again, that could also mean its authentic. If it’s true then those new speeding fines are gonna make me go broke. UPDATE: It’s false!

Thanks Holla

The other day I shared a video that was circulating of a rat at a local supermarket. In an interesting and unprecedented move, the baladia have gone and confirmed the incident in the viral video. BUT, they didn’t mention the supermarkets name!

البلدية: تؤكد صحة الفيديو المتداول عبر وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي

If the incident did happen and the supermarket violated health codes shouldn’t the public be made aware of what supermarket this is? [Link]

Thanks Forzaq8

The Battle Fitness Festival takes place this weekend and in addition to Crossfit they’ve added a 5K obstacle course this year. The Battle Fitness Festival is one of the most recognized and respected crossfit events in the Middle East and over 200 athletes will be taking part this year. It’s really a world class event bringing in competitors from around the world and creating a fantastic show for everyone in Kuwait to take part in and to watch. I definitely recommend checking it out. Other than that, check out the full list of this weekends events below:

Thursday
Kuwait Open 9-Ball Championship
Exhibition: Ain’t Nowhere to Hide
Wamda Mix n’ Mentor

Friday
Kuwait Open 9-Ball Championship
The Battle Fitness Festival
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Kuwait City Jam

Saturday
Kuwait Open 9-Ball Championship
The Battle Fitness Festival
Khalik Riadi 5K Fun Run
Yoga with the 3 (Workshop and Yoga Session)
Q8 Books Literary Nights
Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center Fireworks Show
Gardening at The Secret Garden
THIS / Poetry & Short Film

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.

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

New This Week:
American Pastoral (6.2) ♦
Doctor Strange (8.0)
Kill Kane (3.9)
Space Dogs Adventure to the Moon (5.2)
The Great Gilly Hopkins (6.6)

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Inferno (7.1) ♦
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (7.4) ★
Keeping Up with the Joneses (5.4)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (6.8)
Storks (7.1)
The Accountant (7.8) ★
Under the Shadow (7.5)

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

Truefitt & Hill is the oldest barbershop in the world established back in 1805 in London, and they recently opened their first location in the Middle East at Symphony Mall. Their prices surprisingly are fairly reasonable, similar to other local barbershops with a haircut costing KD10 and a shave KD5. For some reason I was expecting them to charge a lot more since in London a shave costs around KD12 and a haircut around KD20. Thats double the price of Kuwait.

Their phone number is 25770770 and they’re on instagram @truefittandhillkuwait

Minister of Communications said Tuesday GBI company would be carrying out maintenance to the underwater internet cable in the Arabian Sea on November 2-6, which would affect internet service in Kuwait and GCC countries.

The ministry, in a brief statement, urged local internet providers in Kuwait to seek alternative international cables during the maintenance period to prevent slow service. [Source]

Just an FYI in case your internet provider starts blaming sharks again.

A couple of weeks back I was driving in Salmiya when I got stuck in a bit of inside road traffic. While waiting for it to clear up I spotted a small hole in the wall restaurant next to me called Hermanos Kitchen. So I looked for it on instagram to see what the place was and it turned out to be a Filipino restaurant. It looked like a nice place so yesterday I decided to pass by and try it out.

Hermanos has only been open for a few of months now and so is still fairly new. The interior is small with around 6 tables and looked good for a hole in the wall. They had a Westlife concert playing on the television which is actually exactly what I would have expected at a Filipino restaurant. The menu was hand written on the wall and I couldn’t understand any of it. I had’t really had any Filipino cuisine previously and so had no idea what all the items were. It was one of those occasions where I wished the menu had pictures alongside the dish names or at least a description in English.

The waiter tried his best to explain and recommend dishes and I ended up ordering three of them, the Astig Na Chicken BBQ, Fish Be Wit U and the Manoy Bikol Express. Also ordered an A&W Root Beer Float!

From the three dishes I ended up liking only the chicken BBQ, but the other two I actually wouldn’t have ordered if I knew exactly what they were since they contained ingredients I generally don’t like. My favorite thing though obviously had to be the A&W Root Beer float, hadn’t had that since A&W shutdown over a decade ago.

There a lot of different Filipino restaurants in Kuwait but this one just seems like the nicest one. The prices are pretty good with my bill coming out to around KD7. I just wish it was more non-Filipino friendly, an English menu would have made things much more easier. If I do go back it would definitely have to be with an Asian a Filipino friend which I just realized, I don’t think I have.

Check out Hermanos Kitchen on instagram under the account @hermanoskitchen and on Facebook [Here]. They’re located in Salmiya behind Johnny Rockets [Google Maps]

According to my lawyer I can’t mention the name of the supermarket. I also had to mute out the audio in the video since the guy recording mentions the name so I replaced the audio with music that sounds like something out of a Nintendo game.

On a side note is it bad that I am more upset with the fact that I can no longer find Haribo gummy bears, Dove Men+Care Antiperspirant or Sensodyne Extra Fresh Toothpaste at the branch I frequent more than I care about this rat?

Also just got the following response from the supermarket:

Hello Mark,
****** is aware of what is being circulated and is investigating it, as ****** takes pest control very seriously and deals with the best and most reliable pest control companies in Kuwait, making sure all hygiene standard are exceeded. Our Operations team, in coordination with our Pest company, has done a full and detailed check of the store and no issues were found till date. (Noting that Prior to the video being circulated in a day, the store had gone through the normal scheduled deep clean exercise with no issues found)

If you missed the opening event of the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre yesterday, you can now watch it on YouTube. It’s 2 hours long and features dancing, comedy and music including a performance by Andrea Bocelli.

Sadly it’s not in HD and the aspect ratio of the video is squished hence why Bocelli looks really skinny in the picture above (come on KTV, get your act together). If you want to skip to the Andrea Bocelli part, his performance starts at the 1 hour 43 minute mark. [YouTube]

Earlier this morning, Andrea Bocelli performed at the opening of the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre. If this is the first you hear about it you’re not alone since the opening was only officially announced yesterday (I announced it two months ago). Now that the centre is open I figured I’d share a list of upcoming events that will be taking place there, but the only problem is, a list doesn’t exist yet.

The whole project has been shrouded in secrecy since the start. When I broke information on the Cultural Centre back in 2014, barely anyone knew about the project other than those involved in it. Now two years later the project is completed but everything is still a big secret and I can’t understand why.

Usually I wouldn’t care but this is such a great and beautiful project that it’s a shame it didn’t get so much more publicity. Hopefully things will be less secretive moving forward but for now, here are links to the cultural centre website and social media accounts.

Website: jacc-kw.com
Instagram: @jacc_kw
Twitter: @jacc_kw

I’ll also take this opportunity to thank all my sources who for the past two years have been feeding me as much information as they could on this project so I could share it with you guys. It’s because of them I’ve been able to write and share so much on the cultural centre and allowing me visit the site and take photos.

Here is a roundup of all my previous posts on the project:

List of Restaurants Opening at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre
Latest on the Cultural Centre
Cultural Centre Opening October 31st
My Visit to the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre
Interior Shots of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre
Drone View of the New Cultural Center
Current Status of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre
Tour of the Kuwait Cultural Centre Construction Site
Inside the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre
Sneak Peek: Kuwait Cultural Centre
A Photographic Journey Inside Qasr Al Salam

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a list of active local blogs so figured it was about time I do so. Below is a list of all the active blogs I”m aware of:

18 Seven (Arabic)
AboFlan (Arabic)
According to Mimi
Adventures of a Jersey Girl
British Girl Lost in Kuwait
Confashions from Kuwait
Danderma
Desert Girl
Diario de un Sidecar (Spanish)
Frankom
Jleeb (Arabic)
Kuwait Birding
Kuwait Chronicles
Kuwait Moms Guide
Kuwaitiful
Kuweight 64
Ladies Who Do Lunch in Kuwait
Lady B
Life in Kuwait
LuLu Loves Makeup
LSF: Kuwait City Styl
New Q8 Bride
Pink Girl Q8
Q8 Path
The Hybrids
The Urban Analyst
Wainmaaro7

I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch so if there is a local blog that is active and should be on this list, let me know about it.

Back in August the MOI added the ability for tourists visiting Kuwait to apply for a visa online (eVisa). Yesterday a friend of mine tried it for the first time and she got her visa in 50 minutes. I thought that was pretty impressive. If you know someone visiting, have them apply for the visa online since it will speed up their entry at the airport. Here is the link for the eVisa online application [Website]

On the other hand my post about the Dubai eVisa dating back to last year has turned into a Dubai eVisa support page for some reason. I guess people who are having trouble getting their eVisa are googling and ending up on my post. It has over 400 comments now and I think a Dubai eVisa employee keeps checking the page since there is this one guy who keeps answering everybody’s questions. You can check that post [Here]