Author: Mark

Not to be confused with the Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Center, the Sabah Al Ahmad City Cultural Centre will be located in Sabah Al Ahmad City and feature the following:

– 2 theaters (700 seat & 250 seats for all sorts of theatrical productions)
– 200 seat Conference center with flexibility for hosting conferences with different capacities
– 250 seat Recital hall for music performances
– Children culture center with many cultural activities for children including a 150 seat theater
– Amphitheater for outside performances
– Museum
– Art gallery for hosting art exhibitions
– Library
– Book exhibition for hosting book fairs
– Cultural café
– Oasis: a green air-conditioned large space for public gathering

I originally posted about Sabah Al Ahmad City Cultural Centre back in 2012, but the project disappeared until it was brought back to life last month. It seems Al-Diwan Al-Amiri have taken over the project and its now expected to be completed mid 2018. Al-Diwan Al-Amiri are behind some of the biggest projects in Kuwait like the recently opened Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Center. Check out some of the renderings below:

Thanks q8-msc

ARÉATA is a short film by Ahmed Al Terkait, an independent Kuwaiti filmmaker. The film was officially selected to compete in the Dubai International Film Festival earlier this year and was only published online last week.

The film is a psychodrama/thriller following a young woman with a hair loss condition called Alopecia Aréata. She visits a psychiatrist hoping to uncover the mystery behind her illness. You can watch the full film above or you can checkout the trailer below.

Yesterday parts of Fahad Al Salem street was closed off to cars due to the amount of pedestrians in the city because of Christmas. The cops were only letting in busses and cabs and it was pretty surreal I guess because I’m so used to that street being a chaotic mess.

There has been talk about closing Salem Mubarek Street in Salmiya to cars permanently for years now but nothing has ever come of it. But even if they don’t close it to cars permanently, they really should close it off every now and then and turn it into an outdoor market.

The last time they closed Salem Mubarek Street I think was back in 2005 as part of the national day parade. But imagine how much better it could be today, imagine if Salem Mubarek Street was one giant Qout Market. Actually, imagine if Shakshooka and Qout Market both collaborated and took over the street for a day, I think that would be amazing. We really need car-free days.

Barrak Al-Babtain from the blog re:kuwait has spoken about turning SAM street into pedestrian only a number of times before and even has some pretty good creative proposals. Check out some of his old posts below:

NY High Line
SAM Street
SAM Street Analysis
SAM Street: Winter Only?

And this is a quote by him from back in 2009

I think SAM street is probably one of the best spaces in Kuwait where a real public space can happen. A place where people can go window shopping and listen to live music and buy food from street vendors. The intervention is relatively minor but the potential is incredible. We can ignore it and let it suffocate or we breathe new life into the street and create something that Kuwait doesn’t really have; a lively, free and open public space.

If you make me the mayor of Salmiya I’ll make Barrak the urban planner. #voteformark

Over the weekend one of my twitter followers sent me the image above. The barista at the local coffee place His Majesty The Coffee drew Jennifer Lawrence in her space suit from her new movie Passengers. How cool is that?

Thanks @Osamabul!

The Kuwaiti team on Saturday won their 8th GCC Wheelchair Basketball Championship in a row after beating Saudi Arabia 62-56 in the final. The winners are likely to be honored late Sunday in Abu Dhabi following the match between UAE and Bahrain for the third and fourth places. Saudi Arabia dominated today’s game at the beginning, but the Kuwaiti players managed to perform well in the second half, raising their points until the end of the match. [Source]

8th championship in a row!

via @AlMotizzle

Below are the events taking place this weekend:

Thursday
Still Departures by George Awde
Slava’s Snow Show
Madeenah Tour: Co-ordinates of Memory

Friday
Slava’s Snow Show
Social Get Together II
Tai Chi in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Voices & Verses December Open Mic Night
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Slava’s Snow Show
Charity Zumba +Yoga
The Promenade Market
Yoga with the 3
Dal Talks
Burgers & Art
Community Table “Winter”

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:
13 Days (N/A)
Passengers (6.7) ♦
Sing (7.3)
The Girl with All the Gifts (7.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Allied (7.2) ♦
Arrival (8.4) ★
Collateral Beauty (5.4)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (8.3)
Hacksaw Ridge (8.8) ★♦
Incarnate (5.6)
Moana (8.2)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (8.3) ★
The Neighbor (5.8)
Trolls (6.7)
Underworld: Blood Wars (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.

The OA is a new Netflix show that was released this past Friday. It’s science fiction, it has supernatural and fantasy elements, and its super weird, I loved it. I don’t want to say much more about the show other than the fact if you have Netflix then watch it. It’s only 8 episodes (similar to Stranger Things) so shouldn’t take more than 2 or 3 days to get through them all.

I’ve shared the trailer above but I think it’s more fun watching the show without watching the trailer. The show also has a pretty weird twitter account which you can go through @the_OA but I also recommend going through it after you’re done watching the show or at least once you’re a couple of episodes in. They don’t have any spoilers but they could ruin things a bit.

Anyway, watch it!

Yesterday I was contacted by the Qadsia Fencing Academy letting me know they are now offering fencing lessons to adults. Previously when I had contacted them, the program was only available for children and teenagers so I’m pretty excited the program is now open to adults as well. So excited in fact that I’m heading there tomorrow to start.

Their prices are extremely reasonable, it’s KD40 a month (for 12 sessions) and KD8 for half and hour of personal training. So if you’re interested in trying out something new and different, check out their website for more information [Link]

Update: Check out the latest post for more current information. Link

Looks like the Kuwait Bowling Sports Club is nearly done and will be ready way ahead of the 2017 World Bowling Championship which will take place in Kuwait next year. I walked by yesterday and they had the lights on and damn the place is huge. In total they have 58 bowling lanes, 350 seats and nearly 1000 parking spots.

The World Bowling Championship takes place once every four years and the last time it took place was in 2013 in Nevada, USA. The next championship event will take place here in Kuwait from December 4th to the 18th, 2017. To see a large version of the picture above, click [Here]

I used to post a gift guide on the blog back in the olden days (jeez wtf) so I decided to bring the list back this year again. If you still haven’t purchased a Christmas gift then the list below might help you with some ideas. Everything listed below is available in Kuwait, the links will take you to the place that sells the item. I might add more to the list as I think of stuff but for now these are my recommendations:

Over KD75
B&O BeoPlay A2 Speaker KD120
B&O BeoPlay H5 Earphones KD85
Micro 3D Printer KD169
Pure Fix Brewster Bicycle KD100
Typographic Light Box KD140

Under KD75
B&O BeoPlay H3 Earphones KD50
Crafted Gift Box KD60
Nintendo Classic Mini KD60

Under KD50
AeroPress Coffee Maker KD17
Alive Yoga (1 Month Membership) KD39
Apple TV (4th Gen) KD47
Breville Smart Kettle KD25
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker KD32.350
Fujifilm Instax Mini8 Instant Film Camera KD25
Nespresso Inissia Espresso Machine KD45

Under KD15
Black Classic Logbook KD8
Brother Personal Label Machine KD9.900
Casio – Retro Gold Watch KD13
Casio – Retro Steel Watch KD8
Eneloop Charger with 4xAA Batteries KD12.950
Klean Kanteen Stainless Bottle KD10
Mossery Dye Notebook KD3
Striped Shopping Bag KD9.750

You can zoom in and watch an animated Google Earth timelapse of Kuwait from 1984 up till 2016 by clicking [Here]

Thanks Dima!

Yesterday Grant from %ARABICA sent me some renderings of their new branch that will be opening up in Shuwaikh. It’s going to be much larger than their current location and have a bunch of cool things. The new location will be their central roastery and house a rare vintage Probat UG22 roaster from the 60s. It will be separated from the main seating area by a glass wall so people can watch the roasting process if they want while having their coffee.

The best part about the new roastery I think is that it will have an education center. Customers will be able to schedule training on any number of brewing methods, even how to make coffee using their Slayer machines which is what I’d be interested in (not that I’ll be getting a Slayer machine anytime soon). The main idea with this center is to teach customers how to make the best coffee at home. The new location is expected to soft launch next month with the official opening sometime in February.

Here is the location on [Google Maps]

I passed by Elevation and Richards Coffee at the Seef strip the other day for lunch and coffee when I noticed a bunch of bicycles parked outside. After seeing some kids take them for a ride I asked an employee about the bikes and found out they were there for their customers to borrow and for free. All you need to do is let an employee know you want to take out a bicycle (or skateboard) and they’ll take your name down and you’re free to borrow the bikes for as long as you want (I’m assuming for the day and not for days). So if you feel like riding a bicycle and don’t want to buy one, pass by Elevation at Seef, here is their location on [Google Maps]

NUKEMAP is a pretty cool website where you select a city and strength of a nuclear bomb and the website will show you the effects of it hitting that city. I selected a 15kiloton bomb to hit Kuwait City similar to the one that was dropped on Hiroshima during World War II and I’m glad to report that my home in Salmiya would be safe. Over 7,000 people in the city would die and nearly 15,000 would be injured, but I’ll be safe! Try it out yourself [Here]