Author: Mark

Someone posted this on Reddit yesterday, supposedly taken at Holiday Inn. Some important things to look out for?

– Inappropriate clothing
– Shaved and clean beard
– Strong perfume smell
– Tension anxiety severe sweating

Is it me or does that sound like the average guy on a first date?

Thanks asad_ayaz

Yesterday an ice cafe opened up in Kuwait called Minus 11. If you’ve never been to one its basically a cafe that is basically a freezer and everything inside is made of ice from the seats, to the sculptures to the cups. According to Minus 11 they’re the largest ice cafe in the world and also the coldest with the temperature reaching a freezing -11 degrees.

I’ve been to an ice pub before which is similar except involves alcohol and I got bored so don’t think I’ll be visiting this cafe anytime soon. But if you’re interested in checking it out they’re located in Al Tijaria Tower in Kuwait City. The entry price is KD10 for children under 12 and KD15 for everybody else. Included in the price is 1 drink with free refill, the winter outfit they lend you and the ability to spend up to 45 minutes inside the cafe. For more details check out their instagram [Here]

Until last week I didn’t know there was anything called Mexican Coca Cola but then I got a crate of it delivered to my office. According to wikipedia, the biggest difference between Mexican Coke and regular coke is that Mexican Coke is sweetened using cane sugar as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup.

Mexican Coke is supposed to taste better or at least have a more “natural” taste to it but after trying it out I couldn’t tell any difference between it and regular Coke. On the plus side the bottle is pretty cool and since Narcos is starting 12 days, Colombian Mexican Coke might be a good pairing.

If you’re interested in trying Mexican Coke they’re being sold for a limited time at Eighty Six Burger for KD1 a pop.

Update: A reader shared an interesting NYT article of when the ban on Coca Cola was lifted in Kuwait back in 1988. You could check that article out [Here]

My top two news sites used to be CNN and BBC but CNN basically turned into TMZ while BBC just wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. My two go-to news sites now are The Washington Post and The Guardian. What news sites do you check?

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

New This Week:
Free State of Jones (6.7) ★ ♦
Rabid Dogs (5.6)
Skiptrace (6.5)
The Secret Life of Pets (6.8)

Other Movies Showing:
Alice Through The Looking Glass (6.4)
Cell (4.4) ♦
Finding Dory (7.8)
Jason Bourne (8.3)
Manhattan Night (6.2) ♦
Nerve (7.2)
Riot (5.2)
Suicide Squad (8.2) ♦
The BFG (6.8)
The Conjuring 2 (7.8)
The Fall of the Krays (4.1)
The Legend Of Tarzan (6.7) ♦
The Neon Demon (7.0) ♦

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

Skeet shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi raised eyebrows at Rio 2016 on Sunday after opting to wear an Arsenal shirt while competing for gold.

At the Olympic Games this summer, each country has its own uniform, but the 53-year-old is instead registered as an ‘Independent Olympic Athlete’ in Brazil.

With his native Kuwait suspended from competing, he was still allowed to appear in his event, but without the restriction of a specific uniform. [Source]

Like a boss.

Thanks ManU4Life

Adidas is releasing new NMD’s tomorrow (August 18th) at their Adidas Originals stores worldwide. We don’t have an Adidas Original store in Kuwait so we’re not getting an in-store release. But, we do have an alternative option.

The NMD’s will be getting released on the Adidas Kuwait online store. They currently have countdown clocks on all the pairs that will be available and once the clocks hit zero they’ll be available to purchase. So if you’re hoping to cop a pair before they sell out, head to the Adidas website and search for NMD or just click this [Link]

Update: They went on sale and all got sold out right away.

Last night after dinner I passed by the Sadu House for coffee with a couple of friends. Jumo Coffee Roasters are currently based at the Sadu House and they’ve got such a beautiful setup at the moment. They’re located inside one of the air conditioned courtyards in the Sadu House and the atmosphere was so chill. Sadly this setup is temporary and only until the end of the month. So if you’re interested in checking it out you better hurry up. They’re open daily from 7AM to 10PM except on Fridays where they open from 3PM to 10PM. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram is @jumocoffee.

On a similar subject, I heard there are around 14 new independent coffee shops that are going to be opening up in Kuwait over the next few months.

This incident took place last night near Marina Mall and was caught on a dashcam. [YouTube]

via @omar_shafiq

The Kuwait Harps are starting a new season of Gaelic Football and are looking for new faces to join the club. Gaelic Football is a form of football derived from the Irish ball games. There are some major differences between regular football and Gaelic football like the fact Gaelic football is played with 15 players per team and you can also hold the ball with your hands.

The Kuwait Harps hold weekly training sessions for both men and women on Wednesdays and Fridays at the American International School. They compete primarily in tournaments based in the Gulf region and new players are always welcome and immediately feel at home within the club. The majority of the current squad were actually new to Gaelic Games when they first arrived in Kuwait. While many clubs in the Gulf region can depend on a strong pool of Irish players, this is not the case in Kuwait. While a core of the club may be Irish, it relies heavily on the support of players from the international expat community. Kuwait Harps Players have come from Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Canada, USA, Australia and even Sudan to name but a few countries. So if you’re interested in joining the club, here are some details:

When: Wednesday 6PM to 8PM – Friday 10AM to 12PM (Women) and 12PM to 2PM (Men)

Where: American International School [Map]

For more information email [email protected] or visit their [Facebook Page]

A couple of days back I posted about Edfa3ly which I said was “the cheapest way to ship lightweight packages from the US”. Well its gonna get even cheaper now since they emailed me last night letting me know they’ve set up a coupon code for my readers to use.

If you use the coupon code “248am” on their website, they’ll waive the international shipping fees and Kuwait customs fee for any order below $50.

Terms and conditions for the coupon:
– Only one coupon can be issued per person per account
– Limited to max $50
– Valid until August 22nd

So if you were planning to order an item using them now would be the perfect time. Here is a link to their [Website]

Scene from the cult classic, Crash

Earlier tonight I saw the hashtag #7FavFilms floating around on twitter and decided to participate naming my seven favorite movies of all time. But after sharing seven I realized I had missed so many movies and there was no way I could choose just seven. So I started putting together a list for myself, just to kinda see what I would come up with. I ended up with the list below and since it took a lot of effort to put together, I figured I might as well share them on my blog.

Below are various film genres and each contains just seven films. I figured I’d set myself some sort of limit and seven would fit with the original hashtag. So check it out, some of the choices are predictable, some won’t make sense to anyone and I’m sure I’ve also missed a ton of great films. But this is my list right now:

Action
First Blood
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Rambo III
Cobra
Bloodsport
Tango & Cash
Commando

Adventure
The Goonies
Stand By Me
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Planet of the Apes
Lord of the Flies
The NeverEnding Story
Jurassic Park

Scene from the funniest movie of all time, Monty Python The Holy Grail

Comedy
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Groundhog Day
The Big Lebowski
Office Space
Airplane!
Hot Shots!
The Naked Gun

Drugs
Trainspotting
Carlito’s Way
Dazed & Confused
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Requiem for a Dream
Up in Smoke
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Foreign
City of God
Oldboy
The Triplets of Belleville
Fucking Åmål
Waltz with Bashir
Downfall
Shutter

Mob
The Godfather
The Godfather: Part II
The Godfather: Part III
Goodfellas
Casino
Scarface
Heat

Other
Kids
Vertigo
Sneakers
Menace II Society
The Darjeeling Limited
Magnolia
Natural Born Killers

Scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind

SciFi
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Alien
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
The Thirteenth Floor
Akira
Waterworld

War Films
Apocalypse Now
Platoon
The Deer Hunter
Full Metal Jacket
Das Boot
Hamburger Hill
Empire of the Sun

Weird
Inception
The Lost Highway
Memento
Donnie Darko
Birdman
Pi
Crash (1996)

I have no idea who would buy this but Xcite are selling a PS4 that is half covered in gold for a whopping KD4,599. On the bright side (I guess) is that you can take it on installments for just KD293 a month over two years…

Thanks Grant

When I first heard that IKEA was serving grilled lobster alongside their usual meatballs and chicken nuggets, I thought it was funny, but then I became curious. Was it any good? So yesterday I decided to pass by and try it out.

It was a bit crowded when I dropped by for lunch since they had a buy one get one free offer on their meatballs dishes. When my turn finally came up I asked for the grilled lobster and noticed the woman next to me look at me and smile as if I had just told a lame joke. But, the look on her face when I got handed my lobster dish was priceless. IKEA is the last place you’d expect to find lobster on the menu which is why I was so curious to try it.

The grilled lobster costs KD4.750 and comes with a side of steamed vegetables or french fries. And unsurprisingly, you get what you pay for. The lobster was super dry, tough and bland, it didn’t even taste like lobster. Definitely not something I’d want to have again. My recommendation? Order the meatballs instead.

Thanks Grant

UPDATE: There have been major changes to the service since this post. Edfa3ly are no longer the cheapest option to ship, they no longer charge by the 100grams and they are now more expensive than PostaPlus.

A couple of weeks back a US mail forwarding company called Edfa3ly contacted me to let me know about their service. Since I had already reviewed countless of similar shipping services, I really wasn’t interested in reviewing another. But, turns out this shipping company had one feature that caught my attention. While services like Aramex’s Shop & Ship and PostaPlus’s MyBox charge per 1/2kg, Edfa3ly charges per 100grams, so I decided to try them out.

If you haven’t used a service like Shop & Ship before, they usually have a minimum weight they charge which is 1/2kg. So if your package weighed 50 grams you would still be charged 1/2kg. The charge varies from company to company, I use PostaPlus currently and they charge KD2.5 for the first 1/2kg while Aramex charges KD3.250. Both PostaPlus and Aramex also charge KD1 on top of that as a customs clearance fee so the cheapest you could ever pay with PostaPlus is KD3.5 and KD4.250 with Aramex. So if your item doesn’t cost much and doesn’t weigh much, it’s not feasible to order it all the way from the States.

I have a bunch of stuff on my Amazon wish list that I need but don’t bother ordering because of this very fact. For example there is a rubber eyecup for my camera, it’s a tiny rubber piece that costs around KD3 so it wouldn’t make sense to order it and then pay at least KD3.5 on top of that for shipping. But since Edfa3ly charge by the 100grams I decided to order it. Unlike other forwarding services, you don’t need to sign up to Edfa3ly. You just go to the website, enter the URL of the item you want to buy, fill out some information and then pay for the item and they will order it for you and ship it to Kuwait. So I did that and this is what the total came out to be for my order:

Item Price: $10.7
Customs Fee: $0.54
Edfa3ly Fees: $0.54
Shipping Fees (1.33 dollar(s) per 100gm): $1.33 (0.05 kg)

Total Price: $13.11

So shipping from Amazon to Kuwait cost me just $2.41! You don’t pay US tax, you don’t pay US shipping and you don’t pay a local custom clearance fee. Instead you just pay the cost of shipping from the US to Kuwait plus an Edfa3ly fee which is 5% of the item cost. I had a package shipped to me and delivered to me in Kuwait within 10 days and just paid around 750 fils for shipping. Thats insane! I’ve got so many tiny cheap stuff I need to buy now like a new Dremel wrench since I lost mine or these tiny plastic rivets for my Datsun. Suddenly so many more things seem accessible.

So if you’re looking to order items that don’t cost much and weigh under 1/2kg, I can’t think of any better alternative. Here is a link to the Edfa3ly website [Link]