Author: Mark

The first phase of the new refurbished waterfront has now officially been completed. The first phase stretches from the Green Island all the way to the Kuwait Towers and has been given a complete facelift with new sidewalks, dedicated jogging and bicycle paths, as well as new lights, bins, benches and more.

The second phase of the project is from Green Island to Al Shaab slipway and is expected to be completed in October.

Runners will be glad to know that the running track is cushioned so it will be easy on your knees. Both the running and bike paths have distance markers so you can also tell how far you’ve run or cycled. For more pictures, click here.

Here are this weekends events, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Feb 22
Winter Garden Market at Al Shaheed Park
Hala February Market at Murouj
Classic Car Show at The Promenade
Fireworks at Khiran Mall
COMFEST
K-POP Night

Friday, Feb 23
Winter Garden Market at Al Shaheed Park
Hala February Market at Murouj
Celebrations at ASCC
Al-Farsi Kite Festival
Classic Car Show at The Promenade
Fireworks at Khiran Mall
Cars & Coffee at Green Island
COMFEST
Khalifouh Heritage Village

Saturday, Feb 24
Winter Garden Market at Al Shaheed Park
Hala February Market at Murouj
Celebrations at ASCC
Al-Farsi Kite Festival
Classic Car Show at The Promenade
Korean Market at MADANG
Fireworks at Khiran Mall
COMFEST
Khalifouh Heritage Village

Sunday, Feb 25
Winter Garden Market at Al Shaheed Park
Hala February Market at Murouj
Celebrations at ASCC
Al-Farsi Kite Festival
Free Entry to Scientific Center
Fireworks at Al Kout Mall
Khalifouh Heritage Village

Monday, Feb 26
Winter Garden Market at Al Shaheed Park
Hala February Market at Murouj
Celebrations at ASCC
Al-Farsi Kite Festival
Free Entry to Scientific Center
Drone Show at The Walk
Hike Mutlaa
Khalifouh Heritage Village

I’m obsessed with Masters of Air. After the first two episodes I wasn’t really that impressed with the series since I had just finished watching Band of Brothers and The Pacific, but now that I’m 5 episodes in, I don’t want it to end.

I’m not invested in any of the characters, I actually might only be able to pick one out in a line up, but as long as I’m with them on the bomber on our way to a bombing mission, I’m heavily invested in whomever is on board.

If you’re a fan of the series, check out the @appletv instagram account since they have a bunch of cool behind the scenes photos from the series as well as linking to the actors personals instagram accounts.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve watched anything interesting this week.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Bob Marley: One Love (6.6)
Red Right Hand (N/A)
The Ancestral (4.3)
Wanted Man (4.7)

Other Movies Showing:
Argylle (6.2)
Clown Motel (2.9)
In the Land of Saints and Sinners (6.1)
Madame Web (3.8)
Migration (7.5)
No Way Up (5.3)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (5.8)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic film below is currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Titanic (7.9)

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

On the occasion of National Day and Liberation Day, @alshaheedpark in collaboration with @martyrskuwait created a light installation composed of LED roses. There are 1,329 roses in the garden, each representing a Kuwaiti martyr.

The installation is located in Al Shaheed Park Phase II, and if you want to take photos, I’d recommend visiting during sunset so that your photos don’t end up very dark.

I know it sounds weird that I’m asking whats happening instead of telling you whats happening, but I can’t seem to find any information on National Day. There have been fighter jets flying daily so I’m assuming there will be some kind of airshow, but I can’t find any information on it. Maybe one of the Arabic newspapers published something?

I’m looking back at last year’s schedule and there were surprisingly a lot of things happening from the light drone shows, to fireworks and the Saudi Hawks Air Show. Along with the ban on water balloons and water guns this year, it looks like there might be zero things going on.

A reader left a comment recently letting me know that F1 TV Pro now works in Kuwait. If you’re an F1 fan, F1 TV Pro is the best way to watch the races. It costs around $80 for a year and you can watch the practice, qualifications and the races live, as well as the pre race and post race shows among other things.

The app also allows you to also pick between two different English commentary teams, different driver cameras and access to lots of data.

Previously F1 TV Pro would only work in Kuwait if you used a VPN, so this is really good news.

Cinescape is launching their new rooftop cinema tonight and they’re calling it Skyline.

Located on the rooftop of Al Assima Mall, Skyline will be the only outdoor cinema in Kuwait playing new releases and officially licensed films. It will also be Cinescape’s first outdoor cinema since Cinema Al Saifi (Fahaheel 1959, Hawally 1965), and the Ahmadi Drive-in Cinema (1980-2004).

Skyline will be playing current English and Arabic films as well as classics a couple of times a week. There will be 3 movies a day showing every day and you will be able to book them through their app.

Food will be available including exclusive cold weather items like soup, hot chocolate, sliders, pizza and more.

Tickets will be for 5KD and this will be a yearly seasonal cinema, not a temporary popup. It will close down once it gets too hot but then reopen again later in the year once the weather cools down again.

To stay posted on Skyline, follow @cinescapekuwait

Forbes Middle East revealed their annual list of Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen and 7 Kuwaiti businesswomen made the list for 2024. Even more impressive is that 3 of the top 5 most powerful businesswomen are from Kuwait.

Here are the most powerful Kuwaiti women and their position in the top 100:

2. Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar
National Bank of Kuwait Group (NBK Group)

3. Wadha Ahmad Al-Khateeb
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)

5. Dana Nasser Al Sabah
Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO

18. Henadi Al-Saleh
Agility

28. Nadia Bader Al-Hajji
Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC)

67. Donna Sultan
KEO International Consultants

86. Nadia Akil
United Projects for Aviation Services Company (UPAC)

UAE hosted their annual UAE SWAT Challenge earlier this month and the Kuwait National Guard and the Kuwait Commandos took part in the 4 day competition. Although they didn’t end up winning, it’s still fun watching them compete in the events.

Here are two videos showing the team in action, the one above starts at the 4:42:47 mark while the one below starts at the 3:46:50 mark. If you hit play the videos should start at the correct times.

Nando’s will officially be opening in Kuwait next week at The Warehouse Mall on February 21st according to the Nando’s team (20th will be a private event).

I was invited yesterday for a sneak peek and to take some pictures. The coming soon hoarding was still up so I couldn’t get a shot from the outside, but I did take some interior shots which you can check here.

I also found out that they will be opening Nando’s in Salmiya, and very near to where I live. Along with The Warehouse Mall and the Al Kout Mall locations, it would mean there will be at least three Nando’s in Kuwait opening this year.

Their Instagram account is now live so if you want to stay posted on the opening and more, check out @nandos.kw

The largest and most prestigious cat show in the Middle East is taking place this weekend in Kuwait. The 2024 K-Cats Show is taking place at the Boulevard Ballroom tomorrow Friday, February 16th, and on Saturday February 17th.

The show is held in association with the prestigious Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) with judges coming in from the US and Europe for this event.

The show starts at 1PM tomorrow and 10AM on Saturday. If you’re looking for something random and unique to do this weekend, this is it.

For more info, click here.

I went to the show back in 2016 and thought it was fun, so definitely not going to miss it this year.

Here are this weekends events, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Feb 15
Military Band Show at The Avenues
Auto Land Car Show
SADI 2024: Materiality of the Desert
Al Khiran Marina Market
Ramadan Market at The Food Hall
Film Night: The Merchant of Venice

Friday, Feb 16
Auto Land Car Show
SADI 2024: Materiality of the Desert
Robotics Open Activity at ASCC
Al Khiran Marina Market
Clean Up & Kashta!
Ramadan Market at The Food Hall
Audition: Little Shop of Horrors
Porsche Club Kuwait Festival
Is this thing on? Open Mic

Saturday, Feb 17
Auto Land Car Show
Ford Desert Challenge 2024
SADI 2024: Materiality of the Desert
Beach Clean Up
Al Khiran Marina Market
Army Marching Band at 360 Mall
Science in the Garden
Ramadan Market at The Food Hall
Porsche Club Kuwait Festival
Bloom Sustainability Market
Escalate Conference
Qout Market

I think I’m over True Detective. The new seasons started off really exciting, but as it’s been progressing the more bored I’ve been getting from it.

I started watching Criminal Record on AppleTV+ because I read good things about it. I think I’m five episodes in and it’s also not doing it for me.

One last disappointment to cap off this week. I tried watching the movie Saltburn but found it very very boring.

But, to end on a high, Griselda was great. Not generally a fan of Sofía Vergara, but this had to be her best performance of her career or at least my favorite, although I just have Modern Family really to compare it to.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve watched anything interesting this week.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Clown Motel (2.9)
Madame Web (3.8)
The Braid (7.4)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Argylle (6.2)
Force of Nature: The Dry 2 (7.2)
In the Land of Saints and Sinners (6.1)
Migration (7.5)
No Way Up (5.3)
Skeletons in the Closet (N/A)
Sorry, Charlie (5.4)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (5.8)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic film below is currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Titanic (7.9)

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

Don’t forget to get your loved one a Shani today. shaniday.com

Alshaya is reportedly in talks to sell a minority stake in its Starbucks franchise business. A US private equity firm and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are both supposedly interested in acquiring the stake.

This doesn’t seem to be related to the recent boycott of the brand since Alshaya has been looking to sell this stake since 2022. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if the boycott helped push the deal closer.

source 1
source 2