Author: Mark

Kuwait looking at its best. [YouTube]

This Saturday its packed with events even though there is a storm thats expected to hit. So like last week make sure the events are still on by checking the various instagram accounts before heading to them. Check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Sirdablab: The Big Lebowski
Rooftop Movie: Whiplash CANCELLED

Friday
Let’s Go Forward Road Run Hilton
Qout Market
Team Fortress LAN Party

Saturday
Yoga at the Park
An Introduction to Pointed Pen Calligraphy
K’S PATH Open Shelter Day CANCELLED
Yarn Bombing at The Secret Garden
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Rooftop Movie: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Story Time
Let’s Draw – Alshaheed Park

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

The Cinemagics rooftop movies are back starting from this weekend. If you’ve never been to one you should and this month they’ve got some great films showing. I’ll be adding them all to the Events page but for now below is the full list of films taking place this month.

Thursday, November 5th 2015 at 7:30PM
WHIPLASH
Winner of 78 awards and nominated for over 110 worldwide, Whiplash was the little movie that caught the world by storm last year. Featuring a towering performance by J.K. Simmons (for which he won the oscar), the real star here is newcomer Damien Chazelle’s incredible pacing and fascinating editing style. It tells the story of a promising young drummer who enrolls at a cutthroat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are challenged by an instructor who will stop at nothing to bring out the best, even if it may go to far. If you haven’t seen this yet, this is your chance to witness the experience.

Saturday, November 7th 2015 at 7:30PM
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI
A delicate documentary about Jiro Ono, am 85 year old sushi master who runs a 3 michelin star restaurant in a toile subway station. Carrying a certified fresh rating of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, the site’s consensus reads “Beautiful, thoughtful, and engrossing”. A film that is generally adores by all who’ve seen it.

Thursday, November 12th 2015 at 7:30PM
MY DINNER WITH ANDRE
A film that is universally adored by critics and audiences alike, My Dinner with Andre is the first in the trilogy of the Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn experimental films. The film depicts a theatrical conversation between the two stars as they discuss experimental theater, the nature of life, and spiritual experiences. The Boston Society of Critics names it the Best American Film, and master critic Roger Ebert once said “If i could name a movie that was entirely devoid of cliches, it would be My Dinner with Andre”

Saturday, November 14th at 7:30PM
WILD TALES
One of the most refreshingly original films in recent history, Wild Tales is an Argentinian masterpiece covering 6 short stories, all of which share the themes of violence and revenge. The film has won over 40 awards worldwide, considered by many to be one of the best of the year. Holding a 96% rating, Rotten Tomatoes called the film “Wickedly hilarious and delightfully deranged”. The film received a 10 minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. A rare combination of a crowd pleaser that also captures the attention of cinephiles. Unmissable.

Thursday, November 19th at 7:30PM
THE THIN BLUE LINE
One of the most provocative documentaries of all time, and a film many considered to be the shift in the way documentaries were being made, The Thin Blue Line was eventually considered to be one of the best 5 documentaries of all time. It depicts the story of Randall Dale Adams, a man convicted and sentences to life in prison for a murder he did not commit. The film is one of the only films to ever affect a judicial verdict, as the trial was reviewed after the release of the film. Errol Morris went on to become one of the most respected documentarians around.

Saturday, November 21st at 7:30PM
ANNIE HALL
Every year at Cinemagic, we pick one highlight one master director and create a series around him/her where we show an important film of their’s each month. This year, our director of choice is the cinematic gem, Woody Allen. We begin big with what Roger ebert called “just about everyone’s favorite Woody Allen movie”, Annie Hall. A film responsible for inventing the modern comedic film, Annie Hall won the oscars for Best Film, Director, and Screenplay, and solidified Woody Allen as one of the great American filmmakers of his generation. One of the most beloved comedies of all time, there’s nobody that doesn’t love Annie Hall.

Thursday, November 26th at 7:30PM
TIMBUKTU
Nominated for best foreign film at the Academy Awards, and winner of another 19 awards worldwide, Timbuktu tells the story of a cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu when they find their lives of peace disturbed by the political arena int he surrounding cities. Variety wrote of the director “In the hands of a master, indignation and tragedy can be rendered with clarity yetsubtelty, setting hysteria aside for deeper, more richly shaded tones. Abderrahmane Sissako is just such a master.”

Saturday, November 28th at 7:30PM
WATER
Beautifully shot and elegantly told, Deepa Mehta’s Water was a beloved film worldwide upon release. The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty, focussing on a relationship between one of the widows and a man who is from the highest caste and is is a follower or Mahatma Ghandhi. Of the film, The Los Angeles Times wrote “Mehta is able to inject considerable humor in her stunningly perceptive and beautifully structured narrative…Water emerges as a film of extraordinary richness and complexity”. Winner of 23 awards.

Cinemagics is organizing these events as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of an internationally competitive Kuwaiti audio-visual production industry, partly by bringing the filmmakers and audiences together and by increasing the public’s interest in – and appreciation for – the art of film-making. Cinemagics movies are screened in the old Salmiya, on the rooftop of Xcite and LG [Map]. There is no entrance fee. Here is a link to their Facebook group [Link]

Jazeera Airways hoped to synergies its processes with Kuwait Airways, including operations at Kuwait International and using the Kuwaiti national carrier’s long-haul network to feed its own regional flights.

According to Hubbard, the low-cost hybrid carrier is looking at starting flights to London, Paris and possibly Singapore, if it can no longer purchase a controlling state in Kuwait Airways.

I wouldn’t mind flying to London with Jazeera Airways as long as the planes are clean. I stopped flying with them to Beirut and Dubai simply because the plane interiors got so old and worn out.

Jazeera Airways plans to build its own terminal, including valet parking — an oddity for low-cost airlines in Europe but not the Gulf where a hybrid model has seen the introduction of business seats and included baggage allowance.

The terminal construction, built onto the four gates Jazeera Airways is operating from at Kuwait International, will likely start in the first quarter 2016 and take a year to complete at a cost of €20 million (Dh112.67 million), Hubbard said.

There has been talk on Jazeera building their own terminal for some time now, in fact there are two Jazeera terminal renderings I am aware of which I’ve shared in this post. If they have their own entrance separate from the current airport thats going to be a huge plus for sure until the new airport is built. Check out the full article [Here]

Essena O’Neill had half a million followers and made an income off her posts. She boldly quit the platform last week to bring attention to problems spawned from social media.

I generally don’t link to articles I read on Facebook but I felt this one relates a lot with whats going on in Kuwait with most of the female celebrity instagrammers. [Link]

Some of you might have already seen the video above of a fight taking place on the streets of Hawalli where a person gets run down and killed by a driver of a pick-up truck. According to Arab Times the fight was over a Sony PlayStation:

The deceased was hit and killed with a pick-up driven by a Kuwaiti youth in the course of a fight between a group of Kuwaitis and Egyptian nationals at the commercial complex. The prime suspect who’s in his 20s admitted knocking the late Egyptian down with a vehicle in an attempt to free his friend during a fight over KD 19 price difference of a Play Station. [Source]

The original news report stated the fight started in Rehab Complex and that’s what I had originally heard as well but, the video shows the fight taking place in front of Al-Muhallab Mall. How did the fight end up all the way there? Also, I had originally heard the fight was over a game and not a PlayStation console, specifically the new Call of Duty: Black Ops III game.

According to their Kuwait instagram page, as of this post Burger & Lobster at the Avenues are set to open in just 9 days. As I’ve previously mentioned, Burger & Lobster’s menu consists of just 3 dishes, a hamburger, a whole lobster and a lobster roll. All three dishes are priced the same, £20 in the UK and $20 in the US so I’m still curious to know what the pricing will be like in Kuwait. To check out some teaser photos of the place plus keep track of their launch date check out their instagram page [Here]

360 Mall have released new renderings as well as a video showcasing their upcoming mall expansion which will include a tennis complex, a hotel and additional shopping. The tennis complex will have a combined stadium seating for over 7,600 people across two main arenas, each with the capacity to hold 4,000 and 1,600 people respectively, eight indoor courts with over 500 seats and eight outdoor courts with 1,500 seats. The tennis arena will be called “The Sheikh Jaber Al Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah International Tennis Complex” and is expected to become one of the world’s best tennis facilities.

In summary, we should basically all start learning tennis so we could take advantage of the facilities once they open up.

On a side note I’ve managed to confirm that Bloomingdale’s will be opening up where the exhibition hall at 360 Mall is located right now. What I wasn’t aware of was that the exhibition hall is actually three floors tall but because they hadn’t installed the escalators yet, it never showed. Regarding the 5-star hotel thats opening up in the new expansion, all the renderings are pointing towards Hyatt making a comeback to Kuwait. I’m still trying to get confirmation on this but I haven’t been able to as of now. My contact just confirmed the hotel that will be opening is Grand Hyatt and that an official announcement will be made shortly.

SOLO PN, the local pizza joint were recently invited to compete in a pizza competition at the Italian Cuisine World Summit 2015 that was held in Dubai. At first they ended up winning first place in the GCC under three categories, Best Pizza Napoletana, Best Special Pizza and the Fastest Pizzaiuolo. That took them to the world finals in which they ended up coming in third place. A pretty impressive achievement by itself but the fact that it’s by a pizza joint based out of tiny Kuwait is even more impressive. I’m sure it caught everyone by surprise. Check out their instagram account for more details. [Link]

Thanks teenum

Zain have just started an interesting project, they’ve found a creative way of using instagram to tell children stories. Their first story is called Zain and the Stars and you can read it by going to the instagram account @zain_andthestars on you phone. Once you open the account you start reading the story by scrolling down. They’ll be uploading a new story every month under a different account with the hope of having a large library of good Arabic books by the end of the project. Whenever there is a new story they’ll be announcing it on their @zainkuwait account but for now, check out their first one by visiting @zain_andthestars from your phone.

Note: The stories are in Arabic

A few events got canceled this weekend because of the storm but below is what’s still on as of this post. Battle of the East is taking place on Friday and Saturday so if you’re into competitive sports thats something to check out. Shakshooka is also back for the first time this season, they’re going to be at The Secret Garden this Saturday night. Make sure you double check the actual events instagram pages before you head out just to make sure they’re still on. Below is the full list of events taking place this weekend:

Thursday
Exhibition: Still (Curated by Mark Dean)
Play: Stepping Out
Mask Making Workshop

Friday
Play: Stepping Out
Book Club Meeting
Battle of the East
Kuwait Global Education Fair
Fright Night

Saturday
Battle of the East
Kuwait Global Education Fair
Yoga at the Park
K’S PATH Shelter Open Day
Writing at the Park (Teens)
Shakshooka Market

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

This morning while visiting Avenues I noticed they had installed x-ray scanners at various entry points around the mall. Coming up from the underground parking there was only a security guard with a metal detector wand but when coming in from any of their ground floor entrances you now have to put your bags in an x-ray machine. Arraya and Salhiya have also both installed metal detectors at their entrances as well.

I’m guessing this heightened mall security is because of the mosque bombing that took place back in June.

For the second time in five years, Kuwait was suspended by the IOC for political interference on Tuesday, leaving the Gulf country’s athletes in limbo for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [Source]

This sucks a lot more than being suspended by FIFA since unlike our football team, we actually can win at the Olympics.

Pictured above is Kuwaiti bronze medallist Fehaid Aldeehani during the medal ceremony for the Men’s Trap Shooting Final at the London 2012 Olympics.

Three really good friends of mine recently launched a brand of Portuguese tart pastries called Al Nata. It’s not a home business, it’s a legit operation with a proper setup (I’m in love with their kitchen). The tarts are called pastel de nata and are very common in Portugal, since one the guys is Portuguese he started making them and bringing them during gatherings and they were always a huge hit. They have a delicious custard filling and I could have them all day long if I didn’t put a limit on myself. And I’m not saying that because they’re my friends, the tarts are actually delicious.

They’re currently being sold exclusively at Sultan Center where they are being baked on site. My friends are also visiting different Sultan Center locations where they’re offering visitors free samples to try out. Today they’re going to be in Al Kout and Salmiya and then Jabriya over the next two days. But, a box of 6 freshly baked natas costs KD3.600 so just pick up a box the next time you’re at Sultan Center. They’re available right now in Salmiya, Shaab, Souk Sharq and Al Kout branches and you can add Jabriya to the list starting from tomorrow. Here is a link to their instagram page where they have a ton of mouth watering pics [@al_nata]

If it wasn’t for Google Maps advising me to take the Fahaheel Expressway on the way to the city this morning, I would have gotten stuck 40 minutes on the Gulf Road. Turns out part of the Gulf Road before KFC was completely flooded. Based on the videos I’ve been watching all morning on @kuwaitup2date, it looks like a bunch of places got hit pretty bad during the night. Check out the videos [Here]