Author: Mark

The trailer for “Airlift”, the upcoming Indian film based on the 1990 Iraq invasion of Kuwait just got released. The movie is based on a true story and is set to be released in January. Here is the synopsis:

Ranjit Katyal (played by Akshay Kumar), a wealthy and powerful Indian businessman, who has always seen himself as a Kuwaiti, rather than an Indian, realises that he no longer wields any influence on the Iraqis, and that he and his family are in as much danger as anyone else. Ranjit unknowingly becomes the man who all 170,000 Indians look up to for getting them out safely from Kuwait. Airlift is the story of Indians stranded in Kuwait during this traumatic time. A story of how they, with the help of Ranjit Katyal, managed to survive the Iraqi invasion, and against all odds travelled a thousand kilometres across the border into Amman, Jordan. From Amman, 170,000 Indians were brought home by the largest and the most successful evacuation ever attempted by any country, in the history of the world. Over 59 days, the Indian government systematically flew over 488 Air India commercial flights into a war zone to evacuate all 170,000 Indians and safely bring them back home. Airlift is an uplifting and entertaining edge-of-the-seat thriller and is the story of the biggest ever human evacuation in the history of mankind.

Airlift, directed by Raja Krishna Menon, starts filming April 2015 and is presented by T-Series and Cape of Good Films; produced by Crouching Tiger and Emmay Entertainment. Bhushan Kumar, talking about the film, said, “It’s my conviction that the story will be equally appreciated once on celluloid as much as I loved it during narration. The character that Akshay plays is filled with heroism and I am sure he will add to the perfection with this central character role that he essays.”

The trailer is in Hindi and doesn’t have any English subtitles but there’s lots of explosions so it’s still entertaining to watch. [YouTube]

Thanks Rayboy and Nand

Back in September when I posted about Abdulai (the school teacher from Ghana), I had a feeling we would be hearing a lot more similar stories. With more people having access to smartphones and internet, I was confident more people would come forward to share their story. Then last week I got the following email from a domestic worker in Kuwait:

Journalism have been one of my passion since childhood but I had these infantile reasoning that being into journalism might also mean you re signing your death warrant.I have witnessed some renowned journalists being killed and other being put into prison custodies with out persecution but that doesn’t move me to give up on ma dreams of becoming one the worlds finest journalists.To be frank this blog has motivated and inspired me a lot.You have given me the reason why I shouldn’t give up on ma dreams I always say “HARDWOR AND DETERMINATION LEADS TO SUCCESS” .Am an African working in Kuwait as a househelp an I will really fight hard to accomplish my dreams when my contract is over

So after a bit of back and forth by email, I convinced her she didn’t have to wait and that she could start writing from now. I told her she should start a blog and I explained to her how she could set one up and be able to post articles from her phone. So she did that and got back to me today to let me know that not only was she able to set up her blog but she had also posted her first post. I’m not sure how often she will be updating the blog, she told me she will try to whenever she is free but in any case its still a big step forward. So check out her post and story on how she ended up in Kuwait by clicking [Here]

So Burger & Lobster finally opened up in Kuwait and guess what? Their prices surprisingly are similar to that in London. You can order a burger, lobster or lobster roll for just KD8.950. I think that makes them the cheapest place to get lobster in Kuwait, no idea how they managed to make it so affordable but better for us. [Link]

Update: Just found out they’re opened by Gourmania International, same company that has Sakura and Fauchon.

Update2: I passed by and had the lobster roll for lunch. It was pretty good and similar to the one in London (ask for the lemon garlic sauce). They also have a combo option where you could order the three dishes, the burger, lobster and lobster roll for around KD26 and also get a dessert for free. Not bad.

Last month I posted a list of Online Shopping Websites in Kuwait but I found out there is a website called Tisawaq with the sole purpose of listing all the online shopping websites in Kuwait. The websites are split up into categories and there is even a Tisawaq app. Check out the site [Here]

If you’ve never been to a camel race before it’s worth checking out and now would be the time to go since the weather is great. I went to one a couple of years back and had a blast so figured I’d write about it again now since the AWARE Center is organizing a trip to a race next month. If you’re interested in joining them, click [Here] for more information.

You can of course go without them, just check out my old post for details [Here]

I know there are a lot of people interested in Muay Thai training in Kuwait so figured I’d post about a new place that opened up that offers it. A new gym opened up in Shuwaikh called Empower 31 and one of the services they offer is Muay Thai training. They’ve brought in a world class trainer (Joesoef Henri) who has worked with top fighters all over the world including:

Remy bonjasky – Former K-1 Champion, One of the best kick boxers in the world.
Raphael Assuncao – UFC #3 Ranked Bantamweight
Andy Souwer – Dutch welterweight. Currently a Glory top contender. He is two time K-1 World MAX champion as well as a four time shoot boxing world tournament champion.
Dhiego Lima – #6 ranked welterweight in the world – currently in the UFC

The trainer is from Holland so he’s bringing the Dutch style of Kickboxing to Kuwait which is something new according to the owner (All of the K-1 finalists are usually Dutch or have a Dutch style background).

So if you’re interested in Muay Thai, Empower 31 is offering beginner and intermediate/ Advanced Muay Thai classes. The cost is KD85/month, KD220/3 months, KD385/6 months or KD620/year. This cost gives you access to their whole facility, not just Muay Thai, so you’ll have access to “strength and conditioning coaches who are all highly educated and have past experience within professional sports teams as their strength and conditioning coaches”. For more information including contact details, check out their instagram account @empower31

The Shakshooka Market in the video above took place a couple of weeks back. For those of you who haven’t been to any of the Secret Garden events, this should give you an idea of what you’re missing. [YouTube]

So Harvey Nichols released the Yeezy Boost 350 “moonrock” edition in Kuwait today and for some odd reason sold them for nearly twice the world wide retail price. According to a reader who queued up this morning to get his hands on a pair, Harvey Nichols in Kuwait sold the Yeezys for KD115 ($380). In comparison they sold for KD60 ($200) in the United States, KD66 (AED800) at Levels Shoe District in Dubai and for KD69 (£150) in the UK. So why is Harvey Nichols in Kuwait selling the sneakers for KD115?!

This is probably going to be the busiest weekend of the season with so many things to do. Firstly if you haven’t registered for the Nuqat Creative Conference, then do so now since it’s free to register and there are lots of interesting lectures taking place. Once you get that done take a look at all the activities taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Four Hands Can’t Clap
Exhibition: Behind the Crisis
Exhibition: King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture
UK Culture Week: Paper Cinema
Wonderland Charity Carnival
Nuqat Creative Conference
Preview of Constant Caricature – political cartoonist Ali Ferzat
Islamopolitan Exhibition – Kuwait Edition
JAMM Art Gallery
Rooftop Movie: My Dinner with Andre
Movie in the Park: Hidden Pictures

Friday
Wonderland Charity Carnival
Nuqat Creative Conference
Brunch at Lucy’s
UK Culture Week: Gandini Workshop
Kuwait Bibliophiles Book Club Meeting
A Designer’s Dream
Book Signing | Hilmi Al-Tuni
Monitor, Reflect, then Act

Saturday
Wonderland Charity Carnival
Nuqat Creative Conference
Yoga at the Park
Winter Bazaar
A Walkathon for Diabetes
#WECANDOIT INSIDEOUT Pasting & Video Launch
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Rooftop Movie: Wild Tales
UK Culture Week: Gandini

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

This is just insane, a guy called Wilfred scrawled the message “Claudia I ♡ You” across Kuwait using GPS. It took him 11 days to get it done and by the end of it he had ridden, driven and kayaked over 2,000km. The message itself is 615km long. He also took a ton of photos and videos of the whole journey and even has an animation showing the whole trip. I can’t even figure out the logistics behind this, it’s crazy. Here is some more info:

Software Used: Osmand, Google Earth, QGIS, ArcMap, Google Earth, CartoDB, Basecamp
Hardware Used: Samsung Note 2, Garmin GPSMAP 64s
Highlights: the struggle to fit the ♡ between the oil fields, an epic dust storm south of the I, getting beaten into submission by the elements when kayaking the U and seeing V-22 Osprey night practice flights west of the O. Two portions involved offroading at night – the NE shoulder of the O and the first part of the bottom of the Y. Click video points in these locations for more detail.

So check out the animation first [Here]
Then once you’re done check out all the videos [Here] (randomly flip through them)

Oh and yeah, Claudia obviously liked this.

South of Sane is a local movement by a group of underground artists, musicians, designers, engineers and architects who came together to revive the cultural scene in Kuwait and across the Middle East. Tomorrow at Nuqat they’ll be revealing their first piece so I asked them if they could send me a small tidbit I could post on the blog along with their teaser video above. They sent me the below:

a geneRation without cultuRe and aRt is a violent one, this is evident in how we as a nation have become; moRe Reliant on how ouR image is pReceived in social netwoRks RatheR be Respected foR what we stand foR. kuwait has always been and always will be the land of cReation and innovation, a haven foR the Region in fine aRts and humanities. I pRopose we put an end to Recycled aRt and let the undeRgRound come out and show the woRld that we R not all driven by materialism & trend, that this countRy has its Roots deeply founded in cultuRe and aRts, that we as a nation aRe fRee in soul and mind. if what we do is not seen as aRt then subsequently i pResent you with “the anti-aRt”

So if you’re interested to find out more then head to Nuqat tomorrow for their big reveal. From 1:45PM to 3PM they’ll be performing music followed by the reveal show at 6:15PM. Nuqat is being held at the Amricani Cultural Center [Map]

The first time I heard about Sista Brown was when my best friend (who’s super ridiculously talented btw) posted about them a few months back when they had an event in Lebanon. I didn’t really have any idea what it was but the name was odd so it stuck with me. Fast forward a few months and I find out Sista Brown was having a pop-up shop here in Kuwait. It didn’t sound very exciting, their flyer graphic was ugly (even blurry) and there was no mention of what the pop-up shop was about. I didn’t even consider going until another friend of mine got in touch with me yesterday and asked me to pass by so I could possibly post about it on the blog. So I did.

Sista Brown turned out to be more of a market than a pop-up shop. I originally got the impression Sista Brown was one shop but it’s actually around 20 different designers and start up fashion brands mostly from Lebanon but also from other parts of the world all brought together under the Sista Brown umbrella. The market is being held at Shuwaikh Market and is only going to be there until tomorrow (Nov 12). The most interesting aspect to me was the Armenian food by the Lebanese Armenian bistro called Batchig. If you’re interested in trying out Armenian food, Sista Brown brought Batchig from Lebanon for this event and they’re there after 7PM serving food. That alone is actually worth going for.

So if you’re interested in passing by, the market is open from 4PM till midnight and the food from 7PM. Here is Shuwaikh Market on [Google Maps]

Update: Just found out there is Iraqi food from 4PM to 6:30PM today as well and then 7PM back to Armenian food.

Architizer have published a list of 8 modern homes in Kuwait and there are some great stuff there including my current favorite the Al Saif Residence pictured above. Check out the full list [Here]

Does anyone know where expats can get archery lessons in Kuwait? I contacted the Kuwait Archery National Team on Facebook asking about lessons and they told me the Kuwait Shooting Federation offers lessons but it’s only for Kuwaitis.

for the new Yeezy Boost 350 “Moonrock” edition was released yesterday and Harvey Nichols Kuwait is on the list. These editions are supposed to be the easiest ones of the series to get but I’m still trying to find out from my contact at Harvey how many pairs they’re getting. The “Moonrock” boosts will be released on November 14th, I’ll update this post with more details if I get any.