Author: Mark

Does anyone know of any place serving food and playing the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight in Kuwait?

I hope my mum doesn’t read this.

Thanks @fayoon

I’m really not a big fan of Hawalli even though my Vespa has made the traffic much more bearable but a reader thinks it’s worth giving a shot and has published an article on The Culture Trip website about it. Check it out [Here]

New Kuwait have uploaded a video of a tour of the Al Salam Palace construction site. Al Salam Palace if you aren’t aware is currently being refurbished so that it can be turned into a museum. The video tour is in Arabic and you can watch it above or on [YouTube]

On a side note what is New Kuwait and are they connected to the government? Their website is newkuwaitgov.com and their logo is in English only as “New Kuwait” but their website and all their content is only in Arabic. Why give something an English name and then create just an English logo when all your content is going to be in just Arabic?

Thanks Khaled

A friend of mine recently started managing the social media account of a fitness studio in Kuwait called 20Seven. Unlike regular gyms they were using something called Electro Muscular Training (EMT) for their exercises which I thought sounded like total BS. I kept poking fun at her comparing it to the As Seen on TV gizmo where the commercial shows people wearing a patch on their abs that stimulates the muscles electronically while they’re tanning pool side. It just didn’t make any sense to me but the more I researched it the more legit EMT seemed, or at least the concept. My friend invited me to pass by and try it and since I knew the owner as well I figured I’d be polite and give it a shot.

So last Thursday I headed to their studio to try out EMT. Thursdays and Fridays are the only days I don’t have gym, they’re my rest days and since I didn’t think I would be getting much of a workout from EMT, I figured I’d pass by try it out and then continue with my day. Clearly I arrived there extremely skeptical about the whole thing but I kept an open mind as I always do. Once I was there I was introduced to the EMS trainer who proceeded to explain to me how everything worked and what we would be doing in the session. The sessions are only 20 minutes long and we were going to divide it into 15 minute of strength training, 5 minutes of cardio and once it’s over an extra 5 minutes of recovery. EMS basically sends impulse currents to specific parts of your body. In the 60s Soviet sport scientists applied EMS in the training of elite athletes and claimed 40% force gains. Today EMS is widely used in physiotherapy.

Before starting the workout I had to wear a special outfit, kinda like a wetsuit that had all these wires sticking out which then connects to their EMS machine. Then one by one the trainer applied electric current to various parts of my suit and told me to inform her when the level of discomfort became unbearable so she could set the level and move on to another part of my body. It felt like I was getting electrocuted by a low current, it wasn’t painful but it felt strange. Once we were ready she told me no matter how fit I was or how much of an athlete I was, everyone starts off here as a beginner. In my head I was thinking whatever just hit me with everything you’ve got. She told me to follow her moves and that the currents would come every few seconds. So I would have a few seconds rest and then the current would hit, a few seconds rest and then the current would hit again. Before the current hits I would have to be in a certain position matching hers and hold it like that throughout the electro stimulation. So for example she would go into a squat position and I would do the same and then hold that position while the current hit me.

It was a killer. I wasn’t expecting it to be difficult but damn my legs especially were starting to give up on me. When the current hits your muscles tense up and it becomes really difficult to hold whatever position you’re in. 15 minutes later I was ready to end my session but we still had 5 more minutes of cardio left and I was already exhausted. I was actually getting a real workout, I was sweating and I was also getting muscle fatigue… I was not expecting that.

Once we were done with the session I was honest and told them I came in really skeptical but I now understood what all the fuss was about. I don’t think anyone can get muscular from EMT but I don’t think thats why athletes use it. The entire Bayern Munich football club, Usain Bolt and Rafael Nadal are just some athletes who use EMT and they all use it as an addition on top of their regular workout regime. EMT helps increase muscle strength and performance but regular people also use EMT as a quick work out. Its an alternative to gyming for couch potatoes.

I ended up getting muscle soreness in my bum a couple of days later which is a sign of a good workout. But, I was surprised I got any sort of muscle soreness since I heavily workout all my body and that specific week I had done quite a bit of leg workouts. Yet the EMT training was able to reach muscles I wasn’t able to during my regular workouts and thats why I’m probably going to start doing one EMT session a week on top of my current busy gym schedule. You’re only recommended to do EMT twice a week by the way since you need rest days between each workout. Price wise it’s not that bad. 1 session of EMT is KD25 but depending on the package you take it can go down to as low as KD15. Keep in mind there is no gym membership here and it’s a 20 minute private session with a personal trainer. If you’re interested to find out more, check out 20Seven’s instagram page [Here]

For Asia there is a wide range of results, reflecting the diversity of cultures within the continent. The biggest financial concern for people searching about Lebanon appears to be the cost of a PS3; for Kuwait it is Lamborghinis, carpets for Armenia, and watermelons for Japan.

They used google’s autocomplete feature to find out what people around the world are obsessed with. It’s definitely not a scientific study but doesn’t make it any less funny. [Link]

Thanks Musaed

[YouTube]

On Friday I posted about chickens that were trapped in cages after the shop they were in got demolished on top of them. This morning I found out K’S PATH were heading to rescue the chickens and I’ve now been told they’ve been rescued. This is the email I got from Fatima Al-Sabah, the Vice Chairperson and Executive Director of K’S PATH:

We responded to the complaint last night and sent out our Animal Control Specialist to investigate and rescue the chickens. He was unable to do so yesterday as it was dark and one of the guards of the neighboring buildings was stopping him.

So we decided to provide water for the chickens to be able to survive the night and he went back today morning to rescue but this time a Kuwaiti man was forbidding him from rescuing, he insisted that our specialist clean out the whole thing or not do anything at all. That’s when I was called as the Executive Director to provide support. When I got there the Kuwaiti man had left and we could start rescuing. We asked a cleaner to help us rescue and we were able to remove about 30 live chickens from the premises. All were trapped in the cages unable to move and the living ones were walking among the dead ones. It was quite disturbing. The stench was unbearable.

People from the community came to look and thanked us for the work we did. And then we contacted the company that rents the shop lot and asked them to remove the dead carcasses as it is a health hazard considering that there is a school right opposite the location. I was later contacted by the company and they said that the owner of the land demolished their shop without notifying them and they have raised a complaint in the police station but they say they couldn’t do anything until the court case is seen by a judge and settled. I explained that they must think of public health before leaving animals to starve and decompose in public harming people around them and they said they would send over their personnel to clear the area from the carcasses.

All the living chicken are now safe in our K’S PATH Shelter in Wafra and we are waiting to hopefully find out that the shop has been cleaned.

Emirs Operetta Al-Bait Al-O'd Kuwait 2015 Teaser from Yannis Michalandos.

Someone uploaded the video above of the Kuwait National Day Operetta that took place back in February at the Bayan Palace. According to the uploader it was the first time in the world a full box projection was made and going by the video above it looks like it was a visually stunning experience. I would definitely have loved to have watched that live.

The same uploader also uploaded a making of video which shows you how it was all put together. The video is 13 minutes long but it’s very interesting to watch if you’re into making of videos. Check it out below.

Emirs Operetta Al-Bait Al-O’d Kuwait 2015 Behind The Scenes from Yannis Michalandos.

The third World Happiness Report was recently released by the United Nations and Kuwait dropped down the list instead of moving up. Originally when the list came out in 2012, Kuwait was ranked 31 under the list of happy nations. In 2013, Kuwait dropped one place to 32 and now in the third release Kuwait dropped further down to 39.

Not sure what caused the drop, I mean since the 2013 report we’ve had a ton of new burger joints open and Abercrombie & Fitch as well. Everyone should be super happy by now.

Download the full report from the World Happiness website [Here]

[YouTube]

Two workshops recently took place at The Secret Garden, one on Acting while the other was on Upcycling. I didn’t attend them but based on the video they just released I kinda wish I did since it looked like a lot of fun. Also just a reminder, Saturday Night Lights is taking place at The Secret Garden tonight so be there since it’s probably the last one of the season if the weather gets much warmer. [Link]

A reader sent me pictures and information on some trapped chickens in Mangaf. It sounds humorous but it actually isn’t. According to the reader there is a Naif chickens shop located in Mangaf (Block 4, Street 17) and the owner of the building gave the order to demolish the building while the chicken shop was still operational. No one was hurt luckily but there are chickens trapped inside and they’ve been trapped for the past week.

Chickens aren’t cute puppies or kittens but they’re still animals and this is just pretty sad. Why do some people lack so much compassion towards animals?

Thanks Tuan

Update: K’S PATH have contacted me to let me know they’re currently in the process of rescuing the chickens. Will keep you guys posted.

It looks like the cop cars are getting a graphical facelift. The images in this post have been circulating social media showing four new car graphics for the cop cars. I kinda like the current blue and fluorescent yellow combo we have right now, the new colors seem a bit dull.

Whenever I get a new iPhone I also tend to get a new waterproof case for it. My go to brand for waterproof cases for the past two or three generations of iPhones has always been LifeProof. Their cases are compact, look good and are waterproof down to a depth of 3M. But, all my LifeProof cases ended up developing a leak sooner or later. I kept going back to LifeProof because there were no similar alternatives, the only other case I used was the Hitcase Pro but it’s a lot more bulkier and it doesn’t allow you to access the charging port which is important for me since I my phone is always connected to my BeoLit 12 speaker at the beach.

Since beach season has already started it was time again to get a new waterproof case and this time for my iPhone 6. While doing my usual rounds of research I found out about a case called Catalyst which all the reviewers were raving about. The Catalyst is very similar to the LifeProof case in features except its waterproof down to a depth of 5M instead of 3M and more importantly the Catalyst comes with a wrist lanyard. The wrist lanyard is a feature I always wished the LifeProof case had because its makes a huge difference during activities. For example when I went paragliding, I had my phone with me to take pictures but I was worried the whole time I would accidentally drop my phone. Now even if the phone slips out of my hand it will still hang on to my wrist. In addition to these two features the Catalyst is a bit cheaper and I personally think it also looks better than the LifeProof case.

I still have to wait and see how the Catalyst performs over the summer, but right now based on my brief experience with the case I’m loving it. If you’re interested you can purchase the case from the Catalyst website, they’re selling it for $70 without shipping. Or, you can do what I did an buy it off a seller on eBay. I offered one seller $60 with shipping and he accepted which was a great deal. For some reason the case isn’t available on Amazon yet. [Link]

Not that busy a weekend but there are a bunch of interesting events taking place including a Show Jumping Competition, the Gulf Jazz Festival and the Shakshooka Market is back. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Kuwait Dino Park
Exhibition: New Species by Hunt Slonem
Show Jumping Competition
Kuwaiti Story Night
Rooftop Movie: Chinatown
A Night In

Friday
Kuwait Dino Park
Show Jumping Competition
Culinary Event: Farmers’ Market Finds
Shakshooka Market
Gulf Jazz Festival

Saturday
Kuwait Dino Park
Yoga in the Park
The First K-Pop Youth Festival in Kuwait
Guided Tour: Arab Organization Headquarters
Madeenah Tour: AGi Architects
Rooftop Movie: Agora
Peak – A Vertical Race
Shakshooka Market

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]

Update: Due to bad weather, Shakshooka has been rescheduled and will now take place Saturday night at The Secret Garden instead.

I’m selling my 13″ MacBook Air in the Classifieds section. If anybody wants it, check it out and let me know. [Link]