Author: Mark

[YouTube]

Related to this.

So I’ve been working on a new theme for the blog which I’m going to launch in the next coming months but just a few months ago I was like you know what? I could probably introduce some of the new changes to the current theme and it will take me less than an hour of work. So I did just that.

The slightly modified changes are:

– a light grey backdrop with a soft shadow behind the white page to give it a raised feel
– a wider space for my posts which means I can now have larger pictures and videos
– new sharing icons at the bottom of the post for facebook, twitter and google
– clearer section tabs under the main header

JAMM is hosting its 4th and final contemporary art auction in Kuwait this coming Tuesday November 12th. Over 50 top-quality artworks by contemporary Arab, Iranian and international artists will be auctioned with my favorite piece being the one above by Iranian artist Reza Derakshani.

Date: Tuesday November 12th, 2013
Location: Contemporary Art Platform

For more information click [Here]
For the auction catalogue click [Here]

Joe’s Cafe is now open at The Prestige in Avenues from 4PM to 10PM.

So the main reason I was in Abu Dhabi last weekend was for the Formula 1 Grand Prix which I had never experienced before. In Abu Dhabi the track is located on Yas Island surrounded by a whole bunch of entertainment facilities like a marina, a hotel, Ferrari World, Waterworld, O1NE by Skybar, Du Arena and more. The evening of the F1 practice sessions I was in the car heading to one of the super yachts when I heard the sound of the F1 cars live for the very first time. At that moment it was the most beautiful sound in the world that gave me goosebumps and sent an adrenaline rush through my body. It was incredible loud and powerful and I couldn’t wait for race day.

I think we had one of the best seats in the house for the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 event. Our seats weren’t really seats but more like a lounge with 5-star catering and a balcony with a seating area overlooking the start line and located right over the Ferrari pit lane. We were in the Paddock Club. If that wasn’t cool enough we had a few celebrities in our lounge including football legend Maradona, Knight Rider and Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and the founder of Pagani Motors, Horacio Pagani. With the Paddock Club access we also got access to the pit lane which meant we could check out the teams prepping the cars for the race.

Watching the race at the track was a pretty strange experience since I spent most of the time watching it on the large screens that were located across from us because you couldn’t see the whole track while sitting in one location. So even though I was physically at the race I was still watching it as if I was sitting at home except I was sitting next to Maradona and Hasselhoff.

It was a once in a lifetime experience and as I told our hosts, I’m now probably spoiled and don’t think I could ever watch a Formula 1 event live again unless I get to experience it the same way I did on this trip.

British bank HSBC looked at economic opportunities and quality of life for expats in 34 countries and no surprise, Kuwait didn’t do so well. But what I’m finding difficult to grasp is how did Saudi Arabia come ahead? On the bright side, even though we came behind Saudi Arabia we did come ahead of the UK.

Here is an article on this study [Link]
Here is the link to the HSBC study [Link]

Thanks John

Reza Abedini, is an Iranian designer and a professor of graphic design and visual culture at Tehran University. Abedini is one of the most famous graphics designer in Iran because of his modern Persian typography.

Date: Monday November 11th, 2013
Time: 6PM
Location: Dar Al Funoon [Map]

Here’s a link to the [Invite]

Kuwaiti rapper Big D has a new music video out called Killah. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny it’s pretty impressive how many music videos he pumps out a year. [YouTube]

After around a hundred volunteers got together to clean up and repaint the Jabriya/Rumaithiya tunnel last week, someone tagged it again. That didn’t take very long.

via whatsapp

The Shakshooka nomadic farmers market is taking place tonight from 5:30PM to 7PM at the historic Amricani Hospital. If you don’t know where the place is, here it is on [Google Maps]

Don’t forget to bring cash and a carrying bag if you will be buying stuff.

Photo above by @faisalthef

Three Kuwaiti drug addicts and their massive dog were in their car heading out of their capital when a police patrol waved them to stop after suspecting their behavior.

The three quickly put the narcotics in a plastic bag and hid it under the dog before asking it to lie on the bag and stay there.

When the cops told them to get out to search the car, one of them warned the police not to come near the dog on the grounds it is savage and could be easily irritated.

“But the police insisted on searching the car…they were surprised to find that the dog is very calm and obedient…when they led the dog out of the car, they found the bag which contained hashish and other drugs,” Alanba daily said. [Source]

I thought this was funny to share.

The Formula 1 weekend in Abu Dhabi is their biggest weekend of the year so it’s just crammed with things to do including concerts. This year they brought in Jay-Z, Muse and my personal favorites Depeche Mode to come and perform over 3 nights at the huge Du Arena located behind Ferrari World. I shared most of my favorite photos already on Instagram (@mark248am) but I also shot some video which I’ve shared below.

[YouTube]

Jay-Z
The first concert I attended was Jay-Z. We were at a party on a super yacht with David Hasselhoff and Maradona watching the Formula 1 practices (the yacht was parked in Yas Marina and overlooked the track) and I really didn’t want to leave. I’m not a huge fan of Jay-Z and I’ve barely heard a handful of his songs but in the end I left the yacht party and headed to the concert. Me and a friend got there around 20 minutes late but we still managed to squeeze ourselves pretty close up front since we had access to the golden circle. Strangest thing ever, I spotted Horacio Pagani in the crowd but no one knew who he was. Only reason I was able to easily recognize him was because he was on the yacht party earlier with us.

[YouTube]

Muse
I honestly hadn’t heard any of Muse’s songs until a week before the concert. They’re not really the style of music I listen to and the only reason I went to the concert was to kill time before going to O1NE by Skybar (that’s another post). But, they did put on a good show although it was just an hour long. According to a friend who is into Muse their set should have included more songs but for some reason they ended it early.

[YouTube]

Depeche Mode
Now this was actually a concert I really wanted to go to. I’ve been a huge Depeche Mode fan ever since Smashing Pumpkins did a cover for “Never Let Me Down Again” back in 1994 (which I still think sounds better than the original). While I had arrived late for the other two concerts, with Depeche Mode me and my friend headed to the arena right after the Formula 1 race had finished so we ended up there over an hour and half early. We ended up camping in front of the stage until the concert started but the wait paid off since we ended up standing second row in front of the stage. Dave Gahan the main vocalist has to be one of the most entertaining musicians I have ever seen on stage since he spent two hours spinning in circles and grinding up against other band members. Extremely entertaining to watch and from all three concerts had the most amount of participation from the audience. Everyone knew the lyrics to all the songs by heart and it was just a blast. I’ve got one video above but two more on my YouTube account which you could watch, Never Let Me Down Again and Personal Jesus.

The website The Richest has put together a list of “10 Countries With The Highest Cost Of Food” and Kuwait is featured on that list prominently at #5. It’s the only Arab country on the list and The Richest used lettuce and eggs as an example of expensive food. I actually found that odd since even though imported products (like Coco Puffs or scallops) can be expensive, I never considered local eggs and lettuce expensive at all. Check out the top 10 list [Here]

Gia is a new small restaurant that opened up near my place in Salmiya. I passed by today for lunch and I’ll now probably be passing by there more often. I had the white fish with quinoa salad and it was both healthy and good. The fish wasn’t very exciting flavor wise but the quinoa on the other hand I was tempted to order again because it was that good. Glad there’s another healthy option available near me now. Here is a picture I took of their [Menu]

They’re open from noon onwards and they’re located in Salmiya. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Since the weather has gotten really good DMboarding are now renting paddleboards for those interested in taking up the activity. The prices start at around KD29 for a week and includes free delivery. Not sure if they rent out for a day or weekend since their Instagram account shows only weekly and monthly rental prices. It’s more fun if you decide to rent them with friends since you could then go group paddleboarding which is a lot more fun than just you alone. For more details click [Here]