Author: Mark

The Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre is hosting four evening events dedicated to Kuwaiti women who have made a difference in various fields. Starting at 7 PM every night for the next four nights there will be guest speakers covering a variety of subject matter:

Wednesday: Community
Thursday: Health Wellness & Lifestyle
Friday: Creative Entrepreneurship
Saturday: Parenting & Education

This event is free of charge but requires prior registration.
Check out the full program and guest speakers here.
To register for the event, click here.

Threadless is an online community of artists and an e-commerce website

teeplus is a local website that plays two roles, it allows you to buy apparel using local designs, and it allows you to sell apparel using your own original designs. It’s similar to the popular website Threadless except it’s local.

Buy Tshirts by Local Artists
The website contains hundreds and hundreds of designs submitted by various artists and designers with many of them being localized designs or ideas which makes them unique. Prices are pretty good with t-shirts starting at 9KD and sweatshirts for 15KD.

Sell & Create
As an artist, you can also make money by selling products that use your design ranging from t-shirts and sweatshirts to tote bags and phone covers. The way it works is you create an account, upload your design and then decide what you want to apply the design too. For every product, you sell through the website you make a profit ranging from 15% to 20%.

Even though teeplus is not a new idea, it’s still a great initiative since it creates an outlet for local artists to be able to generate money using their work. I’ve already added a whole bunch of t-shirts to my cart and still browsing for more as of this post. If you want to check out the designs or buy a t-shirt, the website is teeplus.co

One of the guys at my office just shot this pretty cool timelapse of the dust storm hitting the city. We had a great view since our office looks out at the sea so we saw the storm coming from the North. Check it out below.

Shot by @Oa4_

Staged in Kuwait, the popular local English community theatre group is ending its tenth season with a warm and wonderful production of the smash-hit musical, “Mamma Mia!”.

Packed with ABBA hits, Mamma Mia! promises to leave you with a smile on your face. The musical is going to be fun and will be taking place over 6 days with tickets starting at KD7.5. The first performance is this coming Thursday so you need to hurry and book now since they’re close to being sold out.

If you’re interested, here is the link.

My favorite Bahraini grills spot is still Ghadeer al Bahrain in Salmiya, even though after the pandemic they had to increase their prices by around 100 fils. But last night, I decided to try another Bahraini grills spot in the city called Tekka Lumee. This past winter whenever I drove by Tekka Lumee in the evening it would be super packed with people, they actually had to expand their outdoor seating and double the size because of their popularity. I was with a friend in the city last night and we were originally planning to walk over to Little Ruby’s for dinner when we decided to give Tekka Lumee a shot.

Tekka Lumee is a small place across the street from the newly opened Assima Mall. Unlike Ghadeer al Bahrain which has been around for 30+ years, Tekka Lumee is a new concept that opened up over a year ago. Their menu has a pretty good variety of items and you can check it out online here. We ended up getting hummus to start with and Tekka Lumee grills, Tekka Yogurt, Kebab Special and Special Tawooq for the mains.

A couple of minutes after placing the order the food started coming out. First the freshly baked Irani bread with the hummus, and then all the grills. If you’re hungry and don’t want to wait too long for your food then this is the place to come to. I quickly started digging into the food and right away knew what I liked and what I wouldn’t order again. Both the Tekka Lumee and Tekka Yogurt were great, especially the Tekka Lumee which had great flavor. The Tawooq was the third-best item, I usually wouldn’t order chicken at a Bahraini grills place but was curious to try it here but wouldn’t have it again. The most disappointing item though was the kebab, it was fairly dry, a bit bland, and was the only thing that we didn’t finish on the table. It sucks because I usually like ordering kebab with my tikka but wouldn’t do so again here.

Even though Ghadeer al Bahrain is a low-end hole-in-the-wall restaurant, I do feel like I have to compare it with Tekka Lumee only because they both basically sell the same food. Pricewise Tekka Lumee is surprisingly pretty good, their grills are around KD2.500 a plate and contain 5 skewers. What is important to point out is their skewers are longer than that of Ghadeer and contain more meat, so you could say close to double the size of Ghadeer’s. This means price-wise it’s fairly competitive to Ghadeer Al Bahrain even though it’s a much nicer (cough cleaner cough) place with a better dining experience. Tastewise the tikkas at Tekka Lumee were great but the kebab as I mentioned was a disappointment. The kebab at Ghadeer is much better but I’d still go back to Tekka Lumee for the other items (and for the bread which was crazy good). The total for two people including 3 drinks came out to around 13KD. If you want to check the place out, their Instagram account is @tekka.lumee, and here is their location on Google Maps.

If you’re looking for something to do tonight check out the Hoop Dreams exhibition opening at Sadu House:

Hoop Dreams is an exhibition showcasing basketball hoops as creative installations that integrate elements of basketball with art. Concepts for these hoops include local patterns of Sadu as well as traditional fishing nets and pearl colored basketballs that represent Kuwaiti culture.

The exhibition opens tonight at 7PM and will be running until May 27. For more information check out the Sadu House Instagram account @saduhouse

Saveco supermarket no longer have any locations left open and their Instagram hasn’t been updated since April. Their original location in Al-Rai which opened back in 2014 was demolished a few months ago, their Avenues location closed down last month, and their Wholesome Foods organic supermarket concept in Salmiya has now been taken over by Sultan Center.

I used to pass by their Avenues location whenever I visited the mall since they were on my way out when heading to my car, but during the pandemic, it was also my favorite supermarket to go to since it was always empty while most other places were overcrowded and chaotic. They were meant to open a new “Urban Market” in Shuwaikh but I’m not sure if that’s still happening. My contact at Saveco no longer works there and when I asked them on Instagram about it they didn’t respond to me. The sign is still up so maybe they decided to close all their locations and just focus on this new concept, we’ll have to wait and see.

No idea what’s going on but this weekend is jam-packed with events and things to do. Check out the full list below and as usual if I missed anything, let me know!

Thursday
Exhibition: I Am Here – Manuella Guiragossian
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Exhibition: Deconstructed Phyche – Sheikha Al Habishi
Perfumes, Cosmetics & Watches Expo
French Diwaniya
Dear Zoo Live!

Friday
Perfumes, Cosmetics & Watches Expo
3rd GCC Games
Kids Workshop: What is a Rainbow?
Kids Workshop: What is Light?
Suns of Beaches 2022
Dear Zoo Live!
TrashTag Beach Cleanup – Shuwaikh Beach
Kuwait Music Academy Gala Concert 2022
SUP Race Series

Saturday
Exhibition: I Am Here – Manuella Guiragossian
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Exhibition: Deconstructed Phyche – Sheikha Al Habishi
Grand Mosque Tour
Perfumes, Cosmetics & Watches Expo
3rd GCC Games
Peak 2022 Vertical Race
Summer Music Nights
Shakespeare By Candlelight
International Museum Day Art & Eco Friendly Bazaar
Authenticity Storytelling with Bibi AlSabah
Artists & Muscians Open Day
Our Coffee Trip
Dear Zoo Live!

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Random Act Of Violence (5.2)
Survive (4.6)
The Cellar (5.3)
The Northman (7.5)

Other Movies Showing:
Fireheart (6.1)
Firestarter (4.6)
Memory (5.6)
Morbius (5.1)
Samsam (5.0)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (6.9)
The Bad Guys (7.0)
The Batman (8.1)
The Lost City (6.6)
The Twin (5.0)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (7.5)

Classic Movies Showing:
Gladiator (8.5)

The films below are also showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

IMAX Movies Showing:
Antarctica
Asteroid Hunters 3D
Ocean Odyssey
Turtle Odyssey

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

Four years ago while in Los Angeles, I stayed at my cousin’s place in an area called Sun Valley. It’s just a random area, nothing special about it but one day I found out about a small pizza place in his neighborhood called 786 Degrees. I ended up trying it out and loving it, not only because the pizza was so great but also because of the excellent customer service. I ended up leaving the Yelp review below:

Since I last visited the place they’ve won a number of awards and even opened a second location. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I get a totally random message from the chef and owner on Instagram telling me he’s coming to Kuwait for a pop-up event.

I ended up finding out the chef (Ali Haider) actually grew up in Kuwait and lived here until he graduated high school and then moved to the States for university. Over the years he stayed in touch by following various Instagram accounts and eventually met the owner of a local Italian restaurant called Grano and now he’s going to be having a pop-up over two days. Like how random is that? The chef from a tiny little pizza place I tried 4 years ago in Sun Valley is coming to Kuwait for a pop-up?

I’m hoping he’ll be using his own dough recipe and tomato sauce since I’ve had the pizza at Grano before and it wasn’t that special. The pop-up is on May 20 and 21 and I’m trying to find out what the plan is exactly since Grano is pretty tiny so can’t fit that many people. Once I get anymore details I’ll update this post but for now you can check out the Instagram account of @786degrees and the Instagram of Grano @grano.restaurant.

The 3rd GCC Games started yesterday and the dust storm didn’t stop them. You can check out some pictures from yesterday’s events on the @kuwaitolympic twitter account. Currently, Bahrain is leading the games with 6 gold medals while Kuwait is in fifth place with 2.

The games are being broadcasted on KTV3 so if you can’t attend the games you can still watch it on TV or online via the MOI website. If you want to stream the games online, click here.

The Contemporary Art Platform is opening four different exhibitions tonight featuring:

I Am Here – Manuella Guiragossian
My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Deconstructed Phyche – Sheikha Al Habishi
DIVA! – Organized by the Italian Embassy

The opening is at 7:00PM and is free to attend. Here is the location on Google Maps

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) a comedy show is taking place at AUK with a celebrity line-up from LA, featuring Tacarra Williams, Melinda Hill and Nina Kharoufeh. Local artist Zahra Al-Mahdi will also make an appearance as a special guest. Tickets start at 25KD and they’re selling fast, so if you want to go you need to book right now.

To stay up to date on the 3rd GCC Games which are being held in Kuwait, make sure you follow @kuwaitolympic and visit the website kuwait2022.org

If you want to check the schedule, click here.

Last year I bought the Fujifilm X100V to use as my compact camera when taking photos for my blog and for when I travel. I just loved the way the camera looked and so convinced myself that my Sony A7 III was too big and bulky for traveling and I needed the X100v. I wasn’t really exaggerating much, the A7 was actually a bit big and heavy, even with a compact lens. I had tried taking the Sony with me on a few trips and I just ended up leaving it in the hotel room most of the time. I was hoping I’d carry the lighter and more compact X100V more and after having now taken it on three different trips, I can easily say this is the best travel camera I’ve ever had.

Most cameras nowadays can take great quality photos, but what sets aside the Fuji for me is the way it looks, the way it feels, and most importantly, the weight. Walking around a city for hours with the X100V hung across my shoulder was never an issue at all. When I traveled with the Fuji I always had it on me and rarely ever left it in the hotel. It was never annoying to carry no matter how long I was out of the hotel for. On trips that required me to wear a heavy jacket because of the cold, I could barely even tell I had the camera on me.

The battery life was also great, I’d go for days without having to recharge the camera and when I had to it used USB-C which is what I carry with me because of my MacBook. So I didn’t need to pack an extra cable or charger with me. The camera is also really well built and weather-sealed so I didn’t have to worry about knocking it around or being stuck in the rain with it. I think one thing I liked about the camera was how it made me want to take more photos, especially when it came to capturing moments I came across. No hassle, no having to think about anything, I’d just see a moment and quickly grab the camera from my side, turn it on and by the time it’s up at my eye it was ready to shoot. The simplicity and speed allowed me to capture a lot more moments compared to any of my previous cameras I traveled with.

The only issue I had with the Fuji was related to the transfer of the images from the camera to the phone. It’s all done wirelessly which is great but the Fuji software can be a bit buggy sometimes and I’d have to quit the software or turn on and off the camera a few times to get things working.

At around 400KD the camera isn’t cheap but it’s half the price of my Sony A7 III and so I felt a lot more comfortable taking it with me on trips. It really is such a great camera, I love it and can’t recommend it enough.