Category: Kuwait

Some random footage someone shot of Abu Halifa back in 1988 before the Gulf War. There is something eerie about the video. [YouTube]

Animal Friends is holding a fundraiser quiz night on Friday 14th May at the Movenpick Al-Bida’a. A quiz night is like a trivia night. There are about 10 teams of five and they have 6 rounds of questions, ranging from general knowledge, sports, music etc. The cost is a 10KD and this includes a buffet dinner.

When: Friday 14th May
Time: 6.30pm
How much: KD10 donation per person Includes prizes and dinner
RSVP by 13th May
Teams of up to six people
Please email your team details to [email protected] or call 9737 7867

All proceeds go to help rebuild the K’S PATH animal shelter in Wafra

I was supposed to post this a few days ago but completely forgot sorry about that. Call them today if you’re interested. Here is the flyer [Link]

Kotaku (one of the most popular video game sites online) last night posted an article about the arcade scene in Kuwait. They linked to a Kuwait Arcade Database which was put together by a guy called Yousef. Burj Al Abyad is still alive and kicking, leading the pack when it comes to fighting games. They actually hold proper Street Fighter tournaments there. Personally my favorite arcade in Kuwait used to be the Showbiz arcade before they shut down since they had some great old games like Killer Instinct and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. Anyway here is the link to the Kuwait Arcade Database [Link]

Thanks Yousef

Seems the dance off is on. Last week I posted a video of local McDonalds employees doing a pretty impressive dance routine and this week Caribou Coffee have their own video up. So which video is better? McDonalds without a doubt. Lets wait and see who will challenge them next. [YouTube]

[YouTube]

I just found out about EoS. Seems like they’re a cool local group that bring in international DJ’s to Kuwait and set up parties. They’re pretty organized with a website that contains information, pictures and even a blog. The video above is of one of their latest parties but check out their website for more details.

I guess this could be counted as an activity if you can get an invite? [Link]

Update: Wow, according to their DJ list they’ve even brought EL DJETTE to Kuwait!

A reader just made me aware of a section on the Cinescape website where they’ve listed some of the movies banned by the Ministry of Interior Information. The list is more like a “Need to watch” list except for the movie “Cop Out”. It’s probably a good thing that the ministry banned that movie… [Link]

Thanks Salah

Looks like someone finally got fed up with the Kuwaiti customs and decided to hack their website. They also posted the following message:

Why i did This? Kuwait Customs are Shit & They charge Customs Duty High
We Are: Mafia Hack3rz Group
You are in panic Customs People?
This is a Lesson for you not to charge High Customs Duty! Coward’s!
Gr33tz: M4v3rick – W4n73d – H4D3S – STORM – Contact me? Email: [email protected]
Made in KWWAIT2010 ©

Currently the customs website seems to be back up but the hacked page can still be access by clicking [Here]

Thanks Mariam

I’ve been wanting to watch the locally produced movie Mustache ever since I saw the movie poster and now I’m going to be able to since they’re screening the movie at Cinemagic. The film will be screened on Saturday at 7:00 pm just before Cinemagic’s feature presentation The White Ribbon. Here is the link to the Facebook group for Mustache. [Link]

The Cinemagic screening will take place on the roof top on top of LG and Alghanim Electronics in old Salmiya. There is a KD1 venue fee but you have free drinks and snacks so it’s basically a free activity.

The Al Bayan Bilingual School is having their annual art exhibition on Sunday May the 16th. The event will take place on school grounds starting at 7pm up till 9pm. It’s a three day event where students will be selling their art and all proceeds will go to Bayt Abdullah. This is a middle and high school event. If you’re looking for an activity that’s free this is another one. By the way, BBS have the worst website ever, I think I got epilepsy from all the blinking links. If you’re using Firefox click on the site map link and check it out… [Link]

Thanks Asrar

Here is a free activity for the people who were asking. This Thursday the movie The Age of Stupid will be screening at the British Council in Mansouriya from 6 to 8PM. Admission is free but you must book your seats in advance before tomorrow (Tuesday). If you’re interested send an email to [email protected] to book your seat.

Thanks Yara

A friend of mine told me they opened up a small ice skating rink in Marina Mall opposite Baskin Robbins in the food court. It didn’t make sense so I passed by Marina Mall earlier to check it out and to my astonishment there was a mini ice skating rink. There were three kids ice skating and I noticed a small stand on the side which rents out the skates. The place was very cold and the ice looked like ice but when I asked the employee there if it was indeed ice he told me it wasn’t. The floor was a wax like material that resembled ice and worked like ice. Didn’t know there was such a thing.

Sidekick Academy have a self defense program for women called Be-Safe. Nat was telling me there weren’t any activities for women and this is one of the first activities I thought of as a response. It’s indoor and it sounds like something fun and educational. Their lessons are twice a week and are a mixture of striking, Jiu-Jitsu and self defense. They’ve got a newly opened 1000m2 training facility right behind Tilal Complex and their prices are very reasonable. It’s KD45 per month and their lessons are every Sunday and Tuesday Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 6pm. The classes are for women only.

I first found out about Sidekick Academy when they brought UFC legend Royce Gracie to Kuwait for a 3 day seminar. There’s and amazing team behind Sidekick Academy that are trying to do something really great here in Kuwait. Visit their website for more information on all their programs. [Link]

I decided am going to create a new category on the blog called “Activities” or “Things to do”. I was discussing with Nat the other day about the activities available in Kuwait and we were going through the comments left on the blog and she brought up the point that there are more male activities than female activities and that most of the cool activities are outdoor and so pretty useless during the hot summer days. I don’t think that’s true and this is why I want to start gathering activities and start posting them on the blog. I already have a lot of activities in mind but please if you know of an activity that you think I might not be aware of please leave a comment below or [Email Me]

[YouTube]

I hate it when people say there isn’t much to do in Kuwait because from my experience there are a ton of cool activities here. One new activity I found out about is Milsim. This has to be one of the coolest things to do in Kuwait and its now going to be something I will do as often as I can.

Milsim is a military simulation that has a lot of strategy and some very cool realistic weapons. Unlike paintball which uses paint pellets, Milsim uses powder pellets. Also unlike the paintball here in Kuwait where you run around hiding behind inflatable balloons, Milsim uses real life locations for their games. I got invited to participate in a game today and I’m now in love with Milsim. Todays location was an abandoned prison in Doha near Entertainment City. They have different locations for different sized groups for example when there are 40 guys they like going and play at an abandoned residential compound that’s around 3 blocks large. Since we were 16 guys they decided on the prison location due to its close combat nature. Judging by the video above it seems they also have a very cool abandoned farm they use.

[YouTube]

First thing they do is split everyone into teams, todays mission involved the Marines and Delta Force vs the Taliban’s. I was placed in the Taliban team. We were then briefed on the mission which was the following… Marine One crashed and it was carrying the President of the United States. The Marines were with the president and the game starts off at their crash site. They have 15 minutes to defend their zone and protect the president before the Delta team reinforcement arrives. After an hour into play they would receive a radio call with the location of the landing in which they then have 30 minutes to get to that point and evacuate. As Talibans, our aim was to capture their president or capture a box that contained nuclear keys, if we captured any of the two we would win. Everyone was limited to just 4 magazines and each contained 20 rounds. There are no refills and although the weapons can fire at full auto its highly discouraged because you will run out of ammo very quickly. We also all had 3 lives, if you get shot (anywhere) you have to put your hands over your head and walk to the medical zone where you have to remain for 10 minutes before you go back and join your team.

How was it? A lot of fun that’s for sure and very exhausting. My team ended up losing, not sure how since we had a ex Austrian military guy, a local special forces guy and the Milsim owner, while the opposing team were made up mostly of newbies like me. We even had flares and smoke grenades! Oh well it was still a lot of fun and its something as I said I’m going to do a lot more of.

I took some pictures which you can check out below. The first video on top is a video they created to show the kind of weapons and gameplay style. Unlike paintball their games aren’t only about shooting but its about accomplishing missions and involves strategy. The second video above is one I shot today when me and some guys were getting briefed on how to use the weapons. This is seriously one very cool activity, and they say there isn’t anything to do in Kuwait…

If you’re interested to participate in Milsim its KD10 per person. That includes the weapon, gun magazines, vests, helmet, goggles, water and pelets. I think its actually pretty cheap for what you get. They cater to groups, individuals and even for corporate outings. For contact information you can visit their website at www.milsimkuwait.com.

The Kuwait Blogs iPhone app update is now available in the app store. I’ve added three new blogs, Kuwait Exposed, Q8 Black Market and Up Till One. On the other hand I had to remove the Some Contrast blog. Their feed was crashing the app randomly and although I didn’t mind that I was getting a lot of complaints by email and I was forced to remove it. They should be back in the next update once I figure out how to fix their feed. [App Store]