2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Its a slow weekend but that’s to be expected. Check out this weekends events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Modern Architecture in Kuwait 1949-1989
Exhibition: Saad Hamdan – The Spirit of Ceramics
Exhibition: The Private Collection of Mahsa Azimi
Exhibition: Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi – The Sound of Silence
Exhibition: Abduljalil Al Shareefi – Nostalgia
Exhibition: Fadi Yazigi
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Music: PARIS 1960 by OMRANI’nd the crew
Kuwait Street Food

Friday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Modern Architecture in Kuwait 1949-1989
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Exhibition: Clark Stoeckley
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Hill-Top Geological Camp
Camping 101
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Kuwait Street Food

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Saad Hamdan – The Spirit of Ceramics
Exhibition: The Private Collection of Mahsa Azimi
Exhibition: Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi – The Sound of Silence
Exhibition: Abduljalil Al Shareefi – Nostalgia
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Exhibition: Clark Stoeckley
Grand Mosque Tour
Treasure Hunt in Al Shaheed Park
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Miseen Scene Club: Night Train to Lisbon
Kuwait Street Food

As usual, if I’ve missed an event, let me know in the comments.

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

New This Weekend:
Scream (7.9)
The 355 (4.6)
The Secrets We Keep (5.8)
Trash (5.9)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Christmas Thieves (5.1)
Demonic (4.2)
Encanto (7.8)
House of Gucci (7.1)
My Son (6.0)
Pinocchio: A True Story (N/A)
Raging Fire (6.7)
Sing 2 (7.2)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (9.2)
The Colony (5.4)
The Kindred (6.6)
The King’s Man (6.8)
The Matrix Resurrections (6.1)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (8.8)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (8.7)

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

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Antarctica (N/A)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

The other day I passed by SoMu (South of Mubarakiya) on my way to Bait Ahmed and to my surprise, most of the restaurants and cafes there had closed down including 12 Chutney and Caffeine.

I’m assuming they were all hit hard because of the pandemic and the whole block is deserted now. Pretty sad especially since this time of year it would have been super busy at night.

Photo by TheJessicaness

Back in the early days of the pandemic and lockdowns, I bought an espresso machine online. Everyone locally had sold out of coffee machines and I barely was able to find one online to order as well. Fast forward to last month and my coffee machine stopped producing steam, instead, the steamer was squirting out hot water. Originally I was planning to repair the thing myself but since I already had too many do-it-yourself projects going on I decided to reach out to the local coffee shop StockRoom. I knew they sold Rocket machines, but wasn’t sure if they also serviced them or not. Turns out they did since they’re actually an authorized Rocket dealer!

I ended up dropping the machine off to them and a few hours later I got a call telling me the issue was scale build-up due to lack of descaling. The scale was covering my steamer sensor causing the unit to stop producing steam. An interesting fact, turns out even if you use bottled water (I use Arwa) you need to descale your coffee machine periodically. I didn’t know that. I gave them the go-ahead to clean the sensor and descale my machine and now it’s working perfectly again.

So if you’re looking to pick up a prosumer coffee machine I previously highly recommended Rocket and now I’m doubling down on that recommendation since we have a local dealer. Here is a link to my review on my machine and check out StockRoom on Instagram at @stockroomcoffee and stockroomcoffee.shop

Forbes Middle East posted about Yarmouk Park few days ago. Yarmouk Park is recognized as being the first environmentally friendly park based on recycled materials and waste. If you haven’t been to the park before you can check out some more photos of is @forbesmiddleeast

“When the Sheikh Met the King” is a new investigative ebook by Kuwaiti Award-winning journalist Motez Bishara. Not sure if some of you remember but at one point Michael Jackson moved to Bahrain and lived there for some time. It was all really bizarre and I mostly remember photos of Michael Jackson going around Bahrain dressed in an abaya.

The ebook which comes out today digs into:

• The fate of the Jackson / Sheikh Abdulla co-written song “I Have This Dream,” recorded at London’s Metropolis Studios for $2.2 million

• Jackson’s battle with depression, brought on by his unpayable $270 million personal loan and custody battle with ex-wife Debbie Rowe

• A drug-induced near-suicidal incident on a hotel room balcony in Oman

• Details of Jackson’s $7 million expenses; the Sheikh provided everything from a flashy recording studio to a Ferrari

• Jackson’s contractual break from the sheikh that led to his demise; AEG Live’s buyout resulted in the fatal O2 concert dates

If you want to get the eBook, it’s available for 3 KD on Amazon. Link

I was at the Kuwait Airways terminal a few days ago and I spotted a robot called Airporter that is there to help carry your luggage. I couldn’t use the robot because when I touched the screen to wake it up, the robot had a message on it saying it only worked from 9:30AM to 12:30PM. But I did find a video on Youtube of a similar robot which you can watch in action below.

There were instructions on how to operate the robot which you can see here but simply put, you let the robot scan your boarding pass, put your carry-on bags onto it and press go. The robot then follows you to your gate.

There was only 1 robot that I saw so definitely just there for show and fun.

I hadn’t heard of Duck Park until a few days ago when I stumbled on an old post by @natureinkuwait. It’s a small park located in Shaab that has a small pond and ducks!

The photos on Instagram looked a lot nicer than it was in reality but that mostly has to do with the fact there wasn’t any water in the pond when I passed by. Not sure why there’s no water but there were a few ducks there just playing in the mud. The park overall is pretty nice, small but looks well taken care of and features a climbing rope section for kids along with some swings and toys. There are also birdhouses scattered around including a pretty large one with multiple holes and a rooster that was roaming around freely.

If you want to pass by and check out the park, here is the location on Google Maps.

Retro City, the arcade place that opened back in 2020 inside Boulevard Mall relocated a couple of months ago to a new location. They’re still inside Boulevard Mall but they’ve moved to a larger space on the top floor instead. They’re across from Fantasy World, on the opposite end of the mall from Sultan Center.

Retro City also carries some toys and figurines from old-school cartoons like Grendizer, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats. If you’re into retro gaming and cartoons, their Instagram is @retrocitykw

Back in November, I posted about how easy it was to get the booster shot but since then things have changed considerably. A lot more people are now getting their boosters and so it’s a lot busier and you also now have to register for an appointment.

If you haven’t registered for your booster dose yet, here is a link to the signup form.

Also on a side note, masks are back again. This past week everywhere I went more people were wearing masks than those who weren’t. What’s interesting about it this time around is that the impression I’m getting is people are choosing to wear the mask out of social responsibility, and not because someone is telling them to do so. Nobody wants to go back into lockdown or life with curfews again that’s for sure.

As part of its ongoing efforts to the safety and well-being of riders working with its platform, talabat Kuwait’s leading food and grocery delivery platform – announced today it will provide life and work injuries insurance to the Delivery’s partners riders to insure riders against work-related incidents and injuries.

Commenting on the announcement, Bader Ibrahim Al-Ghanim, talabat Kuwait’s Managing Director said: “This announcement is in line with our efforts to always prioritize riders safety and well-being when using the talabat platform, and this is what these newly introduced policies will ensure. Additionally, this and similar initiatives will further support local small and medium-sized companies operating in the Delivery sector in Kuwait”.

Al-Ghanim added that ‘talabat always thrives to establish initiatives aiming to improve riders everyday well-being, which means they are always confident when using the talabat app to deliver to customers their favorite meals and groceries’ which in turn means they are always confident about delivering for talabat app users, to deliver them their favorite meals and groceries”.

The attention given to the health and well-being of riders using the talabat app, whether during or outside of working hours, is an integral part of the company’s culture. This has been evident in a number of initiatives including this one which the company has launched in the past.

Various Initiatives:

Since the beginning of the pandemic, talabat has been working on developing and enhancing the overall experience riders have when delivering or using the platform. The company introduced various initiatives in the past that focused on different aspects of the riders every day including their health, well-being, and personal finances. This comes as part of talabat’s belief that riders are the company’s everyday heroes who make it possible to deliver to people around the region their favorite orders anywhere and at any time.

Al-Ghanim concluded his statement by adding ‘Supporting the delivery sector is of great importance and is necessary for everyone in the industry, and we, therefore, encourage others to adopt similar initiatives that do not only support business owners, but also those who are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, and to positively impact thousands of riders in the industry.’

Things are a bit slow this weekend but with the rising cases of Corona it’s probably a good thing. There are some outdoor activities taking place this weekend though, so you can still go out and be safe. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Modern Architecture in Kuwait 1949-1989
Exhibition: Saad Hamdan – The Spirit of Ceramics
Exhibition: The Private Collection of Mahsa Azimi
Exhibition: Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi – The Sound of Silence
Exhibition: Abduljalil Al Shareefi – Nostalgia
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Exhibition: Clark Stoeckley
Life Drawing in the Garden

Friday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Modern Architecture in Kuwait 1949-1989
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Exhibition: Clark Stoeckley
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Desert Icebergs: A storytelling evening under the stars
Beach Movie Night

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Saad Hamdan – The Spirit of Ceramics
Exhibition: The Private Collection of Mahsa Azimi
Exhibition: Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi – The Sound of Silence
Exhibition: Abduljalil Al Shareefi – Nostalgia
Exhibition: Different Stories Same Artist
Exhibition: Clark Stoeckley
Grand Mosque Tour
Treasure Hunt in Al Shaheed Park
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Sailing: Saturday Cruising
Beach Sunrise Yoga & Breathing
Kasa Walks: Uncovering the New Terminal

As usual, if I’ve missed an event, let me know in the comments.

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

New This Weekend:
My Son (6.0)
Raging Fire (6.7)
The Colony (5.4)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Christmas Thieves (5.1)
Demonic (4.2)
Encanto (7.8)
House of Gucci (7.1)
Pinocchio: A True Story (N/A)
Sing 2 (7.2)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (9.2)
The Kindred (6.6)
The King’s Man (6.8)
The Matrix Resurrections (6.1)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (8.8)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (8.7)

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

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Antarctica (N/A)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Encanto (7.8)
The Matrix Resurrections (6.1)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

Ever since old Salmiya got a facelift I’ve refrained from posting about it due to all the issues I have with the project (which I won’t get into in this post). But, one good thing has come out of it and that is Little Manila.

Over the past couple of years, the Filipino community has been slowly taking over the first chunk of Salem Mubarek Street that was made pedestrian-only a few years ago. It started off with popular Asian-focused supermarkets popping up, followed by shops and restaurants (we now have like 400 fried chicken and bubble tea concepts now). There is a lot of life on the street now with a great atmosphere in the evenings. We have live music, lots of outdoor restaurants, dogs and kids running around, and even pop-up markets.

Although I still have issues with the project, I like how the community has taken it over. When I was a kid we used to call the neighborhood old Salmiya but now everyone is calling it Little Manila. If you haven’t been to the neighborhood before or haven’t been in a while, you should come by. Parking and traffic are still an issue but if you’re willing to park a bit far and walk you’ll be fine. Here is the location on Google Maps.

The other day out of the blue I remembered this drink I used to have back in the 80s called Hapi. I used to only have it in one place, a drive-thru car wash I used to go to with my dad. It was in their vending machine and I think it tasted like root beer. I doubt it was a popular drink and don’t think a lot of people remember it.

Anyway, just a random flashback for those who might remember the drink.