2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last month I posted about DesertCart Plus, a service by the Amazon dropshipping website DesertCart where for 5KD a month you get unlimited free shipping. The only caveat was it only applied to items that weren’t oversized, and DesertCart refused to define what “oversized” was exactly. So you’d only know if your item was oversized or not after placing the order. I mentioned I was going to order a few things small things to try it out and I ended up doing just that.

I signed up to the DesertCart Plus free trial and ordered two items, both very small and cheap, cheap as in shipping would cost more than the item which would mean it usually wouldn’t be worth ordering. One item was an adapter for my tire inflator (KD 2.900) and the other a battery disconnect switch (KD 3.200).

Both items ended up shipping and being delivered to me for free, just as described. In hindsight, I should have tried ordering a larger item to see if I’d run into any issues, but since DesertCart doesn’t define what oversized is, I don’t think that would have been very helpful of a test anyway unless I ordered multiple items in different weights.

Would I sign up to DesertCart Plus? No, but only because the service isn’t useful to me. This service is for people who tend to order a lot of small, light and cheap things off Amazon on a monthly basis. If you fall under that category then the service works. They offer a free trial anyway so you can give it a go yourself without paying the KD 5 monthly fee. Link

Roller Hub, the roller skating rink located in Salmiya opened up earlier this month with not so controversial prices. Although they had originally announced an hour of roller skating was going to cost KD20, they eventually launched with a much more reasonable price of 5KD an hour which also includes the skates.

The reviews on Google have been mostly negative (1.7 out of 5 stars) and according to a friend who went they seem to play mostly Arabic music so that’s something to note. But if you’re interested in trying it out, the rink is located on the 4th floor of a shopping complex (Map) and they’re open from 12PM to 12AM and no children under 15 years of age are allowed. They’re on instagram @rollerhubkw

Photo via @halkizoshe_ifbbpro

It’s been a while since a movie has been banned in Kuwait but according to Al Jarida newspaper, the Marvel Studios’ film ‘Eternals’ has been banned in Kuwait. The newspaper didn’t give any reason for the ban but it’s most likely because of the character ‘Phastos‘ who is the first openly gay hero.

I really wasn’t interested in watching the film but after hearing of the ban I watched the trailer for it and now kinda want to watch it. I guess I’ll have to stream it when it eventually comes out on Disney+.

I got back to Kuwait late last night and wanted to share some info on what you need or don’t need to do when flying back. The information I found online was either outdated or not accurate so here is what I went through:

Check-in
When checking in to my flight in Amsterdam the Dutch staff had notes on what to ask for and they asked me the following questions:
– If I had a negative PCR test and I needed to share with them my result
– If I had a vaccination and I needed to show them my Immune app
– If I had shlonik installed

PCR Test
Before flying back into Kuwait you need to get a PCR test done. This was something I already knew but what gave me anxiety is some people said I needed a PCR result that had a QR code. The test I took in Amsterdam didn’t provide a QR code with the result so I was worried it wouldn’t be accepted. This turned out not to be true, when checking in at the airport the employee just asked if I had done a PCR test and then checked my result on my phone (a PDF file) and that was it. No QR code was required on my result and nobody in Kuwait checked my test once I landed.

One thing to note is to make sure you don’t leave your PCR test for the last minute. I thought getting one would be easier in Amsterdam than Kuwait and so left it till the last minute. That turned out not to be the case. There were limited places that did the test with the result taking up to 24 hours to come out. Also, it was much more expensive to get one done there.

Kuwait Mosafer
Nobody asked me about Kuwait Mosafer. Supposedly you are meant to sign up to kuwaitmosafer.gov.kw before arriving but nobody checked for it or asked me about it.

Shlonik App
Once you land in Kuwait you’ll find posters saying you should install the Shlonik app. The reason for this is you’re automatically placed in quarantine once you arrive and if you have the app installed you’ll get a notification about it. You’re meant to quarantine for 6 days unless you get a negative PCR test so on my way home I just dropped by the 24-hour Jarralah drive-thru PCR test location in Hawally (Map) and got my test done. I had the test at 2AM and by 5:30AM the result was out and the app automatically removed me from quarnatine.

It was overall a pretty simple process which means traveling for a quick weekend like the old days should be very doable. I also liked flying with Kuwait Airways because of the fact they were very lenient in regards to wearing masks on the flight. Even on arrival at the airport nobody cared if you wore a mask or not which was great since we’re all vaccinated anyway.

If anyone has any questions regarding flying in or out of Kuwait, let me know in the comments.

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

New This Weekend:
Bikes (4.5)
Cosmic Sin (2.5)
Endangered Species (4.5)
Flag Day (4.7)
Yakuza Princess (4.4)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Cruella (7.4)
Dragon Rider (5.6)
Dune (8.5)
Halloween Kills (7.4)
Luca (7.5)
No Time to Die (7.9)
PAW Patrol: The Movie (6.2)
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (6.2)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (8.0)
The Addams Family 2 (5.3)
Tom and Jerry (5.3)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (6.5)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
The Message (8.2)
The Silence of the Lambs (8.6)

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)
Interstellar (8.6)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

Last week the pioneer Kuwaiti filmmaker Khalid Al Siddiq passed away at the age of 76. Khalid was behind the first feature film to be made in Kuwait (and the GCC) which was released in 1972 called “The Cruel Sea” (Bas ya Bahar).

The film caught the attention of the international film community after it was released including film critic Roger Ebert who wrote the article below (source):

Promising first from Kuwait
By Roger Ebert

In term of film production, the Middle East remains a largely undiscovered territory. There are a handful of nations with healthy movie industries – Israel, Iran and Egypt come to mind – but their product has been mostly for home consumption. That’s started to change in the last few years and Wednesday’s session of the Chicago International Film Festival presents excellent new films from Kuwait and Iran.

“THE CRUEL SEA” (8:45 p.m. Wednesday) takes place before the discovery of oil in Kuwait; the people are desperately poor and scrape by with subsistence farming and fishing. And of course, there is always the long shot: The possibility that an oyster-diver will discover a pearl.

The movie is the first feature, not only for its maker but for its country. Director Khaled el Seddik, who did graduate study at the University of Southern California, returned home to make Kuwait’s first feature. He has resisted any temptations to make a flashy or trendy film, and is true to the rhythm and values of Kuwait’s peasant life of many years ago. And so the picture has a strange emotional undertow; the characters behave toward each other in conservative, almost ritualistic ways, yet their emotions come across all the more strongly.

The story involves a young man (Mohamad Monsour) who is shamed by his family’s poverty and by his inability to impress the family of the girl he loves. He vows to become a pearl diver, to return to the sea that crippled and half-blinded his father. The director gives us measured and perceptive portraits of the dignity with which the men face the sea, and his conclusion is not simply tragic but very bitter.

The film won the FIPRESCI award at the 1972 Venice Film Festival and since then has been playing in film festivals around the world (source). If you haven’t watched the movie, it’s available with English subtitles on YouTube and I’ve embedded it into the post above.

Kuwait Karting has been under construction for a pretty long time but it’s finally open. Located inside Kout Mall, Kuwait Karting is an indoor track that is composed of multi-levels with an overall length of 512m making it the largest of its kind in the region.

There are two tracks, a small junior track for kids and a larger one for adults. The junior track is for children 7+ and can hold up to 5 cars at a time with sessions that are 6 minutes long. The adult track is for ages 13+, can hold 16 cars at a time and the sessions last slightly longer at 8 minutes. Both tracks use electric karts.

They’re open Saturday to Wednesday from 1pm to 10pm and 2pm to 11pm on Thursdays and Fridays. They’re opening later today for the first time so I don’t have their prices yet, but once I get them I’ll update this post. For more info they’re on Instagram @q8karting

Update: Here are the prices

Adult Track
Weekday: KD 6
Weekend: KD 8

Juniors Track
Weekday: KD 3
Weekend: KD 4

The Palestinian Culture Center has been operating in Kuwait since the early 1970s. Every year they hold an exhibition with the aim to support needy families as well as preserving the rich and vibrant culture of Palestine. Starting tomorrow and going on till Thursday, the center will be holding an exhibit at Dar Al Funoon.

The exhibit will have hand-stitched dresses, shawls, and cushions for sale, as well as handmade ceramics, books, and food aimed to preserve the Palestinian national identity and showcase how it adapts to modern times.

If you’re interested in passing by, here is the info:

Location: Dar Al Funoon
Date: Monday Oct. 18th – Thursday Oct. 21th 2021
Time: 10 am to 8 pm

They’re also on instagram @palestiniancc

The Contemporary Art Platform is celebrating its 10 year anniversary with a new exhibition called Face to Face II.

The exhibition features artworks loaned from some of Kuwait’s prominent art collectors and includes artworks by Amine El Bacha, Andy Warhol, Banksy, George Bahgoury, Kimiko Yoshida, Picasso, Yayoi Kusama, and much more.

CAP is open Saturday to Thursay from 10AM to 8PM. Here is their location on Google Maps.

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

New This Weekend:
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds (5.7)
Dragon Rider (5.6)
Halloween Kills (7.4)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (6.5)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Cruella (7.4)
Don’t Breathe 2 (6.1)
Dune (8.5)
Every Breath You Take (5.3)
Luca (7.5)
Malignant (6.7)
No Time to Die (7.9)
PAW Patrol: The Movie (6.2)
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (6.2)
The Addams Family 2 (5.3)
Tom and Jerry (5.3)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (8.0)
Spirit Untamed (5.4)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
The Silence of the Lambs (8.6)
The Sixth Sense (8.1)

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)
Interstellar (8.6)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

I’ve been to Netherlands, Belgium, and France so far on this trip and Covid precautions have been fairly different in those three places, even though they’re right next to each other.

Netherlands (Amsterdam)
As soon as I left the airport I no longer came across a place that required masks other than the Apple Store. The Apple Store handed out masks at the entrance and required you to sanitize your hands as well but everywhere else it was mask-free. Restaurants did require you to be vaccinated and I just showed them my Immune app status.

Belgium (Bruges)
No masks were required anywhere and none of the restaurants I ate at asked me for my vaccine status.

France (Normandy)
I’m spending a couple of days in some coastal towns in the North and the situation here has been very similar to Kuwait. You need to wear a mask when indoors and restaurants require you to be vaccinated. For restaurants, the Immune app can be used with no issues.

When driving across borders I did not require a PCR test and there was no border patrol anyway to check. I honestly couldn’t even tell I entered a new country, not unless I used Google Maps to check.

So far this normal life no mask thing has been really cool and weird especially when we’ve been required to wear them in Kuwait for over a year now.

Kuwaiti photographer Majed Alza’abi won the Natural History Museum’s “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition. The competition which is held yearly since back in 1965 is considered to be one of the largest wildlife photography competitions in the world.

Majed’s photo came first in the Animal Portraits category. He had trekked for four hours to meet Kibande, an almost-40-year-old mountain gorilla before capturing the winning photograph. I had to crop the photo to fit the blog but you can check out the full photo on Majed’s instagram account @majedphotos.

Earlier this year Virgin announced they would be entering the Kuwaiti telecom market, and looks like it’s happening now because they just launched their social media channels with the message that they’ve landed.

Before you get your hopes up you should know that Virgin Mobile will be operating in Kuwait as a mobile virtual network operator. This means that they won’t have their own wireless network infrastructure and instead will be buying services from STC at wholesale prices, and then reselling them. Put in even simpler terms, Virgin will be using STC’s network in Kuwait. So if you have issues with the STC network, you’ll have the same issues with the Virgin one.

If you want to check them out on instagram they’re @virginmobilekw

Yesterday I finally left Kuwait for a vacation, my first trip since the pandemic started and the experience turned out to be much more simpler than I had anticipated.

I chose to fly Kuwait Airways to Amsterdam. I’ll be staying here for a couple of nights before I start making my way down to Paris over the next few days driving through Bruges (Brussels on the way back), then hitting up some spots in the North of France before heading down to Paris. When planning the trip I looked at direct flights, I didn’t want to deal with hubs and changing planes so my options were really limited. But, picking Kuwait Airways turned out to be the best idea.

The airport in Kuwait was fairly busy but lots of empty spots in the long term parking. A lot of people including security officers weren’t wearing masks so the atmosphere was fairly laid back. On the plane we also didn’t have to wear masks which was great. I did two PCR tests before I traveled. I did the first one and then realized for Amsterdam I needed a test taken 48 hours before the trip and mine would have expired by the time I landed so I took another one to be safe. Nobody even checked them, not in Kuwait nor in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam nobody is even wearing masks, it feels so weird, feels like everything is normal again and I’m loving it. Places are super busy, restaurants packed and nobody has a mask on except for a the odd tourist here and there, I love it. The only two places so far that have checked to see if I’m vaccinated or not was passport control at the airport, and a restaurant I had dinner at last night. For both I just showed them my immune app.

I’ll be posting about my trip while I’m here, I haven’t done that sort of posting in forever so I’m looking forward to it. If anyone has any questions about the process of flying out of Kuwait, let me know in the comments.

The Kuwait Motor Town race track is open again for the public and they’ve started off the season with a ton of events. I think they’re playing catchup to all the events we missed last year because they managed to fit a season’s worth of activities into a single month. There are also some other things happening this weekend so check out the full list below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Maker’s Movement
Treasure Hunt – Searching for treasure in the museums
KMT Drag Open Day
KMT Car Open Track Day
Sunset Paddling (Kayaks & SUPS)

Friday
Exhibition: Maker’s Movement
TRI-IT KIDS SERIES: Aquathlon
Treasure Hunt – Searching for treasure in the museums
Friday Sunset Sailing
KMT Motocross Open Track Day
KMT Motorcycle Open Track Day
KMT Drag Open Day – Test and Tune
KMT Car Open Track Day

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Maker’s Movement
Treasure Hunt – Searching for treasure in the museums
Saturday Sailing
Miseen Scene Club: 99 Homes
KMT Motocross Open Track Day
KMT Race Car Open Track Day
KMT Drag Open Day – Test and Tune
KMT Car Open Track Day

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