This week I started watching The Artful Dodger on Hulu. As a fan of the book Oliver Twist, I’m really enjoying the show to the point I put Disclaimer on hold so I could watch this show instead.
I also watched the season finale of The Penguin. I wasn’t expecting to like the series as much as I did, the acting, storyline, the action, it was all really fun to watch.
Gladiator II is in the cinemas from today, I don’t recall the last time I was interested in watching a film at the movies, I think it was Oppenheimer. But, I’m going to wait to hear if anything is censored before I book my tickets.
Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.
Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:
Lucky Manca came to life in a very organic process. The owner, Awce, used to make cookies, brownies, and other simple comfort treats for his friends and family. After a lot of encouragement, he took his first step and launched a home business with one product, a box of mini brownies.
Eventually, his home business gained so much popularity that demand outgrew his abilities. So, he put the concept on hold, rebuilt it as an official business with a team and large kitchen, and relaunched last month.
With the relaunch, he also expanded the menu to include brownies, cookies, and his special chocolate crunch. Awce also introduced limited items from the test kitchen like the crack cheesecake which is on the menu right now.
Lucky Manca also have an item on the menu called the Lucky Trio. It’s a box that contains all three of their main items which makes it a great dessert to take to gatherings.
I came across a diary from a woman named Thérèse, who was married to a French engineer working on the construction of the Boubyan Bridge. The bridge was built by the French engineering firm Bouygues—the same team behind major projects like the Channel Tunnel and Terminal 2 at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
According to Thérèse, the French employees lived in a small camp near the bridge construction site, with the Chinese workers in a separate camp nearby. They arrived in Kuwait in 1981 and left in 1982. Each family had its own bungalow, and the camp also included some entertainment facilities like a clubhouse with a swimming pool, game hall, and restaurant.
It was interesting going through all her photos and random stories, since it gave a glimpse into the life of this isolated community in Kuwait.
Even though they lived on the camp, the children still attended the French School in Salmiya. The commute was an hour each way, and at first they used to be transported by bus but later the company got them a more comfortable Suburban. Once a week the mums would be allowed to accompany the children on the ride so they could go shopping or to the hairdresser. Once the kids are done with school, they used to go have lunch at the Le Meridien Hotel, but as customers complained about the commotion the kids would make, the hotel started refusing to serve them.
One Christmas they had Santa Claus come down on the roof of the clubhouse using a construction crane that was on site. The crane driver tried to be funny and dropped Santa Clause partially into the swimming pool which caused Santa to let off a string of expletives in front of the kids. The following year Santa refused to arrive by air and instead opted to arrive on a donkey.
I loved reading these random, mundane tidbits
According to Thérèse, social life was fairly calm, but they had a community and they held parties often, and also shared books and videotapes. They seemed to have made the best of their time in Kuwait, with the only complaint being about the violent sandstorms.
A few days ago The Avenues announced that AlBaik was opening in phase II, and I’ve now got a date. According to my contact inside The Avenues, they’re expecting AlBaik to open at the end of December, give or take a week depending on if any issues pop up. So, it’s coming up soon—less than two months away.
If you’ve never heard of AlBaik, it’s a popular Saudi fried chicken concept that’s been around since 1974. Their first location outside of Saudi Arabia opened in Bahrain in 2020, followed by the UAE in 2021. The new Avenues location is in Food World, right next to the entrance of Magic Planet.
The AIU Kuwait Film Festival 2024 kicks off next week for its third consecutive year. This year, the festival received an impressive 3,155 film submissions from talented filmmakers around the world. After a rigorous selection process, 106 outstanding films were chosen, promising an inspiring lineup of stories spanning diverse genres and regions.
There are various activities to enjoy during the film festival, including screenings, lectures, workshops, and discussion panels, all free to attend. Whether you’re there to watch films or you’re an aspiring filmmaker hoping to catch a workshop or lecture, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
The film festival will be held at the AIU campus from Sunday, November 10, to Saturday, November 16. Cinescape is their strategic partner again this year, and as a result, film screenings, and discussions with film personalities will take place both on the AIU campus and at the Cinescape theaters in 360 Mall.
All events during the film festival are open to the public, and are free to attend.
If you want to find out more about the festival, head over to aiu.edu.kw/film-festival or check out the AIU Instagram account, @aiu_kw
This is pretty shocking news but by the end of March 2025, British Airways will be axing its Kuwait London route. British Airways has been flying to Kuwait for over 92 years, since before British Airways was called British Airways.
British Airway’s first flight to Kuwait was in 1932 when Imperial Airways landed in Kuwait for the first time. Imperial Airways merged into British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1939. BOAC in turn merged with the British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 to form British Airways. So Imperial Airways is technically British Airways.
It seems the main reason for the route cancellation is problems with Rolls-Royce engines that power the British Airways fleet. The airline is having issues with the serviceability of their engines and so the Kuwait – London route is no longer viable for them.
I personally stopped flying BA to London since T4 opened. But, BA were my go-to airline to fly to Los Angeles since a number of times I was able to fly business class for around 1,000KD round-trip. Compared to airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways that charge around 1,700, it was a really good deal.
So far in less than 2 years, KLM, Lufthansa, and now British Airways have canceled their Kuwait route. I don’t believe there is any European airline that now flies to Kuwait direct. Now I’m concerned.
Al-Farsi Kites Team are back this Friday for their first desert display of the season.
A lot of people might not know this, but the Al-Farsi team owns some of the largest kites in the world. Their Kuwait flag kite, for example, holds a Guinness World Record, but they also have two other kites ‘Blue Manta Ray’ and ‘The Hope’ which are even bigger. The Hope kite is gigantic at around 1,250m², roughly the size of five basketball courts.
During the winter months, the Al-Farsi Kite Team puts on a display every Friday in Bnaider near exit 258. The display starts after Friday prayers, and they’re generally there until around 5 PM.
For weekly updates and the Google Maps link to their location, check out their Instagram account @alfarsikite
This week I started watching the series Disclaimer. I’m three episodes in and it’s ok so far. One thing I liked without spoiling anything is the fact if you have surround speakers, the series takes advantage of them with one of the main characters inside voice. The first time the voice came on I thought Alexa came on by mistake.
Other than that I started watching the movie Trap last night. I’m more than half way in and it’s entertaining but some of the acting is soooo cringe. But I’m still looking forward to finishing the film later today. I also tried watching Love is Blind Habibi, but I couldn’t make it past the halfway point of the first episode.
Yesterday I also picked up the SVS PB-2000 Pro subwoofer from Xcite to use in my living room. Their website was showing it was out of stock but they actually had a brand new one at their Avenues branch. The past couple of weeks I’ve just been splurging on myself upgrading various tech around the house that I use a lot. Last week I got the 65″ TV, the Marantz Cinema 60 AV receiver, and now this week added the subwoofer to my home theater system. The PB-2000 Pro is definitely overkill for my small living room, and I had a bit of buyers remorse after getting it because I really didn’t want to spend that much on a subwoofer, but I tend to live with my sound systems for a very very long time. I still have my Jamo X870 speakers I bought after moving to Kuwait from uni back in like 2001-2002. So they’ve been with me for over 20 years, and although I’ve now replaced them as my home theater speakers with the KEF R7‘s, I still use the Jamo’s in my gym room. Xcite had other cheaper subwoofers, but I have the SVS SB-2000 Pro connected to my iMac and KEF LSX speakers, and I ] really really love it, so I wanted to get the PB version for my home theater. Both SVS subwoofers will probably stay with me for the rest of my life so not a bad deal when I look at it like that.
The last thing I’m upgrading is my iMac. I’m replacing my M1 iMac with 1TB drive and 16GB ram with the just released Mac Mini. I got the regular M4, not M4 Pro but with 24GB of ram and a 2TB drive. I ordered it from the US Apple Store, but I ended up buying the Apple Studio Display from Xcite since they had (might still have) a sale on them. The Xcite price was pretty much the same price as if I bought it online and shipped it to Kuwait, might be a bit cheaper even. If you’re looking to get a used iMac, I’ll be listing mine on the classifieds page end of this month.
Let me know in the comments what you recently watched or planning to watch.
Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:
I pass by The Avenues at least once a week and often spend quite a bit of time there, which usually leads to lunch or dinner. I have about four or five favorite spots I like to eat at in The Avenues, and Tatami is one of them whenever I’m in the mood for Japanese.
I’ve previously posted about Tatami at The Avenues since a friend of mine (Studio Nesef) designed the interior while my wife (From Mud) created some of their ceramic dinnerware. This is Tatami’s third location, and my favorite design wise for obvious reasons. The first thing that catches your attention is the large, suspended Moon light pendant that is surrounded by intricate wooden joinery inspired by the Japanese cidori system. The restaurant is also located in The Gardens area of The Avenues which is my favorite for dining especially during the day since tons of natural light fills the space.
I know the Tatami menu by heart, as it’s my go-to for Japanese delivery. My must-order dishes include the Sesame Nori Chips, Salmon Tacos, Norwegian Salmon Roll, and Exotic Roll. When dining in, though, I tend to go for some of their hot items, like the torched nigiri or Wagyu Sando.
Another reason I really like Tatami is because they make everything in-house instead of using readymade items. So, things like their Nori Chips, Gari (ginger), gyozas, and even their black sesame and green tea ice cream are all made from scratch.
The vibe in The Gardens area of The Avenues is much more laid back than the rest of the mall, I think because it’s tucked away like a secret, up in the far corner of the mall. So it feels like a nice break from shopping when you’re up there, and then once you’re done with lunch or dinner, you head back down to the mall again. It’s like a little getaway.
To get to The Gardens area, either take the curved escalators up at the end of the Prestige section or head up the escalators on the right of the Mercedes dealership. Tatami is open from 12PM to 10:45PM and if you want to check out their menu or some more pictures, head over to their Instagram account @tatamirestaurant
If you have an iPhone, this is a very cool way to track the US elections live. Just open your News app and you’ll see a banner about the elections with a “follow live” icon on the top right. Just click it.
On my iPhone 15 Pro the activity island will show me live results and when the screen is locked I have a similar widget showing. Very nifty.
So it’s just been over 6 months since I got the Apple Vision Pro, which is why I wanted to share a usage update.
My AVP usage has dropped considerably since I first got it, which is to be expected since the first couple of months its lots of experimenting, trying to see what I want to do with the AVP. Now I’m more aware of what to use the AVP for, and it’s mostly media consumption.
The #1 use of the AVP for me is watching Formula 1 races. There are two great apps on the AVP to watch the races and both offer similar features. Imagine sitting in a movie theater and watching F1, but it’s me on my couch watching it. And it’s not just about having a large screen, I also have multiple screens all around, one showing the timing screen, one showing an overhead map of the race, and then multiple windows of the different driver views. It’s ridiculous, I love it. Another advantage is I could sit in the living room and watch the races while my wife sits next to me watching TV. Both of us physically using the same real world space, but I’m in a different digital space doing my own thing.
My second favorite thing on the AVP are the immersive videos. These are videos that make you feel like you’re watching a film from inside the film. It’s nothing like you’ve ever experienced, it’s nothing like IMAX or 3D glasses or whatever, it’s an experience you can only have through the AVP at the moment. Immersive videos are 3D 180-degree 8K recordings with Spatial Audio. At first, Apple released a bunch of these, mostly short documentary like films, but a few weeks ago they released a short film called “Submerged” that takes place on a submarine during the World War and is directed by an Academy Award winning director. It was insane, I’ve never experienced a movie like that before in my life. I was left stunned and once I was done I made my wife watch it and I could see from her facial expressions that she was also taken aback by it. You’re IN the movie, it doesn’t feel like a camera is capturing the action, but it’s your own eyes. It’s very hard to explain because it can’t be compared to anything.
While on the subject of immersive videos, Apple has released I think three immersive sports videos, one from the NFL, one from MLS and one from the NBA All Star game. Those are crazy as well, imagine watching a sports game while standing on the sidelines of a soccer field or sitting court side at a basketball game. I’d watch so much more sports if this became the norm. It’s an insane experience, standing there on the court and having an NBA player just walk by you, you really don’t realize how tall or big sports players are until you’re right there next to them. It’s also not just one view, in the 5min or so long videos Apple lets you experience the games from multiple angles and at different times. So when the NFL game ended you’re there on the pitch surrounded by people celebrating, at the NBA game if someone is taking a free throw your view point is from behind the basketball. It’s also all in 3D so when a ball comes flying past you, you duck.
So yeah, that’s my primary use for it. Every now and then someone releases a new game or app that tries something different and I try it out for the experience. The Reddit AVP community is great. Apple hasn’t sold a lot of AVP’s so the community is pretty small. There are a lot of developers active on the AVP subreddit and take feedback seriously and usually make the changes pretty quickly. Many of them are always looking for people to test out their apps and games as well, so it feels like a close-knit community from the old Internet back in the 90s.
Yesterday, Apple released a software update that allows you to have an ultra wide monitor when mirroring your Mac. Lots of people were looking forward to that update since it would help them with their workflow. Some people love the AVP for traveling, especially when staying at hotels. Everyone is kinda finding their own thing of what they want from the AVP which is pretty cool to see.
I definitely don’t think anyone should buy an AVP right now that’s for sure, it’s not ready for the mass, it’s still just for people who are willing to basically be beta testers and have lots of money to buy one. They did announce they’re launching the Apple Vision Pro in the UAE, so the next time you’re there, if you can get a demo I’d highly recommend it, just to get an idea of what the future could be like.
Winter season is here, and events and markets are starting to pick up again. Shakshooka, the food and art craft market, is kicking off its new season on November 30th. Last year, Shakshooka took place at Alandalus in Hawally, and it’s back there again this year.
Shakshooka have been around since 2013 and they used to be a nomadic market moving around from location to location. Their markets generally contain food stalls, art, handicrafts, and fresh produce. For more info and to stay posted on the market, follow them @shakshookamarket
According to a source familiar with the project, Popeyes, the popular fried chicken chain, is opening their first location in Kuwait at the end of this month. I sadly don’t have an exact date, it was hard enough to get just this info from them.
Tanmiah, the Saudi food company that owns and operates Popeyes in Saudi Arabia are opening two branches to begin with, one in Divonne Complex in Abu al-Hasaniyah, and the other in Sky Mall in Dhajeej.
Popeyes used to operate in Kuwait until they closed down back in 2014, so it’s been nearly a decade since they were last here. The new Instagram account isn’t live yet, but I’ll update this post once it is.
I’m still trying to find anything I can about the Hunt Room, a restaurant that used to be located in the Sheraton Hotel before the 1990 Gulf War. Not sure why I’m so obsessed with it, I never ate there.
My family used to have lunch every Friday at the Al Hambra which was located on the other side of the hotel on the same floor. Once we were done with lunch I’d wander around the hotel as a kid would do, but I mostly spent my time at the telex counter reading the latest news headlines and that was located near the Hunt Room. So I’d always take a peek inside and I remember they had a huge lobster aquarium outside. But thats as far as my interaction with the place was which is why its confusion for me why I’m fascinated by it. Maybe because I never experienced it?
Not sure but whatever the reason, I’m constantly looking for anything I can find about the restaurant, Sheraton themselves don’t seem to have anything either. But I recently found this cute little plate on eBay. It’s such a great find because it has the Hunt Room Logo and the colors which I now remember clearly.
If you have anything related to the Hunt Room, memories, photos, whatever, just let me know in the comments.
When I was studying design in college, one of the yearly annual competitions we’d look forward to was the “50 Books | 50 Covers” competition by AIGA (The American Institute of Graphic Arts). This competition started in 1923 and became an annual staple in the design community so we were always pretty excited to see what covers and books they selected. A couple of days ago, AIGA announced the latest winners for their 50/50 awards, and this year a Kuwaiti designer was one of the winners.
Fahad Al Hunaif won Best Book Design of the Year for his exhibition catalog, “Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility” designed for the Guggenheim Museum. Fahad describes the 256-page book as capturing the concept of duality to align with the exhibition. The stark, black exterior contrasts an interior filled with generous white space and subtle material changes, highlighting the tension between invisibility and hypervisibility.
I’ve been a huge fan of Fahad’s work since back in 2013 when he was still in New York studying at Parsons School of Design. He got his first 15 seconds of fame after @caradelevingne was photographed wearing his profane Cartier parody cap, “Cuntier”. Cara was backstage at a Jeremy Scott Runway Show when the ultra-famous fashion photographer @terryrichardson snapped some pictures of her wearing the cap. The photo went viral and eventually landed Fahad in a bit of trouble after Cartier slapped him with a cease and desist letter. I posted about him back then and you can check that old post out here.
Today, Fahad is a partner at TB.D, a multidisciplinary design studio that has worked on branding projects like Boost, ODE, and RA. You can check them out at tbd.studio or visit AIGA Design to see more winners.
