2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

There is a new and still vacant building on the Gulf Road called MEDC which I pass by every night. What caught my attention is that every time I pass it they seem to have a different pixel art up created by turning on and off the lights of the different vacant spaces. Last night they had a flower emoji up but I’ve also seen different messages in Arabic spelled out.

No idea who has the time or patience for this but I keep imagining it being some creative building caretaker who is doing this out of boredom.

Last week STC (formally VIVA) launched their new brand but someone just sent me a link to a company called CTS who oddly have a very similar logo (and letters coincidently). It could be a direct copy or just a big coincidence but either way still very interesting.

Update: STC branding was done by Interbrand.

For the first time in Kuwait, Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company will perform Giselle. Teatro alla Scala is the oldest and one of the most renowned and prestigious ballet companies in the world. The romantic and tragic ballet Giselle will be performed by the world’s top 100 dancers. The story of Giselle is about a young and beautiful peasant who falls in love with a peasant, Loys, only to find out that he is a duke and is engaged to someone else.

Book your tickets now: 7, 8, 9 January 2019
www.jacc-kw.com

Electric scooters are like a big thing now in the States and Europe but haven’t really caught on in Kuwait, probably because we don’t have any sidewalks to use it on. At one point I was considering getting a scooter when I started my new job since the multistory parking lot was a bit far from my office. I figured I could just park the car down the street and then zip down to the office on the scooter. But back then I was planning to order a scooter online since I wasn’t aware of any being sold locally.

But now there is a company in Kuwait called BOLT selling the Chinese HX1000 X7 scooters rebranded as BOLT. They have two models, one with an 8.5″ wheel the other with a 10″. The range is 25KM and it weighs 12.5KG. They’re selling the 8.5″ wheel version for KD220 while the 10″ one for KD250 and you can purchase them from their online shop. I saw some guys use it at the race track yesterday to go up and down the pit lane with since it’s usually a long walk and it looked like a lot of fun.

If you want to check them out on Instagram their handle is @bolt_electric. Also if you know of any other place selling proper adult scooters, let me know in the comments.

This past weekend the MDL Beast electronic music festival took place in Saudi Arabia and I spent the whole weekend checking out people’s pictures and videos because I was curious to how it would go. Well, it looked insane. The first day over 130,000 people showed up and the stage looked epic!

The event was mixed, not segregated. Some girls had abayas on while others didn’t. I really don’t think any other place could have announced an event this big just 10 days before the event date and still manage to fill up. Things are moving so fast in Saudi and they’re not playing around, they’re doing everything big. I’m loving watching this transformation.

Make sure you check out the videos and stories on the MDL Beast instagram account, they had this great aerial shot of the venue in their story and it looked like a mini city. @mdlbeast

Nothing big happening this weekend but there are still a few interesting things taking place. Check out this weekends events below:

Thursday
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Fareed Abdal – A Solo Exhibition
Exhibition: Cemetery of Banned Books
An Installation by Nawar N. Al-Kazemi
Alan Villiers & the Sons of Sindbad: An Australian in 1930s Kuwait
Exhibition: Athier Mousawi – Fade and Float
Zeri Crafts Open House
Experience Adventure 4.0
Movies At The Park: Moana

Friday
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Experience Adventure 4.0
Kuwait Sports & Health Day

Saturday
Exhibition: Cemetery of Banned Books
Exhibition: Athier Mousawi – Fade and Float
“East Ahmadi Market” An exhibition by Huda Abdulmughni
Experience Adventure 4.0
TEDxKuwaitCity
Open Track Day at KMT
Christmas Tree lighting… Delivered!
Barba Brunch Pop-up

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

VIVA today announced that they’ve rebranded to STC in Kuwait. This was expected to happen after the Saudi Telecom Company purchased a majority stake in Viva back in 2016.

If you’re planning on using road 40 this weekend then you might be in for some traffic since they’ll be completely closing off part of the highway near Mishref because they’ll be demolishing a bridge. For those heading to KMT this Saturday for Open Track, might be better to take Fahaheel Expressway instead.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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

New This Weekend:
Bombshell (5.7)
Go Fish (5.1)
I See You (6.5)
Into the Ashes (6.3)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (6.6)
The Legend of the Christmas Witch (4.7)

Other Movies Showing Now:
21 Bridges (5.7)
Ford v Ferrari (Le Mans 66) (8.3)
Frozen II (7.1)
Jumanji: The Next Level (7.0)
Knives Out (7.9)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (7.0)
Playing with Fire (5.1)
The Addams Family (5.8)

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

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Turtle Odyssey (7.7)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

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

I’ve previously posted about the US Embassy’s Air Quality Index page which shares data on the pollution level around the US Embassy in Bayan. The data most of the time is pretty alarming because of the high level of pollution we generally have which is why it interested me when I found out it’s not that difficult for someone to set up their own air quality sensor.

PurpleAir is an air quality monitoring network where people can purchase an air quality sensor from them for $229 and then set it up near a wifi spot to allow it to measure and share pollution data over their network. As of now there are three sensors located around Kuwait, one at the Kuwait University Khaldiya Campus, one in Mishref (I think that’s my friend’s place) and one at the ArtStudio in Funaitees.

If you want to check the pollution levels around Kuwait then click here.
On the other hand, if you want to purchase your own air quality sensor and be part of this network then click here.

via Nibaq

This happens every year but no idea why it was more severe yesterday.

Spotted this in Dubai over the weekend. It’s an autonomous vehicle that just drives around until someone waves at it and then it stops. Once it stops you can then buy water and snacks from it.

It’s so weird driving by these billboards on my way to work every morning advertising the electronic music festival in Saudi. I still can’t get over how ridiculous this is.

Over the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with the TV series Forged in Fire in which bladesmiths compete on the series to win $10,000 and earn the title of Forged in Fire champion. So when I found out there was a local bladesmith I decided to get in touch with him to find out his story.

Fahad Alsayer goes by the handle @theblademaker on instagram and has been making knives for just over a year. He started making knives for fun before realizing there were people who would be interested in buying his creations. He actually hadn’t thought of selling them until one day while low on cash, he got a phone bill message on his phone. He hadn’t started working at that time and was trying to figure out how to pay his bill when he decided he’d try and sell one of his knives. After managing to sell it, he paid his phone bill and reinvested the remaining amount back into his hobby. Eventually, it became a source of income with local chefs and knife collectors getting in touch with him for one-off creations. He’s even shipped his knives to customers abroad.

I passed by Fahad’s workshop last week, a room in his family home which he converted into his workspace. It’s a pretty cool setup with a knife kiln on one side of the room for heat-treating the metals, and sanders and a sharpening station on the other. Fahad doesn’t forge his metals but instead purchases them in sheets online which he then either shapes manually with a sander, or cuts out using a laser cutter. Due to the cost of the materials as well as the time and skill it takes to create a knife, Fahad’s knives cost KD90 and up, depending on the size of the knife, amount of work it took and kind of metal used. Some of his customers include @chefkb and @foodninja whom he created custom knives for. Fahad isn’t the only knifemaker in Kuwait, according to him there are others albeit a small group but they tend to meet once a week to talk knives and help each other out.

If you’re interested in purchasing a knife or checking out Fahad’s work then make sure you check out his instagram @theblademaker

Back in 2014, the Pearl Lounge at the main airport terminal got redesigned and I hated it. The lounge looked cheap and dated while the seats were pretty uncomfortable to sit in. But, a couple of weeks back the lounge finally got a makeover and it now looks better than it ever did.

The new color scheme, the style of seating and the choice of floor tiles give the space a much-needed facelift. The lounge now looks more premium and stylish than before, and by moving the food into the middle of the lounge they were able to break the large space without having to put up any dividers.

Accessing the lounge is the same as before which is either by flying business class on certain airlines or with a credit card. I used Priority Pass to gain access but for a list of other cards accepted click here.