2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last year I posted about how much I hated the housekeeper’s category on the Q8 4Sale website since people were listing their housekeepers for sale. After my post, the 4Sale website started removing those posts and set new rules for the category but I still wished they had closed it down instead. Well it took a thorough BBC investigation and reporting for that to happen.

Over the weekend, BBC published its investigative video below exposing the trade by interviewing a number of people who were selling their housekeepers including a police officer and a woman who was selling her 16-year-old housekeeper!

Posing as a couple newly arrived in Kuwait, the BBC Arabic undercover team spoke to 57 app users and visited more than a dozen people who were trying to sell them their domestic worker via a popular commodity app called 4Sale.

The sellers almost all advocated confiscating the women’s passports, confining them to the house, denying them any time off and giving them little or no access to a phone.

The 4Sale app allowed you to filter by race, with different price brackets clearly on offer, according to category. Source

After the video and article went viral, Kuwait announced that it was cracking down on slave traders and I checked the 4sale website and it looks like they finally completely removed the housekeeper’s category. Hopefully, this will cause the government to consider reforming the kafala (sponsorship) system which in it’s current state is flawed and being abused. Check out the BBC articles on this subject below:

Slave markets found on Instagram and other apps (Oct 31)
Kuwait moves on Instagram slave traders after BBC investigation (Nov 1)

Some fun things happening this weekend including a different musical event taking place every night this weekend. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Halal Nights by Mohammad Al-Hemd
13th World Bowling Tour – Kuwait International Open 2019
Luna & Boo! Halloween Party
Manifesting Rhythm with Sid & Turk

Friday
Open Track at Kuwait Motor Town
13th World Bowling Tour – Kuwait International Open 2019
Kuwait Rising Music Festival
Saracen Race 2019

Saturday
Exhibition: Halal Nights by Mohammad Al-Hemd
13th World Bowling Tour – Kuwait International Open 2019
Japanese Society’s Beach Cleaning-up Campaign “Operation Turtles”
Come Play with Us!
Marketspace
The Peace Festival: Salute Yal Bannot

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.

Screenshot from Terminator: Dark Fate

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

New This Weekend:
Midway (4.9)
Motherless Brooklyn (7.4)
Terminator: Dark Fate (6.5)
The Addams Family (5.8)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Abominable (7.3)
Angel Has Fallen (7.0)
Born a King (8.8)
Countdown (5.3)
Dark Encounter (4.4)
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (5.9)
Gemini Man (5.2)
Joker (9.4)
Killerman (5.2)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (7.0)
Mary (4.4)
Zombieland: Double Tap (7.3)

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

Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Journey to Space 3D (6.4)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

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

If you’re itching to buy an interesting book about Kuwait, this is one that came out in 2008 but copies of are still available online. The book deals with the construction of the Kuwait National Assembly building that was designed by Jørn Utzon who was also behind the design of the Sydney Opera House.

Completed in 1982, the Kuwait National Assembly remains one of the outstanding modern buildings completed in the Middle East by a European architect. A tour de force of precast concrete construction, Jørn Utzon’s design also represents the culmination of themes that had preoccupied him throughout his work, notably ways of combining ideas derived from traditional cultures with the ‘additive’ principles of cellular growth found in nature. This beautifully produced book, the latest addition to Edition Bløndal’s acclaimed ‘Utzon Logbook’ series, was developed in close collaboration with Utzon and presents an exceptionally comprehensive account of the Kuwait project through photographs, original drawings and the recollections of key contributors – Utzon’s staff, consulting engineers and contractor, and an extended interview with Utzon himself.

If you check out the publisher’s website they have two videos taken during construction which I had never seen before. You can check those out here.

If you want to buy the book I got my copy from Amazon for $69.

A couple of weeks back I finally got my license plates for my Alfa and since then been trying to drive it as much as possible. Transcrate my shipping company handled all the paperwork and process for me so if you want to know what the process was to get plates I have no idea. The first drive I think was the scariest since I didn’t know if everything was working properly, or if something was broken or would break. Thankfully, everything is running great so far.

I’ve actually been driving the car pretty hard, with old cars things will breakdown its something you just have to accept. Since I want this car to be my winter daily, then I need whatever it is that is about to break to actually break so I can swap the part out for a newer one. One thing that is super weird is the widespread availability of all the parts. Websites like Classic Alfa stock all the parts I need for my car and ship directly to Kuwait with DHL. I love that because I can drive the car and not have to worry about something going wrong because if something does go wrong I can just easily have the part delivered in a few days.

So far the things that have gone wrong with the car have been minor. The fan belt needed replacing and I found a new compatible belt locally, my dashboard lights toggle switch broke so I ordered a new one, and finally, my left turn signal stopped working but I haven’t had time to figure out why. But that’s it so far.

The car is a lot more fun to drive than I was expecting. It’s pretty zippy, sounds great and I love the very minimal interior. I don’t even have a radio in this car and I like that although it means I no longer can listen to podcasts on my way to work in the morning.

On the other hand, my blue Datsun 240z is now getting a full restoration job. Currently, it’s being stripped down to its bare shell so that all the rust can be removed and holes patched before getting a proper paint job. There is a garage called Blue Collar that just opened a new location to handle classic cars and they’re the ones who are doing all the bodywork. Another garage is rebuilding a new engine for me in the meantime while I’ve also been ordering parts online for the past few weeks. The bodywork alone needs around 3 months so I’m hoping to have the car ready before summer since the Datsun will be my summer daily.

If you have a classic car let me know in the comments below and please share a picture!

Last night was the cultural event for the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Kuwait. As part of the cultural filled evening, a variety of Korean traditional and modern music performances were meant to take place including a performance by the K-pop group D-Crunch. But just before they were meant to perform, the Ministry of Information ordered a halt to the event.

Meanwhile in Riyad the popular K-pop group BTS performed 2 weeks ago in a packed stadium…

Not only that but the hashtag #dcrunch_come_to_saudiarabia has also been trending with Saudis apologizing to D-Crunch for what happened to them in Kuwait. This is just too weird, how did Saudi Arabia become more liberal than Kuwait overnight?

Back in 1977, Andy Warhol came to Kuwait under the invitation of the National Council of Arts, Culture, and Letters and his work was exhibited at the Dhaiat Abdullah Al Salem Gallery. I’ve posted about his visit a number of times before and you can read more about it in my previous post here.

Earlier in the month, I was made aware that a signed copy of his catalog from his exhibit in Kuwait was up for auction in Germany. The first thing I wanted to do was share it with people but since I wanted to bid on it myself I decided not to. The auction house had estimated that the signed catalog would sell for €250 – €360 so I figured I’d play it safe and put a bid of €1005.

The auction took place this past Friday and because the site was in German and I’ve never really taken part in a live auction similar to this, I didn’t know how it would work exactly. To summarize, I was at the race track taking part in the KMT Open Track event on Friday when the auction went live and someone ended up topping my bid and winning the item for €1200.

It sucks because I really wanted it, but I’m guessing whoever bid on it really wanted it to and most likely had a deeper pocket so I’m kinda glad I missed the auction. I’ve been in bidding wars before and things can get out of hand very quickly. In any case, now that auction is over I’m sharing pictures of the signed catalog. Even without the signature, the catalog would have been an interesting purchase. The description for the item on the auction site was in German but here is the rough translation:

Andy Warhol. Catalog for the exhibition in the MAYOR Gallery London and the Dhaiat Abdulla al Salem Gallery in Kuwait 1977. 7 pages each in English and Arabic with staple stitching. 35.5 x 23 cm. Illustrated original cardboard cover and signed on the back by Andy Warhol (a little bit at the edge of the bend, front cover with small paper abrasion in the edge, back cover a little rubbed).

Very rare catalog for the exhibition in London and Kuwait. – Paper slightly creased.

Here is the link to the item on the auction website and below are links to the high res images in case they get deleted from the auction website.

Front Cover
Back Cover

Middle Eastern Eatery or M’EAT for short is opening a second location, right across from Little Ruby’s and PICK in the city. Their current location on the Seef Strip opened up back in 2017 but it was a pretty small space and not really walking distance from much. This new location looks to be bigger and right in the heart of the city.

M’EAT is a build your own bowl place created by the guys behind PICK. If you missed my previous post on them then click here.

OMA, the legendary architectural firm based in Rotterdam has won the design for a tower that will be located in the new Hessa Al Mubarak District. I actually passed by their offices in Rotterdam years ago because I was hoping to get one of my books signed by one of the founders, Rem Koolhaas. When completed the Wafra Tower will be the first project by OMA in Kuwait.

The tower looks great and all but the seafront design in their renderings grabbed my attention more than the tower honestly. Their interpretation of our Gulf Road is way nicer in their renderings than what we have in reality.

For more details on this project click here.

If you’re into sports then there is a lot going on this weekend, check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Halal Nights by Mohammad Al-Hemd
Al Yasra Bazaar

Friday
Al Yasra Bazaar
Flying Start – Junior Duathlon 2019
Open Track at Kuwait Motor Town

Saturday
Exhibition: Halal Nights by Mohammad Al-Hemd
Al Yasra Bazaar
Come Play with Us!
Circle Kuwait Bus Tour
Art for Sudan: Silent Auction and Exhibition
Flying Start Triathlon XII
TFW Superhero Deadlift Party
Hala’ween

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.

Screenshot from The Farewell

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

New This Weekend:
Countdown (N/A)
Dark Encounter (4.4)
Killerman (5.2)
Mary (4.4)
Princess Emmy (5.5)
The Farewell (8.1)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Abominable (7.3)
Angel Has Fallen (7.0)
Born a King (8.8)
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (5.9)
Gemini Man (5.2)
Joker (9.4)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (7.0)
The Lion King (6.2)
Zombieland: Double Tap (7.3)

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

Movies Showing Now:
Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Backyard Wilderness 3D (8.4)
Journey to Space 3D (6.4)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

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

A couple of weeks back I posted snippets from an old book on my instagram account and a lot of people wanted to know what book it was and where they could get it from. So I decided not only to post about the book but also scan it all and make it available to download.

The book is a children’s book called Hamad the Diver and was published back in 1967. The story is about an Arab pearl diver living in Kuwait called Hamad. The story doesn’t mention specifically if Hamad was Kuwaiti or not but we do find out he is poor as many Kuwaitis were back then and that he was married with children. The second story taking place in the meantime is about a rich Iraqi girl called Fatima living in Basra whose father is trying to get her married. I don’t want to spoil the story too much but eventually, Hamad and Fatima end up getting married.

If you want to check out the book then you can download it from this link.

Update: The missing pages have been uploaded

Ghadeer al Bahrain isn’t a new place, it’s actually been open for around 30 years now yet I only recently found out about it. The place is even located very close to where I live so I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard about it until now. Ghadeer is a small hole in the wall restaurant serving super tiny meat skewers of different kinds. So far I’ve been there a few times and I think we’re averaging 15-18 skewers per person. I’ve tried their meat tikka, kebab, chicken tikka, and heart skewers and they’ve all been really good but my favorites are definitely the meat tikka and kebab.

The price of a skewer is 150fils which means mixing and matching is very doable (and more fun). Because of their size, the skewers also don’t take very long to be grilled so you can order as you go as I tend to do. There is indoor and outdoor seating but this place isn’t anything fancy, so manage your expectations before you get there.

Ghadeer al Bahrain is located in Salmiya and you can find it on Google Maps. They’re also on instagram @ghadeeralbahrain

If you still shoot with 35mm film then you know how difficult it is to find a place that can still develop film and how expensive it is. Previously I’ve recommended Ashkanani in Salmiya as an option but because of the cost of chemicals, they tend to wait until there are multiple film rolls and then batch develop them all together. This means the process could take a week or a month, you never know but they’re also expensive charging KD10+ per roll.

But, a few days ago I was at Souk Al Watiya behind Sheraton Hotel in the city and spotted a small store that still had a 35mm film development machine. The place charges KD2.5 to develop a roll and then 100fils per photo print. This means a roll of 36 shots would cost you around KD6. Not only is it cheaper than Ashkanani but they’ll also develop them quicker for you since they have no problem developing a single roll of film at a time.

If you’re looking for a place to develop film then this is a good alternative to Ashkanani. The store doesn’t have a name but it’s on the ground floor of Souk Al Watiya near one of the exits. Here is the location of the complex on Google Maps.

If pictures weren’t enough to show you how bad things are in Salmiya, here is a video of the garbage dump right outside my apartment building.