2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The other day while picking up food from MEAT in Al-Seif I noticed the colorful graffiti-filled stairs next door was closed off. Turns out the stairs is being renovated and this is the text they had on the hoarding describing the project (yes I typed it out):

Al-Seif Staircase #s25k is a project sponsored by the Kuwait Amiri Diwan and donated by Tamdeen Group. It emerges as an initiative by Parallel Design Studio to restore the area that has witnessed significant contribution to cumulative Kuwait history given its heritage and ingenuity so that it contributes once and again to the consolidation and renewal of dialogue between generations.

Al-Seif Staircase #s25k design intent evolves beyond a morphological statement, to which serving the passing by dwellers from level to another. It seeks to highlight the main concept of urban design, which is to draw attention to this particular area as a semantic symbol of the rehabilitation and renovation efforts of the private sector in collaboration with the Kuwaiti Government and to strengthen the advanced social and urban status thus far accomplished by the State of Kuwait while retaining the legacy of the all original past. The main design approach in a geopolitical understanding is to call out for a renovating dialogue, to enhance a social situation where the evidence of the public realm is very highly assertive, this creates a means of instruments enclosing yet democratize a privilege of social proximity and content of vitality.

In a morphological manner of the stair design, it weave a series of faceted geometrical characters that cascades between levels as an evidence of order and balance for an intrinsic aesthetical appearance, on the other hand a nostalgia and a recall to the sense of place where a remaining of materials is set as a viable option by the architect to be re-used and recycled in the content of the staircase design. Moving from linear progression to a faceted discipline is evidence of a transitional transformation of a too platonic geometry to a threshold of clarity of various immersive elements cascades through levels. The seating on the sides of the stair act as a discipline of appreciation and serenity to the old demographic ages and those who want to spend quality time. Above and beyond the definition of a stair, storytelling to encroach appreciation and a triumphal perception to the new design.

I honestly didn’t understand anything from their description above, but going by the rendering, it looks like the stairs are getting a redesign and there will be seating integrated into the steps. I hope they’ll still allow graffiti on the walls once the project is done since it’s what made that stairs fun and special to begin with.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a long time then you might remember my posts on the garbage situation behind my house in Salmiya. It’s been a problem thats been ongoing for over a decade now and I’ve posted about it a number of times on the blog before. Usually what happens is I post pictures of the garbage dump behind my house, baladiya find out about it and send trucks to clean up, a week later problem is back again.

For YEARS I’ve posted about how there aren’t enough garbage bins and since then more buildings have popped up which means more garbage but instead of the bins increasing over the year they’ve decreased.

A while back I gave up and decided to no longer post about the garbage because I was starting to sound like a broken record and honestly, I’m just too tired and exhausted to fight. I’ve really become a pretty chill person and very little really bothers me nowadays. But things are also just getting worse and worse and today I just couldn’t take it anymore. Before I left to work I decided to take and tweet the picture above and then left the house. A few hours later while in a meeting I found out my tweet went viral and since then I’ve been getting a ton of support but also some stupid comments I really don’t want to have to deal with.

To summarize my Salmiya garbage issue, basically, the garbage overflows every single day because there aren’t enough garbage bins to cater to the residents and shops. Tomorrow someone will come and clean up the mess because of my tweet but nobody really is solving this problem and so it keeps happening over and over again. I keep saying we need more bins and I’ve been saying that for over a decade now but nobody cares.

As I’m writing this post my brother who lives next door sent me the picture above. The baladiya are here now picking up the garbage. I’m really grateful for sure, and I’m not trying to sound pessimistic here but, unless they add more bins, this overflowing garbage issue is going to keep happening.

Update: So they cleaned up one corner last night but the other side where there were 6 bins and I posted saying that 6 weren’t enough and we needed more, well, today they came and took 3 of the bins leaving just 3. I feel like they might be trolling me.

Back in 2001 when I moved back to Kuwait from university, I started looking for a clean second-hand 4th generation Toyota Supra. It was one of those dream cars to own back then and I really wanted the twin-turbo version with an automatic gearbox. In hindsight, I wish I wasn’t so picky. I only ended up coming across manual cars and so never ended up buying one, but if I had and kept it, today it would be worth more than what I would have paid for it. The 4th generation Supra ended production in 2002 and since then prices of the old cars have kept rising as they became harder to find in good condition and just a few months ago an excellent condition one sold for a staggering $176,000.

Finally, earlier this year the new 2020 Supra was unveiled and it launched in Kuwait a couple of weeks back. I was lucky enough to borrow one off the dealer this past weekend and if I was looking for a new sports car to buy, this would be an option I’d seriously consider.

The new Toyota Supra and the new BMW Z4 share a lot of the same parts including the engine and interior. That’s because Toyota and BMW collaborated on the project which caused a lot of controversy with Supra diehards for obvious reasons. I’m not that big of a diehard and even I cringed when I heard that the new Supra would be built with a BMW engine. But, after spending a weekend with the car I’ve realized this collab might actually be a benefit for us. BMW is a more premium brand than Toyota so things like the interior end up looking better and feeling a lot more expensive than what a Toyota would usually look or feel like while still paying Toyota prices.

But, before getting inside the car, the first thing you’ll notice about the Supra is how cool the outside looks. When I first saw pictures of the car online I fell in love with the rear end and it looks even better in real life. The car is super hot looking and an eye-catcher on the road, especially right now because there aren’t that many on the streets. One thing I was surprised with was the size of the car, it’s not big at all and so not intimidating which I really like. And even though the car is small, the interior didn’t feel cramped and was actually a really nice space to be in.

At 335HP the Supra doesn’t have an absurd amount of power but it does have more than enough to make it feel pretty fast on the streets. I’ve also already seen videos on YouTube of Supra’s being modified to produce 1000HP so if you want more power that’s going to be an easy fix. The performance parts market for the Supra is going to be HUGE that’s for sure.

Every one of my friends whom I let test drive the car (both guys and girls) loved it. There is very little not to like about the Supra but there were some things I had issues with. The steering wheel makes the car feel cheap, it’s fairly hard and just felt plasticky even though it was leather-wrapped. I also didn’t find the exhaust loud but I think that has to do with the new European regulations since a lot of cars don’t sound loud anymore either. On downshifts, you get some amazing crackles and pops but while driving (even aggressively) I kept wishing the exhaust was slightly louder. If I want to be really picky I also had issues with the suspension which felt soft when I wanted it to be hard, and felt hard when I wanted it to be soft. But one of the best things about the Supra is that you’ll most likely want to customize all these things anyway yourself, the first thing I’d do if I bought the car would be to install a sportier aftermarket exhaust. Customization is part of the reason of getting a Supra to begin with. What isn’t a minor thing though is the lack of Apple CarPlay. I guess I should be incredibly grateful the infotainment system comes from BMW and not Lexus (who have the worst infotainment system in the world), but I still wish it had CarPlay.

At KD16,500 the new Supra is priced extremely competitively and it going to sell like hotcakes. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dealer hasn’t sold out already. In Kuwait, the local dealer only have one model available which is basically the fully loaded version with the only options being the exterior and interior colors. They have a test drive vehicle available so if you’re interested in trying out the car as I did then visit the dealer @toyotakw.

Another busy weekend with a bunch of cool things to do. If you’re into electronic music then check out Proof of Concept tonight (promo video above) featuring music by Kadisa & Edith. The Russell Peters comedy show is also taking place tonight and if you’re into Scrabble, Backgammon or Chess, check out the Come Play with Us event below. Here is this weekend’s full list of events:

Thursday
Exhibition: Conversations in Colour
Exhibition: The Place I Call Home
Motor Show
Expo 965
Children’s Interactive Book Reading: Kindness Snippet Jar
Nothing is Impossible Magic Show
Proof of Concept
Russell Peters – Deported World Tour

Friday
Motor Show
Exhibition: The Place I Call Home
Cricket Match: Titans vs Safety Plus
Classical Music in aid of Abolish 153

Saturday
Exhibition: Conversations in Colour
Exhibition: The Place I Call Home
Yoga at the Park
Motor Show
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Come Play with Us!

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 Gemini Man

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

New This Weekend:
Corporate Animals (4.4)
Jexi (N/A)
Gemini Man (5.2)

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (7.2)
Abominable (7.3)
Ad Astra (7.4)
Angel Has Fallen (7.0)
Avengement (6.5)
Born a King (8.8)
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (5.9)
Downton Abbey (7.8)
Joker (9.4)
Little Monsters (5.9)
Prey (6.5)
Rambo: Last Blood (8.1)
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (6.8)
The Lion King (6.2)

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.

Has anyone tried the South American restaurant El Público located inside the Millennium Hotel and Convention Centre? I thought it just opened since press releases started popping up last week but looks like it’s been there since May. The restaurant blends Peruvian, Chilean and Brazilian cuisines all in one menu so it sounds interesting in theory but I haven’t heard anything at all about the place.

Not sure if you guys are aware but you can actually use your Knet debit card to purchase stuff from Amazon.com (and other U.S. websites). Your Knet card is actually a Visa debit card and you can plug it into credit card payment forms and it will go through just like a regular credit card except the amount gets deducted right away from your bank account.

Kuwait, there’s a better way to get around.

We’re super excited to announce that we’ve permanently reduced our prices! Now, a Careem ride is comparable with taxis on the street but without all the hassle.

With us, you never need to haggle or negotiate for a good deal. The fare estimate is displayed on the app, so you know the cost in advance. Plus, you don’t have to give our Captains directions or explain how to get there. Instead, you can sit back and relax. Careem’s advanced GPS and ride tracking will get you where you’re going.

No matter where you are in the city, you can get a ride in minutes. And best of all, we’re constantly giving you more with features like Careem REWARDS and Ride packages.

With REWARDS, you earn points with every ride and you can use these points for more rides or donate them to good causes. Ride packages let you plan ahead. You pay for bundles with BIG savings.

We’re always coming up with crazy offers through promo codes to make our rides even more affordable. Codes will be available for certain cities (like Salmiya), areas with limited parking and high-traffic zones.

We also give you so many choices! We know everyone has different preferences and that’s why we’ve created multiple car types to suit your style. Order a Business car type for a premium experience or a Taxi car type to save more.

We’re local, so it gives us pride to be the most affordable ride-hailing service in Kuwait!

Book your ride now!

The Family Bookshop, one of the oldest and most popular English bookshops in Kuwait closed down for good eight years ago. Just before they closed down I passed by and took photos of the place. I shared some of the photos back then but since it was National Bookshop Day a few days ago, I wanted to re-upload all the photos I took that day. The photos below are in higher resolution than the previous ones I had published and I’m also sharing all the photos I took that day, not just some of them. So check them out below.

The goto hardware store for most people is either Ace or Bin Nisf in Shuwaikh but Jawad AlSaffar (JAS) recently opened a new location and I think it will give them both a run for their money.

The new JAS store has been open for a few months now but I only found out about this new and huge location last week. The new store is located across from the original True Value in Shuwaikh and is composed of two floors. The ground floor has garden stuff, shelves, paint and a large section containing generators, large air compressors and some heavy equipment like mixers, water pumps, ground compactors, and a bunch of other stuff I have no idea what they’re used for.

Once you move down to the basement things get more impressive. Firstly the basement is gigantic but it’s also really well organized. You have the usual areas like the power tools section, hardware tools, paint tools, protective gear, etc.. but in between all these main sections you have very specific areas like the caster wheels section, a section for nails and bolts, a welding area, a ropes section, a car garage equipment section, etc.. just very specific stuff.

The place is much larger than Bin Nisf and also larger than Ace, but I did notice that they didn’t carry any premium brand of hardware tools and some sections like their work lights area seemed lacking compared to Bin Nisf and even Ace Hardware.

If you like hardware stores then you really need to pass by and check out the new Jawad AlSaffar store. They’re open daily from 6:30AM to 10PM except for Fridays when they’re open from 6:30AM till 11:30AM. Here is their location on Google Maps.

Last night I visited Expo 965 after a friend told me about it. I had a difficult time trying to understand what it was about at first or even where it was being held since all the information was in Arabic. But, I eventually found the place on Google Maps (after going to the wrong location first) and it turned out to be a really interesting experience. The Expo features Kuwaiti heritage and craftsman but there were a lot of private collectors there displaying family-related or old Kuwait related items.

When you first walk in the place doesn’t look very impressive but I ended up spending nearly two hours there. It’s two medium-sized halls filled with tables and stands and just random Kuwait related stuff on display. In my head, I was like let me check things out quickly and then walk over to BBT for a burger which was right next door. But the expo turned out to be way more fun than I was expecting.

The first display that ended up grabbing my attention had old radios and TV’s and it turned out to belong to the vintage radio shop guy. I hadn’t seen him since he moved his shop to Hawalli (and now it’s back in the city) so after catching up with him I decided to check out the rest of the expo. Basically it turns out it’s all about the people behind the displays. Everyone there was a volunteer and wanted to talk to you or share with you interesting information. Whenever I spotted anything interesting I’d ask the person who owned the stuff about it, and not only would they show me the item but they’d also take the time and explain the whole story behind it. Like literally every person I spoke to had an interesting story to share from the guy who’s dad was the first Kuwaiti dentist to the guy who collected vintage food wrappers and cans. I was not expecting to have so much fun.

So if you’re looking for something to do over the next few days the expo is being held until Thursday. Pass by and check it out and make sure you talk to the people.

For location and timings click [Here]

Thanks Aisha AlSaif!

One of the most anticipated cars of the year has officially launched in Kuwait. I spotted the new Toyota Supra at the car show in Avenues over the weekend and I think it looks great. I wasn’t too sure about the front at first but after seeing the car in person, I think it’s starting to grow on me. They just have one version of the car and it’s priced at KD16,500 if you’re interested which is pretty similar to the US price.

Every year right after Apple announces a new iPhone, Digits get in touch with me asking me if I’d be interested in one. They always make sure I have a device on launch day so I could review it for the blog, and they always hook me up with a good discount on top of that. But, this was the first year I was a bit hesitant to say yes to them. I got the iPhone XS from them last year and it has been my favorite iPhone to date. The battery life was great, the camera was amazing and the OLED screen incredible. My phone was in great shape and I really didn’t have any issues with it so I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to plunk down money on a new one. But, since I take so many photos with the iPhone for the blog, the new ultra-wide lens and the new night mode would be really helpful, so I decided to get the iPhone 11 Pro in the new midnight green color.

When it came to choosing a color for the phone, any color would have been fine with me. I actually didn’t know what color my XS was until a friend asked me and I had to take it out of the silicon case to check. But since I wanted to feel like I got a new phone, I got the midnight green with the new matching silicon case. A lot of people online have mentioned how the green doesn’t really look green in real life, not sure what they’re on about but I can clearly tell its green. Its a grey green, not a bright or saturated green, but still green. I took the photo on top in front of my grey wall and you can clearly see how green the phone looks. I like it a lot and it sucks that I’m too clumsy or else I would have really enjoyed the color instead of having it hidden behind an iPhone case.

The changes in the new iPhone compared to the previous XS aren’t that noticeable and the only time you really can tell the difference is when you use the phone side by side with an older one. I found that out because whenever friends with iPhone XS’s ask me about the new 11 Pro, I downplay it a lot. I tell them there really isn’t much of a difference but then they take my phone and start playing with it and you hear sounds like “oooh” and “ahh” either because my phone launches apps a lot faster than theirs or because the new camera takes pictures that are noticeably better and because of the new ultra-wide lens.

After personally using the iPhone 11 Pro for a week now, here are the three things that really stick out for me compared to my XS:

Battery Life
Not sure how many extra hours my new iPhone battery lasts, but I used to leave the office before at around 3PM with my XS battery at around 40% full, now I leave the office with the battery at around 70% full. So a pretty noticeable improvement.

Ultra Wide Lens
Yes the three lenses do look a bit weird on the back of the phone but it also does help differentiate the new iPhone from the older ones. As soon as people see the three lenses they ask me if that’s the new iPhone 11 Pro and want to play around with it. The third lens on the new iPhone Pro is an ultra-wide lens and I’m generally a big fan of these kinds of lenses. I have a 12-24mm ultra-wide lens for my Sony A7 III camera and I tend to use it a lot so I love having a similar lens on my phone which is always with me, unlike my Sony cam. It’s going to make capturing interior shots a lot easier and I love shooting cars with ultra-wide lenses. Below is a photo of my apartment I took using the three different lenses for comparison.

Night Mode
This is a new feature that I’m really liking at the moment even though the effect is very subtle. The new iPhone 11 Pro has a feature called night mode that activates in low light situations. The camera then takes different exposures of your photo and combines them into one brighter and better lit photo. The result looks great but because this process all happens in the background, it doesn’t feel like the phone did anything special. It’s only when you compare the photo with the same image with night mode turned off do you notice the magic. This is why I said the effect is very subtle, not because the phone doesn’t do much but because the result looks natural and more real lifelike. Below is a perfect example of this, I took the shot at Peacock, the first with night mode off and the second with night mode on. In reality, the scene looked closer to the second shot (night mode on).

I do have one big issue with the new iPhone and that is the lack of 3D touch. Not a lot of people know this (which is why it’s a feature that got removed) but with the iPhone X and XS the phone recognizes hard presses on the screen. This was a pretty cool feature that allowed me to do various things quickly. If I was typing something and wanted to move the cursor to a previous word or area in the paragraph, I could just press hard on the keyboard area and then move the cursor that way. But now with 3D touch gone, I need to change my habits. Instead of hard pressing on the keyboard to move the cursor around, I have to now long press on the keyboard space key to move the cursor which is just more awkward and slower. Even something so simple as opening the camera from my lock screen requires me to relearn the button press timing right because I’m used to hard pressing the camera button and opening it up instantly. Instead, I now have to press the camera button for a short time to open the camera and after a week I still haven’t gotten the timing right.

But, the biggest question everyone wants to know the answer to is if it’s worth the upgrade?

If you have an iPhone XS
Probably not, not unless you really want the ultra-wide lens. If you travel a lot or post to instagram a lot then you’re gonna really appreciate the new opportunities the ultra-wide lens will give you. The night mode is a great feature but not nearly as fun or obvious like the new ultra-wide lens.

If you have an iPhone X
You probably should, the camera quality difference between X and XS was big, and the difference between X and 11 Pro is even bigger. Plus the new phone is a lot faster and because your X’s battery probably doesn’t hold as good as a charge now as it did 2 years ago, you’re gonna notice an even bigger jump in battery life.

If you have an iPhone 8 or older
Yes, for sure! The larger OLED screen is the biggest reason you should upgrade but the excellent camera and much faster processor are also really good reasons to upgrade.

Let me know if you have any questions below and thank you Digits for the hooking me up again!

Below are all the events I could find that are taking place this weekend. Make sure you don’t miss The Beatles Sing-along concert, the video above is from the ABBA sing-along that took place last year and it looked like a lot of fun.

Thursday
Exhibition: Conversations in Colour
Motor Show

Friday
Motor Show
The BEATLES Sing-along Concert
Sky Observation Night

Saturday
Exhibition: Conversations in Colour
Yoga at the Park
Motor Show
Al Hamra Rowing Race
Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photowalk

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 Joker

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

New This Weekend:
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (7.2)
Avengement (6.5)
Joker (9.4)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Abominable (7.3)
Ad Astra (7.4)
Aladdin (7.1)
Angel Has Fallen (7.0)
Born a King (8.8)
Cold Blood Legacy (4.5)
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (5.9)
Downton Abbey (7.8)
IT Chapter Two (7.7)
Little Monsters (5.9)
Prey (6.5)
Rambo: Last Blood (8.1)
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (6.8)
The Informer (6.6)
The Lion King (6.2)
The Rookies (4.6)
Toy Story 4 (9.0)

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)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Volcanoes 3D (6.6)

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