2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last month Wendy’s opened up at the airport where Pinkberry used to be located, and a couple of weeks back, Pick opened up where Potbelly used to be. I especially like the fact that Pick opened up because at least we have a healthy option available at the airport now. Actually, the options for food now is pretty good with the addition of these two.

Screenshot from Hotel Artemis

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

New This Weekend:
Hotel Artemis (6.3) ♦

Other Movies Showing Now:
Adventures of Petey and Friends (2.8)
Avengers: Infinity War (9.2) ♦
Deadpool 2 (8.1) ♦
Distorted (5.7)
Incredibles 2 (9.2)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (6.8)
Masha and the Bear (7.9)
Peter Rabbit (6.5)
Rampage (6.5)
The Little Witch (6.3)

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

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (5.9)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Hurricane 3D (7.0)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

Cinescape just signed a deal with the company CJ 4DPLEX to bring their ScreenX theater technology to the Middle East.

ScreenX is cinema technology that brings a 270-degree viewing experience to the movie similar to the picture above. The technology projects the film onto the screen in front of you as well as the walls on the left and right of you and then seamlessly connects the three. Movies need to be filmed with ScreenX technology in mind for this to work and since the technology is new, not a lot of movies support it yet. Black Panther was a recent movie that had ScreenX support and the upcoming movie Ant-man and the Wasp will also support it so it’s going to start picking up.

I personally enjoy watching my films in 2D on a large iMax screen but ScreenX might be interesting since it doesn’t involve the use of 3D glasses and isn’t as gimmicky as 4DX. Check out the press release [Here]

If you’re a long time reader of the blog you know about my obsession with seedless watermelons. A few years ago we started getting them in Kuwait but they were just too expensive ranging in price from KD1.4 to KD3 per kilo depending where you got them from. But, last week I noticed Sultan Center started getting Egyptian seedless watermelon and they’re pretty cheap at just 595 fils a kilo. They’re not easy to come by since they seem to sell out quickly, I actually had to visit three different Sultan Centers before I managed to find some.

If you’ve never tried seedless watermelon, they’re just like regular melons but without the black seeds!

If you’re not traveling this Eid and are looking for shows to binge watch, check out the list below and make sure to check out some of my previous recommendations [Here]

Fleabag
This show came out in 2016 but I just found out about it a couple of weeks back. It’s just one season with six episodes, and a second season is planned for 2019. It’s really funny and I wish there were more episodes. The show is available to watch on Amazon Videos.

Succession
This is a brand new show with just two episodes out. It might not be a show for everyone because of the business subject matter, but I guess if you love the show Billions you’ll probably like this show as well. Like I said, as of this post only two episodes are out and you can stream it on HBO NOW.

Corporate
I found out about this show yesterday after a clip from the first episode went viral on Reddit. It’s a new show that came out earlier this year and the first season is already done with 10 episodes. I’m only two episodes in and like it so far and I think you guys might like it as well. The only issue is its on Comedy Central which isn’t a network you can subscribe to. So you have two options to watch this, the first is to download the Comedy Central app on Apple TV and stream the first 3 or 4 episodes which are available for free. But, expect to watch 3 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes which is incredibly annoying. The other option is just to torrent the show.

Here are other some other shows I’m planning to watch soon:
A Very English Scandal
American Woman
Castle Rock
Condor
Jack Ryan
Making It
Patrick Melrose
Sharp Objects
Sweetbitter
Yellowstone

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

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

New This Weekend:
Adventures of Petey and Friends (2.8)
Deadpool 2 (8.1) ♦
Distorted (5.7)
Incredibles 2 (9.2)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (6.8)
The Little Witch (6.3)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Armed Response (3.8)
Avengers: Infinity War (9.2) ♦
Life of the Party (4.6) ♦
Masha and the Bear (7.9)
Peter Rabbit (6.5)
Rampage (6.5)
Show Dogs (2.7)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
The Cured (5.5) ♦

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

Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (5.9)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Hurricane 3D (7.0)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

A reader emailed me complaining about a new rule he recently found out from his dealer. The reader had purchased an Audi and the dealer had installed the regular square plates on the front. The problem was his car had a radar in the front grill for collision warning, and the square plate started interfering with it. So he took the car back to the dealer and asked them to install the rectangular “Euro” plates on the car but the dealer told him couldn’t get those plates because he was an expat.

According to the Audi dealer, the rectangular car plates are now only being installed on cars registered to Kuwaiti citizens and as an expat, he wouldn’t be able to get them. I told him it was probably BS, that the dealer messed up and was coming up with random excuses but the dealer showed my reader five other cars that were ready for collection, three were for expats and had square plates while two were for Kuwaitis and had the rectangular plates.

If this is a new rule then I think it’s an incredibly stupid one. Has anybody else faced this issue?

A couple of weeks ago there was a very interesting discussion on Reddit called “What if I don’t want to fast?” about the laws that punish people for eating in public during Ramadan. Since Ramadan is nearly over, I wanted to ask my readers what their opinion about this is.

Personally, because I don’t cook, my biggest issue is with the law regarding restaurants having to be closed during the day. I actually don’t know if its a law, or just an unspoken rule, but whatever the case is, I don’t think restaurants should be forced to close, not unless you also want to close other sources of food like supermarkets and baqalas. I’ve basically spent most of this Ramadan having Chinese food since China Kitchen is one of the few places that deliver from noon and they’re located in Salmiya so the driver doesn’t get stuck in traffic. I actually don’t think I’m having Chinese food ever again once Ramadan is over.

Do you fast? Would you mind it if restaurants were open during the day? Do you mind if people drink water in front of you? I’m curious to know.

There have been rumors for some time now that Mercedes-Benz was planning to leave the current dealership in Kuwait and yesterday a letter started making its way around social media which confirms it. According to the letter which was sent to employees, the dealership agreement between Mercedez-Benz and Al Bisher & Al Kazemi Group of Companies will be terminating on December 31st, 2018.

I’ve already contacted my source at the dealership to confirm the authenticity of the letter and once they get back to me, I’ll post an update here. But, if it is actually true, then the next question is who will be taking over the brand? Currently, the rumors are pointing towards Al-Mulla Group who are also the dealers for Acura and Mitsubishi, but I had also heard that Al-Sayer were interested in acquiring the brand as well (but I’ve been told that’s not happening).

Al Bisher & Al Kazemi have been the dealers for Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait since the 1950s. The last time a big change like this took place in the local car market was when Arabian Motors Group lost the Ford and Lincoln dealership to Alghanim in 2016.

Here is another positive airport post, a variety of improvements have been made to the main terminal to accommodate the extra traffic for Eid and the summer. Below are some of the main points taken from an AlQabas article.

– 15% fewer passengers due to the opening of the Jazeera terminal
– Terminal 4 opening in July will also reduce load on main terminal
– Some budget airlines will be moved to Sheikh Saad Terminal (T3)
– New hall for transit passengers
– New hall for visa issuing
– Improvement of air conditioning performance in the airport
– Additional support workforce for the airport
– Luggage drop-off outside the main terminal for Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways
– Self check-in machines
– Installation of shade and cooling sprinklers in departure drop off area
– Additional seating in the arrivals area and the check-in areas
– Check-in areas Zone 2 and 3 will have their on carry-on baggage security checks bypassing the main security check area
– Carry-on security check machines have been increased from 5 to 9
– An increase from two to four immigration entrances on departure. The new entrances are now divided up as follows: First Class and Diplomat passengers, Kuwaiti and GCC citizens, expats and finally, aircraft crew.
– Arriving luggage will be security checked before hitting the conveyor belts speeding up the exit process
– Luggage home delivery with Pearl Assist. They’ll pick your bags up from the conveyor belt and deliver them straight to your home.

There is no mention in the article if they improved immigration services on arrival since currently, that’s probably my least favorite part of the airport.

The brand new Kuwait Airways terminal (T4) will be opening next month on July 25th [Source]. All Kuwait Airways flights will depart and arrive from the new terminal which should greatly reduce the traffic flow at the main terminal.

According to an article in AlQabas newspaper, the opening of the Jazeera Airways terminal has alone reduced the traffic at the main terminal by 15%, so I’d expect the opening of T4 to reduce that by at least another 30%.

For my previous post on Terminal 4, click [Here]

Business Insider published an article a few days ago on the worst airports in the world and the Kuwait International Airport topped the list again. The data is compiled by the website AirHelp who score airports based on on-time performance, quality of service and passenger sentiment. The best airport in the world on the other hand was Qatar’s Hamad International Airport.

With the new Jazeera Terminal just opening and the new Kuwait Airways terminal opening up soon, this might be the last year Kuwait’s Airport comes out the worst.

Check out the AirHelp scores [Here]
Check out the Business Insider article [Here]

Thanks Musaed

I wasn’t planning to post about this because:

a) Nothing is going to be done about it
b) A lot of people will probably think there isn’t anything wrong with this

But, I’m being bombarded by people on instagram to write about this so clearly, a lot of you do think what he did was wrong.

Last night a video and photo started making their rounds on social media showing a local influencer unlocking the trunk of his car revealing his Chow Chow dog inside. The video is also accompanied by a photo taken I’m assuming on a different day of the same dog dead in the bottom of a pool with the caption that he committed suicide. Stuffing a Chow Chow in the trunk of your car in this heat is obvious abuse and sharing a picture of your dog dead is just tasteless. What makes this situation critical is that he has nearly 700,000 followers. When his followers see that he stuffs his dog in trunk, they might think that’s something normal to do (which it’s not).

If you want to read more on this and check out the videos/pictures, you can do so [Here]

Update: I’m curious to see if there will be any repercussion from his advertisers. If something like this took place in the States, his advertisers would drop him. So I’d be interested to see if any of his current advertisers like Kuwait International Bank (KIB) will distance themselves from him.

Screenshot from Solo: A Star Wars Story

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

New This Weekend:
Nothing

Other Movies Showing Now:
A Quiet Place (8.4)
A Wrinkle in Time (4.2)
Armed Response (3.8)
Avengers: Infinity War (9.2) ♦
Interrogation (4.9) ♦
Life of the Party (4.6) ♦
Masha and the Bear (7.9)
Peter Rabbit (6.5)
Rampage (6.5)
Show Dogs (2.7)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
The Cured (5.5) ♦

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

Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (5.9)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Hurricane 3D (7.0)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (6.3)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.