2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

BBC posted a short video (watch above) on a team of European and Arab women who are trekking to the North Pole. One of the woman taking part in this trek is Lamees Nijem, a Kuwaiti who applied to be part of this adventure and got accepted. To prepare for the trip Lamees went on three training trips, one in Oman and two in Iceland. The trainings covered the basics of cross-country skiing, pulling sleds, sharing a tent with 3 other people and dealing with cold weather and extreme climate conditions such as snowstorms and very low temperature.

The main purpose of this expedition is to foster greater dialogue and understanding between women from Western and Arabian cultures. The team consists of 11 women that represent the countries of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Cyprus, Kuwait, France, Oman, Qatar, Slovenia, Russia and the UK. For more information you can check out the expedition web site [Here] or follow them on instagram @northpole2018

While in LA I picked up a Google Home Mini and a pair of Amazon Echo Dots. They’re voice-controlled devices which I’ve now placed around my apartment so I could write up a comparison review for the blog. A few days in and I’ve already started developing an opinion on them but I wanted to know if there was anything specific you guys wanted me to try or if there was anything you wanted to find out in regards to both these devices. Traffic updates for Kuwait work with the Google Home device for example but doesn’t work on the Echo.

A bunch of musical events taking place this weekend, check them out below. If I missed anything post it in the comments below:

Thursday
Live Music: Caracal Eyes
The Divan’s Movie Night: Human
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Lady Bird
Music: Yousif Yaseen
Theater: The Tempest
Concert: Autostrad

Friday
Rise Up: and Make a Difference
Reach The Beach

Saturday
Guided Tour: The Grand Mosque
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Your Name

Sunday
The Zaid Nasser Jazz Quartet

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 Rampage

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Beast of Burden (3.6)
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (6.8)
Rampage (6.5)
Submergence (5.8)
Stolen princess: Ruslan and Ludmila (7.8)

Other Movies Showing:
A Quiet Place (8.4)
Acts of Violence (5.1) ♦
In Extremis (7.1)
Peter Rabbit (6.5)
Ready Player One (8.1)
The Hurricane Heist (4.8)
Tomb Raider (7.3)
You Were Never Really Here (7.5) ♦

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
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.

In a bid to maintain Kuwait’s beauty, the Kuwait municipality is now imposing a fine of up to KD300 if you’re found drying your clothes on your balcony. This law doesn’t affect me since I don’t hang my clothes on the balcony anyway, but from all the issues we have, this is the one the municipality wants to fix?

How about the overflowing garbage bins in Salmiya? I would think overflowing garbage bins have a bigger impact on visual pollution as well as hygiene when compared to people hanging laundry on their balcony. Like seriously… [Article 1] [Article 2]

Top photo via Arab Times

After a number of delays, the new Al Kout Mall is finally set to open next Monday, April 16th. The new Al Kout Mall is replacing Al Manshar Mall which was torn down back in 2013. The Al Kout Mall website has also been updated with all the shops and restaurants that will be opening there. To check out the list visit alkout.com. Their instagram is @alkoutmall

With Al Kout Mall opening its doors next week and Avenues Phase 4 complete, the next big mall to open up is Assima in Kuwait City which is expected to be ready by Q3 2019.

My favorite two places to drive in are Lebanon and LA. Two very different places, but both have super laid back law enforcement, well in Lebanon’s case, no law enforcement. It’s so chill driving here, the highways are huge and there are so many great roads. But most importantly, as long as you’re not driving like an asshole, the cops don’t bother you. In Kuwait, on the other hand, I’m constantly looking in my rearview mirror hoping there isn’t a cop around me that will stop me for no reason. And I’m serious about the no reason part.

A few weeks back I was in a multistory parking lot and was having a conversation with a friend who ordered a Lotus similar to mine. I was joking around telling him good luck with the cops since they’re gonna stop him all the time once he gets the car. Two minutes later I pull out of the parking lot and just as I do, a cop car asks me to pull over. I’m not exaggerating I had literally just driven out of the parking lot. So I pull over and I’m sitting there in my car, the cop walks up to my window and I’m like “Hi”. The cop is like “Go”. I’m sitting there like wtf, why did you pull me over then?!?

So yeah, I’m loving driving in LA and I really wish I had my car here.

Formula 1 and UFC are the only two sports I watch on TV and with both I’m always surprised by how small the following in Kuwait is. With F1 I kind of understand why nobody in Kuwait cares for it but I can’t seem to understand why UFC isn’t more popular. It’s one of the fastest growing sports, it’s full of action as well as drama and its extremely entertaining. The past 24 hours have been pretty much insane in the UFC world with four fights being taken off the big UFC 223 fight card that’s taking place Saturday night, Conor got arrested and spent a night in prison for causing mayhem after a press conference, and the main headline fight has yet to be determined after two fighters had to pull out!

So much drama taking place and I only know of four other people in Kuwait who watch the UFC and I can discuss this with! So if any of you are UFC fans, let me know in the comments, I’m kinda curious to see if any UFC fans follow the blog.

Screenshot from You Were Never Really Here

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
A Quiet Place (8.4)
Acts of Violence (5.1) ♦
I Kill Giants (6.6)
In Extremis (7.1)
You Were Never Really Here (7.5) ♦

Other Movies Showing:
Beyond the Edge (6.2)
Black Panther (7.2)
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (7.2)
Pacific Rim: Uprising (6.2)
Peter Rabbit (6.5)
Ready Player One (8.1)
Red Sparrow (6.8) ♦
The Hurricane Heist (4.8)
The Strangers: Prey at Night (5.9)
Tomb Raider (7.3)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
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.

I haven’t flown out of the main Kuwait Airport for awhile so not sure how long it’s been like this, but the long-term parking lot is no longer a mess. They’ve got new private security firm running the lot now and they can’t be bullied into letting you in. So you no longer have cars parked all over the sides of the lot illegally, nor do you have cars parked on walkways. Last year the Civil Authority banned illegal parking and it seems like they had to hire a private security firm to maintain the discipline.

Since we’re on the subject of the airport, I spotted the self check-in kiosks above around the airport. Currently, they only work with Turkish Airlines, but I’m guessing eventually they will be compatible with more airlines. I always found it odd that we didn’t have self check-in counters at the airport, but better late than never.

I’m heading to LA and San Fransisco for a few days so expect me to either not post at all in the upcoming days, or if I do post it will be at odd hours. Everything should get back to normal once I’m back next week.

Lord Curzon and his staff being carried ashore to be welcomed by the Sheikh November, 1903

I just found out about the Bridgeman photo library a short while ago and going through it I spotted a bunch of interesting photos of Kuwait I had never seen before. I’ve included some of my favorites in this post along with their captions.

Kuwaiti man holding a kid on the leash on a pavement. Kuwait City, December 1956

Kuwaiti woman entirely covered by her dress selling chickens in the street. Kuwait City, December 1956

Kuwaiti woman with a veil on her face holding her son in front of the cages containing birds on sale.

Check out more old photos of Kuwait by clicking [Here]

Eduqate describes itself as “an educational archive that encourages culturists and liberal arts students in the GCC to become exposed to readings in the topics of culture and identity”. Basically, Eduqate is about nostalgia and specifically nostalgia related to the GCC.

The project just recently launched but already I’ve been finding the content fascinating and informative. So if you love nostalgia (and who doesn’t), check out their website eduqate.org or follow them on instagram @eduqate

A reader sent me the email below letting me know that the kiosk I spotted at the ASCC museums last week has now been removed!

Dear Mark,

Thanks for the post about the kiosk in ASCC. Last week I contacted an executive at the Amiri Diwan and forwarded the picture of the kiosk that you posted on the blog. He was surprised by the grotesqueness of the stand and instantly contacted the person in charge of the project. From what I hear, the stand has now been removed (thank god).

Thank you for keeping us aware.

Best Regards