2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Someone tagged me on this short video the other day that shows parts of the ice skating rink arcade area during the early 90s. If you used to hang out at the ice skating rink back then like I did, then you’ll appreciate this.

On more than one occasion I’ve been asked if I know a place that sells Swarovski crystals, usually by girls who might have had a crystal element fall off their shoe, purse or some other kind of accessory. I’ve previously sent them to Barakat but because they don’t have that big of a collection of elements, the girls usually don’t find what they’re looking for.

Yesterday I was heading from my gym to MEAT by foot and spotted this small place with jars on display in the window. I was curious so I got closer but I still couldn’t really tell what was inside the jars, so I walked into the shop to get a closer look. Turns out the shop was covered in these jars and inside each one were different kinds of Swarovski crystals. It was just a shop dedicated to selling Swarovski crystals.

So if you ever need any crystals to replace ones that have fallen off, you probably won’t find a place in Kuwait with a larger collection than this place. The shop is located behind Crystal Tower in Kuwait City [Google Maps] and their phone number is 22419172.

Starting from next month, Qout Market will be starting back up again and go on until March. Last year Qout Market took place at Al Shaheed Park Phase I and this year its going to take place at Al Shaheed Park again, but this time around, it’s going to be in Phase II next to the musical fountain. The first Qout Market should take place on Saturday, December 2nd.

To stay posted on the upcoming markets, you can follow Qout on instagram @qoutmarket

Am I the only one in Kuwait who didn’t feel the earthquake. A short while ago my phone and twitter blew up asking me if I had felt the earthquake. I didn’t! I was shopping with a friend at Wholesome Foods when the earthquake hit and neither me nor my friend felt anything. So weird, I feel like I’ve totally missed out!

If you’re a regular at the coffee shop Arabica, you might have noticed an American barista working there a few months ago called Anna. She was here temporarily as part of a barista exchange program, and after she went back to Japan she wrote about her experiences in Kuwait. You can check out the quick Q&A [Here]

The Staged in Kuwait IMPROV Comedy Night is back this Thursday with a show titled “Back with IMPROVengeance”. Their improv nights are one of the best kept secrets in Kuwait (well at least were a secret) and is by far my favorite comedy show in Kuwait. I actually try to go to everyone of them and have been going to them for the past 3 years.

If you’ve never been to any of their shows I highly recommend you do so. For the event flyer and link to tickets, click [Here]

Last month I posted that the UFC Gym would be opening up at Assima Mall, but since then Assima have announced that a few other brands will also be opening there.

The upmarket French department store Galeries Lafayette, the French retail chain Monoprix and the National Geographic store are three new brands that will be opening at Assima. The Assima project is located in Kuwait City across from KIPCO Tower and is expected to be completed in 2019.

For more information on Assima, you can visit their website [Here]

Thanks Zaydoun

The weekend events are starting to pick up again with a ton of stuff taking place over the next few days. Check out the list below for some of the most interesting events taking place around Kuwait:

Thursday
Exhibition: The Box
Exhibition: Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Live Music: Be Cafe Opening
Live Music: Armored Groove
Movie Night: The Founder
Barba Private Dinner: Sleepy Hollow

Friday
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Live Music: The Afterthought

Saturday
Run Kuwait
Arts & Crafts Decopatch
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
KTAA Winter Bazaar
Beach Cleanup
Chess & Backgammon
Live Music: The Bandaids

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.

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

New This Week:
An Ordinary Man (5.0)
Murder on the Orient Express (6.7)
On Wings of Eagles (6.9)
Thank You for Your Service (6.5) ♦
The Giant King (5.6)

Other Movies Showing:
24 Hours to Live (6.2)
6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (5.6) ♦
Geostorm (6.9)
Jigsaw (8.4)
Only the Brave (8.1)
Suburbicon (4.7) ♦
The Foreigner (7.5) ♦
The LEGO Ninjago Movie (6.8)
The Little Vampire (5.7)
Thor: Ragnarok (8.2)
Victoria and Abdul (6.1)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
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.

Actor and strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who plays the role of “The Mountain” in the series Game of Thrones is going to be in Kuwait this month. The Mountain is one of the guests taking part in the IGN Convention thats being held at the Kuwait International Fairground. For more information on the event, click [Here]

I’m a big fan of ecommerce websites especially local ones since there aren’t that many of them. My Athath is a new one thats just soft launching today and focuses on furniture and home accessories.

What I liked about My Athath is the style of the furniture thats currently on there for sale, most of which I wouldn’t mind having at my place. They currently have 13 brands at launch, a mixture between local and international ones with the aim to have a lot more added soon. Personally I hope the furniture is curated in some sort of capacity so the website doesn’t become overwhelming to just randomly browse through with too many items. The way it is right now everything on there is pretty much hot except for the Coleman items which seem out of place.

So if you want to check it out you can visit it by going to myathath.com

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article in Bidoun magazine on the history of The Sultan Gallery and the art scene back in the 1970s. I already knew the gallery had an interesting history and I remember I wanted to post about it but I don’t know why I never did.

If you’re into art or historical articles on Kuwait, then you’ll definitely like this article. [Link]

Last night I passed by the 47th Palestinian Heritage Exhibition thats organized by the Palestinian Culture Center. If like me you hadn’t heard of the center before, here is a little brief they emailed me:

The Palestinian Culture Center aims to support needy families and preserve the rich and vibrant culture of Palestine. It does this by encouraging ladies to continue a beautiful handicraft, embroidery, which has been in Palestine for hundreds of years and ensuring that the tradition is carried on to the younger generation.

The Center has been in operation since the early 1970’s in Kuwait and then moved to Jordan after 1990. Today, the PCC, has over 450 women from the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan working on these beautiful pieces. For these women, the payment they receive is a great support for their families. The PCC also aims at supporting education and helps various schools and education programs in Palestine as well as needy families.

As a charity organization we use a simple rule in all our pricing. Thirty-three percent of the sale cost of an item is given to the woman that produces the work, thirty-three percent goes towards covering the cost of the item, and the remaining amount is distributed to schools, orphanages and needy families mostly in Palestine.

The exhibition turned out to be pretty interesting with a lot of handicraft and embroidery available to purchase. I got a little bit of a tour by one of the organizers because I really didn’t know much about Palestinian culture. One of the interesting things I learned was that the traditional Palestinian patterns used in embroidery are actually inspired by nature. It’s basically nature turned into abstract geometric shapes. Also back in the day, embroidery was important for Palestinian women because it was a way for them to attract eligible bachelors since they would make their dresses themselves.

Other than handicraft and embroidery, the exhibition also has artwork, books, jewelry and food for sale. So if you’re interested in checking the exhibition out, it’s running till this Thursday. For more information you can check out the event page [Here] or their instagram account @palestiniancc