Categories
Information

Kuwait Olympic Village is a Go

The first time I heard about this project was back in 2011 but it looks like it got approved and is going to be constructed since it’s currently in a tendering stage.

The Kuwait Olympic Village development comprises a Stadium, Team Games Hall, Individual Games Hall, Racquet Games Hall, Swimming Complex, Training Field & Track, International Zone, Athletes Residential Block, Mosque, Olympic Flame Tower, Concourse and Existing Substation.

So many cool projects are coming to life, the metro project is also supposed to start construction this year, I hope thats still happening. For more renderings of the Kuwait Olympic Village, click [Here]

Thanks Mohamed




Categories
Events

Buy Tickets to the CATS Broadway Show

The popular CATS Broadway show is coming to Kuwait next month to hold shows from February 9th to February 12th at the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre. Tickets just went on sale and start at a reasonable KD40 KD20 and go up to KD120. So if you’re interested in going, get your tickets now before they sell out from [Here]

Update: Tickets actually start from KD20 (matinee show)




Categories
Information

Free Food for People Who Need it

re:food is a local humanitarian non-profit initiative, with the basic concept to salvage near-expiry and excess food from the local food and beverage industry, and then redistribute it around Kuwait to people who need it for free. Usually, these food items are either categorized as waste so they go directly to incinerators and landfills, or to secondary markets where they sell near-expiry goods.

When they first started, beneficiaries were originally found by scouting different areas, talking to people and giving them goods to build off trust. Then once word of mouth got around to what they were doing, individuals started heading to the re:food website to register to get food. The re:food beneficiaries are a diverse group of people that include Arabs, Bedouns, and Asians.

If you’d like to find out more about re:food or you’d like to volunteer, then visit their [Website]




Categories
Apple

MacBook Pro Touch Bar Update

When I posted my MacBook Pro review a couple of weeks back I mentioned that the Touch Bar was still new and people were still trying to figure out what it could be useful for. Well I think people are starting to figure it out. One thing I found out since I published that post was that the app BetterTouchTool supported the Touch Bar. I already had BetterTouchTool installed and had been using it for years because it allowed me to customize my trackpad gestures. Now it also allows you to customize the Touch Bar which is useful because some apps like Chrome don’t support the Touch Bar yet.

So using BetterTouchTool I started creating useful buttons for the Touch Bar I could use when in Chrome. Then the developer added the ability to display the date and battery life time remaining information in the Touch Bar. When he did that I realized it would be super useful if I could display my Spotify track names in the Touch Bar while I was browsing in Chrome. So I contacted the developer and requested that feature and sure enough, a few days later, BetterTouchTool got the ability to display what track was playing in the Touch Bar. The picture on top is of my current Chrome Touch Bar setup, I have a button to take me in and out of full screen mode, a button to view my download list, a button for incognito mode, a track play/forward button, track/artist name display area plus my battery remaining time which Apple doesn’t allow you to view anymore by default.

People are still creating interesting stuff for the Touch Bar, one guy for example created a translator, whenever you highlight a word or phrase in the browser, it would automatically translate that text and display it to you in your Touch Bar using a predefined language of your choice. There are also a ton of fun/silly/useless things you could do to the Touch Bar like displaying an infinite loop of Nyan Cat or turn your Touch Bar into Kitt from Knight Rider. You could even install an app that would turn the Touch Bar into a piano or play a game of Pong using the Touch Bar to control the rudder. You can check them all out in the video above.

So yeah, looks like the Touch Bar is getting more and more interesting. If you have the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar, make sure you install BetterTouchTool so you could customize things the way you want.




Categories
Food & Drinks Information

Bonchon Chicken Opening in Kuwait

Bonchon Chicken is a popular Korean fried chicken and wings restaurant and it’s opening in Kuwait soon. They’ve got locations mostly in Asia but they do have branches in New York and Bahrain as well.

I’ve never eaten there but a friend has and told me their fried chicken is really good so now I’m curious to try it out. They’re opening at the new Dhai Complex in Bida’a which I thought was a sort of a high end food complex so that location choice seems a bit odd. I don’t know when they’re opening exactly so if you do, let me know in the comments below.

Update: According to a reader they might be opening end of February.




Categories
Food & Drinks Information

What’s in Argan Square?

The Argan Square project is located in Salmiya right across from AUK and is nearly complete and will be opening soon. Below is a list of brands that will be located there:

12 Chutneys (Indian Restaurant)
American Copy Center (Print Shop)
Ananas (Juices and Smoothies by Ubon guys)
Arabica (Coffee Shop)
Backyard (Restaurant)
Bean to Bar (Chocolates)
Big Smoke Burger (Burgers)
Bowl’d (Acai bowls)
Caribou (Coffee Shop)
Coffee Masters ME (Coffe Shop)
Diet Center (Pick Up & Go)
ICAF (Coffee Shop)
MANA (Mediterranean Restaurant by Ubon guys)
Muscle Maker Grill (Restaurant)
Rockhouse Slider (Burgers)
Scoop-a-cone (Ice Cream)
Ubon (Thai Restaurant)
WH Smith (Bookshop)

Since I live in Salmiya, from the list above I have to say I’m looking forward mostly to Ubon, Arabica and 12 Chutneys opening up in the area.




Categories
Events Things to do

Things to do in Kuwait this Weekend

Lots of events taking place this weekend, so make sure you check out the list below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Until – Ghadah Alkandari
Exhibition: KRM – Four Hands
Mexican Guitarist – Paco Renteria
Five: Open Mic Night
The Divan’s Movie Night: I Origins
Bloody Funny – Standup Comedy Show
Movie Night at the Park: A Seperation

Friday
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Takaya Market
The Meeting Point *canceled due to bad weather*
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Book-Club Meeting: Kuwait Bibliophiles
Music Nights & Burgers
Salwa- Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Royal Britannia Kindergarten Open Day
Bootcamp by One2One
Takaya Market
Remedy Carnival
Guided Tour: Landmarks of Old Kuwait City
Pavilion at the Park Opening Ceremony
Workshop: Making Comics
Blend of Balance
DAI Family Day Music Fest
Madeenah Tour: Salem Al Mubarak St.
Weaving & Yarn Crafts at The Secret Garden
Music Night with Waleed & Balqees

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.




Categories
Movies

Movies Now Showing in Kuwait

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

New This Week:
Monster Trucks (5.4)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (7.0)
The Bye Bye Man (3.8)
WEAPONiZED (4.5)

Other Movies Showing:
A Monster Calls (7.8)
Ballerina (6.8)
Hacksaw Ridge (8.8)
La La Land (8.9) ♦
Moana (8.2)
Passengers (6.7) ♦
Patriots Day (7.2)
Sing (7.3)
Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania (N/A)
The Great Wall (6.0)
Within (5.3)
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (5.6) ♦

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

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




Categories
Personal Technology

Kuwait’s Bermuda Triangle

A couple of weekends back I went camping in the desert and nearly got completely lost on the way there. I usually go camping with a friend of mine in this secluded area around an hour plus drive into the desert from Al Salmi. This time around my friend headed into the desert first since I had some errands I needed to get done during the day and then headed into the desert in the afternoon. The whole journey takes around two hours from Salmiya so by the time I got close to camp it was dark and I couldn’t see anything except the road in front of me. I had Google Maps coordinates of our camp site on my phone and was following it without issues until I hit what I think must have been Kuwait’s Bermuda Triangle.

As I got close to our camping spot my phone just started messing up. I’d be driving towards my blue dot on Google Maps and then 15 minutes later the map suddenly rotates and so now the blue dot is behind me. So I’d turn the car around and head the other way, 20 minutes later the map rotates again and now the blue dot is on my right instead of straight ahead. It did this a couple of more times before I realized I was driving around in circles wasting precious fuel in the empty desert and completely lost. I was about to give up and just camp in this random spot in the middle of nowhere until the sun comes up when I remembered I had a little Garmin eTrex 20 in the trunk with my camping gear.

I had bought the Garmin for exactly this situation, to use if I ever get lost when hiking or camping. So I dug it out of my gear, turned it on, entered the coordinates of my campsite and right away the Garmin pointed me to the right direction. I was so off course I had to drive another 30 minutes to get to camp. Moral of the story? If you’re ever heading into the desert don’t rely on your phone for navigation. Instead, invest in a dedicated GPS device since it could save your ass one day.




Categories
50s to 90s

Photos of When Buffalo Bill’s Came to Kuwait in 1986

When I was a kid I remember visiting the Buffalo Bill’s show that (I believe) was held at the Mishref Fairgrounds. I posted about it a few years back asking if anyone remembered it and not many people did. None of my friends remember it either but, the internet is amazing sometimes and a few days ago one of the Buffalo Bill’s performers who came to Kuwait in 86 sent me a few pictures of when they were in Kuwait. He was 24 at that time and he’s still got more pictures which he’s going to send but for now here are three.

Their setup was pretty legit so I imagine they were here for some time and not just for a few shows. Kinda like when a circus would come into town. You’ll also notice a number of brands in the background including Hungry Bunny, Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Alghanim Philips (now Xcite) and KNPC.

Thanks BgC!




Categories
Food & Drinks Gossip & Rumors

Talks to Bring Pret a Manger to Kuwait

According to a source, Al Yasra are in talks to try and bring Pret a Manger to Kuwait. Pret is already available in the UAE and so it would make sense to expand around the region. I always used to wonder where one would open a Pret in Kuwait since it works well in an area with some foot traffic that isn’t a mall. Now With all the coffee shops in the city creating a bit of foot traffic, that might actually be a great location for a Pret especially since its surrounded by office buildings as well.




Categories
Shopping

What mail forwarding company are you currently using?

None of the shipping companies are consistent so every few months I like to check and see which one of them is currently performing better.

I’ve been using MyBox exclusively for the past few months and they’ve been so slow that I might end up moving back to Shop & Ship if they’re doing better. Some examples of my recent shipments:

MacBook Pro (21 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on December 14th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 4th

Sneakers (11 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on December 28th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 8th

Laptop Case (13 Days)
– Arrived to MyBox on January 13th
– Delivered to me in Kuwait on January 26th

So what US mail forwarding company are you guys currently using and whats the average time it taking to get your items delivered to Kuwait from the US?




Categories
Information Kuwait

Kuwait Weather – January 2017 vs Previous Years

It’s been super warm all January during the daytime, I’m in a t-shirt most of the time and at night I even have the air conditioning on when I go to sleep. It feels like the warmest January ever but I just went through the Kuwait weather history on wunderground.com, and it turns out it’s just an average Kuwait January. The coldest January in the past 10 years was in 2009 and the warmest was in 2010.




Categories
Videos

Grendizer Returns… to Kuwait

Mubarak Almubarak is a Kuwaiti director who I’ve actually posted about before since he’s also a special effects artist and a pretty good one. His previous short film I posted was called “My Life” which I’ve gone ahead and embedded again below. I loved that short film because the crumbling and destroyed Kuwait City landscape reminded me of a scene from the movie “I Am Legend”.

Well Mubarak is back with another short this time featuring our favorite Japanese super robot, Grendizer. In the short film which I’ve shared above, you’ll see a destroyed Kuwaiti neighborhood as well as a bunch of short robot battle scenes that takes place in the middle of Kuwait City.

According to Mubarak he’s going to start working on a bunch of new fun personal projects and fan films and he’s starting off with this one. I love it, makes me wish it was a much longer film. His production house by the way is called [NGU Productions]

My life (Spec ad) from Mubarak Almubarak on Vimeo.




Categories
People Sneakers

Unique Hype Lifestyle Boutique

Unique Hype is a lifestyle instagram account that sells and trades in deadstock sneakers and streetwear. The account belongs to Mohsen, a Kuwaiti student currently residing in LA who wants to remain anonymous which is why I’m only sharing his first name. I found out about him around a year ago when he first started, back then he had less than 2,000 followers and today its over 20,000. Mohsen is a sneakerhead who is in the business of deadstock sneakers and streetwear, which basically means sold out items that you can no longer find in retail (like Yeezys). I personally source my own sneakers but sometimes I get stuck and thats when I contact Mohsen who usually can source them for me, like I’m currently looking for size US11 SoleBox UltraBOOST and he’s trying to find me a pair.

I asked Mohsen how he started and turns out it was out of necessity. Growing up he was always into sneakers and when he moved to the States to study, he started lining up outside shops whenever there were any big releases. But with big releases and limited quantity, once its your turn and they don’t have your size, you end up picking up any size available. And thats what Mohsen ended up doing, he’d line up for hours and then end up with a pair that weren’t his size, so he set up @uniquehypekw to start selling those pairs. Overtime the more he lined up the more connections he made and the more he bought, sold or traded. He started meeting people in line, like other resellers or kids who just stood in line to make a quick $30 or $40 selling the pairs. So Mohsen started making deals with these kids, instead of standing in line himself, he’d get in touch with these kids, offer to give them their cut if they’d buy the sneakers for him. He also started dealing with the other resellers and every now and then one would call him up whenever they needed to unload on a large batch of items. So one guy would call him up and be like hey, I’ve got 10 pairs of Yeezy 350’s if you want them, and Mohsen would have to agree to buy all 10 at an agreed price. The more he did it, the more popular he became as a seller and the more connections he made.

I personally find all this really fascinating obviously since I’m into sneakers but Mohsen has also saved me a lot of headache. Friends and strangers contact me all the time asking me how they could get a pair Yeezys and instead of me trying to find a pair for them or show them how to go about finding stuff, I just send them over to him. I’m actually waiting on my pair of OG NMD’s which he’ll be delivering to me later tonight. So if you’re ever looking to grab a pair of difficult to find sneakers or even sold out clothing like Supreme, Anti Social Social Club or whatever, try him out. He’s also willing to buy or trade with you in case you’ve got something he wants. [@uniquehypekw]