2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

As most of you know by now, my obsession du jour is currently coffee, specifically lattes. I just started having them for the first time around 2 months back and I’ve been hooked ever since. Like everything I obsess over, I start really getting into, reading as much as I can and watching endless hours of videos until I know the subject inside out, and thats what I have been doing with coffee machines. Arabica had already passed me a small coffee machine to play around with, the Delonghi Magnifica S but I quickly grew out of it and wanted more. So I started doing a lot of research and had finally decided on the Breville Dual Boiler unit with the Smart Grinder Pro. Just to clear something up quickly, Breville is called Sage in the UK so the machine is listed on Amazon UK as the Sage Dual Boiler not Breville.

The reason I decided on the Breville Dual Boiler is because it would allow me to pull my espresso shot while at the same time I can steam the milk. That option was important for me since it would save me a lot of time and was a closer experience to the professional coffee machines. You would think pulling shots and steaming at the same time would be a common feature with these machines but they actually aren’t except in the higher end models. Coffee and steam both require different temperatures, so with single boiler units, you either pull your espresso shot first, then wait for the boiler to heat up to a higher temp so you can steam your milk or the other way around, you steam your milk and then wait for the water to cool down before pulling your espresso shot. With dual boiler units, one boiler is set at the correct temp for coffee, the other for steam and you can perform both tasks at the same time.

After finally deciding on my machine, I placed the order on Amazon UK and then posted the article on the blog on how you could order expensive appliances from Amazon UK and end up paying less than the listed UK price and get it shipped to your doorstep here in Kuwait. That night, like every night for the past few weeks I was watching random videos on youtube on coffee machines and I came across a video review of the Breville Oracle. I was a bit surprised because I thought the unit I was getting was there top of the line model but the Oracle was even a step above mine. The Dual Boiler didn’t have a built in coffee grinder so I was ordering the Smart Grinder Pro along with the unit but the Oracle had one built in. There was another Breville model that had a built in grinder called the Breville Express, but that unit had a single boiler and I didn’t know there was a dual boiler also with a built in grinder.

But the Oracle not only had a grinder and a dual boiler, but it also had a feature I hadn’t seen on any other machine during my research, it not only ground the beans, but it also filled up the portafilter with the correct amount of coffee and then tamped it (check the video I shot above). But that wasn’t the only trick up its sleeve, the Oracle also automatically steamed the milk for you but unlike most automatic steamers, the Oracle allowed you to set the temperature of the milk and generated micro-foams so you could create latte art. So I quickly headed to Amazon to check the price and it was around KD500 shipped to Kuwait, around KD100 more than the cost of the Dual Boiler and Smart Grinder Pro units I had ordered. The KD400 I was paying for my items was already more than I wanted to spend on an obsession I’ll probably be bored of in a months time, so I wasn’t going to pay even more for the Oracle.

Randomly, the next day, I get an email from my classified section. Every time someone posts an item for sale, I get an email informing me what the item is so I can make sure people aren’t selling anything inappropriate. The email I got that afternoon was informing me that someone was selling the Oracle in my classified section, it was in like new condition and he was asking KD250 for it. Right away I got in touch with the guy and asked him if he’d let it go for KD200, he agreed and I headed over 30 minutes later and picked up the machine. The guy turned out to be a reader of my blog and after reading about how you could order appliances from Amazon UK, had ordered his 6th coffee machine. Since he wasn’t using the Oracle, he decided to sell it which is how I ended up with the unit. Such a strange coincidence.

I’ve now had the Oracle for close to a week and I’m just so in love with it. Setting up the machine was fairly easy to do, the most important aspect you need to get right is dialing in how fine you want your beans to be ground. There are 65 levels to choose from but selecting the correct level is fairly easy with a bit of trial and error. With every espresso pull you should get around 20-25ml of espresso, if you get more than that you need to grind your beans finer, if you get less than that you need to grind your beans coarser. Once you set that the first time, as long as you continue to use the same beans you’ll get a consistent espresso pull every single time. I’m using the Arabica Blend of beans from Arabica and the coffee I’ve been producing is as good as the coffee I would get at their shop. I even stole a few empty cups from them so I could compare the volume I was making to theirs and I’ve basically nailed it now. I also experimented with 6 different kinds of milk before settling on the full fat Lactofree milk from Almarai. The steamer in the Oracle is so ridiculously good, I have the temperature set at 60 degrees which is when the milk is at its sweetest point and combined with the Lactofree milk I end up with such a deliciously sweet tasting milk. I’ve even been steaming milk for my hot chocolate and god damn the hot chocolates I am making are coming out so good.

Over the past week I’ve made a whole variety of coffees for friends from Americanos, Cappucinos, Lattes to straight up espresso shots, and everyone just thought it was the best shit ever. And it’s all because of the machine and the beans. Although I am physically at the machine making the coffee, I’m really not doing much, it’s the machine that is really doing all the work for me while making it look like I’m the amazing barista. I also don’t really have anything negative thing to say about the machine. I kinda wish I had more space on top of the machine for all my cups but thats a minor quibble. The machine also does go through a lot of coffee beans. 500 grams of beans make around 22 cups of coffee give or take. The Arabica Blend of beans I get is KD10 for 500 grams which means every espresso pull costs me around 450 fils. A liter of milk is 450 fils so add around 150 fils and each latte I make costs me roughly 600 fils. At Arabica it costs KD1.850 for a similar sized latte so I’m saving KD1.250 per cup when I make it at home. Since I paid only KD200 for my machine and I have 3 lattes a day, that means I’ll recoup the cost of the machine in less than 2 months time. Not a bad deal at all. Cleaning the machine is fairly easy, I’ve developed a routine I perform at the end of the night and it just takes around 5 minutes which is a small price to pay for great consistent coffee.

As you can tell from this post I love this machine and I can’t recommend it enough. I really wanted to dig into even more details about what makes this machine special but it would be too long of a post and I’d bore 90% of you talking about little things nobody really cares about. Instead if you want to find out even more about the machine then I’d recommend you watch [This Video] on Youtube, they give a great rundown of the machines features. I then suggest you head to Amazon UK and order one since this really is the only coffee machine you ever need [Link]

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Cereal Killer Cafe is a British franchise that serves over a 100 different kinds of cereals. It’s one of those places people tell you to visit after posting a picture on instagram showing that you’re in London and now they’re opening up in Kuwait. The cafe is going to be located in the same building as Arabica coffee in Kuwait City, just at the other end of the building. According to their instagram account @cerealkillercafekw, they will be opening before the end of this year so pretty soon.

Friday night a friend of mine sent me a video (watch it below) of a coffee shop which I assumed was in Dubai because of how big and pretty it looked. I was watching the video and in my head I was trying to figure out why he would send me a video of a coffee shop in Dubai. But, when I got to the end of the video, it turned out the coffee shop was called Majnoon Qahwa, was in Kuwait and had just opened up. So yesterday morning I headed with a friend of mine to check it out.

Majnoon Qahwa is actually a Jordanian brand and they’re located at The Spot, a new food complex opposite Messilah Beach. The place is pretty big, two floors and an outdoor terrace, the top floor has a bit of a sea view, lots of seating and even a small study area. The ground floor has a smaller seating area but a cozier one with two large coffee roasters at one end giving the space a slightly industrial feel.

We didn’t end up having any of their food, I just had a latte and a pain au chocolat. The latte was ok but the pain au chocolat was terrible, super dense and tasted more like a cake. Not sure how they got that wrong (Al Nata, you guys should hook them up with your stuff). But I really did love the space, the couch we were on was super comfy, the whole interior was beautifully lit up with daylight that came through golden Mashrabiyas and I loved the super high ceiling. Would I go back? Probably not since its out of my way but if I lived in the area then yeah for sure, I’d just skip the pain au chocolat next time.

Now if anyone wants to get the best teapots ever, for some odd reason they sell FORLIFE teapots at the place. They’re reasonably priced as well, around KD10 which is KD2 more expensive than Amazon. They’re really the best teapots, I love them and I personally have 4 different colored ones myself.

If you’re interested in checking the place out, here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @majnoon_qahwakw

A bunch of things taking place this weekend. The only one I’ll probably be going to is the Revive.Nine Popup thats taking place at the new Elevation Burger in AlSeif since I’m curious to see their new outdoor events space. Check out all of this weekends events below and if I missed anything let me know:

Thursday
Exhibition: Attraction
Play: Part of a Whole
Revive.Nine One Day Pop Up
The Divan’s Movie Night: Memento

Friday
Tai Chi in the Park
Breast Cancer Awareness Workshop
Good Game: Magic The Gathering
Quiz Night

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Discussion: How Literature Shapes the World
Pink Saturday Carnival

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 Cinescape and Grand Cinemas:

New This Week:
Inferno (7.1) ♦
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (7.7) 4DX Release

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Don’t Breathe (8.3) ♦
Lights Out (6.7)
Mechanic: Resurrection (6.5)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Snowden (6.2) ♦
Storks (7.2)
Sully (7.9)
Tank 432 (3.6)
The Disappointments Room (4.3) ♦
The Magnificent Seven (7.0) ★
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (5.1)

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

So usually before I actually sit down and write a post I start writing it in my head. I visualize everything and then I just sit down and type it out. So today I had the perfect plan, there is a new place that was serving matcha drinks and ice cream at the Mishref Coop. So I started planning my post in my head and decided I would pass by today, take a few shots, try out the ice cream and then come back home and write about it.

That plan turned out to be a complete fail since the matcha place turned out to be a popup and they had already left the Mishref location. But, since it’s a slow news day and this was going to be my second post for today, I decided I’m still going to go ahead and post it since it would still be informative.

The matcha place is called Matchadose and they serve a variety of matcha drinks and ice cream. As I mentioned they’re a popup so they move around from location to location. They should be announcing their next location soon so if you’re into matcha then you should check out their instagram account for updates @matchadose

Update: They’ll be popping up next at AUK on October 16th.

Between East & West: A Gulf

Kuwait is participating at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale which is the largest architecture show in the world. The Kuwait Pavilion is called ‘Between East & West: A Gulf’.

I had seen photos of the Kuwait Pavilion exhibit over the summer but didn’t post about it since I had difficulty understanding the exhibit myself and so would have trouble writing about it. But one of the architects involved in the project recently sent me the video above which made things a lot clearer so I decided to share it on my blog. If you can’t hear the audio in the video because you’re at work, here is the project description from their website:

Hundreds of islands dot the waters between the Arabian and Persian shores. An afterthought in the political maneuverings of their respective coasts, these islands tell an alternative narrative to the one which drives conceptions of the region. They represent a possibility greater than spaces of political contestation and hesitant demarcation. These islands are the sites of identity in formation, places of experimentation and architectural invention. Their historical roles were as varied as places of leisure, spirituality, planning, war, exile, and health. The island is an entity both isolated but also crucially connected through the waters of the Gulf, and thus not an exception to the national but the rule which defines it.

This year’s Kuwaiti pavilion looks beyond the shores of the country and argues in favor of a masterplan for a united Gulf. By presenting the untold history of the region and proposing an alternate future, the pavilion casts the hydrography as a singular entity of neither East nor West, but as an untapped archipelago which defined the region and offers the greatest possibility for its reconciliation.

What is unique about this exhibit is that it was conceived and executed by a fairly small and young team of architecture students and recent graduates. Here is a list of everyone that was involved and you can find their full bio on the pavilion website:

Commissioners: Zahra Ali Baba – National Council for Culture Arts and Letters / Kuwait (NCCAL)
Curators: Hamed Bukhamseen, Ali Karimi
Art Director / Graphic Designer: Fahad Alhunaif
Publication Coordinator / Editor: Muneerah Alrabe
Project Designers and Research Architects: Saphiya Abu Almaati, Shahab Albahar, Mai Albusairi, Nada Alqallaf, Rawan Alsaffar, Yousef Awaad Hussein
Financial Team: Mohammed Al Ajmi, Mohammed Al Jameel
Administrative Team: Abdullah Albeeshi (Head of team), Noora Al Musallam, Jaber Al Qallaf, Jassim Al Shamali.

The 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale opened up this past May and is running until November 27th. For more information and photos on the project, check out the Kuwait Pavilion website [Here]

So, last week we talked about the different venues around town where you’ll likely find music-centric events beginning to pop up as the season gets back into gear. The week before that we talked about birds a lot, but mostly only to highlight the local music releases which took place over the summer when said birds take time off from live performances to work on creating, producing and ultimately releasing new material. That’s also where I did the “it’s not ‘me’, it’s ‘you’” speech and asked you to go out and be part of the local music industry, and the fact that if a music industry were to not only exist in Kuwait, but thrive, it is only if the fans were to reciprocate. That brings us to this week.

This week I’d like to expand on that idea, to provide a more realistic approach to how you, the fans, can help start archiving this reality. Enter, #KuwaitMusicScene. What I would like to see happen with this hashtag is for people to start using it to tag any of their pictures/posts on social media that have to do with music in Kuwait, or musicians in Kuwait. That way, whether a fan or a musician new to the scene, all they’d have to do is look through the hashtag results and can get a pretty good idea of what our music scene has got going on. Although there have been other hashtags floating around in support of the local music scene, #SupportLocalMusic is a good example, #SupportLocalArtists is another, the problem these hashtags pose is that they’re too broad a spectrum. Yes, you’ll find artists from Kuwait, but you’ll also find artists from all over the world – everyone is ‘Local’ to someone. What using the word ‘Kuwait’ does is filter through all the ‘locals’ to bring you those local to Kuwait. It also means it increases our chances of, let’s say, someone looking up #KuwaitCars, to stumble upon #KuwaitMusicScene. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd, so this is our way of making sure we stick out. Now, lest we find ourselves with videos of exchange students documenting their homesickness and new-found love of Kuwaiti music, let’s lay some hashtag ground rules.

Rule no.1 – Only use #KuwaitMusicScene if an artist is performing in Kuwait; so not a musician from Kuwait, but rather in Kuwait. To put it simply, it is not your nationality that matters, but where your GPS locator says you are. This will help us create a musical archive of what’s going on here, in this time, in this space. Now, there’s actually a lot of space in this hashtag for inclusion. For starters, DJ’s – I do believe DJ’s should be included. I also believe local radio show hosts talking about music should be included because both of those still represent music action in Kuwait. The aim is to make this archive as big and as comprehensive as possible, and to show that there are big enough numbers to create a sustainable industry.

Rule no. 2 – #KuwaitMusicScene applies to more than just events open to the public. A lot goes on behind the scenes in the music industry; from rehearsals and jam sessions, to that one time the artist found the perfect spot in the hallway with killer acoustics and thought it necessary to document it on YouTube – hashtag it all. But, just like rule no. 1, let’s keep this within the borders of Kuwait. This is not a “You can’t sit with us” stance, but an attempt at keeping this archive consistent, and therefore relevant. So, I’m trusting you musicians with this responsibility.

So, if you’re an artist, take a moment and go back to your Instagram and Facebook posts and edit them to include the #KuwaitMusicScene hashtag. If you’re a fan, and maybe remember catching a live performance in the middle of the desert one time, look it up, hashtag it, and help us build this industry. Now here’s the part that’s even better, this doesn’t only go to serve “us”, the musicians and the fans, but event-organizers and event-promoters can benefit from this hashtag when it comes time to market shows which feature some aspect of local music. That way, by the time you get to your weekend, and are looking to see what music is out there, or which musicians are performing, all you’d have to do is look up #KuwaitMusicScene and that would hopefully generate a pretty good, up-to-date response for you to sift through.

Here is a good example of A Lebanese musician that performs and records his blues music in Kuwait.

Instagram: @Bluesman81

Now that I’ve laid out my hypothesis, it’s time to experiment. The end of this month, October 28th to be precise, brings us one of the coolest music events of the season – brought to us by Kuwait Rising, hosted by Zahed Sultan with the support of Red Bull, it will feature incredible artists for all over the Middle East. So, if you attend this event, which I absolutely think you should, please take the opportunity to use the #KuwaitMusicScene hashtag along with, what I’m sure is already an existing hashtag, #KuwaitRising.

Here is the link to the [Event]

And, finally, just in case you missed it, Dar Al-athar has already started their music season, and just last week hosted an Arabic-style Flaminco event. If you were there, and have some pictures or videos you plan to share, or have already shared, I ask that you take the time to hashtag them, as well.

Also they have an open call for musicians check their instagram @dai_kuwait and the following [Link]

If anyone out there has a better idea or a more constructive perspective on hashtags in the social media world, please comment below and share your thoughts.

Peace, Love and Music

Post by Amin FARI
Are you a musician looking to perform? On the flipside, are you a host looking for musicians to book? Or maybe you’ve just got an awesome idea you’d like to share? Get in touch [email protected] / Instagram: @xxmrfarixx

I’ve been wanting to post about the Kuwait Business Center ever since I got involved in the project back in April, but I couldn’t since the project was still under wraps and when it soft launched in May, there were still a few kinks that were being worked out. But, a couple of weeks ago the Ministry of Commerce and Industry officially launched the Kuwait Business Center which is why I decided now would be the best time to write about it.

Anyone who has tried to start a business in Kuwait knows how much running around is needed. Literally. I have a friend who was opening a business and according to his iPhone, he covered the distance of 5KM just running around getting paperwork signed and stamped from one person to the next. KBC is solving all of this by shifting everything online and automating the process while also setting up a one stop shop located in Ishbilia. Now all you need to do is visit their website, apply for your company online and then once everything is approved, you head over to the KBC office in Ishbilia and get everything finalized there. Just 1 visit and just 4 days to issue a license compared to over a month and lots of running around with the old fashioned way.

There are a bunch of other benefits which I’m not sure if they’ve implemented yet or not since the information on the website is all in Arabic. But one new feature I was told about back in April was that small businesses no longer needed to rent an office space so they could get a license, instead they could now use a PO Box which would help keep their overheads low.

So if you’re planning on starting a new business, check out the Kuwait Business Center website [Here]

I was only made aware of this recently by a friend. We were talking about coffee machines and he suggested I order one from Amazon UK and have them ship it directly to Kuwait without using a forwarding mailbox (Amazon ships some items abroad). I told him shipping would be too expensive and wouldn’t be worth it. He then told me that when you ship stuff directly to Kuwait with Amazon UK, they remove the 20% VAT during check out. So I added a few items to my cart and tried to check out and he was right.

Once Amazon removes the 20% VAT and add the international shipping cost to Kuwait, the price basically evens out and you end up paying no shipping or next to nothing for shipping when compared to the original listed price. So you could buy stuff from the UK and get it delivered to you in Kuwait for a cost less than if you lived in the UK and bought it yourself over there. Here are some examples to make this clearer:

Sage Dual Boiler Coffee Machine
Listed Price: KD 382
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 368

Sage Smart Grinder Pro
Listed Price: KD 70
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 77

Xbox One S FIFA 17 Bundle (500GB)
Listed Price: KD 94
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 93

Vitamix Standard Blender (Certified Refurbished)
Listed Price: KD 123
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 127

So as you can see from above this works better when the item is expensive since the 20% VAT would be worth more than the cost of shipping the item to Kuwait. The items would be shipped using AmazonGlobal Priority which uses one of Amazon’s shipping partners like DHL or UPS. The items would be delivered to your door in Kuwait in around a weeks time. The voltage in the UK is also similar to Kuwait so you won’t need power transformers or anything of the sort. So if you’re looking for an item that you can’t find in Kuwait or you’ve found it but is too expensive, try finding it on Amazon UK, it might come out to be a pretty good deal.

Update: One thing to add, the “Price shipped to Kuwait” includes an “Import Fees Deposit”. Basically the customs fee for importing the item into Kuwait. Once your package gets delivered, Amazon will refund you either the full deposit or partial amount from the deposit. So the actual price you pay is even cheaper than what I have listed above

I stopped using Netflix awhile back since the US version stopped working with my DNS Proxy provider and the Kuwait version lacked all the real estate reality shows I enjoy watching (like Beachfront Bargain Hunt). But recently, my DNS provider Smart DNS Proxy fixed the issue and Netflix US has started working again in Kuwait. According to their support page dating September 30th:

We have restored Netflix for many of our users and are working on getting everyone back ASAP. If you see a “United States 01-10” region here, give it a try! Browsers should work without any other changes, devices may need static routes setup.

So there you have it, if you want to use the US version of Netflix in Kuwait you can now do so again. It’s $4.99 a month for the proxy account and you can get it [Link]

Update: There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding Netflix US vs Netflix Kuwait. If you aren’t using a proxy, then you’re accessing Netflix Kuwait. It doesn’t matter if you have a Netflix US account with a US credit card, if you’re in Kuwait you’ll automatically access Netflix Kuwait. Netflix Kuwait and Netflix US look exactly the same, but the Netflix Kuwait library is a lot smaller. Here is a simple test to tell which Netflix you have. Search for the show “Lakefront Bargain Hunt”. If you have Netflix US it will show up, if you have Netflix Kuwait it will tell you not found.

BitOasis, the UAE based Bitcoin exchange backed by the DCG (Digital Currency Group) out of New York have now added support for KNET and exchanging bitcoin into Kuwaiti Dinars.

Bitcoin has many benefits and is considered by many the future of currency. Some of the advantages of Bitcoin include anonymity during purchase, meaning there is no digital trace linking a person to a transaction, similar to when paying for an item in cash. Another advantage is that nobody owns Bitcoin, not an individual, not a company, not a government, bank or any other financial institute. This means no one can freeze your account, take any money from it or stop you from performing transactions.

If you’re interested, check out the BitOasis website [Here]

Thanks Abdullateef