2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Looks like all my posts today will be car related which I guess is appropriate since theres a Formula 1 race taking place today. There are renderings of a Kuwait racetrack that are being circulated on whatsapp, supposedly of the proposed Kuwait International Circuit. The following text is attached with the images:

تم اعتماد حلبة الكويت الدولية كحلبة للجائزة الكبرى GP للفورمولا ون.
موقعها بيكون على جون الكويت بالقرب من محطة الدوحة للكهرباء. طولها 6.3 كيلو وتتكون من اربع مسارات:
GP Track
West Track
East Track
Outter Track
تتكون من 20 كورنر في الGP
نقطتين DRS
وبتكون عكس عقارب الساعه.
تتضمن مجموعه من المنعطفات التتسلسله ذات التقنيه العاليه..
جميله هذي الحلبه.. بإذن الله نشوفها قريب..

The Arabic text basically talks about the location of the circuit which will be near the Doha power station and the different specs of the race track. Sadly though, these renderings aren’t official nor is the information. This track design was actually done by a Reddit user who goes by the handle Cssnsm and who just likes creating race circuits for fun. In fact, you can check out his original post of this circuit along with a fictional story he created to go along with it [Here]

If you just want to see the renderings, here is the [Link]

I hope we do actually get a race circuit some day, last year a circuit design was finalized and presented to proper authorities for approval but since then haven’t heard anything about it.

Update: A contact just passed me a video of Kuwait Motor Town which supposededly is set to start construction in September. I couldn’t find any information on this online other than this video so not sure how accurate this information is.

Lots of quality events taking place this weekend. First of all you have the mega gaming event which my brother posted about yesterday, GX 2016 Gaming Expo. That’s taking place from Thursday through to Saturday. Cinemagics is playing Snowpiercer this weekend, a great movie if you haven’t already watched it. Also tonight Staged in Kuwait are holding their improv comedy night which is always hilarious (only 22 tickets left as of this post!). Check out the full list of this weekends events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: It’s a Mad World
Exhibition: Sibeel Water by Ammar Al Attar
GX 2016 Gaming Expo
Red Bull BC One – Kuwait Cypher
Japanese Movie Night
Traditional Kuwaiti Food and Dishdasha Night
Sirdab Lab Movie Night: Donnie Darko
What makes Kuwait giggle? The IMPROVengers!
Rooftop Movie: Snowpiercer

Friday
GX 2016 Gaming Expo
Beach Fridays at Al Kout!
Taichi in the Park
Yoga at the Park (Hatha Yoga)
ShutterXpose Photography 101 Workshop

Saturday
GX 2016 Gaming Expo
Yoga at the Park (Vinyasa Flow – Women Only)
Madeenah Tour: Salem Almubarak St. Salmiya
Unleash – Color Therapy
The Debate Tournament
Rooftop Movie: The Look of Silence
Peak Vertical Marathon

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 double check info with organizers.

This weekend gamers in Kuwait are going to be treated to two events revolving around video games that will be taking place simultaneously at the Millennium Hotel & Convention Center. The first event is GX 2016 which is a general video game convention where people will have stalls selling video game merchandise and where you’ll also be able to check out cosplayers (famous cosplayer Tali xoxo pictured below will be there) and take part in some competitions to win prizes. The big news here is that two renowned video game companies will also be taking part: Tecmo Koie and Square Enix. Both will be holding mini-press conferences to announce some important news for this region and Square Enix will also have a special video message for us.

The other gaming event taking place will be the Kuwait Battle Royale. The Kuwait Battle Royale is a local video game tournament featuring 7 of the biggest current fighting games: Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros Wii U, Mortal Kombat X, Pokken Tournament, Dead or Alive 5, BlazBlue and Guilty Gear Xrd. The cool part about this event is that the organizers have flown in the official EVO commentators to take part and the contestants will be a mix of regional and international talent so it should be pretty fun to watch.

The event will start on at 5PM on Thursday and end on Saturday. The full schedule can be found on the organizers website.

Post by Patrick

I love posting about random finds and Aleppo is one of those. I was looking for a very tiny screw for a part on my Datsun 240z and turns out Aleppo is the go-to place for nuts and bolts. The hardware store has been around for nearly 50 years and they supposedly have the largest collection of nuts and bolts in Kuwait.

I ended up finding what I was looking for so figured I’d post about them just in case someone for some odd reason like me needs a specific screw. They’re located right off Canada Dry street and are open daily from 8AM to 8PM except on Fridays when they’re open from 8AM to 1PM. Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Update: They’ve moved to a new location, here it is on Google Maps

Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted at the Kuwait Airport by D’Ron Maingrette, the popular Esports commentator who’s here to attend the GAME Expo thats taking place this weekend. Anyone have an idea why Arnie’s here? Gold’s Gym maybe? [Link]

Update: Arnold just posted the photo below on his instagram account with the caption “Only I can fly around the world, land in Kuwait and run into one of the top bodybuilders at customs @roellywinklaar“

Basta, a local non-profit group are planning to takeover walls around Kuwait where passerby’s can hang their donated items so that others can take any of the items they need. They’re calling these walls “Wall of Kindness” and they recently setup their first one inside The Secret Garden in Salmiya.

It’s a nice initiative and I know I will be hanging the stuff I don’t need there since it’s pretty close to where I live, but I think it would make more sense to have the “take what you need” message in different languages since not everyone (specifically the low income workers) can read English and Arabic. In any case check out Basta’s instagram page [Here]

Damn does time fly by fast… Choowy Goowy are celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year. It feels like it was just yesterday when I was sitting on my couch, overweight, munching down jar after jar of their cookies while watching the latest episode of Prison Break. I’m also personally celebrating 10 years of friendship since the owner and I ended up becoming close friends after that back and forth collaboration on the blog. For those of you who weren’t in Kuwait at that time, Choowy Goowy basically started the whole home business and cupcake craze (even though they were never a home business or made any cupcakes). Since then they’ve expanded around the region and opened a number of local outlets including their latest one which they’ll be opening this Wednesday next month in Promenade. I told them they should temporarily sell their cookies with their old original branding (pictured above) just for nostalgia’s sake.

I’ve been contemplating for the past few minutes if I should or shouldn’t include a link to my original post and review of Choowy Goowy from back in 2006. I tend to really dislike reading my old posts since it’s kinda like looking through old photos and thinking what the fuck was I wearing?! I ended up deciding that I’d link to the post but just not read it myself. Hopefully it’s not as bad as I imagine it being. Check it out over [Here]

Update: Turns out I misunderstood, their Promenade location isn’t opening this Wednesday but in fact opening next month. But to celebrate their 10 year anniversary, Choowy Goowy are holding an event at their soon to open Promenade location this Wednesday from 6PM to 9PM. Everyone is invited.

There is a HUGE plot of land right across the street from the Green Island and right adjacent to all the embassies on the Gulf Road. Recently they removed all the greenery on that land and demolished all the structures. They’ve basically flattened out the land in preparation for construction and are now in the process of putting up a temporary wall around the plot. It’s the huge block of land I’ve highlighted in the image above. Does anyone have any idea what they’re going to be building there? Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Update: Turns out its going to be a huge real estate project called “Balamlaq” that will transform that plot of land into an area that will contain residential and commercial buildings, hotels, parks and entertainment facilities. It’s being handled by KIPCO who are aware of how unique and rare this plot of space is which is why they’re going to be setting an example with the high level of planning and construction. So thankfully it’s not a new giant food complex. For more information click [Here]

Someone on Reddit asked where to find beard grooming products in Kuwait so I figured I’d create a small list for the guys who have beards (or for their girl friends who are looking to get them a gift). Here are the places I know that have beard products like oils, shampoos and balms:

Spaloon
They carry both “The Bearded Man Company” and “Beard & Company” products.

His Essentials
They carry “Beardition” and “Brooklyn Grooming” products.

Bearded Kuwait
They carry “Beard & Company” products.

If you know of more places let me know and I’ll add it to the list.

SnappCard is a digital loyalty card app that I’ve previously posted about on the blog. They’ve been adding new restaurants since they launched but since my friend is running the app in Kuwait, there are two places I had been nagging him from the start to include in it, Elevation Burger and my favorite Döner kebab place, Slice. These were the only two places I went to that had loyalty cards and because I don’t keep the cards in my wallet, I sometimes don’t have them on me when I visit them. Since last week though Slice is now part of SnappCard and their offer is actually pretty good. Previously after 7 orders you would get a free sandwich but now all you need is 6 orders and you get a choice between a Slice box (carbs free option which is what I take), a Rice box or a combo (sandwich, fries and drink).

While we’re on the subject of SnappCard, Poêle, one of my favorite lunch spots is also in the app. If you haven’t heard of SnappCard before, check out my previous post on it [Here]

This is an odd post but it’s because I love the All-Clad brand. Williams-Sonoma in Avenues currently have a sale going on and this sale includes All-Clad pots and pans. They have All-Clad items marked down 50% which is insane. So if you’re looking for great quality pots and pans, this is a really good deal, like half the price of Amazon kind of deal.

Since we’re on the subject of breakfast today, I just found out about a new breakfast delivery place called Eggcellent that opened up last month. I haven’t tried them out but based on the photos their sandwiches look pretty appetizing. They deliver from Sunday to Thursday, 6:30AM to 2PM and Saturdays from 7:30AM to 3PM. Their instagram is @eggcellentkw

via @theculinaryquest

One of my favorite breakfast and brunch spots just updated their menu this past weekend. Cocoa Room has been my go-to place for years but their menu really hasn’t changed much since they introduced their breakfast menu. Now they’ve added a bunch of new dishes to the menu which I’m going to have to start going through one by one and trying out. They’ve started posting some of their new creations on their instagram account which you can check out [Here]

Adult coloring books have been rising in popularity recently and now you can find some of the Amazon best sellers in Kuwait. The stationary and office equipment store Mogahwi now carries a whole selection of coloring books including the #1 seller on Amazon, “Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book“.

Disappointingly the prices were more than double that of Amazon ranging from KD5 to KD8.5 (Secret Garden is KD8.5). So basically it’s actually a bit cheaper if you order it yourself and ship it to Kuwait. If you’re interested in picking up some coloring books and colors, here is the location Mogahwi on [Google Maps]

Kuwait is taking homeland security to new heights — or, as some see it — new lows.

Later this year, the Persian Gulf nation will require its citizens, temporary residents and tourists to submit DNA samples to a $400 million security database.

Kuwait’s National Assembly passed the law in July, a month after an ISIS suicide bomber killed 27 people and injured 227 in the country’s capital.
“We are prepared to approve anything needed to boost security measures in the country,” Jamal al-Omar, a parliament member, told Agence France-Presse.

The government will collect saliva and blood samples from anyone living there. Tourists will have to submit their own samples before entering the country.

Disobeying the law will cost you. Those who refuse to provide samples can face up to a year in jail and a $33,000 fine; falsifying DNA samples will result in seven years behind bars.

While the Kuwait’s department of criminal evidence insists that the database won’t affect personal freedoms, the law has sparked outrage. Some travelers tweeted that they won’t be returning to the country anytime soon. [Source]

This is going to be great for the local tourism industry.

Update: Newsweek has also posted about this [Here]

Visitors to Kuwait will also have to provide DNA samples to the government. When arriving by plane, visitors will stop at a center at Kuwait International Airport to have their DNA sample taken. Bruce Schneier, a prominent American privacy and cybersecurity specialist, says that the collection will likely be a standard cheek swab.

For citizens, the Kuwaiti government will have mobile centers to collect samples. Anyone faking the DNA samples faces up to a maximum seven years in prison.