2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I just received an internal Fasstelco memo (which I can’t share) announcing that Ooredoo will be purchasing 100% of their shares. The memo doesn’t go into much detail on what will become of Fasttelco, if they will continue to be run as a separate entity and keep their brand or if they’ll be merged under Ooredoo which is what I think will most likely happen.

Ooredoo customers are probably going to benefit the most out of this since to my understanding all the telecom operators get their internet from the internet providers. By becoming an internet provider themselves, they can reduce their costs or offer more speed and bandwidth for the same price. Ooredoo just became a lot more interesting.

Elevation Burger is opening up a new location on the Seef Strip in place of where Pintxos used to be. I’m curious to see if Elevation will be able to break the curse of that location since everything that has opened in that spot never ended up doing well.

Many of us turn to salads when thinking of a low calorie meal option, yet we neglect to realize that some additions to our salad could actually sabotage the caloric amount in that salad. I thought it would be interesting to look at ways we are adding extra calories (perhaps unnecessarily) to our salads.

Going nuts with healthy fats
I’m guilty for this one. Just because olive oil is a healthy fat that does not mean we can add an abundant amount to our salads and still stay low in calories. Always keep in mind that 1 tablespoon of olive oil does has about 120 calories, adding more tablespoons could easily sway your salad to a 500 + calorie salad. Choose a nut or an avocado (not both) and limit the oil in your salad to control your calories and still get some healthy fats.

Romaine is your green of choice
With salads it’s important to discover other greens that could be added besides romaine. Many of us rely on romaine lettuce due to its availability virtually everywhere, which is a great source of vitamin A; but mixing up your greens will make sure you get plenty of fiber, feel fuller and get a variety of nutrients. Think of using rocca, baby spinach or even kale every once in a while.

No chicken please
Many of us avoid sources of protein in our salads, and we tend to get hungry again within an hour which could lead us to overeating. It’s always a good idea to add protein to any of your salads, and keep in mind that protein doesn’t just mean chicken or steak; you could also add eggs, low-fat cheese or even salmon or tuna as sources of protein.

Croutons and toppings
You’d be surprised how many added calories croutons and other toppings could add to your salad. Most croutons or breads have been deep fried to give you that crunch in your salad – and to me, crunch always means one thing -HIGH CALORIES! Beware of these added toppings even if you are having your salad as a main course. The same goes with toppings like dried fruits and nuts, yes they may be healthy but if we’re not careful with the amounts in our salad the calorie amount could go overboard. Instead, measure out your toppings and make sure you have more veggies and greens to feel full.

Extra dressing please
Now we all don’t want to have a dry salad, but dressings could increase the caloric amount of your salad to be the same of a huge burger. Really watch what dressing you choose to add to your salad. Creamy dressings are a big no-no and filled with calories, the same goes with balsamic vinegar. Unless you are buying expensive aged balsamic vinegar, most of the ones found in restaurants or even the grocery store are actually loaded with added sugars. My tip, ask for your dressing on the side, this way you can measure how much is added to your salad. Also, always aim for vinegar like apple cider vinegar or even lemon to enhance the flavor of your salad minus the added calories.

I hope you enjoy these tips, just remember that with any food – healthy or not – portion size is key.

Post by Hyatt Al Sayegh, a Clinical Dietitian and Dr. Sears Health Coach.
Founder of Fork Fed.

The REUSE event is taking place this weekend and we are collaborating by giving away two tickets (KD40 value) to the live musical performances that will be taking place over the two days as well as an invitation to the official meet and greet dinner with all the international and local artists that will be taking place on Thursday, March 31st.

To win the tickets and dinner, all you need to do is let me know in the comments below what the name of the event is. Simple as that.

I will stop accepting entries in the comments section by tomorrow morning (Wednesday March 30th) at 11AM and then randomly choose one winner and notify them via email.

Rules: Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond, another winner will be randomly chosen.

For more information on the event click [Here]

Update: I closed the comments for entries and using random.org chose a winner which was #31 Serena Jackson. If she doesn’t reply by end of day I’ll draw another winner. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Completely random location to open up but they’re open daily from 10AM to 10PM even on weekends. They’ve got English and Arabic books, magazines and some stationary items. They also have a little seating area but it didn’t seem that cozy. Right now they’re running an offer where if you buy 3 books you get the 4th for free.

Here is their location on [Google Maps]

Alghanim Motors have officially opened the Lotus dealership in Kuwait. I passed by yesterday to check it out and they’ve got two models in stock, the Lotus Exige and the Lotus Evora. The Exige starts at KD27,000 while the Evora starts at KD34,000.

For those interested, according to the salesman they’ll have two test drive vehicles available in the next couple of days (pictured above). Here is their location on [Google Maps]

REUSE 2016, is a huge interactive event experience thats going to be taking place this weekend. REUSE will feature over 20 local and international artists who will be hosting a two day event on April 1st and 2nd at DAI Yarmouk. The artist that will be taking part in this event include:

Nonotak (France)
Maurice Mikkers (Netherlands)
Fari Bradley (Iran) + Chris Weaver (UK)
THE ERA (USA)
Altersal (Kuwait)
Norimichi Hirakawa (Japan)
TACIT (Germany)
Empty1/4 (Kuwait)
Maotik (Canada)
REFUNC (Netherlands)
Daan Brinkmann (Netherlands)
Tim Terpstra (Netherlands)
MagicIsland (Poland)
Nicholson (India)
soul xxx kicks (Kuwait)
David Munir Nabti (Lebanon)
Cheb Moha (Iraq)
Wolff (Germany)
A.S.N Rao (India)
Karim Sultan (UAE)
SALT (Kuwait)
Hababa (Kuwait)
Aaron Kim (Korea)

The event consists of three parts, (Day), (Night) and (LAB) with all three offering different experiences:

REUSE (Day)
April 1 – 2 / 1PM to 9PM / Free
REUSE (Day) will be an immersive audience experiences that includes interactive art, impromptu discussions, engaging collaborations and more. These interactive experiences will take place in the various open spaces at DAI and is free to the public, no registration required just walk right in.

REUSE (Night)
April 1 – 2 / 5PM to 10PM / KD15 (single entry) or KD20 (weekend pass)
REUSE (Night) will consist of a series of live multimedia performances in partnership with the Red Bull Music Academy. This musical event is taking place at the DAI Yarmouk theater and requires tickets which can be purchased online [Here]

REUSE (LAB)
April 3 / 5PM to 9PM / Free (Registration Required)
REUSE (LAB) will be held on the final evening and it will take place Shaheed Park. The last night will engage the public through informal chats, panels and workshops. This event is free to attend but registration is required. To register click [Here]

It’s going to be a massive event with a lot going on so I’ve tried to simplify it as best as I can. I’ll be posting more about the event until it takes place but for now check out the links below for more details:

Website: www.reuselabs.com

Facebook Links:
REUSE (Day)
REUSE (Night)
REUSE (LAB)

Have you checked out the 248AM Community? It’s an online discussion forum and with over 200,000 posts so far, it’s a great space to ask questions and debate topics. You can access the community by clicking the link in the navigation strip on top or by typing community.mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com in your browser.

My good friends at Al Nata have started selling their baked goods on Talabat. They’re the guys behind the addictive Portuguese tart pastries (pictured above) which I posted about on the blog. Previously you could only catch them at various food markets on weekends with also a limited product placement at Sultan Center. But now their full product line is available on Talabat and that includes the Al Nata tart pastries, the Claudinos and their fluffy croissants. Check them out [Here]

The Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR) is planning to increase the tickets of the Kuwait Zoo from 250 fils to KD 2, reports Al-Rai daily quoting informed sources.

They revealed that the Director of PAAAFR Eng. Faisal Al-Hasawi said this decision is part of a policy aimed to reduce the financial losses resulted from the bad behaviors of some visitors which affect the animals so badly that money is required for treating the animals and maintaining the zoo. [Source]

I would generally be against raising ticket prices since it would make the zoo less accessible to the lower income bracket. But, when I published my article “Why the Kuwait Zoo is a disaster“, the conclusion was that the biggest problem at the zoo were the visitors and one of the solutions I had suggested was to increase the ticket price. Not because the lower income visitors were the cause of the problems but by increasing the ticket prices, less visitors would end up going to the zoo overall which would be more beneficial for the animals.

Also aren’t ticket prices currently 500fils and not 250fils?

Last week I was at Boots and purchased two bottles of medicine at 880 fils each. When I went to pay the total was KD1.750. At first I thought Boots rounded up because the horrible mathematician in me calculated 880×2 to 1.740 and I was a bit bothered. But, the total instead was 1.760 and Boots had rounded down to 1.750. Then last night I decided to pay my phone bills, I’ve got two lines, my main line is with Viva while I have another line I don’t use as much with Zain.

My Viva bill was KD 17.502 and I ended up paying that exact amount with my knet card. On the other hand, my Zain bill was KD 1.994 but the Zain website refused to let me pay 1.994. Instead it kept rounding up my total to KD2.000. I tried to manually fix it but it would keep changing it back to 2.000 and in the end I was forced to pay that.

It doesn’t sound like a big deal, I mean it’s just 6 fils but if Zain are doing this with me they’re most likely doing this with all their customers. To give you a bit of perspective, they have over 45 million customers across their network and if they’re taking 6 fils from every customer then thats an extra KD225,000 profit every month!

Update: A reader made me realize the extra 6 fils goes back into my Zain account as credit. No idea why they’ve complicated things.

I just found out via Kuwait Times that the Sawaber complexes are being prepared for demolition soon. I think I’m more sad about Sawaber getting demolished than I am about Bayt Lothan. Why demolish the buildings instead of restoring them? They’re beautiful buildings, with huge apartments (295 square meters), lots of outdoor space and most importantly, they’re located right in the heart of the city. I’d love to live there and I’m sure many others would as well.

You can check out the article on Kuwait Times [Here], but if you’re looking for an interesting historical read on Sawaber, check out this research paper called “The Destruction of Modernist Heritage: The Myth of Al-Sawaber” by Asseel Al-Ragam [PDF]

I have no idea who the “fashionista” is, actually while we are at it, I have no idea what a fashionista is. But, I was inspired by Mark’s post and a few of the comments to write about this.

Hang on, just 10 days for traveling on a forged passport? Am I missing something here?

Yeah you’re missing quite a bit, you’re missing the legal system!! Let’s get a few things straight:

– She didn’t forge a passport she used another persons passport, forging a passport is her printing or changing a name on a passport

– 10 days is not her sentence. She is being held for 10 days “detained” and at this stage, it’s likely there is a investigation by the public prosecution. In other words she is just being held so they can investigate.

The next step would be for the prosecution to start at court where a judge will look into the facts presented by the public prosecutor. We don’t have a jury system in Kuwait, instead we have a “public prosecutor”. If you have been in a car accident in Kuwait, and you were taken to the nearest police station for an investigation, remember the guy you had to talk to (and I am going to stereotype)? The guy sitting inside an office, with the real nice dishdasha, stale cigarettes, Arabic coffee and an attitude, yep it is that guy. So in conclusion, those accused of crimes are usually held for an investigation and then taken to court until they are proven guilty.

As for the reader that commented:

Another Kuwaiti who thinks they are above the rules for the rest of us. problem is, Kuwait itself teaches that lesson

I will have to openly disagree with you… Take a stroll down the court rooms and see how many Kuwaitis are being prosecuted. The law is there, the foundations of the law in Kuwait are there, we have a competent and fair judicial system, a democratic parliament and our systems are better than anywhere else in the Middle East!

What went wrong? I know there’s a lot of idiots in Kuwait that think they are above the law, but trust me and I say this from experience, they aren’t just Kuwaitis, they come from all walks of life (except Israel) and the authorities are doing all they can to prevent this. But what really went wrong? I will tell you. What went wrong is that we allow people to say comments such as “Kuwait teaches you not to follow the law” when it doesn’t! Don’t believe everything you read in the media. If anything I should be saying that, I receive 20-30 emails a day from readers about legal issues. But I don’t say that! Cause I believe in the system. I just believe that we need to change our attitudes. Change the way we perceive things and we shouldn’t allow people to say such comments.

P.S. She’s looking at a fine or/and up to 7 years jail, as mentioned in the Kuwait Penal Law!

Feel free to email me on [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to announce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

The Division has been out for quite some time now and it’s taken me this long to write about it because I wanted to make sure my opinions didn’t change the longer I played the game. The game has generally been received well by critics, but as always that doesn’t reveal the extent of a games quality. If you don’t know what the Division is, it’s a cover based shooter with RPG mechanics, that’s a quasi MMO. Think of Destiny, yeah. It’s sort of like that.

The set up for the Division is simple. A lethal virus breaks out during Black Friday and spreads across New York City, ravaging the city and killing thousands. Manhattan is quarantined and the US Government activates sleeper agents known as the Division to assist emergency responders to bring stability and order to the city.

The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed Division agent. You create your character and you’re forced into action. After a few missions you unlock your base which is split into 4 distinct sections. You have the general area where the stores and your stash are located. You have the medical, the security and a tech area. Whenever you upgrade each section you’ll see your base grow, with more personal and more people populating the base. It’s a great thing to see and very satisfying to observe. Each base upgrade also helps your character by adding perks or abilities. So you have more then one reason to upgrade your base. It also makes you think about what upgrade to choose first. Think of these three sections and the abilities they unlock as different play styles: If you focus on the medical section you should consider yourself a healer, if you focus on the tech, a rogue and if you focus on security a tank. Obviously you can mix and match, but generally this is how I thought of it.

I enjoy enemy A.I. that is dynamic and that are smart. Bar some inconsistent moments the A.I. in this game is that. The enemies will try to outflank you so seeking cover in one place isn’t going to guarantee you safety. Your best bet is to shoot, cover and move. Staying out in the open will most likely lead to your death. The game features different groups of gangs that each offer different challenges. Within these gangs you’ll come to be familiar with the different types of enemies you’ll face. There are your melee enemies, who are probably the dumbest of all enemy types. They’ll just run up to you and try to hit you with a bat. They’re easy to kill, but if they do end up hitting you, they’ll deal a lot of damage. Then you have the other typical enemy types: a sniper, a shotgun, and regular grunt who uses automatic rifles. Depending on what gang you’re facing you’ll face more types of enemies. For example there is a gang called the Cleaners. They usually come equipped with flame-throwers and will burn anything that comes close to them. Then you have the boss-type characters who have a ton of armor and take some time to kill. Sometimes you’ll have to fight more than one and these fights can be pretty intense.

The official second episode of Double Jump has been delayed indefinitely because one of my co-hosts just got married. So until things settle back down with him, here’s a solo episode I recorded a while back. In the podcast I discuss a few 3DS games I’ve been playing, the closure of Lionhead Studios and the Nintendo Direct. Recording solo was a challenge since I’m used to having discussions with co-hosts, but it was an interesting experience nevertheless. Talking to myself for half an hour felt like I was back in school presenting a project to a class.

We’ll be recording “.5” episodes whenever there’s a lull in recording either due to busy schedules or if we have a few ideas that don’t fit into the main show. Recording this episode made me realize that I’d have to use a different format than the one we use for our full episodes so instead of discussing what I’m playing and the news, solo episodes will focus on one specific topic. So until we get back on track with our main show, I’ll be recording more solo episodes and should have another one recorded this week.

Until then, enjoy!

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Post by Patrick