2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

In the past two months I’ve had three different KNET cards fail on me because the security chip on them stopped working. The first time it happened I didn’t think much of it, I just went to NBK and got a new ATM card made. But, a few days after getting my new card it stopped working again with the exact same chip error. I was kinda embarrassed to go back to the same branch cuz I thought maybe I had done something wrong but I couldn’t think of any change I did in the way I was handling my ATM cards. Still, I went back to a different NBK branch and had them print another card for me. Everything was fine until last week my card stopped working again with the same chip error as before. So I went back to NBK and this time the employee at the front desk asked me if I had used my card at a gas station? She proceeded to tell me that they’ve been having a lot of chip failures because the gas station card machines were ruining the chips. She wasn’t talking about the KNET machines which you use to pay at gas stations, but the second machine they slip your card into after you’re done paying. Thats when it hit me, every time my card failed I had used it to fill up gas at the Alfa gas station on the Gulf Road (Shaab).

I’m not sure if this applies to all gas stations or just the Alfa ones, but in my case my chip cards were getting ruined because of that one Alfa gas station on my way home. As you can imagine its extremely annoying to have your ATM card just stop working but this is exactly why I have two bank accounts with two different banks, it’s for unfortunate situations like this. And even though NBK can print a new card for me while I wait, I still have to keep creating a new account for my online banking every time I get a new card and I am so over filling in answers to different security questions.

So if you’ve had ATM card failures recently now you know why. I’m going to be paying only cash at the gas stations until this issue gets sorted out.

Last week I posted a link to the popular architecture website ArchDaily who had nominated Al Shaheed Park for “Building of the Year 2016” under the category Public Architecture. Over the weekend I was made aware that there was another nomination for a Kuwait based project, the Ali Mohammed T. Al-Ghanim Clinic. The clinic was designed by AGi architects and is nominated for “Building of the Year 2016” under the category Healthcare Architecture. The building looks pretty cool for a clinic and I actually want to pass by and check it out in person.

To see more pictures of the building click [Here]. On the other hand to vote for this project on the ArchDaily website, click [Here]

Late last year Alshaya soft launched their “Privileges Club” card. The card provide a number of benefits to Alshaya shoppers including automatically entering them into their monthly prize draws and giving them access to exclusive offers amongst other benefits. Back when I posted about the card their app hadn’t been released yet but now that the app is out I figured I’d post about it because it’s actually a pretty good one.

The biggest issue I have with my Privileges Club card or any other loyalty card for that matter (like my IKEA one) is I never carry them with me since I’ve got one of those slim wallets which can only fit four cards. So I end up leaving my loyalty cards at home and forget to take them with me when I go shopping. The best feature about the Alshaya Privileges Club card app is the fact you don’t have to carry the physical card with you, instead they can just scan the card’s QR code from your screen. Other benefits of the app is that it lets you know how many entries you have in their monthly draw, what new offers are available, the ability to sign up or sign out of notifications and other helpful features. It’s a loyalty card done right surprisingly. So if you’ve got an Alshaya Privileges Club card, download the app. I’m not sure if it’s available on Android but on iPhones just search for Alshaya in the Apple App Store.

Update: It’s also available on Android.

Over the weekend the Kuwait Cats Club hosted “the biggest and most prestigious cat show in the Middle East”. I didn’t know this event was taking place which is why it wasn’t posted on my weekend to do list, I just found out about it by accident while on the Madeenah Tour of Bnaid Al Gar. Turns out it was a two day event taking place on Friday and Saturday but I only got to see the last couple of hours of the show Saturday night. I was really surprised at how organized and legit the whole set up was. The event looked very intense, the cat people in Kuwait really don’t mess around, they take these competitions very seriously.

All the judges were brought in from the US and Europe just for this event, I am assuming from the prestigious Cat Fanciers’ Association since they were the event partners. The event was being held at the Safir Hotel and I just wish someone had told me about it earlier. If there is anybody from the Kuwait Cats Club here, please let me know when you have future events, it’s a shame not to share these cool events with more people.

The video on top is of the cat that won best cat in the show. [YouTube]

A friend caught this accident on video using his dashcam. The whole emergency lane rule is honestly confusing. Either open it up and let everyone use it like a normal lane or just keep it an emergency lane. Having it open during certain hours and giving it a different speed limit than the other lanes just complicates things. [Vimeo]

Thanks Nibaq

A couple of cool things taking place this weekend. Cinemagics is playing the documentary “Amy” on the rooftop tonight. “Amy” is a great documentary on the story of Amy Winehouse and uses real mostly unseen footage throughout the film. I watched it recently and loved it even though I’m not an Amy Winehouse fan. It’s by the same director behind “Senna”, the amazing documentary on Ayrton Senna’s life which I also loved. Qout Market is also back this Saturday, in case you weren’t aware they’re no longer in Murooj but instead have moved to Salmiya near the Scientific Center at the Pearl Marzouq residential building. The new location (pictured above) is their best location yet and a lot more casual feeling than their previous ones. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Art Exhibition: Complicity
Winter Land Carnival
Rooftop Movie: Amy

Friday
Winter Land Carnival
Hight Street Market
Healthy Living at Al Kout Mall
Kuwait Bibliophiles – Book Club Meeting

Saturday
Winter Land Carnival
Hight Street Market
Farm Trip
Qout Market
Blend of Balance
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Workshop: The Imaginative World II
Rooftop Movie: The Time that Remains

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.

I should have asked this in the survey I recently held but completely forgot to. Would you guys be interested in a podcast where maybe once a week I just sit and have a discussion with different interesting people? It would be very Joe Rogan-esque but definitely not as long.

[poll id=”5″]

Combat Athletics is a new training facility in Kuwait that specializes in MMA, No-Gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai and Boxing. I passed by them awhile ago since they’re located near my place in Salmiya and I left fairly impressed. They’ve got two trainers at the moment with two more on the way. The first is Claudio “Hannibal” Silva, an MMA fighter with an 11-1 record with his last two wins coming in the UFC. The second trainer is Ajarn Khunsuek, the 2006 European Muay Thai champion with a ridiculous 300+ fights on his record but the coolest part about him though for me was the fact he had a cameo appearance as an extra in the 1989 movie ‘Kickboxer’ starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Both the trainers are pretty legit and Combat Athletics is banking on them to help turn the place into a proper training facility. Other than getting great trainers they’ve also heavily invested in their facility. The ring pictured above is the only official 5 rope ring in Kuwait while all their Muay Thai and boxing equipment are by Throwdown, their grappling mats by Zebra while and their strength and conditioning equipment by Life Fitness. Basically they’ve spared no expense.

Combat Athletics have been open for awhile now holding private PT sessions, but starting this coming Sunday they’ll be soft launching to the public. The gym is mixed so for all the women who’ve been asking me where they could to do proper Muay Thai training this is the place. I took a peek at their prices which haven’t been finalized yet and they’ve got an interesting system setup. You’ll have the option to sign up just to use their facilities, or the option to come just to their classes or the option for both. So for example because I’ve already got a gym membership somewhere else, I can just sign up for Muay Thai classes with them. They promised to send me the final price list once they’re ready but for now you can check out their instagram at @combatathletics

Here is their location on [Google Maps]

The recent seizure of a remote-control drone hovering above the Ministry of Interior’s (MoI) headquarters call for immediate and strict measures to prevent the threats such drones pose to national security, said security sources. The sources explained that MoI has contacted the civil aviation department, the ministry of commerce and industry and the customs demanding a ban on importing such aircraft without prior permission from MoI. The interior ministry also decided confiscating any drones that had been already imported without permission and referring importers to relevant authorities for evading taxes and importing banned items without permission.

The sources highlighted that a decision was made banning all companies and individuals from importing Phantom drones without MoI’s written approval. [Source]

It’s from the Kuwait Times so I’m not sure how accurate this is, but if you own a drone I’d keep it indoors for the next couple of weeks until this dies down.

Thanks Ray

The popular architecture website ArchDaily have nominated Al Shaheed Park for “Building of the Year 2016” under the category Public Architecture. To help Al Shaheed Park win, all you need to do is vote for it on the ArchDaily website [Here]

ArchDaily did a full feature on Al Shaheed Park last year which I posted about [Here]

Friday night I passed by RAW Sushi Bar with a few friends to try the place out. RAW is a new sushi place located in a very industrial part of Shuwaikh and currently opening just on the weekends. Actually up until last week they were opening only Friday evenings but starting this coming week they’ll be opening Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. They’re still in a soft launch phase which was why their menu wasn’t the final edition when we passed by but I liked the place so wanted to post about it.

First to get the food aspect out of the way, we ordered a whole bunch of rolls and starters so we could try a variety of dishes. The worst dishes we had weren’t really bad but they just weren’t anything that really stuck out. On the other hand the stuff we did like we would go back for more. Their Negimaki was the best I’ve had and from the rolls we ordered my favorites were the Cali Wearing Orange and the Pink Ink rolls. Forgot what was inside them but just look for them on the menu if you pass by. One of the things I liked about their rolls was the ability to order half portions so you can order more of a variety without over ordering.

The interior of the place was dim, industrial and trendy looking. It’s not that big with a small bar running along one side of the restaurant and four small tables scattered around. They’ll soon have outdoor seating but I think I’d still prefer the inside more just because of the mood. It’s a local business run by the owners themselves who happen to also be the sushi chefs. I asked one of the owners why he chose to open up in that location and he told me he was actually a bike builder and spent a lot of his time in that area. There literally isn’t anything else around them open that late, there aren’t even any street lights which can be a bit creepy. But, it’s where he feels comfortable and along with all the location quirks I thought they helped make the place seem that much more special.

The only issue we really had was with the service. It was fairly slow but that was to be expected since they had only been open a handful of times and are still working to fix all their kinks. Price wise I found them extremely reasonable. We were four people and our bill came out to KD26. It actually should have been around KD31 since we ordered 4 starters, 5 different rolls, 4 waters and 2 green teas but, they didn’t charge us for two half portions of rolls because there was a mix up and we ended up getting them really late. Still, KD31 add tip plus divided by 4 is KD8.5 per person. That’s really good. As I mentioned, starting this week they’ll be opening Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7PM till midnight. Their instagram account is @eatrawkwt and here is their location on [Google Maps]

This post is for the MMA fans here. A few years ago I posted a clip from Warriors War, a middleweight MMA tournament that took place in Kuwait back in 2001 and involved the likes of Matt Hughes, Bruce Buffer and Big John McCarthy. I was pretty surprised back then that I hadn’t heard of this tournament before but Ray Elbe sent me a link to an article a few days back that discusses the event in full details. Turns out it was a complete mess from an organizing stand point which should be no surprise but there was also a scheme to rig some of the fights. If you’re an MMA fan you’re going to find this enjoyable to read, check out the article [Here]

After Room of Clues and Trapped Inn comes Mind Maze, a new local company providing live and interactive adventure games. If you don’t know how these games works you are basically locked in a room and have 6o minutes to figure a way out with your friends by looking for clues and solving puzzles. Mind Maze currently have two adventure rooms, the Alchemist’s Chamber and ENIGMA. Based on their photo gallery the two rooms look pretty well set up with ENIGMA (pictured above) probably being my favorite of the two. If you’re interested to check them out here is a link to their [Website]

4Sale is a local classifieds app which I have been hesitant to post about since it’s a pretty crappy app with tons of ads, terrible graphics and overall just a big mess. But, the app does have one thing going for it and that is the content. For some odd reason, the app (and their website) is super popular. It’s probably one of the most popular classifieds websites and apps in Kuwait even though they’re both horrible to use.

I hate it and it’s not just me, the App has a 2 star rating in the app store so clearly other people are facing similar issues. But like I said its about the content and you’ll find a ton of stuff for sale here. I’ve been mostly using the app to look for old cars from the 80s, a friend of mine uses it to search for vape products while another for video games. You’re bound to find something in there that interests you so you’ll end up putting up with all the flaws just like I do. To download the app search for “4sale” in the app store or click one of the following links [iPhone] [Android]

Last week the Winter Land Carnival opened up so I decided to pass by to check it out. It was freezing cold on Thursday night when I went but that just added to the experience instead of taking away from it. Winter Land is a fairly large setup and one you can see from a distance as you’re driving up. It’s mainly for children with the whole thing divided into two main are, entertainment and food.

For kids entertainment they have a number of activities include a large outdoor ice skating rink, a large ranch where kids can pet animals or ride ponies, a large archery section, some bouncy castles and a few other smaller games as well. The food area stretches from one side of the carnival all the way to the other with a ton of different food vendors to choose from although most of them had a similar menu involving either burgers or some sort of Nutella based dessert.

All in all though everyone looked like they were having fun including the friends and families who were manning some of the food stalls. The carnival will be up until February 20th so if you want to pass by and need more info, click [Here]