2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I didn’t think there was much going on this weekend until I started putting this list together. This is probably the busiest weekend so far! My favorite event this weekend has to be the IMPROV Comedy Night and as of this post there are still tickets available. This is by far the funniest show you’ll see in Kuwait and I’ve been to the last two and would have gone to this one as well if I was going to be in Kuwait this weekend. So get tickets if you haven’t! Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Art Exhibition: Complicity
Winter Land Carnival
Kuwait Riders Bike Show 2016
Children Workshop: Wearable Art
Workshop: Environmental Portraiture Photography
Rooftop Movie: Blue Ruin
Dance for Romance
IMPROV Comedy Night

Friday
Winter Land Carnival
Kuwait Riders Bike Show 2016
Your AOK Benchmark 2016
Yoga in the Park
The Longest Flag in the World
International Women’s Volleyball Tournament
Jeep Roadshow 2016
Cycling Day

Saturday
Winter Land Carnival
Kuwait Riders Bike Show 2016
Your AOK Benchmark 2016
Tour of Kuwait 250
Walks at the Park
Sustainable Youth Event – 5KM Run
Mix-Fit Body Workout
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Lilly Center Carnival
Madeenah Tour: Sulaibikhat Coast
Brunch at the Secret Garden
Art and a Burger on the Side
The Imaginative World II Workshops
Poetry Slam
Jeep Roadshow 2016
Rooftop Movie: The Assassin

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 can’t remember the last time I posted about a home business but something about Xocolat caught my attention. Maybe it was the packaging or all the mouth watering shots in their instagram account but I had been meaning to try them out for awhile now and I finally got to do so at the last Qout Market.

Xocolat was created in 2013 by Sarah AlHajji, a graduate of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in London. She got into handcrafted, artisan chocolate because she saw chocolate as a platform for experimenting with new flavors and she wanted to pass on these flavors to her customers. Xocolat is pronounced sho-ko-laht and comes from the ancient aztec language of nahuatl. The word Xocolat translates to “bitter water”, because pure chocolate has a very bitter flavor profile.

Sarah makes the chocoaltes herself with a bit of help from her husband who also takes care of the business and marketing side of Xocolat. If you’re interested in trying her chocolates she’s usually selling them at Qout Market but you could also order them by calling 98771742. As I mentioned earlier, her instagram account is filled with mouth watering shots but she also shares a lot of behind the scenes photos of her making the chocolates. It’s pretty interesting to see so make sure you check out the instagram account @xocolat_kw

Although the title sounds like a joke it isn’t. Bayt Lothan, the non-profit organization that has become an important community center hosting a variety of workshops and events is being evicted from their current property in Salmiya. They’ve been active from that location for the past 20 years but late last year they were told they would have to move out by the end of March.

Even though the current Bayt Lothan house used to belong to one of the former Amirs, the current owners want the house back so they could turn it into something commercial. The rumor is that the house will be demolished and a mall will be built in it’s place although based on the land size I think it will probably be turned into a food complex.

Q8 Books whom are located in Bayt Lothan are also being forced to leave although they don’t have anywhere to go. Q8 Books is hoping someone could provide them with space as Bayt Lothan were providing the space to them for free. So not only does it suck that Bayt Lothan is being pushed out but Q8 Books as well. Both are very important culturally and it’s sad to see this happening.

We don’t need more malls and we definitely don’t need more food complexes.

Even though InfoConnect got canceled this year, the local internet providers still decided to introduce special offers and discounted prices. I took the liberty to list all the internet prices in a table to make it easy to compare. Most of the internet providers are providing additional benefits like scratch and win cards or gifts, so make sure you visit their website for more details. The list above is based on the yearly prices and taken from the internet providers websites. This year I’ve also decided to add mobile internet prices to the list due to the fact that their connection speeds and prices have become extremely competitive with the regular internet providers. Check out the list below:

Recently, I decided to measure my body fat percent on a body composition machine and boy oh boy was I nowhere near happy by the numbers. I’ve been going to my workouts religiously and watching what I eat, for the most part. My pant size has gone down 2 sizes, I’m much more toned and definitely stronger than I’ve ever been before. Why haven’t my numbers changed?? Here are some reasons as to why numbers do not really reflect that change that is DEFINITELY going on within you.

Equipment used to measure body fat percent is not always accurate!
The most common of all equipment to measure body fat percent is the bioelectrical impedance, and despite the fact that this machine is commonly available and easy to use, it is probably the least accurate way to measure body fat percentages. Bioelectrical impedance works by sending electrical impulses through the body and measuring how long they take to return; the quicker the return of the impulses are equates to a leaner body (fat hinders the movement of the impulses). This technique is not always accurate because hydration levels can also affect how fast the electrical impulses move through the body. The more hydrated you are the faster the impulses move; therefore if your body was somewhat dehydrated, you will be getting a false reading in regards to your body fat percent. The calipers are probably the most accurate, BUT you need to have a skilled person taking measurements and the measurements need to be taken in the same place at different times to ensure accuracy. It can be hard to remember the exact skin-fold that was measured previously.

The scale and BMI are the worst measures of weight loss.
Both the scale and body mass index (BMI) do not take your muscle mass into account. Therefore if you are someone that is working out and doing a lot of resistance training – you are building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So, your weight might increase or stay the same regardless of the fact that you are actually losing fat and dropping in size. If you are not exercising and only restricting your food then using a scale to monitor your weight loss could actually be beneficial. Although to be completely honest with you, I do not like the term weight loss and prefer to focus on fat loss. Taking a look at BMI, it is a calculation of your weight and height. It does not take into account how much of your weight actually comes from muscle or fat, therefore it is the worst indication of whether or not you are at a healthy weight range.

The numbers may frustrate you, but don’t let them bring you down! Numbers do not always reflect everything. As long as you feel good about yourself, then that is all that matters. Make sure you are exercising, eating and sleeping well. Remember, any change you make should be a lifestyle one and not a temporary one. I hope this helps you if you’ve been let down by your weight.

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

Image Source

I’ve been posting the Madeenah Tours on my events page ever since I first heard about them but I never actually went on a tour until a few days ago.

On Saturday I was invited to join Madeenah on their final tour of Bneid Al Gar. We met up outside Safir Hotel at 4:15PM and the Madeenah people handed out tablets with maps and historical images that we would use during the tour. I’m generally not a fan of tours but this one was being led by the very knowledgable Dr. Alanoud Al Sharekh and within the first 15 minutes I was hooked. I knew the Madeenah people were legit but the tour exceeded my expectations. All the information they shared along with the walk around Bneid Al Gar was facinating and the two hours passed by fairly quickly.

So if you’ve never been on any of their tours I would highly recommend you do. They have different kinds of tours every week and they tend to sell out pretty quick. To stay posted on their tours you can follow them on instagram @madeenahkw. There is one coming up this Saturday if you’re interested and here is a link with more details [Link]

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