2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Back in July I posted that Lulu had launched an online store and the problem I had with it was that the store contained mostly electronics and lacked any food items. Now though that’s fixed, a reader emailed me to let me know that the food and household sections of the website are now online and fully functioning.

Just to see if they had all their products online I tried searching for the Dove Men+Care Antiperspirant, a product I buy and know they carry but I couldn’t find it on their website. So my guess is they’re still adding their products one by one.

Still, by just randomly browsing I can tell they are carrying a ton of stuff and they seem to finally be a better alternative to Taw9eel. Check out the LuLu online store [Here]

I pretty much know my neighborhood inside out but every now and then I find out about a new place that ends up completely catching me by surprise. Zeri Crafts is one of those places.

Zeri Crafts is a small boutique located on the Gulf Road near the soon to open Dar Hamad restaurant. Back in the day when the Gulf Road used to still be a sandy beach, the location used to be a boat chalet. The place is still mostly all original with beautiful wooden window frames and the hooks to which the boats used to be tied to still embedded into the ceilings.

Zeri Crafts don’t have a lot of products but what they do have is very tasteful with a lot of thought going into them. All their items relate to the local culture be it with the designs or the materials they use. Their most recent collection which you can see in this post is very colorful and consist of textiles, objects, paperware, and leatherware.

You really need to pass by and check the place and their stuff out. They’re open from 10AM to 6PM and here is their location on [Google Maps]. You can also check out their website to get a better glimpse on some of their items as well as more information on Zeri Crafts. Here is the [Link]

Out of curiosity do you guys leave tips at restaurants? Someone on reddit was asking for info on Kuwait because he was planning to move here and a person replied with a few pointers with one being that tipping isn’t something we do in Kuwait. I hope thats not true.

I tend to tip anywhere between 10-20% depending on the quality of service. It’s obviously not mandatory but the salaries of waiters in Kuwait (and anywhere else for that matter) isn’t very high so most live off the tips. The tips are also generally shared amongst the staff so that way the chefs in the kitchen also get a cut from the tip pool. So if you aren’t tipping you really should be.

Dinosaur is a local short film that was produced back in 2013 but due to it being entered in some film festivals, it just became available for the public to watch online a few days ago. The film is directed by Meqdad Al-Kout who’s behind another popular local film, Mustache (Shanab). Dinosaur follows a government employee who is trying to change his job title to a higher position before retiring.

I have mixed feelings about the film, overall I liked it but I did find some of the scenes a bit cheesy and I really didn’t like the film visually. But Dinosaur did have some hilarious moments with my favorite being at 15:43 minutes into the film when the employee walks into an office full of niqab ladies. There are a bunch of great moments like that in the film which made me enjoy it overall. The film is in Arabic but has English subtitles. It’s also not too long just 20 minutes so if you’ve got the time check it out on [Vimeo]

Areej International Est. is a small business that has been around since 1994 supplying gourmet products to restaurants, hotels and hypermarkets. Last week they decided to launch a website so they could sell their items directly to consumers. I checked it out and I don’t think I’ve run into their products/brands anywhere in Kuwait before which is a good thing since it makes their website more useful.

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

The Kuwait Air Force have posted a 360° video from inside one of their fighter jets. It’s not that exciting a video but nevertheless it might have just been a test or sample and more interesting videos are coming. I wouldn’t mind watching a flyby view of Kuwait City from inside the cockpit.

In case you don’t know how it works, with 360° videos on YouTube you can move around the video using your mouse curser or if you’re on your phone you can move around by moving your phone around. [YouTube]

Thanks Haneyl

“Ghaseel” is an app that allows you to order and pay for a car wash using your phone. The way it works is fairly simple, after signing up and filling your address, you proceed to order a car wash. You choose your date and time you want them to come and wash your car and then you’ll get a list of different companies that are available at your specified time. You choose the company and package you want and then check out and pay.

It’s not a bad idea at all but there are a few things I think they can do to make it even better. Firstly the way the different carwash packages are featured is not very consistent. Some are written in Arabic, some English, some are very detailed information wise while others are very vague. It makes the app feel very amateurish. Secondly there is no rating system. So if you had a good or bad experience with one of the carwash companies there is no way of let other users know.

Still not a bad first attempt. The app is only available for iOS devices at the moment and is free to download from the App Store by searching for “Ghaseel” or by visiting their website [Here]

Star Wars is one of the most recognizable entertainment brands with a huge cult following 38 years after the first film was released. The gaming studio DICE is also a great studio with a reputation for making fantastic large-scale multiplayer shooters. So you’d think putting these two together you’d get a home-run of a game but for some odd reason, Star Wars Battlefront isn’t the game it should be. Instead, it’s an online-only bare bones multiplayer shooter.

DICE for the uninitiated, are the studio behind the critically acclaimed Battlefield series, a game known for its online multiplayer. It features large scale maps, destructible environments, vehicles, and objective based modes that encourage team work. Battlefield also features a character class system: assault, engineer, support and recon classes. Each class has unique abilities, for instance engineers can repair vehicles while support units can revive fallen soldiers. The Battlefield games also feature an unlock system that encourages you to play more to gain more weapons and more customization features, like skins for your guns, new camo for your soldier or new attachments for your weapons. Battlefield has been my favorite multiplayer shooter because of all these things. All in all, if any studio was going to make a new fantastic Star Wars game, DICE would be it.

But DICE played it too safe. Star Wars Battlefront feels like an introduction to online shooters for the casual gaming audience which in itself, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are nine multiplayer modes with some of these multiplayer modes having up to 40 player battles (so 20 v 20). Each mode has up to four or five different maps based on the Star Wars worlds Tattoine, Hoth, Endor, Sullust and Jakku. You can choose to either be a Rebel soldier or a Stormtrooper and as you level up you unlock new weapons, gear and abilities. When you’re fighting you’ll also come across various items you can pick up on the battlefield which includes things like shields, turrets or the ability to control certain vehicles. Once in a while though, you’ll come across an item that will let you take control of a hero or villain like Han Solo or Darth Vader, depending on which side you’re fighting for.

Elevation Burger approached me recently and offered to let me takeover their Al Bida’a location once a month. I could basically host any kind of event I wanted as long as it wouldn’t get them shutdown and me deported (so sadly no local winemakers meetup and no speed dating event). I’ve been trying to brainstorm and see what I could do, I’m not great at organizing things and socially awkward in general so not sure if thats the perfect skill set for something like this. I can choose between their indoor space upstairs our their outdoor space.

So, I figured I’d ask you guys for ideas, what kind of event could I host once a month that you would be interested in attending? I held a 248AM meetup back in 2006 and 35 people attended which was pretty cool. It might be an interesting way for people to meet new people? I don’t know I’m horrible at this. If anyone has any ideas let me know below.

The most interesting event taking place this weekend I think is the Top.of Market or Foug Market I’m still not sure what its called. Its a market taking place on Saturday at the top of the Arraya parking lot where Qout Market used to take place. Why I find this market interesting (or confusing) is the fact there are a bunch of different activities and workshops taking place at the same time. Weirdly, the market starts at 5AM which is kinda absurd unless you’re coming back from a late night party. The other activity I personally find interesting is the Madeenah Tour which is also taking place on Saturday. But it’s already sold out so if you didn’t book you’re out of luck. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Behind the Crisis
Palestinian Cultural Exhibition
Rooftop Movie: Timbuktu

Friday
Aswat 3
Kuwait Motocross Race
The Big Bazaar
Chill-Out Fridays

Saturday
Aswat 3
Yoga at the Park
top.of Market
Run Q8 Charity Run
Al-Ghanim Bilingual School Winter Festival
Madeenah Tour: A Kuwaiti Haven
Protein Sheikhas: Bootcamp
Rooftop Movie: Water

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

A few weeks ago a reader emailed me a screenshot of a speedtest he ran on his Ooredoo 4G+ connection. His result? A download speed of 141Mbps and an upload speed of 40Mbps. I was pretty surprised at the result, I knew 4G+ was a lot faster than regular 4G but didn’t think it would be this dramatic. So I got in touch with my contact at Ooredoo and asked them for a test unit so I could try it out myself.

As I’ve mentioned before, I live in an old building in Salmiya where the max DSL speed I can get ranges from 1Mbps to 2Mbps. Luckily I have WiMD which works much better than DSL at my place, I’ve got a 10Mbps connection which I’ve been happily abusing for the past three years.

Since I had both connections at home I figured I’d run speedtests on both and compare the results.

Kuwait Server – Ooredoo (Left) vs WiMD (Right)

American Server – Ooredoo (Left) vs WiMD (Right)

Although I didn’t get anything close to 141Mbps I was still pretty impressed I got a speed faster than my WiMD connection since I didn’t think I had a faster option where I lived. Not only that but the ping speed was considerably lower with Ooredoo which means it would be better for when I’m playing games online. The difference in the upload speed was even more dramatic with the Ooredoo connection being 13 times faster when connected to the US server.

Cost wise, a 10Mbps WiMD connection with a 200GB monthly download cap would set you back KD310 a year. A one year 4G+ Ooredoo connection with a 300GB download cap would set you back just KD132 (even cheaper if you commit).

Since the connection speed of the Ooredoo varies depending on the area, signal strength and time of day, I’m going to continue to use it for the next couple of weeks in different locations around the house and also different places around Kuwait. I’ll then share the results here in a different post. I’m also curious to know how consistent the Ooredoo connection will be. Even though my WiMD connection is slower, it’s been fairly consistent for the past 3 years and I like that.

If you have a Ooredoo 4G+ device and are getting faster speeds, let me know below what speeds you’re getting and in what area you’re in.

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I figured I would put together a list of places that are offering turkey dinners tomorrow night. If there is a place you know I haven’t listed, let me know so I can add it below.

Dine In
Hilton Resort
Little Ruby’s
Radisson Blu

Takeaway
Baking Tray
Dean & Deluca
Jeans Grill
Munch
Radisson Blu
Sultan Center

Every time I visit Amsterdam I tend to stay in a different hotel but this time I think I’ve found my favorite place. This weekend while in Amsterdam I stayed at The Hoxton which is a pretty cool boutique hotel that opened up back in July.

I ended up staying in one of their “Roomy” rooms overlooking the canal and it was pretty spacious. The room looked great, slightly retro but not overdone to a hipsterish level. It wouldn’t look out of place in an All Saints look book. The hotel has a pretty popular restaurant that was busy all day long but my favorite thing about the hotel was the location. The hotel is located across the canal from The Nine Streets and just few minutes walk from a bunch of my favorite places. Literally all the shops I wanted to visit were less than a 10 minute walk from the hotel including Baskèts, Concrete, Carhartt WIP and ETQ. That made going back and forth to the hotel to drop shopping bags a breeze.

Price wise I thought it was really reasonable especially considering how weak the Euro is right now. I booked last minute and two nights set me back €648. That around KD105 for a night for a pretty big room with a great view, in an amazing location and in a great hotel. I’d definitely stay there again. [Link]

The rumors are true, the popular Thai food restaurant Pataya Beach is for sale. Turns out the shop owner no longer wants to rent out the space to Pataya and instead is looking to sell the spot. So Pataya Beach will remain open until the location is sold. There is no closing date, if the shop gets sold tomorrow then Pataya closes tomorrow, if the shop gets sold in two months then thats when they will close down. I asked them if they would be moving to another location once the shop gets sold but it seems that they don’t want to and instead will leave Kuwait once the shop gets sold and they close down.

A lot of people consider Pataya the best Thai food restaurant in Kuwait (I personally don’t) and so it would be sad if they closed down. I asked them if they would be interested in selling the business, to have someone take over the brand if they wanted to leave and they seemed open to the idea. In any case, if you’ve never tried Pataya Beach then you probably should before they close down for good. They’re located on the mezzanine floor of Al-Dawliyah Complex (behind the old Kuwait Airways building). Here is a link to their building on [Google Maps]

A new restaurant opened up in Salmiya called Bon Voyage that serves airplane food. I personally think this is like the worst idea since plane food generally sucks but if you’re into plane food then I guess you’re in luck. [Link]