2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The Daily Mail have published an article on the popular Kuwaiti bodybuilder ‘Shredded Diesel’. I used to come across his photos on instagram often and thought he was just another musclehead, but turns out he’s actually a personal trainer and has worked with the likes of Timbaland, Madonna and Justin Timberlake. One interesting thing in the article is that he encourages taking candy after workouts. It sounds a bit iffy but I’m probably going to research it a bit more after this post and see if that means I can have my favorite chocolate after the gym. Anyway check out the article with loads of photos on the Daily Mail website [Here]

Cruising Kitchens, a company that specializes in building food trucks just uploaded a video of a truck they built for Chilis Kuwait. The truck is pretty huge but what caught my attention is something the presenter says. According to the video, the Chillis food truck will be “the first food truck allowed to operate in Kuwait”. Not sure what that means exactly since there are already a number of food trucks operational in Kuwait.

My guess is that there is probably a new food truck license in Kuwait and Chilis would be the first food truck to get that license. Previously the food trucks in Kuwait were operating in a grey area so if this is true, then I imagine more food trucks will start popping up. [Link]

The blogger Crazy in Kuwait posted a few pictures of some interesting looking houses in Kuwait and the one that caught my attention was the house that looks like an American suburban house complete with a white picket fence. Check out the other houses [Here]

A bunch of people sent me the link to the story below today about two expats getting deported because they fought over a parking lot:

Two Asian men who fought over a car parking spot were arrested by police. The fight started in a Salmiya parking lot, and police were called to break it up. One of the Asians sustained a head wound, so he was taken to Mubarak hospital, while the other man was sent to the police station. Both will be deported. [Source]

Should they be punished? Yes. Deported? No way.

In the paper a day earlier there were two other reports of fights as well (pictured above). One was related to a husband beating his wife and another related to three girls fighting at a cafe. Were they also deported? I doubt it. This whole deportation thing is unjust, confusing and it doesn’t look like it will be applied to everyone.

Last Wednesday exactly 4 weeks after my ankle surgery, I left the house without crutches for the very first time and it felt amazing. The simple act of walking is something I’ve learned to appreciate so much more because I couldn’t do it while I was recovering. Going around in crutches was such a pain in the ass experience but it could have been a lot more difficult if it wasn’t for the fact the majority of the places in Kuwait are disabled friendly.

The most disabled friendly places in Kuwait are probably the malls especially the new ones like Avenues and 360 Mall. In Avenues I found out that some stores even had elevators in the back that you could use if you wanted to (like Williams Sonoma) and that’s not including all the other elevators located all around the mall. Actually the only place in Avenues I couldn’t access was the men’s section at COS. The mens section at COS is on the top floor and can only be accessed by stairs. So if you’re a disabled guy in a wheelchair or crutches, tough luck you can’t shop at COS.

Once you step outside of malls things generally take a step down but not too badly. I think there is a law that stipulates all buildings are required to have ramps for people in wheelchairs and I think most places do. It’s probably one of the few laws that is actually enforced. Only issue is some of these ramps are so steep that I can’t imagine anyone in a wheelchair being able to go up them without any help. If there was a place I wanted to go to and wasn’t sure if they had handicap access I would call ahead and check. Its how I found out Almakan has an elevator. One place that susrprised me and I’ve already mentioned this before is Sultan Center Shaab. Even thought they aren’t required to do so, they have a regular wheel chair and an electric scooter available at their main entrance for anyone to use. Avenues also have these scooters available.

I obviously can’t speak for everyone and I only had to use crutches for a month but from my short experience, I’m actually impressed at how accessible Kuwait can be to the disabled. Parking though is definitely another issue all together. It’s not the lack of disabled parking spots but the lack of respect for these spots by the general public. The best example of this I could think of is a short video made by Hasan Bomejdad, a player in the Kuwaiti national table tennis team. I posted that video back in 2010 but the issue is still relevant today, people continue to park in disabled spots when they shouldn’t be. You can check out that video [Here] If you have anything to add on this subject based on personal experience, let me know in the comments below.

Top photo by Sara

Last week me and some friends rented out the cinema room at Cinemagics and watched episode 9 of Game of Thrones. It’s a small VIP theater with 12 reclining leather seats, a large 5×2.5m screen and a dolby digital surround system. It was pretty fun since we all had dinner at my place first and then walked over to Cinemagics which is just down the street from me. I wasn’t planning on posting about the room until after the finale tomorrow since I was going to book the room again. But, I decided to travel for a couple of days so I won’t be here anymore for the final episode.

The room is very cozy and the seats really comfortable. They provide you with water and popcorn and they also will stay open late for you since last week we ended up heading there are 10:30 at night and leaving around midnight. The only thing I would recommend is if you’re 10 people NOT to try and take the lift up to Cinemagics together. We got stuck for a few minutes and it wasn’t fun. Anyway if anyone is interested in booking the cinema room tomorrow, you can contact Yousif on 67001250.

Ghaliah for those of you who don’t know are a locally established social media agency that launched back in 2011. Today they’re the largest digital agency in Kuwait handling the majority of the social media accounts of companies in Kuwait as well as manage most of the local celebrity instagrammers. Early last week they sold 40% stake in the company to a local investor (Al Bahar Group) for a sum of $20,000,000. That makes Ghaliah the latest web related startup in Kuwait to hit it big. The other two I could think of right now are Talabat and FishFishMe. Ghaliah will now be using most of the new funding to expand their services to New York and Dubai (they’re already in Saudi Arabia and Qatar) as well as introduce new services.

As I’ve said before, a good idea is a good idea even if you’re based in Kuwait. If anything, I think because of the amount of free time people have in Kuwait, it makes perfect sense to start a side business here (and many people do). On a side note does anyone wanna pay me a few million for my blog? Will include lots of Shani in the deal.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and somehow we ended up talking about the popular Munchos chips from the 80s. He was telling me they’re nearly impossible to get nowadays because they sell out before they even hit the supermarket shelves. They’re in real high demand and so they’re always out of stock.

But, turns out there is a way to get them by using a Munchos dealer.

So the Munchos dealer is basically a Fico mandoub and the way it works is pretty simple. You add him on whatsapp and you send him a message letting him know how many boxes of Munchos you want. Once he gets a supply he’ll contact you and you’ll then be able to pick up a box. So if you’re interested in Munchos, the number you can contact is 50273636. I don’t know what his name is I just have him saved as Munchos Dealer. So now I have a Munchos Dealer to go along with my Mango Dealer. I love Kuwait.

Photo from Kaifii

This weekend, specifically Saturday is just insane with a ton of interesting events taking place. Probably the most oddest thing however is the K-Pop World Festival thats taking place in Mishref. That’s definitely something worth checking out. Check out the full list below:

Thursday
Study for a Domiciled Gallery
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo
Health Informatics

Friday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo

Saturday
Family Exhibition
Ramadan Food Exhibition
Sukar Ramadan Sweets Expo
Yoga for K’SPATH
Concert: Taksim Trio
Ride With Us
It’s Story Time
K-Pop World Festival
Reddit Meetup

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

Update: The K-Pop World Festival venue has changed, the event is now taking place at the Korean Embassy

I canceled my medical insurance around three years back because I wasn’t really using it. Dumb move obviously since I got raped with the hospital bill last month for my broken ankle. I paid KD450 just for the two screws alone and thats not including the surgery, hospital stay or anything else! So now I’m back looking for an insurance company to sign up to. If you guys can recommend an insurance company based on your personal experience that would be super helpful to me and to anybody else who might be interested in getting medical insurance.

Last year British Airways aired the first part of its four part series on Kuwait onboard all their flights. The film was well received and since then the team has been busy working on part two of the series which they just released last night. Check it out above or on [YouTube]

If you check the sports page on CNN.com right this moment, the current featured article is on Kuwait’s abandoned Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium. The stadium which was completed back in 2007 has only been used once since then for an officially sanctioned match.

I just read the article and I’m still confused to why the stadium is closed. Supposedly what I heard is what everyone else had heard which is the stadium had a structural fault. But, according to the article, the contractor and the stadium’s security chief have both denied there is any kind of fault in the building. Yet the article also states that the Amiri Diwan have now taken over the project and have hired a new contractor who is currently in the process of repairing the building. So was there a fault or wasn’t there a fault? I don’t get it. Check out the article on CNN [Here]

A couple of days back I posted a letter from a British teacher who was deported for driving without a Kuwaiti license. The post ended up gaining a lot of attention (nearly doubling my blogs traffic) as well as creating a heated discussion in the comments section of the post.

I managed to stay out of the conversation but I just wanted to clarify a few points. Firstly the teacher never said he was an English teacher, people assumed he was an English teacher or that he even taught in English just because he mentioned he was British. Originally when the teacher first contacted me, he shared a photo of a letter he wrote when in the prison cell. The letter was in Arabic which I couldn’t read so I told him to resend it in English which is what I ended up posting on the blog.

If you’d like to read his original letter in Arabic click [Here]

Based on the amount of attention the letter garnered it’s clear that deportation is a sensitive issue. Having your life taken away from you for a minor wrongdoing is just too extreme and it puts everyone on the edge. I’ve personally highlighted these overkill punishments a number of times on the blog and I’ll say it again, I find them ridiculous. How does barbecuing get your deported? Unless you’re barbecuing a wild boar outside the gates of Bayan Palace while cracking open a 6-pack of beer with some friends, barbecuing shouldn’t get you deported. It certainly doesn’t deserve a stiffer and harsher punishment than a person caught running a red light.

One final thing I’d also like to say, just because expats complain doesn’t mean they hate Kuwait. “If you don’t like it leave” is a bullshit statement. If people accepted everything that was given to them then there wouldn’t be any progress or improvement. If you’re out dining and you find a bug in your dish do you not complain? It doesn’t mean you hate the restaurant if you do, and the manager definitely wouldn’t tell you to leave and never come back if you don’t like it (insert Benihana joke here). Expats are as much part of Kuwait as Kuwaitis are and we all want to see it get better. We’re all on team Kuwait.

Last week after posting my review on the Lexus IS 350 I got a phone call from VW regarding the Golf since I had left a comment about how they don’t want me to drive their cars. Awhile back I had sent them a couple of emails requesting to test drive the car but no one had ever gotten back to me. Actually one person did the first time I sent an email and they told me they didn’t have the car available for a test drive, but they’d call me back once they did. The second email just never got through due it turns out to a technical glitch from their side. The marketing manager was fairly apologetic about that and told me they had a Golf GTI ready and that I could pass by and pick it up anytime I wanted to. So an hour later I was leaving the VW dealership in a hot red hatch for the weekend.

I have a personal connection with the Golf. My granddad in Lebanon had the original Golf MKI which my family used to use during our summer holidays. It was a great car, compact and really reliable. The car I believe was a 1977 model but stayed in the family up until the late 90s. When I moved to Lebanon for university my first car was also a Golf, the MKIII. It was the car I learned to drive on and in the two years I had it, I managed to get 14 flat tires (stupid potholes) and 7 accidents. Sounds bad but it’s because of the Golf I’m a much better driver today. The car then moved on to my sister who continued the tradition of carelessly driving into giant potholes as well as hitting other cars. Sadly though, she still sucks at driving today. The Golf took a lot of abuse before we finally sold it. I still miss the car and wish I still had it but it’s probably in a better place now. Since then the Golf has gone through four facelifts and the current model is the Golf MKVII.

So yeah I love Golfs and I was in love with the current model even before driving it. And now after spending the weekend with the car I’m seriously contemplating getting one. I tend to do this with every car I test drive which isn’t healthy obviously, I even did it with the Ferrari 458 Spider and the McLaren. You can just imagine the conversation I had in my head trying to convince myself how it’s possible the 458 could replace my FJ Cruiser as my daily driver. Most of the time though the itch wears off a few days later and I start looking for another car to test drive. This time, I’m not sure if the feeling is going to go away.

The new Golf GTI is just a blast to drive. The seating position is fantastic, the handling is ridiculous and it just takes a few minutes to feel super confident driving it. I was also driving like a douche, cutting people off and trying to squeeze between cars. Its how I used to drive my own Golf and I guess I was just reliving the old days. Because of the extremely accurate handling, Golfs are known to be great for “inbetweens” which is the art of trying to squeeze yourself between two cars by creating a new lane between them. Luckily, no sideview mirrors were lost in the making of this review. Seriously though the car is so much fun to drive and the more powerful Golf R is supposed to be even more fun which is insane.

One thing that surprised the hell out of me was the car’s AC. I wouldn’t usually mention the AC in a review but this past weekend the weather was really hot and the car spent a lot of time parked in the sun yet the AC was so powerful it would give Toyota a run for their money. On the other hand I found the sound system disappointing with really boomy bass, a small claustrophobic screen and no navigation. For those of you who’re interested in the back seats, there’s pretty good legroom and like all Golf’s the rear seats fold down turning the already large trunk into an IKEA friendly one.

There are two Golf’s available to purchase in Kuwait, the Golf GTI and the Golf R (they don’t get standard non GTI or R Golfs). The Golf GTI in Kuwait comes fully loaded with features such as the performance package, auto parking, rearview camera and sunroof and costs KD10,600. If I was getting the GTI I would custom order it (which is possible) and not have the auto parking option (because I can park myself) and instead get the upgraded sound system with navigation. The Golf R is the most powerful version of the Golf with more horsepower than the GTI, an all wheel drive system, upgraded sound system with navigation and leather seats. But the Golf R also costs KD14,800.

I’m having a real hard time trying to decide if I’d be willing to swap my FJ for the Golf. I’ve already been researching Golf bike mounts and roof bars that can hold wakeboards. But, I’ve also kinda gotten used to being able to drive over anything and on anything so thats going to be something hard to let go of. If you’re interested in test driving the Golf or if you’re looking for more information, then check out the dealers website [Here]

I still haven’t been to the Museum of Modern Art in Kuwait but after receiving the image above it looks like I’m headed there in the morning to check it out. There is currently a study being exhibited at the museum and based on the photo above it looks like a beautiful setup. For details on the exhibit click [Here]