2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center is set to be the largest museum in the world covering Natural History, Science, Space and Islamic Heritage, together with a Theatre and Fine Arts Centre. Construction has been on the way since June of last year and from what I am told construction will be completed by the end of this year. Once the buildings construction is completed, the interior work will begin and new renderings were recently released giving us a glimpse of how the museums might end up looking like. Below is some information on each of the museums as well as a link where you can check out the renderings.

The Space Museum (4,300m²) incorporates a 130 seat planetarium and tells the story of planet earth, the universe, space exploration and will also include an immersive reconstruction of the International Space Station. [Link]

The Science Museum (6,800m²) includes galleries for Human Body & Mind, Technology & Transport, Experiment and Robotics, with exhibits featuring hands-on experiments, games and simulator experiences. [Link]

The Natural History Museum (7,700m²) will offer visitors a unique insight into the natural world and includes a stunning ecosystem experience that allows visitors to explore a living rainforest, mangrove and coral reef. [Link]

The Islamic Museum (2000m2) tells stories of the importance of knowledge in Islam, the Islamic way of life and Islamic legacy in Kuwait. Features include stunning scale models of iconic mosques from around the world, a Treasures gallery and interactive exhibits that communicate the development and preservation of Islamic knowledge in science, arts and literature. [Link]

If you’d like to see how the exterior is going to look click [Here]

Thanks Khaled

So about my garbage problem, I decided to try and create a timelapse to see how the garbage ends up building up so much. I hadn’t done a timelapse before and this was my first attempt and although it’s not great I think it’s pretty clear what the main problem is. Not only do we need a few more garbage bins in the lot but some of the bins aren’t being emptied which is why the garbage is getting pilled up all around them. In the video you’ll see a garbage truck come by but they only empty one of the bins and leave the other three. This timelapse was around a day and half long, 432 images in total, one image taken every 5 minutes. I’m going to try and make one thats a few days longer and see how that turns out. [YouTube]

The documentary above was uploaded onto YouTube yesterday and includes interviews with various Kuwaitis that were in Kuwait during the 1990 invasion. The documentary also features a lot of amateur video that was taken during that time. Sadly (for non Arabic speakers), the video is in Arabic and doesn’t have English subtitles. [YouTube]

Thanks Q8D

Honestly I’m just sharing this timelapse because I love the first 10 seconds of it with the Kuwait Towers. The rest of the video is fairly boring. [Vimeo]

The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) promotes scientific and applied research, particularly in matters related to industry, natural and food resources and other primary constituents of the national economy. The project is located in the dense urban coastal neighborhood area of Salmiya facing the Gulf Road.

As well as its use for research and development of plants and sustainable technologies, the project aims to demonstrate the best practice in the field of research and development for the management of green space by current and future generations of Kuwait.

…

In addition to landscaping the site, Pace has designed nine buildings within the project, including an educational and research facility, observation pavilions, a demonstration greenhouse, and research offices.

The area where this project is proposed to be built is on the coastal part of Salmiya near where Gia and The Secret Garden are located and right down the road from where the worlds largest museum is being built. [Link]

Every year on the anniversary of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion I always like to share the important links below:

Free Kuwait
This is a website that focuses on the campaign that was led by Kuwaitis in exile and is loaded with photos and information.

Kuwait Invasion – The Evidence
This is a website that contains over 1,200 pictures taken right after the 1990 invasion as photographic evidence to all the destruction caused by Iraq.

Short movie: Hearts of Palm
Hearts of Palm is a short movie set in August 2nd 1990 and deals with Kuwaiti students living in Miami Florida during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

The Class of 1990
This is a short documentary about reuniting class mates years after the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Homemade video from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Video clips taken by a Kuwaiti family during the Iraqi invasion

Desert Storm Photos
Photos taken by soldiers during Desert Storm.

Short Animation: Sandarah
A captivating story based on true events that took place during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.

Photo on top by Adel Al-Yousifi

When I got back from my LA trip I had major jet lag so I was waking up at the oddest hours wanting to have breakfast. I couldn’t figure out where to go since most of the places I went to between 4AM and 6AM were closed. So I decided I would put together a list of breakfast places along with their timings so that if anyone ever googles breakfast places they get a nice comprehensive list. Check out some of the popular places below:

Baking Tray
8:00 AM – 1:00 AM

Baker & Spice
Weekdays: 8AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 2PM

Breakfast Club
KIPCO: 6AM to 12AM
Mahboula: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Cheesecake Factory
Friday & Saturday: 10AM to 4PM

Cocoa Room ★
8AM to 12PM

Dar Hamad
8AM to 11:50AM

Dough Cafe
8AM to 2PM

Early Bird ★
Fahaheel: 5AM to 3PM
Jabriya: 5AM to 5PM

Eggcellent
Weekdays: 6:30AM to 2PM
Saturday: 7:30AM to 3PM
Friday: Closed

Gia
Weekdays: 9AM to 12PM
Weekends: 9AM to 1PM

IHOP
Jabriya: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Johnny Rockets ★
Salmiya: Open 24 hours but breakfast only from 7AM to 12PM

Ladurée
360 Mall: 9AM to 2PM

Le Pain Quotidien
Marina Crescent: 7:30AM to 11PM

McDonalds
Gulf Road: 6AM to 11AM

Prime & Toast
Seef: Open 24 hours and breakfast all day

Q at The Yard
Weekdays: 7AM to 1PM
Weekends: 8AM to 6PM

Ryoog
6AM to 11PM

Street by Al Makan ★
Saturday: 9:30AM to 2PM

Yellow Lemon
Sunday to Tuesday: 8AM to 4PM
Wednesday to Saturday: 8AM to 7PM

Zaatar W Zeit
Marima Crescent:7:30AM to 12:30AM

★ My favorite places

Update: List updated on 02/01/2017.

For some unknown reason, Cinescape have increased the ticket prices of their IMAX movies. They increased the price from KD4 to KD5 while all the other ticket prices remained the same. I tried to find out why the increase happened but I was told a memo was sent out to Cinescape employees not to discuss it. Very odd.

Update: On a side note has anyone watched Rogue Nation, is anything cut?

One of the first things I did when I was in LA earlier this month was pass by In-N-Out burger. I hadn’t had it before but I’d heard so much about it from people online and from friend. Everyone kept saying it was the best burger ever so I wanted to check it out for myself. Did it live up to the hype? Not really.

During the 3 weeks I was in LA I think I had In-N-Out 5 or 6 times. I tried it a bunch of ways until I found my perfect combo which was a 3×3 (3 patties x 3 cheese) with just grilled onions and their special sauce. It’s a pretty good burger and mostly because of their kick ass special sauce but no way the best burger ever. Quality wise its a step up from McDonalds but in line with other burger joints like Five Guys, Elevation and Shake Shack. I didn’t like their fries at all but their chocolate shake was really good and was around 500 calories which wasn’t too bad.

So basically, if we never get In-N-Out in Kuwait it’s fine, we’re not really missing out on much.

Every morning the garbage trucks come, clean up the garbage but then by 3PM the garbage is already overflowing. Why is it so hard to add more bins or larger ones???

The Kuwait Global Technopreneurship Challenge is a free online course created by Dr. Tariq Al-Dowasian, an industrial engineering doctor at the Kuwait University. The world is currently facing 14 Grand Challenges and the course will let you be part of the solution by allowing you to come up with a fix for one of the featured challenges. All participants who complete the course will receive a certificate while the winners will receive awards up to KD1,500.

For more information on the challenge and to sign up, visit the course website [Here]

One of the oldest sports clubs in Kuwait is looking to recruit men and women for their rugby team. If you’re interested keep reading below for a small brief on who they are along with information on how to contact them:

With the upcoming 2015/2016 season fast approaching, Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Club is always looking for new recruits regardless of age, gender, or past rugby experience. Starting this weekend Friday 30th July at 7am the Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Club will begin some pre-season fitness and touch rugby at Mishref Park, all are welcome to join.

Regular training sessions are held twice weekly, the timings and venue can be found on the website (q8scorpions.teamapp.com) or on the Facebook page (facebook.com/q8scorpions).

A brief overview of Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Football Club (KSRFC)

• The Kuwait Scorpions are the oldest rugby club in the Middle East. Established in 1946 when Kuwait Oil Company and the British Army played the first ever recorded fixture in the region.

• The Kuwait Scorpions are a registered member of Gulf Rugby (formerly Arabian Gulf RFC) which is in turn affiliated with the IRB (International Rugby Board).

• The club consists of players from all around the world; we currently have players from the United Kingdom, Republic of Fiji, USA, Canada, Lebanon, Egypt, South Africa, as well as an increasing number of Kuwaiti players.

• The Kuwait Scorpions is not gender biased and has two main branches, the Men’s Senior Team and the Ladies Senior Team. In addition to the two main branches we have a Men’s Veteran Team that forms for special events.

• The Kuwait Scorpions Men are the defending Dubai 7’s Gulf Men’s Open Champions (2014).

Interested in becoming a Scorpion?
The Kuwait Scorpions would love to hear from you, regardless of your age, gender, or past rugby experience, Kuwait Scorpions Rugby Club provides a great way to keep fit, improve your rugby skills, socialise, and visit other countries around the Gulf region.
If interested, please don’t hesitate to contact Hussain Al-Helal at [email protected].

According to an article on Gulf News, when the news went viral about the incident with the porn star and Kuwait Airways, the pilot in the video was in Bangkok on layover. After the story blew up the communication minister ordered an “urgent investigation” into the matter and ordered the “immediate recall” of the Kuwaiti pilot from Thailand. Looks like he’s going to be made an example of. Check out the article [Here]

According to the blog Kuwaiti Trailmix, Kuwait recently subsidized gluten-free products making it the first Arab Muslim country to do so in the Middle East. Kuwait Flour Mills have started selling wheat-free products for reasonable prices including:

Hamburger Buns: 690 fils
Vanilla cupcakes: 390 fils
Hot dog rolls: 590 fils
Loaf of Bread “Toast”: 700 fils

Check out the full post [Here]

According to The Daily Mail, a Kuwait Airways pilot invited an ex-porn star and X Factor reject into the cockpit along with her glamorous friend for a bit of fun. Supposedly the pilot served them champagne while he boasted about sleeping with half the stewardesses. He was even wearing a Mile High Club tie pin. If that wasn’t enough the pilot begged the porn star to see her breasts and asked her to sit on his lap as she pressed buttons on the plane’s flight deck.

[YouTube]

This has to be the coolest thing that has happened to Kuwait Airways ever. Check out the full article [Here]

Update: According to an article on TMZ, this incident took place 2 years ago but she didn’t tell anyone about it until now [Link]