2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Avenues is so big you’re now going to need to fly to get from one side to the other.

A bunch of things to do this weekend but I’m not going to be in Kuwait. This means I’ll be missing the very interesting sounding A Tour with Taste: The Flavor of the Coastline that is going to be held on Friday. Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
Exhibition: The Replacement by Mahmoud Obaidi
Exhibition: Van Leo – Master Cairo Portrait Photographer
Auto Moto 15 – The Kuwait Motor Show
Marina Market
Traditional Kuwaiti Food and Dishdasha Night & Book Presentation
Rooftop Movie: Insomnia

Friday
Auto Moto 15 – The Kuwait Motor Show
Marina Market
Street Fest
A Tour with Taste: The Flavor of the Coastline

Saturday
Auto Moto 15 – The Kuwait Motor Show
Marina Market
Street Fest
Guided Tour: Old Kuwait City
Rooftop Movie: Lars and The Real Girl

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]

After being closed to the public for nearly three years, the Kuwait Towers is set to reopen its doors next month according to Al Rai TV talk show presenter Abdullah Boftain. I’m really curious to see what and how much they’ve changed the inside especially since it’s being considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kuwaiti artist Zahed Sultan is hosting a pretty cool music festival at the end of this month featuring a bunch of international musicians including one of my favorites, Bei Ru. Bei Ru is a very talented Lebanese Armenian musician based out of LA and I’ve been listening to his music ever since his debut album “Little Armenia“.

I’ll be posting more on this event next week but for now if you’re interested in booking tickets (there is a limited quantity) here is the [Link]

OXadventure is a local non-profit organization which was started by three young Kuwaitis who had a passion for travel, charity work and adventure. During their carefully planned trips, the OXadventure team completes charity and humanitarian work in the countries they travel to while safely exploring them on a budget. They get to see things the way the locals do as opposed to tourists. The trips have also developed into an accredited internship program in a couple of universities in Kuwait.

OXadventure have a trip coming up in February and are looking for volunteers. They will be traveling to Nepal for a spiritual five-day yoga hike and refurbishing a school in rural Kathmandu. The trip is from February 19th to March 1st so if you’re interested in being part of this send an email to [email protected] or give them a call on ‪90998807‬.

The Time isn’t a new place, it’s actually been open for just over a year now but I just found out about it two days ago. I don’t drink coffee and there aren’t that many places that make good tea so I when discovered The Time was located in KIPCO Tower which is down the street from my office, I went there the following day.

The Time is an elegant looking but cozy place with a large variety of teas to choose from. They also have food but I had already eaten and was just there with a friend for some tea. The place was quiet, nicely lit with natural daylight and since they’re located on M2, the view was fairly decent while sitting by the window. The tea prices are very reasonable at KD1.5 and I loved their chinaware. Naf Noof’s Blog has a ton of beautiful shots of the place so if you want to find out more about the The Time click [Here]

Photo by Naf Noof

So my blog is coming up on its 10 year anniversary next month (February 19th) and I’ve been thinking of different ways of celebrating it. Here are some of my ideas so far:

– Hold a small private party and invite friends and blog contacts
– Hold a public meet up similar to the one I did back in 2006
– Get wasted and then drunk-post like I used to back in the old days
– Shutdown the blog permanently and move to Cape Town

Does anyone have better ideas? Here is the link to my first post on 248AM [Link]

Anytime I need to get any paperwork from the government I cringe. In the past month I had two papers I needed to get sorted and in both cases things didn’t go so smoothly. I hate how I have to approach all the employees in a way where it’s like I am asking them for a favor.

The first paper is related to a business I’m launching. To setup a company I need a paper from my sponsor giving me permission to start a company. I got that paper from him and went to Government Mall (located under the Liberation Tower) to get it notarized. When I presented the document the government employee took a look at it and told me the format was all wrong, he wrote down the proper format, I went downstairs got it typed and came back to show him. He told me it was fine and I now needed to get it signed by my sponsor. So I left and came back two weeks later with the document signed. I went back to the same employee and handed him the signed document, he looked at it and was like what is this? I explained to him what it was and he once again told me it was in the wrong format. I was like what do you mean its the wrong format? You wrote it for me, I got it typed and approved by you and all you said I needed to do was get it signed which I did! He was like no this is the wrong format. I asked him if he could write down what I needed to change, he told me he won’t write anything and then shooed me away. I’m now getting someone to get this document sorted for me since I can’t deal with that crap again.

The second paper I needed to get was permission from the police to replace my damaged bumper. I headed to the Salmiya police station and walked up to the information desk and told them what paper I needed. They instructed me to go into the first office on the left. I went to the first office on the left and the police officer there told me to go upstairs. I went upstairs and there were three rooms but only one was occupied. So I walked in and waited until the two police there finished their conversation before I asked the cop seated at a desk about the paper. The cop told me to go to the office next door. I told him I did but there was nobody there. He then got agitated and told me obviously there isn’t anybody there since its his office and he can’t be in two places at once. As if I was somehow supposed to have know that was his office. So I go wait in his office for a few minutes and then he walks in. He’s like I need you to get me a photocopy of your license, car registration booklet and your civil ID. I thought to myself why couldn’t you have told me that earlier instead of making me wait here. So I leave the police station and drive to the nearest photocopy shop and then come back with the copies. I go upstairs again and this time the same cop is sitting at a desk in the third room. In my head I thought that was hilarious because it felt like the police station had only one employee who changes offices and pretends to be a different person every time. He ends up filling up the papers and then sends me down to the Salmiya area commander for one last signature.

How I hate this. I know a lot of people (mostly Kuwaitis) would disagree with me on this but I would rather they replaced all the ministry employees with expats. When was the last time you walked into McDonalds and was greeted by a grumpy employee who made you feel like he was doing you a favor?

Yesterday was the first day of Auto Moto 15 thats taking place at 360 Mall. I passed by awhile ago and although the selection of cars wasn’t that great, I did leave satisfied. For one thing they have the Alfa Romeo 4C on display, I hadn’t seen that car live before and damn it looks ridiculously cool in person. They also had the Volkswagen XL1 which I posted about last month on display plus the Porsche 918 Spyder.

For Toyota fans, there was a TRD display but all the cars on display just looked really really tacky. If that wasn’t bad enough, turns out all the cars only had TRD cosmetic kits with no engine performances available.

If you’re a car fan it’s worth passing by. For more information click [Here]

Kuwait now expects to post its first deficit in two decades by 2017, Finance Minister Anas Al Saleh has reportedly told the Kuwaiti Parliament.
Al Saleh said the recent decline in oil prices, which account for about 90 percent of export revenues, would see Kuwait fall into the red sooner than the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s 2017-18 prediction, according to Kuwait Times. [Source]

The price of oil is currently under $40 and Kuwait needs it to be at $78 to pay all its bills and stay in the black. So can an expert tell me what it would mean for us if Kuwait ends up in the red? Does everything continue as it is while the government digs into its savings until the oil price goes back again? Or would some of the amenities like free health care stop to help cut down costs? Will this cause inflation?

Kuwait Airways have posted pictures of the interior of the new A320 plane they received last month. Kinda looks gloomy but that’s probably because the shots were taken at night and with a mobile phone. [Link]

Someone should have an intervention with Gulf Bank before they release a Harlem Shake video next. Flash mobs are so 2009. [YouTube]

If you missed the air show on Friday you didn’t really miss much from what I heard. But, if you wish you had watched the air show you can do so online since someone uploaded a video of it. Not very exciting. [YouTube]

I first heard about VOL.1 when I used to see their home made health bars at Circuit+. Now they’ve gone ahead and opened up a beautiful small coffee shop in Kuwait City in front of the fabrics market (blockat). They’re near Al Makan and are open from 12PM to 5PM except for Fridays. For more information check out their instagram account [Here]

Another busy weekend this week. Only one market taking place this time around and it’s the Marina Market. I went to it last week and it was disappointing so I’m hoping its going to better this weekend. Anyway, here are my personal picks; Thursday I’d hit up the rooftop movie while on Friday I’d do the Two Chefs and a Waitress Brunch followed by the air show and then Marina Market. Saturday I would do the K’S PATH Shelter Open Day (it’s great if you have children) followed by the rooftop movie in the evening. There is supposedly an air show Check out the full list of events taking place this weekend below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
Exhibition: The Replacement by Mahmoud Obaidi
Torch Sport & Health Event
Marina Market
Rooftop Movie: Before Sunrise

Friday
Torch Sport & Health Event
Marina Market
Two Chefs and a Waitress Brunch
Hala February Air Show
Cozmo Cades: Fifa 15
K’S PATH Beach Cleanup

Saturday
Torch Sport & Health Event
Marina Market
The Secret Garden Project
K’S PATH Shelter Open Day
Rooftop Movie: Killing Them Softly
Madeenah Tour: Ahmed Aljaber St.

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]

Update: Added the Madeenah Tour on Saturday