2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
I passed by the Kuwait Airways Building in Kuwait City last night and noticed it was getting demolished. The new building that will replace it is pictured above (right) and looks like your typical lets build the ugliest and cheapest looking skyscraper we can. Kuwait City would look so much more prettier if all the buildings looked like KIPCO Tower or even the smaller Mazaya and KPT Towers.
Abi Modaris is probably the most horrendous looking app available on the iPhone. Not only does it look like an app designed back in 1996, it also looks like it was designed using Microsoft Word. But, the purpose of the app is pretty useful. Abi Modaris is Arabic for “I need a teacher” which is literally what this app is about. If you’re looking for a physics tutor, you just scroll down to physics and click on it to get a list of 18 different physics tutors. When you click on any one of them you get their phone number. Other than the horrible, horrible design, the biggest issue I see with this app is the lack of differentiation between all the tutors. So you’ve got a list of 18 physics tutors but there is no way to tell which is better or which is cheaper than the other. If there was some sort of feedback system were students or parents can rate the tutors then I think you’d have a much more effective app. Kinda like Yelp but for tutors.
If you’re interested in the app search for “Abi Modaris” in the app store. It’s free but there will be ads soon.
The website Open Signal has posted interesting numbers regarding the state of LTE around the world. Kuwait for example turns out has the third highest time spent on LTE networks but also has the second slowest LTE internet connection compared to everybody else. Check out the full report [Here]
Thanks Haneyl
Slider Station, the locally created sliders and American tapas bar has opened up in Dubai. I passed by in support last week during their soft launch and I loved the place. Compared to our local Slider Station the one in Dubai is huge with super high ceilings and lots of seating. The menu is also larger combing some of the favorites from Open Flame Kitchen, Nomad Kitchen and Slider Station all into one menu. If you’re in Dubai and want to check it out they officially open on March 16th and they’re located in the Galleria Mall on Al Wasl Road. Here is a link to their instagram @sliderstationae
Hungarian chimney cakes (Kürtőskalács) are a traditional Hungarian pastry that are hand rolled, coated with sugar and baked in a special oven. I saw them being made on the streets in Prague when I was there a couple of years back and I recently found out we have them in Kuwait at a very odd location, the Sea Wave kiosks on the sea side in Salmiya.
According to the employee at the kiosk the owner is Hungarian and he decided to make and sell these cakes at the kiosks to test the market and see if there is an interest. I hadn’t tried one before so I bought one and it was actually pretty good, very similar to sugar brioche.
The chimney cakes are baked fresh at the kiosk and come rolled in different flavors. Not sure why the owner hasn’t considered making them at markets like Qout since it’s something new and its easy to have while walking around. In any case you can check them out on instagram @hungarian_chimney_cake_kuwait
Top photo taken from cnn.com
In episode 4 of Mishwarna, Rawaf and Tamara explore a few of the places in Kuwait where you can go and eat healthy food. [YouTube]
Hashtag #kuwaitfail on instagram or twitter and I’ll share the best one every week.
Update: I was just made aware this happened in Dubai. I should use google’s reverse image search more often. In any case below is another view.
Here’s the list of events taking place this weekend. The two I’m looking forward to are The Secret Garden Brunch and the Bark in the Park Carnival. Check out the full list below:
Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
Exhibition: A Wonderful World Under Construction
Kuwait Dino Park
The Poppies Of Palestine Film Festival
Mothers’ Day Exhibition
Friday
Kuwait Dino Park
Mothers’ Day Exhibition
Go Wacko Youth Camp 1
The New Spring Bazaar
Saturday
Kuwait Dino Park
The Poppies Of Palestine Film Festival
Mothers’ Day Exhibition
Global Art Forum in Kuwait
Opera at the Radisson Blu
Guided Tour: Ajmal Stud Farm
The Secret Garden Brunch
Bark in the Park Carnival
Migrant Writes
If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
Yesterday during a press conference Tamdeen, the group behind 360 Mall, Al Kout and Fanar announced a new large scale project in Khiran. Tamdeen Group owns a massive block of land in Khiran which they’re planning to develop as:
– Kuwait’s first luxury outlet mall
– Two high-rise residential towers
– One furnished apartments tower
– A five-star resort with an internationally branded spa
– A marina to house over 900 boats (largest in Kuwait)
– Outdoor space
Tamdeen have tapped RTKL, the same architects behind 360, for this project. No completion date announced yet but they’ve released photos of the project which I’ve attached to this post.
I think the idea of a luxury outlet mall is fantastic, as well as the five star resort since we don’t have anything like it at the moment. Check out the press release [Here]
Thanks Khaled
Some spectacular footage of Kuwait in this video with my favorites being the first wide shot of Hamra Tower (pictured below) as well as the marshes. Doesn’t look like Kuwait. [Vimeo]
A friend made me aware you can order groceries online from Saveco supermarket. At the moment they only have their Tesco products and the website isn’t that great really but I guess you have to start from somewhere. Actually, I take that back, you either do something right or you don’t and right now I don’t know why Saveco has bothered with an online website if it only includes a tiny fraction of their products and just one brand. [Link]
“Mishwarna” is a new weekly YouTube show produced by LOYAC and hosted by two of their interns. The show is all about finding new and interesting things around Kuwait and sharing their discoveries with their viewers. They upload a new episode every Thursday and the one above is their third. If you like the show then you’ll have to subscribe to their YouTube channel to be notified on new episodes. [YouTube]
From a legal stand point, cannabis and its legalities is very interesting to look at. The decisions towards cannabis seem to be changing rapidly in the west, now whether it should or shouldn’t be legal (I will leave that for the internet people to argue) I am just going to discuss the legalities of cannabis here in Kuwait.
Kuwait has very strict laws when it comes to drug abuse, but what does it say in regards to “smoking up?”
Kuwait’s Penal Law which speaks about crimes in general (and btw has been there since 1960!) states the following:
Article 208:
– Penalized for a period not exceeding 2 years in jail and/or a fine not exceeding KD2,000 for personal use (in a private place)
Article 207
– Penalized for a period not exceeding 7 years in jail and/or a fine not exceeding KD7,000 for drug dealing, or made it easier for another person to use drugs
This means that even if a person does not smoke up but facilitates for another person an environment to smoke up, they can get more years in jail. Let me re-explain this, if I let Mark smoke up in my living room but I don’t smoke up, I can get more years!
There are a lot of other things that come into account when the court looks at weed cases, there are also more detailed charts of each drug and its consequences, so please stay legal people.
Feel free to email me [email protected] with any legal questions. I do not have the capacity to answer everyone for free (but I try), and I am happy to annanounce that I am currently working with a great team and therefore we are able to reply back to all emails with a reasonable time frame.
Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.
Photo by Prensa 420
A few weeks back I briefly mentioned that I was launching a business soon. Well the business is called supersoulxxx and although I won’t go into details on it in this post, I did want to mention an event we’re hosting in Dubai in a few days.
We’re bringing the creator of the All Gone book to the Middle East for the first time along with limited quantities of his book. All Gone is created and published by Michael Dupouy and is a collection of the finest in street culture ranging from sneakers and apparel to skateboard decks, toys and so on. The book in itself is very limited in number, just like the featured items hence the title ‘All Gone’.
So if you are in Dubai on the 11th of March come by pick up a copy and get it signed by Michael Dupouy.
