2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
A reader has sent me 3D renderings of the new Avenues phase 4 which is set to be completed by the end of 2017. I previously posted about Avenues Phase 4 back in October and I’m guessing these renderings are of the new “Electra District” which is modeled after Times Square in New York and the Orchid District which is an area with boutiques and hanging gardens with restaurants at the center. The Electra District looks pretty trippy from the outside. I like.
Thanks George
Around a couple of weeks back I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast where he had my favorite car journalist Chris Harris on. They were both talking about cars and Chris Harris started talking about how comfortable the new S-Class was and how much he loved it. The past few cars I’ve reviewed have all been pretty much sport cars like the Jaguar F-Type Coupe and the Ferrari 458 Spider. So I figured you know what? I wanted to try something different. So I whatsapped my contact at Mercedes and asked him if the S-Class was available to take over the weekend and it was.
I have a bit of history with the S-Class since over the years my dad has owned the previous four generations and I’m old enough to have driven three of them. My favorite of the three and the one I have the most amount of passion towards was the shaba7 (“ghost” model year 91-98). I remember when the car first came out me and my best friend spotted one in Salmiya while we were walking towards Kids ‘R’ Us (this was probably around 1992). We started discussing how the car came standard with bullet proof windows and how it was so quiet once you sat inside that Mercedes installed a little red light that would notify you if a car around you beeped because you wouldn’t hear it otherwise. Of course all this wasn’t true but the shaba7 was so different from anything else at that time it created all these rumors. Then when I finally became old enough to drive the car I just felt so on top of the world when I was in it. I used to beg my dad to let me take the car out when I had a date because it was so much more impressive than pulling up in the other family car, a 1993 hunter green Dodge Minivan. The S-Class has changed considerably over the years but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the respect you get when you’re in one.
When I first sat in the new S-Class I was taken aback by how beautiful the interior was. I’ve been in quite a few cars now that have replaced the analogue dashboard dials with digital screens but none have managed to make it look as good as they do in the S-Class. The center console screen is also the largest screen I’ve ever seen in a car, its around six iPhone 6’s wide just to give you an idea about how huge it is. All these screen with cheap looking graphics would have been a disaster but Mercedes have put together a very tasteful and premium looking user interface with fancy graphics and lots of animations. At night you can also choose if you want interior mood lighting and the color of the light. I chose pink just because it made the interior look like a fancy strip club but the car interior looked great in all the colors and surprisingly not that tacky. The S-Class was very comfortable to sit in and the seats had the softest head rest in any car I’ve ever sat in. It’s literally pillow like and in fact it might have originally started off as a pillow and then shaped into a head rest. No matter who sat in the car the first thing they would notice were the fluffy soft headrests. As a whole the car was extremely comfortable, so comfortable in fact I drove it all the way to the Boubyan Island bridge and back without feeling any sort of fatigue or exhaustion. It’s fast, smooth and super comfy. I also think the new S-Class is the best looking S-Class since the shaba7. I love the exterior lines and especially the rear of the car which I’ve disliked in the last two generations of S-Class.
For some reason this car just made me want to blast hiphop the whole time and I don’t even listen to hiphop. It’s such a pimp ass car I loved it. I drove up to a gate outside these water towers that were being painted and when I parked the car I noticed the caretaker of the place started unlocking the gate to let me in. The car screams I am important especially now with not so many of them around. I honestly really can’t think of anything negative to say about the car. If I wanted to nitpick I could say I found the screen animations a bit slow and I hated how I actually had to go into the menu to turn the AC off instead of using a physical button. I could also complain about the sound system which I didn’t think was that great but really this would be me just nitpicking because there wasn’t anything I really disliked about the car. The new S-Class starts at KD33,000 but the model I drove was a bit spec’d out and sells for around KD35,000.
For more information on the S-Class, check out this [Link]
This weekend might be the busiest yet with so much going on. My personal picks are the 1001 Inventions Exhibition, the KLL Yard Sale because I like yard sales, the Open Mic night, Qout Market and the Madeenah Tour. Photographers might be interested in the motocross KMX Race Day event taking place on Saturday since there will be a ton of photo ops. 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
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Al-Mubarakiya Festival
Kuwait Yacht Show 2015
Works of Art by the Indian Women’s Association
Rooftop Movie: Before Sunrise
Friday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Al-Mubarakiya Festival
Kuwait Yacht Show 2015
Works of Art by the Indian Women’s Association
KLL Yard Sale
Open Mic at Bayt Lothan
Saturday
1001 Inventions Exhibition
Al-Mubarakiya Festival
Kuwait Yacht Show 2015
Qout Market
The Secret Garden Project
The North Face Challenge Race 2015
KMX Race Day
Workshop: Introduction to Figure Sculpting
Madeenah Tour: Bneid Al Gar
Rooftop Movie: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
There is an instgrammer going by the username @myasstethics that travels around the world and takes pictures of his buttocks in different places and recently he was in Kuwait. He actually took two photos in Kuwait but I thought the one above was the more appropriate of the two to share here. I know a lot of people will be upset at the fact he did this but come on, it’s funny. Check out his account [Here] (its SFW)
The Scientific Center have brought the award-winning and international blockbuster exhibition “1001 Inventions” to Kuwait and today was their first opening day. I just got back from it and I loved it or at least loved the fact that for the next month kids have an exciting and interactive educational exhibition they can check out. The experience starts off with a short 10 minute film and once it’s done, everyone is led into the main hall where various stations are manned by different performers who act out the role of an inventor and tell their story. If you follow me on snapchat (mark248am) you most probably saw some of the performers since I snapchatted a few OF THEM. I actually snapchatted more but my snapchat has a habit of crashing with the videos disappearing on restart.
The various displays around the exhibitions have videos and a certain degree of interactivity making the experience very entertaining but it’s the performers that stood out for me. The exhibition is bilingual and that includes the performers who are able to act out in both Arabic and English. Surprisingly they only had two weeks to rehearse. The “1001 Inventions” exhibition is taking place outside the Scientific Center in a large tent and the entrance fee is just KD2 or KD1.5 if when you buy a Scientific Center ticket. They are running starting from today and up until March 7th. Their opening hours are:
Sunday to Thursday
9AM to 1PM and 4:30PM to 9:30PM
Friday
2PM to 10PM
Saturday
9AM to 9:30PM
It’s definitely worth passing by to check out and expect to spend an hour there to experience the whole exhibit. For more information click [Here]
I was at Sanabil Tower yesterday and spotted a new little shop called Green Yummies. Two things caught my eye, first they had healthy sweet potato chips and baked hummos chips (both turned out to be delicious) and secondly they had a bunch of buy one get one free offers because some of their chips were expiring soon.
The price? They usually sell the bags of chips for 550fils each but the sweet potato was buy one get one free and the hummos was buy one get two free. They also had a bunch of other healthy super foods including cereals and energy bars. They’ve only been open for two months now and their instagram account is @greenyummies
I was at Sultan Center Shaab last night and spotted a pile of Valentine apples. The apple have “I Love You” written on them which is achieved during the growing process by wrapping the apples in a special bag.
Unlike the heart shaped watermelons Sultan was selling last year, these apples are actually affordable at just KD1.5 per KG.
The Kuwait Concours d’ Elegance will be taking place next week starting from February 11th and last till February 18th. The Concours d’ Elegance first came to Kuwait back in 2010.
What is the Concours d’Elegance?
Concours is a French word meaning competition. The concept of Concours originates in 17th C. France when aristocrats used to choose their best horse carriages to parade around parks of Paris during the summer week ends and holidays. Later these traditions changed to automobiles from the 20th C. Concours today have strict regulations and cars are inspected by qualified judges. Trophy winners are carefully chosen.
A reader sent me the full schedule of events that are taking place that week, if you’re interested in checking it out click [Here]
Last week I ended up going to Bahrain for the GulfRun event but also because I was taking refresher riding lessons with Harley Davidson. Harley have a few of riding events every year that take place in different countries where they invite the press on road trips to check out their bikes. I’ve had to pass on the last two rides since I hadn’t ridden a bike in years (Vespa not included). So they decided to give me refresher lessons and since they have a training center in Bahrain I decided to do it there during GulfRun weekend. I ended up being put up at The Domain Hotel and since I was fairly impressed with the hotel I figured I’d write about.
The hotel is located around 12 minutes from the airport and in a skyscraper, one of the tallest in the area. The hotel reception area is located on the 16th floor and honestly didn’t look so great. The ceiling was low, the furniture a bit tacky and overall it just didn’t look impressive. Once I checked in though I headed up to my floor which was the 30th and thats when things started looking a lot better.
Since the hotel wasn’t very busy I got upgraded to “The Corporate” room which was a corner suite. The room was spacious with a living area, a guest bathroom and an insane view. The main bathroom was also humongous with it’s own large window near the shower which is pretty convenient for exhibitionist.
My favorite part about the room was the fact I could control various aspects of it using a tablet including the lights, the air conditioning and the curtains. I liked waking up in the morning and clicking a button on the tablet to have all the curtains in the room open up automatically.
During my previous trips to Bahrain I stayed at the Ritz Carlton which I loved. Although I prefer the room at The Domain (the Ritz rooms feel outdated), the rest of the hotel can’t really compete in anything else… except the price. While rooms at the Ritz start at around KD120 a night, at The Domain the prices start at around KD40 which is a big difference. So if you’re looking for an affordable place to stay while in Bahrain The Domain might be a good option. [Link]
Have you guys passed by the Kuwait Towers at night? I kinda love how the towers now have some pretty trippy graphics animated on them. The video above kind of gives you a glimpse of how they look like but its actually even cooler in real life especially with the 70s style kaleidoscope effect. I’m kinda hoping this isn’t just a temporary thing for Hala February but something they’ll keep for a bit longer. [Vimeo]
[YouTube]
Last month Kuwait Airways started receiving their first batch of leased planes and alongside these planes, Kuwait Airways have also gone ahead and given their premium class checking area a facelift as well as the Dasman Lounge.
[YouTube]
In the first video on top we get to the see the business class and economy class of the new planes as well as a tour of the new media system. In the second video we get taken on a tour of the new check in area followed by a tour of the lounge. Both the plane interiors and the lounge look outdated to me but I guess its better than what we had.
Hungry Bunny is a popular burger franchise that used to be open back in Kuwait during the 80s pre Burger King and McDonalds days. When Al Homaizi got the Burger King franchise, they shutdown all the Hungry Bunny locations and killed the brand. But the original creator of Hungry Bunny ended up launching the brand in Saudi Arabia and then a few years ago brought the brand back to Kuwait. Al Homaizi Group sued them and it now seems Hungry Bunny has been told to stop using the bunny logo until a verdict is reached in the court case.
I passed by Hungry Bunny for a quick bite yesterday and the majority of the items had the Hungry Bunny logo without the bunny (like in the placemats pictured above). But, some items like the burger wrapper still had the bunny on them. According to the shop manager this is just a temporary issue and the bunny will be coming back soon. They’ve even removed the bunny from the shop signage as well so it’s a pretty awkward mess right now.
Update: Al Homaizi have commented with the following:
Dear Mark and Loyal Hungry Bunny Customers,
It is great to see Hungry Bunny still having that nostalgic feeling within Kuwait and we thank you for your post which we appreciate and are proud of as the founders of the Hungry Bunny brand.
With regards to your post, we would like to mention that Hungry Bunny was developed in 1982 by Al Homaizi Foodstuff Co. in Kuwait and is 100% Kuwaiti.
As the first local franchise in Kuwait, Hungry Bunny led the way and opened the doors to decades of innovative local concepts within Kuwait which we are very proud to see are still growing today.
The Hungry Bunny restaurants that launched in and outside of Kuwait following 1997 were not the original Hungry Bunny developed by Al Homaizi Foodstuff Co.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal Hungry Bunny customers! We would love to hear more about your experiences and memories that you, your family and your friends had in the 80’s and 90’s at the much-loved Hungry Bunny.
Please share your memories with us by sending us an email to [email protected]
Best Wishes,
Al Homaizi Foodstuff Co.
Member of Kout Food Group, Kuwait
The last time I heard of PAWS was when John of K’S PATH posted about the cruelty investigation that took place there but now it seems an employee of PAWS has taken over the Facebook page and is calling out for help. The message above (plus a few others) were posted a couple of days back on the PAWS page and since then I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking me to post about it. The chairperson herself has been denying all the claims and has been asking people to visit the shelter to see for themselves. Whatever happens I just hope the sheltered animals come out of this ok. Check out all the messages on the PAWS Facebook page [Here]
Last weekend I went to Bahrain to attend the GulfRun X event that was taking place there at the Bahrain International Circuit. GulfRun is a yearly event where guys in Kuwait take their cars to Bahrain to race on a race circuit over a two day period. The last GulfRun I attended was GulfRun 6 but since this was their 10th year anniversary there was no way I was going to miss it. I spent most of the day socializing at the tracking and the evenings enjoying the dining experience Bahrain has to offer. My good friend at 8IGHTYONE Productions just released a video of the event and I just love it. Check it out above. [YouTube]
Super busy weekend again but the biggest thing going on is the Kuwait Rising Music Festival which shouldn’t be missed. Other than that if you haven’t watched the movie The Americans, you should and you’re lucky because it’s playing this Saturday at the Cinemagic rooftop. Check out the full list of events below:
Thursday
Exhibition: Al-Seef
Exhibition: The Replacement by Mahmoud Obaidi
Exhibition: Van Leo – Master Cairo Portrait Photographer
InfoConnect 2015
Nuqat: Workshop with Karim Jabbari
Rooftop Movie: The Past
Friday
InfoConnect 2015
Nuqat: Workshop with Karim Jabbari
Musical: Poptastic
Book Club Meeting
Music Festival: Kuwait Rising
Concert: Prayaan
Extreme Powerboat Run
Saturday
InfoConnect 2015
Nuqat: Workshop with Karim Jabbari
Musical: Poptastic
Generation Z Winter Bazaar
Madeenah Tour: Baghdad Street Salmiya
Rooftop Movie: The Americans
If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
