2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Since I’m planning to stay in Kuwait during Eid I figured I’d pick up a new video game console. I’m probably getting a Nintendo Wii U and an Xbox One although I haven’t really finalized my decision yet. But, I have been doing some research and I’ve put together a list below of the different console prices around Kuwait as of today:

Nintendo Wii U Mario Kart Bundle
Xcite: KD135
Blink: Not Available (KD119 Zelda Bundle)
Digumz: Not Available (KD112.9 Zelda Bundle)
Digumz Store: KD135
Rihab Complex: KD130
Mr Babu: Not Available (KD99.9 Zelda Bundle)
GamesQ8: KD135

Sony Playstation 4
Xcite: KD149.9 (KD142.9 with inFamous Second Son)
Blink: KD124
Digumz: KD124.9
Digumz Store: KD135
Rihab Complex: KD118
Mr Babu: KD119.9
GamesQ8: KD125

Xbox One 500 GB + Kinect
Xcite: KD209 (KD148 Without Kinect)
Blink: Not Available (KD137 Without Kinect)
Digumz: KD152.9 (KD134.9 Without Kinect)
Digumz Store: KD155
Rihab Complex: KD150 (KD135 Without Kinect)
Mr Babu: KD155
GamesQ8: KD155 (KD135 Without Kinect)

Update: Added the prices from the GamesQ8 online store.

Post by Amy Freeman

When I first moved to Kuwait from New Zealand, my workouts stayed pretty much the same as did the contents of my diet. So when I found it really hard to lose weight one of the things that I realized is that I hadn’t taken in to account how somewhat inactive my life had become outside my workouts. It’s a common thing in Kuwait especially in summer which starts in May and lasts all the way till October.

So I started doing something that I had never done before and to be honest I had never had to do before. I started counting my macronutrients (carbs, fat and protein) and calories.

After finding that this had positive results I suggested it to some of my clients to try out as well. They also ended up having positive results.

What this made me realize first and foremost is that ‘accidental exercise’; such as walking down 2 blocks to pay a phone bill or taking the dog to the park does actually make a difference overall to your body composition and it does make it easier to be a little more flexible with nutrition.

It also made me realize how much unnecessary snacking I was doing such as while preparing dinner or when I was bored. Probably the biggest thing I noticed is how much of a difference NOT eating out makes.

There are many ways to find out how many calories a day you should be having and what your macros should be but I suggest going to see either a nutritionist or a reputable coach that has experience. If you don’t have access to either of those things then you can get an idea of where to start at this website [Here]

Most of the time it is a trial and error thing, everybody is different and sometimes it takes a
couple of months to fine tune things.

Lastly remember that not all calories and macros are equal. For example, If you have a 1,500 calorie diet of chips and chocolate versus a 1500 calorie diet of beef, quinoa and broccoli, there is going to be a huge difference in how those two bodies look and perform.

Happy Training Kuwait

Post by Amy Freeman, a Strength and Conditioning Coach from New Zealand and currently a Personal Trainer at Inspire Pure Fitness in Kuwait.

Yesterday while on the Eureka Facebook page I noticed they posted about a new store opening called eFashion. My guess it belongs to them but what caught my attention was the graphic above showing the various brands they are planning on carrying.

A lot of the brands are already available in Kuwait but then you have ones like A&F, Hollister and Under Armor that aren’t. Also the combination of luxury brands like Burberry and Givenchy being sold along with brands like Old Navy and Columbia is a bit odd.

The store is opening in around a months time across from Sultan Center Hawalli and once it does things will be a lot clearer. Most likely it’s probably going to be similar to Sears selling really old stock for cheap prices.

According to the 2014 Global Rights Index by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman are the best countries to work in the Gulf and are on a par with working conditions in the US. The index was created based on 97 indicators such as whether employees were exposed to systematic physical violence, threats and intimidation, had the right to strike and were guaranteed protection under the law.

Kuwait came in category 4 which is similar to countries like the US but also similar to countries like Yemen and Iraq so factors like country stability and the social scene were obviously not included in the study. The 97 indicators are strictly related to workers rights and civil liberties. Check out the full study [Here]

Thanks Zainab
via Gulf Daily News

Last week when I got a hold of the really old Cinescape movie theaters I also got a hold of pictures of the old Cinema Salmiya before it got demolished. That’s the second movie theater I had ever been to (Octupussy at a dodgy cinema in Lebanon was my first) and I remember the movie I had watched was Steven Seagal’s “Under Siege“. I also remember the video store outside the theater where I picked up “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” from. Good days.

The Souk Sharq branch of Sultan Center has a new large organic/healthy section that I’m hoping they’ll start introducing into their other branches. I found lots of products which I hadn’t seen before in any of their other locations and the whole section looks like something from Whole Foods.

Speaking of healthy food, for some reason Natureland has increased the price of their quinoa and they’re now selling 500g for KD2.990. They used to sell it for KD2.050 so that’s a whopping 45% increase. Luckily for us, there are a lot more options for quinoa nowadays and Sultan sell a few options including one which costs KD2.500 for 500g.

Koryokwan, the Korean restaurant located in Carlton Hotel is opening a new location in Symphony Mall in Salmiya. My guess is that they will be moving out of their current location in Carlton Hotel since the building is very old and in the summer the air conditioning isn’t that great. The new location will be located in the basement of the mall right next to Party Land and hopefully it’ll end up looking as good as their current location.

For those of you who’ve been following the blog for a long time, you will know the story of the old photographer. Sadly, I just found out he passed away recently at the age of 84. May he rest in peace.

I’m planning to purchase some shares and was wondering what online trading software you guys use and why? I previously used NBK’s Watani Brokerage but wanted to know if there is anything else better locally. I’m not interested in US based websites since they seem complicated to setup and from the few local ones I found they either seem outdated or they didn’t look very trust worthy.

I was at SaveCo yesterday and noticed they’re now selling Click & Grow products. Click & Grow is an automatic plant growing system where sensors, processors and special software take care of the growing for you. They’re not cheap though, the Smartpot with Basil is being sold for KD35 while most refills are KD10 each. So if you’re considering saving money by growing your own products look elsewhere.

I shot the video below while waiting at a traffic light a couple of nights ago. I noticed the car on my left was creeping forward and figured they were most likely going to run a red light so I started recording the car. A few seconds later as expected, the car ran a red light for absolutely no logical reason. But running a red light, driving on the emergency lane or parking illegally are just very common occurrences because people rarely get punished for their actions.

[YouTube]

So why don’t we crowdsource the police work? Awhile back when I posted about the Deera App in which you could report garbage around Kuwait, a reader emailed me and told me about how in Qatar you could report traffic violations using their app called Metrash2 (You can watch one of their ads for Metrash2 below). So why don’t we do the same in Kuwait? People are already taking photos of people people illegally parking in handicap spots or people driving on emergency lanes. So why not allow these incidents to be officially reported like the Metrash2 app?

[YouTube]

The old abandoned parking lot in Salmiya that was popular with graffiti artists was demolished today. I thought it was going to get refurbished since a new mall opened up right next door and now I’m wondering if it will be rebuilt as a parking lot or more likely… another mall will be built in it’s place.

The Bowling Club, said Al-Huwaidi, will be the largest of its kind in the Middle East with the main bowling hall providing 58 lanes for this sport’s enthusiasts. He indicated that a hotel, a gym, and a 1,000 capacity parking lot will be built alongside the club, hoping that such high tech facility will help boost the status of bowling in Kuwait. [Source]

Seems like overkill for an outdated activity like bowling. It actually sounds like a project from the 80s that was just given the go ahead now, kinda like if tomorrow they decided to build the largest roller skate arena in the Middle East, no one would care.

Traffic during Ramadan is a hot mess. The roads are either empty or they look like a scene from an apocalyptic film where everyone is trying to escape the city. But, there is one thing I’ve doing this Ramadan and that is checking the real time traffic information on Google Maps before heading anywhere. Google Maps on iOS and Android both have an option that allows you to overlay traffic information on top of the map. So, before I head to a destination I just take a quick glance over the route to make sure it isn’t covered with lots of red lines, if they are I’ll just try to find another route.

If you’re looking for away to avoid traffic, this could help you out a bit.

Although I’d like to believe that I’ve watched every movie related to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, I obviously haven’t since I just found out about a film called Lessons of Darkness (thanks to reddit). The movie is directed by the German director Werner Herzog and was released in 1992. The style is similar to Baraka and Samsara where epic footage is combined with beautiful music except in this case, the beautiful footage is mostly of horror and destruction.

At the end of the Gulf War, following the troops’ withdrawal, Herzog travelled to Kuwait in order to explore this conflict in situ, filming a landscape as inhospitable and desolate as it is unnerving and perversely attractive: the devastation of war is exacerbated by the numerous oil wells in flames, towers of fire that appear to emerge from the earth, resulting in a deeply moving spectacle. With this backdrop, Herzog’s camera narrates several stories at once: the complex and extremely dangerous operation of extinguishing these fires, the psychological and emotional scars the war has left on the country’s inhabitants, and the harmful environmental consequences Kuwait must face. The images are often sublime, combining beauty and horror in a single shot. Despite the music used in several sequences, silence is ever-present: a woman and child serve to testify that even the inhabitants themselves have become mute. Ultimately the film affirms that it is impossible to express anything when faced with such horror. And, all we can do, once again, is thank the German director for having gone there to film it.

You can watch the trailer above and the movie is available to download via torrents or you can buy it from Amazon.

Update: The full movie is now on YouTube, watch it below