2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

1- If you’re a Flash designer [Email Me]

2- Anyone know who to contact if I need a piano tuned and moved?

Recently I needed to get two portrait shots done, one for my Civil ID and the other for my passport. Ever since I was a kid I used to get all my portrait shots taken at Boushahri Studio in Salmiya but since they closed down their studio I haven’t been able to find a decent alternative. I’ve tried two places so far and they’ve both been horrible. The first place turned my photo into a glamour shot with so much retouching I looked like I was made out of plastic while the second studio had the most mind boggling photographer.

According to my passport requirements, I should have my photo taken in front of a white background and it shouldn’t be edited in any way. So I go into the studio and I see a bright green background. I sit down in front of it and ask the photographer shouldn’t I be in front of a white background? He’s like yes and proceeds to set up the lights and is getting ready to take a photo. I’m like the background behind me is green. He was like yes we’ll change it later (as in he’ll edit it later on the computer). I was like but the instruction clearly say the photo shouldn’t be altered in anyway. He was like yeah but we always do this. So I was like don’t you have a white background? So he goes yes and then presses a button on a remote and a white background comes down. I mean wtf? If you have a white background that requires a click of a button to drop down, why would you shoot me in front of a green background and then edit the background to white on the computer? It’s so much easier and proper to just shoot me in front of a white back drop in the first place.

I miss the old days when the photographer would shoot with film and had to get the shot right on camera.

This is an old post by blogger Crazy in Kuwait but I just saw it last night. The Aladdin house is located in Fintas and Crazy in Kuwait managed to get a tour of it and take picture. Super strange place and you can check out all the photos [Here]

One of my plans for 2014 is to provide you guys with more content. I already have 248PM where I post random things not related to Kuwait, I also recently launched the Events and the Market section and now I’m introducing another section, one that will focus on fashion and lifestyle.

Last year after not being able to find someone to help me run the fashion section (I obviously can’t run it myself), I gave up on the idea completely until a few months back. Through a series of events I came up with the idea of creating a community driven fashion section in which I would invite various brands and people to participate in it. The brands would get exposure and I would get content, a win win situation.

After spending a few months meeting various people and trying to coordinate a synchronized launched, the fashion section is finally officially up. Currently the following brands have already started participating in the section: Al Ostoura, Al Yasra Fashion, 4, Pink Moon, Violet Concept as well as local fashion photographer Jalil Marvin and fashion blogger Joumana Soufi. There are a few more brands and people who will also be joining soon but I couldn’t wait any longer to launch the section.

So check out the section either by clicking on the “Fashion” button in the top navigation strip or by clicking [Here]

If you’re a fashion brand and you’re interested in being part of that section [Email Me]

Pet Zone in Shuwaikh recently relocated to a new and much bigger location down the street from their previous store. The new location is so big it’s now basically a supermarket dedicated to pet supplies.

The new location is divided into three main spaces, the first area on the ground level is where all the supplies are located like food, toys, cages etc. Once you get to the back of the store it splits up into an upper floor and lower floor. The top floor has birds for sale and the space is setup nicely like a little zoo. The lower floor is where the grooming takes place and where dogs and cats are also displayed for sale. I love the new store.

If you’re interested in passing by here is their location on [Google Maps]
You can also check out their website for more photos [Here]

Reports are coming in that a Kuwait Airways flight coming from Doha ran into problems with the landing gear and had to perform an emergency landing. Due to technical issues the pilot wasn’t able to tell if the left landing gear had opened or not and so had to spend an hour circling over Kuwait trying to sort the issue out.

The pilot was forced to fly at low altitude around the airport so personnel on the ground could give him a visual confirmation on if the landing gear had opened or not. The plane finally ended up landing safely without any incident.

I’ll provide a link to an official news source once I find one.

Remal Sand Sculpting Festival
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
Shakshooka Nomadic Farmers Market
Teddy Bear Hospital
Guided Tour: SAS Marine Museum
Spring Nights
Cinemagic Rooftop Movie: A Woman Under the Influence
Alwan, a Live Art Festival
4th Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Bayan Winter Blast
Cascade Charity Garden Fete
Cinemagic Rooftop Movie: Surprise Movie of the Month
“The Inner City” Parkour Show
Argana Flower Bazaar

Update: Just added the flower bazaar.

Last year when I went to Paris I ended up staying at the trendy Le Citizen Hotel which I loved. This year though when I went back during the holidays I ended up staying at another trendy hotel called Hidden Hotel.

Hidden Hotel is a boutique hotel located near the Arc de Triomphe and a few streets away from Champs-Élysées. Being close to the Champs-Élysées really wasn’t the selling point for me but what did interest me was the fact that the George V metro line that was located at the end of Champs-Élysées was just a 10 to 15 minute walk from the hotel. The street the hotel was located on was very quiet and the same applied to all the streets from the hotel to Champs-Élysées. Not that there weren’t any cafes or restaurants all along the way, it just seems majority of the tourists do not wander out of Champs-Élysées into the adjacent side streets for some reason.

The hotel had a very earthy feel to it. All the materials used inside the hotel and the rooms were made of natural wood or stone giving it a very organic all natural feel. They had four different sized rooms to choose from, the Intuition, Emotion, Sensation and Exception. The Intuition was the smallest room they had while the Exception was their super large one. I ended up staying in the Sensation.

When you first walk into the room it splits up into two main sections, on the right hand side you had the sleeping area with a fairly large flat screen TV, a desk and a small seating area while on the left hand side you had the closet area and bathroom. Both sides of the room are practically the same size and both sides of the room had large windows which brought in a lot of natural daylight. My room was located on the top floor of the hotel and overlooked a lot of other rooftops. I would sleep with the blinds open and loved waking up in the morning and watching it rain outside while I cozied up in bed.

I found the bathroom very spacious and it was probably my favorite part of the room. The toilet itself was in a small separate room but the sink and shower area were open to the rest of the space. There was complimentary breakfast included along with two separate breakfast areas to dine in. The hotel is spread out into two building next to each other. I think one building contains the large Exception rooms while the other building contained the other rooms. The building I was staying in had cold cuts, cheese and fruits kind of breakfast while the building next door had the more traditional omelets, crepes and pastries breakfast. I could have breakfast in whichever building I wanted and having the choice was good. The customer service at the reception was friendly and very one on one. It’s mainly why I prefer staying at small boutique hotels compared to larger ones.

My only gripe with my stay was with the bed. Although the room had a large king sized bed it was in fact two beds stuck to each other. I hate that since I always end up uncomfortably in the middle. Other than that there really isn’t anything I didn’t like. The room had a safe, hair dryer and lots of power sockets. The internet was fast, the TV had English channels and practically every night when I came back to the room I found goodies waiting for me like chocolates, cookies and even jam. If you do end up staying at the hotel make sure you pass by Café Latéral one night. It’s a typical French style cafe near the hotel filled with mostly locals and a great atmosphere. For more information on the hotel you can check out their website[Here]

Note: The first image in this post is taken from Hidden Hotel

Beautiful photo taken by Mohammed Alsultan. Check out the image in a larger size [Here]

You could follow Mohammed on Instagram @alsultan

This happened earlier today at The Avenues, no idea how.

[YouTube]

Has anyone here ever flown with Pegasus Airlines before? I checked ticket prices to London and if you’re really flexible with your dates you can get tickets for KD110 or tickets to Barcelona for KD100 for example. It’s a no frills Turkish airline and all flights go through Turkey, like a Turkish version of Jazeera Airways. [Link]

Update: I just realized according to their press release, they start flying from Kuwait starting March 26th.

Update2: I love their description of Kuwait on their website…

Kuwait is a well-known business destination, with a number of interesting sites worth seeing including Failaka Island with its old dhows and archaeological sites and the traditional-style shops at Al-Mubarakiya. Activities to be enjoyed in Kuwait include horse-riding, golfing and sailing.

This past Saturday, the Breitling Wingwalkers performed a show at Marina Crescent which everyone on the ground got to enjoy. A day earlier though on Friday, the Breitling Wingwalkers invited 6 people to experience wing walking and I was lucky enough to be one of them.

I headed to Sheikh Saad Terminal early Friday morning where the Breitling Wingwalkers were waiting for us. Me and another person were part of the first team that would fly out that day and I was extremely excited. It was a warm morning but we were told to bring a light sweater or jacket since it would be cold up in the air and we were also told not have anything on us, no phones, no wallets not even a watch. After getting a short briefing we headed towards the runway where the two beautiful biplanes were waiting for us.

A wing walker nicknamed ‘Bird’ was my guide that morning. First thing she had to do was show me how to get on top of the plane which wasn’t as difficult as I was expecting it to be. Once we were on top I had to put goggles on and then get strapped into a standing seat before she proceeded to give a set of instructions like if I wanted the pilot to land what hand signals I needed to give or in case of emergency how to unfasten the strap quickly.

After waiting on the tarmac around 10 minutes we got the go ahead from the Kuwait Airport control tower to take off and we proceeded to the runway. Being strapped on top of a plane while going down an airport runway is an experience by itself. You really don’t realize how long and wide the runway is when you’re cooped up inside a plane, but when you’re sitting on top of one it’s just mind boggling. It’s why all car shows take the fast cars to airport runways for straight line speed test, it’s kinda like an infinitely straight 12 lane highway and it’s all yours.

The two planes stopped for a bit on the runway before hitting full throttle and and taking off a few seconds right after. First thing I noticed was the amount of wind that started hitting me, it was insane, my cheeks were flapping and if I opened my mouth a bit it would just fill up with air instantly. There was so much wind resistance I have no idea how the girls perform all the stunts on top of the plane. They make it look really easy that’s for sure.

We spent around 10 to 15 minutes circling the airport and the airports vicinity while the two biplanes flew in tandem. I kinda wished I had my phone with me so I could instagram live from the sky like when I went paragliding in Lebanon and powered paragliding here in Kuwait but with the amount of wind hitting me the phone would most likely have flown out of my hand. I didn’t find the experience scary at all and actually wished they had performed some loops with us even though they had told us they wouldn’t.

It all felt very casual as I was experiencing it and it only hit me yesterday when they sent me the photo of me on top of the plane in the sky taken by their photographer did I realize wow, I was on top of a motherfucking plane! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I’m so glad and appreciative that I got to experience this.

The largest Marks & Spencer store outside the UK opened up in Kuwait right next to Missoni Hotel recently so I passed by yesterday to check it out because I had heard they had a large food hall along with a cafe. Whenever I’m in London I usually pass by M&S to pick up a quick bite to eat like a sandwich or a quinoa salad and I was hoping they’d have the same items here.

The new store is huge, it’s four floors with the food hall being located on the last one. The new food hall is divided into 3 sections, the first one is similar to the food sections at the other Marks & Spencer’s and contains non perishable goods like pasta and canned food along with frozen food. The other two sections are new, the first one is a small bakery that sells bread, pastries, muffins etc.. and finally the final section is a cafe.

The cafe is similar in style to IKEA’s except with less hot food. Their small menu mostly consists of soups, salads, baked potato, a pizza, quiche and some desserts. The seating area seems quiet and cozy so it might be a good place to study or read a book.

Disappointingly they didn’t have a fridge with healthy food for me to pass by and pick up when I’m hungry. I can imagine it wouldn’t be very feasible especially since they don’t have high foot traffic when say compared to the Marks & Spencer on Bond Street Station but still, one always hopes. With the success of Gia I’m hoping more people realize that there is a market for healthy food in Kuwait.

Last month my old karate coach, Tchantcho Augustin passed away. I’m not sure how many of you know Tchantcho but he was my karate coach back in the mid 80s when he used to give lessons at the now demolished Hilton Hotel on the Gulf Road. Up until recently he was the PE teacher at Le Lycée Français and the karate coach at The Little Gym. He was always super nice and he was really loved by everyone. I used to run into him randomly at Sultan Center every now and then and he’d always remember who I was. He taught a lot of children in Kuwait and he will be terribly missed. May he rest in peace.

The picture above was taken around 1985, I’m the white boy in the front row middle.