2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

According to an invitation I received, Wataniya will launch the Ooredoo brand tomorrow night at a press event. They’ve already started rebranding their stores in preparation and I expect everyones phones display will start showing Ooredoo starting Thursday morning.

Ooredoo is a brand name that was introduced last year to replace the former name Qtel which is the Qatari telecom that owns Wataniya. Ooredoo currently has 95 million subscribers and they will grow overnight to 97 once Wataniya rebrands.

A few hours ago the Central Bank of Kuwait revealed the new design of the Kuwaiti currency and a few moments ago I obtained the official images of the currency. The new Kuwaiti Dinars were designed by the famous De La Rue company in the UK. They’ve been around since 1821 and they sell high-security paper and printing technology for over 150 national currencies around the world. The new notes have plastic polymer in them making them difficult to tear as well as making them a lot more durable for day to day use.

I love the new designs and can’t wait till they go into circulation in the next couple of months. My only criticism is the lack of a KD50 note, KD20 just isn’t large enough today. Check out all the notes below.

Thanks Patrick

To coincide with the World Cup, KDD have released a football game on iPhone and Android phones called KDD Penalty. I downloaded the game and tried it out and honestly, I found it buggy and boring. I have no idea why they would release this game, there isn’t anything in it even to connect it to the brand other than the KDD logo plastered here and there. If you want to download it click [Here]

The Central Bank of Kuwait just released images of the newly designed Kuwaiti Dinars at a press conference a short while ago. The photo above is taken from the video presentation and clearly shows the new designs. First impression, I like them.

Thanks Asrar

Update: Another friend just sent me the below images of the new currency.

Thanks Mana3ee

Although I love flying with Qatar Airways the biggest issue I had with them was their airport. That looks to change now with the opening of their new Hamad International Airport. Check out some photos [Here] and [Here]

I’ve posted about the photographer Daniel Cheong on the blog before [Here] and I just found out that he has a section on his website with some beautiful shots of Kuwait at night.

The two photos in this post are my favorite out of the bunch but you can check out the rest of the shots [Here]

When it comes to companies that offer a US forwarding mailbox there are two companies I’ve been using over the past few years, Shop & Ship and Borderlinx. I don’t have a favorite since each has an advantage over the other, I use Shop & Ship for my non-rush shipments because they’re affordable but slow and I use Borderlinx for shipments I need fast (but they’re also a lot more expensive).

How much faster is Borderlinx? Around four times as fast based on my recent shipments. I had a package that shipped out from the US on Friday and I picked it up in Kuwait on Sunday. In comparison with Shop & Ship, the quickest I’ve received a package recently was 6 days but in most cases it takes a week to ten days.

If you’re looking for speed and money is not an object, Borderlinx is fast.

Blink are going to have a “crazy deal” on the new Sony PS4 this week where they’re going to offer up the 500GB US version of the PS4 for just KD99. Not sure how much quantity they will make available They’re going to make only 5 to 10 units available and you’re going to have to check their website on Monday or Wednesday at 10AM or 6PM to catch the deal. Check out their website for more information [Here]

via 248AM Gaming

The popular Egyptian restaurant Abou El Sid is opening soon in Kuwait right outside The Green Island entrance. I haven’t been to Abou El Sid before but I just checked their website and the interiors of the restaurants in Egypt look authentic yet chic so I’m hoping they carry that design over here as well. Even the music sounds very cool (based on whats playing on their website). No clue to the exact opening date though, will update this post once I find out. [Link]

Update: Even though it still says opening soon outside it turns out its actually open already. They’re currently opening from 5PM to 11:30PM and the official opening will be on June 1st.

Sounds like fun if you’re into pizzas and not on a diet. Only a few days left to register. [Link]

via Life in Kuwait

I’m not a big fan of the new Central Bank of Kuwait tower (pictured above) thats being constructed across the street from Souk Sharq and after seeing the video below of how it will be lit up, I dislike it even more. The building looks really out of place with its surroundings and is just a huge ugly concrete block from the back.

[YouTube]

Thanks Ammar

According to the video below… 19. I’d love to see the seating arrangement inside the car.

[YouTube]

TJC Films is back and he just uploaded his latest video shot last night at the Visual Therapy Montana Colors Pop-Up Shop event that was held at Artspace. This is what TJC had to say about the video:

Visual Therapy’s Shahad put on a show last night at Artspace here in Kuwait to demonstrate how great the MTN Spray Paints are. It was pretty amazing to watch Kuwait Street Artists Nizzy show how the different MTN paints and nozzles could be used to create sharp lines or shading to give pieces a 3 dimensional feel. It is nice to see artists and those who support them starting to gain more notoriety here in Kuwait and companies like Visual Therapy carrying the stuff they need to create their best possible work like Montana colors.

Music: Go Yama BMOYAMA (Go yama Lake flip from adventure time)

Check out the video of the event below.

[YouTube]

I’m not sure when this happened, but NBK have finally gotten around to redesigning the online banking website. I haven’t used the website in ages and instead use their iPhone App for pretty much everything. The only reason I actually ended up going to the website was because I needed to add a new transfer beneficiary which I can’t do via the iPhone App.

The new layout of the website is a lot cleaner and more up to date looking while still keeping the graphics low like the previous version. I love it. [Link]

Thursday
The Vault Fundraiser
Shakshooka Nomadic Farmers Market
Cinemagics: Short Term 12
Exhibition: 50 Years of Printmaking
Exhibition: Once Removed – Kevork Mourad
Exhibition: Nuwa Creations – Katia Al Tal
Exhibition: The Tour – Barry Iverson
Exhibition: Re-Cast

Friday
Mapping Meetup 9

Saturday
Food Revolution Day
Cinemagics: Trances
International Museum Day

If you’d like to share an event on the blog click [Here]

Update: Just added the International Museum Day event