2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
[YouTube]
The footage above was shot while the village was still being constructed but it still gives you an idea of how large the Remal sand sculpting festival will be. If you want to check out a timelapse on how one of these sculptures was made, check out this video also from Remal. [Link]
The Remal International Festival opens on January 30th, for more information, click [Here]
The new point to point cameras that are installed on Highway 40 on the road to Saudi Arabia and the chalets (pictured below) are going to be activated on February 1st. The cameras are located in a number of different locations along the long stretch of highway and work by calculating your average speed from one camera to the other. If your average speed is higher than the speed limit you will get issued a ticket and there’s no way to escape these cameras.
@BeautifulDestinations is an instagram account in which they post beautiful shots taken by instagrammers from around the world. With over a million followers they’re very popular which is why they just launched a Kickstarter campaign to print a hardcover book of the top 100 liked photos from their account in 2013. From the list of photographers who’s work was chosen, eight photographers are based locally including:
@ajfotoworld
@albanay
@alhashemiphotos
@bu_khaled
@fahadrb
@mashael_39
@s_alroudhan
@salehalrashaid
If you haven’t checked out the accounts above before you should, theres a ton of talent there. Also if you want to support the Kickstarter campaign and help get the book printed, visit the Beautiful Destinations Kickstarter page [Here]
The Remal International Festival will be opening on January 30th at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds. 73 of the world’s best sand artists came to Kuwait and worked together to reimagine the stories of 1001 Nights and according to the organizers, the sand park will be the world’s largest. The festival will be running from this Thursday all the way till the end of April and you can check out my previous post to get an idea on how grand this festival will be [Link]
The 32nd InfoConnect exhibition starts tomorrow and will be running till February 2nd at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds. You can usually get some great deals on phones and internet subscriptions at the exhibit and theres already a thread in the Community listing some of the offers.
For more details including the exhibition timings click [Here]
Note: Their website says January 26th to February 1st but their flyer says January 27th to February 2nd.
Had the salmon dish above at the newly opened Café Coco at the Avenues. Although it was slightly overcooked it was still pretty good and it came with lots of veggies. It’s priced at KD7.5 but the quantity was larger than the salmon dish I previously posted about at THE One. Would definitely go back and have it again.
The Contemporary Art Platform has a couple of interesting exhibits taking place right now but the one I got to check out recently and found fascinating is “Scattered, Gathered”. Part of the “Scattered, Gathered” is the works of Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj who I was lucky enough to meet when I was visiting CAP. I thought his exhibit was really interesting because of the story behind it and the the result of it. Issam had been working on an architectural project in the city of Cambridge for a couple of years and as the project was about to move forward with construction it suddenly got canceled. That put Issam in a depression and he retreated to his apartment where he spent the next 10 months venting out his anger and frustration on twelve volumes of the 1890 Britannica encyclopedia. He superimposed his visual diaries onto 10,232 pages of the now they’re being displayed for the very first time at CAP.
The exhibition is running until February 8th and its worth checking out. For more information on the exhibit click [Here]
A couple of days back I passed by the Kuwait National Museum for a little bit of exploration. Last week some friends of mine were given a tour of the two buildings that were still vacant and in shambles since the 1990 invasion and I really wanted to go check it out for myself. I’ve always been curious to see whats inside so I headed there on Thursday to take a look.
The museum is made up of four main buildings with two being occupied and two vacant. One of the vacant ones had under construction hoardings all around but the other building didn’t and the door was open so I just walked in. I took some photos which you can check out above, the black and white ones are from the first building I walked to while the colored ones are from the second building. There was nothing really to see since it looks like they’re finally renovating the building but at least I got to satisfy my curiosity.
If anyone knows where I can get some photos of the museum taken right after the invasion let me know. Also if anyone can get me access to the abandoned Al-Salam Palace then please email me.
Art Exhibit: Scattered, Gathered – Artist Books
Art Exhibit: Stages of Ascent
Art Exhibit: “Muhawwil” by Monira Al Qadiri
Cinemagic Rooftop Movie: Talk to Her
Cinemagic Rooftop Movie: Offside
Guided Tour: Liberation Tower
K’S PATH Shelter Open Day in Wafra
Shakshooka Nomadic Farmers Market
The Kuwait Motor Show 2014
Workshop: Graffiti in the Garden
Solo Tacos is a new local restaurant that opened up just this past Saturday in Kuwait City right next to Solo Pizza. It’s owned by a few people including the owner of Solo Pizza as well as the two Mexican women who used to run the Mexican home catering service I previously posted about, Sahuaro.
The restaurant is pretty small with a few tables inside and outside as well as a bar on both sides of the window to sit on. One wall is covered with photo frames while the other wall has a cabinet with some colorful Mexican wrestling masks on display. Their colorful menu located on the wall on top of the kitchen counter is very focused with just quesadillas, tacos, a bunch of sides and drinks.
I originally ordered just the beef taco but found it so good that I ended up ordering the fish taco as well. Between the two I preferred the beef taco but next time I’ll also have to try the chicken. One of the Mexican partners was there and she told me about how they don’t fry anything and how they don’t even have salt on the tables because they’re trying to keep things as much on the healthy side as possible which I found comforting. On my way out I also got to sample two of their drinks, their Jamaica hibiscus juice (pronounced khamaica) and the Horchata (pronounced orchata) which smelled of beautiful spices and was the one I preferred from the two.
I really liked the food and I’m definitely going back but I also do think it’s a bit on the pricey side. For more information including a map to the location you could visit their website [Here]
Most of you by now know I’m not a big fan of AstroTurf. I think AstroTurf belongs inside mini football fields and shouldn’t be used to beautify Kuwait. If you want to use AstroTurf to beautify the backstreets of Jabriya, sure, I guess I might understand the reasoning behind that. But, using AstroTurf on a monumental location like the Sheraton Roundabout? That I have a major problem with.
Yesterday, while driving around the Sheraton roundabout I noticed workers were busy behind the fence working on the landscaping and I also noticed super bright green grass. I thought to myself no way, they can’t be using AstroTurf are they? So I parked my car in the nearest parking lot and decided to cross the busy street and take a closer look. Turns out instead of planting real grass in the roundabout they’ve decided to go with the tacky and flat looking AstroTurf.
The irony is the landscapers have large signs all around the roundabout stating “We Keep Kuwait Green and Beautiful. Go Green Save Earth”. I guess by keeping Kuwait green they meant literally the color green. On the bright side they’re using real palm trees and flowers so I guess thats a plus.
@mark248am as of 1st January the UFC has decided leave OSN and we are very disappointed at their decision.
— OSN (@osn) January 21, 2014
This absolutely sucks. I used to love recording live UFC event and then waking up early morning to watch them. It’s the only reason I still had my OSN subscription. Instead, OSN are now getting Bellator which no one wants to watch while the UFC has moved to Abu Dhabi Sports.
I just passed the scene above awhile ago on my way home on the First Ring Road. From my position it looked like a nasty accident but I just saw the video below and the accident turned out to be a lot more horrific than I first imagined. This took place during rush hour which means there was heavy traffic. How can such a terrible accident occur during rush hour? It’s insane, it doesn’t make any sense.
The Kuwait Motor Show starts from today at 360 Mall and has over 70 vehicles on display. This will probably be the largest car show this year since I don’t see any automotive event on the Kuwait International Fair events page. [Link]
Four new restaurants have opened up next to each other on Blajat Street, JJ’s Burgers, Sandawicha, Meywa and Abou Jassem. Have’t tried any of them but I do like the wooden looking (dont’ think its real wood) exterior facade of the restaurants. Makes the whole thing look a lot more interesting.