2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Apple launched the pre-orders for the Apple Vision Pro this past Friday and I’m still undecided on it.

I definitely think it has a lot of potential, but at 1,150 KD it’s crazy expensive. I ended up pre-ordering one on Saturday since by then the delivery date had moved back to March which gives me some time to decide. I figured depending on how much money I make from advertising this month, and depending on the reviews that come out, I could decide to get one or just cancel my order.

I’m still trying to figure out what I could use it for. I think it could be a second TV, but I also like the idea of being transported some where else. I don’t know, I’m curious to have one and see where this technology is going to go, but the cheapest Apple Vision Pro which is 256GB comes out to around 1,200 KD shipped to Kuwait. The device itself costs 1,080 KD, but if you ship to MyUS.com there is additional $244 tax on top of it (more if you ship to Shop&Ship). Then calculate around 20KD to ship to Kuwait, you’re looking at close to 1,200KD. Crazy for something that I have no idea what I will use it for.

Did you pre-order one?

SMOKE AND SODA is a new Kuwait based online store that recently launched and is promising to bring something new to the regional fashion scene.

It’s a one-stop-shop with items ranging from electronics and self-care essentials, to clothes and home decor. Everything is curated so you’re only going to find the coolest and most interesting items for sale.

All their pieces are hand picked from places like New York, LA, London, Paris, Sydney and Tokyo, but they also have offerings from within our region. Some of the brands they carry include:

• Billionaire Boys Club
• Converse
• Grown Alchemist
• House of Sunny
• Lottie London
• Modern Home
• Nikben
• Pabe Pabe
• Soxy
• Stojo
• This Works

With all the big franchises selling pretty much the same looking things, SMOKE AND SODA are trying to help you celebrate your individuality with more unique pieces. They’re champions of self-expression and want you to embrace your true self, free from judgment.

SMOKE AND SODA have both an online website and iOS and Android Apps. Check them out by visiting smokeandsoda.com or clicking on the download link in their bio @smokeandsodame

Back in September, I shared a photo of how the new Gulf Road facelift was going to look, and since then, they’ve been really busy working on the transformation.

The 9.7-kilometre-long project involves facelifting the waterfront while also offering essential amenities for people which includes a dedicated bicycle and jogging path among other things.

The project is divided into two phases with the first phase on track to be completed in February while the second phase will be completed in March. Yesterday I passed by to check out the progress, and even though the area is still under construction, it looked great!

The redesign is so tastefully done with beautiful tile work, nice looking benches, and a very minimal and clean design overall. Even the new garbage bins look good.

Runners will also be interested to know that the running track is going to be cushioned.

If you want to check the progress yourself, I’d recommend heading to the pathway next to Green Island. I visited different spots along the water front and the Green Island area was the closest to completion.

If you haven’t seen how the waterfront is going to look like when done, click here.

I’m a huge Formula 1 racing fan, so one of the benefits of having a Red Bull MOBILE by Zain phone number is I get to participate in their Weekly Rewards and win F1 gear and experiences. It usually only requires answering a couple of multiple choice questions, and the person answering all correctly and quickly wins the prize. I won once so far, but missed out on a trip for 2 to watch the F1 race in Qatar including a unique Red Bull Racing garage tour experience back in October.

Now, Red Bull launched their biggest Reward yet, an all-inclusive trip for two to visit the Red Bull Racing Factory in the UK. If you’re an F1 fan (or just want a free trip to the UK) this is for you.

There will be two winners for this reward and each winner will be able to bring one companion with them on the trip.

The package includes:
– Two tickets to the UK from Kuwait
– 2-night stay in a hotel (double room incl. breakfast)
– Red Bull Racing Factory Tour
– Transportation

This promotion is exclusive to Red Bull MOBILE by Zain subscribers. If you’re already a Red Bull MOBILE by Zain member, then head over to the Rewards section in the RBM by Zain app and enter the competition. If you don’t have a Red Bull MOBILE by Zain number, you should really consider getting one. I pay only 12.5KD a month for unlimited calls and 5G internet, plus the ability to take part in their Weekly Rewards program.

Download the app and play to win now!
For more information, follow @redbullmobilekw or visit redbullmobile.com.kw

Events are starting to pick up again but still not a lot happening, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, January 18
Sports Square 2023-2024
Kashmir Textiles Exhibition
Shop Local Market
TK Market
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition

Friday, January 19
Sports Square 2023-2024
Shop Local Market
Experimental Printmaking Workshop
Cars & Coffee
TK Market
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition
Stargazing in Al Salmi

Saturday, January 20
Sports Square 2023-2024
Shop Local Market
DAI Storytime
TK Market
Tareq Rajab Museum Tour
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition

One of my favorite movies of all time used to be Menace II Society. It’s an old film that came out back in 1993 when I was living in Canada and really into hiphop. It came out around the same time as some other great influential movies including CB4, New Jack City and Juice, all movies related to gang violence and hip hop.

Since then I’ve watched Menance II Society a bunch of times, but the last time might have been 20+ years ago. Recently I was watching live TV on Paramount+ and it came on, and damn it’s still a great movie. It has so much going for it from great acting, incredible writing and lots of scenes that would have gone viral on Tiktok if the movie had come out today. If you haven’t watched it before, add it to your list.

I also watched the first episode of the new season of True Detective. That was also really great and now can’t wait till the next episode. Latest episode of Monarch was also great, and so was Fargo, this week was a good tv week.

What have you been watching?

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
No Way Up (N/A)
Race for Glory (5.7)
The End We Start From (6.6)
The Hunted (N/A)
The Piper (5.5)
The Last Rifleman (6.6)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Migration (7.5)
Night Swim (N/A)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (6.0)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Rush Hour 2 (6.7)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Last year Chipotle signed an agreement with Alshaya to bring the franchise to the Middle East. The initial plan is for two locations to open each in Dubai and Kuwait. A few weeks ago I posted that their first location in Kuwait is expected to be at The Avenues, and now my source just informed me that they’re aiming to open by April.

The first location will be in The Avenues Phase 4, where Blaze Pizza used to be located, right next to Gait and VOX Cinema.

Every time I post about Chipotle the posts tend to go viral and I’ve been trying to understand why. My best guess is that lots of people used to have Chipotle back when they were studying in the US? I have no idea but if you have a better theory, let me know.

The coming soon hoarding is still not up, but I took the liberty of adding one to my photo.

Future Kid opened their first branch back in 1987 in Muthana Mall, and now 37 years later, they’re opening their 15th location in Kuwait.

The new location is located inside the brand new Safat Al-Mubarakiya Mall, inside Souq Al-Mubarakiya. Future Kid realized there weren’t many activities for children and families in Souq Al-Mubarakiya, so they decided to open a location there to give families more things to do than just eat and shop.

The new location is large with bumper cars, a large ball pit, and plenty of arcade machines. They already soft launched a couple of weeks ago but the grand opening is officially on the 25th of January.

The new location is currently open daily from 10AM to 11PM and you can follow them to stay posted on future openings @futurekidkuwait. Here is the new location on Google Maps.

Starting February, if you have a Kuwaiti passport you no longer require a visa to travel to the UK. Instead of the traditional visit visa, you will require an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) which costs £10 (4KD) and is valid for two years.

The UK ETA application process is straight forward and you should be able to complete the online form in a matter of minutes with the following information:

• Personal details
• Passport data
• Travel information
• Answers to some basic security questions

The only other requirements are:

• A valid Kuwaiti passport
• Credit or debit card to pay the UK ETA fee
• An email address to receive notifications

Most applications will be processed within 3 days, so you can apply for it right before you trip. This move is part of the UK plan to digitize their border by 2025 and applies to Kuwaitis, GCC citizens and Jordanians.

To stay posted or for more information, follow @ukinkuwait

TWG Tea is a Singaporean luxury teahouse chain. I hadn’t heard of them until earlier this month when I was in Dubai Mall and noticed them there. I was craving tea so I went up to their tea “bartender” and he started asking me what I wanted. I gave him an idea of what I felt like having, mainly something with no caffeine and had a fruity smell. He then made me smell two kinds of tea and I ended up picking one called Happy Hour, a decaf green tea that smelled so good I spent more time sniffing it than drinking it. Watching him make the tea was fun and the whole experience was pretty great which is why I’m now interested in the fact they’re opening in Kuwait.

I used to be a huge fan of Teavana before they eventually closed down and I haven’t really gotten back into tea since. Things might change now since from what I saw, TWG has similar style teas to Teavana, basically the flavored teas.

The first TWG location in Kuwait will be in The Avenues on the top floor of the Prestige section, right outside the Harvey Nichols entrance, and right on top of Maria Tash. Their instagram is currently active with coming soon posts @twgteakw

The Staged in Kuwait IMPROV comedy night is starting again and will be taking place on Thursday, January 25th.

This is my favorite local comedy show and if you’ve never been to one of their shows, you definitely should.

Tickets start at KD 10 and the good seats tend to sell out quickly. If you’re looking for something fun and different to do then check them out. Link

The Shagaya Renewable Energy Park is located around an hour and a half drive from the city and it’s HUGE. To give you some perspective, if you drove at 100KM/h, it would take you around 5 minutes to get from one end to the other. Last week I was lucky enough to get permission from KISR to visit the project and get a tour of the different renewable energy resources Kuwait is currently experimenting with.

The Shagaya Park is part of Kuwait’s vision for producing up to 15% of the energy from renewable energy sources by the year 2030. The energy park is a small-scale pilot project where three different renewable energy sources were installed with the objective so to be able to asses medium term costs and performances, and be able to make decisions on which technology to be employed in future plants. The 3 renewable energy sources installed are:

10 MW Wind Farm
10 MW Photovoltaic Plant
50 MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant

The wind farm uses wind to turn turbines to produce the energy. The photovoltaic plant uses solar panels to convert sun light into electricity. Finally, the CSP plant uses mirrors to direct sunlight onto a central tube filled with oil which then heats up water which drives a steam turbine to produce electricity. The advantage of the CSP plant which I discovered on this tour is that it can continue to produce electricity even during the night. That’s because there are two large tanks filled with 33,000 tons of molten salt that store heat during the day, and then continue to produce energy at night.

All the power generated from the park is fed back into Kuwait’s power grid. Since the park has been operational for a few years, they’ve collected enough data to decide on moving forward by expanding the Photovoltaic Plant. Kuwait uses the most amount of energy from 12PM to 4PM in the summer which is also when the Photovoltaic Plant’s generate the most electricity. This is why the government recently launched a tender to build a 1.1GW photovoltaic plant which will be installed at the park.

You can’t access the park without permission from KISR, but if you want to drive to it and check out the wind farm from outside the park, here is the location on Google Maps.

The new season of True Detective comes out on Monday starring Jodie Foster. I’m looking forward to it because haven’t really been watching much lately.

I’ve started The Expanse all over again, I think the first time I watched it I stopped at season 3, and then completely forgot the storyline and characters so now restarting and going to watch it all the way through.

What have you been watching?

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Lord of Misrule (5.3)
The Beekeeper (6.8)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Ferrari (6.8)
Migration (7.5)
Night Swim (N/A)
The Iron Claw (8.1)
Wish (6.0)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Rush Hour 2 (6.7)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

52 years ago to this day, boxing legend Muhammad Ali visited Kuwait as part of his broader trip to the Gulf region, which included his religious pilgrimage to Mecca.

During his visit to Kuwait, he engaged in various activities including meeting with local leaders, interacting with fans, and spreading messages of peace and unity. He was given a hero’s welcome and everywhere he went he was accompanied by an entourage of famous media personalities and athletes.

Thanks to the archivists Bader Alshaiji, I was able to get a hold of some photos of Muhammad Ali’s visit to share with my readers. A lot of these photos haven’t been seen since they were originally published 50 years ago.

For more photos from Ali’s visit, click here.
Make sure you visit Bader’s Instagram account if you’re interested in more old photos of Kuwait @badshaiji

This is a simple, but fun and very cute idea. Local design studio Mud Architects were commissioned to design a stall for Doh! at the new food hall in Khiran Mall.

Taking inspiration from the location of the food hall being in a beach town, Mud decided to create a large donut floatie. The design choice was a nod to both the brand’s fun identity, and the coastal vibe of Khiran, creating an eye-catching and engaging presence inside the food hall.

Photos by @mashkanani