2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

tiles from Dana Aljouder on Vimeo.

Filmed in a neglected expat housing complex in Hawalli, this out of context mirage disorients the familiarity or nostalgia of the space. The multicultural neighborhood vibrates with a multicultural working force who have consciously migrated from their diverse backgrounds to participate in the daily routine designated by a profiting developer. The tiling of the colonnade, as is the tiling of the dress, is reflective of the blurring of these expat cultures to camouflage within the existing- the existing which is not only foreign to them but foreign to the space – creating the out of context “Where am I?” phenomenon. These diverse cultures try to adapt to a “?” culture imposed by another country whilst struggling to identify between pre-imposed ethnic stereotypes and their traditional heritage. The freedom of the body is limited to the disproportion of the imposed cage, irritated within the larger cage of the structure.

I love the tiles. They don’t make buildings like they used to.

As inspiration from an app called “The Dumbest Laws” I have decided to make a series of posts called “Kuwait laws you don’t need to know” so I could inform you on things you don’t need to be informed on. I don’t know how many of these posts I can come up with but one of my favorite things to do while working is finding and reading these weird laws.

So anyways, here is the first one, it’s an excerpt from an officially translated version (ignore their grammatical errors) of Law No.9 from 1969 “With Regards To The Possession of Dogs and Preventive Measures Against Rabies”:

Article 1
Possession of dogs is not permitted unless a license is obtained from the Ministry of Health

Article 2
License of one or more dogs requires an application to be submitted to the competent veterinary center giving the following details:

1- Name of applicant, title, age, nationality and address
2- The location where the dog will be kept
3- Breed of dog, color and distinctive marks
4- The source of where the dog was imported

Article 5
A collar with a metal plate shall be put around each dog, giving the serial number referred to, the plates are obtained from competent veterinary free of charge, the dog owner should request a replacement, in which case he will have to pay 250 fils.

If a dog is arrested without a plate it will be sent to the Dog Detainment Center, and will not be handed to the owner, unless he requests so 7 days from the day of arrest, and pays a fee of KD1

Article 6
All dogs of all types shall not be left in public places without being controlled with a mask on their mouth

Article 15
The provisions herein apply to Kuwait City. The City of Kuwait with regards to the implementation of this article means the vicinities surrounded by the third ring road, the Health and Educational Areas and the Sulbikhat area, unless the dog belongs to a Bedouin as watch or hunt dogs, whether the owners live in the city or the desert

Article 16
Violators of this law will be liable to a maximum term of one month imprisonment maximum and/or KD30 fine.

Keep in mind, this was back in 1969.

Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
Have a Kuwait law related question? Email me at [email protected]

The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.

Instagram user @mohammedaltourah has been posting photos taken from old newspapers of various events that were taking place in Kuwait back in the 70s. Among the photos was this Boney M ad above dating back to 1978. I also found the video below that according to the uploader was taken in Kuwait back in 1978. But, the video also says it was shot in UAE. Since I don’t think UAE existed back then (you know what I mean) it’s very possible that this was shot in Kuwait. [YouTube]

Check out more old newspaper clippings [Here]

Last week when I passed by the new revamped Peacock restaurant at Radisson Blu I also got a tour of the hotel. I didn’t check out the rooms since they didn’t interest me but I did check out the lobby area and the new Sky Lounge.

The lobby area is a lot brighter than before with a lot more daylight coming in and a brighter color palette. They’ve removed their famous floating 4-ton marble sphere from the entrance and moved it outside. They also expanded the little cafe that used to be there and they kept Peacock in the same location with just the entrance now moved to the main side.

The Sky Lounge is a new addition to the hotel that didn’t exist before. It was still under heavy construction when I passed by but I found the rendering above of how it will eventually look like. The Sky Lounge has a panoramic view of the sea and they want it to be the “it” place to hangout at night. Once the sun sets the whole place dims down and mood lights come on. They’ll have a DJ playing house music and they’ll also have a bar that serves non-alcoholic cocktails. They want the place to be a chill-out lounge and I’m personally curious to see how that works out.

If you missed Staged in Kuwait’s spectacular production of Seussical back in June, it’s now available to watch online. Seussical starred Ethan Alphonso, Hassan Rawas, Stacy McDonald, Carly Stark, Samantha Hines, John Peaveler and more. The production was staged at Live Theater in Discovery Mall during the first week of June. [Vimeo]

A whole bunch of new restaurants are opening up in Jabriya soon. The complex above is near Starbucks and will have iHop, Shake Shack and possibily a third brand as well.

The second complex above is near Champions and will have Johnny Rockets, Nino’s and Caribou Coffee.

Finally there is another new complex opening right across from The Early Bird but no clue yet to what restaurants it will contain. One things for sure, traffic in and around Jabriya is already unbearable and these new restaurants are only going to increase it.

Thanks Patrick

Guy travels around the world and shot a second of video in every country he visited Kuwait included. Skip to 2:39 if you just want to see him in Kuwait. [YouTube]

To start a business or become rich you actually don’t need money, you need intelligence and confidence and good planning. Now if you are an expatriate and wish to be a businessman, then all you need is to find a Kuwaiti partner who is not as smart as you. Because if he is, then he will be asking you too many questions and turn into a nagging wife.

I’m not sure if this “How-to” guide is serious or being sarcastic. [Link]

Thanks Vanilla

One of Those Days is a short film produced by a GUST student and his friends (Good Mango Productions). According to the movie description it includes comedy, action, some serious drama and an ending to remember. I watched the film and didn’t really like it. In the email I received from them they had mentioned they submitted the film to a bunch of festivals including Sundance so I ended up sending them a pretty critical (but constructive) email. If you’re entering a film to Sundance the very least you could do is scout better locations for your scenes. Its a short 5 minute film so it wouldn’t be too difficult to make every scene visually stunning. Some of their locations like the office, apartment and bathroom are just horrible.

BUT, end of the day it’s pretty cool that they actually took the time to create something they love so much which is why I’m sharing their film here. It’s their first attempt so I’m sure they’ll just keep on improving. [YouTube]

Lebanon. Lose Yourself. from Wissam Abdallah

The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism should hire this guy. Watch it in full screen and in HD.

via BlogBaladi

After finding out about the Nutella Kunafa a few days ago I asked @PinkElephant73 if she could attempt to replicate it since she had already replicated Cronuts a few weeks ago. Next day behold I get a large pan of Nutella Kenafeh delivered to my door. Surprisingly, Kunafa and Nutella do mix well together (then again what doesn’t mix well with Nutella). It’s an extremely heavy and super fattening dessert thats for sure. No idea how many calories and not interested to know either. I felt so guilty after eating a quarter of the tray that I went for an 8KM run right after to try and burn off whatever I could. If you’re interested in making it yourself, @PinkElephant73 was nice enough to share the recipe along with pictures. Check it out below:

——————————————-

Let me start by saying that this recipe is not for the faint at heart – it’s basically a lot of butter, a lot of Nutella, and only some kunafa dough. But it’s freakin’ awesome.

The cast of characters! Yes, that is 400g of butter (Sorry, Mark!). You won’t be using the whole thing, I promise! But, it makes for a more flavorful kunafa! Also, a big jar of Nutella and some kunafa dough that you can find fresh or frozen from Sultan Center.

First things first: preheat your oven to 220°C! A nice hot oven makes for a great crunchy kunafa!

Cut the kunafa dough with a pair of kitchen scissors till you get small shreds. If you’re going to use frozen phyllo dough, be sure to thaw it a few hours before using it! It makes cutting it so much easier.

Next, pour the melted butter onto the kunafa little by little and stir it in to ensure all of the dough is evenly coated with butter. Watch out for this step! You don’t want to over-soak the kunafa with butter; otherwise you’ll get a really greasy crust, and no one likes a greasy crust.

Spoon and press the buttery dough into two 9″ round pans. In one of the pans, press some more of the dough up and around the sides of the pan to make a shallow “well” for the Nutella. Bake those babies for 30-40 minutes, checking immediately after 30 minutes to make sure they haven’t burned.
When the crusts are a deep golden brown, they’re ready! Take ’em out and let them cool.

Then, pour the Nutella into the pan with the kunafa sides as little or as much as your heart desires. Resist the urge to lick the spoon when you’re done (I couldn’t).

Flip the other kunafa onto the Nutella-filled one. I couldn’t take a picture of this step because I was too busy trying not to royally screw it up. I would say this is the hardest part.
Then, flip the entire thing onto your serving dish and voila! Nutella Kunafa!

You can do deconstructed versions of this by just toasting the buttery phyllo dough on a sheet pan as you would granola and layering it with Nutella into small serving cups. However you choose to eat it, factor in some time for a quick work-out after you’re done. Enjoy!

– @PinkElephant73

Yesterday I got a phone call from Xcite telling me they launched their iPhone and iPad app. I checked out the iPhone version and it’s not bad although the main page for some reason makes me feel very claustrophobic. I think its because of all the icons squeezed into the bottom 1/3 of the screen. Anyway if you want to download it and check it out just search for Xcite in the App store or click on this [Link]

Last night was the launch of the Class of Chairs exhibition at the Contemporary Art Platform. The idea behind Class of Chairs is pretty simple and fun. The space at CAP was set up like a classroom with each chair in the class representing a certain stereotypical character you had back in school like the nerd, the tall guy, the pervert, the hairy guy etc..

The event itself was pretty fun last night since it was a social gathering and everyone knew everybody else. If you’re interested to check it out, Class of Chairs will be exhibiting until tomorrow (Friday). For more information on the event click [Here]

Last night I passed by and met Haitham Al-Ghareeb, a local violin maker. We met at his small cozy workshop in Rawda located right outside his home. When you walk into his dimly lit workshop you’ll see a small diwaniya on the left with around a dozen violins hanging on the wall, while on the right hand side is his workstation where he crafts all his violins. He filled a kettle with water and put it on a small electric stove next to him and we started talking.

Back in 2000, Haitham was a oud player but was interested in getting into violins. He started looking for a good violin to buy in Kuwait but he couldn’t find any. Most of the violins available in the market back then were of poor quality from low end brands. That’s why Haitham decided to make his own violin using documents and instructions he found online.

Haitham hadn’t crafted any musical instruments before, he had dabbled with some minor oud repair but nothing major. This got me even more curious, how can a 25 year old with no previous woodworking skills be able to craft such a delicate instrument as a violin? Well the answer I believe might be in his genes. Haitham’s father, grand father and great grand father were all dhow builders. Woodworking had existed in his family for generations and it was just natural for him to be good at it.

Haitham’s first violin wasn’t flawless, it had mistakes and was made using locally sourced wood but yet the sound it produced to his ears was beautiful. This encouraged him to build a second better violin with imported tonewood (wood cut specifically for musical instruments). He started frequenting forums and participating in online communities where other violin craftsmen from around the world would share their tips and techniques. His violins kept improving with every build and soon he had his own tips and tricks to share with the community. He loved crafting violins so much that he quickly forgot about wanting to play them. He became obsessed in building and perfecting his own creations.

When Haitham first started making violins he was spending 4 hours a day working on them and each violin would take around 2 months to complete. Nowadays he’s too busy with work and family so it takes him around 9 months to complete a single violin. But he’s fine with that. He never started making violins with the intention to turning it into a profitable business. Even his prices have remained the same over the years even though his violins kept getting better and demand for them kept increasing. He just loves making violins and isn’t interested in expanding. It’s a hobby he’s just really good at. He also does a lot of repair work on violins which to many musicians is a lifesaver. Musicians bond with their instruments and having a local violin maker means that a damaged violin no longer needs to be discarded but instead can be repaired. Only two of the violins hanging on the wall were his, the rest were either in for repair or were being sold by other musicians.

Once we were done with the interview, Haitham served us some tea. Throughout the whole interview which lasted around 40 minutes I had watched him make us the tea using two kettles, a can filled with what I assume is tea leaves and a box filled with I don’t know what. He then skillfully poured the tea from the large kettle into three glasses that were sitting amongst a dozen on the table in front of us. The tea was delicious and to me summarized the kind of person that Haitham is, a perfectionist.

If you’d like to contact Haitham for any reason you can do so by emailing him on [email protected]

Too much drama. [YouTube]