2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Wanna know how an alcohol permit used to look like in Kuwait? Check this one out by clicking [Here]

Update: On a related note and from the archives.. Oil, Oil Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Drink

It’s pretty common to hear about expats being discriminated in Kuwait so it was interesting to read a post by yousefq8 who writes about how as a Kuwaiti he was being discriminated the whole time while apartment searching. It seems most of the places he was checking didn’t want to rent out to Kuwaitis and so he resorted to lying and talking in English to make things easier for himself. I have no idea why they would discriminate against a Kuwaiti, maybe expats don’t feel they can live comfortably when there is a Kuwaiti living next door? Not sure but you can read his post [Here]

FIVE TWELVE is the largest videogame tournament thats been hosted in Kuwait and it will be taking place next week. The participants will be competing in EA’s FIFA 13 football game and the winner of the competition will be getting KD5,000.

FIVE TWELVE are giving away 3 copies of the FIFA 13 game along with free registration to the event (usually a KD20 fee) and all you need to do to win them is leave a comment in the post below mentioning what gaming system you have. I will then randomly choose 3 winners who each will win a copy of the game and the free registration to the tournament.

For more information on the FIVE TWELVE tournament including the rules and regulations click [Here]

Rules: Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will only be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond another winner will be randomly chosen. Winner gets to choose the console version of FIFA 13.

Update: I closed the post for commenting and using Random.org I chose three winners and one backup. The winners are: #107 vampire, #87 hansel and #14 pickles. The backup in case one of them doesn’t reply is #94 neoark25.

There is a carnival thats going to be taking place this weekend at Wahran Park in Shamiya. Other than carnival games there will also be food stalls, a talent show, a videogame competition and booths where people will be selling stuff. Here are some more details:

The Karnival
Date: March 14, 15 and 16
Time: 4PM to 11PM
Location: Wahran Park, Shamiya

Al Qabas newspaper Al Shahid released a list of alcohol prices in Kuwait. I guess they want you to be aware of the prices so your dealer doesn’t try to rip you off. If your dealer is overcharging you, refer them to this list.

For non-Kuwait residents, KD1 is around $3.5

This weekend there’s going to be a kids challenge fair taking place at Marina Mall in an attempt to break official Guinness World Records “In-A-Minute”. My guess is there will be various stalls with different activities which anyone can take part in trying to break a record in under a minute. The more interesting aspect for me is the fact the shortest woman in the world (pictured above) and the man with the largest feet will be at Marina Mall to take photos with.

Guiness World Records “In-A-Minute”
Location: Marina Mall
Date: March 14, 15 and 16

Update: I passed by Marina Mall and turns out the shortest woman was only there for the first day and won’t be showing up anymore. Sucks.

Thanks Mz

Chris Mcdougall uploaded a video onto YouTube which he shot himself when he BASE jumped from Hamra Tower this past weekend. This is what he had to say about it:

the raw hand cam and head cam from the first ever base jumps in Kuwait. the exit point was very bad and unstable so i kicked like a bitch and i got a big booga on the camera and on my face on opening. But the one handed landing made up for the other clumsy stuff. More to come in the Middle East….Game on 🙂 P.S. Thanks to Camco Global events for making it happen!

[YouTube]

via His&Hers

Last night after dinner I passed by the Pretty Little Things event thats currently taking place at Salhiya. If you haven’t passed by yet you should since the outdoor setup is very cool and there are a lot of fashion related items being sold there. They’re only going to be there till tomorrow and they’re open from 3PM to 10PM so you don’t have much time left. The outdoor market is taking place in front of Caribou Coffee and Johnny Rockets Salhiya.

According to Arabian Business Kuwait ranked 101st place out of 140 when it came to travel and tourism, the lowest amongst the Gulf countries. No surprise there, not even sure how we didn’t even rank lower since its practically impossible to get a visa to Kuwait. Dubai obviously ranked the highest in the region coming in 28th place out of 140. [Link]

Yesterday I was invited to the Peruvian Food Festival that is currently taking place this week at JW Marriott. I wasn’t planning to go at first but then I told myself I didn’t want to be one of those people who complain about nothing to do in Kuwait when in fact there are things to do and I just wasn’t doing them. The food festival is organized by the Peruvian embassy and they brought in three chefs from Peru as well as some Peruvian dancers. During various stages of the dinner the dancers would perform the traditional Peruvian dances and I thought was pretty entertaining. The food was also really interesting with lots of new flavors I hadn’t experienced before.

If you’re looking for something to do this week then this festival is on until the 15th of March. Having dinner while watching dancers perform is something you generally don’t see taking place in Kuwait so take advantage of this opportunity. The cost is KD15 per person (it’s an open buffet) and is from 7pm to 11pm at La Brasserie in JW Marriott Hotel.

Calling all photographers, if you’re interested in taking part in a group activity then this is a good one. Star trails photography involves long exposure shots of either the sky or landscapes where the movement of the stars in the sky form light trails in your shots (similar to the shot above). Not only will you end up with some interesting shots but its also a great way to meet new people.

Here is a list of gear you need to bring:
1. A DSLR
2. A tripod
3. Bring extra batteries or at least fully charge yours
4. A high capacity memory card
5. Shutter release
6. Food
7. Flashlights
8. Mat or chair to sit on

The meetup point will be the Mishref CO-OP parking lot on March 15th at 6PM. For more details check this [Link]

Photo above taken by Saleh AlRashaid

Thanks Kim

In February of this year, K’S PATH received a call about a Hamadryas baboon on the loose in the Friday market. Baboons of this kind tend to compete fiercely for resources, and can be particularly dangerous around food. They are also potential vectors for an astounding number of diseases that affect humans, including rabies, herpes, hepatitis b, HIV, and tuberculosis, to name but a few. A baboon on the loose in a public place, struggling to survive in stressful, unnatural conditions, therefore represents a serious risk to human health. Two of the K’S PATH animal control units therefore quickly responded to the call.

On arriving at the market, we were directed to the Shrimpy’s restaurant, where she had last been sighted. A thorough search of the building, including the roof, led nowhere. Several hours of searching the area around the market and talking to people revealed little except word of an occasional sighting. Eventually we were obliged to go back to our other duties and see what developed.

Later, we received a frantic call from one of the people we had spoken to earlier that day: the baboon was inside Lu & Lu Hypermarket, and people were panicking. This time K’S PATH mobilized all of our units and several volunteers, under the assumption we would have to use a dart gun to catch a baboon inside a crowded supermarket; a very dangerous prospect. By the time we arrive at the scene however, workers had chased the baboon back outside. Now we were faced with the prospect of finding and catching a primate in the dark, in a huge open area. Fortunately, we are experts in animal capture, so we went with our training. With such a recent sighting, we were able to more or less track the animals’ movements through eyewitness accounts. This led to a small cluster of buildings near the main entrance to the manufactured-goods area of the market. Here the trail went cold.

We split up with flashlights and headlamps to see what we could find. The first search revealed nothing. We were just about ready to give up. I was on top of the middle building creeping around looking for what I hoped wasn’t an angry primate, when the beam of my flashlight caught the slightest smudge in the dust inside of an air conditioning unit. A closer look revealed the slight impression of three little baboon prints.

I’m currently in Lebanon for the weekend and earlier today I went paragliding. Now that I’ve tried it I think everyone should when they visit Lebanon the next time since it’s a pretty cool experience. It wasn’t something I had planned to do, I was snowboarding with a friend and during a break we started talking and I found out he paraglides. So I told him I wanted to try it and he called his friend up and we booked an appointment for 2PM. Once we were done snowboarding we headed to the take off location which was high up in the mountain above the area Jounieh. The view was obviously spectacular and the weather was fantastic.

It was me and another girl who were planning to paraglide. It’s a tandem flight meaning you fly while strapped to an expert. You start off high up in the mountain and end up down right next to the sea (where I am pointing in the picture above). There was only one expert so the girl went first and I waited for them to land and get back up. The spot we were taking off from is a popular location and right after they left, 3 military men (I think they were French) arrived and also took off in sequence.

To take off the wind speed and direction need to be right and when it was my turn we didn’t have to wait long to go. I was strapped to the paraglider and when he told me run I had to run. Then suddenly just like that we were up in the air. It was an incredible feeling and surprisingly not very scary. The only parts that were freaky for me was when I was Instagramming the picture above live while up in the sky since I was worried I would drop my phone while doing so. The second scary part was when he gave me the controls to fly for a bit. It’s pretty simple to work but still the idea that I was flying the thing was freaky. The whole flight took around 20 minutes.

So yeah if you’re in Lebanon the next time you should definitely give this a try. The whole experience cost me just $120. To book an appointment call Caroline on +9613559992 or visit their website for more details [Here]

Christian Louboutin will be in Salhiya on Sunday at 3PM for the Christian Louboutin exhibition as well as a shoe-signing. Not sure if the shoe-signing is open to the public but it’s worth taking your shoes and trying.