2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Looks like the old wooden boats that park there are on fire.

Update: There is a boat traffic jam right now in the enclosed bay since all the boats are trying to get out at the same time.

Update2: Here is a second angle

Update3: Finally a better shot via @KhalifaAlfadhli

Update4: Below is a closeup by @saadalthaidy

Update4: Final update since the fire has been put out.

Local resident Jamal Sleeq has retained his Guinness World Record for most prayer beads by owning 3,642 pieces. He also is the Guinness World Record holder for the largest Opaline glass collection. You can watch a video report about his prayer beads collection from back in May below.

[YouTube]

via Speakin’ the Blues

Cute. Skip to the 6 minute mark if you don’t have the patience. [YouTube]

I’ve only been to Spain once and it was a couple of years ago on a work related trip. There are two things I still remember from my trip, the fantastic food and the unbelievably amazing Sangrias. Luckily for us both will be available really soon in Kuwait… and yes, even the Sangrias.

The new place that’s opening up is called Bubó. Bubó is a popular pastry store in Barcelona created by Catalan Pastry Chef Carles Mampel and he’s opening his first location outside Spain here in Kuwait. Carles is an award winning pastry chef with a number of achievements including “Best Master Pastry Chef in Spain in 1999” and winning the prize for the world´s best chocolate cake in 2005. In 2008 he was also incorporated into Relais Dessert. I had no idea what that was until today. It turns out Relais Dessert is like the Michelin Star of pastry chefs and it’s very difficult to earn and keep since they limit it to just 80 members around the world at any given time. In the Arab world for example there is only one Relais Dessert chef and it’s Lionel Pelle of Pâtisserie Cannelle in Beirut. In England there is only one and in the whole of the US there is also just one Relais Dessert chef. So Bubó will be the second store in the Arab world with a Relais Dessert so that’s pretty cool for us.

In addition to pastries the local Bubó will also serve over 20 different kind of tapas. Tapas are very popular in Spain and they’re basically appetizers, kinda like the Lebanese mezza. As I mentioned earlier they’re also going to have Sangarias… virgin Sangarias without any alcohol which should be interesting.

I sat with the local GM of Bubó as well as Carles Mampel and they really sold me on the whole concept which is why I can’t wait until they open next month. Carles explained to me how they have three important things they focus on with their food, health, quality of the food and presentation. Their food isn’t healthy as in diet kind of healthy but their food is healthy because it’s all made with natural ingredients. They do everything in house be it their mustard or the roasting of the hazelnuts. Carles is a control freak and the only way he can control the quality of his food is if he controls the ingredients as well.

The restaurant is located in Al-Ghunaim Tower in Kuwait City. It’s right opposite the parking entrance of Souk Al Watiya which is located behind Sheraton. When you first walk in the area on the right is similar to a casual lounge. It’s in case you just want to meet up with some friends, have coffee and dessert and just chill out. The middle section is made up of tables and chairs for dining be it lunch or dinner. Finally on the far left is where all the pastries will be displayed in jewelry like displays. The place looks pretty cool with a partly black angular ceiling which I think adds the most to the place design wise.

After sitting with Carles and understanding how he thinks and how he dissects ingredients and puts them together, I’ve realized to him the dishes are like an art and science. For example the Relais Dessert group of pastry chefs get together every year and they share new techniques they’ve each created. Carles for example created something called the Balsamic Caviar Vinegar. You can watch a video of how it’s made [Here]. It’s a different and more creative way of adding balsamic to dishes. They always have to innovate and set a certain bar or else they’re out of the Relais Dessert and someone else takes their place. I’ve heard a lot about how stressful a Michelin star is to a chef so I can only imagine how much stress these Relais Dessert members are under since theres only a limited amount of spots.

Price wise they’re still finalizing things but I was told they’ll be competitively priced. They gave me some price examples which I’m not sure I can share but lunch for example with friends would cost less than if you went out for sushi. The reason I’m using sushi as an example is because it’s the only other cuisine I can think of right now where you sit down and order a variety of dishes to share. Actually the Lebanese mezza is another one so their tapas will be priced somewhere between mezza and sushi dishes.

Left to right: Najla Yassin the GM, Jesus Arcas the executive chef and Carles Mampel

They’ve started tastings a few days ago and this is going to go on for another week or so until Carles thinks everything is up to par. I’m most likely going to pass by next week with Nat to try it out but will post another update later on once they officially open up. Should turn out to be pretty cool.

Looks like JD from Scrubs studied in Riyad before joining Sacred Heart Hospital.

via Amer Al-Saleh

Saturday was the International Cosplay Day and Q8 Cosplayers participated by going to Rehab Complex in Hawalli dressed up.

Cosplay, short for “costume play”, is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea.

Rehab Complex if you aren’t aware is the videogame central of Kuwait. Turnout wasn’t that great with only six Cosplayers showing up compared to the large turnout at the P2BK event early in the year. You can find more pictures and information on the Q8 Cosplayers by checking out their Facebook page [Here]

I’ve been looking for camping gear recently (more on that in another post) and I was planning to order FireSteel (watch the video above) from Amazon but when I checked the Light My Fire website it turns out Explorers Base in Tilal Complex was the local dealer.

I really love the Light My Fire products. They don’t have a lot of stuff but what they do have is really beautifully designed (they’re Swedish). The FireSteel in the video above is super practical when camping plus they have really good looking Sporks and Lunchboxes.

Price wise they’re selling them locally for nearly the same price as Amazon. The FireSteel costs around KD4 while a pack of 4 plastic Sporks are selling for KD2.750. You can check out all the Light My Fire products on their website [Here]

A couple of months back I posted about how the mangrove stretch in Sulaibikhat was recovering from the pollution and K’S PATH have now posted another updated.

The birds are back at Kuwait’s ‘mangrove’ beach at Sulaibikhat, a key ecologically rich marine habitat protected by K’S PATH’s marine conservation program and Al Yaal. The green stretch of vegetation alongside the mangroves was first spotted early this summer, the result of countless hours put in by volunteers to clear what was for long a ‘river of waste’. Our clean-up at this site on August 24th was highlighted by the first sighting of a flock of flamingos and other bird species since the onset of summer 2012. We have a lot of work to do at this site including shoveling recently deposited top-layer debris. Join in to protect this fragile habitat.

Check out their Facebook page [Here]

I’ve always wanted a waterproof camera which I could take with me to the beach but since I don’t go to the beach that often it wasn’t worth the investment. But with all the waterproof cases available for the iPhone right now I realized that might be my best option. I ended up buying and trying two very different cases, the Aquapac and the LifeProof.

The Aquapac isn’t really a case but more like a bag in which you slip your phone into and then seal with two knobs. Even with the phone inside you can still control it from the outside and since the case is transparent on both sides you can use the camera as well. You can throw in your iPhone, BlackBerry, Android phone or whatever else you want since because it’s more of a bag you can just throw different sized devices into it. The case comes with a bright yellow lanyard which you can use to hang the phone around your neck or tie it to your jet ski or whatever. Also depending on how much air you leave in the bag before sealing it you can have it float on water which is handy in case it falls off the boat. But I did have one major issue with the bag and that’s underwater shooting. Because the case is made of soft plastic, once in the water it flexes and if it flexes in front of the lens which with me it kept doing then all the photos come out distorted. I also had a hard time using the volume buttons on the phone because I had to bend the bag to get to them and although you can make and receive calls with the bag on you’re not going to hear your caller well nor will they. But the case costs just KD9 so it’s a very affordable way to waterproof your phone.

The second case I got and tried was the LifeProof. This is a proper hard case that comes in two halves, you place your phone into one of the halves and then seal it by clicking into place the second half. The case is slightly larger than the phone so it doesn’t add much bulk and it allows you to fully control the screen and all the buttons while inside it. In fact I know someone who uses this case as his day to day phone cover. There’s a Goretex material covering the mic and earphone so it stops water from seeping in but allows you to talk and listen with just a slight decrease in volume. There’s also a solid glass piece over where the camera lens is so you can take pictures underwater without having to worry about any distortion. If you want to use waterproof headphones with your phone you can also do that since it comes with a special waterproof headphone adapter you just screw into place. The disadvantage with this case is the fact it only works with the iPhone 4/4s which means if you sell your phone you can’t use it with another one. It’s also more expensive than the Aquapac costing around KD15 on Amazon and it doesn’t float on the water and neither does it come with a lanyard.

Between the two covers I personally prefer the LifeProof. Although it’s more expensive it’s only by a few Dinars and the fact I can shoot underwater or use the case as my day to day case is a huge advantage. But, the Aquapac does have it’s own advantages as well namely the fact you can use it with a variety of phones and that it’s really easy to slip in or take out a phone from the case. Below are links to both products on Amazon where I purchased the cases from. When I ordered my LifeProof case the cheapest price in Kuwait was KD27. After I placed my order Blink dropped the price down to KD22 which is basically the same price it cost me to get my case from Amazon.

Aquapac on Amazon
LifeProof on Amazon
LifeProof on Blink

I’ve been using BlackBerry in Kuwait ever since Zain introduced it back in 2007 (they were still called MTC Vodafone). My first BlackBerry was the 8700 and although it looked horrible it had a battery that used to last forever.

I was originally just using the BB for work emails but then once BlackBerry’s picked up in Kuwait I started using it for chatting as well. Everyone I knew seemed to have a BB so it was a pretty practical way of communicating. A few years have gone by though and things are not longer the same. Hardly anyone I know chats on BlackBerry anymore and the only reason I was keeping it around was because of our Diwaniya Group. But since we’ve moved the group to WhatsApp there is no longer a reason to keep my BlackBerry. The only person still holding out is Marzouq but he’s caving in as well.

I just canceled my BlackBerry service and I don’t think I’m going to miss it. I just hope BlackBerry released BlackBerry Messenger for the iPhone and Android devices since WhatsApp is really crap compared to it.

Pei Wei the fast food Asian Diner owned by PF Changs opened last night at the Avenues food court. I passed by earlier today for lunch and tried them out and as a first experience it wasn’t bad. They serve 5 different kind of Asian cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese. It’s half self service so when you first walk in you need to go to the cash register to place your order and pay. But, once you place your order you can wait at your table and they’ll bring the dishes to you and pick up the plates once you’re done. For the soft drinks they hand you empty plastic cups and you fill them up yourself from their soda station.

I ordered the Chicken Thai Dynamite (pictured above) and thought it was good but needed more sauce while the rice should have been stickier since I had trouble picking it up with my chopsticks (then again I’m really terrible with chopsticks). Price wise I think it’s on the high side for a fast food joint. My dish cost KD3.750 but the portion was pretty decent so that make things a bit better.

I’ve scanned their menu and uploaded onto the blog so if you want to check it out you can do so by downloading it from [Here]

It’s a photo taken by @jalmuqbel in Avenues Phase III. [Link]

Update: It’s the store front for the soon to open Jack Wills

Nothing announced yet but Perez makes a good point, if Kim Kardashian is coming to Kuwait in October, woud she leave Kanye to spend Thanks Giving alone back in the States? Most likely not. [Link]

The first dedicated Panerai Boutique is opening in Al Hamra next month and on that occasion Panerai have released a special edition watch that features an engraving of Al Hamra Tower on the back along with the word “Kuwait”. The Kuwait edition Panerai will be limited to just 80 pieces and they’re pretty much selling out as soon as they arrive. The one I spotted at the Panerai dealer in Salhiya (Behbehani luxury store) was already reserved for a customer. I don’t post prices of watches online but I thought the asking price on this model was fairly reasonable for a limited edition PAM.