2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Alshaya announced today that they’ll be bringing the franchise Katsuya by S+ARCK to Kuwait and the region. Unlike the other brands they’ve previous acquired this is probably the first one I haven’t heard of before. This is the description of what Katsuya is on their website:

Featuring the dynamic pairing of Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi and design impresario Philippe Starck, Katsuya by Starck is truly a feast for the senses. With specialty cocktails, unique rolls and spectacular sushi and sashimi platters, Chef Uechi skillfully translates Japanese flavors to the American palate. Signature dishes include Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna, Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño and Miso-Marinated Black Cod. With superb talent and exacting precision, Katsuya by Starck is changing the face of Japanese cuisine.

For the press release click [Here]

Update: Katsuya is now open [Link]

[YouTube]

The GulfRun team are putting together their second 26 Hours Karting Endurance Race which will be held this December. Last years event was a huge hit and you could watch some of the highlights in the video above. If you’re interested to register here is some information:

Event: GulfRun Karting Endurance Race – 2012 (24 Hours)
Date: 14th December 2012
People per team: Minimum 4 / Maximum 12
Registration deadline: 31st of October.
Location: Kuwait International Fairgrounds
Package Includes: Go Kart, pit garage, mechanics and fuel

To register call Pro-vision on 65778598

Doss and I love Kuwait. So to show our appreciation for a place that has opened up so many opportunities for us we decided to make Kuwait his dance floor. We hit Mahboula, Fintas, Hawalli, Salmiya and Shaab. So enjoy and a big thanks to you all of our friends and fans! tjcfilms.com

[YouTube]

I’m usually not interested in reviewing Android phones but when I got the opportunity to try out the new TAG Heuer Racer I jumped all over it. the TAG Heuer Racer is a luxury phone and although it runs Android I was more interested in the luxury aspect of the phone. Personally I don’t think anyone who considers buying a luxury phone like the Vertu or this TAG Heuer is really looking for the most technologically advanced phone in the market. If they were they’d pick up an iPhone 5 or Galaxy S III. People looking for luxury phones look for other things like materials used, quality of finish and exclusivity. With that idea in mind I decided to treat this review as an experiment. Would anyone notice the TAG Heuer phone?

First thing you’ll notice when you get the phone is how large the box is. Like buying an expensive timepiece the phone comes in a leather box that flips open to reveal the phone sitting inside. This leather box comes inside another larger box that has a bunch of drawers which contain the charger, headphones, manuals etc. The phone design is inspired by GT and F1 racing so the form and materials used reflect that. The phone I had for review used a high-grade nano-coated rubber and anodized aluminum but there are other versions of the phone which use either titanium, carbon fiber or rose gold. The Racer clearly looks like no other phone on the market.

I had the phone with me for a full week and whenever I took out the phone it always grabbed attention. It was a conversation starter, people generally were either curious to know what it was or surprised that TAG Heuer made phones. Everyone wanted to touch it and check it out and this was just the entry level Racer which uses aluminum and isn’t really that flashy. People did notice the phone and most will never see another one like it again. They’re rare and whoever is looking to spend this much on a phone will prefer it this way.

The price is whats going to keep the Racer out of the hands of the mass since they start at KD850 and can go up all the way up to KD1,500. If you compare it to a regular Android phone I guess it would be like comparing a high end Swiss watch to a digital one. Personally I wouldn’t pay this much for a phone but then again I’m not their target. It’s a different approach to phones and my guess is more and more luxury brands will be serving up their own takes on a luxury phone. If you’re interested, the Racer is available at the TAG Heuer stores in Avenues and 360 Mall.

Go Sport are opening a new location at Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh near City Center. The new store is located where “Beam” used to be right next to the Toyota dealership. Based on the location of this store my guess is it’s not bigger than their Avenues location. If it does turn out to be bigger than that would be pretty cool.

Update: I got a bit more information from my contact at Go Sport. The location is not going to be larger than the Avenues branch but it will have a different newer look. They’re hoping to have it open and ready by mid October.

The NUQAT design conference is taking place this year from October 4th to October 9th. There will be a ton of lectures and workshops to suit everyones interest. Below are the speakers participating this year:

SULAYMAN AL BASSAM
Theatre Director

DR. NASSER ABULHASAN
Architect, founder and partner of AGI architecture – Kuwait

RANA SALAM
A world renowned branding designer, based

TAREK ATRISSI
Internationally acclaimed graphic designer and typographer based in Holland

ELIE BOU JAMRA & MIRNA HAMADY
Co-founders at Kashida, Lebanese product design studio

ALFRED TARAZI
Political mixed media artist from Lebanon

JASSIM AL SADDAH
Kuwaiti Architect, Founder of Bab Nimnim

KHALID SHAFAR
Emirati product designer

SH. ALANOUD AL SABAH
Kuwaiti jewelry designer, founder of the label, Octium

AHMAD ANGAWI
Up & coming product designer from Saudi Arabia

PLUS AZIZ
Senior Trend analyst at NYC based marketing company Fathom+Hatch

LAMYA GERGASH
Emirati Photographer and Artist

HALEH ANVARI
Iranian published Writer & Photographer

NUR KAOUKJI
Fashion Designer, owner of Noon

YOUNES DURET
Global design agency creator from Marakesh

SALEM ALQASSIMI
Graphic Designer, Artist, Instructor, and Founder of Fikra

PASCAL ZOGHBI
Acclaimed Type Designer Founder of “29 Arabic Letters”

L’ATELIER NAWBAR
Jewelry Designer

For more information or to register visit the NUQAT website [Here]

I was leaving the house this morning when I got a phone call from Xcite letting me know they received the new iPhone 5 and if I was interested in picking it up to check it out. Luckily traffic wasn’t that bad and I was over at their head office 15 minutes later picking up the phone.

The new iPhone 5 looks smaller than my iPhone 4s even though it’s taller. It looks very slick and slim while the iPhone 4s which I didn’t have a problem with an hour ago now looks pretty bulky sitting next to the iPhone 5 on my desk. I have the black iPhone 5 with me which is black all over including the side trimming which is what is also helping the iPhone 5 look smaller than it actually is.

Even though I was expecting the iPhone 5 to be light based on the reviews I read online, I wasn’t expecting it to feel this much lighter than the 4s. It’s really the first thing that grabbed my attention when I picked it up and it kinda feels like the phone is hollow on the inside. The second thing that grabbed my attention was the aluminum back of the phone. To me it doesn’t look or feel like aluminum but more like a plastic. I think it’s because I was expecting the metal to have some sort of texture which is doesn’t.

I booked my nano sim card from Viva [Here] but I still haven’t received the sim card yet nor do I know when they’ll be available. So right now if you want to use the iPhone 5 you’re going to have to cut and sand your sim card down to the size of the nano.

If you want to check out the iPhone 5 yourself you can since Xcite have it on display right now at their Avenues location. They aren’t selling them just yet nor have they priced them since they’re waiting to secure a large quantity of phones first. If you have any questions or curiosities about the phone let me know since I’m going to have it with me for a few more hours.

Update: Xcite just informed me they’re now selling the iPhone 5 starting at KD299

There’s a youth rugby club in Kuwait under the name of Saracens Kuwait. They’ve been around for a few years and were previously known as the Nomads. There are different divisions of different ages ranging from under 8’s and under 19’s, for both boys and girls. They play competitively around the Middle East and this year, the under 19’s division has a chance to tour in England and South Africa. However, the under 19’s division is currently in need of more people to join in order to make an official team.

If you are interested in joining then you can come to the Hassan Abul Sports Center in Dasma on Friday from 8:30am to 10:30am. Participants do not need to know how to play rugby in order to join.

The first 3 weeks of practice are free and if the participants are interested in joining the club, then they will have to pay 50KD for the year and will receive everything they need.

Saracens has a website but it is a little outdated, you can check it out [Here]

If you have any question you can contact Aziz on [email protected]

Although not very popular in Kuwait, rugby has been played here since way back in the 1940’s. Check out some old photos [Here]

[YouTube]

GFC is an MMA and K1 event that will be taking place at the end of the month at Kuwait International Fairground in Mishref. The event will be organized by the kuwait kickboxing committee and tickets are currently on sale. For more information click [Here]

The Avenues just posted a picture in their Facebook account of a new burger place that’s opening there called The Counter. It’s an American franchise with a location already open in Saudi Arabia. There’s always room for one more burger joint in my book. Here’s a link to their [Website]

Do you constantly make your friends and family laugh?
Do you enjoy being part of a dynamic team?
Are you looking for ways to get involved in Kuwait?

If you answered with a resounding YES to any of the questions above, then…

Audition for Kuwait’s first-ever “Sketch & Improv Comedy Troupe” (in the style of Whose Line Is It Anyway, SNL, etc.)

Auditions are this coming Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00pm at the Kuwait Little Theatre in Ahmadi.

No preparation necessary. Just show up with a positive attitude and be willing to play a few theatre games. A brief workshop reviewing the major tenets of improvisation comedy will be held at the auditions. Once selections are made, the troupe members will rehearse on a weekly basis and perform throughout the year.

For questions, contact Hassan at 97329695 or by email using [This Form]

A friend of mine took me to Saravanaa Bhavan the other day and I’m now in love with the place. They serve authentic Southern Indian dishes and I think it was my first time having it since there were a lot of things I hadn’t tried before.

The restaurant is located in Fahaheel and overlooks the Kout Mall marina. It’s super clean and pretty big with lots of seating. I took a glance at the menu but since none of the dishes had a description my friend ordered everything for me. I ended up having the following:

Plain Dosa

Poratta Curry

Idli Sambhr Chutni

Curd Vada

Cheese Dosa

Poori Bhaji

Payasam

And yes I ate all of that. There was so much flavor everywhere I just couldn’t stop trying all the dishes. The only thing I actually didn’t like was the Idli Sambhr Chutni which is basically steamed rice pudding. It tasted like a wet piece of bread and was the most disappointing dish I tried. Everything else was delicious. The Curd Vada probably stuck out the most since it was very cooling dish. For dessert I had the Payasam which is a warm milk and rice dessert that’s very sweet and full of spices.

It’s a great place and very affordable. All the dishes cost under KD1 with only the Plain Dosa costing KD1.100. They also have lunch and dinner specials, we missed out on the lunch special since we got there around 3 o’clock. I’m actually going back again tonight with some friends, I highly recommend it.

Saravanaa Bhavan is located in Humoud Towers, Fahaheel. It’s the same building as Centerpoint and they’re on the 4th floor. Their phone number is 23929099 and here they are on [Google Maps]

Not sure if only Kuwait is affected by this bug but a reader made me realize that if you have iOS6 installed on your phone and you try to open an SMS you’ve received from your bank, telecom operator, shipping company etc.. you’ll get a blank message. Then, when you close the message it will disappear completely from your messages list.

The above picture is of a message I received from American Express, it showed as empty when I opened it and then when I clicked back it got deleted. The reader shot a YouTube video which shows this [Here]

That’s pretty messed up.

Thanks Ahmad

Update: OK there is some good news here. New messages from your bank, telecom etc. will display in iOS6 normally. I just received one from Aramex now and it was fine. But old messages that were there before updating to iOS6 won’t show.

The Kuwait Little League Baseball and Softball is an organization that has been working with the children of Kuwait since the early 1980s. They function strictly with the efforts of volunteers and are a non-profit organization with all the income going towards the maintenance of the field and the equipment needed for the players.

Last year due to the kind support of sponsors they were able to get television quality lights on two of their baseball fields and scoreboards installed on three of them. They are of course as I mentioned a strictly volunteer organization that is 100% dedicated to providing children with a great, inexpensive, sport experience. This past year they took teams to international tournaments in Qatar, Dubai, Poland and the US. This was all achieved with the help of volunteer coaches, who not only gave up their evenings and weekends to work with the kids but also give up vacation time in the summers to go to competitions. The video above is their year in review video.

If you’re interested in signing up your children to the Kuwait Little League they’ve just opened registration for the 2012/2013 season. Below is the list of divisions with their ages:

Tee Ball – Boys and Girls – 5 to 7 years old
Minors – Boys and Girls – 8 to 10 years old
Majors – Boys and Girls – 11 to 12 years old
Juniors – Boys and Girls – 13 to 14 years old
Seniors – Boys and Girls – 15 to 18 years old
Softball – Girls only – 11 to 18 years old
Challenger* – Boys and Girls – 7 to 12 years old

*This is a division for children with special needs

To sign up visit the Kuwait Little League website and click on “Register Online Now” [Link]

The U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the State Department is sponsoring the Kuwait Leadership Mastery to teach men (17-24) and women (of all ages) leadership skills.

There are seats for only 50 participants and these 50 participants will work in teams to develop a campaign for change to benefit Kuwait. Each team will have the benefit of a mentor who will guide them over a 5-6 month time period as they develop their campaign. At the end of the program in March, the media will be invited to a presentation that highlights the Campaigns for Change. In April the 50 participants will graduate and each receive a special certificate that certifies their leadership skills.

The regular fee for this training is usually around KD700 to KD900 but since it’s being sponsored you don’t have to pay. If you’re interested in applying for this program visit their website at kuwaitleadershipmastery.com. Registration will end 15 October.