2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I know this might sound a bit odd but the weather at night isn’t bad at all for riding your bike. I used to ride my bike only during winter but the past 2 weeks I’ve been riding it in our current summer heat and I’ve really been enjoying it. It’s really not as hot at night as it is during the day.

The first time I went riding was last week when the weather was very humid. I dropped my car in Kuwait City to get detailed and since I needed to leave it there overnight I ended up riding back home on my bike. I thought the humidity would bother me but it actually helped keep me cool. Then this week I started riding my bike to the gym and back home. It’s a 30-40 minute ride (depending on the headwind) from my house in Salmiya all the way to my gym which is just before the Kuwait Towers. Because I take the Gulf Road sea path the weather is a bit cooler and I don’t end up feeling too hot or bothered.

So if you’re looking for an activity to do in the summer then biking can be a good one. There are a bunch of places in Kuwait that sell bikes but my favorite brands are Cannondale, Trek and Specialized. The Cannondale dealer is Sultan Motor Sports (tel 24826723) but they don’t bring a large variety of models sadly. The Trek dealer is Extreme Sports (tel 22254567) and they have a very large and nice showroom in Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh (pictured above) as well as a decent website [Here]. The Specialized brand of bikes I haven’t been able to find in Kuwait yet. You can also find some bikes at Go Sport in Avenues including a few Trek models and there are a few shops in Salmiya that carry new and used bicycles, you can find them with Google maps [Here]

There is also a bike club which organize rides nearly every week. You can check out their website [Here]

I think I’m going to continue to ride to the gym all summer long. If you have a bike you really should take it out. Keep in mind I’m talking about night time riding here (7PM and onwards) and not daytime riding. I would highly recommend not riding during the day!

This Friday Discovery Channel will be airing an episode of Building the Impossible that will feature Sabah Al-Ahmad Sea City. I don’t recall ever hearing about Sea City and looking at the aerial shot above, it seems like a pretty humongous project. No idea what time they’ll be airing the episode but you can watch the trailers on the Masahati blog [Here]

Update: Here is the project on Google Maps [Link]

Update2: Here are the timings for Discovery Channel. The show was shot in HD but the below schedule is for SD.

Does Marina Mall really need another Pinkberry? If it was me I’d open up Shake Shack in that location. The space is large enough to have indoor seating and in the winter there would be plenty of room to enjoy burgers outside in the open.

Update: Alshaya are opening Pinkberry in Selfridges! [Link]

I spotted the above garbage bin outside Salhiya Complex earlier today. What grabbed my attention was the fact they’re the the exact same kind of garbage bins as the ones currently used all over Salmiya, except they didn’t look as bad. That’s because instead of the bins being painted bright yellow causing them not to blend with their environment, the Salhiya bins are tastefully painted and placed so they fit in with their surroundings.

The Kuwait Scorpions rugby football club is one of the oldest clubs in the Gulf. They were formed back in the 1940s when the Kuwait Oil Company and the British Army played the region’s first ever recorded rugby fixture and they’re still around today and still very active. The pictures below are of the Kuwait Scorpions dating back to the 1950’s.

Here is the link to the clubs website [Link]
Here is a link to the the pictures in high resolution [Link]

Thanks Tron

There’s got to be a safer way of doing this. [YouTube]

Spotted this place on the Gulf Road opposite KFC near Safir Hotel. The reason I think Fuddruckers is opening up there because the color scheme is similar to the new Fuddruckers that’s opening soon in Lebanon (check picture below). If it is the new Fuddruckers it looks pretty big.

Note: The building to the right of what I think is the new Fudds is going to be a new Lebanese Restaurant. Below is a picture of how it currently looks like.

This has to be one of the strangest parking lot accidents I have seen. BlogLaish has more pictures you can check them out over [Here]

Yes another frozen yogurt place is opening up. I spotted the above hoarding in Phase II of Avenues. It’s a good location since other than two Pinkberry’s, Napket and IKEA they really don’t have much competition there.

Earlier today I tweeted that one of my sources told me that they were canceling the download caps and it looks like it’s true. Taken from the KUNA website:

In a move that would please all internet users in Kuwait, Minister Information and Minister of Communications Salem Al-Uthayna announced Thursday that his ministry issued new regulations obliging internet providers to cut the cost of internet subscription and remove the download limits on users.

The Minister said that the ministry officials have held intensive meetings with internet providers to review the cost and quality of the services provided to internet users in Kuwait. “The internet has become a cornerstone in development, economy and everyday life in Kuwait,” Al-Uthayna said.

Following this meeting, the ministry obliged internet providers to upgrade the quality of their services and to cut prices as of next month. The minister vowed to start new stage of close monitoring and accountability for internet providers to make sure to protect the rights of subscribers. [source]

Finally some great news although I do hope that means everyone in Kuwait will get fiber optics or else I’m still stuck with my phone lines max speed which is just 2Mbps…

I can’t believe I forgot to post about this ahead of time but the Worldwide Finals of Imagine Cup 2011 were held yesterday in New York and a team from Kuwait where there competing in the software category. They came up with this idea which they wanted to present to the Ministry of Interior in hopes of having it implemented so we could get a lot of day to day problems solved. I previously posted about them and their idea [Here] if you want to read more on it.

I was just checking the results page and it doesn’t seem they won. Even though I think they must have gained a lot of experience competing at an international level and I’m sure they’re going to be coming back with even more motivation. I really hope the Ministry of Information will still help them bring their idea to life, since it’s an idea that will help make Kuwait a better place. Here is a page from the Imagine Cup 2011 yearbook which has details about the Kuwait team, their project and their intentions. [Yearbook Page]

Picture by @ahamshay

There is a pretty strange/interesting post on Gizmodo by one of their senior reporters about when he lived in Kuwait for a short period right after the 1990 invasion. It’s strange because it’s so random and interesting because it’s a story about his yellow Sony Walkman and his tapes. I always wanted a yellow Walkman but never got one and sadly it’s too late to get one now. I wonder why Sony hasn’t released a yellow waterproof mp3 player yet. Anyway check out his post [Here]

Around a year ago I found out about KILLSPENCER and fell in love with their bags. Problem is they were expensive for an impulse buy and since I really didn’t need another bag I decided to save the link and forget about it. Then a couple of months back my carry on travel bag started feeling a bit tight since I started stuffing more stuff into it. That’s when I decided to go back to the KILLSPENCER website and order one of their bags.

No Subject from Spencer Nikosey on Vimeo.

KILLSPENCER is the creation of a guy called Spencer Nikosey, a 27 year old designer based in LA. It started off as a personal project and then grew into his full time business. I emailed him with a bunch of questions about the bag and he was extremely helpful. I originally wasn’t sure which bag to get or even which material but after a few emails back and forth I decided on the black leather Weekender 2.0. He also offered to custom stamp my name and home address on the inside (usually a $95 extra feature) which I thought was very cool.

The bag took around 2 weeks to craft and another week to get to my US mailbox and another week to get to Kuwait. I was worried the bag would be too big but it turned out to be the perfect size. The quality and the design is just incredible, I really love the bag. The inside is spacious with a laptop sleeve on one side, a large zipped water resistant pocket on the opposite side that can easily fit an iPad, and then there are two more smaller pockets on the short sides. On the outside there are 2 more pockets as well, one on each side. The bag also comes with a very comfortable shoulder strap which makes the bag a lot more practical to carry when the bag gets heavy.

Right now I think this is like the coolest bag ever. It comes in 4 different materials options and a total of 3 colors. Price wise the bag costs $600 which is on the high or low side depending on how you look at it. If you compare it to luxury brands, then this bag is really affordable and you’re also getting a hand crafted beautifully designed bag that’s even more exclusive then the majority of the luxury brands. If you don’t go with leather than the price drops down to $375 which is a lot more accessible. If you’re interested check out their website and full collection by visiting their website [Here]

Just spotted a bunch of really old ads on Bloglaish which I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t even know Tikka had a logo before the “I Like it Spicy” guy. [Link]

Chocolate and Chocolate posted about a new pizza place that’s opening up called The Upper Crust Pizzeria. It’s a Boston based franchise from what I’ve read so maybe someone who’s studied in Boston could tell us if it’s any good. They don’t say where they’re opening but based on the picture they’ve posted (check above) it looks like the Bidaa area. It’s opening up in Abu al Hasaniya’s “The Village”.

The other pizza place that’s opening up is the Lebanese chain Margherita which is opening up in Arabella.

Looks like pizza’s are the next big thing.

Update: A third pizza place is opening called Homeslice in Shaab.