2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Leila is my favorite Lebanese restaurant in Kuwait and I’m there usually on a daily basis for lunch since one of their locations is right next to my office. Last week they added a new “light” menu which includes some popular Lebanese dishes that are cooked in a healthier way for example their light taouk dish now uses a mustard based marination resulting in a final dish that contains only 430 calories. Yeah they actually have the calories listed next to the dishes, something I hadn’t seen at a Lebanese restaurant before.

They only have a few items on the light menu right now but they will be adding some more over time. The location I visit the most is the one next to Johnny Rockets outside Salhiya Complex but they have another one at The Avenues near the cinema as well.

The rendering above is of the new design for the Pushkinsky cinema in Moscow. It was designed by architect Hend Almatrouk and Gijo Paul George. I’ve never seen anything that looks like it and I also hadn’t heard of Hend before. I was just checking out her blog and she’s got a lot of crazy stuff. Here are some related links:

Time Warp Architecture – Trend Hunter
Rossiya’s Flourish – suckerPUNCH
Hend Almatrouk on YesYous
Hend’s Blog

Thanks Mohammad

Update: Hend sent me an email saying that she has a design studio which she started with her partner Gijo Paul George called “Studio_Toggle”. They’ve got better quality shots on their studio’s website so check it out [Here]

It’s about time! The small LoFat canteen above is located at the American International School.

via PinkGirlQ8

Update: LoFat is also available at Al-Bayan Bilingual School

I was surprised to find out that Lita’s the small Mexican food joint in Mahboula had closed down. They literally served the best Mexican food in Kuwait but even their website was down so I figured something really weird/bad had happened. Turns out they closed down because they’re moving to a larger location on the Gulf Road and they should open in a few months time. But, I still think that’s weird. If it was me I wouldn’t have closed down the Mahboula branch since it was very popular with the expats over there so I’m wondering if there is another side to this story. On the bright side, if they do open up on the Gulf Road then that’s better for me since they’d be a lot closer to my home.

I’ve seen drifting videos similar to this before but I hadn’t seen one with this much street traffic nor one showing the view from inside the car. I’m glad we don’t have that crap here. [YouTube]

I was having lunch today at the Avenues and I noticed Victoria’s Secret is opening up next to Starbucks opposite Lorenzino near The One furniture store. It looks like it’s going to be much larger than the Marina Mall branch so I’m guessing they’re going to have a proper lingerie section which is why I find the location a bit weird.

I posted about the LoYAC Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA) before but since then they’ve added extra sessions and courses as well as changed most of the timings. Bloyac just posted the updated list of activities which you can see below:

Hip hop (mixed): Wednesday 6-8 pm / Saturday 1-2 pm
Hip hop (females): Saturday 12-1 pm
Break dance: TBA
Salsa: Monday 8-9:30 pm
Drama: Thursday 4-5:30 pm
Guitar: Sunday 5-9 pm / Tuesday 5-9 pm / Thursday 5-8 pm
Violin & Arabic Orchestra: Monday 6-9 pm / Tuesday 6-9 pm
Ballet: Saturday 4-5:30 pm / Thursday 4-5:30 pm
Piano: Monday 5-8 pm / Wednesday 5-8 pm
Fitness: Monday 6-8 pm / Wednesday 5-7 pm / Saturday 5-7 pm

According to the blog Bloyac, they’ll also add drumming to the list if enough people sign up for it. The classes operate on a six-week basis and the cost is KD36 per course. If you’re interested in taking any of these classes you can call them up on 96653377.

For more information check out the LOYAC blog [Here]

A reader emailed to tell me there is a window cleaning crew trapped on top of a cleaning lift which stopped working because of a mechanical breakdown. The workers have been up there since noon and they still haven’t been able to get the truck to bring them down. The building is the Global Tower which is located in Sharq opposite United Towers. You can see some pictures below.

Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Thanks Fahed

Note: I’m guessing the workers were rescued right after the pictures were taken

I know this sounds weird and I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it but according to an article on the Hotelier website it seems they’re planning on bringing the famous Swedish Ice Hotel to Kuwait. The Ice Hotel is basically a hotel built out of ice and everything inside is made of ice so I have no idea how this will work in Kuwait. Check out the article [Here]

Nawaf al Gheraibah, is a half Kuwaiti, half Indian/Portuguese musician with a pretty weird music style like nothing I’ve heard locally. It’s not mainstream stuff so not sure how many people here will like his music but even if it’s not your style it’s still worth appreciating. My biggest criticism though is the fact that I think his music lacks a local identity. When I listen to the music it sounds like a lot of different things but none of which sound like the songs originated from Kuwait by a Kuwaiti.

Anyway his songs are all available for free to download on his [Website] and Facebook page. I found it a lot easier to listen to the songs on the Facebook page so check it out [Here]

The Kuwait Women’s Football League is a social league for women who love to play football. The main object of the league is to create a fun environment for women who want to play or use this as a means for exercise. It’s a women’s league so obviously no men are allowed. If you’re interested to sign up here are some details:

Deadline for signing up: Friday, September 30th, 2011
Tournament start date: Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Game Times: Wednesdays 6:30-7:20pm or 7:30-8:20pm

Location
ACA Boys Campus, Hawally, Block 9, Sharhabil Street

How to sign up
As an individual or a team of 11 (7 a side + 4 subs)
Send your name or team name including all player names to [email protected]

For more information contact them on 55522322 or visit their website [Here]

It’s for ages 13 and up by the way.

Looks like the main building entrance was completely engulfed in flames. Hopefully everyone got out safely. [YouTube]

I got the following email from one of my readers:

I just witnessed the most stupid and careless accident I have seen in ages. It happened on the Gulf Road maybe 2-3 km before Kuwaiti towers going towards Kuwait city around 10.30 am today.

I was driving on the slow line ..maybe 70 – 80km/h. The road was not very busy.

There was a car coming on the fast line with a speed of maybe 85- 90km/h …it was rather slowly passing me, so could not speed much for local standards. Out of this car on a passenger seat there was a guy hanging out through the open door having a great fun!!! I swear, I was about to reach my phone to take a picture when he fell out !!! He rolled good couple of times on the road and was laying there. His head was pouring blood and I am pretty sure he must have broken few bones. He was conscious though, but must be in shock. Luckily the car driving behind managed to stop just before him, otherwise he would drive over him.

I’m not sure what to say or who to put the blame on. It’s obviously the fault of the guy hanging outside a fast moving car but I’ve seen so much crap on the Gulf Road I wonder sometimes why there isn’t more law enforcement monitoring it. But then there is the problem that law enforcement a lot of times don’t enforce the law either. On a number of occasions I’ve seen people run a red light right in front of a cop without fear of being stopped. If people are running red lights in front of cops then that’s a sign there is a major issue here. Hopefully the person didn’t suffer a serious an injury.

Pet Zone in Al-Rai recently got a dog tag machine. Actually it’s a pet tag machine but I got a tag for my dog. You get to choose a tag from a variety of shapes and colors and then you tell them what you want to print on the front and back. You also get to choose the font you want and then you get to watch your tag being made. It takes around 5 minutes and costs just KD2.

I ended up going with a pink tag for my male dog because they didn’t have this shape in any other color. Once they get a blue or black I’m going to go back and get another one made. If you don’t know where Pet Zone is click [Here]

There is a local website called Photo Lenders which rents out photography equipment like lenses and cameras for reasonable prices. This concept isn’t new since it already exists in the States but it’s still great that someone decided to set up something similar in Kuwait. I’m sure all the local photographers are going to appreciate this and I’m personally waiting for them to start renting out cameras as well. Check out the website [Here]