2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Ghoster (3.9)
Living (7.5)
Sound of Silence (N/A)
Titanic: 25th Anniversary (7.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Avatar: The Way of Water (7.8)
Bandit (6.4)
Blood (6.9)
Finnick (5.7)
M3GAN (6.1)
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (7.2)
Pinocchio and Friends (6.7)
Plane (6.9)
The Amazing Maurice (6.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Beauty and the Beast (8.0)
The Lion King (8.5)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

The Kuwait-based Netflix series ‘The Exchange‘ launches today, and after watching two episodes the other night at the show’s premiere, I can’t wait to binge-watch the rest of the season.

‘The Exchange’ is based in Kuwait in the 80s and is inspired by true events. It follows two women who decide to work at the stock exchange, an industry dominated by men at that time. I found the first two episodes very entertaining, and I already have favorite characters and storylines that I’m invested in. It’s that good of a show, and for people like me who grew up in Kuwait in the 80s, it’s super nostalgic.

The series premiers today at 11AM on Netflix and will be available to watch in 190 countries. The show is in Arabic but has English subtitles.

Update: The show is now streaming on Netflix, the whole first season so we can binge-watch it.

Last week I posted that it’s been 20 years since I started blogging and that got me thinking about all the great things I was able to do because of the blog. My memory isn’t great so I most likely left some out, but here are some of my favorite things I got to experience because of my blog:

Visiting the USS Truman Aircraft Carrier
I was invited to tour the aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Gulf. They flew me out to the carrier on a military plane and then we landed on the flight deck. I watched fighter jets take off and land while standing just a few meters away from them, I was then given a tour of the hangar deck, the bridge, the watchtower, and all the other cool areas of the aircraft carrier before finally flying back to Kuwait. As a kid that grew up wanting to be a fighter pilot, this was a dream come true.

Breitling WingWalking Experience
I got to sit on top of a biplane while it flew me around. I mean, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience right there.

Formula 1 – Abu Dhabi
I was invited by the Abu Dhabi tourism board to attend the F1 race and all the events attached to it. I was given a tour of the city by the city, I got front row tickets to every concert including Depeche Mode and Jay-Z, and I even got to attend a yacht party with Maradonna and David Hasselhoff. An insane experience for a huge F1 fan like myself.

Jebel al Jais in a Ferrari
Ferrari sent me to Dubai and gave me keys to one of their cars for a day. Obviously, the first thing I did was drive to Jebel al Jais. It’s a mountain road that many consider being one of the greatest driving roads in the world and so I got to tick that experience off my bucket list.

Visiting Audemars Piguet in Switzerland
Not many people might find this experience interesting, but I’m fascinated with how things are made. I got to visit one of my favorite watch manufacturers, see how the watches were made, and meet some incredibly talented craftsmen. The whole experience was very educational.

Baselworld
Trafalgar sent me to the largest watch show on earth to cover it for my blog. The show which ran from 1917, ended back in 2019 and so I feel very lucky to have experienced it during its prime (before the Apple Watch).

CES – Las Vegas
Huawei sent me to the largest consumer electronics show in the world, CES. For someone who loves tech and grew up reading about CES in magazines, this was another dream come true moment. 

I’m really thankful to all the brands (plus the US Embassy), including the ones not mentioned above, for giving me so many great and fun experiences over the years.

Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, the San Francisco bakery that went viral in 2017 with the invention of the cruffin, is now a Kuwaiti-owned concept. Mr. Holmes is now owned by Nejoud, the same company that owns the brands % Arabica, Eighty Six, Le Relais de l’Entrecote and Marble Slab in Kuwait.

Nejoud and Mr.Holmes Bakehouse have been in franchise talks since 2018, but Mr.Holmes got hit badly during the pandemic and ended up filing for bankruptcy, which is how Nejoud ended up buying them out.

This past weekend Mr. Holmes popped up at Qout Market, and in case you missed them, they’ll be back at the next Qout Market on February 18th. Their first branch will be located in Kuwait City, right next to Eighty Six, and soft open right after the next Qout Market.

If you’re bored of padel and are looking for a new sport, fencing might be an interesting and unique one to try out. Kuwaiti gold medalist Reem Alshatti coaches under the academy Haus of Fencing three times a week and at a relatively reasonable price of 15KD for a class or 100KD for 12 classes.

All the equipment and uniforms are provided.

If this sounds like something you want to do, then you need to sign up for their two-day beginner’s workshop. The workshops happen a couple of times every month and cost 30KD. They’re fully booked for February, but their waiting list for next month is now open.

Sign up on their website, hausoffencing.com or visit them on Instagram @hausoffencing

Back in October, the ultra-low-cost airline Wizz Air started flying out of Kuwait with Abu Dhabi being the first destination. Now they’re adding two more destinations, Rome and Vienna.

Starting this summer, round-trip flights to Vienna from Kuwait will start at 44KD, while flights to Rome will start at 47KD. Both destinations are direct flights, and the prices I shared don’t include add-ons like luggage or picking your seats. If you’re a Wizz Air member (easy to do), you can get the flights even cheaper.

For comparison, the cheapest ticket with Kuwait Airways to Rome is 128KD. After all the add-ons you might want with Wizz Air, expect to save around 40-50% compared to a regular airline ticket. wizzair.com

Twenty years ago, I, along with my oldest friend (@nibaq) and my sister (@rampurple), decided to launch a blog together called qhate.com. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, none of the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter existed back then. Gmail wasn’t even born yet; some of you reading this weren’t born yet either.

After launching Qhate, the blog quickly turned into a war blog covering life in Kuwait during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The blog gave the world a glimpse into our lives during those uncertain and sometimes scary times. If you want to check it out, the blog is still up; it’s a time capsule.

When the war ended, we decided to stop that blog and start different solo projects; mine eventually became 248AM.

I’m incredibly thankful for all the benefits the blog has gotten me over the years, including the relationships I have formed, the memorable experiences I’ve had, and the financial benefits it has provided. (Insert all the cheesy hashtags here)

So thank you for all your support.

Note: It’s so weird that I published this post on Instagram first. When I initially started Instagram it was meant to support the blog but now the blog feels like it’s the Instagram accounts backup.

The annual camel racing tournament starts this Saturday, February 4th, and will last until February 9th. If you’ve been meaning to go to the races but have been putting it off, now would be the best time to go.

There will be races every morning and afternoon except for the last day when it will only be held in the afternoon. Below are the start times of the races:

Sat Feb 4 – 8AM and 3:30PM
Sun Feb 5 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Mon Feb 6 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Tue Feb 7 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Wed Feb 8 – 8AM and 1:30PM
Thu Feb 9 – 3:30PM

There is no entrance fee and you can either watch the races from the track stands or drive up to the starting lines and watch the start of the races.

Here is the location on Google Maps.

Below are all the events I found taking place this weekend, if I missed anything let me know in the comments:

Thursday, Feb 2
The Promenade Family Fun
Meet Me At The Terrace
Arabian Products Expo
965 Outlet
Trend Exop
Feria De Kuwait
Burger Show 2023
Shrek The Musical
Gala Performance: Twelfth Night
Trivia Night at Al Andalus

Friday, Feb 3
Kites Watching in Bnaider
Meet Me At The Terrace
Arabian Products Expo
965 Outlet
Trend Exop
Feria De Kuwait
Burger Show 2023
Shrek The Musical
The Stadium – Fitness Challenge
Samra Night at Palama
Trip: Into The Stars

Saturday, Feb 4
Meet Me At The Terrace
Treasure Hunt At Alshaheed Park
Arabian Products Expo
965 Outlet
Trend Exop
Feria De Kuwait
Burger Show 2023
Kashta Show
Shrek The Musical
Rewire Your Brain & Heart
Workshop: Embroidery & Sewing
Art N Dine: Dreamy Garden
Live Drawing Session
Riso Workshop
German Classic Cars Meetup
Qout Market

Exhibitions
Ala Taraf Lisan Al Ard
Bridging East and West
Surrender

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Bandit (6.4)
Blood (6.9)
Pinocchio and Friends (6.7)
The Price We Pay (4.8)
The Son (6.1)

Other Movies Showing:
Avatar: The Way of Water (7.8)
M3GAN (6.1)
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre (7.2)
Plane (6.9)
Shotgun Wedding (7.3)
The Amazing Maurice (6.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Beauty and the Beast (8.0)
Blade Runner (8.1)
The Lion King (8.5)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

On the occasion of Kuwait Flag Day, Kuwait Airways have a 24-hour sale today with up to 25% off on ticket prices for all destinations. I just checked the price of tickets to Paris and Bangkok and both had only a 15% discount on the economy tickets but around 23.5% on the business class tickets. So the discount I guess will depend on where you’re flying to and what class.

The sale ends at midnight tonight. Link

Update: Discount doesn’t apply to the following days 16FEB-23FEB/19APR-22APR/22JUN-30JUN/01JUL-10AUG2023

This might come in handy one day, a reader recently lost one of his license plates and decided to share the process of getting a new one in case it happens to anyone else. Here are the steps he had to take:

1. Go to the police station and get a police complaint

2. Go to your traffic department and get an application typed by the typing center there (tell them you need to get a new license plate). You will need your civil ID copy, a copy of the car registration, and the original copy of the police complaint from the first step

3. You’ll need to purchase a stamp, the amount depends on the type of license plate you have

4. You need to go to the department head and get his signature and stamp. He will also ask you to write your name, number and sign the paper.

5. After getting your paper signed you will have to go to one of the computer counters. They will enter your details and then call you and ask you to take photocopies of two papers and go to the license plates room. Make sure you don’t have any fines before giving them your papers or else they’ll give them back to you and ask you to go pay your fines first

6. The license plates person will give you a small sheet of paper with details attached to the photocopies you gave them

7. Take the paper and then head to the Assima traffic department in Shuwaikh and head to the license plate factory there which is on the ride side of the main building (Google Maps)

8. Give the paper to the guy at the reception and he will ask you to get a signature from the manager. When you get that signature give the paper back to him

9. He will ask you to wait and 5-10 minutes later you’ll have your new license plate

Thanks Uzair

If you ever wondered what a KD2,000-a-night hotel room looks like, here you go. I originally saw this room last summer when the Grand Hyatt gave me a tour of the hotel, but back then the room was still being accessorized so I didn’t share any photos. A few days ago I went back to see the room because I figured it would make an interesting post.

So here are some facts:
– This is the Presidential Suite
– It’s 260 sq m
– It’s basically a luxurious large apartment, with 2 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, 3 bathrooms, a walk-in closet, a large dining room, a kitchen, and its own private elevator access

I tried to cover the whole room on video in under a minute and barely made it. I even had to leave out some parts like the kitchen and some corridors, that’s how huge the room is. Swipe left for the walkthrough video.

I heard there’s a KD4,500 per night hotel room in Kuwait as well which makes me think I should probably check that out next.

Bonjiri, the Yakitori bar by Chef Maryam Alnusif (Mimi) last night became the second restaurant from Kuwait to make it to the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Bonjiri came in the No.50 spot, a few spots behind White Robata which came in 42nd but still an amazing accomplishment considering all the competition in the region.

If you’ve never been to Bonjiri before, check out my review here. For the full top 50 list, check out @theworlds50best

The annual list of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants was revealed last night and for the second year running, White Robata won the award for The Best Restaurant in Kuwait for 2023. They came in 42nd place overall in the Middle East & North Africa, one spot higher than last year.

The best restaurant this year was Dubai’s Orfali Bros Bistro. For the full top 50 list, check out @theworlds50best