2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Last week Apple unveiled their VisionPro VR headset and a couple of days later I ended up experiencing free roam VR and so now I’m really excited about the future.

If you don’t know what free roam VR is, it’s virtual reality in a large room in which you can walk around and navigate freely in. Unlike conventional VR, you’re not just wearing a VR headset and sitting in a chair or standing in one spot, instead you’re walking or running around a room in both the real world and in VR. As a Star Trek fan, the best way to describe it is like being on the holodeck.

I was never able to experience VR properly before due to the fact it would cause me motion sickness. So, when an old friend got in touch with me and invited me to try his new free roam VR business, I was hesitant to go. But he promised me I wouldn’t get motion sickness and he turned out to be right. Zero Latency is an entertainment franchise specializing in multiplayer VR gaming. It’s a cordless experience where you put on the headset and carry a weapon without having to be connected to anything in the room. The room itself is fairly large at 12x12m and the games you get to play take advantage of this.

We played two games, the first was a zombie shooter that took place inside an arena. I’ve been playing video games since the early 80s and from the thousands of games I’ve played they never felt like this. I felt like I was inside the game. Being able to run around to the other side of the room to help my friend shoot up some zombies, and then run back to the other side of the arena to ward off an attack was so much fun, I wasn’t just controlling a character inside a video game, I was that character.

The second game we played was Far Cry VR, one of my favorite video game franchises. This game was a completely different in style since it mostly took place in the jungle and in a larger world. The games mechanics helped enhance that open area feeling because for the first level of the game took place in a small 5x5m area where we were taking cover while shooting the enemies. Once we finished from there the game would make us walk to another area which was say 10x10m. When done we would then walk to another area and that kept happening every level so the game felt really large and so did the real world space.

I had a blast and time just flew by. I thought the first game was 5 minutes long and the second 15, in reality it turned out we played the first game for 15mins and the second for 30. That’s how much fun and immersive the experience. I actually kept thinking about the whole experience for days later. There was a part of Far Cry where I walked to an edge of a cliff and saw a beautiful view and it got me thinking about the potential of the Apple VisionPro once it comes out. It’s very exciting time to be alive.

Zero Latency is located at the new Al Andalus complex in Hawally. Prices start from KD6 and each game can handle up to 8 people. For more information and to book here is the link. They’re also on Instagram @zerolatencyvrkw

I’ve been a Caramel customer since the early 2000s, they’ve always been my favorite place to pick up cakes from so I was a bit lost when they closed down for renovation. But, they’re now back and with a brand new very minimal and stunning look that was designed by @atelierazizalqatami.

Caramel originally opened back in 2001 and is run by a mother and daughter. The original store was in Kuwait City but later moved to Bneid Al Qar, where it currently remains. The redesigned space now has a very Japanese design aesthetic, characterized with a monochromic color palette. I imagine the new monochrome look is deliberate so that all the attention is drawn to the cakes.

They just reopened a couple of days ago with all our old favorite cakes, but they’re going to be introducing some new items as well next week. They’re also on Instagram @caramel_kuwait

Not a lot happening this weekend but there is a good variety of different things. check out the list below and let me know if I missed anything.

Thursday, June 8
Musical: Chicago
IFK Movie Night
The Avenues Summer Edition
Musical Meshk

Friday, June 9
Musical: Chicago
Brahms and Mozart Performance
The Avenues Summer Edition

Saturday, June 10
Musical: Chicago
Jam Session 3.0
The Avenues Summer Edition
Storytelling: Ambition
Wejha Summer Bazaar
Ladies Island Trip

Exhibitions:
A Retrospective by Amin Mahfouz
Recollections by Deema Alghunaim

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

New This Weekend:
About My Father (6.1)
Last Sentinel (5.0)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

Other Movies Showing:
Book Club: The Next Chapter (5.6)
Fast X (6.2)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (8.3)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
John Wick: Chapter 4 (8.2)
Just Super (6.4)
Ride On (7.2)
Sisu (7.0)
The Boogeyman (6.2)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
The Pope’s Exorcist (6.1)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Cast Away – 2000 (7.8)
Tarzan – 1999 (7.3)

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

“ABC’s of Kuwait” is a new alphabetical rhyming book about Kuwait which I picked up before my vacation at the Ecru Pop Up. It’s written by Bibi Salem Al-Sabah and illustrated by Nada Dalloul and it’s a book for both children and adults alike. Every spread is a different letter with multiple words and tidbits relating to Kuwait.

If you’re interested to pick up a copy the price is KD8 and the book is available online here but also at @cycokw @little_bees_books @lildreamerskw

For kids who grew up in Kuwait back in the 80s, Iftah Ya Simsim was our Sesame Street and one of our favorite shows. We looked forward to every episode and I think every kid wished they would end up on it one day. Maybe the only other show we wanted to be on more was Mama Anisa, but Iftah Ya Simsim looked like a lot of fun and we all wanted to meet the muppets Nu’man and Malsoon.

The show started filming at the Kuwait Television Studios back in 1978 and then released in 1979 before stopping production in 1989 due to the Gulf War. It never resumed again but the show did continue to live on in the hearts of every 80s kid.

Recently I came into possession of behind the scenes photos from Iftah ya Simsim. Some I had seen before and some not, but even the ones I had seen I hadn’t since in this quality before which is why I wanted to share them.

Malsoon the parrot was played by a Syrian actor called Tawfiq Al Asha, you can see him in one of the photos standing behind Malsoon. Tawfiq sadly passed away in 2018. Nu’man on the other hand was played by Kuwaiti actor Abdullah Hubail, and he’s on Instagram @abdullah_alhubail.

The Kuwait Towers are old, and due to more than five decades of marine climate exposure, some of the decorative metal discs started to detach and fall to the ground. Back in 2020, the Kuwait Towers was awarded a grant by the Getty Foundation to conduct a technical study to identify the underlying problem behind the disc detachments and develop conservation protocols for carrying out repairs and maintenance. After delays due to covid, the study was finally completed this year.

A couple of weeks ago I met with architect Zahra Ali Baba (@zhrabba) and engineer Jaber Alqallaf (@jeemroom) both from the National Council for Culture Arts & Letters and part of the team responsible for restoration and rehabilitation of the Kuwait Towers. I got to hear about how they along with the rest of the local team collaborated with international experts on the study and it was very fascinating to say the least.

The towers were built out of concrete in the 70s and studded with 41,000 enameled metal discs in different shades of blue, green, and gray, and in a very specific pattern. In the photo above you can get a better idea of the mechanism that connects the discs to the spheres. Because the towers are located right by the sea they’re exposed to the salty sea air that has corrosive effects on both the concrete and metal. The study was conducted to identify the issues with the discs and then set a plan to fix them.

Another thing I hadn’t thought about before is the fading of the color. Over time the discs have discolored with exposure to all the elements and so the color of the towers today, is slightly different than they used to be.

I never really thought about the towers aging and I drive by them every day with the presumption that they’d always be there. But, unless there is a team working behind the scenes to conserve them, they won’t last forever. Thankfully we have a team, and one that really cares.

I was in Barcelona for a friends wedding last week hence the lack of any updates, but I’m finally back in Kuwait again and I’ve got a bunch of interesting posts lined up for this week. Since Kuwait Airways will start flying to Barcelona at the end of summer, I wanted to share a Barcelona guide which you can bookmark and use if you ever decide to head there (you should).

Eat
El Xampanyet (@el_xampanyet), Cal Pep (@calpepbcn) and La Plata (@barlaplata) were definitely my favorite places for tapas. With El Xampanyet and Cal Pep expect to wait in line, with La Plata just go stand at the bar and order fried fish.

Other notable places, my favorite gelato place is Oggi (@oggibarcelona). I also had lunch at the Michelin Star Japanese restaurant Koy Shunka (@koyshunka) as well as dinner at their sister Japanese restaurant Shunka (@shunka_bcn). For both I had to book online before I got to Barcelona. Between the two I preferred Shunka because all I ever want is nigiris.

Drink
Oddly not that many third-wave coffee shops in Barcelona but my three favorites were Nomad (@nomadcoffee), Casa Taos (@casa.taos) and Skye (@skyecoffeeco). There are a lot of bars all over the city and most have non-alcoholic cocktails so if you don’t drink you can still visit and experience places like Paradiso (@paradiso_barcelona) which was voted the #1 bar in the world.

See
I can’t list everything to see obviously but here are a few that you might not find in your regular Barcelona guide. If you like flea markets then Mercat dels Encants Barcelona (@encantsbarcelona) is a great looking one to visit. The nicest sneaker store in Barcelona is Solebox (@solebox) and my favorite sunglass brand is Wilde (@wildesunglasses). Finally if you’re into vintage furniture then check out Noak Room (@noakroom).

Sleep
I stayed at The Hoxton Hotel (@thehoxtonhotel) located in the trendy neighborhood of Poblenou. Not a lot of tourists in that area, its a 5 minute walk to the metro and there are some very cool places near the hotel. If you do want to stay in a more touristic area, Sir Victor Hotel (@sirhotels) was my Plan B and that’s located in a more popular area.

I’m currently in Barcelona on vacation hence the lack of postings. I should have posted this before I left Kuwait but I just had so many things to do I didn’t have time. I’ve been here for 4 or 5 days already and today is the first time I got my laptop out. Thats how much I don’t want to be online posting while I’m here. Will be back to Kuwait in a few days and things will go back to normal then. I actually have a couple of really interesting posts lined up so can’t wait to get started on them.

Ecru, the Kuwait-based lifestyle brand inspired by the ethos and culture of Arab hospitality is celebrating their ten years milestone with a pop up at Sadu House. I remember when they launched back in 2013 it felt like a sigh of relief that someone was opening something other than a cupcake business (If you’re too young to remember, back then everyone had a cupcake business).

I dropped by the pop up earlier to pick up a copy of the book “ABCs of Kuwait”, (more on that in a separate post) and the Ecru setup was really something. They completely transformed the space and as you can see in the photo, it looks really really beautiful.

If you’re looking for something to do, tomorrow is the last day for the pop up. They’re there tonight till 8PM and tomorrow (Thursday) from 11AM to 5PM. Also make sure you check out their retrospective highlight on their Instagram account for their story on how it all began. @ecruonline

Café Kitsuné, the sub-brand of the trendy French-Japanese lifestyle brand Maison Kitsuné is opening in Kuwait.

Maison Kitsuné expanded their brand in 2013 by opening Café Kitsuné in Tokyo followed by a location in Paris in 2019. I’ve been to the one in Paris and I’m a fan of the brand like I’m sure many people are.

Café Kitsuné has over 21 locations worldwide and they’re now planning to open in Kuwait (lso set to open in Dubai). The details aren’t finalized yet but they’re planning to open in Abdullah Al Salem sometime this year.

Formula One picked up in popularity over the past few years because of the Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive” so a lot of new (and some old) F1 fans in Kuwait will find this tidbit interesting.

Back in 2014, Red Bull brought their junior driver Carlos Sainz along with their F1 car to Kuwait and then had him race up and down the Gulf Road. I managed to get some photos as well as a video from that day which you can check out here.

If you’re an F1 fan then you know that Carlos Sainz is now Ferraris main driver and so you might be kicking yourself for not meeting him back when he came to Kuwait as just a young Red Bull junior racing team driver.

Photo of Kuwait at night taken by an astronaut from onboard the International Space Station with a NIKON D5 and a 400mm lens on May 6, 2023.

via Reddit

Those of you who remember when the Korean supermarket Singarea was in Dajeej might remember they had a very cool Korean restaurant upstairs. That restaurant closed in 2012 and since then Singarea has moved out of Dajeej and opened several stores around Kuwait including their most recent one at Boulevard in Salmiya. When I first visited that location, I noticed they had an area in the back for a small restaurant and I got excited since I used to be a fan of the one in Dajeej. Yesterday morning the owner of Singarea got in touch with me and invited me to pass by for a tasting.

The whole invitation thing happened quickly and last minute since I’m traveling this weekend and we were trying to make it work before I left. I even struggled to find a friend to come a long but luckily I did because there was a lot of food to try. Since I was a fan of the previous Singarea restaurant, I didn’t really ask any questions about the place, I just headed there not knowing what to expect but figured it would be the run of the mill Korean restaurant.

But, when I got there and sat down, a few things caught my attention. The first were the expensive Devialet Phantom II speakers hung around the restaurant, then I noticed the heavy brass side plates on the table with handmade lacquered chopsticks. I didn’t think of it much until they brought out the first dish and my friend was like Mark, I think this is fine dining.

They didn’t have a menu because it was still being worked on so they brought out dishes for us based on their recommendation. The first dish was a custard egg with seafood, something I’ve never had before and the presentation looked pretty fancy. Right away they captured my interest and I was now really intrigued about the place. One by one the dishes started coming out, we got a grapefruit yuza salad next, then a seafood pajeon, tteokbokki (the best rice cakes I’ve had), both a beef and seafood Albap served bento box style, and more. It was a lot of food and a lot of different and exciting flavors to try. The seafood pajeon (the pancake like dish) is now probably my favorite Korean dish ever, it was so good and bursting with so many different flavors, it’s the dish thats going to keep me going back. But really everything we tried was visually interesting and delicious except for probably the galbi steak dish which I felt needed some sauce on the side to dip into.

Once we were done I sat with Penny the owner of Singarea, a young trendy looking guy with long hair and cool kicks. His father opened Singarea in Kuwait over 40 years ago and now he’s taken it over. He explained to me his concept of wanting to serve premium Korean dishes but without the high prices usually associated with it. He’s starting off small (the restaurant has only 6 tables) but has the ability to expand later. They hadn’t finalized the prices or menu yet when I visited, but they’re aiming for an average paycheck of around 8-10KD per person.

KI:WA (or just Kiwa) is aiming to open next week on June 1st. It’s located at the back of the Singarea store in Boulevard next to the lake, and they’ll be open for both lunch and dinner. You can stay posted on the restaurant and the opening by checking @singareamarket or @kiwa.q8

Update: So turns out the galbi steak dish came with a pepper cream sauce but I didn’t see it since it was hidden from my sight behind the dish 😅

This is really good news for anyone looking to open a business in Kuwait or currently pays rent on an office that they never use. Yesterday the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that it is no longer required for businesses to have an office if they don’t have employees.

Previously if you wanted to get a business license you had to have an office even if you didn’t need one. So what people would do is rent out cheap 250-300KD offices in basements of dodgy complexes in Hawalli and other cheap neighborhoods which they would never use or even visit. People had to pay thousands on rent just so they could have a business license. With the new rule, the home address can be used to obtain a license.

This is going to help out a lot of people and encourage a lot of new businesses to open in Kuwait.