2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Over the weekend I visited Riyadh to check out the Noor Festival. Noor means light in Arabic and I think they have around 44 different installations located all around Riyadh for this festival. Some of the installations are really epic and I mainly went to check out two, the one above by SpY Studio, and the one below by Arne Quinze.

All the installations are free to check out although for some it seemed like they required to get free tickets so I did, but then nobody was checking for tickets.

I only wanted to spend one night in Riyadh so I was rushing from one place to another to check out the installations. It was Friday which meant there wasn’t much traffic which was great. The Arne Quinze installation was located around an hour outside Riyadh in the middle of nowhere so that took the longest to get to. It was actually located on the same road into Riyadh coming from Kuwait (I only realized the second day on my way back to Kuwait) so if you leave Kuwait around 11AM you could get there just in time for sunset, check it out, and then continue into the city.

I got to Riyad around 1PM had lunch, checked into my hotel, had coffee, and then drove back out of Riyadh for an hour to get to the installation and another hour coming back. I also spent an hour at the location because there was a second installation (photo above) right next to it, So the Arne Quinze installation took the most amount of time to check out but it was definitely worth it.

Finding the different installations was easy since Noor Riyadh has an app showing all the different installations on a map. All the locations open up on Google Maps so find them was simple. I say you’d need 2 nights in Riyadh to visit most of the ones you’re interested in, especially if you want to do other things in Riyadh. I wanted to also visit Riyadh Boulevard City (tickets from here) and have dinner there at Public (it was great), but that meant by around 10 PM I decided to stop checking out the installations and head there, without Boulevard City I would probably have been able to check out maybe 2 to 4 more installations I was interested in.

Traveling to Riyadh is easy as I’ve posted before and if you live in Kuwait then it’s really easy to get an evisa. There wasn’t any traffic at the borders leaving Friday morning but there was traffic coming in on Saturday afternoon and I ended up spending 30 minutes at the Saudi side of the border.

For more information on Noor Riyadh and to download the app, visit their Instagram @noorriyadhfestival and their website riyadhart.sa/en/noor-riyadh

The last day of the festival is Saturday, November 19th.

Kuwait Motor Town will be hosting the final round of the 2022 24H Series endurance race early next month and tickets just went on sale for it.

The ‘Hankook 12H Kuwait’ is a 12-hour uninterrupted race that starts at 12 PM and goes on until midnight to ensure competitors experience racing during the day and night. The race takes place on Friday, December 2nd, but there are qualifications and practice sessions the day before. Tickets start at KD3 for a one-day pass, and KD5 for both days. They also have VIP tickets.

If you’re interested to find out more or buy tickets, visit the KMT website kmt.kw

Is it me or is everyone else also constantly getting spammed by Alshaya brands? I don’t generally give out my phone number to businesses so I don’t get that much SMS spam, but I had to give my number to West Elm because they had to deliver my furniture and since then I haven’t been able to stop them from spamming me. I’ve tried calling them and asking to be removed, I’ve sent them messages on Instagram and I’ve even tried blocking them on my phone but nothing seems to work. I used to get a message every now and then but recently they’ve started bombarding me a lot more frequently and its become extremely annoying.

Dear Zain and other telecoms, if you offer a service where for a certain monthly fee I could block all spam messages from my phone I’d be willing to pay and so would others!

Kuwait is in the news again and this time censoring the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There were three scenes cut, the first is a 10-second LGBTQ scene where one of the female characters kisses another female character on the forehead. Another scene cut out is of a woman giving birth and the final scene removed involved the line “A god to his people.”

Only one minute in the 2 hour and 41-minute film was taken out which isn’t too bad, but the odd thing is, Kuwait is the only country in the region that doesn’t have these scenes. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar all are showing the unedited version of the movie. How bizarre. Source

Over the weekend Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced that they will manage a luxury hotel in Kuwait projected to open in 2028 (source). Mandarin Oriental, Kuwait will be located in a new iconic 80-story tower designed by the award-winning architects, Foster & Partners, the same architects behind the NBK headquarters building across the street from Hamra Tower. The hotel will feature 159 guestrooms, including 33 suites, and 10 serviced apartments, with views of downtown Kuwait City.

One rendering of the new tower was released and you can see how huge it looks in the skyline shot. The exact location wasn’t revealed but my guess is that it will occupy the property highlighted above since there’s been a rumor for years now that a gigantic project was going to occupy that area. In case you don’t recognize that area, it’s on the same street as Little Ruby’s, across the street from Crystal Tower where Burger & Lobster is located (Google Maps). The building that currently houses Burger & Lobster will supposedly be demolished as well to make room for this.

The Belgian football team who are competing in the World Cup later this month in Qatar will be playing their last friendly game this Friday in Kuwait against Egypt. The match is taking place at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium and tickets are currently on sale starting at 10KD.

If you want to watch the game live, you can buy tickets from here.

The garbage situation next to my house isn’t anything new, I mean, I’ve been complaining about it for over a decade now. But last week I had an interesting interaction with the Kuwait Municipality (baladiya) over it. At one point the garbage overflowed as it usually does due to the limited number of bins, but the garbage men were emptying the bin and leaving the overflowed garbage on the floor. The trash was just lying there for 4 days straight and the stench was horrible, you couldn’t drive by it without having to roll up your windows.

Eventually, I had enough and decided to contact the municipality over their WhatsApp number. I sent them a message at 8:22 AM, it was a photo of the garbage taken from my window and the location pin. A minute later they asked for more information which I replied with.

An hour later (9:36 AM) while leaving my house I noticed there was a baladiya bobcat and workers picking up the garbage and throwing it into the bin. They actually acted on the issue super fast. I wasn’t sure if the whole send a complaint thing over WhatsApp was still active so glad it was. ‭If you want to also WhatsApp the municipality over a problem you have their number is 24727732‬.

I was only out for a day but I feel like I missed out on a lot of action.

I’m heading to Riyadh this weekend for the Noor Festival so I’ll be missing out on a couple of my favorite events this weekend, the Fall Festival at the Yarmouk Cultural Center and the BLS Winter Bazaar. If you’re here don’t miss out on them. Let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Nov 10
Ali Alghanim & Sons – Padel Tournament
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Chinese Cultural Festival
IFK Cinema Night: Comme un Lion
Healing Powers of Cacao
Healing Circle at Art Therapy
Art N Dine: Desert Eyes Painting Experience
Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri

Friday, Nov 11
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Festival
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Bazaar
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri
BLS Winter Bazaar
Hot Rods & Classic Cars Festival

Saturday, Nov 12
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Story Time: The Rabbit Listened
Miseen Scene: You Will Die at Twenty

Exhibitions
Sara Shamma “Age”
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

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
Tareq Rajab Museum

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

New This Weekend:
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (7.4)
Boonie Bears: Back to Earth (5.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Big Trip 2: Special Delivery (5.3)
Black Adam (7.5)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (6.5)
Prey for the Devil (5.0)
Smile (6.6)
The System (3.6)
The Woman King (6.3)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:

Classic Movies Showing:
Good Will Hunting (8.3)
The Shawshank Redemption (9.3)

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

Singarea, the popular Asian supermarket has officially opened their new location in Salmiya. This is their third location in Kuwait, the other two being in Shuwaikh and Mahboula.

The new location is around the lake in Boulevard Park, right next to the restaurant Izmir. When I dropped by they were still unpacking some boxes but the space was looking good although didn’t seem as big as their Shuwaikh location, neither did it have as many freezers and fridges will all those food items.

Their Salmiya branch is open daily from 10AM to 10PM and if you want to pass by and check it out, here is the location on Google Maps. Just a note, at the time of this post there was no signage outside but just head to Izmir and it’s the building right next to it.

Honest Grocer is a new local grocery store that sells only healthy food products. That’s not really new in Kuwait but what sets Honest Grocer apart from the competition is the fact that their selection of products is curated using their stringent nutritional and ethical guidelines. These guidelines include:

• No artificial additives
• No preservatives and emulsifiers
• No fillers
• Non-GMO
• No Soy Lecithin
• Free from or the lowest possible levels of sugar alcohol and refined sugar
• Organic (the majority of which are certified)

Navigating their different products is really simple on their website since their interface is very basic. So for example, if you’re looking for keto products or products that are sugar-free, you can get access to them easily from the main page with just a click. They’re also located on Deliveroo which makes ordering from them easy although their products are only categorized by brand on that platform.

The only downside like everything healthy is the price. Because you’re getting the best quality ingredients you’re going to have to pay for it and that can mean 5KD for a chocolate spread or 600fils for a bag of chips. They sent over goodies to my office and the first thing we did was replace all the unhealthy snacks we had in our pantry with their products. Now I just need to convince the accountant why he needs to increase our pantry budget so we can continue to stock up on these healthier but more expensive snacks.

If you can afford it, then definitely check out Honest Grocer either on Deliveroo or their website myhonestgrocer.com

The Environment Public Authority opened the Jahra Nature Reserve for the new season a few days ago. The reserve is considered to be the first eco-tourism project in Kuwait with the aim of increasing environmental awareness and appreciating the landscape.

This year there is a new observation outpost bringing the total of outposts to three. You can reserve the outpost you want to visit from their website and then visit it during your trip which is limited to an hour and a half.

The cost of visiting the reserve is KD10 for a group of up to 5 people and increases the larger your group is. Because it’s a reserve, the visit will be guided and so you won’t be able to wander off on your own and are limited to visiting just selected areas.

If you want to reserve your visit, here is the link.

The November schedule for JACC’s Cinema Hall is out and this month they have 5 indie films playing:

90 Days – Saudi Arabia
Farha – Jordan/Palestine
Beirut Hold’em – Lebanon
Frère et Soeur – France
Official Competition – Spain

There is only one showing per movie so if there is one you’ve been meaning to watch don’t miss it. You can book your tickets on Jacc-kw.com

Maryool is a new contemporary Lebanese eatery that opened up last week in Kuwait City. It’s not a local brand, it’s a Lebanese one created by the same guys behind some other popular spots in Lebanon like Meat the Fish, By Skirt and The Backburner. The Backburner is actually open in Kuwait and Maryool just opened up next door to it so I’d assume they would eventually open up their other brands in Kuwait as well.

My two favorite Lebanese spots recently have been Babel and Em Sherif Cafe at The Avenues. Both are your classical Lebanese restaurants while Maryool tries to give a new twist to classic dishes. Nothing crazy or weird like dark chocolate hummus, but for example, their shawarmas are all tacos (including a vegan portobello shawarma) while their tabbouleh had lentils. They’re minor tweaks that give dishes you’ve tried a million times a new flavor profile or a new look.

I was invited to their opening event and so got to try a lot of dishes. Everything tasted really good with maybe just one dish that I felt was a bit bland which was their arayess. There were no prices on the menu so I’m not sure what the average check per person would be but I will update this post in the future once I go back again and actually pay for my meal.

If you’re interested in checking the place out they’re located in Khaleejia Tower, the same building as Vigonovo. It’s a cute place and the whole storefront opens up so a great place to go to now since the weather is great. They’re open from 12PM to 12AM and they’re on Instagram @maryoolkuwait

Picture on top by @inspirededibles