2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

If you’re a Game of Thrones fan then you probably already know that yesterday the first episode of the GOT prequel House of the Dragon was released. I watched the first episode last night and it was amazing and I can’t wait for the rest of the season to play out. If you haven’t watched Game of Thrones that’s fine, you can still watch House of the Dragon since it’s a prequel and so you don’t need to have watched GOT to understand whats going on.

I watched House of the Dragon on HBO Max on my AppleTV using a smart DNS service. I’ve posted about this service before but I’ll explain it again for those of you who missed my previous posts. Smart DNS works like a VPN into making the streaming services think you’re living in the US. But, unlike VPNs, setting up a smart DNS service is easier and it’s not something you need to turn on and off all the time. It also doesn’t slow down your internet connection.

You need two things to start streaming House of the Dragon, a smart DNS, and a HBO Max subscription.

Smart DNS
If you have an Apple TV or a Smart TV, setting up smart DNS is as simple as going into your settings menu and adding some numbers. I use a DNS service from Smart DNS Proxy (affiliate link) and it allows me to stream from any of the services including Showtime, HBO, Huly, Paramount, Dinsney and more. They also provide easy step by step guides on how to set up the DNS service on your Apple TV and other devices. I’ve been using them for a few years and never ran into issues with them. A full year subscription costs my $18. Link

HBO Max Subscription
Subscribing to HBO Max or other US streaming services is also really simple as long as you do it through your Apple device. If you have an iPhone you might also have a US Apple Store account. An easy way to know if you have a US or Kuwait Apple Store account is how you pay for your apps and subscriptions. Is your Kuwaiti credit card connected to your Apple account? Or do you buy Apple cards and recharge your account that way? If it’s the latter then you probably have a US account. In that case, you need to subscribe to the streaming services either through your phone or other iOS devices. That way the subscription will be deducted from your Apple account and you won’t have to use a US credit card to pay.

That’s pretty much it. If you have any questions let me know in the comments.

I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I rarely eat at new places anymore. Well, that’s not completely true, I’ve just gotten a lot pickier with where I eat. I have my goto places that’s for sure, and Cocoa Room is my favorite breakfast spot. Earlier this year Cocoa Room launched a dinner menu and yesterday I decided to pass by and try it for the first time as part of my new goal to try a new place once a week.

The Cocoa Room dinner menu is Mediterranean influenced and so the mains section has lots of pasta, a couple of steaks, one seafood dish, and a burger. Not a big variety to pick from, and nothing really interesting but that’s because their starters section is where all the exciting dishes are. Thankfully they had an iPad with photos of all their items because all the dishes were in French and I had a difficult time visualizing what they were (You can check out the full menu here). I ended up ordering the following items:

Milefeuille D’avocat
Brioche De Champignons Crémeuse
Carpaccio De Boeuf
Spaghetti De Capri
Gratin de Maiz

Picking just three starters was difficult and if I had to pick again I’d probably go with the seabass carpaccio instead of the beef only because it’s not something I’d find elsewhere. For the pasta, I decided on the Capri because I wanted to try a new flavor and I never had a zesty spaghetti before (it was pretty ok).

Overall everything I had was good, the avocado millefeuille was probably my favorite dish while the mushroom brioche my least favorite (not enough mushrooms). The only complaints I have with the menu is the item names being in French and the lack of interesting mains. Lots of places in Kuwait have pastas and steaks so I was looking for something a bit more different to try. Also the desserts section wasn’t that appetizing but you can always head to Burger Boutique after dinner for their chocolate brownie pudding.

The total bill came to KD27.500 so expect to pay around KD15 per person. I had to reserve before heading there although there were empty tables so you could probably just walk in. Cocoa Room is definitely my favorite breakfast spot in Kuwait, but not sure I’d go back as often for their dinner.

To celebrate World Photography Day, Apple shared some of the most impressive photographs from their #shotoniPhone campaign from around the world and one of those photos was by local photographer Rashed Alajmi (@irashedc). The photo was taken in the Salmi Desert and uses a long exposure to capture the milky way. Rashed posted the photo on his account back in October so I assume that’s when it was taken. To see the rest of the photos Apple shared from around the world, check out this article on fstoppers.com

Thanks Raoul

A video started circulating this morning of a Bugatti in London that was getting attacked by a Deliveroo rider. Turns out that Bugatti was owned by a Kuwaiti and the rider was trying to steal his Rolex watch. The Daily Mail picked up on the story hence the hilariously long clickbait title of this post and you can read their article by clicking here.

If you haven’t watched the video of the attack yet, watch it here.

I assumed everyone already knew about this place since they’ve been open for a while now but recently I realized that wasn’t the case. There is a little bagel shop in Kuwait City next to Solo Pizza called While I’m Baked. If you head there in the morning before they sell out, you can get some of the best bagel sandwiches in Kuwait. I always order either their Turkey Avo Boi or the Kramer, and now while I’m typing this out I’m craving a sandwich so I’ll probably pick one up on my way into work this morning.

If you want to check them out, here is their location on Google Maps and they’re on Instagram @whileimbaked

Clean Kicks, the dedicated sneaker cleaning and customization shop in Shuwaikh now has a pickup and delivery service. The biggest issue I had with the place was the location which had major traffic and never any parking.

Their pickup and delivery service costs 2KD for each direction or 4KD for a round trip and it’s for up to 5 pairs of sneakers. That means you can have them pickup 5 pairs of sneakers and drop them off to you when done for a total of 4KD.

To arrange for pickup you can DM them on their Instagram account @cleankicks.kw or whatsapp them on +96567721222. For a list of their services and prices, click here.

Last week I posted about Khazal Palace possibly losing its heritage site status due to major alternations in the restoration, but on the other hand, there is good news for Naif Palace in Kuwait City. Last week it was designated an Islamic Heritage Site by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

Naif Palace, which covers an area of 28,802 square meters, was built in 1919, during the reign of Emir Sheikh Salem Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah. It has 219 rooms and also houses a mosque, a garrison dormitory, and an ammunition depot.

For more on this, here is the link to the original news story.

On a side note, does anyone know if the palace is open to visitors on regular days? I know they open it during Ramadan for the canon firing but what about the rest of the year?

Ozone, the first indoor skydiving in Kuwait is set to open this Thursday, September 1st. Ozone is going to be the third indoor skydiving center in the region with our center having the most powerful wind tunnel of the three.

Right now until August 25th they have a 20% early bird discount so if you’re planning to try out indoor skydiving, it’s a good idea to take advantage right now. 2 flights will cost you 16KD with the discount while 4 flights will cost you 28KD. They also have a group price, 5 people for 68KD. If you’re interested, here is the link.

Below is the list of things you can do this weekend. As usual, if I missed anything please let me know in the comments:

Thursday
IFK Cinema Night: Josep
Concert: Guy Manoukian

Friday
N/A

Saturday
Come Play with Us! (Chess, Backgammon and/or Scrabble)
Interactive Children’s Book Reading
Trash Tag: Beach Cleanup
Art N Dine: Summery Dreams

Activities:
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

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

Exhibitions:
Exhibition: Sanad at ASCC
Exhibition: I Am Here – Manuella Guiragossian
Exhibition: My Name Is Woman – Maha AlAsaker
Exhibition: Deconstructed Phyche – Sheikha Al Habishi

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

New This Weekend:
Bullet Proof (6.8)
First Love (4.5)
Orphan: First Kill (6.0)
Terror on the Prairie (5.7)
The Battle at Lake Changjin (5.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Beast (7.7)
Bullet Train (7.5)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Fall (6.5)
Jurassic World Dominion (6.2)
Minions: The Rise of Gru (7.4)
Top Gun: Maverick (8.7)

Classic Movies Showing:
Goodfellas – 1990 (8.7)

The films below are also showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

IMAX Movies Showing:
Antarctica
Ocean Odyssey
Wings Over Water 3D

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

A friend of mine recently took part in the launch of the new Leica M11 camera. Seven photographers were chosen by Leica from around the world to get their hands on the camera ahead of its release so they can capture photos with it. Abdullah was one of the photographers selected and he’s now featured on their main page.

All of the photos taken by the seven photographers are available to view on online including Abdullah’s which you can check by clicking here.

If you want to follow him on Instagram, it’s @byalsayer

The Khazal Palace (also called Alghanim Palace and Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jabir Palace) located in Dasman near the British Embassy is finally being restored after being left to crumble for decades. But, yesterday a photo surfaced showing that concrete columns were planted inside the palace as part of the reconstruction.

What does this mean?

The palace dates to 1916 and was constructed with clay, it was one of the last Persian-style archaeological building in Kuwait. Since the palace was listed as a heritage site in Kuwait, it was protected and had the highest priority for conservation. With conservation projects it is paramount to restore the building back to it’s original state using as much of the original construction material as possible. The Kuwait antiquities law states that it is prohibited to modify, alter or distort immovable monuments. By pouring concrete into the palace it means it no longer is being restored correctly and thus loses its heritage status.

To try and simplify what this all means, imagine demolishing the palace completely and then rebuilding it again using modern day materials, is it still a heritage site? No because it’s now a new building and not an old building that was saved and restored. This is basically what has happened in this case to some degree. The building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list back in 2015, but because the restoration process is being done incorrectly, it will now no longer qualify to be on the list and so will not have any of the protection that comes with that status. Similar story to what happened with the Kuwait National Assembly Building, because they constructed the curved/wavy office building on the side of the main structure, the Kuwait National Assembly Building was disqualified from ever becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Kuwait Towers on the other hand which is currently going through a restoration process (the blue discs are being restored or replaced) is abiding by the strict restoration rules. The process is also being overlooked by the Getty Foundation “Keeping it Modern” grant which the towers received in 2020 (1 of just 77 grants given worldwide):

All of the orbs possess a remarkable shimmering quality thanks to 41,000 enameled metal discs in shades of blue, green, and gray that stud their surfaces in a carefully variegated spiral pattern.

Due to more than five decades of marine climate exposure, however, some of the decorative metal discs have detached and fallen to the ground. Guided by a recent conservation management plan, the project team will conduct a technical study to identify the underlying problem behind the disc detachments and develop conservation protocols for carrying out repairs and maintenance. Because the conservation of modern architecture in Kuwait is an emerging field, the project team will collaborate with international experts and leverage the opportunity to share their research with local Kuwaiti architects, conservators, and engineers.

School trip to the Kuwait Museum – 1970

A couple of years ago I heard rumblings about the fact they were proposing to restore the building with concrete (easier/cheaper) and that many local architects were against it and wanted the restoration to be done properly. Not sure if anything can be done about it now, but at the moment it looks like Kuwait lost another important part of its landscape.

For more information, check out this post on Instagram.

Update: Just got a bit more information. The basement of the palace is the oldest basement in Kuwait, more than 100 years old. Unfortunately, it was removed completely to make way for the concrete intervention. Source

After a bit of a lull, JACC are back to hosting musical events again. They currently have six different events coming up and I have four tickets to Guy Manoukian’s concert to giveaway!

After his recent sold-out concert at L’Olympia in Paris, and packed houses from The London Palladium all the way to the Sydney Opera House, Lebanese composer and pianist Guy Manoukian will be in Kuwait and performing for the first time at the Jaber Al Ali Concert Hall on Thursday 18th of August 2022.

One person will have a chance to win four platinum tickets worth KD240 to this concert.

[gleam url=”https://gleam.io/TTwHH/win-platinum-tickets-to-guy-manoukian”]Your Competition Name[/gleam]

To win the tickets for you and your friends, all you need to do is enter the draw above. As usual, please make sure you use a working email since that’s how I will be contacting the winner. If the winner doesn’t respond by tomorrow noon, another winner will be selected. Draw closes tonight at 8PM. Good luck!

For more information on the concert, click here.

Update: Winner was randomly selected and contacted!

Last week Shop&Ship announced they would be increasing their prices but didn’t mention by how much. If like me you were curious to know how much more you would be paying, the new prices are now out and so I decided to do a before and after comparison. Below are three screenshots comparing the cost of shipping three different weights, 0.1kg, 0.5kg and 1kg.

Note, these are Flex membership prices since with the regular membership you can’t pay by 100g increments. The new prices are an increase of about 12%.

This is completely random but the Central Bank of Kuwait launched a podcast a few days ago. They’re the last people I would have expected to start a podcast, but they seem they have a good reason for it. According to the podcast description, they want to introduce economic and financial awareness to people and explain major economic concepts to non-financial folks.

They currently have one episode up so far which is on inflation, so if you want to check it out, click here.