2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

Have you gotten your loved one a Shani today? [Link]

On Friday I visited the Liberation Tower for my first time ever after booking an appointment earlier in the week. I had booked a 4PM spot back when you could book a time slot, but decided to pass by at 2PM instead. The process to enter the tower was very simple. I parked in the underground parking across the street and then headed to the main tower entrance on the main road. There was a guy standing at the gate who was scanning the ticket QR code, he wasn’t checking the time slot just that you had an active QR code or not. Once I got through him I just needed to show my vaccination status to another counter and then was pointed in the direction of the elevator.

I’d never been to the Liberation Tower before so I was really excited to get to the top. I saw the tower being built as a kid, and as an adult I drive by it all the time so I was really looking forward to finally be able to go inside. Once I stepped out of the elevator onto the observation deck I was actually surprised, it looked nice. Because it’s an old government building I think I was just expecting it to look rundown but instead it was actually very clean and looked brand new. As part of this one month opening of the deck they had some vintage telecom and postal service related items on display but without any explanation or information. They also had an old phone booth which was cool and viewing binoculars spread out around the deck. It was very chill, I liked it.

When I posted photos of my experience on Instagram a lot of people messaged me to ask if it was worth visiting or not. That’s difficult to answer. My office in Hamra Tower was higher than the observation deck at Liberation Tower so you are’t going there because it’s the tallest structure in Kuwait. I think it’s one of those places worth visiting just because of what they are, an important Kuwaiti landmark.

To book tickets you can do so by visiting LiberationTower.com but like I mentioned in my previous post you’ll get a “Sold out” error if you do so. Instead, you need to get tickets through the loophole I found which is by booking through this page. People who booked through that page have confirmed they were able to visit the Liberation Tower at the day and time of their choosing and were let in without any issues. Just make sure you have a QR code for every person in your group.

Back in 2019 Carriage had a great deal where for just 3.5KD a month you’d get unlimited free deliveries with no minimum spend. That lasted for around 8 months before they changed it to 7.5KD a month and then eventually phased it out completely. But, this weekend I got a pop-up in my Deliveroo app about signing up to something similar called Deliveroo Plus.

For just 3.5KD a month I now get unlimited free deliveries with Deliveroo but with the condition that my order is 5KD or more. Although I’d rather there was no minimum it’s probably there so it stops people from abusing the service by ordering random things worth less than a dinar.

So how do you sign up for Deliveroo Plus? According to their FAQ page, it seems only some customers will see the option to sign up but no details on if you get randomly picked, or if you need to be some sort of regular. If you do get the pop-up then sign up right away just in case you don’t get the option to sign up again. You get a 14-day free trial anyway so sign up first, then think about if you need the service or not.

Quite a few things to do this weekend. Today is the last day of the GCC Camel Racing Tournament but there is also a market taking place at Murouj. Friday is a bit slow but if you’re at the chalet then you have The Hype by Drive In taking place at Bnaider 264. Saturday is the busiest day with a Poetry & Jam Night taking place as well a few other interesting events that day including Yoga Not in the Desert. Check out the full list below and if I missed anything, let me know:

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Elements – Sculptures from CAPs Private Collection
BBT Picnic
GCC Camel Racing Tournament (Schedule)
Visit the Liberation Tower
Al Souq Exhibition at Murouj
The Avenues Sky
Take me to Paris
The Hype at Bnaider 264

Friday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
BBT Picnic
Visit the Liberation Tower
Albohayra Farm
The Avenues Sky
The Hype at Bnaider 264
Road Rush
Curated Cars & Coffee

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Elements – Sculptures from CAPs Private Collection
Grand Mosque Tour
BBT Picnic
Visit the Liberation Tower
Albohayra Farm
Sailing: Saturday Sunset Cruising
The Avenues Sky
Mubarakia Market Walk
CPES Hackathon at Shaheed Park
Sailors Knots Yacht Trip
Interactive Children Book Reading at Assima Mall
Anti Bullying Workshop with Horses
Poetry & Jam Night
Yoga Not in the Desert
Pomeranian Meetup

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

New This Weekend:
Death Valley (4.3)
Uncharted (7.2)

Other Movies Showing Now:
Animal Crackers (5.8)
Encanto (7.8)
Fortress (3.2)
House of Gucci (7.1)
Last Survivors (7.2)
Moonfall (5.6)
My Sweet Monster (5.8)
Scream (7.9)
Sing 2 (7.2)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (9.2)
The 355 (4.6)
The King’s Man (6.8)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
Groundhog Day (8.0)
You’ve Got Mail (6.7)

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

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Antarctica (N/A)
Asteroid Hunters 3D
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

I just found out that this year’s COMFEST 2022 is going to be held at The Arena, the new venue part of the 360 Mall expansion. The Arena is a 5,000+ capacity purpose-built indoor live entertainment and events space that was designed to world-class standards. No events have been held at the venue yet so COMFEST 2022 will probably be the first event to be held there.

The event will be taking place from March 29th to April 1st, no tickets are on sale yet but to stay posted follow them on instagram @comfestcon or visit their website for more information comfestkw.com

The inaugural list of the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants was revealed yesterday and White Robata was the only restaurant from Kuwait that made it coming in at #43. Since they were the only restaurant from Kuwait that also automatically gave them the accolade of The Best Restaurant in Kuwait for 2022.

The majority of the list was dominated by UAE-based restaurants (19 in total) including the overall first place winner going to 3 Fils which is located in Dubai. Five restaurants from Saudi Arabia made the list, two from Bahrain and one from Qatar while five restaurants from Lebanon also made the list and four from Egypt.

To check out MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants, click here.

The Liberation Tower is now open to the public for the month of February. The Ministry of Communications is holding a communications and postal exhibition on level 150m of the tower to showcase a unique collection of telecom devices and items related to the postal service.

The tower is open on weekdays from 3PM to 8PM, and weekends from 2PM to 8PM. You need to book ahead of time and you can do so by visiting liberationtower.com

Update: Tickets are sold out!

Update2: Ok, I found a loophole. If you try and book a ticket the normal way you will get a “Sold Out” error. Instead, what you need to do is head to this page and add the product to the cart. You will find tickets available but you can only book one ticket at a time. As of this post they had tickets available from today till Sunday. After clicking on submit, the page will hang and time out. Ignore that and check your email. If you don’t have an account on the website then you will get an email asking to verify your email. Once you verify you should get the tickets sent to you.

Update3: Looks like the loophole has now been closed.

Update4: According to a reader he was able to visit the Liberation Tower using a ticket that didn’t contain a date or time. So the loophole above still works.

Kuwait will ban a new film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s whodunnit “Death on the Nile” with a cast of Hollywood stars including Israeli actress Gal Gadot, authorities said Sunday. Source

Can someone with free time on their hands get the domain bannedinkuwait.com and just start listing all the things banned here so we can keep track? Thx.

Over the next days, you’ll be able to spot the international space station from within Kuwait during certain periods like tonight at 6:03 PM. The sightings usually occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset since that is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.

Based on photos online it looks like it should be really easy to spot without requiring a telescope, but the space station will only be visible for a few minutes per sighting so you need to be quick to catch it.

If you want to try and see it yourself, check out the sighting schedule.

Thanks Nibaq

This past weekend there was a lot of drama surrounding a women’s only yoga trip to the desert that was banned for being a danger to society. The irony is that last week Saudi Arabia held their first yoga festival (pictured above) which attracted over 1,000 people.

Do you remember the days when things got really bad here we’d think “at least we’re not in Saudi”? Do you think Saudis now think “at least we’re not in Kuwait” when they go through a rough patch?

One thing I’m really appreciating though is how vocal everyone is on social media whenever they see something wrong. When I first started blogging, there was no Instagram, there was no Snapchat and there was no Twitter. There weren’t that many blogs either and so I always felt that it was my job to bring to light issues which brought on a lot of hate from readers who felt because I wasn’t Kuwaiti, I had no say in anything. But now, because of the popularity of social media, I no longer have to carry that burden on my shoulders.

This Saturday is the start of the GCC Camel Racing Tournament so if you’ve ever wanted to visit the camel races, then this is the weekend to do so. Below are all the other events I managed to find for this weekend and as usual, if I’ve missed anything, let me know in the comments.

Thursday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Elements – Sculptures from CAPs Private Collection
BBT Picnic
Al Ameed Coffee Padel Tournament 2022
The Avenues Under the Sky
V-Fit 2.0 at Shaheed Park

Friday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Born Primitive Rodent Trail Series: Day & Night
Trip: Into The Stars
The Avenues Under the Sky
Porsche Club Festival at KMT

Saturday
Exhibition: Art from the Islamic Civilization
Exhibition: Elements – Sculptures from CAPs Private Collection
Grand Mosque Tour
BBT Picnic
Albohayra Farm
Sailing: Saturday Sunset Cruising
The Avenues Under the Sky
GCC Camel Racing Tournament
Q8 Hotrod Club Meetup
Old Cars Meetup

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

New This Weekend:
A Journal for Jordan (5.8)
Animal Crackers (5.8)
Last Survivors (7.2)
Moonfall (5.6)
My Sweet Monster (5.8)

Other Movies Showing Now:
C’mon C’mon (7.6)
C.I.Ape (3.1)
Encanto (7.8)
Fortress (3.2)
House of Gucci (7.1)
Scream (7.9)
See for Me (6.0)
Sing 2 (7.2)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (9.2)
The 355 (4.6)
The King’s Man (6.8)
The Matrix Resurrections (6.1)
WarHunt (4.2)

Classic Movies Showing Now:
Groundhog Day (8.0)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (8.8)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (8.7)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (8.9)

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

IMAX Movies Showing Now:
Antarctica (N/A)
Asteroid Hunters 3D
Backyard Wilderness 3D (7.7)
Turtle Odyssey (7.2)

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

Last month I had to replace three windshields on my cars, two of them were cracked and one had gotten sandblasted over the years from all the desert driving. I hadn’t swapped a windshield in years so decided to get in touch with Glass Clinic since they were the last guys I used around 6 years back. I wasn’t even sure if the business was still around so was glad when they responded to my WhatsApp message.

As I mentioned in my original review of this place back in 2016, there are lots of places on Canada Dry street that can swap your windshield but like everything else, you have good and bad quality products and good and bad quality service. One reason I like using Glass Clinic is because of the overall experience which is usually positive because of different little things. They use the best available window sealant firstly and it’s great not just because it’s stronger than regular sealant, but because it doesn’t leave a horrible smell in the car that I have to deal with for the rest of the week. Another thing I like is the fact that once they’re done installing the windshield they tape it with easy to remove none marking plastic tape. On Canada Dry street they use regular masking tape which leaves residue and markings which you need to clean off after removing the tape. I also like Glass Clinic because I can just WhatsApp them and get an appointment to drop in at a specific time. Finally, another thing I like about them is their location, they’re walking distance from Ace Hardware, Shawarma Shakir, and Avenues, so I just drop the car and then kill time at either of these places till they call me.

From the 3 cars, I ended up replacing 2 out of 3 of my windshields with them. One of the cars they quoted me 40KD for the windshield swap but on Canada Dry it was 25KD. I ended up just changing it on Canada Dry street because it’s an old 1991 Suburban and doesn’t require any sealant to install the windshield. It’s one of those old-style windshields which pop into place by hand and doesn’t require to be glued or taped up when done. My back-to-back experience with Canada Dry and Glass Clinic allowed me to clearly see the benefit of paying a premium. When I swapped my windshield on Canada Dry I couldn’t book an appointment obviously, that meant I had to wait for my turn because they were working on another car before me, I also had to wait for them to go get my windshield from their warehouse which alone took 30 minutes. Then the installation process was all over the place and in the end, they didn’t even bother to clean the windshield after they were done.

On the other hand, my experience with Glass Clinic was much more pleasant. One of the cars I took to them was a BMW which I had gotten the new windshield for already from the dealer and just required them to install it, they charged me 45KD for that. The other car was my Toyota FJ and they quoted me 45KD including the windshield cost. I got an appointment to pass by and when I did, the new windshield was already there waiting for me. With my FJ I even ran into a problem with them and they managed to solve it for me without a problem. They swapped my windshield with one that had the blue sun tint strip on the top which I really don’t like, at least on my FJ because the height of the windshield is so low. They didn’t tell me the new windshield had it and I only saw it after they had finished installing it so I had them swap it out for one without it. Generally, you can tell if the customer service is good or bad by how they handle things when a problem pops up, they handled this situation well.

So if you’re looking to replace or fix your windshield and want something a step up from Canada Dry street but cheaper than the dealer, Glass Clinic is your middle ground. They’re located near Avenues (Google Maps) but they also offer home service. If you want to check them out they’re on Instagram @glassclinic

Kuwaiti lawyer Abdulaziz Saud Al-Subaie filed a lawsuit against the Ministries of Information and Communications, and the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority, demanding the blocking of the “Netflix” platform in his country, against the background of its production of the Arabic movie “Friends and Dearest.”

The lawyer submitted his claim for “religious and moral” motives to the High Court, to block the platform that recently showed the film, which sparked widespread controversy, and its organizers were harshly criticized for its “bold” content. Source

From all the content on Netflix (and the Internet), the stupid movie Perfect Strangers was the one to trigger the lawsuit???