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One of the best things about blogging is the fact I get invited to check out a lot of cool work in progress projects like Messilah Beach, Missoni Hotel and The Regency Palace. My dad’s an interior designer and as a kid I used to tag along with him on Friday mornings to various construction sites which is why now whenever I get invited to visit one I can never say no. It brings back good childhood memories and that’s why when I was asked if I wanted to tour the Al Hamra Tower I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been a big fan of the tower for a long time to get a tour of it before completion would literally be a once in a life time opportunity since they’re only going to build it once.

First a bit of history and some facts. Al Hamra used to be Kuwait’s and the GCC’s first indoor cinema. It had two large theaters, one played Bollywood movies while the other played Western movies. Al Hamra Tower is being built in the same location where Al Hamra Cinema used to be located. It’s currently the second tallest building in the region with Burj Khalifa being the tallest. It’s the tallest asymmetrical structure in the world (no side is like the other side) and it’s also the second tallest concrete building in the world.

So my tour started off with a video presentation of the tower. It wasn’t really boring since there was a presenter and I was able to interrupt and ask questions. After the presentation I was taken to the mall that’s located at the bottom of the tower. The mall is made up of five floors and each floor will be around the size of a floor at Al Raya mall across the street. The fifth floor will hold the Al Hamra Cinema. Whats special about this cinema is the fact it will be the first non-Cinescape theater in 50 years. Back in 1953 Cinescape got a 50 year exclusivity for cinema’s in Kuwait. That exclusivity expired in 2003. The mall will be a luxurious one and having Hermes there is a good start.

Once we were done walking around the mall we headed to the main tower lobby (pictured above) which is really going to be huge when completed. Although the tower is super tall your average wait time for a lift will be under 30 seconds, the lift also travels at a speed of 10 floors a second. To get to the top floor of the tower we had to take a lift up to a lobby on the 54th floor I think and then swap to another lift and continue up to the very last floor.

[YouTube]

Once we got to the last floor it was filled with scaffolding since they still have a few more glass panels they’re installing at the very top. But the space up there is just astonishing, the ceiling is incredibly high and the view is just overwhelming. I shot the video above to try and show what I was experiencing and seeing but you really need to be there (Trivia: Can you tell when I hit my head on a scaffolding? Luckily I was wearing a hard hat!). Once completed this last floor will sadly be a private invite only chairman’s club and not a restaurant like I had previously heard. This means very few people will actually get to enjoy this beautiful view.

It’s hard not to like Al Hamra Tower, it’s an office tower done right and we don’t have many “done right” projects in Kuwait. I really can’t wait for it to launch which should be September of this year. Below are some pictures I took today.

Update: Forgot to mention that the windows will be cleaned by a team of robots and it will take a month to clean all the windows. Burj Khalifa on the other hand employs 36 window cleaners who take 3 months to clean all the windows. Burj Arab I believe uses 2 people who take a full month to clean their windows.

I found out about the website Local Tees from Me Blogging. What I understood from her is that you send them your designs and if they like it they will print a limited run of tshirts based on it and then sell it on their website. Although she doesn’t mention it I am guessing you would also get a cut of the profits made from your tshirt design. It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t matter since it’s a good one and going by the the designs already available on their website they’re not after generic ones but after designs that relate to the local region which is the way it should be done. The photography on the site (like the one above) is also very well done and helps set a trendy tone through out.

My only issue with the website is the fact it’s flash based! Not sure who still makes a flash based website now a days but they’ve got one and there is no skip button which drove me crazy. My second issue is the fact that practically all the tshirts are white, which might be fine for others but personally I only wear dark colored tshirts so at the moment there isn’t a tshirt I could buy for myself.

You can check their website by clicking [Here]
To skip the flash site and head directly to the store click [Here]

I posted about Digumz a few weeks back on the blog. It’s a new business started by a blogger called Qaiss which allows you to rent video games for a fixed monthly fee. Well Qaiss decided to participate at the P2BK event and has posted on his blog a very insightful behind the scenes look into his experience so far. I love his transparency and I’m looking forward for his next post once the event is completed to see if his experience changed for the better or not. [Link]

There is gonna be a music event at GUST this Saturday made up of a mixture of pop music, classical, rock, blues and more with all proceeds going to Operation Hope and PAWS. The tickets are for KD5 and you can contact Ms. Helen Newton on [email protected] or text her at 97320877, for more information and reservations. Tickets can be purchased ahead of the event or at the door.

Date: Saturday 19th March 2011
Time: 3PM to 5PM
Location: GUST University (West Mishref)

One of the bands playing will be the Mojolaters whom I’ve posted about before on the blog. You can check out their website [Here]

According to the description under the image above, this was the first concrete and bricks building in Kuwait and it was built by Alkurafi & Almatrook opposite the customs in Al Seif Street. I wonder if it’s still standing today. [Link]

Update: Mithos from the blog Habatq8 sent me a scan from what looks like an old Kuwait almanac. On the page there is a list of “Prominent Merchants” (see above) and topping that list is Alkurafi & Almatrook who were listed as “Grocer and a dealer in piece goods”. Here is a link to the full scan [Image]

Remember the large mural (above) which I posted about awhile back? Well Cajie a reader of the blog took photos of the mural and stitched all the photos together to form one very wide image. You can check out the large image of the mural [Here]

If you’re in Kuwait, 28 years old or less and in love with creativity and communications then this competition is for you. All you need to do is design a poster based on the subject of Democracy and two winners will get an airline ticket and a delegate pass to the Cannes Lions 2011 festival. Entry is free of charge and the deadline is March 31st. For more information follow this [Link]

Qaiss from the local blog io81 has recently launched a new business. I’ve been reading his business oriented blog for a long time now since I am always interested in what he has to say about the local market and I also enjoy reading his complaints, tips and business ideas. So when I heard he launched a new business called Digumz I was excited to find out more about it and so far the first impression is really good.

Qaiss basically has set up an online video game rental website which also has a physical location at Omnia Mall in Salmiya. He has kept it simple with 3 flat rate rental plans, KD7 a month will allow you to rent as many games as you want per month as long as you rent 1 game at a time. KD13 will allow you to rent 2 games at a time and KD18 will allow you to rent 3 games at a time. Once you sign up and become a member you just login to his website, choose the game you want and they will deliver it for free.

I think it’s a pretty simple and cool idea. So if you’re interested check out his website www.digumz.com

Proud to be Kuwaiti is a foundation that was formed to recognize and encourage the youth of Kuwait to depend on themselves and establish their own business by giving their skills and talent a chance to shine. This year will be the third fourth year for the P2BK event.

Date: 16, 17, 18 and 19 March 2011
Location: Kuwait International Fairgrounds Mishref Hall 8
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm and 5:00pm – 9:30pm

via Desert Girl

For more information you can visit their website [Here]

Just an FYI, I’m going to be talking tonight at GeekFest about blogging in Kuwait and my Benihana lawsuit. I sadly won’t be there for the event but I will be presenting via Skype video. If you’re in the UAE and want to find out more about this event you can visit their website [Here]

I think they’ve arranged for a bus from Dubai to the venue twofour54 (hmmm) and there is more info on that in their Facebook page [Here]

In addition to the videos of the fireworks I posted about earlier, Cajie a photographer posted some great shots of the fireworks display in his flickr page which you can see [Here]

Update: Here is another link to photos taken by Bu Yousef. My favorite one is below. [Link]

Blogger Yousef took videos of the fireworks tonight and posted them on his blog. He divided them into 6 parts and you can check them all out on his blog [Here]

Update: Here is the link to the full 50 minutes fireworks display recorded from KTV [YouTube]

Nibaq (he got me into blogging) just posted on his twitter a link to a video of him and his wife camping in Antarctica last November. You can watch the video above in which you can see the Kuwaiti flag planted. I guess that makes them the first Kuwaiti man and woman in Antarctica? [Link]

Local blog Tidbit Du Jour currently have a giveaway taking place in which one lucky person will end up winning the cool LunaTik iPod Nano watch band in addition to a silver 8gb iPod Nano. Check out their website for more details [Here]

Speaking of iPods, the website Sheeel is selling the iPod Shuffles today for KD10 (11 with delivery) [Here]

My brother has a thing for taking pictures of old and broken down buildings and I’ve posted the last two of his photo-sets on the blog before (here and here). He recently went and shot another building and uploaded a new photo-set on his flickr account. One picture grabbed my attention since it had an old poster advertising a wrestling event. I told him to send me a close up of that poster which he did and which you can see above and below. The poster was on a building that’s soon to be demolished on Fahad Al Salem street.

I don’t know how old the poster is since there isn’t any date on it, my brother thinks it’s the 80s but my rough guess based on a bit of online research would put this sometime in the early 60s. I think it’s very cool and someone needs to preserve stuff like this. Maybe the part of the wall that has these posters can be broken off or maybe just these pictures are enough?

Here is the link to the full set of pictures my brother took [Link]

Update: A reader was able to calculate what year the poster is from based on the day, date and my rough estimation. The best guess to when this poster dates back to is now 1965.