Search: “ace”

On Friday (which was probably the hottest day of the year so far), my FJ’s air conditioning stopped working. Luckily the weather wasn’t that hot but it was still an annoyance. What was going to be more annoying though was getting it fixed. I hate taking the car to the dealership since it’s such a time-consuming process. You need to drop the car off, leave it for a few days, cab it back and forth to the garage and I just didn’t want to go through all that hassle. So I decided to try and fix the problem myself.

I kinda had an idea what the problem was. When I turned the air conditioning on no air would come out so I figured it had to do with the AC blower motor. So I googled it and found people who had similar issues like mine and the solution turned out to be one of two things:

1) Blower motor resistor failure
2) Blower motor module failure

The first one controls the speed of the fan, the second is what actually gives out the air. I watched a few videos and both seemed fairly easy to replace so I got my tools and headed to the Toyota parts dealer in Shuwaikh. First, I decided to check the resistor since it was the cheaper part of the two to replace (around KD4). I took it apart and it looked like it was still in good condition. Realizing it must be the blower motor, I walked into the parts dealer to buy a new motor. Fifteen minutes later I was out in the parking lot installing the part which was located under the glove box and connected with just three screws. Super easy swap and once I was done, I turned on the AC and it was working again. I got it all sorted by myself and even though it was an easy swap, I felt like I had accomplished so much. The new motor cost me KD59, I didn’t have to pay anyone for labor and more importantly I didn’t have to drop off my car at the dealership for a few days.

If you like Lego or putting together IKEA cabinets then you should try fixing things yourself. Everything is online nowadays including repair manuals and step by step video guides. If you also own an FJ Cruiser, here is a link to the dealerships [FJ Cruiser Repair Manual]

Not a lot of events this weekend but there are a couple of live performances taking place that are free to attend including the musical The Revenge of Peter Rabbit and the Armenian State String Quartet Aram Khachaturian. Check out the full list of events below:

Thursday
SnowTown in K-Town
IWD Hackathon 2018
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: The Intouchables

Friday
SnowTown in K-Town
The Revenge of Peter Rabbit
Red Bull Car Park Drift
Armenian State String Quartet Aram Khachaturian

Saturday
SnowTown in K-Town
The Revenge of Peter Rabbit
QRun Kids Marathon 2018
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
Live Music at Key’s Coffee
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: The Florida Project

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

My friends @kickstq and @supersoulxxx have a cool event taking place tonight called Desert Run. They’ll be screening Space Jam outdoors adjacent to Arabica in Arraya, and they’ll also have a sneaker cleaning station as well as a basketball arcade machine with prizes that include Off-White for Nike, Adidas Yeezy Boost, Supreme and more. So if you’re interested and want more details, click [Here]

Cinescape is putting together an Oscars film festival next week where you’ll be able to binge watch 10 award-winning films that include:

· The Shape of Water
· Coco
· I, Tonya
· Phantom Thread
· Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
· Loving Vincent
· The Insult
· Get Out
· Darkest Hour
· The Post

The film festival is taking place from March 11 to March 14th at Cinescape Laila Gallery in Salmiya. The ticket cost for this festival is KD10 (that will get you access to watch all the films). For more information and the film schedule, click [Here]

The Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC) will officially be opening to the public next week on Wednesday, March 14th. The cultural center houses a Space Museum, Science Museum, Natural History Museum and an Islamic Museum so I’m super excited to check it out.

To stay posted you can follow them on instagram @ascc_kw

Hey, this is your local film buff checking in on my yearly visit to this blog to spout out my favorite films of the year (because my opinion is right and everyone else is wrong). If this is your first time reading an article of mine, that’s normal cause I’ve written 5 over 6 years or so. My name is Tarek, I’m a filmmaker, ad director, and curator for Cinemagic rooftop cinema (I basically choose the films they show, so any complaints can come my way). Let’s get to the list!

Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, I hadn’t seen the following highly acclaimed films that might have had a spot otherwise: Faces Places – Raw – The Square – Loveless.

You’ve probably come across Aesop hand soaps in restaurant washrooms, they’re dark bottles like in the picture on top, and they tend to smell amazing. If you’ve been to any of the Aesop stores around the world you might have picked up a bottle or two and brought them back with you. Or maybe even had a friend get you some when on vacation. But, it’s not really practical getting them while on vacation since the bottles take up luggage space, are fairly heavy, and what if you run out and need some more? A better solution is ordering them online.

There are a number of places online you can order Aesop from but the website I use is the UK based Cult Beauty. They have two kinds of hand wash available as well as a bunch of other Aesop products, but what I like about them is the cost of shipping to Kuwait. The maximum you are allowed to order is 6 pieces of hand wash the shipping cost with DHL is for 6 is £15. If you order 6 of each of their hand washes (so a total of 12), then they’ll ship it via DHL for free.

I haven’t bought 12 bottles at once but I have bought 6 pieces. If you order 6 then the cost per bottle after shipping and customs comes to KD11, which is the same price as if you purchased a bottle in the UK. How is that possible? When you order Aesop to Kuwait they remove the 20% VAT which brings the price down from around KD11 to around KD9. Adding shipping and customs to Kuwait and the price comes back up to the UK retail price of KD11. If you order 12 bottles then the price per bottle ends up actually being cheaper than the price per bottle in the UK since you don’t pay for shipping, just customs.

So if you’re looking to get Aesop hand wash, this is probably the cheapest way to get it to Kuwait. You can check out the full range of Aesop products on Cult Beauty [Here]

Update: I originally posted saying each bottle would cost you KD13 shipped to Kuwait but I completely forgot one important thing, when you ship to Kuwait they remove the 20% VAT. So the cost of the bottle with shipping and customs to Kuwait is actually the same price as if you bought a bottle while on vacation in the UK.

I didn’t travel over the holidays, instead, I stayed in Kuwait and just binge watched a bunch of shows. Some were better than others, below is the list of what I ended up watching:

Electric Dreams
This is a sci-fi series made up of short stories written by Philip K. Dick who also wrote Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall and a bunch of other popular sci-fi films. Each episode is a standalone story by itself, and each one stars a really big actor like Steve Buscemi, Bryan Cranston, Terrence Howard and others. Sadly the show was underwhelming and even boring. Out of 10 episodes, I think I just liked two. Things got so bad I didn’t even bother to finish watching the last two episodes of the season. This show is available on Amazon Video.

Altered Carbon
After a disappointing experience with Electric Dreams, I was hesitant to watch Altered Carbon especially since I had read some negative reviews about it. But, 4 episodes in I was hooked and ended up loving the show which stars Joel Kinnaman from one of my favorite shows ever, The Killing. This show is available on Netflix.

Crashing
I heard about this show from the podcast Kill Tony since Tony Hinchcliff guest stars in one of the upcoming episodes. The show revolves around the struggling standup comedian Pete Holmes who finds out his wife was cheating on him. The divorce starts a series of events where he ends up meeting other comedians and crashing on their couches while touring with them. Lots of celebrity comedians make guest appearances including Bill Burr, Sarah Silverman, Jim Norton, Penn Jillette and more. This show is available on HBO Now.

Seven Seconds
No idea why I watched this honestly, but I ended up binge watching 10 episodes over two days and it wasn’t even that great a show. The acting was bad, the dialogue cliche and the story not that interesting. But, I was curious to see the story play out till the end and the whole thing was just a disappointing mess. The only good thing about the show is it got me hooked enough to binge watch it, but that’s the only positive thing I have to say about this. This show is available on Netflix.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
From all the shows listed here, this was probably the best one. Mrs. Maisel is a housewife in the 1950s who decides to become a stand-up comic after her husband leaves her. The show is funny, Rachel Brosnahan who plays Mrs. Maisel is incredibly good and her wardrobe on the show… I think me and my friend spent more time talking about what she was wearing than we talked about the show. Beautiful wardrobe, incredible sets and locations, definitely watch this show if you had to pick just one from this list. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available on Amazon Video.

Here and Now
Finally, Here and Now. I started watching this show over the holidays but only three episodes are out so far so it’s difficult to make a judgment on it. So far it’s interesting, I’m still trying to figure out where the story is going but the cast is great and there are enough different stories taking place to make it interesting. This show is available on HBO Now.

Below is this weekends list of events. ComFest is taking place this weekend, The Hound from Game of Thrones is no longer coming but the event should still be interesting to attend. This weekend will also be hosting the last Qout Market of the season, so if you haven’t been to it yet, this is your last chance until next fall. Check out the rest of the events below:

Thursday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
The Writers’ Hub Conference
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Baby Driver

Friday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
Kuwait Music Academy at Muse Lounge

Saturday
SnowTown in K-Town
Baseball Classic Championship Tournament
ComFest 2018
Qout Market
Art Brunch
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Mother!

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

If you missed ComicCon last weekend because you were out of town, there is another comic festival taking place this weekend called ComFest. Last year ComFest turned out to be a fan favorite especially with cosplayers and its expected to be the same this year.

This year The Hound from Game of Thrones will be a guest at ComFest amongst other celebs who are mostly video game related. Entrance is KD5 and you can get a bit more details by clicking [Here]

The video on top is from last years ComFest.

The Mogahwi stationary shop in old Salmiya had been around for over 30 years, it’s a nostalgic place that has looked pretty much the same ever since it opened. The store was fairly popular back in the 80s and early 90s, but as malls started popping up and old Salmiya started to die, so did the footfall at Mogahwi. Back in 2009 I posted about how I was worried they’d end up closing down and they finally did last week. It’s sad to see it go, especially since it was down the street from my place and I used to pop in frequently whenever I needed anything. Now I’m gonna have to get my stationary from somewhere else…

For those of you in Kuwait for the holidays, below are a bunch of events taking place. If I missed anything let me know in the comments:

Thursday
SnowTown in K-Town
Exhibition: Culture Fair: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Jackie
Workshop: Introduction to Astrophotography
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Friday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
National Celebrations Show Jumping Competition
Food Truck Festival
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Saturday
SnowTown in K-Town
Yoga with the 3
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Comic Con Kuwait
Decopatch
National Celebrations Show Jumping Competition
Food Truck Festival
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Sunday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Decopatch
Concert: Los Rumberos de Massachusetts
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

Monday
SnowTown in K-Town
Al Farsi International Kite Festival
Decopatch
Ice Skating Rink Celebrations

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

The openings of Avenues Phase 4, Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center and the new pedestrian-only street in old Salmiya have all been pushed back. Previously they were set to open during the National holidays but that’s no longer going to happen.

There were also rumors that the inauguration of Kuwait Motor Town was going to take place during the National holidays but those rumors are not true.

I personally don’t mind since they’re all still expected to open soon and I’d rather they open when they’re ready instead of being rushed.

Comic Con Kuwait is taking place this coming weekend from the 22nd to the 24th of February. This is the second time Comic Con is being held in Kuwait and they’re expecting 20,000 people to attend. They’ve doubled the size of the venue compared to last year and they’re bringing in some bigger stars including:

Stan Lee: The comic-book writer who co-created the popular characters Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men

Michael Fassbender: The actor know for playing Magneto on X-Men as well as having main rolls in movies such as Steve Jobs, Assassin’s Creed, Alien: Covenant and many more

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Know for playing the character Ser Jaime Lannister, in the HBO series Game of Thrones

David Hayter: Well known as the English voice actor for Solid Snake in the Metal Gear videogames

Video of last years Comic Con (starts 1min in)

Ticket prices start at KD10 and go all the way up to KD150 for the Diamond pass. For more info on this event click [Here]