Search: “ace”

Last week I found out there was a new yoga studio at Hamra Tower called Project 5 Miles (P5M). P5M is a social health initiative aiming to make healthy lifestyle everyone’s commodity. I had heard of them before because they used to hold fitness sessions at Al Shaheed Park, and the new P5M studio in Hamra Tower is a new addition to their activities.

I have an Alive Yoga membership but a friend of mine wanted to do yoga with me this weekend so we decided to try out P5M since the cost per session is just KD5. The P5M studio is located on the 55th floor lobby of Hamra Tower in Kuwait City. It’s not easy to find since it’s kinda hidden but when you come out of the elevator, the entrance to the studio is located behind the large pillar on the right side.

The studio is a beautiful space with a really high ceiling and a beautiful view. They have a bunch of classes with different trainers. We went to the 11AM class yesterday that was being taught by Nawaf Al Ali whom I’ve taken classes with before. It was a very chill and small class and I really enjoyed it. The class I went to was mixed but they also have ladies only classes as well.

The P5M studio is a pop-up studio meaning its not there permanently but only on a temporary basis. Like I mentioned above, their classes are just KD5, so if you’re interested in taking a yoga class there, make sure you check out their instagram page @project5miles and also their website project5miles.com

Tip: Bring your own water bottle and towel, they provide mats, blocks and straps.

The article below was written by a friend of mine and I believe is worth sharing on the blog. It’s a bit long but worth reading till the end.

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An Appeal Against Dolphins in Captivity at the Scientific Center of Kuwait

I would like to begin by saying this letter is an appeal to all those with a conscience and a heart. An appeal to those who do not know, and to those who do. I extend these words in hope that they may inspire action, unity, and a change of fate for those without voices to speak for themselves.

One of my favorite places and institutions in Kuwait will be under construction for the next three years. The Scientific Center of Kuwait. They plan to expand The Scientific Center, and install a dolphinarium.

Dolphinarium
An aquarium in which dolphins are kept and trained for public entertainment.

This news has been circulating for a few years now and I asked confirmation from the institution itself. It has been confirmed. They are going to build a dolphin prison.

Let’s take a look at the direction the world is moving in – they are enforcing laws that prohibit the exploitation of these wild animals. The United Kingdom has banned dolphinariums since the early 90’s (way ahead of their time). Most (not all) dolphinariums that exist today in the world have existed since the 70’s and 80’s if they haven’t been forced to shut down YET.

Not much taking place this weekend but things should pick up next week. For now, check out this weekends events below:

Thursday
Aga-Boom
Exhibition: Absence by Aziz Mutawa

Friday
Aga-Boom
Benchmark 2017 – Design Entrepreneurship Forum
Tai Chi in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Aga-Boom
Benchmark 2017 – Design Entrepreneurship Forum
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
My Book My Friend
Gardening at The Secret Garden
Q8 Readers Book Club:The Bamboo Stalk
Instagramers Kuwait Meetup

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 movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and Sky Cinemas:

New This Week:
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Eliminators (5.4)
Eloise (4.7)
Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon (6.1)
Logan (9.0) ♦ ★

Other Movies Showing:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Gold (6.5) ♦
Hidden Figures (7.9)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4) ★
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
La La Land (8.9) ♦
Mercury Plains (4.3)
Ozzy (5.6)
Rings (4.6)
Rock Dog (5.7)
Split (7.5) ♦
The Devil’s Candy (6.7)
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (7.9)

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

It’s hard to write this post without expressing my emotions which are mostly composed of anger and lot of frustration, but I’ll try my best to be as neutral and professional as possible. Yesterday when I went to take photos of the bike sharing station near Marina Waves, I was caught off guard by what has to be the dumbest fucking decision ever an idea with good intentions, but poor execution.

Who thought it would be a great fucking idea to plaster bright orange garbage bins at eye level every 10 fucking meters on the side facing the sea???!. Now I am aware of the garbage situation in Kuwait and specifically Salmiya, I’ve written about it a number of times on the blog before, but I do believe this idea could have been executed better. I guess people have been throwing garbage on the floor so someone (I’m assuming at the municipality) decided to add more garbage bins all across the beautiful scenic path near Marina Waves. The issue is, the garbage bins are bright fucking orange, raised up to eye level, and most importantly, they’re placed every 10 meters on the side of the path that is closest to the sea.

The pathway is popular because the view there is spectacular. It’s a popular location for photos and its one of the most beautiful aspects of Kuwait along with the whole Gulf Road. So why ruin this amazing view by sticking bright fucking orange bins so high up on ugly poles? Why couldn’t they add more bins, but ones that blended in with the environment better instead of sticking out like a sore thumb? For the benefit of the doubt, lets assume they had a very limited budget to work with, and these cheap plastic bins were the only ones that fit into their budget. Why couldn’t they place them on the other side of the path so that the sea view isn’t blocked by hundreds of these floating orange bins? Whoever is behind this I am guessing was behind a similar stupid idea in Salmiya a few years ago where they plastered yellow bins every 10 meters on the side of Salem Mubarek Street. That idea failed because it was fucking stupid not well thought out, and these orange ideas aren’t a good solution either.

Also, do people who litter do so because the garbage bin is to far, or do they litter because they don’t know any better and just don’t care? My guess is the later, the below is taken from the City of Chicago website:

Why Do People Litter?
People litter because they do not feel responsible for public areas like streets and parks. The more they litter, the more it becomes a habit, and the worse the community looks. People usually litter outside their own neighborhood where their trash becomes someone else’s problem.

I highly doubt these garbage bins are going to stop people from littering, what we need is probably an awareness campaign that educates the public on why they shouldn’t litter, followed by strict enforcement of the littering law (which I believe we have).

BYKY, the bike sharing service in the Middle East (also part of the largest international bike sharing network Nextbike) recently installed a bike station near Marina Waves in Salmiya. Bike sharing is a service where bicycles are made available to rent by people for a short period of time, and in cities with a lot of stations, you could use the bikes to ride from one area to another and then park them at the station nearest to you. From what I can tell, in Kuwait we currently have just this one station and it’s clearly placed there to be used for fun and not as a means of transportation.

The first BYKY Station in Kuwait is located near the Salwa Sabah Al-Ahmad Hall [Map] which makes it practical to pick up a bike and ride it down the scenic path to Scientific Center and back.

The price to use the bikes is as follows:
KD1.5 – 30 Minutes
KD2 – 1 Hour
KD2.5 – 2 Hours
KD3 – 3 Hours
KD3.5 – 4 Hours
KD4 – 5 Hours
KD6 – 24 Hours

If you don’t lock the bike when you bring it back to the station, then there is an additional charge of KD1.5. If you don’t return the bike to the station and instead say leave it next to Scientific Center, then there is an additional charge of KD6 for ever 10km you’re away from the station. Payment is made by credit card or Knet.

I’ve reached out to BYKY to find out if they’ll be adding more stations in Kuwait, once they get back to me I’ll update this post.

Update: According to a reader there is a second BYKY Station next to Scientific Center.

I found out about AL MAADAN recently when I tagged along with a friend who needed to get some items for his place. It’s a home accessories and furniture shop thats located in Shuwaikh but they also have a tiny store in Avenues.

Although it doesn’t sound the part, AL MAADAN actually have some pretty cool looking and tastefully designed items. When I was there, I found a bunch of things I would have wanted for my place if I actually had the room for them. The main reason they have some very cool looking items is because they carry the Danish brand House Doctor, which to me is kinda like a Danish version of WestElm.

So if you’re looking for furniture or accessories for your place then they’re definitely worth checking out. Here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @almaadankw

There’s a restaurant in Crystal Tower in Kuwait City called Hala Hummus which I keep passing by on my way to my gym (Core Fitness, now called XAthletic moved there recently). I haven’t tried Hala Hummus yet but I love the way the interior looks. For some reason, I think because of the way the ceiling is arched but the space looks like a restaurant you’d find in an underground subway. As you can guess from the name, they specialize in hummus dishes so if you want more info, check out their instagram @halahummus_kw

There are currently a bunch of new hospitals being constructed and designed at the moment in Kuwait and thanks to a reader, I was able to get a bit of information on them. Below is a list of some of the hospitals currently in the pipeline along with their current status and links with more details on the projects:

Al-Adan Women and Children’s Hospital
Already under construction

Al-Razi Hospital
Under tender but paused right now due to budget constraints

Al-Sabah Hospital
Already under construction

Amiri Hospital
Already under construction

Kuwait Cancer Control Centre
Already under construction

Kuwait Children’s Hospital
Currently in design phase

NBK Cancer Hospital (Oncology and Hematology)
Already complete and awaiting commissioning

New Farwaniya Hospital
Already under construction

New Ibn Sina Hospital
On hold, awaiting budget and likely to kick off 2017-2018

New Jahra Hospital
Already under construction

New Maternity Hospital
Construction to begin any day now

Police Hospital
Was tendered and awarded and now awaiting contract signature to kick off

Sheikh Jaber Hospital
Construction nearly complete

Sheikha Salwa Al-Sabah Center for Stem Cell and Umbilical Cord
Already under construction

Thanks Jassim

I used to love cycling on the Gulf Road all year round but for some reason, last year I just rode my bicycle twice and then just lost interest. Maybe I got bored, maybe I got lazy but whatever the reason was, I just haven’t been motivated to get back onto my bicycle since. This year I decided I would get lean come summertime but I wasn’t sure what kind of cardio I would do until I found out about RYDE.

RYDE is a new spinning studio located in Mayar Complex in Shuwaikh, the same complex that houses the new Vol.1 and my obsession du jour, Super/Foods. I found out about RYDE when I was getting information on the complex and after looking at their instagram account I realized this could be a fun way to do cardio and burn calories. Although my gym has cardio machines, I hate doing stationary cardio since I just get so bored. RYDE on the other hand looked exciting because the setup was in a dark room with flashing neon lights, it had a nightclub vibe.

Last week they finally put their schedule online along with an offer where your first class would be free. So I signed up and headed there on Saturday for my first free class. I had never done spinning before and so wasn’t really sure if I’d like it or not. I liked it. After trying it out on Saturday, I ended up signing up for another class on Sunday.

A post shared by RYDE (@ryde.kw) on Feb 19, 2017 at 2:54am PST

Like in the photos and videos on their instagram account, spinning takes place in a dark room, barely lit with pink and blue neon lights and a spotlight shinning on the instructor. The instructors perform a lot of multitasking during the 45 minute workout, they pump out jams, control the light show and also yell out instructions all while pedaling along with you. The experience was pretty fun and because there’s so much going on, time just flies by. The lighting of the studio is pretty cool, the room stays dim most of the time but whenever we have to do a fast sprint, the neon lights start flashing with the fast paced beats and it just creates this excitement that entices you to pedal faster and harder (the video above doesn’t really do it justice). The class is intense but if you get tired you can just pedal at your own pace until you catch your breath. Personally, I don’t recall the last time I sweat as much, but if I was able to keep up then you should as well since my cardio isn’t that great.

RYDE offers classes for men and women but they aren’t mixed. Women also have a female trainer while men have a male one. One class costs KD10 which is not bad but if you sign up to multiple classes, the price does get cheaper. Right now they have a deal where the first class is free so you don’t have anything to lose trying it out.

For more information you can checkout their instagram account @ryde.kw or visit their website rydekw.com

Not much happening this weekend since everyone is most likely out of town. Stay off the Gulf Road this weekend if you don’t want to be involved in the National and Liberation Day celebrations, and stay safe. Happy weekend everyone.

Thursday
Exhibition: Harmony in the City
Voices & Verses
Celebrate Kuwait at Boulevard Mall
Spaces in Narrative by Mishari AlNajjar

Friday
Exhibition: Harmony in the City
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Expats Morning Coffee Meetup

Saturday
Exhibition: Harmony in the City
Yoga with the 3

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 movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and Sky Cinemas:

New This Week:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Hidden Figures (7.9)
Mercury Plains (4.3)
Pet (5.7) ♦
Rock Dog (5.7)
The Devil’s Candy (6.7)
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions (7.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Gold (6.5) ♦
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4) ★
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
La La Land (8.9) ♦
Ozzy (5.6)
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (7.0)
Rings (4.6)
Split (7.5) ♦
The Last Face (2.8) ♦
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (5.6) ♦

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

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Flying Monsters 3D with David Attenborough (7.6)
Humpback Whales 3D (7.2)
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Secret Ocean 3D (N/A)
Journey to Space 3D (6.5)
Kenya 3D: Animal Kingdom (6.0)
Mysteries of the Unseen World 3D (7.5)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.
★ is for movies I’m interested in. ♦ implies movie might contain censorship.

If you’ve been hanging out in the city recently, you might have spotted various yellow colored posters around the coffee district with the hashtag #FilipoTakesKuwait. Typing the hashtag in instagram will lead you to @filipothefilipino where you’ll find very little information as well. So what is it all about?

Filipo The Filipino is going to be a pop-up event thats going to be taking place over two days early next month. The guys behind it are bringing in a Filipino chef from the Michelin Star restaurant “L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon” to serve a menu he created that will include deconstructed popular Filipino dishes like Adobo and Halo Halo.

The event will be taking place at the beautiful Al Khaled Diwan thats located right next to the Sadu House on the Gulf Road. For more details on the event including exact date and a map, click [Here]

There is a low detail 3D walkthrough video of the new Terminal 2 airport available online. It’s divided into two parts, first part is arrival to the airport, checking-in and then heading towards your gate. The second part is getting off the plane and heading to the baggage pickup area. There is no audio in the video and you can skim through it without missing anything important.

Thanks Kutsuit

Guys, if you feel like having a delicious donut, DOH! has a popup at the Food Buzz market thats taking place today and tomorrow at KIPCO Tower. I finally got to try their donuts and damn it was so good. Definitely worth the million calories.

For details on the Food Buzz market, click [Here]