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The above is the latest video by K’S PATH and below is the description:

This short film features the release of a Scops Owl and a Steppe Eagle. The owl was found being sold by children while the eagle was found exhausted on the beach, presumably having exhausted itself flying against the wind during the day. Our community responded wonderfully by calling K’S PATH and helping to catch and transport these majestic creatures. Both birds were promptly given a clean bill of health after being seen by K’S PATH veterinarian Dr. Madhulal Valliyatte. Thankfully, they were both released the following day.

If you find a wild bird in distress, call 6700-1622. If it’s safe for you and the bird, you can use a towel and cardboard box to catch it. Keep the bird covered in the box, in the dark if possible, and in a quiet place. Avoid heat and noise. You may give a bowl of water if necessary, but don’t attempt to feed a wild bird. The wrong food can be much worse than no food for a short time. Our phone is switched off at night but all missed calls are returned in the morning. A message will get the quickest response.

Let’s be a community that works together to take care of wildlife.

[Vimeo]

Alshaya announced today that they’ll be bringing the franchise Katsuya by S+ARCK to Kuwait and the region. Unlike the other brands they’ve previous acquired this is probably the first one I haven’t heard of before. This is the description of what Katsuya is on their website:

Featuring the dynamic pairing of Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi and design impresario Philippe Starck, Katsuya by Starck is truly a feast for the senses. With specialty cocktails, unique rolls and spectacular sushi and sashimi platters, Chef Uechi skillfully translates Japanese flavors to the American palate. Signature dishes include Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna, Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeño and Miso-Marinated Black Cod. With superb talent and exacting precision, Katsuya by Starck is changing the face of Japanese cuisine.

For the press release click [Here]

Update: Katsuya is now open [Link]

Doss and I love Kuwait. So to show our appreciation for a place that has opened up so many opportunities for us we decided to make Kuwait his dance floor. We hit Mahboula, Fintas, Hawalli, Salmiya and Shaab. So enjoy and a big thanks to you all of our friends and fans! tjcfilms.com

[YouTube]

The NUQAT design conference is taking place this year from October 4th to October 9th. There will be a ton of lectures and workshops to suit everyones interest. Below are the speakers participating this year:

SULAYMAN AL BASSAM
Theatre Director

DR. NASSER ABULHASAN
Architect, founder and partner of AGI architecture – Kuwait

RANA SALAM
A world renowned branding designer, based

TAREK ATRISSI
Internationally acclaimed graphic designer and typographer based in Holland

ELIE BOU JAMRA & MIRNA HAMADY
Co-founders at Kashida, Lebanese product design studio

ALFRED TARAZI
Political mixed media artist from Lebanon

JASSIM AL SADDAH
Kuwaiti Architect, Founder of Bab Nimnim

KHALID SHAFAR
Emirati product designer

SH. ALANOUD AL SABAH
Kuwaiti jewelry designer, founder of the label, Octium

AHMAD ANGAWI
Up & coming product designer from Saudi Arabia

PLUS AZIZ
Senior Trend analyst at NYC based marketing company Fathom+Hatch

LAMYA GERGASH
Emirati Photographer and Artist

HALEH ANVARI
Iranian published Writer & Photographer

NUR KAOUKJI
Fashion Designer, owner of Noon

YOUNES DURET
Global design agency creator from Marakesh

SALEM ALQASSIMI
Graphic Designer, Artist, Instructor, and Founder of Fikra

PASCAL ZOGHBI
Acclaimed Type Designer Founder of “29 Arabic Letters”

L’ATELIER NAWBAR
Jewelry Designer

For more information or to register visit the NUQAT website [Here]

There’s a youth rugby club in Kuwait under the name of Saracens Kuwait. They’ve been around for a few years and were previously known as the Nomads. There are different divisions of different ages ranging from under 8’s and under 19’s, for both boys and girls. They play competitively around the Middle East and this year, the under 19’s division has a chance to tour in England and South Africa. However, the under 19’s division is currently in need of more people to join in order to make an official team.

If you are interested in joining then you can come to the Hassan Abul Sports Center in Dasma on Friday from 8:30am to 10:30am. Participants do not need to know how to play rugby in order to join.

The first 3 weeks of practice are free and if the participants are interested in joining the club, then they will have to pay 50KD for the year and will receive everything they need.

Saracens has a website but it is a little outdated, you can check it out [Here]

If you have any question you can contact Aziz on [email protected]

Although not very popular in Kuwait, rugby has been played here since way back in the 1940’s. Check out some old photos [Here]

[YouTube]

GFC is an MMA and K1 event that will be taking place at the end of the month at Kuwait International Fairground in Mishref. The event will be organized by the kuwait kickboxing committee and tickets are currently on sale. For more information click [Here]

A friend of mine took me to Saravanaa Bhavan the other day and I’m now in love with the place. They serve authentic Southern Indian dishes and I think it was my first time having it since there were a lot of things I hadn’t tried before.

The restaurant is located in Fahaheel and overlooks the Kout Mall marina. It’s super clean and pretty big with lots of seating. I took a glance at the menu but since none of the dishes had a description my friend ordered everything for me. I ended up having the following:

Plain Dosa

Poratta Curry

Idli Sambhr Chutni

Curd Vada

Cheese Dosa

Poori Bhaji

Payasam

And yes I ate all of that. There was so much flavor everywhere I just couldn’t stop trying all the dishes. The only thing I actually didn’t like was the Idli Sambhr Chutni which is basically steamed rice pudding. It tasted like a wet piece of bread and was the most disappointing dish I tried. Everything else was delicious. The Curd Vada probably stuck out the most since it was very cooling dish. For dessert I had the Payasam which is a warm milk and rice dessert that’s very sweet and full of spices.

It’s a great place and very affordable. All the dishes cost under KD1 with only the Plain Dosa costing KD1.100. They also have lunch and dinner specials, we missed out on the lunch special since we got there around 3 o’clock. I’m actually going back again tonight with some friends, I highly recommend it.

Saravanaa Bhavan is located in Humoud Towers, Fahaheel. It’s the same building as Centerpoint and they’re on the 4th floor. Their phone number is 23929099 and here they are on [Google Maps]

I don’t go to Dubai much but when I do a friend of mine always nags me to pass by and try Zuma. Zuma is a trendy contemporary Japanese restaurant located near Burj Khalifa in DIFC. I had to book a table a few days before arriving to Dubai since it’s pretty difficult to find a table on the weekends.

The place looked amazing at night with a really high ceiling and great use of light. When we sat down we were given the menu but I already knew what I wanted since I already had some recommendations from friends. We went with rock shrimp and a salmon dish for our starters along with steamed Edamame. For our main course we went with two of their specialities, the black cod and spicy beef. We also ordered sweet corn and sweet potato for our side dishes and I finished up with their chocolate fondant.

Since I had heard so much about the place I had very high expectations and so wasn’t really impressed with our starters. The rock shrimp was similar to other rock shrimps I’ve had in Kuwait and the salmon appetizer was also very familiar. But, things quickly improved after that. The sweet potato arrived before our main course and it was crazy good, I hadn’t had anything like it before. The sweet potato was glazed with teriyaki sauce and topped with sesame, I’d order it again in a heart beat. Our black cod and spicy beef dishes arrived a short while later along with our sweet corn with shiso butter. The corn was cut into blocks around 5 kernels high and had sticks in them. They were very easy to eat (like popsicles) and were full of flavor, another side dish I’d highly recommend. The spicy beef dish was super tender and had a sesame, red chili and sweet soy sauce. Although it was great I’d probably try something different the next time I’m there. Now the black cod dish is the reason why I decided to even post about Zuma. The black cod is marinated in miso and wrapped in hoba leaf. When it arrives the waiter opens up the leaf for you and rubs a bit of ginger onto it. I really don’t think I have the vocabulary to beging to describe the flavor, I didn’t expect it to be that good and I loved it. This is really the dish you have to order if you ever go to Zuma. We ended dinner with their special chocolate fondant. For some reason they thought it was Nat’s birthday and it arrived with a candle and happy birthday scribbled with chocolate. Luckily no loud banging and singing was accompanied with the dessert.

I really had a great experience and if you’ve never been it’s definitely worth passing by the next time you’re in Dubai. Our bill came out KD95 but that included a KD35 bottle of wine and a 15% tip. Without the wine it’s basically KD30 a person which is pretty reasonable for the quality of food you’re getting. The two main dishes cost around KD12.5 each which I think is underpriced compared to some of the more expensive dishes I’ve had here in Kuwait. If you’re interested make sure you call and book in advance so you’re not disappointed. Their number is +971 4 425 5660 and here is the link to their [Website]

I’ve got a few blog related things I want to highlight so I figured I’d combine them all into one post.

First thing I want to talk about is Miskan. Those of you who’ve been following the blog from the very beginning will know that 248AM started because of my Miskan project. That project ended years ago and so I felt it would be a great idea to resurrect it again. This is why starting today Miskan has been relaunched as the Arabic version of 248AM. www.miskan.com

The second thing I want to highlight is 248PM. It’s not new since it’s been up for awhile now but I’ve never really was sure if it should be a separate blog or if it should be part of 248AM. Well I’ve realized it should be separate for two reasons, the first is because it’s harder and more challenging for me to fill up 248AM with posts related to Kuwait. I’m worried if I start posting non-Kuwait stuff here I might get lazy and not bother looking for Kuwait related posts as much. The second is because 248PM is kinda like my personal space where I post whatever I want and not get bashed by you guys if something is lame. It’s a place where I have a lot of fun and I like that. www.248pm.com

The third blog is for events. When I was previously posting events on 248AM it was hard to keep track of what events were coming up. Since there really isn’t that much going on in Kuwait I felt it was important to dedicate a blog just for that. There are a bunch of other great event blogs out there but mine is filled only with ones I find interesting. www.248events.com

You can access all my blogs above from the tabs underneath the blog header. With 248PM and Events you can even see the latest posts in the side bar of 248AM.

Finally I just updated the Kuwait Blogs app again a few days ago. I’m planning to do this more often since a lot of blogs aren’t posting as much or their content has changed and I no longer find them interesting. By updating the App often it stays current so check the App Store for the update or download it by searching for Kuwait Blogs in the store.

Enjoy!

Last week I went on a tag along with John Peaveler of K’S PATH. It was a spur of the moment thing, I had emailed John during the day asking him if he had anything interesting I could tag along with him on and he replied telling me they had something that night and if I was interested I could join them but I’d have to basically sleep in the desert. So I did. I had no idea what to expect or what they were doing, all I was told was to bring some food in case I needed to eat.

I headed out to a nature reserve in Abdeliah around 9 in the evening where I met up with John and his team. This nature reserve was a small protected area in the desert with some artificial lakes and plant life that were starting to flourish. It’s a KOC funded project located right next to one of their water wells and it’s a beautiful place that’s attracting birds and other wildlife like desert mice and foxes. Since the reserve is also a few kilometers from Kabd, an area known for puppy mills and dog fighting, a lot of stray dogs from there wonder into the desert and dig their way under the fence into this nature reserve. The stray dogs end up scaring away wildlife and disrupting the ecosystem which is why K’S PATH was hired to clear the area from strays.

During the day the dogs tend to hide and take cover but during the night and early mornings they’re out and about looking for food. I was actually pretty surprised to find dogs in the desert but turns out they live in the desert because it’s safe and go into the city whenever they need food. K’S PATH had around 24 cages placed all around the reserve to try and catch the dogs and our evening was spent driving around and listening for dogs that might be caught in them. Once the dogs are caught there is a very strict procedure that has to be followed, one that is incredibly humane to the dogs:

1) Only one person approaches the cage
2) The cage is covered with a tarp so that the dog feels safe
3) No flash lights are used, only a very low intensity red LED
4) No loud noises, sticks or anything else that might scare the dogs are used

Once those steps are taken the dog is evaluated. If the dog is deemed friendly it is taken back to the K’S PATH shelter where the dog goes through further tests before being placed up for adoption. If the dog is deemed aggressive then the dog is humanely euthanized on location.

One of the dogs saved that night

Last year a program similar to this was done on a larger scale in Ahmadi. The dog problem in Ahmadi had gotten so bad that dogs where chasing people on the streets. KOC really had only two options, either get the government involved who would have poisoned the dogs similar to what they did in the Free Trade Zone. Or there second option was to get K’S PATH involved who would handle the situation in a much more humane manner and even save the dogs that could be saved. In the end over 1,000 dogs were captured and there no longer is a stray dog problem in Ahmadi.

My not so comfy bed for the night

It was a pretty interesting evening and I managed to learn a lot. Best part is on the way back home the next morning I ended up capturing the surreal “Camels in the mist” shot. I’m hoping to do some more tag alongs with them so I can try and document their work which I believe needs attention. They’re a non-profit organization are always looking for volunteers and donations so if you’re interested in helping out visit their website [Here]

BigMo is a Kuwaiti/American Artist based in Portland, Oregon. He recently got signed to an indie music label in the US called GreenLuckMediaGroup and this is his first new single titled “WakeUp”. I just heard it and it’s pretty good. [YouTube]

WakeUp will be featured on his upcoming album called TheNomadic2 but if you’re interested in hearing TheNomadic1 you can do so [Here]

BigMo on Twitter
BigMo on Facebook

I’m heading off to Dubai early morning for a Nikon launch event. There are actually two Nikon press events taking tomorrow, one in Thailand and the other in Dubai. According to the rumors Nikon will be announcing the D600 full frame camera tomorrow along with other goodies.

I think there might even be a second camera, maybe a D7000s or something since the invite says:

Nikon is delighted to invite you to a showcase event celebrating the launch of the latest additions to its DSLR range.

The event in Thailand is taking place a few hours ahead of the Dubai one so the surprise will be ruined for us Dubai folks.

A reader caught this spelling mistake on a flyer for a shawerma place. I’d definitely describe that as a “wow”.

Thanks Rakan

Yousef is a 17 year old Kuwaiti kid with a thing for backflips. He went around Kuwait and shot clips of himself backflipping in front of different landmarks and inside different places with the idea to show Kuwait in a different way.

He makes backflipping look so easy. [YouTube]

After posting about the MILSIM Failaka battle thats going to take place in November, my friend called me up and told me to pass by him at their location in Shaab Park. I posted about that location last year but never checked it out until now. The place is ridiculously cool with a battle ground littered with broken cars and random objects creating a realistic war like environment. Once I got there my friend gave me a handgun and took me to a time trial course in which I think I did fairly well in for my first time.

[YouTube]

Once I was done with that I was handed an M4 Carbine rifle and attached what looked like a silencer. Turns out the silencer had a built in UV light that lit up glow in the dark airsoft pellets on the way out. What you end up with is tracer pellets which you can see in the video above.

The Shaab Park location is like a paintball field, you just pay KD7 for the gear rental and spend the whole day there playing if you want. You just pay extra for the ammo. If you missed my post on the epic Failaka battle that’s going to take place check it out [Here]