Search: “ace”

There are two promotions I know about that basically involve you not doing anything different from your usual routine and yet get entered in a draw to win a prize. One promotion is for Alfa the other is for NBK.

Alfa Gas Stations
Friday I passed by the Alfa gas station on the Gulf Road to fill up and noticed they had mascots, clowns and loud music playing. I thought it was EXTREMELY annoying since all I wanted to do was drive in, fill up gas and leave but instead I was greeted with a long queue of cars stopping to find out what all the commotion was about and parents with kids stopping so they could see the clowns. Some guy approached me to give me a flyer but since I was pissed off at the traffic they had created I didn’t even care what the promotion was about.

Yesterday on my way home from work I passed by to fill up again but this time asked about the offer and it turned out to be pretty good. Basically fill up like you regularly do and get a receipt. Every receipt has a code which you SMS to a specific number and every week you will have a chance to win a bunch of prizes including a car, iPhone and iPad’s. I thought that was pretty easy to take part in. [Details]

NBK
The second promotion is for NBK and is also very easy to participate in. All you need to do is use Watani Online and that’s it. Just by using it you’ll have a chance to win KD1,000 every week. Simple as that. [Details]

If you know of other promotions that are currently taking place and also as easy to take part in, mention it in the comments below.

Note: Full disclosure, NBK is my agencies client but I am posting about their offer on my own accord.

Looks like Baking Tray is going to be opening up in Avenues Phase II. They’re opening up in place of where Obika used to be which I think is kind of a dead zone right now. But, with SNOG opening up next door and Phase III opening up next year, that passageway should end up getting more traffic.

For the month of Ramadan, Solo Pizza Napulitana will be supporting Bayt Abdullah’s Childrens’ Hospice as part of their social responsibility. For every pizza and Nutella Dario that is ordered, half a Kuwaiti Dinar will be donated towards Bayt Abduallah. If having the best pizza in Kuwait wasn’t a good enough reason to go there, now you have a bigger incentive. Their opening hours for Ramadan will be from Saturday to Thursday, 10pm to 1am (Closed on Fridays). Here is their website with directions to the place. [Link]

I know many of you feel we already have too many burger places in Kuwait but I have to obviously disagree with that. I think we still have room for a couple of more burger joints and the couple being Five Guys and In-N-Out. From what I was told by one of my readers, it looks like Five Guys is coming to Kuwait.

According to the reader him and his partner were trying to strike a deal with Five Guys and after getting all the paperwork, doing a feasibility study and agreeing on all the terms, they contacted Five Guys again only to be told that they had given the franchise rights to someone else in Kuwait. The rumor is Al Homaizi got the franchise rights and I’ve already sent an email to my contact there hoping to get a confirmation on this but I still haven’t received a reply yet.

What does that mean? It means all we need now is In-N-Out and we will officially be the burger capital of the world.

Thanks Fahad

Last month I posted about a recently graduated high school student who decided to start a campaign called “Be Aware” to raise awareness on mental health issues. Well they’ve now put together a video for their campaign which you can watch above. [YouTube]

Website: www.beaware-campaign.org
Facebook: facebook.com/BeAware.EndTheStigma

I’ve previously posted about old cinemas in Kuwait but I’ve got some more old photos to share, ones that aren’t on the Cinescape Facebook page. The picture above for example is of the Hawalli open air cinema. I can’t imagine sitting on this hard metal chairs for 2 hours and in this heat, not sure how they used to do it before. Below are all the pictures I got:

If you want to see some more old pictures you can check out the ones that are on the Cinescape website [Here]

Thanks Ali

The Kuwait National Planetarium is one of those things that not a lot of people know too much about. I personally like the planetarium for two reasons, the first is because it’s located in the Kuwait National Museum which is a must see. Most of the museum is closed because it was never repaired after the Iraqi invasion but even so I love going there and remembering how beautiful it was back in the 80’s. It also looks a bit creepy at night all burnt and abandoned which can also be nice in it’s little weird way. The second reason I like the planetarium is because it’s actually interesting and well taken care of. Since not a lot of people go there the place is in great shape and the tech is pretty up to date since it only got rebuilt around 10 years ago and just recently they installed a new projection system.

They’re open Monday to Saturday with morning and afternoon shows at the following timings:

Morning Shows
9:30 / 10:30 / 11:30 / 12:00

Afternoon Shows
5:00 / 5:45 / 6:30

No morning shows on Friday. Saturday mornings shows are at 9:30 and 10:30 only. Sundays they’re closed. For more information you can call them on 22451195 and 22456534 The entrance is free!

Here is the location on [Google Maps]

Information and photos collected from Mathai and My Travels, My Experiences.

Kuwaiti architecture student Jassim Al Nashmi is currently studying in Iowa State University sent me information on a project he completed last semester. The project was his interpretation of what a private space for prayer in the domestic environment can be like. He used traditional Islamic patterns and created a divider of space that would cast light and shadow over the prayer area.

I really like the way the light penetrates the partition and I think the project looks like something that would be featured on Hypebeast or Uncrate.

If you’re spending your first Ramadan in Kuwait then this seminar by the AWARE Center should be helpful:

Description: During the Holy month of Ramadan, many changes occur in Kuwait. Restaurants will change their working hours as will most workplaces and shopping malls. Traffic patterns also change and one may find their paperwork halted. There are laws and many tips that will help the western expatriate better understand the etiquette and rules associated with this month. Join us for a guideline of how to best experience the month of Ramadan with your Muslim neighbor and colleagues. Dr. Teresa holds her PhD in Information Science from the UK and is now assistant professor at Kuwait’s teachers college. She held the position as manager of the AWARE Center for three years and returns often to host presentations related to Arab and Islamic culture.

Date: July 26th, 2011
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Villa 84, Surra Street, Block 3, Surra Area

For more information you can call them on 25335280

The Avenues currently has a small book fair taking place opposite Soccer Scene and That AL Salasil in Phase II. The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) is showcasing a number of their publications and books by Kuwaiti authors with the aim of supporting the local authors as well as encouraging the reading and purchasing of books.

The book fair is going to be up until this Friday the 22nd of July.

Update: I passed by the book “fair” today and it’s more like a book shelf then a book fair.

I know this might sound a bit odd but the weather at night isn’t bad at all for riding your bike. I used to ride my bike only during winter but the past 2 weeks I’ve been riding it in our current summer heat and I’ve really been enjoying it. It’s really not as hot at night as it is during the day.

The first time I went riding was last week when the weather was very humid. I dropped my car in Kuwait City to get detailed and since I needed to leave it there overnight I ended up riding back home on my bike. I thought the humidity would bother me but it actually helped keep me cool. Then this week I started riding my bike to the gym and back home. It’s a 30-40 minute ride (depending on the headwind) from my house in Salmiya all the way to my gym which is just before the Kuwait Towers. Because I take the Gulf Road sea path the weather is a bit cooler and I don’t end up feeling too hot or bothered.

So if you’re looking for an activity to do in the summer then biking can be a good one. There are a bunch of places in Kuwait that sell bikes but my favorite brands are Cannondale, Trek and Specialized. The Cannondale dealer is Sultan Motor Sports (tel 24826723) but they don’t bring a large variety of models sadly. The Trek dealer is Extreme Sports (tel 22254567) and they have a very large and nice showroom in Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh (pictured above) as well as a decent website [Here]. The Specialized brand of bikes I haven’t been able to find in Kuwait yet. You can also find some bikes at Go Sport in Avenues including a few Trek models and there are a few shops in Salmiya that carry new and used bicycles, you can find them with Google maps [Here]

There is also a bike club which organize rides nearly every week. You can check out their website [Here]

I think I’m going to continue to ride to the gym all summer long. If you have a bike you really should take it out. Keep in mind I’m talking about night time riding here (7PM and onwards) and not daytime riding. I would highly recommend not riding during the day!

Does Marina Mall really need another Pinkberry? If it was me I’d open up Shake Shack in that location. The space is large enough to have indoor seating and in the winter there would be plenty of room to enjoy burgers outside in the open.

Update: Alshaya are opening Pinkberry in Selfridges! [Link]

I spotted the above garbage bin outside Salhiya Complex earlier today. What grabbed my attention was the fact they’re the the exact same kind of garbage bins as the ones currently used all over Salmiya, except they didn’t look as bad. That’s because instead of the bins being painted bright yellow causing them not to blend with their environment, the Salhiya bins are tastefully painted and placed so they fit in with their surroundings.

Spotted this place on the Gulf Road opposite KFC near Safir Hotel. The reason I think Fuddruckers is opening up there because the color scheme is similar to the new Fuddruckers that’s opening soon in Lebanon (check picture below). If it is the new Fuddruckers it looks pretty big.

Note: The building to the right of what I think is the new Fudds is going to be a new Lebanese Restaurant. Below is a picture of how it currently looks like.

Yes another frozen yogurt place is opening up. I spotted the above hoarding in Phase II of Avenues. It’s a good location since other than two Pinkberry’s, Napket and IKEA they really don’t have much competition there.