Search: “cop”

The cops have started getting their new cars with the updated livery and I’ve already seen a few on the streets and I think they look pretty hot. They’re much nicer than the current cars and I love the new metallic blue they’re using.

But, a lot of people seem to dislike the new livery, no idea why though.

Yesterday was the official opening of Winter Wonderland and I was lucky enough to get tickets when they first went on sale. I ended up passing last night and it wasn’t what I was expecting, mostly in a good way.

I parked a full block down from Winter Wonderland and decided to walk the rest of the way because I was expecting crazy traffic. It was opening day and tickets were sold out so I was pretty surprised when I got to the Winter Wonderland street and realized there wasn’t any traffic and parking was available.

The second surprise was the lack of a queue to get into the park. There were two gates, the first gate checks to see if you have a ticket and for the correct date, then the second gate is a metal detector which once you go through, staff on the other side scan your QR code.

Once inside, the park also felt empty. I was there around 6:30-7:00 PM and it didn’t feel busy at all. I think because the area of the park is huge and the few rides they have are spread out, the place didn’t feel crowded at all. A lot of rides, especially the ones further out from the center were empty while some, mostly the interesting ones had queues. I kinda wish they had squeezed Winter Wonderland into an area half the size so it would feel cozier and busier.

The whole thing was really organized with lots of staff around in case you needed anything as well as lots of cops everywhere (both inside and outside the park). Tickets for December are already sold out so if you’re interested in going, the earliest tickets are for January. Booking is through winterland.kw

I’ve been trying all morning to add my NBK debit card to my Apple Wallet but it didn’t work until just right now (around 3:30PM). I was able to add my credit card in the morning without a hitch but the debit card just wouldn’t work, every time I added it I’d never get the OTP code. Then while watching the video below by @talalalyagout I realized there is a way to add it through the bank app.

His video talks about his experience with his bank (which is AUB), but I checked my NBK app and I also found the option to add my card to the wallet through the app and it worked. So if you’re an NBK customer and had the same issue as me when adding the card and not getting an OTP, try adding the card to your wallet through the NBK app.

From my understanding, only 6 banks initially will have Apple Pay and they are:

AUB
Boubyan
CBK
Gulf Bank
KFH
NBK

If you’re ABK or Burgan Bank you’re out of luck for now. From the banks listed, it seems AUB, Boubyan and KFH were the earliest to get Apple Pay working today while NBK seems to be the last.

Whatever the case, finally, we now have Apple Pay in Kuwait.

“How I Got There” is a dramatic action thriller set in a colorful high energy version of modern Kuwait. I just watched the trailer and it looks pretty great and even stars Ron Perlman from the Hellboy movies.

The film is premiering next month at the Red Sea Int. Film Festival in Saudi Arabia and you can follow them on Instagram @howigotthere

Thanks Zaydoun

The famous contemporary circus ‘Cirque du Soleil’ is coming to Kuwait next month bringing OVO, their production inspired by the world of insects. The show will be held at The Arena with tickets starting at 25KD for the bronze seats and going up to 125KD for the royal seats.

It’s a family-friendly show and they will be performing in Kuwait over five days, from December 14th to December 18th. If you want more information or are interested in getting tickets, here is the link.

The Arena only

Last December, @classic_rides_q8 started posting pictures of his 1994 Landcruiser FZJ with Kuwaiti plates but all the photos were in Arizona. I’ve never met the guy but we’ve been in contact for a few years now through Instagram and it was because of his account I was able to find my first Datsun. So I sent him a message asking how he got the car to the States and he told me it was was a simple process using a RORO service and it cost him only $3,500 including taxes.

I think his plan was to use the car while he was there and then sell it before coming back to Kuwait. That plan changed when the car was accepted at the Barrett Jackson auction, the worlds great car collector auction. The car went on the chopping block and quickly sold for $38,500. You can watch the whole thing unfold in the video above which was originally posted on his Instagram account. It’s a pretty good-looking Landcruiser.

This is an officially licensed remake of The Office but as a Saudi Arabian edition and I just added it to my to-watch list. Link

Last week I spotted this cool-looking sneaker cleaner at Xcite and since it was selling for around 10KD I decided to buy it and try it out. I wear Ultraboosts 90% of the time and when I want to clean them I just throw them in the washing machine and they come out looking brand new. But, for the remaining 10% of the time, I wear sneakers that need to be cleaned with a brush by hand. This sneaker cleaner is basically a battery-operated brush.

I tried using it to clean a few pairs of sneakers and I don’t think it does a better job when compared to a normal brush nor do I think it cleans any faster. It comes with different brush heads for different sneaker materials and you still need a good sneaker soap but those can be found at local sneaker shops. When I picked up the unit they had an offer where if you spent 20KD or more you could get the sneaker cleaner for 4.9KD. I didn’t have anything I needed to get so paid full price.

Would I recommend it? I mean if you’re a sneakerhead it might be worth getting to add to your collection of cleaning tools, but if you’re getting it with expectations that it’s going to clean your sneakers better, it won’t. If you want one, here is the link.

Altersal, the lead singer of my favorite local band Galaxy Juice released a new single yesterday called “Green feather” made in collaboration with local artist and producer Bazila. The music videos was shot on Failaka island and directed by Argentinian animator Marina Di Milta.

Not sure how I feel about this single, to me it sounds more like a background sound in a movie than an actual song. My favorite tracks by Altersal are Saneman and You Never Listen, both of which have an 80s vibes to them so I kinda want him to do more of that. But you can listen to the single and decide for yourselves.

The Jordanian film “Daughters of Abdul-Rahman” will be screening tonight at The Cinema Hall in JACC. The filmmaker Zaid Abu Hamdan will also be in attendance and a live discussion will take place after the screening.

Storyline: Years after escaping a dictated life, four estranged and offbeat sisters are forced to come together to find their suddenly-missing father. In their secret searching journey, secrets are revealed and more question marks are raised.

The film has won various awards and currently has a rating of 8.4 on IMDB. It’s in Arabic but has English subtitles. If you’re interested in attending the screening at JACC tonight, the film starts at 9PM and tickets are for 5KD. You can book your tickets by visiting jacc-kw.com/whats-on/

Last week two popular cat instagrammers visited Kuwait, @kittenxlady and @iamthecatphotographer. While here they met with a few cat rescuers who took them around and showed them our large street cat population. Because we see hundreds of street cats on a daily basis it ends up feeling very normal. It’s only when watching videos like the one above, or when we travel that we realize oh wait, that’s a lot of freakin cats!

The fact that there is no government animal shelter and instead, it’s just private individuals trying to manage and take care of the abandoned cats is really sad. But maybe it’s also a good thing since any attempt to manage the dog population always involved poisoning.

ABBA
Tribute Band
Live in Kuwait on 14-October-2022
The Arena Kuwait, 360 Mall

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

After their performance in more than 65 cities from New York, Rome, Milan, London, Berlin, Paris, and Dubai, Finally the ABBA tribute Band will perform live at the Arena Kuwait on 14th October. Sing along with Abba’s biggest hits such as “Waterloo”, “Fernando”, “Take A Chance On Me”, “Dancing Queen”, “Mamma Mia”, “Money Money Money” and, of course, “Thank You for the Music” still have the power, as they did back then, to bring the audience to their feet.

The two-hour concert transports the audience back to the 1970s and brings the Swedish pop phenomenon back together again on stage in the form of a band whose appearance, sound, and gestures, as well as glitzy outfits and choreography, mimic the originals down to the last detail.

Don’t miss this day and join us on October 14th at The Arena Kuwait for an unforgettable concert.

Tickets start from KD 25 and are available at thearenakuwait.com/events/abba

The padel obsession has gotten so out of hand that courts are starting to pop up inside malls. Symphony Mall in Salmiya now has a padel court inside and oddly, I don’t think that’s even the weirdest place a padel court has popped up in Kuwait. I think the weirdest is the one located inside a car paint protection center and then there is another one located inside a car garage. I don’t think padel is even a thing anymore, is it?

We’re currently super lucky to have three epic shows running simultaneously. I’m sure or at least hoping most of you are watching them, if not you’re missing out big time!

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power
First up is the new LOTR series on Amazon Prime Video. I used to be a massive fan of the movies and I remember when the original ones came out I refused to watch them until the extended versions came out on DVD. I even watched the original 1978 animated movie back in the 90s before I even knew what it was. But that was a long time ago and I was much younger so I wasn’t sure I’d still be into it. Turns out I am and this new series on Amazon is making me want to go back and binge-watch everything previously released again. The only downside is the first season is only 8 episodes which feels extremely short since there is so much more I want to see happen.

House of the Dragon
After Game of Thrones, the amount of pressure that must have been on the House of the Dragon team to deliver must have been as epic as the show itself. But, they’ve succeeded and House of the Dragon is in my opinion on the same level as GOT right out the door. It’s basically the same show, it uses the same formula, the same brutality, it still has lots of noble houses which I can never keep track of, and it even has the same opening intro score. House of the Dragon is currently streaming weekly on HBO Max.

Andor
Finally, the third show currently running and you should be watching is Andor, the new Star Wars series. This is the least Star Wars Star Wars from all the new shows that have come out so far. It doesn’t feel very Disney and I think that’s one of the main reasons that I like it so far, I don’t know where it’s going. While The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett were great, they felt too similar, even Obi-Wan Kenobi, I knew who the heroes were and that they were going to kick everyone’s ass. Andor has a completely different feel, kinda like how the movie Joker felt so different from the previous Batmans. Andor is streaming on Disney+.

So we have a new Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Star Wars all streaming at the same time, crazy!

I was picking up breakfast from Mcdonald’s next to the Kuwait Towers when I spotted this large military-like truck parked across from Mcdonald’s. I knew it wasn’t military because it had German plates on it and the words tourist printed in large near the front along with a German flag, I snapped a few photos and then later once back home decided to google it.

Turns out the truck is a MAN KAT 8×8 and is being driven around the world by a German lady called Petra. She started her journey on June 2020 and is currently in Kuwait having come from Iran.

I found a video on YouTube where she gives a tour of her truck and you can check that out below although it’s in German (inside tour starts at 19:30).

If you want to follow Petra on her journey or want to check out photos from her previous trips, her Instagram is @katweltreise