Search: “kuwait”

Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and Sky Cinemas will no longer be showing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast movie in Kuwait. Local censors wanted to cut a scene from the film, most likely the gay related one and Disney decided it would rather pull the movie than censor it. It did the same thing in Malaysia last week when it pulled the movie from theaters over there after Malaysian censors wanted to remove the gay scene as well.

I actually like the idea of Disney pulling the film, I think more movie studios need to do that.

Update: According to Grand Cinemas, they are currently working with the studio on the additional cuts that the MOI requested and will be releasing the film when ready. This means Disney did NOT pull the movie but the movie theaters did due to additional cuts that were requested by the MOI.

Update2: According to Cinescape, they pulled the movie themselves.

Dear Valued Customers,
We would like to inform you that Kuwait National Cinema Company decided to

Stop showing Beauty and the Beast in line with our values as responsibility toward our young viewers [Source]

Weather is great and so lots of outdoor events are taking place this weekend. Check out all the things to do below:

Thursday
Exhibition: Third Identity
Exhibition: Road to Black
Pop-up: Filipo the Filipino
Taste of Q8
Q8 Readers Book Club
The Divan’s Movie Night: Black Mirror – Nosedive

Friday
Taste of Q8
Boubyan Fun Day
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Taste of Q8
Boubyan Fun Day
Fun Run
Guided Tour: Liberation Tower
Yoga with the 3
The Rascal Race
KTAA Spring Bazaar at Sadu House
First RBK Spring Fayre
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Shakshooka at Dar Hamad
GIS Carnival
ATIS Spring Fest

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 United Kingdom (6.7) ♦
Beauty and the Beast (6.1)
Sleepless (5.5)
Vengeance: A Love Story (N/A)

Other Movies Showing:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Hidden Figures (7.9)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4) ★
Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon (6.1)
Kong: Skull Island (7.6) ★
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
Logan (9.0) ♦ ★
Rings (4.6)
Split (7.5) ♦
The Devil’s Dolls (4.3)
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)

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.

The Kuwait Motor Town Race Circuit is expected to be completed sometime next year but you can already see the layout of the track from space using Google Maps. You can compare the satellite view from top to the rendering below for a better idea of what you’re looking at.

For some reason the track doesn’t show when using a desktop browser but only when accessing the coordinates from your phone. I guess the desktop version of Google Maps isn’t updated yet. So if you want to see the track from your phone, click [Here]

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to play polo, the Kuwait Polo Club offers polo training, horseback riding and horse training. The cost is KD40 for an hour, but if you’re interested in multiple lessons than you could negotiate a better deal. The price includes a horse and all the gear and equipment needed. The club is located in Abdalli Farms so you’ll have to commute quite a bit for these lessons.

Polo in Kuwait isn’t accessible to everyone due to its cost and location but its still good to know that if you want to learn how to play then you can. For more information you can check out the Kuwait Polo Club [Website] or find them on instagram @kuwaitpoloclub

Was watching a video on BBC on How plants can lessen the impact of dust storms in Kuwait when I spotted the scene pictured above. Too bad Kuwait canceled its plans for a nuclear power plant…

The Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament is taking place this weekend, so if you want to feel like you’re at a softball game in the US for a few hours then you have to check it out. Corny’s Smashed Lemonade is also going to be there, and after watching his video on how he makes his lemonade, I definitely need to try it out. On Saturday there is also the Bark in the Park event taking place. I’m gonna be judging again this year which is always a lot fun. Anyway, check out the full list of events for this weekend below:

Thursday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Exhibition: Third Identity
Dance for Romance
Music Concert at ACK

Friday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Tai Chi in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Kuwait’s First Flying Gathering

Saturday
Comic Con Kuwait
Kuwait Baseball Softball Challenger League Tournament
Horse Show Jumping Competition
Yoga with the 3
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
REVIVE Expo
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Bark in the Park 2017
Kuwait’s First Flying Gathering

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:
Kong: Skull Island (7.6) ★
The Devil’s Dolls (4.3)
The Hollow Point (5.4)

Other Movies Showing:
A Dog’s Purpose (4.8)
Don’t Knock Twice (5.3)
Eloise (4.7)
Gold (6.5) ♦
Hidden Figures (7.9)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (9.4) ★
Kikoriki. Legend of the Golden Dragon (6.1)
Kung-Fu Yoga (6.2)
Logan (9.0) ♦ ★
Mercury Plains (4.3)
Ozzy (5.6)
Rings (4.6)
Split (7.5) ♦
The LEGO Batman Movie (8.1)

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’re planning to order a Nintendo Switch online and ship it to Kuwait using a forwarding mailbox the, most cost effective way is to use PostaPlus or Aramex Shop&Ship. Below is a cost comparison between different services including customs. Help me fill up the unknowns.

Nintendo Switch (no games)
Aramex: KD17
Borderlinx: KD37.5
MyUS: KD27 approx
PostaPlus: Unknown

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.

———————————

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.

Even though the Nintendo Switch officially launches worldwide tomorrow, they’re already on sale at Rihab Complex. I was just there (technically I’m still there since I’m posting from my car in the parking lot) and they’re selling the Nintendo Switch for KD200 which is double the retail price. They don’t have any accessories yet, just the console and three games which include Zelda. They’re selling the games individually for KD20-25.

According to one salesman I spoke to, there are currently only 31 Nintendo Switches available for sale and they’re spread out across a few stores in Rihab.

The two most popular shops haven’t gotten their shipments yet. Game Center should be getting their shipment tomorrow and they told me they will be selling for less than KD200 (but still at a high price). Kuwait Center on the other hand will be getting their shipments on Sunday.

If you’re not a gazillionaire and don’t urgently need the Switch this weekend, then wait a week or two until their prices settle down.

Last minute I personally ordered another Switch but this time from Geekay in Dubai who agreed to overnight it for me via DHL. It already shipped this morning so should hopefully get it Sunday when customs get back to work. My Walmart order arrives to my US mailbox on the 9th, while my brothers Amazon order arrives to his US mailbox tomorrow.

Update: The best deal as of Friday, March 3rd is Best Electronics, they’re selling the Switch with Zelda and the Pro Controller for KD200 [Link]

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.

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.

Nintendo’s new console, the Switch is coming out on March 3rd. There’s a lot of positive hype surrounding the release of Nintendo’s new console which is a hybrid of a home console and a portable console. I pre-ordered one back in January from Amazon US for $299 while Mark pre-ordered his from the Walmart website. If you’re interested in getting one yourself, there are two ways to do so:

The first option is to get it locally. Xcite have a sign-up page to get a notification once they have more information on the Switch, but theres no mention on when they’re expecting to get it. Then there’s Rihab. I paid a visit to Rihab on Friday to ask if they were getting the Switch and how much they were expecting to sell it for. I wasn’t given a concrete answer, but I was told that there would be a shortage of consoles locally, which isn’t surprising since Nintendo is only making two million units available at launch worldwide. I was also told the approximate price of the Switch would be KD150 (approximately $490) which I found hard to believe since I’m expecting it to go as high as KD250 on the first few days of launch. The shops I asked were adamant that it wouldn’t go that high up, but I’m still skeptical.

Your second option is to pre-order a Switch online and ship it to your forwarding mailbox like Shop&Ship or PostaPlus. It’s sold out in most of the US stores but they’re still available to pre-order at a bunch of UK ones including:

Amazon UK
Argos
GAME
Nintendo Store
Tesco

The UK stores are selling the Switch for slightly more than the US stores at KD106 verses KD98 (with tax). But, it should still be cheaper than buying it locally… at least in the beginning.

Post by Patrick