Search: “kuwait”

Cereal Killer Cafe is a British franchise that serves over a 100 different kinds of cereals. It’s one of those places people tell you to visit after posting a picture on instagram showing that you’re in London and now they’re opening up in Kuwait. The cafe is going to be located in the same building as Arabica coffee in Kuwait City, just at the other end of the building. According to their instagram account @cerealkillercafekw, they will be opening before the end of this year so pretty soon.

Friday night a friend of mine sent me a video (watch it below) of a coffee shop which I assumed was in Dubai because of how big and pretty it looked. I was watching the video and in my head I was trying to figure out why he would send me a video of a coffee shop in Dubai. But, when I got to the end of the video, it turned out the coffee shop was called Majnoon Qahwa, was in Kuwait and had just opened up. So yesterday morning I headed with a friend of mine to check it out.

Majnoon Qahwa is actually a Jordanian brand and they’re located at The Spot, a new food complex opposite Messilah Beach. The place is pretty big, two floors and an outdoor terrace, the top floor has a bit of a sea view, lots of seating and even a small study area. The ground floor has a smaller seating area but a cozier one with two large coffee roasters at one end giving the space a slightly industrial feel.

We didn’t end up having any of their food, I just had a latte and a pain au chocolat. The latte was ok but the pain au chocolat was terrible, super dense and tasted more like a cake. Not sure how they got that wrong (Al Nata, you guys should hook them up with your stuff). But I really did love the space, the couch we were on was super comfy, the whole interior was beautifully lit up with daylight that came through golden Mashrabiyas and I loved the super high ceiling. Would I go back? Probably not since its out of my way but if I lived in the area then yeah for sure, I’d just skip the pain au chocolat next time.

Now if anyone wants to get the best teapots ever, for some odd reason they sell FORLIFE teapots at the place. They’re reasonably priced as well, around KD10 which is KD2 more expensive than Amazon. They’re really the best teapots, I love them and I personally have 4 different colored ones myself.

If you’re interested in checking the place out, here is their location on [Google Maps] and their instagram account is @majnoon_qahwakw

A bunch of things taking place this weekend. The only one I’ll probably be going to is the Revive.Nine Popup thats taking place at the new Elevation Burger in AlSeif since I’m curious to see their new outdoor events space. Check out all of this weekends events below and if I missed anything let me know:

Thursday
Exhibition: Attraction
Play: Part of a Whole
Revive.Nine One Day Pop Up
The Divan’s Movie Night: Memento

Friday
Tai Chi in the Park
Breast Cancer Awareness Workshop
Good Game: Magic The Gathering
Quiz Night

Saturday
Yoga with the 3
Discussion: How Literature Shapes the World
Pink Saturday Carnival

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 Cinescape and Grand Cinemas:

New This Week:
Inferno (7.1) ♦
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (7.7) 4DX Release

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Don’t Breathe (8.3) ♦
Lights Out (6.7)
Mechanic: Resurrection (6.5)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Snowden (6.2) ♦
Storks (7.2)
Sully (7.9)
Tank 432 (3.6)
The Disappointments Room (4.3) ♦
The Magnificent Seven (7.0) ★
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (5.1)

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

Between East & West: A Gulf

Kuwait is participating at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale which is the largest architecture show in the world. The Kuwait Pavilion is called ‘Between East & West: A Gulf’.

I had seen photos of the Kuwait Pavilion exhibit over the summer but didn’t post about it since I had difficulty understanding the exhibit myself and so would have trouble writing about it. But one of the architects involved in the project recently sent me the video above which made things a lot clearer so I decided to share it on my blog. If you can’t hear the audio in the video because you’re at work, here is the project description from their website:

Hundreds of islands dot the waters between the Arabian and Persian shores. An afterthought in the political maneuverings of their respective coasts, these islands tell an alternative narrative to the one which drives conceptions of the region. They represent a possibility greater than spaces of political contestation and hesitant demarcation. These islands are the sites of identity in formation, places of experimentation and architectural invention. Their historical roles were as varied as places of leisure, spirituality, planning, war, exile, and health. The island is an entity both isolated but also crucially connected through the waters of the Gulf, and thus not an exception to the national but the rule which defines it.

This year’s Kuwaiti pavilion looks beyond the shores of the country and argues in favor of a masterplan for a united Gulf. By presenting the untold history of the region and proposing an alternate future, the pavilion casts the hydrography as a singular entity of neither East nor West, but as an untapped archipelago which defined the region and offers the greatest possibility for its reconciliation.

What is unique about this exhibit is that it was conceived and executed by a fairly small and young team of architecture students and recent graduates. Here is a list of everyone that was involved and you can find their full bio on the pavilion website:

Commissioners: Zahra Ali Baba – National Council for Culture Arts and Letters / Kuwait (NCCAL)
Curators: Hamed Bukhamseen, Ali Karimi
Art Director / Graphic Designer: Fahad Alhunaif
Publication Coordinator / Editor: Muneerah Alrabe
Project Designers and Research Architects: Saphiya Abu Almaati, Shahab Albahar, Mai Albusairi, Nada Alqallaf, Rawan Alsaffar, Yousef Awaad Hussein
Financial Team: Mohammed Al Ajmi, Mohammed Al Jameel
Administrative Team: Abdullah Albeeshi (Head of team), Noora Al Musallam, Jaber Al Qallaf, Jassim Al Shamali.

The 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale opened up this past May and is running until November 27th. For more information and photos on the project, check out the Kuwait Pavilion website [Here]

So, last week we talked about the different venues around town where you’ll likely find music-centric events beginning to pop up as the season gets back into gear. The week before that we talked about birds a lot, but mostly only to highlight the local music releases which took place over the summer when said birds take time off from live performances to work on creating, producing and ultimately releasing new material. That’s also where I did the “it’s not ‘me’, it’s ‘you’” speech and asked you to go out and be part of the local music industry, and the fact that if a music industry were to not only exist in Kuwait, but thrive, it is only if the fans were to reciprocate. That brings us to this week.

This week I’d like to expand on that idea, to provide a more realistic approach to how you, the fans, can help start archiving this reality. Enter, #KuwaitMusicScene. What I would like to see happen with this hashtag is for people to start using it to tag any of their pictures/posts on social media that have to do with music in Kuwait, or musicians in Kuwait. That way, whether a fan or a musician new to the scene, all they’d have to do is look through the hashtag results and can get a pretty good idea of what our music scene has got going on. Although there have been other hashtags floating around in support of the local music scene, #SupportLocalMusic is a good example, #SupportLocalArtists is another, the problem these hashtags pose is that they’re too broad a spectrum. Yes, you’ll find artists from Kuwait, but you’ll also find artists from all over the world – everyone is ‘Local’ to someone. What using the word ‘Kuwait’ does is filter through all the ‘locals’ to bring you those local to Kuwait. It also means it increases our chances of, let’s say, someone looking up #KuwaitCars, to stumble upon #KuwaitMusicScene. It’s easy to get lost in the crowd, so this is our way of making sure we stick out. Now, lest we find ourselves with videos of exchange students documenting their homesickness and new-found love of Kuwaiti music, let’s lay some hashtag ground rules.

Rule no.1 – Only use #KuwaitMusicScene if an artist is performing in Kuwait; so not a musician from Kuwait, but rather in Kuwait. To put it simply, it is not your nationality that matters, but where your GPS locator says you are. This will help us create a musical archive of what’s going on here, in this time, in this space. Now, there’s actually a lot of space in this hashtag for inclusion. For starters, DJ’s – I do believe DJ’s should be included. I also believe local radio show hosts talking about music should be included because both of those still represent music action in Kuwait. The aim is to make this archive as big and as comprehensive as possible, and to show that there are big enough numbers to create a sustainable industry.

Rule no. 2 – #KuwaitMusicScene applies to more than just events open to the public. A lot goes on behind the scenes in the music industry; from rehearsals and jam sessions, to that one time the artist found the perfect spot in the hallway with killer acoustics and thought it necessary to document it on YouTube – hashtag it all. But, just like rule no. 1, let’s keep this within the borders of Kuwait. This is not a “You can’t sit with us” stance, but an attempt at keeping this archive consistent, and therefore relevant. So, I’m trusting you musicians with this responsibility.

So, if you’re an artist, take a moment and go back to your Instagram and Facebook posts and edit them to include the #KuwaitMusicScene hashtag. If you’re a fan, and maybe remember catching a live performance in the middle of the desert one time, look it up, hashtag it, and help us build this industry. Now here’s the part that’s even better, this doesn’t only go to serve “us”, the musicians and the fans, but event-organizers and event-promoters can benefit from this hashtag when it comes time to market shows which feature some aspect of local music. That way, by the time you get to your weekend, and are looking to see what music is out there, or which musicians are performing, all you’d have to do is look up #KuwaitMusicScene and that would hopefully generate a pretty good, up-to-date response for you to sift through.

Here is a good example of A Lebanese musician that performs and records his blues music in Kuwait.

Instagram: @Bluesman81

Now that I’ve laid out my hypothesis, it’s time to experiment. The end of this month, October 28th to be precise, brings us one of the coolest music events of the season – brought to us by Kuwait Rising, hosted by Zahed Sultan with the support of Red Bull, it will feature incredible artists for all over the Middle East. So, if you attend this event, which I absolutely think you should, please take the opportunity to use the #KuwaitMusicScene hashtag along with, what I’m sure is already an existing hashtag, #KuwaitRising.

Here is the link to the [Event]

And, finally, just in case you missed it, Dar Al-athar has already started their music season, and just last week hosted an Arabic-style Flaminco event. If you were there, and have some pictures or videos you plan to share, or have already shared, I ask that you take the time to hashtag them, as well.

Also they have an open call for musicians check their instagram @dai_kuwait and the following [Link]

If anyone out there has a better idea or a more constructive perspective on hashtags in the social media world, please comment below and share your thoughts.

Peace, Love and Music

Post by Amin FARI
Are you a musician looking to perform? On the flipside, are you a host looking for musicians to book? Or maybe you’ve just got an awesome idea you’d like to share? Get in touch [email protected] / Instagram: @xxmrfarixx

I was only made aware of this recently by a friend. We were talking about coffee machines and he suggested I order one from Amazon UK and have them ship it directly to Kuwait without using a forwarding mailbox (Amazon ships some items abroad). I told him shipping would be too expensive and wouldn’t be worth it. He then told me that when you ship stuff directly to Kuwait with Amazon UK, they remove the 20% VAT during check out. So I added a few items to my cart and tried to check out and he was right.

Once Amazon removes the 20% VAT and add the international shipping cost to Kuwait, the price basically evens out and you end up paying no shipping or next to nothing for shipping when compared to the original listed price. So you could buy stuff from the UK and get it delivered to you in Kuwait for a cost less than if you lived in the UK and bought it yourself over there. Here are some examples to make this clearer:

Sage Dual Boiler Coffee Machine
Listed Price: KD 382
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 368

Sage Smart Grinder Pro
Listed Price: KD 70
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 77

Xbox One S FIFA 17 Bundle (500GB)
Listed Price: KD 94
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 93

Vitamix Standard Blender (Certified Refurbished)
Listed Price: KD 123
Price shipped to Kuwait: KD 127

So as you can see from above this works better when the item is expensive since the 20% VAT would be worth more than the cost of shipping the item to Kuwait. The items would be shipped using AmazonGlobal Priority which uses one of Amazon’s shipping partners like DHL or UPS. The items would be delivered to your door in Kuwait in around a weeks time. The voltage in the UK is also similar to Kuwait so you won’t need power transformers or anything of the sort. So if you’re looking for an item that you can’t find in Kuwait or you’ve found it but is too expensive, try finding it on Amazon UK, it might come out to be a pretty good deal.

Update: One thing to add, the “Price shipped to Kuwait” includes an “Import Fees Deposit”. Basically the customs fee for importing the item into Kuwait. Once your package gets delivered, Amazon will refund you either the full deposit or partial amount from the deposit. So the actual price you pay is even cheaper than what I have listed above

I stopped using Netflix awhile back since the US version stopped working with my DNS Proxy provider and the Kuwait version lacked all the real estate reality shows I enjoy watching (like Beachfront Bargain Hunt). But recently, my DNS provider Smart DNS Proxy fixed the issue and Netflix US has started working again in Kuwait. According to their support page dating September 30th:

We have restored Netflix for many of our users and are working on getting everyone back ASAP. If you see a “United States 01-10” region here, give it a try! Browsers should work without any other changes, devices may need static routes setup.

So there you have it, if you want to use the US version of Netflix in Kuwait you can now do so again. It’s $4.99 a month for the proxy account and you can get it [Link]

Update: There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding Netflix US vs Netflix Kuwait. If you aren’t using a proxy, then you’re accessing Netflix Kuwait. It doesn’t matter if you have a Netflix US account with a US credit card, if you’re in Kuwait you’ll automatically access Netflix Kuwait. Netflix Kuwait and Netflix US look exactly the same, but the Netflix Kuwait library is a lot smaller. Here is a simple test to tell which Netflix you have. Search for the show “Lakefront Bargain Hunt”. If you have Netflix US it will show up, if you have Netflix Kuwait it will tell you not found.

Below are this weekends events, if I missed anything let me know.

Thursday
Exhibition: Attraction
Lena Chamamyan Concert
Comedy & Illusion Show
Oktoberfest 2016

Friday
Tai Chi in the Park

Saturday
Street Food Brunch
Yoga with the 3 – Women Only
Guided Tour: Grand Mosque
K’S PATH Shelter Open Day
BarCamp Kuwait 5
Good Game: Conquest LCG Game Night Kit

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 Cinescape and Grand Cinemas:

New This Week:
Little Boy (7.4)
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (7.2)
Tank 432 (3.6)
The Disappointments Room (4.3) ♦
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (5.1)

Other Movies Showing:
Deepwater Horizon (7.2)
Don’t Breathe (8.3) ♦
Lights Out (6.7)
Mechanic: Resurrection (6.5)
Storks (7.2)
The Magnificent Seven (7.0) ★
Snowden (6.2) ♦
Sully (7.9)

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

Filling Pieces is a cool Amsterdam based footwear label and there is now a small store in Kuwait that sells the brand. The shop is called “Sneaky” and although they don’t have a large collection from Filling Pieces, it’s a start. The shop also sells sneakers but that collection is also quite small. If you’re interested, the shop is located behind Starbucks next to the church in Kuwait City and heir instagram account is @sosneakyq8

Super busty Lebanese/Australian model Lexy Stevens was in Kuwait this past weekend for the opening of a new restaurant called OVO Bar (not that OVO). I had never heard of her before but was flipping through her instagram account and two things came into my mind:

1) Damn
2) Kuwait is becoming more and more liberal

Back in August I posted about a rumor that porn star Mia Khalifa was in Kuwait and now I’m starting to think there probably was some truth to that. Anyway you can check out some photos (and a video) of Lexy Stevens in Kuwait on her instagram account [Here]

PS: The picture above is the most conservative I could find.

A Music Column by Amin FARI

Picking up where we left off last week, talking about music project releases of this summer, let us now talk about the venues where these artist are to perform. I feel like I still want to stick with last week’s bird metaphor, so If I am flying too high with this one, making you feel lost, read the past column to catch up.

As with any animal, many factors come into play when analyzing the environment necessary for their survival, but their growth and prosperity, as well. And, as any bird-watcher would, I like to pay attention to the factors that make said birds and their nests, happy, the lack of which would be equivalent to chopping down their trees. So let’s talk venue. The venue is key – where the artists perform, how they engage, how they perform – setting the tone for what I like to call, their “Live Expression”. It’s becoming more common to see musicians play in stores and in coffee shops, but there’s also the emergence of performances in places like Shaheed Park’s outdoor stage, and other venues that support community and culture. Today, I want to focus on venues that hosted music on a weekly, or even monthly basis.

Loyac
That brings me to the “elephant in the room” (at this point, I’m committed to this animal metaphor system, but I digress). Last season, Bayt Lothan was a key venue, not only for musicians, but the local, creative community at large, and, as we all know, it closed down. This was, in a sense, a huge blow to the local music scene, leaving musicians feeling… lost, not knowing where they would now perform. The last few years of Bayt Lothan, organized by Mahmoud Kamel, a musician himself, supplied us with “Sidra Nights”, “Open Mic Jam”, and “A Night In”, thereby constantly helping the music to grow. After the shut-down, a few other entities tried to carry the torch as the music performance platform, one of which being Loyac. So, if you’re into music and youth theater programs, follow Loyac and watch to see if they’ll be organizing music events in their program for this season. [www.lapa.loyac.org]

Contemporary Art Platform
Now, there are other interesting venues to keep an eye on that cater to both Art and Music, one such venue – CAP, more precisely, their rooftop. And as the weather continues to get better, you’ll find that more events will begin to happen there. They, of course, host other kinds of events in their gallery space, the more obvious being art exhibitions, but, they do host music events, as well. [www.capkuwait.com]

Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah
Dar al Athar, Amricani Cultural Centre, and Yarmouk have always put on great cultural music shows, usually always on a Wednesday, and are considered more culturally authentic performances in the sense that their focus is either local traditional music, or traditional music from around the world. I, however, am hoping that this season, Dar al Athar and Yarmouk go a more… how can I say this; “current”, or maybe even “mainstream” music route. [www.darmuseum.org.kw]

Art Space
I can’t talk venues without mentioning Art Space. The reason I talk about Art Space is because they started small, and as they expanded, they started creating space for performances, small micro-shows, to slowly start coming in. I personally think Art Space is one of the coolest, growing creativity and community hubs in Kuwait, and are a beautiful example of a dream manifesting and coming to fruition. And, already up on their program for this season, they just got done hosting Red Bull’s Urban Culture Week, the second of its kind in Kuwait, aimed at helping individuals in learning, growing and cultivating their talents and interests around music, dance, art and fashion. I believe today is the last day of workshops. [www.artspaceq8.com]

As musicians start gearing up for the new season, and conversations about “where” and “how” start flowing, I’m noticing another interesting venue suggestion pop up; the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre. Now, we don’t know how it’s run, or where to even begin the ball rolling, but a lot of musicians have their eye on it because if they set the tone, it’ll create a ripple effect with all the other venues. If they go for a more traditional route, then Dar al Athar would have to compete, and if Dar al Athar has to compete, then maybe they would expand their program differently. As everyone seems to be looking at the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre to determine the trajectory of the upcoming music season, I recommend you keep an eye out for them because they carry the potential to open up new possibilities for performances.

Is there a birdie out there with knowledge of some of the Cultural Centre’s secrets that they can share?

That’s a wrap on venues, for now.

Love Music and Peace

Post by Amin FARI
Are you a musician looking to perform? On the flipside, are you a host looking for musicians to book? Or maybe you’ve just got an awesome idea you’d like to share? Get in touch [email protected] / Instagram: @xxmrfarixx

An Emirati drama set in the underworld of street car racing in the UAE has been banned in Kuwait, producers have told Gulf News. Hajwala, which follows two teams of drifters who go head-to-head in an all-stakes race against each other, is scheduled to release in 37 screens across the Gulf on Thursday.

“We are very disappointed, especially because they haven’t event explained to us why they have not allowed the film to release,” said producer Ali Al Marzouqi of Dhabi Gulf Film. “This is a double standard since they allow similar Hollywood films to release without any problem, even if they don’t have any message. Our film has a very strong message.” [Source]

I’m guessing it got banned because Kuwait has a growing problem with street racing and they’re worried this film might encourage it. But Saudi have a bigger street racing problem and if the film isn’t banned there, I don’t understand why it would be banned here. You can watch the trailer on top, it’s basically a khaleeji version of Fast and Furious.