Search: “kuwait”

This Friday the British Ladies Society are holding their annual winter bazaar. The bazaar will have over 100 stalls and the BSK orchestra and choir will also be performing. Hot and cold food will also be available. If you’re interested in passing by below are the details:

Date: Friday 29th November, 2013
Time: 10AM to 4PM
Location: The British School of Kuwait [Map]

Download the flyer [Here]

Last night I got to see Imagine Dragons and Atlas Genius both perform live here in London. I was supposed to arrive at the venue two hours ahead of time so I could try and end up close to the front of the stage but in a typical Mark move I ended up arriving two hours ahead of time… at the wrong venue. The concert was being held at the O2 Academy Brixton but I ended up going to the O2 Arena so after finding out my mistake I had to spend 40 minutes in the subway heading to the correct location on the other side of town. Although I didn’t end up right up front it wasn’t bad at all since I was still pretty close to the stage.

[YouTube]

The first band to perform last night were Atlas Genius. Even though Imagine Dragons are performing in London for three nights, Atlas Genius were only opening up for them on the first night and since I’m a fan of theirs I decided to get tickets for that night. Atlas Genius aren’t that popular but they’ve got two songs I really love one of which would probably make it into my top 20 indie tracks list. They weren’t that exciting performers live but nevertheless it’s still always great to hear a favorite song being played live in front of you.

Dan Croll came on after Atlas Genius but I only knew and liked one song of his (From Nowhere) and even though his performance was better than Atlas Genius, I couldn’t wait till he finished so Imagine Dragons could come on.

[YouTube]

Imagine Dragons were the third and final act for the night and I had heard they were great live. After watching them live now I can say that is very true. I was actually surprised by their whole performance. Even though they had arrived to London from LA just 5 hours before the show, they played every song with so much passion and energy I was just blown away. My favorite song of theirs is Amsterdam (watch it here) but I think their performance last night for Radioactive which I’ve embedded above was my favorite. Oh yeah the stage was full of percussion instruments which the whole band participated in therapeutically venting out on through out the night.

Yesterday was the first time I took my GX1 camera with me to a concert. Micro 4/3 cameras like the GX1 are perfect for concerts since they look like point and shoot cameras which you’re allowed to bring in, but the quality of the shots is closer to DSLR’s which you aren’t allowed to bring into events. I was taking photos with my camera and then transferring them to my phone using the Eye-Fi card which I posted about the other day, and then uploading them to Instagram.

Two more concerts left and then it’s back to Kuwait.

The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows are going to be performing tomorrow in Kuwait as part of their Middle East tour. The RAF Red Arrows are considered to be one of the world’s premier aerobatic teams and they just finished performing yesterday in the UAE. If you’re interested in watching the show below are the details:

Date: Tuesday 26th November, 2013
Time: 1PM
Location: Marina Crescent and the vicinity

Update: I got the 1PM timing from the Red Arrows Facebook page but according to Arab Times it’s at 3PM.

Lorenzo is a locally created Italian restaurant that opened up before the cupcake and burger craze took over the market. They’re old school and although they have a bunch of locations around Kuwait my favorite is easily their Salmiya branch located in Al Khalid Complex where Gia recently opened up.

The interior is small but nicely designed and pretty cozy. The carpeted floors continue along the wall and then curve up onto the ceiling which is an old fashioned thing to do but somehow works out nicely here. Since the location is small they’ve managed to make it look bigger by splitting up the restaurant into two spaces with the back space being a more intimate area separated from the rest of the restaurant by vertical mirror pillars. There’s lots of marble everywhere which helps makes the place feel luxurious without looking tacky at all.

Their menu hasn’t really changed since they first opened up with my favorite items being the fresh bread they serve as well as their mushroom soup and chocolate cheesecake. When I do want a main course I usually go for their fish dishes, either the sole or the hammour.

It’s a very nice location that’s empty most of time. I usually have business meetings there and I’ve never seen the place filled with more than two or three tables. To top it all off the service is really good and the staff are very friendly as well. If you’re looking for a nice quiet restaurant to go to that’s not in a mall than this Lorenzo location would be a great option. It’s in Al Khalid Complex in Salmiya and here it is on [Google Maps]

The American School of Kuwait is holding a production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the ASK auditorium. There will be four showings held over a three day period and they’re selling tickets for just KD1. Here are some details:

Show Times:
Wednesday November 27th, 2013 at 2:45PM
Thursday November 28th, 2013 at 6PM
Friday November 29th, 2013 at 1PM
Friday November 29th, 2013 at 6PM

Ticket Prices: KD1

Location: American School of Kuwait [Map]

Tickets are available before the show in the reception area of the auditorium.

Update: I just received an email from the director saying that they just found out the show is for ASK students and their families only.

The Japanese Society in Kuwait (under the auspices of the Kuwait Environmental Protection Society) are conducting their annual beach cleanup tomorrow called “Operation Turtles”. If you’re interested in participating below are the details:

Date: Saturday, November 23rd 2013
Time: 10:30AM to 12:00PM
Location: Beach park in Shuwaikh near the KPC building [Map]

Everyone is welcomed to participate in the beach cleanup even though it is planned by the Japanese Society in Kuwait.

Preparations are already on their way for the upcoming Proud 2 Be Kuwaiti event that will take place early next year. The above video is a timelapse of one of the sand sculptures that was built for the event which looks like its going to be even bigger than last year. Sadly some of the sand sculptures got damaged during the storm and the P2BK instagram account has two videos showing the damages. [YouTube]

The ad above appeared in the newspaper a few days ago saying that Abercrombie & Fitch had opened up a store in Olympia Tower so I passed by to check it out. I knew A&F hadn’t opened there and figured it might be just a store selling A&F clothing but I figured I would check it out anyway. To my surprise when I got there I realized the store was actually called Abercrombie & Fitch although they had sneakingly snuck the word “stores” into the name because obviously that makes it ok and somehow magically bypasses any trademark infringement.

The store sells both A&F and Hollister clothing and even though I couldn’t tell if they were authentic or not it really didn’t matter since by checking out the prices of some of the items I realized it would be cheaper to just order directly from A&F online.

On a side note I haven’t heard anything new recently on the rumor that the Chalhoub Group was acquiring A&F.

From all the cars I’ve ever driven and reviewed I don’t think I’ve ever had so much mixed emotions about a car over a three day period as I did with the G63. When I first picked up the car I remember sitting in it and trying to adjust the seating position and getting really pissed off since I couldn’t find my perfect position. I could barely see out of the rear window, the steering was really heavy and overall I was so disappointed because I had hyped up the car in my head for such a long time that when I finally sat in it I was like really? This is it? Oh but how quickly my feelings changed over the following days.

The first day after I drove the car out of the dealership lot I really didn’t like it. Yes I thought it looked gorgeous and the interior was crammed with S-Class features like electronically folding out tables for the back seats but the G63 felt heavy and cramped. By the second day the car started growing on me and by the third day I didn’t want to give it back. When I finally did return it to the dealership and I got back into my SUV did I really start to appreciate the G63 for what it is. A beast.

The G-Class has pretty much looked the same since the 70s, it is to Mercedes what the Defender is to Land Rover except in the case of Mercedes, the engineers worked overtime to cram as much technological features into it as they could. You could really tell the designers struggled to keep up with the engineers since the front screen looked like it was mounted on the dashboard after the car was completed and the same with the two screens behind the front seats. But really other than the screens they somehow managed to cram all the other features into the car without them looking out of place. It’s really an impressive feat because the G-Class isn’t as big a car as you think it is. The car isn’t that wide and it’s also not that long with just two rows of seats and a nice but not over sized booth. The dashboard is one of the slimmest I’ve encountered which again makes me appreciate the work the engineers and the designers put into the car and how they were able maximize the small space they had to work with.

Before picking up cars to review I usually start brainstorming in my head where and how I would shoot the car. The reason I don’t review that many cars is that it’s not easy to think of new locations and new styles for the shots so I tend to review only the cars I really want to drive. With the G63 I started brainstorming ideas but only once I started driving it and I stepped on the gas did I realize what I wanted to do with the shots. The G63 to me is like Walter White, a normal and boring school teacher on the outside but a dark and sinister meth lord on the inside which is why I went with this dark black and white style for the photos. The G63 looks like a brick but comes with a 544hp V8 engine that grunts like an American muscle car that just ate the white Corolla that was in front of you a minute ago.

The power the car has is over the top, you don’t really need a 544hp engine in the G-Class. Usually I’m pro more power but in this case I was thinking I have all this power but I don’t think I could ever use it since I didn’t feel confident enough to do so. But as I started getting used to the car and gaining more confidence in its handling and braking abilities I didn’t want less power I actually wanted more (and that comes in the form of the G65 V12). The G63 is just incredible at overtaking and the sound it makes just catches all the drivers around me off guard. The G63’s brakes are some of the best I’ve ever experienced in an SUV and the steering which felt heavy at first started feeling a lot better at high speeds. I still think the steering is too heavy for day to day city use but once you’re out on the highway the feel is completely different.

I dropped off the car and got back into mine and right away I realized how much I was going to miss the G63. With all the issues I had with the car they were ones I was easily able to get used to or cast aside. The only issue I probably wouldn’t be able to get over is the price point. The G63 starts at KD46,000 with the model I drove costing KD51,000. At that price point your options are pretty much wide open and that leaves the G63 in a pretty difficult position. On the other hand what this price point allows the G63 to be is exclusive and in Kuwait, where every other person seems to have a Porsche thats not an easy thing to achieve.

For more information on the G63 check out this [Link]

The magazine Khaleejesque have released their latest issue for the fourth quarter featuring their list of “The Young & The Powerful” people in the region and yours truly was featured on the list. It’s pretty unreal since the list also features the likes of Abdulmohsen Al-Babtain, the founder of Sidekicks Academy who’s been helping Kuwait dominate in martial arts world championships, Basil Al Salem who created Slider Station, Burger Boutique and Open Flame Kitchen, Fahad Al Butairi who The Washington Post and The National called the Seinfeld of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Mater the Saudi Arabian artist and founder of Edge of Arabia, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin the Huffington Post journalist and many many more.

The magazine as of this post is still not available online but can be purchased at various locations around Kuwait and the GCC. If you want to know how the cover looks like here’s a picture from their Instagram account. [Link]

There’s a weather warning for this week. Starting tomorrow, it’s going to start raining this whole week with the heaviest rain hitting on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Back in November 1997 Kuwait was hit by an unusual amount of rain which flooded the streets, caused 6 deaths and over 100 accidents. The airport was also closed. [Source] This coming rainstorm is supposedly going to be worse than that.

You can stay up to date on the latest weather forecast by following the twitter accounts @kuwaitweather and @weatherinkuwait

Samsara Rehearsals

Originally set to take place on the 13th, Samsara is now taking place this coming Monday the 18th instead. Tickets are still available and can be reserved at this [Link]

This is what you need to know about the event:

In an introspective attempt to bring the world together with music, we at Camco Global Events are producing the biggest music event in Kuwait with musical composer Nawaf Gheraibah, a local Kuwaiti musician whose music is an expression of his rich multicultural influences. He preformed his composition thesis ‘Bija’ meaning ‘seed’ in Sanskrit; at the prestigious Bayt Lothan in May 2012, where the show was enthusiastically received with standing ovations by the audience and rave reviews by the press and media. After the success of ‘Bija’; Gheraibah has focused his energy on creating the sequel to his initial project.

In his new album named “Samsara”, Sanskrit for ‘rebirth’, reflecting the rebirth of the music of the past in the present. Gheraibah attempts to fuse a variety of tribal and ancestral instruments, poetries, and theories, with more modern day musical concepts. The music is a reflection of modern fusion music, which is conceived through the combination of cultures, customs, and languages; creating a resonance of new age sound.

In this case, a rebirth of Kuwait’s musical past, which is reflected in the album, as Gheraibah experiments with fusing traditional work songs from Kuwait’s golden era of pearl diving and trade with a more modern day tunes. The music carries a variety of ethnic influences such as Indian, Thai, Moroccan, African, Middle Eastern and European, blending them into an artistic interpretation of sound and song. The songs are in a variety of languages: Arabic, French, Swahili, Portuguese, Hindi, and English, and will be sung by a variety of singers.

Approximately thirty instrumentalists and singers will be performing on stage during the concert; a majority of which are Kuwaiti students from the Higher Institute of Musical Arts, Kuwait. In addition, a variety of musical students and professionals from other countries, such as Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Lebanon, India, Jordan, Korea, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Sudan will be preforming as well.

Date: Monday, November 18th 2013
Time: 7:00PM
Location: GUST University Amphitheatre, Mishref [Map]

For more information visit their Facebook Page

Update: Due to the storm the event has been postponed till November 23rd.

Teams Association for Cricket in Kuwait (TACK) is holding a “Four Nations Tournament” this coming Friday over at the cricket grounds near Entertainment City. The four nations competing are Kuwait, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the schedule is as follows:

Date: Friday, November 15th 2013

Match 1 – 7:00AM
Kuwait vs India

Match 2 – 10:30AM
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka

Match 3 – 2:00PM
3rd & 4th posiiton match

Match 4 – 6:00PM
Finals

Other than the thrilling T20 matches there will also be entertainment shows, food stalls, quizzes, traditional stalls, face painting and much more. It’s going to be a fun day outdoors basically. For more details including the map of the location check out the flyer [Here]

Red Bull just uploaded a video of their Car Park Drift event which took place in Kuwait last month. Two of the winners were eventually flown to Dubai to compete against other winners from the region. A drifter from Lebanon ended up winning the event a few days ago. [YouTube]

[YouTube]

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