Categories
Events Sports

Short Film on Challenge Team Participating in GFC


[YouTube]

GFC is an MMA and K1 event that will be taking place at the end of the month at Kuwait International Fairground in Mishref. The event will be organized by the kuwait kickboxing committee and tickets are currently on sale. For more information click [Here]




Categories
Activities

Auditions for a New Improv Group

Do you constantly make your friends and family laugh?
Do you enjoy being part of a dynamic team?
Are you looking for ways to get involved in Kuwait?

If you answered with a resounding YES to any of the questions above, then…

Audition for Kuwait’s first-ever “Sketch & Improv Comedy Troupe” (in the style of Whose Line Is It Anyway, SNL, etc.)

Auditions are this coming Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00pm at the Kuwait Little Theatre in Ahmadi.

No preparation necessary. Just show up with a positive attitude and be willing to play a few theatre games. A brief workshop reviewing the major tenets of improvisation comedy will be held at the auditions. Once selections are made, the troupe members will rehearse on a weekly basis and perform throughout the year.

For questions, contact Hassan at 97329695 or by email using [This Form]




Categories
Apple

Major bug in iOS6

Not sure if only Kuwait is affected by this bug but a reader made me realize that if you have iOS6 installed on your phone and you try to open an SMS you’ve received from your bank, telecom operator, shipping company etc.. you’ll get a blank message. Then, when you close the message it will disappear completely from your messages list.

The above picture is of a message I received from American Express, it showed as empty when I opened it and then when I clicked back it got deleted. The reader shot a YouTube video which shows this [Here]

That’s pretty messed up.

Thanks Ahmad

Update: OK there is some good news here. New messages from your bank, telecom etc. will display in iOS6 normally. I just received one from Aramex now and it was fine. But old messages that were there before updating to iOS6 won’t show.




Categories
Food & Drinks Information Reviews Travel

Zuma Restaurant – Dubai

I don’t go to Dubai much but when I do a friend of mine always nags me to pass by and try Zuma. Zuma is a trendy contemporary Japanese restaurant located near Burj Khalifa in DIFC. I had to book a table a few days before arriving to Dubai since it’s pretty difficult to find a table on the weekends.

The place looked amazing at night with a really high ceiling and great use of light. When we sat down we were given the menu but I already knew what I wanted since I already had some recommendations from friends. We went with rock shrimp and a salmon dish for our starters along with steamed Edamame. For our main course we went with two of their specialities, the black cod and spicy beef. We also ordered sweet corn and sweet potato for our side dishes and I finished up with their chocolate fondant.

Since I had heard so much about the place I had very high expectations and so wasn’t really impressed with our starters. The rock shrimp was similar to other rock shrimps I’ve had in Kuwait and the salmon appetizer was also very familiar. But, things quickly improved after that. The sweet potato arrived before our main course and it was crazy good, I hadn’t had anything like it before. The sweet potato was glazed with teriyaki sauce and topped with sesame, I’d order it again in a heart beat. Our black cod and spicy beef dishes arrived a short while later along with our sweet corn with shiso butter. The corn was cut into blocks around 5 kernels high and had sticks in them. They were very easy to eat (like popsicles) and were full of flavor, another side dish I’d highly recommend. The spicy beef dish was super tender and had a sesame, red chili and sweet soy sauce. Although it was great I’d probably try something different the next time I’m there. Now the black cod dish is the reason why I decided to even post about Zuma. The black cod is marinated in miso and wrapped in hoba leaf. When it arrives the waiter opens up the leaf for you and rubs a bit of ginger onto it. I really don’t think I have the vocabulary to beging to describe the flavor, I didn’t expect it to be that good and I loved it. This is really the dish you have to order if you ever go to Zuma. We ended dinner with their special chocolate fondant. For some reason they thought it was Nat’s birthday and it arrived with a candle and happy birthday scribbled with chocolate. Luckily no loud banging and singing was accompanied with the dessert.

I really had a great experience and if you’ve never been it’s definitely worth passing by the next time you’re in Dubai. Our bill came out KD95 but that included a KD35 bottle of wine and a 15% tip. Without the wine it’s basically KD30 a person which is pretty reasonable for the quality of food you’re getting. The two main dishes cost around KD12.5 each which I think is underpriced compared to some of the more expensive dishes I’ve had here in Kuwait. If you’re interested make sure you call and book in advance so you’re not disappointed. Their number is +971 4 425 5660 and here is the link to their [Website]




Categories
Information Sports

Investigation launched after 33-0 football defeat

[Photo Removed]

Kuwait’s education ministry has launched a probe into the reasons for the extraordinarily heavy defeat of the national girls’ school football team despite spending more than $1.2 million on a training camp in the Czech Republic.

“Encouraged by the assurances given by the team officials, the ministry allocated KD350,000 ($1,242,060) for a training camp in the Czech Republic. However, it seems that the camp was turned into a vacation, with the players training for only three hours a day while the rest of the time was spent on recreational activities,” the spokesperson said, quoted by the daily on Monday. [Source]

The world record for the largest victory in an international football match is 31 – 0 with Australia winning over American Samoa in 2001. At one point Kuwait held the record by beating Bhutan 20 – 0. [Source]

Update: Just received the following comment:

Kindly remove the photo and issue an apology for your misleading article.

The women in this picture (and I am among them, number ten) are members of the National Women’s Football of Team of Kuwait. This picture was taken in the ONLY official game that the team played: a qualifying friendly against Qatar in May 2012.

Your article, on the other hand, discusses the losses that the Women’s Futsal Under 17 Team sustained. They are neither outdoor players, nor do they comprise of the main team.

More on the subject: the women who played the canonical Palestine match (and the UAE match to a lesser degree) are also not the official Women’s Football team.




Categories
Blog Info

Some blog announcements

I’ve got a few blog related things I want to highlight so I figured I’d combine them all into one post.

First thing I want to talk about is Miskan. Those of you who’ve been following the blog from the very beginning will know that 248AM started because of my Miskan project. That project ended years ago and so I felt it would be a great idea to resurrect it again. This is why starting today Miskan has been relaunched as the Arabic version of 248AM. www.miskan.com

The second thing I want to highlight is 248PM. It’s not new since it’s been up for awhile now but I’ve never really was sure if it should be a separate blog or if it should be part of 248AM. Well I’ve realized it should be separate for two reasons, the first is because it’s harder and more challenging for me to fill up 248AM with posts related to Kuwait. I’m worried if I start posting non-Kuwait stuff here I might get lazy and not bother looking for Kuwait related posts as much. The second is because 248PM is kinda like my personal space where I post whatever I want and not get bashed by you guys if something is lame. It’s a place where I have a lot of fun and I like that. www.248pm.com

The third blog is for events. When I was previously posting events on 248AM it was hard to keep track of what events were coming up. Since there really isn’t that much going on in Kuwait I felt it was important to dedicate a blog just for that. There are a bunch of other great event blogs out there but mine is filled only with ones I find interesting. www.248events.com

You can access all my blogs above from the tabs underneath the blog header. With 248PM and Events you can even see the latest posts in the side bar of 248AM.

Finally I just updated the Kuwait Blogs app again a few days ago. I’m planning to do this more often since a lot of blogs aren’t posting as much or their content has changed and I no longer find them interesting. By updating the App often it stays current so check the App Store for the update or download it by searching for Kuwait Blogs in the store.

Enjoy!




Categories
Animals & Wildlife

Tag along with K’S PATH

Last week I went on a tag along with John Peaveler of K’S PATH. It was a spur of the moment thing, I had emailed John during the day asking him if he had anything interesting I could tag along with him on and he replied telling me they had something that night and if I was interested I could join them but I’d have to basically sleep in the desert. So I did. I had no idea what to expect or what they were doing, all I was told was to bring some food in case I needed to eat.

I headed out to a nature reserve in Abdeliah around 9 in the evening where I met up with John and his team. This nature reserve was a small protected area in the desert with some artificial lakes and plant life that were starting to flourish. It’s a KOC funded project located right next to one of their water wells and it’s a beautiful place that’s attracting birds and other wildlife like desert mice and foxes. Since the reserve is also a few kilometers from Kabd, an area known for puppy mills and dog fighting, a lot of stray dogs from there wonder into the desert and dig their way under the fence into this nature reserve. The stray dogs end up scaring away wildlife and disrupting the ecosystem which is why K’S PATH was hired to clear the area from strays.

During the day the dogs tend to hide and take cover but during the night and early mornings they’re out and about looking for food. I was actually pretty surprised to find dogs in the desert but turns out they live in the desert because it’s safe and go into the city whenever they need food. K’S PATH had around 24 cages placed all around the reserve to try and catch the dogs and our evening was spent driving around and listening for dogs that might be caught in them. Once the dogs are caught there is a very strict procedure that has to be followed, one that is incredibly humane to the dogs:

1) Only one person approaches the cage
2) The cage is covered with a tarp so that the dog feels safe
3) No flash lights are used, only a very low intensity red LED
4) No loud noises, sticks or anything else that might scare the dogs are used

Once those steps are taken the dog is evaluated. If the dog is deemed friendly it is taken back to the K’S PATH shelter where the dog goes through further tests before being placed up for adoption. If the dog is deemed aggressive then the dog is humanely euthanized on location.


One of the dogs saved that night

Last year a program similar to this was done on a larger scale in Ahmadi. The dog problem in Ahmadi had gotten so bad that dogs where chasing people on the streets. KOC really had only two options, either get the government involved who would have poisoned the dogs similar to what they did in the Free Trade Zone. Or there second option was to get K’S PATH involved who would handle the situation in a much more humane manner and even save the dogs that could be saved. In the end over 1,000 dogs were captured and there no longer is a stray dog problem in Ahmadi.


My not so comfy bed for the night

It was a pretty interesting evening and I managed to learn a lot. Best part is on the way back home the next morning I ended up capturing the surreal “Camels in the mist” shot. I’m hoping to do some more tag alongs with them so I can try and document their work which I believe needs attention. They’re a non-profit organization are always looking for volunteers and donations so if you’re interested in helping out visit their website [Here]




Categories
Music

BigMo – WakeUp

BigMo is a Kuwaiti/American Artist based in Portland, Oregon. He recently got signed to an indie music label in the US called GreenLuckMediaGroup and this is his first new single titled “WakeUp”. I just heard it and it’s pretty good. [YouTube]

WakeUp will be featured on his upcoming album called TheNomadic2 but if you’re interested in hearing TheNomadic1 you can do so [Here]

BigMo on Twitter
BigMo on Facebook




Categories
Apple Shopping

Where to order an unlocked iPhone 5 from

If you want to order an iPhone 5 the easiest and most likely the quickest way right now is to get it from the UK Apple store. The UK Apple Store sells the iPhone 5 unlocked and you can ship it to your UK Shop & Ship or a UK Borderlinx mailbox. You don’t require a UK credit card, any local Kuwaiti card would work.

Price wise the 16GB costs around KD240 but then you would also have to add the shipping price to Kuwait and the 5% local tax both Aramex and Borderlinx are charging. It doesn’t come out very cheap in the end but if you’re in a hurry this is the best way to go about it and it’s what I did last year.

This year though I’m not in a rush to get it and instead I’m going to wait either for the US store to start selling the unlocked versions (they sell them cheaper than the UK) or for Viva to get them early like they did last year.

Here is the link to the iPhone 5 on the UK Apple Store. [Link]




Categories
Design

Rem Koolhaas to Design a Translucent Luxury Megastore

Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah is planning on creating an 86,000-square-foot Exhibition Hall, scheduled to open in 2014 inside Kuwait City’s 360° Mall. Who is he getting to design the hall? The legendary Rem Koolhaas!

Like the glass cube that is Villa Moda, the new department store will consist of transparent facades, punctuated by circular cutouts to let in natural light. Unlike the average high-end mall, however, its design and programming will pay homage to its surroundings: Corridor-shaped shops reflect “the geometry of the Middle East,” WWD reported, with a special push towards spotlighting homegrown talents.

“We want to introduce the future Elie Saabs and Zuhair Murads,” Al-Sabah told the fashion industry paper. It’s a timely decision, in light of the Arab Spring uprisings. As a result of the region’s tumultuous political climate, there has been increased interest among denizens in local leisure activities and, consequently, local art as security concerns in cities like Beirut and Cairo have kept would-be travelers grounded.

Here is a link to the full article [Link]

Note: Dear Sheikh Majed, please let me know when Rem Koolhaas is in Kuwait so he can sign my S,M,L,XL book!




Categories
Sports

The Pearl of Arabia – A follow up

Around two years ago I posted about Abdullah Al-Moussawi, an 11 year old Kuwaiti boy with incredible football skills. Someone uploaded a video of him on YouTube playing football and called the video “the new Maradona from Kuwait“. The video become popular and ended up catching the eye of a football scout in Holland who later tried to get Abduallah to move and train in Holland. Abduallah became a sensation in Holland and was given the nickname “the Pearl of Arabia”. But there was a bit of controversy and the move never happened. You could read my old post for the full story [Here]

Now that two years have passed I thought I would post a followup and let everyone know what Abdullah has been up to since then. Well first thing you’ll notice from the pictures is the fact he cut his hair and it’s now really short. He’s still living in Kuwait and hasn’t move to Holland just yet. He’s been training in Kuwait but with older kids so that its more challenging for him. Every six weeks he travels to Holland where he puts on the #10 jersey and plays for the top Dutch club SBV Excelsior. The biggest change for him will come next year since Abdullah and his family are currently finalizing things so they can move to Holland where he will be able to get the best training possible.

I don’t have any new videos to share but I did get some pictures of Abdullah playing in Holland. You can check them out below. He’s got a lot of potential to become a really great player.

Update: I just got an email with more information about the academy team Abduallah plays on:

SBV Excelsior is connected to Feyenoord Rotterdam. They share the same football academy. Abdullah is now training at the same academy where famous players like Robin van Persie (Manunited) and Kalou (Chelsea) started their carreer. A famous academy which has been elected as best academy in Holland 3 times in the past 4 years.

Also 8 of the players of the current first squad of Feyenoord (Ere divisie is Dutch Premier League) started their carreer at SBV Excelsior.

Thanks Marcel




Categories
Information Shopping

How to get a tax refund from Amazon (Aramex Shop & Ship Users)

If you order stuff from Amazon and ship it to your Aramex Shop & Ship mailbox, you are probably aware that Amazon taxes you. Well as a customer based outside the US you aren’t supposed to pay tax and so Amazon allows you to get a tax refund. All you need to do is prove the package was shipped to a freight forwarder (Aramex in this case) and that the final destination was outside the US. Sounds complicated but it isn’t. This is all you need to do to get a tax refund.

1) Once your package arrives to Kuwait request an airway bill from Aramex
2) Then, email the airway bill (as a PDF) to [email protected] with your Amazon order number
3) That’s it. In under 24 hours Amazon will reply back confirming that they’ve received your documents and that you will get a tax refund to your original payment method within the next 2-3 business days

How cool is that? And how much do you love me right now?




Categories
Food & Drinks

Upper Crust Pizzeria & Giolitti

Just a couple of tidbits. Upper Crust Pizzeria is going to open their Kuwait City branch at KIPCO Tower this Friday and I was also told that the 100+ year old Italian ice cream shop Giolitti is going to be opening in Avenues Phase III.




Categories
Activities

MILSIM at Shaab Park

After posting about the MILSIM Failaka battle thats going to take place in November, my friend called me up and told me to pass by him at their location in Shaab Park. I posted about that location last year but never checked it out until now. The place is ridiculously cool with a battle ground littered with broken cars and random objects creating a realistic war like environment. Once I got there my friend gave me a handgun and took me to a time trial course in which I think I did fairly well in for my first time.


[YouTube]

Once I was done with that I was handed an M4 Carbine rifle and attached what looked like a silencer. Turns out the silencer had a built in UV light that lit up glow in the dark airsoft pellets on the way out. What you end up with is tracer pellets which you can see in the video above.

The Shaab Park location is like a paintball field, you just pay KD7 for the gear rental and spend the whole day there playing if you want. You just pay extra for the ammo. If you missed my post on the epic Failaka battle that’s going to take place check it out [Here]




Categories
Animals & Wildlife

PAWS Needs Help

PAWS are a group made up of part-time local and expat volunteers who are committed to protecting animal welfare in Kuwait. Recently they got a notice from their land owner to vacate their shelter in Kebed and they now desperately need financial help to move and set up a new shelter. They currently have over 100 dogs and 80 cats which need a new home. For more details on the situation as well as information on how you can help visit their website [Here]