Search: “mis”

Not much happening because the county is still in mourning but here are some events taking place this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, January 4
The Avenues Sky
Shlonik? Healing Circle

Friday, January 5
The Avenues Sky
Super Run Race
3rd Show Jumping Event

Saturday, January 6
The Avenues Sky
Creative Printmaking Conference
3rd Show Jumping Event
Snail Mail Workshop for Kids

Below are some of the cool events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, December 14
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
The Avenues Sky
The Festive Bazaar
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
‎‏Stars & Milky Way Photography

Friday, December 15
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
Battle Fitness Festival 2023
The Avenues Sky
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
‎‏Stars & Milky Way Photography
BBQ with Madang

Saturday, December 16
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
Battle Fitness Festival 2023
Saracen Race 2023
CAP Movie Night: Stone Cold Justice
The Avenues Sky
Joyeuse Nuit Painting Experience
Wejha Art Center Bazaar
Shakshooka Market
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
The Festive Bazaar

Many of you may not remember this, but the American Cultural Centre, located near the parliament building on Gulf Road, didn’t always look the way it does today.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, the building was in poor condition and looked pretty scary. When I was a kid and we used to drive by the building, I always thought the building was haunted because it gave off such creepy vibes.

The building was originally constructed in the early 1900s as the American Mission Hospital, but today serves as the headquarters of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (@dai_kuwait). The restoration, completed in 2011, left me with the initial impression that the building had undergone major design changes since it ended up looking so different from what I had always known. But, I later realized that this wasn’t the case and that they in fact had done a proper restoration job, restoring the building to its original design.

These are some photos I found of the building before the renovation, but there are a lot more including photos of the building under construction and the building today on the Archnet website here.

Just a quick post for anyone looking to pick up an excellent sleeping pad or sleeping bag, ORP now have NEMO equipment available. They don’t have a large selection but what’s important is that we now have NEMO in Kuwait and they’re being sold at NEMO’s MSRP. So for example, the NEMO Forte Endless Promise 35 Long sleeping bag sells for 62KD on Amazon (without tax or shipping) vs 69KD at ORP.

I have a NEMO tent which I purchased back in 2012 (pictured above) and I still use it and love it. Their stuff really lasts a long time.

If you want to check out what they have, here is the link.

Below are some of the cool events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, December 7
Horror Con Festival
Pinocchio – The Panto
Lights City at Murouj
Outdoor Sports Expo
12H Kuwait Middle East Trophy
R.U.R Play

Friday, December 8
Horror Con Festival
Pinocchio – The Panto
Lights City at Murouj
Kuwait Figure Skating Championship
Outdoor Sports Expo
The Kuwait Coffee Festival
12H Kuwait Middle East Trophy

Saturday, December 9
Horror Con Festival
Pinocchio – The Panto
Lights City at Murouj
Palestinian Movie Night at CAP
Kuwait Figure Skating Championship
Outdoor Sports Expo
The Kuwait Coffee Festival
Qout Market
R.U.R Play
12H Kuwait Middle East Trophy
Winter Festival and Bazaar
Heartful Charitable Art Exhibition & Auction

A few years ago I posted a postcard sent by Malcolm X while he was in Kuwait in 1964 while on a personal and spiritual journey through the Middle East and West Africa. There isn’t very much information on his visit, and I haven’t been able to find any photos, but I did find his entries on Kuwait from his travel diary:

Thurs. Sept. 24
“Abdullah picked me up in his taxi. I stopped at the airport to check my reservations, was recognized by one of the clerks who immediately introduced me to others, including Mr. Khan, head of the local PAL (Pakistan) office. We had coffee & he told me of the pending Pakistan, Iran bloc that is forming & will later form with the Arabs. My ticket was re- routed thru Bahrain. I toured Aramco again had breakfast there, went into the city (?) to buy papers. Thurs & Fri is a holiday with Aramco. Finally caught the plane, stopped in Bahrain for 1 hr. & then arrived in Kuwait at 6:10 pm & checked into the Phoenicia Hotel. All of the clerks knew who I was (I don’t know how) and treated me very well. All of the Arabs refer to me as ‘Zgieeme Muslim fi America’ [?] After dinner in the hotel’s very exotic restaurant I finally got____Demardash on the phone. He’ll see me tomorrow. I’ve been frantic all evening because I lost my ‘health certificate.’ It was left either at the Sudanese Consulate in Jeddah or at the airport customs by the protocol officer.
“I’m anti-racism whether it’s practiced by capitalist, communist or socialist. China ambassador to Ghana: ‘Don’t be a racist. It’s a struggle between oppressed people of all colors against oppressor of all colors.’ If he was a racist, since the press had projected me in the image of an extreme racist, racism would have the natural & wisest approach from him, but instead He approached the problem objective as a human being.

“When we all learn to think as human beings instead of as capitalists, communists & socialists this will then be a world for all human beings.

“It takes some of the same poison to counteract (same as antidote) poison. Europeanism has been such a strong poison for centuries it now becomes essential to emphasize Africanism to counteract it & Arabism to counteract Zionism, socialism to counteract capitalism etc. Orientalism or Darkism to counter-balance Occidentalism or whitism…thus the present escalating world struggle (cold war).”

Fri. Sept 25
“Two brothers from the hotel took me to the main mosque for Jumah prayers where I met Faisal who had been to the States twice. He asked me if knew Malcolm X & was shocked when I told him my name. We discussed the race problem & the Zionists. Back at the hotel I napped, still worried about my health certificate & how much or where it might hold me up. I walked around Kuwait by myself (I had the UAA check my reservations for Tues—okay) and when I returned Hameed Demerdash had phoned, he came by at 8 pm and we talked until 9 pm. He seemed more at ease than when we first met in Cairo. He asked me for the news article in the Jeddah paper (Bilal) to show it to the government officials tomorrow. I went down to a lonely dinner at 9:15.”

Sat. Sept. 26
“I went early (7:30 am) to the American Embassy & explained about my health certificate to a Mr. Waterman. He never asked me any ‘personal’ questions, didn’t even show any sign of recognition. By 8:30 he had called my hotel, advising me to go to the American Mission Hospital near my hotel and a Dr. Pennings there could help me. I went immediately. Dr. Pennings asked me outright if I was Malcolm X. They gave me a couple of shots and told me to call Monday (28th) for the certificate. At 3 pm some local newspapers reporters came to interview me. I spent most of the day in my room writing & napping. The hotel owner (a Palestinian) acted as interpreter. He irked me when he asked why (a Muslim leader) I didn’t know Arabic. I politely (with ice) pointed out that the Arabs had never taken the initiative to set up schools in American to teach Arabic like the Jews and others have. At 8 pm Yusuf______took me to dinner at an exotic basement restaurant. One would not even know of its existence: the entrance was inside of another ordinary looking restaurant. We discussed religion, politics: The Saudis, Nasser, Zionists, Americans, Pakistanis, etc.”

Sunday Sept. 27
“I went past the Sudanese Embassy and the Saudi Embassy seeking more information about my last health certificate. Between 4 & 5 pm I tried to get a call thru to the Sudanese Embassy in Jeddah to no avail. Demerdash finally called & said would see some of the foreign ministry officials tomorrow. That’s a relief because I’ve been very idle ever since arriving in Kuwait and have been beginning to feel I was wasting my time. In fact, had I had my health certificate I’d have been on the next plane out. I started even to look for a movie about 8 pm & bellhop (who likes me & asked for me to pose for some pictures with him) came to see me & said movies were forbidden (Harum) for Muslims. I asked him what the difference between the movies and the TV’s in people’s home. He thought there was a difference, so I went to the TV room instead. There was a Lebanese lady there too who could speak ‘bits’ of English. She was wealthy, a Christian and very shrewdly critical of her fellow Arabs.”

Mon. Sept 28
“Demerdash came at 8:30 am and took me to the foreign ministry. The secretary, Muhammad F. Al-Herbish, had seen me on TV in London & immediately became friendly & helpful. He took me to see ______ and while there two more came in. One was the son-in-law of HE Prince Gabis Al- Sabbah, and the other HE Rashid, their ambassador to the UN. They were cordial, attentive & seemed sympathetic. Since a special cabinet meeting was being held it was impossible to see the ministers but Herbish kept calling until he got the Minister of WAKF [?] on the phone & he agreed to see me after the cabinet meeting. He spoke ‘some’ English, so I conversed mostly thru a young interpreter who had been educated in Calif. I had some cards made, watched TV with the Somali diplomat (ambassador?) and the Lebanese aristocrat. She was frightened when one of the bellhops told her I was a Muslim, because last nite she had ‘talked too much’ about the leaders in the Muslim countries (Ben Bella, etc.) and I had sat & listened, playing dumb.”

Tues. Sept 29
“My plane left Kuwait & arrived in Beirut on schedule.

Below are some of the cool events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, November 30
Pinocchio – The Panto
Murouj Perfume Market
The OUTLET Expo
Kuwait International Bookfair

Friday, December 1
Pinocchio – The Panto
Murouj Perfume Market
The OUTLET Expo
Kuwait International Bookfair
Messilah Equestrian Club Show Jumping Event

Saturday, December 2
Pinocchio – The Panto
Murouj Perfume Market
The OUTLET Expo
Jusoor Run 2023
Messilah Equestrian Club Show Jumping Event
Kuwait International Bookfair
Authentic Palestinian Art Event

Arabella has gone through a major overhaul, half the place closed down and got rebuilt as a 5-star hotel while the remaining parts got a full refurbishing. The hotel called the Arabella Beach Hotel is now set to open next month and I got a tour of it back in October while it was still getting finishing touches.

I don’t think there is another hotel like it in Kuwait, there are definitely much nicer hotels in Kuwait, but I can’t think of another hotel where your hotel room is right on the sea.

The hotel has a few suites located at the far end of the hotel with just the sand followed by the sea as you can see from the picture above which I took from one of the balconies.

The hotel is pretty small due to the location so they’ve tried to make the best of it. There are two pools, one on the ground floor right next to the beach, this isn’t for the hotel but for the gym which is going to be run and managed by a third party. The main hotel’s pool is actually on the roof and is a much nicer place to be since it overlooks the area. But, they missed a great opportunity for an infinity pool that overlooks the sea sadly.

The hotel’s main restaurant ZO Eatery is also not located in the main hotel building, but instead it’s located across the Arabella courtyard where Ora used to be located.

I was also given a tour of all the rooms. The suites were definitely nice, not that big, but plenty of space and interesting layouts with the one pictured above being my favorite. The regular rooms on the other hand weren’t as interesting, so if I was going to stay there, the suites is where I’d want to be.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the hotel is going to do, I’d imagine it might become a popular staycation location since you have a nice pool on the roof and Five Guys right at the entrance of Arabella, so everything you need.

If you want to read more on the hotel and see more photos, here is the link to their website.

Below are some of the cool events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, November 23
Geekcon
Drag Race Championship
Murouj Market
Kuwait International Bookfair
Bugsha Market
Makers Open House

Friday, November 24
Geekcon
Drag Race Championship
Murouj Market
Kuwait International Bookfair
Bunka Friday Bonanza
KTAA Fall Bazaar
Bugsha Market
Classic Cars Gathering
Makers Open House
Al Bohayra Farm

Saturday, November 25
Geekcon
Murouj Market
Kuwait International Bookfair
Wejha November Bazaar
Bugsha Market
Al Bohayra Farm
Classic Cars Gathering
Workshop: Make a Set of Qahwa Cups

Below are some events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, November 16
Gardenia Pop-up
TK Market
GulfRun GP 2023
GR Yaris Cup 2023

Friday, November 17
DAI Fall Festival
GulfRun GP 2023
GR Yaris Cup 2023
Gardenia Pop-up
TK Market
Classic Cars & Trucks Gathering

Saturday, November 18
GulfRun GP 2023
GR Yaris Cup 2023
Tape Painting in the Garden
Gardenia Pop-up
Basta Gardening Workshop
Kashta with MADANG
Storytelling with Mariam AlEissa
Winter Market
TK Market
Classic Cars & Trucks Gathering

Exhibitions
Arabia Felix and Rome
Palestine Art Stands
The Eye of The Sky Drone Photography Exhibition
SIF, An Introduction by Mohammad Kassem

I think I watched more TV on TikTok this week than I did on my TV. I’m still watching Lessons of Chemistry, it’s still pretty good. Also started the new season of For All Mankind, I think it’s gotten fairly boring, even last season wasn’t that great. Can’t wait till Saturday though when the first episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters comes out.

Let me know what you watched this week in the comments below.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Boonie Bears: Guardian Code (7.0)
The Good Mother (4.6)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (6.9)
The Piper (6.2)

Other Movies Showing:
Deep Fear (4.0)
Five Nights at Freddy’s (6.2)
Freelance (5.3)
Killers of the Flower Moon (8.6)
On Fire (5.9)
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (6.1)
The Inseparables (7.0)
The Marvels (6.1)
The Snow Queen and the Princess (5.2)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Dirty Harry (7.7)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (7.0)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Khalifouh Village opened this past February, but I only found out about it in April and by then the village had already closed down for the season. Now the village is getting ready to open again and I was lucky enough to be given permission to pass by and get a sneak peek.

The village is owned by the popular Kuwaiti actor Khalifa Khalifouh who is known for his roles on a few popular tv shows and plays. Khalifa is very passionate about the Kuwaiti heritage and while working on shows involving old Kuwaiti villages, he didn’t like the way they were being poorly built so he decided he wanted to build a proper village, which he did. Khalifouh Village isn’t the first village he built, he originally built one in Salmi but then decided to knock it down and build another one in Wafra to make it more accessible to people.

The village is big with lots of buildings and alleyways connecting them all. The village has the basic necessities that a real village would have like a mosque, a baker, a tea shop, a theater and a main square. When the village officially opens for guests it will have more props and activities happening, but since it was closed when I visited, it was just me and an empty village.

I really wanted to visit the village for two reasons. The first is obviously to post about it, but the second reason was to take one of my classic cars so I could take photos of it with the village as a backdrop. Driving through the village in my old car felt weirdly real, like I had stumbled upon an old, abandoned village in the desert. Because the village is in Wafra where there are no tall buildings, once you’re inside all you see is the village and nothing else from the outside world.

There is no set date for the reopening of the village. They were targeting this month, but the weather hasn’t really cooled that much so it now looks like it will be in December. To stay posted on the opening, follow their account which also has some great photos @khalifouhvillage

Here is their location on Google Maps.

Below are some events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, November 9
Flare Fitness Festival 2023
ArtnDine x Barba
AIU Film Festival 2023

Friday, November 10
Flare Fitness Festival 2023
Story Telling with Mansoor AlMansoor
AIU Film Festival 2023

Saturday, November 11
Flare Fitness Festival 2023
RunKuwait 2023
Coming Renaissance Art Experience
Sadu House Guided Tour
Grand Mosque Tour
AIU Film Festival 2023

Exhibitions
Arabia Felix and Rome
Palestine Art Stands
The Eye of The Sky Drone Photography Exhibition
SIF, An Introduction by Mohammad Kassem

I haven’t really had much time for TV this past week. I started Lessons in Chemistry and two episodes in it seems like it’s going to be fun to watch.

Let me know what you watched this week in the comments below.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
On Fire (5.9)
The Marvels (N/A)
The Snow Queen and the Princess (5.2)

Other Movies Showing:
Deep Fear (4.0)
Five Nights at Freddy’s (6.2)
Freelance (5.3)
How to Save the Immortal (5.2)
Killers of the Flower Moon (8.6)
King of Killers (4.2)
PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (6.1)
The Exorcist: Believer (5.1)
The Inseparables (7.0)
The Quest for Tom Sawyer’s Gold (5.2)
What Happens Later (7.8)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (7.0)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Starting tomorrow Sunday, November 5th, the American International University Film Festival 2023 will take place for the second consecutive year.

There are various activities you can participate in during the film festival, including film screenings, lectures, workshops, and discussion panels. Best of all, they’re all free to attend and participate in! Whether you simply want to watch movies or you’re an aspiring filmmaker looking to attend a workshop or watch a lecture, this is an event you definitely shouldn’t miss.

The film festival will be held at the AIU campus from November 5 to 11, 2023. Cinescape is their strategic partner, and as a result, film screenings will take place both on the AIU campus and at selected Cinescape theaters. There is also no registration requirement for any of the Cinescape venues.

There are 12 speakers, 7 lectures, 4 workshops, and over 40 film screenings all scheduled for next week. The director of the Kuwaiti film “How I Got There”, Dr. Zeyad Alhusaini is also going to be one of the lecturers at the festival. His movie got significant international attention making this a great opportunity to pick his brain.

So one more time just to be clear, ALL events during the film festival are open to the public, are free, and do not require prior registration.

For more information visit aiu.edu.kw/film-festival or head over to @aiu_kw

Strategic partner:
@cinescapekuwait

Sponsors:
@debenhamsmiddleeast
@weyaybank
@alialghanimandsons