Search: “mis”

I’ve had my Toyota FJ Cruiser for more than 3 years now and after just completing my 80,000KM service I think I’m in a good position to write a review about my experience with the dealer. My biggest concern when originally getting the FJ was the local dealers success. They sell a ton of cars everyday and I was worried I wouldn’t get any attention or be given any importance as a customer after the sale was completed. I was also concerned because of the amount of cars they sell, a simple oil change might be a very time consuming process. I got those concerns and more answered and they’re in my review below which I’ve divided into 4 parts; the buying experience, the quick service experience, the spare parts/service prices and finally the customer service.

The Buying Experience
This is by the far their weakest aspect. I purchased my FJ from their large showroom in Al-Rai, it’s not a pretty showroom and the cars are just lined up side by side like a supermarket shelf. They seem to have very few salesman and too many customers. I don’t think there is any other dealership in Kuwait that gets as crowded as the Toyota dealership. Not a good starting experience, but everything actually gets a lot better once you do buy a car.

Quick Service
If the buying experience was the weakest aspect, their quick service garages are their strongest. After buying my FJ I was given a list of quick service locations around Kuwait which I could go to to service my car. I found my preferred quick service location and started to pass by over the weekends to get my oil changed and the experience wasn’t that great since there would always be a long line. Then I found out that my quick service garage would actually stay open till 9PM and that’s when things became so much better. I just started passing by in the middle of the week during the evenings and the quick service garage would be completely empty. Actually, even if you pass by during the day in the middle of the week there would probably be just one car ahead of you, super convenient.

Spare Parts / Service Prices
I just performed my 80,000KM service which according to the service employee is the most expensive service for my car. I paid KD200 and that price included changing front and rear brake pads. A regular oil change also costs me I think like KD11 (my FJ takes 7 liters of oil). I had also purchased a discounted service package right after buying the car which lasted me till 60,000KM. Basically if the total amount of services was going to cost me say KD450 over the years, they offered me to pay around KD250 in advance and all my services would be covered till 60,000. They even offered me another discounted package when that had expired but I decided not to take it since I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep my FJ for another 3 years.

Customer Service
I love the customer service at Toyota from small things like getting a phone call to remind me about my car services to more complicated things like customer treatment. I actually had a really good experience with one of their employees just last week which is what actually led me to wanting to write this whole review. I won’t go into details because it’s a bit complicated to explain the whole scenario, but basically the service advisor called me and told me my car would be ready at 1PM the following day. I tried to push for the car to be done by 12PM since I had a meeting at 2PM and the service advisor said he would try his best. Next day I headed to Avenues which is near my service center to kill some time. 12:45PM the service advisor calls me to tell me my car is done but I would have to pass by after 2PM to pick it up because they have to wash it and the service center closes between 1 and 2PM for lunch. I got super pissed and told him how he had promised me to have the car done at 1PM even though I was pushing for 12. I also told him he should have told me they had a lunch break from 1 to 2PM since I could have been at the service center before 1PM to wait for my car to be ready. I told him I was at the Avenues now and would need more than 15 minutes to get to my car and then to get to the service center. He told me not to worry and that he wouldn’t go on his lunch break and I could come by between 1 and 2PM to pick up the car but that it wouldn’t be washed (which wasn’t an issue at all for me). So I got there around 1:15PM and the employee was extremely professional with me. Even though everyone else was on a lunch break, he got all my paperwork signed and walked me himself to the cashier and the collection point and then even brought up my car from the garages basement himself. I told him I was really impressed at how professional he was and loved how he managed to keep his composure while I was blowing up on him on the phone (I can be a dick when I’m pissed). I was really impressed and I don’t get impressed.

At first I thought I would email the dealer my feedback on my experience but then I was like you know what, it’s been three years of great service and people generally tend to write about stuff when things go wrong (like me with my bank last week). So I figured I would take the time and write up a review about my positive experience with a company in Kuwait. If you’re considering getting a car from Toyota, you should know you’re also probably getting the best after sales service as well.

The Playstation 4 was released in North America on the 15th of November and sold a million units in 24 hours. We’ve had to wait until earlier this week to see the PS4 officially released in Kuwait and the Gulf and as of this post, it’s pretty much sold out with supposedly no new shipments arriving until early January. So what’s the noise all about? Do you need to own the PS4 now? Are the launch games worth it? These are some of the questions I’m going to be answering in this post.

The PS4 itself is designed nicely, it’s as small as the slim Playstation 3 (maybe even a bit smaller) and it’s pretty light. Complete opposite of the first iteration of the Playstation 3 which was huge, bulky and ugly.

The second thing I’m going to talk about is the new controller, the Dualshock 4. I wasn’t a big fan of the Dualshock 3 and preferred the 360 and Wii U controllers over it. The Dualshock 3 felt light, cheap and didn’t fit well in my hands. I also wasn’t a big fan of the design as it was difficult to clean due to the dirt getting caught on all the edges. The Dualshock 4 changes all of that – the design is nice, sleek and clean, it fits comfortably in my hands and it doesn’t feel cheap. The small touchpad on the face of the controller works well and isn’t overly sensitive to touch (unlike the Sony Vita’s rear touchpad). The controller also features a mono speaker that plays some sounds as you’re playing games. It takes a few minutes to get used to the fact that the controller doesn’t feature a “START” and “SELECT” button like the majority of controllers have had throughout the years, those buttons have been merged into one “Options” button. One of the new additions that’s been making some headlines is the “SHARE” button. When you press it, the PS4 will create a screenshot of the moment and a video clip of the last 15 minutes of gameplay. You then decide where you want to upload them to Facebook or Twitter. If you also feel like broadcasting what you’re playing to the rest of the world, you can also do that through the services of Twitch or USTREAM. All this is done seamlessly and I was surprised to see how Sony have simplified the process.

One thing I dislike about the controller is the light bar which is located on the back of the controller. The light bar displays different colors to alert you on things like low health (it’ll glow red), but it’s kind of a useless feature unless you’re looking at your controller as you’re playing. If you sit directly in front of your television as you’re playing, the controller creates an annoying reflection on your TV when the games you play feature dark levels or segments – it just breaks the immersion. Hopefully there’ll be an update in the future that’ll allow us to choose whether we want to keep the light on or not.

The next thing I want to bring up is the Playstation 4’s user interface. This is another feature that I think could be improved. I’ve never been a huge fan of Sony’s user interfaces, whether it’s the Playstation 3’s menu or the Vita’s terrible use of bubble icons. The Playstation 4’s user interface has three sections. The first is the main menu; icons for your games, the browser, music, video, etc are all accessed from there. The second section (when you press down on your D-pad) is specific to the application or game you’ve selected. So for example, if you press down when Killzone: Shadow Fall is selected, a menu will appear that shows your recent activity, a shortcut to the community, multiplayer modes, and the game manual. If you press up on the main menu, the third section of the menu system appears and this is where you can access the Playstation Store, Friends List, Trophies, Settings and a few other options. I just don’t find this system to be intuitive at all. Why is the Playstation Store icon not located in the main menu and instead hidden in the upper section? Why aren’t the menus customizable? Nintendo and Microsoft both offer menus that are somewhat customizable, so why can’t Sony?

Moving on to launch games. I was given two games to try out by Sony that were launched exclusively for the Playstation 4, Knack (a 3D platformer adventure game) and Killzone: Shadow Fall (a first person shooter). Knack was developed and designed by SCE Japan Studio and Mark Cerny, both have an impressive repertoire of games and so I was surprised to see the below average reviews for this game. An hour into the game and you could see why it’s been getting poor review scores. First off, all the characters (especially Knack) are bland. Think of all the great characters in 3D platformers that we’ve seen in the past; Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Banjo-Kazooie, Ratchet & Clank, Jak and Daxter, These games featured a whole cast of colorful, interesting characters and most importantly, the main characters were memorable. Knack’s design is forgetful and pretty ugly. He’s made up of all these tiny pieces and shapes and as you progress through the levels you start to grow as you gain more of these pieces until you’re huge and you’re able to do massive amounts of damage. The combat in this game is just “X, X, X” repeated, until you fill up your special power gauge and then you can perform a special move. The level designs are incredibly linear and lack any sort of inspiration. How linear are they? Well, there’s only one path through the level – no little deviations, no hidden paths, no shortcuts. There are “secrets” behind walls that have very large cracks to visually tell you that the wall can be smashed. Those are placed along the paths so they’re not even really hidden. There’s literally no sense of exploration and the platforming segments aren’t even challenging. Very young kids (younger than 10) might enjoy it, but I recommend most of you to skip this game if possible.

Onto Killzone: Shadow Fall. Before playing this game I had only ever played and beaten Killzone 2 which I thought was fun with very intense firefight, but also had a forgettable story with forgettable characters. The characters were beautiful and had fluid animation but the level layouts (which were well designed) were visually boring to look at. Everything seemed to be just a variation of grey with some brown tacked on. Shadow Fall seems to continue the trend of having forgettable characters and horrid writing but has much more beautiful and varied level layouts. The first level you play is vivid and colorful (there’s a bit too much lens flare for my taste though), the second level is the opposite, it’s dark, gloomy and kind of freaky. The shooting and firefights are really fun. Graphics? Not a massive leap from the PS3 but for a launch game it looks really good. You’ll enjoy this game if you go in expecting a straight up first-person shooter with a fun single player experience and multiplayer modes. But, you’ll be disappointed if you’re looking for a FPS that has an interesting plot with memorable characters.

Now the important question, is it worth buying the Playstation 4 now, or should you wait? The controller has been improved, the console is designed nicely, it isn’t heavy, it isn’t bulky and it has a promising line-up of upcoming new games. There’s no doubting the potential of the console, just one look at Killzone: Shadow Fall will tell you that. 2014 will be a good year for gaming with titles like Tom Clancy’s The Division, Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes coming out. My issues with the PS4 are minor. The light bar on the controller, the menu system and the lack of a media server wont affect my enjoyment that I’ll get from playing games on the machine. Still though, I’ll wait a few months before purchasing one. None of the exclusive launch games interest me and the ones that aren’t exclusive I’ve already played on my 360/PS3/Wii U. If you can’t wait and want to pick one up now, the games I recommend are Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Killzone: Shadow Fall, FIFA 14, Battlefield 4, and Lego Marvel Superheroes.

Posted by Patrick

Does anyone remember when the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came to Kuwait? It was back in the 80’s and I think it was held at the Mishref Fairs Ground. I just remembered it today for some reason and I can’t find anything on Google about it. If you happen to remember it or have any photos leave a comment below.

Update: A reader found the following quote in an article about Kuwait from the Chicago Tribune back in 1987 which I thought was hilarious..

When an American Wild West show visited recently, cowboys were forced to ride around an arena pointing their fingers in the air and shouting “bang, bang,“ because Kuwaiti authorities would not permit them to bring in their blank-firing six-shooters.

UCYCLE is a new small business that just launched two days ago. They’re a bike rental company and just started renting bicycles at the Mishref Mamsha (walk path). They offer three kinds of bicycles, normal bikes, glow in the dark neon Purefix bikes and two person tandem bikes. Here are their prices:

Normal Bicycles
1st hour: KD3.5
Every hour after KD2

Neon Bicycles
1st hour: KD5
Every hour after KD2.5

Tandem Bicycle
1st hour: KD10
Every 30min after: 5KD

They’re planning to change locations every week and you can stay up to date by following on the following social media channels:

Call/ Whatsapp: +965 98037123
Twitter: @UcycleKw
Instagram: @Ucyclekw
Email: [email protected]

Yesterday I was invited to pass by and try the newly opened Margherita pizzeria at the Arabella project. It’s a Lebanese franchise that I had already tried a few years back in Lebanon for the first time so it wasn’t really new to me. I ended up going with two of my friends who love my food reviews (not really) and whom I love taking with me when I’m going to review food (also not really). Even though they’re very difficult to please we all ended up leaving the place with the same impression, that we would definitely go back again.

Arabella is a fairly new project, it’s been open for a few months now but the majority of the restaurants there are not open yet. Currently the biggest two are Red Lobster and Olive Garden but there are a whole bunch of Alshaya restaurants opening there soon including Texas Roadhouse and The Cheesecake Factory. Margherita is located on the ground floor of the project and has a beautiful wooden façade that wouldn’t look out of place on a street somewhere in Europe. Once you walk into the restaurant you have the pizza kitchen on the right hand side and the dinning area on the left. We ended up sitting next to the window overlooking the inside of the still quiet and vacant Arabella project.

Since we were three people we ended up ordering a whole bunch of things inclduing:

Minestrone soup
Burrata cheese with cherry tomatoes
Grilled calamari with a side salad
Prosciutto E Funghi pizza (Tomato sauce, mozzarella, turkey ham, mushrooms and basil)
Diavola pizza (Tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy beef pepperoni and basil)
Homemade oven baked beef lasagna
Grilled beef “Tagliata” with sautéed spinach and mashed potatoes
Classic Italian Tiramisu
Lemon crème brûlée
Hazelnut chocolate fondant with ice cream

I think from everything we had the only thing we didn’t like was the Lemon crème brûlée. I really enjoyed my minestrone soup especially since it was freezing cold outside, the grilled calamari was a great healthy starter and the burrata cheese was delicious although I don’t think I’d be willing to pay KD8 for it (or any starter for that matter). The pizzas followed quickly right after. While we were on our way to Margherita I was telling my friends that the only issue I had with the pizzas in their Lebanese branches was the fact their sauce was a bit too strongly flavored. Thankfully that wasn’t the case here and I made sure I told the chef that I preferred his tomato sauce at Margherita Kuwait more than the one at Margherita in Lebanon.

We also shared a lasagna which although it was good I’d probably always choose a pizza over it. Finally our last main course arrived which was the grilled beef “Tagliata”. We had asked for it medium rare but our steak arrived partially medium rare and partially just medium which wasn’t an issue as soon as we started eating it since the beef was really really tender. The desserts turned out to be the biggest surprise of our lunch. If you put aside the Lemon crème brûlée which neither of us liked, the tiramisu and the chocolate fondant were ridiculously good. My favorite was the chocolate fondant which I was having alone mostly since my friends were attacking the tiramisu which according to one of them is the best tiramisu he’s had in Kuwait. To quote him, “this isn’t a classic Italian tiramisu, this is better than classic”.

For those of you who used to frequent Al-Forno in the Avenues when they first opened and up until three years ago will recognize the chef, Marcello Piazza. I used to see him the whole time while I was dinning there so I recognized him when I spotted him in the restaurant. Turns out he left Al-Forno three years back and moved to England, but now is back in Kuwait and working at Margherita.

Anyway, the food was great and when I go back next time I’d probably just have the soup (if it’s cold outside), one of the pizzas and the chocolate fondant. To give you a general idea about the price, the pizza’s were around KD5, the lasagna KD4, and the steak KD9. I’d definitely recommend the place. Here is a link to their [Website]

Update: I went back to Margherita on a Saturday for lunch and the place was packed and the service was horrible. Although the food was good the experience made me really dislike the place and if I was to ever go back it would not be on a weekend.

‘Samsara’ the album is now available to purchase online. ‘Samsara’ the concert was held last month at GUST and was a big success. The ‘Samsara’ album features the following seven tracks:

1- “Yallah” – featuring Neelima Dominic
2- “Hawa” – featuring Coco & Faisal ‘Face’ Marei
3- “Blu” – featuring Noora Kasem
4- “Fistula Carmen” – featuring Noora Kasem
5- “Misty Dreams” – featuring Noora Kasem
6- “Jujube” – featuring Coco & Army of One
7- “Borboleta” – featuring Daffy & Coco

You can purchase the album from iTunes or Amazon MP3. If you have Spotify you can also stream the album in the app or below:

The GulfRun team are holding their third 24 Hours Karting Endurance Race this weekend. This year the race is taking place at the newly opened SIRBB Circuit in Shuwaikh and will follow international regulations from start to finish. Tonight is the practice race which will be held alongside the Shakshooka Market and tomorrow starting at 4PM will be the beginning of the 24 hour race. 18 teams are participating in total so pass by and check them out.

For the full details on this event, check out their website [Here]

BigMo – “Stuck Between” from N. S. Wynn on Vimeo.

I’m not really into rap but BigMo is probably my favorite Kuwaiti rapper. This new video is off his debut album called “Both Sides of the Sand” and it’s about being stuck between two worlds.

I promise, no more rap videos for awhile.

The embassy of the Republic of Korea are holding a ‘Korean Movie Night’ this coming Friday. It’s kinda perfect timing with the release of Oldboy in theaters which is a remake of probably one of the best Korean movies ever made also called Oldboy. Here are the details on the movies showing and their timings:

Friday, December 6th 2013 at 4:00PM
MASQUERADE
Amid national chaos and fear for his life, tyrannical King Gwanghae orders his trusted councilor Heo Kyun to find a royal body double. He hires Ha-seon, a peasant mimic who bears a perfect resemblance to the King. When King Gwanghae collapses from a mysterious poison, Ha-seon reluctantly becomes a King. He must follow his conscience to save his country from collapse, avoid assassination, and pull off the biggest masquerade in history.

Friday, December 6th 2013 at 7:00PM
MIRACLE IN CELL NO.7
A story about love between a mentally ill father and his lovingly adorable daughter. Which is her father, accused of murder and rape.

Admission is free for both movies.
Both movies will be playing at Cinescape Laila in Salmiya. [Map]

This weekend it’s the Independent Palestinian Film Festival at Cinemagics. If you’re passing by Shakshooka tonight you might as well pass by Cinemagic and watch a movie on the roof since it’s right next door (Take the elevator up to the roof between LG and Panasonic). Here are the movies for this weekend:

Thursday November 28th, 2013 from 6PM to 10PM
Independent Palestinian Film Festival Day 1
Ajami
Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film Category, Ajami is a poignant portrait of Palestinian Muslims and Christians living in an impoverished district of Jaffa

Budrus
A worldwide crowd-pleaser, this documentary is a testament to the potency of peaceful resistance & the human spirit. Budrus will dispose of any preconceptions one may have of the conflict.

Saturday November 30th, 2013 from 6PM to 10PM
Independent Palestinian Film Festival Day 2
Amreeka
A strong single mother and her son leave the West Bank to search for greener pastures in America. They are naively unaware however that they have left post-Intifada Palestine only to enter another hostile territory, post-9/11 America.

Promises
Of all the countless films revolving around the Israel-Palestine conflict, none are more compelling than this Academy Award nominated documentary. The resin being that Palestinian children, who of all others are affected the most by the war, are rarely provided the luxury of expressing their thoughts and emotions in front of a world audience.

For more information on Cinemagics rooftop movie nights click [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.

Cinemagics will be playing the two movies below this weekend:

Thursday November 21st, 2013 at 7:30PM
Surprise Film of the Month
Every month we’ll be playing a surprise film, where you won’t know what you’re watching until just a minute before the film begins. One thing is for sure, every month the surprise film will be either my favourite film of the list, or the most unique in one way or the other. This month’s film is the winner of over 61 awards worldwide, carrying groundbreaking performances and the work of a visionary director on top form. Unmissable.

Saturday November 23rd, 2013 at 7:30PM
The Devil’s Backbone
From visionary filmmaker Guilermo Del Toro, who brought us the incredible Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone is a unique horror film that is both elegant and heartbreaking whilst also being creepy and nightmarish. After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at an ominous boy’s orphanage he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

For more information on Cinemagics rooftop movie nights click [Here]

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]

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.

If you’re in London this month you’re in for a treat since Out of Kuwait is an exhibit based in London that brings together the works of thirteen emerging Kuwaiti artists who have examined and reinterpreted the theme of landscape. The Kuwaiti artists are:

Adel Ashkanani
Ahmad Alshammeri
Amani Althuwaini
Aseel Al Yaqoub
AbdulAziz Alhumaidhi
Mohammed Sharaf
Mona Al-Qanai
Mohammed Alkouh
Muneera Alsharhan
Nima Algooneh
Roa Alshaheen
Thuraya Lynn
Zahra Al-Muhdi

Out of Kuwait is the culmination of a two-year project between the British Council, the Royal College of Art (RCA), the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) in Kuwait and Kuwait’s Contemporary Art Platform (CAP).

Private Viewing: Wednesday 13th November, 2013
Exhibition Discussion: Thursday 14th November, 2013 (2 to 5PM)
Exhibition Dates: 14 – 28 November 2013 (closed Mondays)
Exhibition Time: 10AM to 6PM
Location: Edge of Arabia, 40 Elcho Street, London, SW11 4AU
Admission is free. [email protected]

Here is a link to the event’s Facebook Page