Search: “sti”

Niqashna is a platform for open debates that was launched early last year. Every few weeks they discuss an interesting subject and tonight they’re debating freedom of speech in Kuwait. The debate is in Arabic but the Q&A will be in both Arabic and English. If you’re interested in attending (its free), you can get more details [Here]

AGI Architects recently published an interesting article called on the modern architecture of Kuwait in the 70s. If you have any interest in architecture you should check it out [Here]

From the same article, I also found a link to a Danish architecture photographer who had some interesting insight into the original Central Bank of Kuwait building (which I’ve posted about before). This is what he had to say about it as well as about the refurbishment:

Bharani sent me a link describing the fate of modern architecture in kuwait, including jacobsen’s late project for the kuwaiti national bank, built after his death by business partners dissing & weitling. I thought I’d share it with you.

the house in its original state bears a resemblance to the national bank in copenhagen, but with important differences: the fort-like cube above the base with its hidden courtyard, the dome in front of it, the sun screen facade, the slanted walls of the base, suggesting mud-brick construction, all have more or less local precedents.

not all equally subtle – the gold dome may well hurt your eyes – they nevertheless point to the possibility of a kuwaiti modernism which would not simply be a copy of western architecture.

that a local version of 20th century architecure arrived by way of copenhagen may cause some to reach for their copy of edward said’s ‘orientalism’, but I believe they would be wrong. since le corbusier’s love affair with arab architecture, it has been part of the DNA of modernism and has often been met with the admiration and study afforded a true role model.

the central bank has changed, should you be in doubt. its current state shows a make-over in a style I like to call hotel lobby exotic, and which not only renders any building instantly provincial, but also shows a trend I have been following for a while and from a distance, that of self-orientalism in architecture.

I lack the necessary masochism to appreciate eward said’s slut-shaming of the entire west except as a polemical stance, but here’s a useful concept: self-orientalism is most obvious in the staged sights of mass tourism, in which western stereotypes from the days of colonialism are applied or should we say self-inflicted for profit.

on a smaller scale your local ethnic eatery could be pandering to stereotype, we all know examples of that, but the real interest always lies at the level of architecture where we are invariably talking politics.

lately, we have seen new mosques in copenhagen in a similar style – two parts budgetary cynicism to one part fairground attraction. few have commented on their inadequacies – with the cartoon crisis still in fresh memory, nobody wants to draw the attention of the muslim right or of the Danish nationalists for that matter.

what the mosques show only too well is how poorly we are answering the question of what it means to be a Danish muslim as opposed to just being a muslim in denmark. or how poorly the 200.000 people struggling with this question daily are represented by their own institutions.

it is no accident. islamic institutions are financed from abroad by conservatives to whom integration itself is a threat. when Danes fear that muslims will forever be strangers in the land, this fear is willfully confirmed by silly orientalist ornament, designed to be misread.

yet, it strikes me as obvious how well architecture could provide a dignified answer. the lessons of islamic architecture are already found in the legacy left us by jacobsen, utzon and spreckelsen. the stern repetitions of the great persian brick monuments are mirrored perfectly in many of kay fisker’s buildings.

how easily we could build democratic institutions that would be right at home in copenhagen, yet feel like home even to a newcomer. how easily we could set in stone the values that unite us. only the state could pay for such a thing, but it would finally release Danish muslims from the subjection to foreign interests.

the muslim world cannot be expected to do it, split as it is along any number of lines you can think of, be it national, ethnic, shia/sunni, moderate/fanatical, educated or not, grotesquely rich or grotesquely poor. it is a house divided against itself, as the expression so tellingly goes, offering us the architectural equivalent of a fast food vendor dressed in a fez.

If you want to check out more pictures of the Central Bank when it was originally constructed, click [Here]

One of my readers was able to get access to the Kuwait Motor Town race track and shot a video of a lap around it. The track will sadly not be ready to use this season since it still needs a final layer of tarmac. You can actually notice the high curbs in the video, that’s because of the 4cm top layer that’s missing. The inauguration of the track is still scheduled for March 28. [YouTube]

If you can get me access to the track let me know!

Thanks Mohammed!

An oddly busy weekend considering things have been slowing down recently. In addition to the below events, Avenues Phase 4 opened up this morning so that’s something you could check out this weekend. You also have the new ASCC museums to pass by if you haven’t already. Check out this weekends events below:

Thursday
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
And Then There Were None
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Mommy

Friday
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
Exhibition: Four Hundred Days
The 9th Annual ACA IB Art Show
Trip to Blue Lake Farm
Chef’s Table, Modern Spanish Cuisine
Book Club – The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

Saturday
LadySoft Run 2018
KTAA Spring Bazaar
Exhibition: Four Hundred Days
The 9th Annual ACA IB Art Show
Indonesian Coffee Festival
DVDV Debut Album “Ai Am” in Kuwait
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: North by Northwest
Soulful Saturday Dinner – Ramen

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Red Sparrow

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Blood Money (4.5) ♦
Midnight Sun (6.1)
Pacific Rim: Uprising (6.2)
Red Sparrow (6.8) ♦
Sherlock Gnomes (4.5)
The Forgiven (5.4) ♦
The Strangers: Prey at Night (5.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Black Panther (7.2)
Boonie Bears: A Mystical Winter (6.2)
Death Wish (6.4)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (6.9) ♦ ★
The Shape of Water (7.6) ♦ ★
Tomb Raider (7.3)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

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

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing over three nights in Kuwait at the end of the month from March 29th to March 31st. Founded in 1868, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest is one of the oldest musical institutions in Eastern Europe and they’ll be holding their performance at the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre.

I’m collaborating with JACC to giveaway two platinum tickets valued at KD110 for the March 31st performance which will also feature the popular Kuwaiti opera singer Amani Al-Hajji, as well as 15 minutes of Kuwaiti songs performed by the philharmonic orchestra.

If you haven’t been to an orchestra before this is a great opportunity to experience it. All you need to do to enter the draw is leave a comment below mentioning where the event will be taking place. That’s it. I will stop accepting entries in the comments section tomorrow (Wednesday) at noon and then randomly choose one winner and notify them via email.

For more information on the event, click [Here]

Rules: Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If the winner doesn’t respond, another winner will be randomly chosen.

Update: I closed the post for comments. Using random.org I drew a number which turned out to be 226, and that comment belongs to adribanko. Thank you everyone for participating, I didn’t expect so many people to be interested in this.

Last month a blind reader sent me an email, I had changed one of the settings on my blog and it was affecting his ability to read my blog and he was wondering if I could change the settings back. I told him I definitely would but that I also had sooooo many questions! Firstly I was curious to how I could improve the accessibility of my blog even further for my blind readers, and secondly what he was using to read my blog. Turns out he was reading my blog using the iPhone app Newsify, and when on his computer the software called NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access). For images, he was using this really fascinating application by Microsoft called Seeing AI. The app tries to describe the contents of a picture to a blind person which I think is such a feat I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it before. We got to talking about accessibility in Kuwait vs accessibility in the US where he studied for a short period of time and I thought that might be an interesting subject to post about on the blog. So I asked him if he’d be interested in writing an article about it which he was and he did. It’s a great read so check it out below:

——————————-

Hi all,

When Mark told me to write an article on here, I was unsure about how I was going to start it. The beginning of most important things is always a challenge, and the beginning of my life was no different. I was born prematurely, and as a result, I was put in an incubator. The oxygen that was provided to me was more than the required amount and, subsequently, I lost my sight. Of course, it was hard on my family in the beginning to raise a blind child. They had to research and improvise new ways to teach me things that they already knew how to teach a sighted individual. I went into school, graduated from high school in 2013, joined university in the same year, and I graduated last semester. I won’t be talking about my life in this article. Instead, I’ll be talking about an experience that I had when I was in university.

Last summer, I had the chance to study a summer course in the US at the University of Missouri in St. Louis (UMSL), on scholarship. Of course, I was afraid in the beginning because I thought that my blindness would be an issue and that it would be an obstacle to my experience in the US. The Dean of Student Affairs at GUST here in Kuwait assured me that everything would be ok. Before going to UMSL, I was contacted by the International Liaison Specialist at UMSL to figure out what they can do for me in order for them to meet my needs as a blind person. I went to the US and my stay there was perfect. Learning how to depend on myself was hard in the beginning yet, it got easier as time went on. Moreover, the group that I traveled with was very helpful as well as the team that was working with us from UMSL.

Doing simple things such as learning how to use the microwave for the first time as well as making instant coffee felt amazing. You could say that for the first time in my life, I felt completely free. I felt like I could depend on myself completely. Thanks to the International Liaison Specialist, I was able to achieve one of my dreams while in the States, which was learning how to use the white cane. She got in contact with the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired and they put me in contact with a guy there who used to come to me twice a week to train me. The professors there were also very helpful, as well as my note taker in class who became a close friend of mine by the end of the trip. I felt like my blindness didn’t matter there. I did things that I didn’t expect myself to do, such as zip lining and fishing. If we compare this experience to my experience in Kuwait, I’d say that in my opinion, GUST compares to UMSL when it comes to providing assistance for people with disabilities. The professors and students that I’ve worked with at GUST were extremely helpful. However, when it comes to other amenities such as navigation, transportation, housing, entertainment, and others, unfortunately, Kuwait is very far behind.

First of all, there are no sidewalks that can assist the blind when walking from one place to another. Moreover, we don’t have people who can teach us orientation and mobility skills. I haven’t even heard of any houses that are accessible for wheelchair users. The education in Alnoor School for the Blind needs improving and we don’t have audio descriptions in cinemas. The list goes on and on. However, I have hope. There are organizations who are trying to advocate for our needs such as Training Gate International and KISR.

In conclusion, I’d like to thank Mark for giving me the opportunity to express myself on here, and I’ll leave you with a question. I believe that in order for us to contribute to the society, the society should change. Instead of viewing us as people with disabilities, why don’t they view us as a normal person like everyone else?

– Ahmad Albahar

If you get snail mail from abroad and you have a tracking number, then you can follow the guide below to figure out where to pick up your mail from.

I had someone mail me a package from the UK (Registered Mail) and the tracking number started with the letter R. It took less than a week to arrive from the UK. Originally I was told it would get delivered to my office but after waiting a few days I decided to go pick it up myself. Because the delivery address was Kuwait City, I dropped by the post office in the city to see if my package was there. When I got to the post office, instead of asking me for the tracking number the guy just asked me which building my package was mailed to and then headed to the section corresponding to my building. There were a few baskets there and he just looked into one and pulled out a package and asked if it was mine. Oddly it was actually addressed to my office but to another workmate. All the packages in that basket were actually for the same guy at my office. When I told him no they weren’t mine, he took my tracking number, went away for a minute and came back, looked in the same basket again and pulled out my package. He told me to take it along with the other packages for the other guy at my office. I was like sure and I signed a few papers and got them.

I asked the post office guy if they deliver those packages and he said yes every couple of days. My guess is its probably more like once a week but nevertheless, I was still impressed that I was able to get a package from the UK using regular mail and have it in a weeks time.

On Friday I passed by the museums with a bunch of friends and I figured I’d share my experience which was overall pretty good, especially considering the number of people who were at the museum on Friday. First though, let me get the negative out of the way.

We got to the museum around 3PM and the traffic to get in was a block long because of the fact you needed to buy tickets before entering the parking lot. Although they have 9 drive-thru ticketing booths, they’re arranged 3 in a row, so only 3 lanes with each lane having 3 booths. If you’re the third car in a lane, you have to wait for the two cars ahead of you to finish buying tickets before you could enter the parking lot which is what slows things down. What was also annoying was that the main gate had two lanes to enter, the people who drove through the gate in the left lane ended up at the first ticketing lane, but the cars who drove in from the right lane had access to the second and third lane of ticket booths. So the cars that drove in through the right lane moved twice as fast as those who entered the gate from left lane. So here is a tip, enter through the right lane!

The ticketing system is the only negative thing I have to say about the museums and I imagine its a short-term issue since the museums just opened. It took us exactly 30 minutes waiting in line to enter the museums’ main gate, buy the tickets and then park the car.

Once inside finding parking was easy since there was plenty. Not only that but when we were leaving around 5:30PM, the museum had closed its main gate because the museum was full, even though there was still plenty of parking. I guess based on the number of tickets they sold, the museums had reached their maximum capacity. And here is the great thing, the museums didn’t feel like they were overcrowded on what probably is going to be recorded as their busiest day ever, the first Friday right after opening. Sure there were some busy areas with tons of kids running around, but there were also plenty of areas that were practically empty as well.

They had live music playing outdoors which felt surreal when combined with the orange sky that date and the beautiful and futuristic lights of the museum. Kinda felt like I was on the set of the film Blade Runner. You can check a couple of vertical videos I shot (sorry they were meant for insta stories) [Here] and [Here].

One thing that caught me off guard was their bookshop located in one of the buildings. They actually had a ton of great books for kids and adults and most of them were from Phaidon which is my favorite publisher. I need to go back again this week and buy some books.

Like I mentioned in my previous posts, the museums are huge and you really need a full day to explore them all properly, and even then you’ll probably miss some stuff. I’ve been there twice so far and I have yet to explore the whole museum properly and there are areas I still haven’t even visited. I really love the place and I can’t wait to go back there again. For ticket prices, opening hours and more information, visit the ASCC website [Here]

All the events seem to be taking place on Saturday this weekend which is perfect since it means you can visit the new museums today and tomorrow!

Thursday
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Faces Places

Friday
International RC Aircraft Competition

Saturday
International RC Aircraft Competition
Alnowair Carnival
Kin’s Vegan Brunch Popup
Turathi at the Sadu House
Game Developers Meetup
Science Experience
Cinemagics Rooftop Movie: Loving Vincent

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Tomb Raider

The movies below are now showing at either Cinescape, Grand Cinemas or Sky Cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Boonie Bears: A Mystical Winter (6.2)
The Arabian Warrior (9.6)
The Leisure Seeker (6.5) ♦
Tomb Raider (7.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Black Panther (7.2)
Black Water (N/A)
Cold Moon (4.3)
Death Wish (6.4)
Hangman (5.1)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (6.9) ♦ ★
The Shape of Water (7.6) ♦ ★

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

A Beautiful Planet 3D (7.9)
Amazing Mighty Micro Monsters 3D (7.4)
America Wild: National Parks Adventure (N/A)
Dream Big 3D (7.9)
Extreme Weather 3D (6.6)
Tiny Giants 3D (8.0)
Watermelon Magic 3D (7.4)

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

The Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Centre museums is officially opening tomorrow and their website is now live and contains their ticket prices, opening hours and floor maps of the place amongst other information. The ticket prices turned out to be super reasonable with children under 18 costing KD2 and adults costing KD3. Here all the ticket prices:

Adults (18+): 3 KD
Junior | Student (Max 18): 2 KD
Under 2: Free of Charge
Ambulant Disabled: 1.5 KD
Wheelchair Disabled: 1.5 KD + Free Helper
Chaperon: 2 KD

Below is the map of the museum so you can see all the buildings and what they contain.

Opening hours are 9AM to 9PM on weekdays, and 3PM to 11PM on weekends. They’re closed on Sundays.

I’m actually headed to the museums in a bit since I’ve been invited to the pre-opening and I’m super excited. Hopefully, they’ll let me take photos so that I can post them up here tomorrow. To check out their website, visit ascckw.com

Update: They’ve changed their opening hours and I’ve updated the post to reflect that

Coucou and Tiger Tiger are two new restaurants that are opening next week. Coucou is a breakfast and brunch spot while Tiger Tiger is a Pan-Asian restaurant. They’ll both be operating from the same location in Kuwait City, with one brand running in the morning while the other in the evening.

I tried both places yesterday and they visually looked like two very different restaurants even though it’s just the lighting that changes. While Coucou is bright and colorful during the day, Tiger Tiger has a completely different look at night with red ambient lighting and louder music playing.

Coucou is a breakfast and brunch spot but will also have a grab and go aspect to it for employees working in the area that don’t have time to sit and eat. Their menu consists of a variety of egg-based dishes including interesting ones like breakfast quesadillas, croque madame and spicy sausage shakshuka. Their opening hours will be from 8AM to 2PM.

Tiger Tiger isn’t a new brand, they’ve had a couple of pop-up events before and they’ve been on Carriage since last year. But they’re now going to have dine-in and a lot more new items on the menu. I loved the space at night with the moody red lights, good music and the night view of the street outside. It didn’t feel like I was in Kuwait while having dinner, and then when I walked out of the place, it felt like I was walking out of a pub or club. Such an odd feeling to get in Kuwait. Tiger Tiger’s opening hours will be from 4PM to 11PM.

I love the location of the restaurant, it’s located in the same building as Habra and Joa, but it’s right at the start of the building with large windows that overlook the busy road. Both restaurants close on Sundays and they’re both having trials this week with the aim of opening by next Monday. So if you’re looking for a breakfast spot in the city or a Chinese restaurant that is a step up from your average hole in the wall, it’s worth checking the place out. You can check them out on instagram @coucou.kw @tigertiger.kw

Here is their location on [Google Maps]

This post is a throwback for those who’ve been reading the blog from the early days. Do you remember my posts on Shark of Kuwait? He was an interesting looking character that used to always park his vintage blue Buggati outside Starbucks opposite Fanar in Salmiya. Not sure what reminded me of him but I decided to check and see if he was on instagram and turns out he was! So if you want to see what he’s been up to for the past 10 years, check him out @sharkofkuwait

I should probably put together a series of posts called “Where are they now?” in which I get in touch with previously popular personalities I’ve featured on the blog and see what they have been up to. Like where is Big D??

Founded in 1868, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest is one of the oldest musical institutions in Eastern Europe and they’ll be coming to Kuwait at the end of the month to perform at JACC.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing over three nights in Kuwait, from March 29th to March 31st. Because going to an orchestra isn’t a common thing in Kuwait yet, JACC were able to convince the orchestra to create a tailored program that would connect more with a local audience. The first night will feature their standard program, but the last two nights will have a slightly different one.

Amani Al-Hajji, the popular Kuwaiti opera singer will be collaborating with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and performing two songs on the second and third nights. In addition to collaborating with Amani, the Philharmonic orchestra will also be performing 15 minutes of Kuwaiti songs on the last two nights.

To make the event even more accessible to the general public, JACC have also made the ticket prices affordable with prices starting from KD15 and going up to KD55 for the platinum seats.

So if like me you’ve never watched a live orchestra performance before, this would be a great opportunity. For more info and tickets, you can check out the JACC website [Here]