Search: “sti”

Yusuf Al-Jaddah, a sowt singer I encountered during a performance in a private suite at the Jumeirah five-star hotel in Kuwait City in May 2014, pointed out the huge changes that have occurred in the background, even as the tradition of communal performance has persisted:

“Years back I used to sing exactly at this spot with musicians from Bahrain. We were sitting in the sand and this hotel was not even built.”

Kuwait was musically quite a revelation to me. Despite rapid modernizations across the Gulf, which sees traditional performances occurring nowadays in hotels as well as diwānīyahs, traditional music is still performed, at least in private gatherings, on a weekly basis. Although at first the apparent absence of any older buildings in the city centre would imply complete modernisation of the culture, it is clear that musical culture is still very vibrant.

A friend sent me a link to an article from the Qatar Digital Library on traditional music in Kuwait. Honestly, only reason I’m sharing it is because I loved the first song on the playlist called “كاسين ويسكي” or two glasses of whisky in English. The song was written before the alcohol ban in Kuwait and was composed and sang by Kuwaiti musician Abdullah Al-Fadala in Bahrain in the 1950s. You can check out the article [Here] and listen to the whisky song as well as other songs they’ve selected below.

By the way, the Qatar Digital Archive is kinda similar to something I was proposing back in January that we need in Kuwait like urgently. I mean Qatar have digitized and archived Kuwaiti history while we haven’t even done that for ourselves yet alone for our neighboring countries.

Lots of events this weekend but due to the weather, some of the outdoor ones might get canceled, so double check with the organizer before heading out to make sure they’re still on. Below is this weekends list of events:

Thursday
Exhibition: Third Identity
Exhibition: Road to Black
Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, and the Requiem Mass
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
Tefaseel Design Exhibition
Organic hydroponics and sustainability: Truth or Fiction?

Friday
Tefaseel Design Exhibition
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
PantryBee Presents Farm to Table Sunset Dinner
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Macro Photography in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup
Voices & Verses
Reborn Carnival

Saturday
Amir’s Cup Show Jumping Championship
Yoga with the 3
Karate Kenshinkan & Kung-Fu Sanda
Bait Al Arab: Kuwait State Stud
Annual Worldwide InstaMeet
Family Day at Amricani
Murouj Market
Footwork Workshop with Cheerito (Russia)
JAM JAM – Open Acoustic Jam Session
Gardening at The Secret Garden
Reborn Carnival
Volleyball Tournament

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.

As you know by now, Beauty and the Beast was pulled from movie theaters on Monday by request of the Ministry of Information due to further censorship. Supposedly MOI knew that a “gay moment” existed, but when they originally watched the film, they didn’t find the scene and assumed the theaters were showing a different version of the movie. Once the film was released and social media caught on to the fact that the controversial scene wasn’t cut, MOI contacted the theaters and had them pull the movie so they could remove the scene in question and re-release it. If that alone wasn’t enough drama, Cinescape last night announced that it will now no longer be playing the movie “in line with the company’s responsibilities and principles towards young customers”. Below is Cinescape’s full message:

Dear Valued Customers,
We would like to inform you that Kuwait National Cinema Company decided to

Stop showing Beauty and the Beast in line with our values as responsibility toward our young viewers

I’ve contacted Grand Cinemas to see if they will be pulling the movie as well, but as of this post I haven’t heard back from them yet. Who would have ever have thought a Disney film could ever cause this much controversy.

Update: Grand Cinemas got back to me telling me the movie is now banned in Kuwait.

You’ve probably heard about this in the news but in case you haven’t, the U.S. issued a temporary ban on electronics in cabins on some Middle Eastern flights to the U.S. It’s a temporary 96 hour ban at the moment but it still sucks if you were planning on traveling to the U.S. in the next few days and like me, take all your on inflight entertainment with you. Oddly though, according to AP, the ban includes Kuwait.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press the ban will apply to nonstop flights to the U.S. from 10 international airports serving the cities of Cairo in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Casablanca in Morocco; Doha in Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The ban was indefinite, said the official.

I wasn’t aware of any direct flights to the U.S. from Kuwait. United Airlines stopped flying out from Kuwait and Kuwait Airways now stops in Ireland for security reasons on the way to New York. Is there a flight that is direct to the U.S. from Kuwait that I am not aware of?

Update: It might be a temporary ban, it might not be, everyone seems to be confused

Update2: Kuwait Airways will begin flying non-stop to New York starting from Sunday, March 26.

@PK_Spark is the 19 year old parkour guy I posted about awhile back, where him and his friends snuck onto the roof of Hamra Tower and started sliding around. Around 10 days ago, he sent me a link to his latest video where he snuck into the new NBK tower thats being constructed across the street from Hamra Tower where he climbed up to the highest crane. I was going to post the video on the blog but then it suddenly disappeared along with all his social media accounts. I thought the video might have gotten him in trouble and turns out that was the case. A few days later, his social media accounts came back online and he posted the following message on his instagram:

I got arrested by the CID ( criminal investigation department) and they throw me in jail, all that was because of my crane climbs and rooftops stuff at least m free right now but the bad news is no more rooftops till I leave this country.

I learned something from this experience ( freedom is expensive ) don’t lose it.

It’s messed up that he got arrested, but it shouldn’t be a surprise since he was basically trespassing onto private property and then sharing video of it. In any case he’s back out now, just no more dangerous rooftops stunts for awhile which is a good thing. If you want to see some of his videos, you can check out his instagram account @pk_spark or his YouTube channel [Here]

Last week I posted that the Habitat Museum at Al Shaheed Park was now open but I only managed to pass by it this past weekend. I left so impressed, that here I am posting about the museum again a week later.

The museum showcases the unique beauty of Kuwait’s plants and animal life by taking visitors on a journey through the local ecosystem. When you first enter the premises you need to pick up your audio guide as well as a round disc that contains a plant seed. This disc can then be used in various parts of the museum to activate screens and interact with the exhibits.

The museum isn’t that big but I loved everything about it. My favorite part though had to be watching different families and people just walk around interacting with the displays. Its pretty obvious that people in Kuwait are hungry for museums which is why I can’t wait until the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center opens up end of this year.

Another thing I liked was the fact the museum brings up two important issues, illegal hunting near the wildlife reserves as well as how camping can be very disruptive to the environment. Two very important issues which I’m glad they talk about in their exhibits because it will definitely educate the visitors especially the young ones.

The Habitat Museum is located in the same building as the escalators that take you to the parking lot (the far end one) and right across from the restaurant Table Otto.

The opening hours are:
Monday to Friday: 4PM to 9PM
Saturdays: 12PM to 7PM
Sundays: Closed

Entry is free just make sure you have an ID card so you could pick up the audio guide and plant disc. The museum is really worth checking out so pass by.

For more photos of the interior taken by the photographer Niccolò Guasti, click [Here]

After a slight change of plans, the Filipo The Filipino pop-up event is going to take place tonight and tomorrow night. The menu will be comprised of contemporary dishes that have been injected with some Filipino soul, so should be interesting experience. The event will be taking place in a warehouse in Shuwaikh so if you want more details, click [Here]

I’ve had the Nintendo Switch gaming console for nearly a week now and so I figured I’d give my first impressions on it in case you’ve been contemplating on getting one.

GET ONE!

So far in my short time with the Switch I’m loving it. I purchased two games for it, the first was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (of course) which has been scoring a 10/10 on all gaming sites. The second game I purchased was the racing game Fast RMX which is similar to the old Wipeout series except a lot faster.

I’ve been spending on average around 5 hours a day playing Zelda and I love how with the Switch I could be playing on my TV one minute, then put a UFC fight on TV and continue playing Zelda off the Switch’s built-in screen. I love how I can be sitting on my couch playing Zelda, but then leave the house and take the Switch with me so I could continue playing while waiting for a friend to meet me at a coffee shop. The Switch is a home console and a portable console at the same time and thats easily my favorite thing about it.

Battery life has been perfectly fine with me since when I do play on the Switch when on the go, its usually for short bursts. Since the Switch uses USB-C to charge, I can charge it with a battery pack if I’ll be playing for longer than 3 hours at a time like when I’m traveling. My MacBook Pro also uses USB-C to charge, so when I travel, I’ll charge the Switch using my laptop charger saving me the need to pack the Switch charger. The size of the Switch is pretty big compared to a phone or a Nintendo DS, but yet it somehow still manages to fit into the back pocket of my skinny jeans. I ordered a case for it from Waterfield which should be arriving next week, so that should make carrying it around easier.

If you’ve been thinking about getting the Switch then just go ahead and make the plunge. There aren’t that many games on it right now but honestly, Zelda alone is worth getting the Switch even if no other games come out on it ever again. Finding a Switch for a reasonable price on the other hand is going to be a challenge. If you can’t order one online then you’ll have to keep looking for reasonably priced one locally. The cheapest I found was on Al Fuhod for KD139 and Konami-X also had them for KD140. But, both are currently sold out and both probably had them that low for promotional purposes. Online is still your best bet.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to play polo, the Kuwait Polo Club offers polo training, horseback riding and horse training. The cost is KD40 for an hour, but if you’re interested in multiple lessons than you could negotiate a better deal. The price includes a horse and all the gear and equipment needed. The club is located in Abdalli Farms so you’ll have to commute quite a bit for these lessons.

Polo in Kuwait isn’t accessible to everyone due to its cost and location but its still good to know that if you want to learn how to play then you can. For more information you can check out the Kuwait Polo Club [Website] or find them on instagram @kuwaitpoloclub

The Habitat Museum at Al Shaheed Park is now officially open to the public. The museum showcases the unique beauty of Kuwait’s plants and animal life by taking visitors on a journey through the local ecosystem. It’s located in the same building as the escalators that take you to the parking lot (the far end one) and right across from the restaurant Table Otto.

The opening hours are:
Monday to Friday: 4PM to 9PM
Saturdays: 12PM to 7PM
Sundays: Closed

For more photos of the interior taken by the photographer Niccolò Guasti, click [Here]

Over the past couple of months I’ve been getting emails and tweets from readers asking me if the internet provider WiMD shutdown. None of their social media accounts work anymore so people are assuming they must have closed down. Well the answer is no, they haven’t closed down. Instead, WiMD have just done a pretty terrible job at letting people know that they’ve renamed and rebranded to B.Wireless.

Last year WiMD purchased the internet provider GulfNet and a couple of months ago WiMD rebranded GulfNet to B.Online, then rebranded WiMD to B.Wireless and then created a mother company called B.Global which both now fall under. It’s kinda B.Confusing just because of the fact the names are so generic and they renamed their social media accounts but didn’t really tell anyone. I’m a WiMD customer and I didn’t even get an email letting me know about the rebranding or renaming. The only reason I found out is because their marketing manager had told me they were going to rebrand and then sent me the presentation to check out. Not even the WiMD website mentions the renaming.

So if you want WiMD, their new social media accounts are:
Instagram: @bwirelesskw
Twitter: @bwirelesskw

Their website is still wimd.com.kw

Over the weekend I got to try Corny’s smashed lemonade and corndogs over at the baseball tournament and damn they were good. Corny’s Smashed Lemonade and Corny’s Corndogs both belong to Josh who also has Corny’s Shaved Ice. He just recently started serving lemonades and its by far my favorite lemonade in Kuwait.

Watching Josh make the lemonade is pretty entertaining since he has a cool contraption a friend of his created for him that smashes the fresh lemons in front of you before he adds ice, sugar and water to it. He serves the lemonade in a huge 32oz cup which means you’ll be drinking nearly a liter of lemonade. Even though that’s a lot I was still tempted to get a second serving after I was done with my first one. And then the corndog, it was so good that I was already planning to order my second serving while I was still midway through the first.

A post shared by Corny's Smashed Lemonade™ 🍋🔨🍋🔨 (@cornyssmashedlemonade) on Mar 3, 2017 at 8:03am PST

You can watch Josh make lemonade in the entertaining video above which he posted on instagram. He used to work in real estate hence the great sales presentation. Josh pops up at random events with his concepts so you can follow him on instagram to find out where he’ll be next if you want to try one of his products. His instagram accounts are:

@cornyssmashedlemonade
@cornysshavedice
@thecornycanine

I ran into a mechanical problem on my way to work this morning in my Datsun. As I was driving down the Gulf Road, my accelerator cable broke. Luckily I was driving fast enough so I could change lanes all the way to the right and then coast through a green traffic light until I managed to take the exit into the Chili’s parking lot. By then my car was going super slow but it still had enough momentum for me to find a spot and park my car. I checked under my dash right away and saw the frayed cable. I was upset but calm since I know with old cars you need to have patience and mine barely gives me any trouble anymore considering I drive it everyday and I’m not really gentle with it. After a few minutes of contemplating what I should do, I decided I would just try and fix it myself since I kinda knew what I needed to do. Cut the story short, I connected the cable back to my pedal but then ran into an issue with the cable no longer reaching my carburetor. So then had to move my cable bracket closer to the carburetor and readjust the location of my throttle spring and got everything working. If you want to see all the steps I tweeted them: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

It took around an hour and I felt a sense of accomplishment when I was done, but thats not what this post is about. While I was working on my car in the Chili’s parking lot, two guys came up to me and asked if I needed any help.

The first guy looked a bit “3agaidi”. He pulled up in a white Hyundai with fully black tinted windows as I was about to start work on the car and asked me if everything was ok and if I needed any help. I told him I was good and explained to him what the problem was. He offered to drop me off to Shuwaikh or home if I wanted to but I told him I was going to fix the car myself. He then told me he had a 79 Datsun himself, but that he uses it only for “استعراض” which roughly translates to, “I do burnouts in the middle of public roads”. He was pretty nice though and left after a few minutes by driving out of the parking lot the wrong way (of course).

The second guy who came up to me was an older American guy. I was halfway through the job and he also asked me what was wrong and if I needed any help. I told him the accelerator cable broke but I managed to reattach it. He asked me if I had enough slack left to get the cable back to the carburetor and I told him I didn’t, but I was working on a fix for that by moving the cable bracket closer to the carb. He told me he was a Suburu guy so he knew a thing or two about repairing cars (car people will understand this). He was with his wife and they walked around looking at the car for a bit before they went into Chili’s for brunch. Now here is the cool part, around 25 minutes later as I had just finished up and was done testing the throttle, the American guy comes back out with an ice cold lemonade! He’s like you’ve been working under the sun so I figured I’d get you a lemonade.

Like seriously wtf? That was probably one of the nicest things a complete stranger has ever done for me. He handed me the lemonade and then walked all the way back into Chili’s. I was thinking like wtf? Since when are people this nice? It also made me feel like such an un-nice person myself. I would never have thought of doing something like that to a complete stranger. I mean, I think I’m a nice guy, but if I was like Level 6 on the nice scale, this guy was a Level 9 or 10. I wish I had gotten his name or went inside to Chili’s after I was done and thanked him again. But at that point I wasn’t thinking straight, I just wanted to get out of the sun and my car out of there and back home. His niceness really only hit me once I was driving back hone drinking the lemonade.

Although my morning didn’t start off great, the experience with the two strangers was really an eye opener. I kinda want to try and be nicer to strangers from now on. I’ll have to check back on this a year from now and see how this plan turns out.

Back in 2015 I decided to ditch OSN and live TV and instead use Netflix, Hulu and HBO for all my TV needs. I’ve had no regrets with that decision and I haven’t missed live TV at all since. But, the only thing I wish I did have was access to UFC events. Recently I found out UFC is back with OSN so I decided to check the OSN website and see how much the monthly membership was. To my surprise they had their sports pack for KD6 a month and that included all the UFC events. KD6 is basically how much I’m paying right now for both Netflix and Hulu combined but since I’m a huge UFC fan, I decided it was worth plunking down KD6 just to watch the one or two UFC event every month.

So a few moments ago I tried to sign up for the package and I got reminded to why I ditched OSN in the first place.

Turns out even though they’re selling the sports package that includes UFC events for KD6 a month, you CAN’T sign up to it, not unless you sign up to their starter package which costs another KD6 and includes channels I don’t care for and don’t want. So I’ll have to pay KD12 a month just to watch UFC fights. Why can’t services like OSN just sell you what you want to watch? It’s the same issue people have with cable providers in the US, where they try to sell you 100 channels when you just want 2.

BeIN on the other hand are pretty cool. The only other sport I watch is Formula 1 and BeIN sell day passes for $8. So anytime there is a F1 race I just pay $8 and get to watch it online. I don’t need to sign up to any of their packages, I just watch what I want whenever I want to. Even their monthly pass to all their channels is just $18 which is still pretty reasonable. So OSN if you’re reading this, you guys need to become much more flexible. Netflix is already in the region and more and more people are gonna start dropping cable in favor of digital. At least have separate satellite and digital subscriptions and let people subscribe to whatever they want. I want to give you my money, just not all of it..

The article below was written by a friend of mine and I believe is worth sharing on the blog. It’s a bit long but worth reading till the end.

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An Appeal Against Dolphins in Captivity at the Scientific Center of Kuwait

I would like to begin by saying this letter is an appeal to all those with a conscience and a heart. An appeal to those who do not know, and to those who do. I extend these words in hope that they may inspire action, unity, and a change of fate for those without voices to speak for themselves.

One of my favorite places and institutions in Kuwait will be under construction for the next three years. The Scientific Center of Kuwait. They plan to expand The Scientific Center, and install a dolphinarium.

Dolphinarium
An aquarium in which dolphins are kept and trained for public entertainment.

This news has been circulating for a few years now and I asked confirmation from the institution itself. It has been confirmed. They are going to build a dolphin prison.

Let’s take a look at the direction the world is moving in – they are enforcing laws that prohibit the exploitation of these wild animals. The United Kingdom has banned dolphinariums since the early 90’s (way ahead of their time). Most (not all) dolphinariums that exist today in the world have existed since the 70’s and 80’s if they haven’t been forced to shut down YET.