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I don’t think any notebook has ever gotten as much hate as the new MacBook Pro’s have and I can’t understand why. Last week I replaced my 13″ MacBook Air with the new 13″ MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar and I just love it.

Before I go ahead and explain why I love the new MacBook Pro so much and why I think its so much better than my already amazing MacBook Air, I’m going to first quickly explain why the biggest issues people have with the MacBook Pro don’t really affect me. This review is also fairly long compared to my regular posts so I’ve titled all the main paragraphs that way you can skip down to the area you care more about if you don’t feel like reading.

No USB Ports
This is probably the biggest issue people have with the new MacBook Pros, they don’t have the regular USB Type-A ports and instead Apple replaced them with the newer, slimmer, faster, better but also less popular USB-C ports. In my case I rarely used the USB ports on my MacBook Air, the only time I ever used them was when I traveled I’d charge my iPhone from my Air’s USB port and when I wanted to copy stuff onto or off memory sticks. I barely used USB so for me if the ports are USB-C or Type-A… I don’t really care. I bought the USB-C to Type-A Apple adapter so IF I ever need a regular Type-A port, I’ll just use the adapter. I’d rather have a slimmer notebook without any USB ports than a thicker one with. But again thats because I rarely used the ports to begin with and I can always move things around wirelessly.

No SD Card Slot
This I was more upset with than the lack of USB ports. I take a lot of photos with my camera for the blog and when I travel so it was very practical having an SD card slot in my MacBook Air. But it’s not that big a deal really having no SD card slot. My current camera’s SD card has WiFi anyway so I’ll just wirelessly transfer the photos onto my Mac. Actually, most of the time I copy the photos over to my phone first, edit them in VSCO and then AirDrop them onto my Mac. That’s what I did with these pictures in this post for example.

Battery Life
This wasn’t an issue until Consumer Reports tested the new MacBook Pro’s late last month and got battery life that ranged anywhere from 4 to 18 hours. They cited major inconsistencies which I have yet to encounter with my short time with the notebook. So far my MacBook Pro is lasting me as much as my MacBook Air would which is to say all day of on and off use.

Max 16GB of RAM
A lot of people have made a fuss that the maximum amount of RAM the new MacBook Pro’s support is 16GB. I had 8GB of RAM on my MacBook Air and I was doing design work and editing large files on it without any issues. I have 8GB of RAM on my new MacBook Pro and I expect it to perform even better than my MacBook Air so I’m fine with the 16GB limit since I don’t need more than 8.

The Review
Now with the controversial items out of the way let me start my review. I’ve never owned a MacBook Pro (or PowerBook). My first notebook ever was a white 12″ iBook G3 Dual USB back in 2001 (considered the most unreliable Apple notebook ever). Since then I’ve had a bunch of other low end Apple notebooks until I moved up to the MacBook Air. I got my first one in 2011 and then replaced it in 2015 with the updated model. Anyone who owns a MacBook Air will tell you they’re incredible notebooks and I really didn’t need to replace mine, it was more than enough for my needs, but something about the new MacBook Pro’s attracted me, I think it was the Touch Bar but once I saw them I knew I needed one. In the week I’ve owned the MacBook Pro, a few things have really impressed me compared to the MacBook Air:

The Size
Somehow Apple has managed to make the MacBook Pro smaller than the MacBook Air and also weigh the same. Side by side when compared to the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro is clearly smaller and more compact.

The Screen
My biggest issue with the MacBook Air was the screen, not because it didn’t have a retina display which I could care less about, but because the viewing angle was terrible. I used to constantly adjust the screen tilt to make sure I was getting the best viewing angle. With the new MacBook Pro I don’t have that issue, no matter how much I move the screen looks great. The color difference and brightness is another thing I instantly noticed, side by side the MacBook Air looks dimmer and the colors duller when compared to the Pro. I’d find it really difficult to move back to the MacBook Air now.

The Sound
The speakers on the new MacBook Pro are much better than the MacBook Air. Like the difference in sound quality is pretty dramatic, other than the fact the sound is much more louder on the MacBook Pro, it also has more bass and much more clarity to it. And because the speakers are pointing towards you (with the Air the sound is indirect), the left and right channels are also a lot more clearly defined. I’ve started listening to music on my notebook which I never used to do before.

The Keyboard
Based on the reviews I read online about the keyboard, I was worried I was going to hate it. I don’t, it’s now one of my favorite things in the new MacBook Pro. I type better with it, I type faster and it just feels so much more solid when compared to the MacBook Air keyboard which now feels too squishy to me.

What About the Touch Bar?
This is one area I have yet to make up my mind on. There are two parts to the Touch Bar, the main touch display area and the TouchID (fingerprint sensor) which is located on the far right. I love the TouchID since it allows me to sign into my MacBook instantly. I’m also hoping that soon I could use TouchID to unlock 1Password like I do on my iPhone, that option alone would make this MacBook Pro worth it over the Air.

Now the touch display area of the Touch Bar is what I’m still trying to get a hang of. Right now it really isn’t that useful. It looks cool for sure but it’s currently not that much more practical than keyboard short cuts. Also not all apps support it yet and the ones that do don’t allow that much customization to it. Because of the way I rest my hands on the keyboard while using the trackpad I also keep accidentally touching the Esc button which is annoying (I’ve done it 3 times while writing this article) but I’m getting used to it. While I’m typing this post up I have Spotify showing on my Touch Bar but for I wish instead of the audio scrubber showing (pictured above), I could choose to show the name of the song and artist in that space instead. The Touch Bar is still new though so I’m hoping we’ll get more customization options over the next year as companies start understanding what people want from the Touch Bar.

MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro
This is a really easy recommendation to make, the MacBook Pro is a much better machine over the Air in every way. The MacBook Pro weighs the same as the Air but is also smaller in size so the biggest advantage the Air had over the Pro series doesn’t exist anymore. The MacBook Pro screen is better, the keyboard is better and if you’re used to listening to music on the Air’s speakers, then you’re gonna love the MacBook Pro. The only thing I have difficulty recommending is the MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar over the version without the Touch Bar. Is the Touch Bar worth an extra $300? I think I’m leaning towards a yes, but only if you’ve got the money to spend. If you don’t thats fine, you aren’t really missing much.

I ordered my MacBook Pro from eBay and it cost me KD548 ($1,789) and another KD10.5 to ship to Kuwait using PostPlus. It was considerably cheaper to buy it on eBay since Apple charges tax and I would have ended up paying KD600 ($1,963) if I had purchased it from the Apple Store. It was also quicker since when I was ordering the MacBook Pro, the wait time on the Apple Store was 3-4 weeks before shipping. But, the advantage of ordering directly from the Apple Store is you could customize your Mac with more RAM or a faster CPU. I also purchased the “Space Gray” color which is what you see in the pictures in this post. Let me know if you have any questions.

Update: Turns out 1Password already works with TouchID, I just needed to enable it in the settings!

The huge bridge that connects Kuwait City to Jahra is now open. Last week I was heading back from Sabbiya to Kuwait City and got on the newly opened Jahra bridge and damn did it save me so much time. I think I probably saved anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes just because of the bridge. It’s super long and flies over all the small roads, traffic lights and roundabouts that you would usually have to take. Only downside at the moment is that the bridge ends as a two lane road outside of Cozmo/McDonalds Kaifan, so there was a bit of traffic at the end as the cars funneled, but the amount of time I saved still made up for it.

Oh and just a small note, there are no speed cameras on the bridge at the moment.

Update: Ok so you need to watch out for the parked speed cameras like the one pictured below. (Thanks Forzaq8)

Mark posted his top 5 video games last week, but 2016 was a great year for video games and it was challenging for me to narrow the list down to 10 yet alone 5. There were a lot of great games from AAA studios and a lot of great games from smaller studios. There were also few games that I loved playing that didn’t make it to the list, games that people should still check out like Hitman, Dragon Quest Builders, Pokemon Sun/Moon and the Division. 2017 is looking promising as well, so fingers crossed! Check out my favorite games of 2016 below.

Back in early November I posted about how Kuwaiti athlete Bashar Alhunaidi along with three other kayakers had started their kayak expedition from Kuwait to Oman to raise awareness of the environmental issues facing the Gulf. It’s been nearly two months since they left Kuwait and they’re now nearing their final destination. Bashar and his team are currently in Abu Dhabi and have around 800km left before reaching Oman. They’ve been pretty busy adding videos and pictures to their instagram account including some funny ones when a gerbil managed to steal some of their food. So check out their instagram account @kayak4kuwait

Usually I let my brother write all the video game posts but in this specific case I wanted to share my favorite games of last year. I went through a lot more games than usual this past year but the list below are of the ones that did it for me:

Here’s some cute uplifting news. Earlier this morning, a giraffe was born at the Kuwait Zoo. The mother went into labor at 9:30AM and the giraffe was finally born at 11:30AM. The sex of the giraffe is still unknown as of this post since the zoo keepers can’t touch the giraffe until it nurses.

Update: Here is a link to a [Video]

Thanks Tam!

Below are the events taking place this holiday weekend:

Thursday
Still Departures by George Awde
Circus Show at Al Kout
Movie & Dinner: The Croods
Movies at the Park: The Time That Remains

Friday
Circus Show at Al Kout
Tai Chi in the Park
Hatha Yoga with Rosie
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Circus Show at Al Kout
Yoga with the 3
Movie at the Park: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Sunday
Circus Show at Al Kout
Project 5 Miles Running Group

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.

The Kuwait subreddit on Reddit are trying to put together a list of local content creators so I figured I’d help them out. Below is the list I’ve put together of local content creators on YouTube. If you know of any others, please let me know about them so I can add them to the list.

Arabic Channels
4GX (Tech)
Amoosa Games (Video Games)
Aya’s Nutrition (Food)
Deera Gaming (Video Games)
ExtravaGaming (Video Games)
Ezzebda (Tech)
Gamer Snack (Video Games)
Kuweat (Food)
Lucky Generation Gamers (Video Games)
Q8 Stig (Cars)
REDFOXZERO (Video Games)
ShreetVideo (Movies)
Slorks (Tech)
Stay Foolish (Tech)
Super Kalam (Humor)
Swar Shuaib (Interviews)
UrbanQ8 (Informative)
World of Swalef (General)

English Channels
Amirah Of Makeup (Makeup)
MrJovitageorge (Makeup)
Sahar Glam (Makeup/Personal)
The Hybrids (Fashion/Personal)
Voices & Verses (Poetry)

Not to be confused with the Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Center, the Sabah Al Ahmad City Cultural Centre will be located in Sabah Al Ahmad City and feature the following:

– 2 theaters (700 seat & 250 seats for all sorts of theatrical productions)
– 200 seat Conference center with flexibility for hosting conferences with different capacities
– 250 seat Recital hall for music performances
– Children culture center with many cultural activities for children including a 150 seat theater
– Amphitheater for outside performances
– Museum
– Art gallery for hosting art exhibitions
– Library
– Book exhibition for hosting book fairs
– Cultural café
– Oasis: a green air-conditioned large space for public gathering

I originally posted about Sabah Al Ahmad City Cultural Centre back in 2012, but the project disappeared until it was brought back to life last month. It seems Al-Diwan Al-Amiri have taken over the project and its now expected to be completed mid 2018. Al-Diwan Al-Amiri are behind some of the biggest projects in Kuwait like the recently opened Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Center. Check out some of the renderings below:

Thanks q8-msc

ARÉATA is a short film by Ahmed Al Terkait, an independent Kuwaiti filmmaker. The film was officially selected to compete in the Dubai International Film Festival earlier this year and was only published online last week.

The film is a psychodrama/thriller following a young woman with a hair loss condition called Alopecia Aréata. She visits a psychiatrist hoping to uncover the mystery behind her illness. You can watch the full film above or you can checkout the trailer below.

The new album of Fabrice is called Back to Roots, and it’s centering and sober, bold and passionate. I met Fabrice a few years back and knew him from his various projects, but his recent work hit a note as if he had made a new home for himself. This home was not necessarily an actual location, but like it could be found in his art creation. He went full circle, and his work shows it. In Back to Roots Fabrice features cool guests and plays with his take on a form of modern Reggae. His work has hints of Jazz with RnB, plus production stylistics of Hip Hop. In some of his songs he brings in the Middle East influence through the oud and nay, tributing to being in Kuwait. If you like Stephen Marley’s music, you will love his. It is a great body of work which you should download and buy.

Now for those that have read my past blog posts and criticized it being too long: this sentence right here is the point where you can stop reading. If you want to know what makes strong art, keep on reading, as I am about to tell you the story people go through that in return makes powerful work.

Listen to the album here:

This is a story about an expat rebuilding his life all over again. Some expats come to Kuwait for money, others come for the adventure. In Fabrice’s case, he journeyed here to heal.

A little before Fabrice moved to Kuwait he was a full-time musician in France performing as much as he could as an artist and as a bass man for other artists. Fabrice was making what any driven artist could financially make at that time to sustain himself. It was then that his life took a turn with a series of painful events that he could never foresee. His girlfriend was diagnosed with a brain disease and passed away in almost no time. His job was to perform, so he had to keep on playing music in this time of grief. It was hard, but he was committed and he also had to pay his rent. Shortly after that, a close friend was assaulted in a bizarre crime, making Fabrice question his own security and surroundings. Lastly, he was a victim of hate crime, and that was the final drop that put him over the edge. I knew a bit about that situation because he wrote a song about it called ‘Sorry’ which has had heavy radio play on 99.7fm this year. It was part of his previous album. If anyone knows Fabrice they know that he is quite a tall man at over 1.85 and is not someone you would want to attack without thinking twice. But in his song ‘Sorry’ he apologizes to the guys that stabbed him from breaking their noses. I know, crazy! Back to the story, after the hate crime Fabrice had had enough. He went online, looked for work options outside of France, and found a position in Kuwait. In a matter of 2 weeks he sold, gave away and donated all his possessions. He moved to Kuwait with a laptop, his clothes, and a guitar.

Four years later today, Fabrice teaches French to lawyers, doctors, diplomats and many other people in Kuwait. He met his wife here, had a baby boy and created a beautiful family. As I get to listen to his album while in his studio, I look around at all the things that he also built here. He has come a long way from the events in France; I can hear it on this new album.

Sitting in his studio, I listen to his bold lyrics and as he writes about how he supports love and life. Becoming a father made him prioritize concepts of value, and being grateful for the good and straightforward things like in the song Fruits Bread and Tea. His concept of fame and music changed too. His idea of what is popular and what is important was thrown out the window making a song of 6 minutes long just because he felt like it. I find it very smart, very fresh, and yet very mature. Take your time to enjoy it like I did. [iTunes Link]

After all the painful things that happened to him in France, Fabrice felt that he could not be happy or could not grief in Paris. That he was living in a place that had become foreign. When he moved to Kuwait, he explained this to me and until today I will never forget what he said, “I landed in Kuwait, and I looked around at the people and the desert, and felt how music and art are pained here. I knew inside of me that Kuwait and I had been grieving our past. I felt like here, in Kuwait, I could try to heal and be myself in grief, and so I know that right now, in this time and place, Amin, this is my home.”

Home is where your heart can heal.

Peace, Love and Music.

Post by Amin FARI
Are you a musician looking to perform? On the flipside, are you a host looking for musicians to book? Or maybe you’ve just got an awesome idea you’d like to share? Get in touch [email protected] / Instagram: @xxmrfarixx

Below are the events taking place this weekend:

Thursday
Still Departures by George Awde
Slava’s Snow Show
Madeenah Tour: Co-ordinates of Memory

Friday
Slava’s Snow Show
Social Get Together II
Tai Chi in the Park
Good Game: Magic – The Gathering
Voices & Verses December Open Mic Night
Salwa’ Walk and Socialize Meetup

Saturday
Slava’s Snow Show
Charity Zumba +Yoga
The Promenade Market
Yoga with the 3
Dal Talks
Burgers & Art
Community Table “Winter”

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.

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape and Grand Cinemas:

New This Week:
13 Days (N/A)
Passengers (6.7) ♦
Sing (7.3)
The Girl with All the Gifts (7.3)

Other Movies Showing:
Allied (7.2) ♦
Arrival (8.4) ★
Collateral Beauty (5.4)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (8.3)
Hacksaw Ridge (8.8) ★♦
Incarnate (5.6)
Moana (8.2)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (8.3) ★
The Neighbor (5.8)
Trolls (6.7)
Underworld: Blood Wars (6.7) ♦

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

I used to post a gift guide on the blog back in the olden days (jeez wtf) so I decided to bring the list back this year again. If you still haven’t purchased a Christmas gift then the list below might help you with some ideas. Everything listed below is available in Kuwait, the links will take you to the place that sells the item. I might add more to the list as I think of stuff but for now these are my recommendations:

Over KD75
B&O BeoPlay A2 Speaker KD120
B&O BeoPlay H5 Earphones KD85
Micro 3D Printer KD169
Pure Fix Brewster Bicycle KD100
Typographic Light Box KD140

Under KD75
B&O BeoPlay H3 Earphones KD50
Crafted Gift Box KD60
Nintendo Classic Mini KD60

Under KD50
AeroPress Coffee Maker KD17
Alive Yoga (1 Month Membership) KD39
Apple TV (4th Gen) KD47
Breville Smart Kettle KD25
Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker KD32.350
Fujifilm Instax Mini8 Instant Film Camera KD25
Nespresso Inissia Espresso Machine KD45

Under KD15
Black Classic Logbook KD8
Brother Personal Label Machine KD9.900
Casio – Retro Gold Watch KD13
Casio – Retro Steel Watch KD8
Eneloop Charger with 4xAA Batteries KD12.950
Klean Kanteen Stainless Bottle KD10
Mossery Dye Notebook KD3
Striped Shopping Bag KD9.750

Yesterday Grant from %ARABICA sent me some renderings of their new branch that will be opening up in Shuwaikh. It’s going to be much larger than their current location and have a bunch of cool things. The new location will be their central roastery and house a rare vintage Probat UG22 roaster from the 60s. It will be separated from the main seating area by a glass wall so people can watch the roasting process if they want while having their coffee.

The best part about the new roastery I think is that it will have an education center. Customers will be able to schedule training on any number of brewing methods, even how to make coffee using their Slayer machines which is what I’d be interested in (not that I’ll be getting a Slayer machine anytime soon). The main idea with this center is to teach customers how to make the best coffee at home. The new location is expected to soft launch next month with the official opening sometime in February.

Here is the location on [Google Maps]