For those of you who watch the UFC you’ll be interested to know that the PRIDE legend and UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva will be in Kuwait next month for a seminar. Although he’s currently serving a lifetime ban from the sport for refusing to submit to a drug test, he’s still a legend and I’d be excited to see him here. Come to think of it, fight fans in Kuwait are pretty lucky since we’ve gotten a good share of UFC legends come to Kuwait so far including Anderson Silva and Royce Gracie. For more info on the Wanderlei event, click [Here]
Update: The seminar cost is KD60 for 2 days and its KD25 for a photo/autograph. Also it seems the lifetime ban was overturned in May.
The question ‘What Do You see?’ in reference to the current state of affairs in Kuwait, is a question that I usually get in meetings and tend to dodge to avoid entering into a complaining session about the country in the middle of the work day.
Then, several months ago I was on a red-eye flight back to Kuwait and I began to think what if I am to answer the question. I started writing what came to mind. By touchdown I found myself to have jotted down a collection of contradicting thoughts that have taken the form of a written essay, albeit a loosely-constructed, colloquial essay.
That was in November of 2014. In the weeks that followed I shared that set of contradicting thoughts on LinkedIn, and other social networks, and saw an interesting discussion take place. Since then, two of my colleagues have been working on transforming those thoughts into a visual essay. The result was this well crafted video.
Thank you Mohamed Amin, who shot and edited this video, and Rula Liddawi, who produced and narrated it, for translating my written notes into visual ones.
– Fawaz Al Sirri
Fawaz is the Managing Partner at Bensirri, a local public relations firm. I’ve worked with him a few times and I actually like the guy a lot. I remember the first time I met Fawaz was a few years ago during a meeting in which a digital agency was proposing paying bloggers to write about a brand. Fawaz told the guy that it was unethical to do that and I remember thinking in my head finally, someone else who finds that wrong! It’s why I now always refer Bensirri when anyone asks me if I know of a good PR firm. [YouTube]
For the sneaker heads in Kuwait you’re probably already aware that Kanye’s third release with Adidas will be launching world wide this coming Saturday August 22nd. If you weren’t aware, the previous grey 350’s were surprisingly released at Harvey Nichols in Kuwait and now they’re also part of the world wide release of the “Pirate Black” edition (). But don’t get your hopes up. Like all the stores world wide, Harvey is also getting a very limited quantity of around 12 pairs. To make matters even more difficult, Alshaya has a no raffle policy so unlike most of the stores around the world, Harvey Nichols won’t be holding a raffle on the Yeezys. Instead, like what some stores around the world do (Colette as an example), “VIP” customers will be given a chance to own a pair while the rest will be up for grabs on a first come first served basis.
I’m still trying to get a pair for myself but as of yesterday Harvey Nichols still hadn’t received the shipment yet so they will most likely be releasing them after the August 22nd world wide release date. I even heard September 21st as a local launch date although I find that hard to believe. Once I get a confirmation on a local launch date I’ll post it here but your best bet might be to check their instagram account daily just to be safe.
FYI, the previous grey release of the Yeezy Boost 350 are now selling for on the grey market while the Yeezy Boost 750 are selling for $2,250+.
Update: They’re launching tomorrow morning (Sunday, August 23rd) at Harvey Nichols. First come first serve, doors open at 10AM and there are around 12 pairs only. Good luck not getting trampled.
Update2: I just realized because this is Kuwait, everyone will probably send their drivers from 6AM to wait in line.
There is a really old Korean guy called Mr Kim that has a shop in my building and I always found him fascinating. He’s got fairly long white hair, wears white bell bottoms with funky vintage shirts and drives a very well kept classic Chevrolet Caprice. I’ve actually posted about his shop before but never about him since I didn’t really know his story. But, recently he asked me to help him set up an Instagram account and we got to talking and it turns out he’s got such an interesting and random story.
Back in 1981 Mr Kim was the General Secretary of the Boxing Federation in Korea when Sheikh Fahad Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (the founder of the Kuwait Olympic Committee) was visiting Korea. Sheikh Fahad met with Mr Kim and offered him the position head coach of for the Kuwait National Boxing Team. Mr Kim accepted the position and came to Kuwait in 1982 and right away helped the Kuwaiti team win two bronze medals at the Asian Games that same year.
Mr Kim continued to train the Kuwait National Boxing Team before leaving a few years later to train the Kuwaiti police and later the army. Around 88-89 he left boxing behind and partnered up with Carlton Hotel to open a Korean restaurant (which is still there). In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, he was on vacation at the time but his two daughters and son were in Kuwait. His children stayed at the Carlton Hotel at first and later stayed at the home of an employee of the Korean embassy.
In 1991 Mr Kim came back to Kuwait after the invasion and got into a disagreement with the Carlton Hotel and so left the restaurant. In 1992 he opened his current shop which sells mostly hair bands and random little trinkets he brings in from Korea. His children and wife now live in Korea while he lives here alone. He’s 71 years old.
As I’ve mentioned before his shop is really worth checking out. I’ve actually taken a bunch of friends there and everyone was always surprised at how visually intense the interior is. So pass by him if you can, his shop is located on the mezzanine floor of Anjari Complex in Salmiya [Map]. You can also check out his Instagram account [Here]
The local coding school “Coded” is hosting an event tonight with Fasttelco to test an ultra fast internet connection that they claim to be the fastest in Kuwait. The connection will be a 500Mbps fiber connection and everyone is invited to come and try it out. To test that speed you can either bring your own laptop and connect it to one of the available ethernet cables or you could use one of their test laptops. If you’ve got a huge file you’ve been wanting to download or upload then this might be a good way to do it. For more information click [Here]
Last week I was having brunch with a friend at Cheesecake Factory in Avenues when I spotted two kids on drift boards playing around. My friend hadn’t seen one before but I had a couple of weeks earlier when I was in LA. I didn’t really know what they were or what they were called but the way the kids were going at it, it looked like it was a lot of fun. So I turned to my friend and told her I needed to find out who the dealer in Kuwait was so I could get one to review. Not exaggerating, literally less than 5 minutes later I get an email from a company called ClaroTek who were introducing a drift board to the Kuwaiti market and wanted to see if I would be interested in trying it out. I looked over at my friend and I was like you won’t believe this but guess what…
I ended up meeting the guy and picking up the Cybord drift board later that day. He gave me a brief background on the Cybord as well as instructions on how to use it and once we were done meeting I went back home to try it out. Getting on the drift board the first time is freaky, your first aim obviously is not to fall off but that requires you to put all your trust into a Chinese made device that you’ve never used before. That makes the first couple of minutes the most difficult but once you’re up on the board and moving around the learning curve quickly speeds up and within 5 minutes you’re riding around as if you’ve been doing it for months. The device is very intuitive and requires very little body movement to work which is why when you watch people on it you wonder how they’re controlling it. Thats because to move all you need to do is press down on your toes gently, if you want to turn right you just push slightly more on your right toe, if you want to stop you flatten your feet, to move back you move some weight towards your heels. It’s all done with very minor movements.
These things can also go pretty fast, the Cybord can go up to 12km/h and has a battery that will make it last 15-20km. The whole thing also weighs just 10KG. There are many different brands of the drift board and they all look exactly the same. What sets ClaroTek apart from the rest of the competitors in the local market is that they’ll be selling them at Xcite and will have AAA warranty which basically covers accidental damage amongst other things. That’s why ClaroTek chose Samsung batteries for the Cybord, to increase the reliability of the device.
After using the Cybord for a week, this is what I think. I can’t believe they’ve managed to take the Segway and squeeze it down to the size of a skateboard. The technology is impressive and compared to the Segway, the drift boards are really cheap. Riding it is a lot of fun but my favorite use for it was pacing up and down my apartment while chatting on my phone which brings me to the issue I have with these boards, I wouldn’t know where to use them. As a kid it’s a no brainer, kids will love riding and playing with the drift board and they wouldn’t mind doing it in public because they’re kids. As an adult it’s different, first of all you’re bound to look like a douche riding around on one of these things in public like say a mall. And if you’re not riding it inside malls where else would you ride them? Kuwait doesn’t exactly have fantastic sidewalks and when they do not all the sidewalks have the wheelchair slopes so you’re going to end up getting off and on the device a lot. The only outdoor places I could think of riding the boards is the Gulf Road sidewalks but I’d rather walk, cycle or run them not cruise up and down on an electronic board. On the other hand ClaroTek were telling me they sold a bunch to a company who have a huge warehouse and so they will be used by their employees to move around quicker. That to me makes a lot more sense than riding around Avenues.
The Cybord will be available at Xcite soon but you can preorder one right now from the ClaroTek website. They come in four colors and they will be selling them for KD229 including the 1 year AAA warranty. Here is a link to their website with all the details [Link]
Now since I don’t have any use for the review unit I’ve decided to give it away to a lucky winner. If you’re interested in winning the Cybord just answer the following question in the comments: What is the name of the company that gave me the review unit?
Rules: The comments will be closed tonight. Winner will have to pick up the Cybord. Only one entry per person and please make sure you use a working email since the winner will be contacted by email. If winner doesn’t respond, another winner will be randomly chosen.
Update: I closed the posts for comments at 6AM. I used random.org to choose the winner and it’s comment #102 by V. Email has been sent, if winner doesn’t respond in 24 hours a second winner will be chosen.
Yesterday I got an email from the owner of a business called Live Sketchbook inviting me to check out her place in Avenues. She described it as a 4D interactive park for kids and although kids stuff never interest me, I was curious to what a 4D interactive park was so I asked her if she had some photos. She emailed me a few and as soon as I saw them I headed over to Avenues to check the place out in person.
Live Sketchbook is a small space located up escalators #20 in Grand Avenues (right next to Muji). It’s a space for kids to come and spend time playing around with one of five different activities they have including:
– A Live Mask station which is a screen you sit in front of and the computer will combine your face with one of an animal of your choice resulting in a creepy/realistic outcome.
– 3D sketching tablets
– A reading corner
– A live mirror in which when you stand in front of will have realistic looking animals walk next to you
– And finally the star of the place, the Live Sketchbook
The Live Sketchbook occupies the majority of the space in the shop and it’s composed of a bunch of touch screens laid out in front of a large wall that has animated illustrations projected onto it. Kids can get on one of the touch screens, open up a coloring book, choose an animal of their choice and then color it in digitally using the onscreen crayons. Once they’re done they can then cut out their animal and flick it up their screen. When they do that their illustrated animal will fly off their screen and onto the animated wall in front of them where their illustration will join the other illustrations on the wall. If that alone wasn’t cool enough the kids can then go up to the wall and interact with their sketch by having it bounce around every time they touch it. I tried it out with a lion I colored in and found it fun so I’m sure kids are going to find it very cool as well.
According to the owner she brought the Live Sketchbook concept from Korea and has the exclusive rights for the brand in the region. I found a video of the Live Sketchbook online which you could check out above to give you a better idea of how it works. They’re going to be soft launching next week and it will cost KD10 for the full day and kids can leave and come back as many times as they want during the day. If you’re interested to find out more, here is a link to their Instagram account [Link]
Escape games are adventurous group games where each group is locked in a themed room and have 60 minutes to solve the mystery. Back in June I posted about one called Room of Clues thats located in Kuwait City but there is a new one opening up in Symphony Mall in Salmiya and it’s supposed to be the largest facility in the region. They started taking bookings yesterday and the prices range depending on how many people you are but generally they’re around KD10 per person and up. The most interesting aspect is that I counted six different type of games available to play which means if you take part in one escape and like it, you could come back and play one of the other games.
One of my favorite brunch places Street have expanded their Saturday morning brunch menu with a lot of new items. Under their “Egg” category they’ve now have Shakshuka and they’ve also created a new category called “Toast” where they’ve added a bunch of new items as well. I had the shakshuka and honestly didn’t like it so I’m going to continue sticking with my favorites, the egg shroom bao or the ribs & egg. Check out the new menu over [Here]
A couple of weeks back I was talking to a friend who had recently posted on the blog and they were irritated by a reader who had complained about their writing style. I was like yeah thats one complaint, now imagine that on a daily basis for over 10 years because thats what I have to deal with. I’ve been blogging for over ten years now and I don’t think a single day has gone by without me getting some kind of hate from a reader.
In the beginning I used to get really bothered and take things personally but over the years I’ve just grown immune to all the hate comments. I’ve basically heard everything, or I thought I did until I got a divorce a few years ago. Some asshole started coming in and leaving hate comments on the blog and signing off with “No wonder Nat left you”. First time I read that I was like WTF, why would anybody be so mean? It hurt reading it the first couple of times but then again I just became immune to it like everything else. And it’s not only from readers, I’ve gotten hate from business owners as well. There is one I have saved on my phone because it’s so mean it’s funny. A girl emailed me and wanted me to post about her cupcake businesses. I replied back to her politely thanking her for contacting me but my readers wouldn’t find a post on a cupcake business interesting. She ended up leaving the comment below on her Facebook status (a friend in common sent me the screenshot)
That’s from a girl who sells cupcakes and has a cute cat as her Facebook profile picture. WTF.
Yesterday I got a bunch of hate in my post about snapchat broadcasting Kuwait live today because some people were upset at me because I was thinking of snapchatting all the garbage in my neighborhood. They weren’t upset about the garbage, they were upset at me wanting to snapchat it.
I tweeted yesterday how I tend to start off most of my replies to people as “Go fuck yourself” and I wasn’t kidding. Thats how I tend to start off my replies but then I send a screenshot to my best friend who usually replies no Mark thats not appropriate and I end up trying to respond more decently to people. But how much more of this do I have to take?
I’ve grown immune to these negative comments or at least I think I have but what is the long term effects of all this bullying on a subconscious level? Emotionally I’ve been told by some people I’m like a robot, I’m not sure if I’ve always been like this or if I’ve become like this after a decade of daily verbal abuse by people. Does it affect my self esteem? Do I get angry quickly because of it? When people keep telling me to get the fuck out of Kuwait, does it make me resent Kuwait? I’m not really sure, I don’t know how deeply all the daily bullying has effected me but I’ve finally decided I don’t want this anymore. I love the blog and I love my readers but I’m done with this.
Over the weekend I will be thinking of different solutions to this problem and one option might be to permanently shut down the comments on the blog. One of my favorite blogs Daring Fireball did that way back and he doesn’t regret it. I think I have some of the smartest and most intelligent readers in Kuwait and I learn so much from the comments every day, but I also don’t want to deal with the negative aspect of the comments anymore.
Got talent? If yes then check out the competition below.
Together with Art Jameel, Crossway Foundation has recently launched an open call to find talented young artists, photographers, filmmakers and designers aged 18-25 in the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Eight winners will have the opportunity to travel to Japan in November 2015 where they will experience one of the most inspiring cultures in the world. Kuwaiti visual artist, Monira Al Qadiri, has been appointed Artistic Lead, and will mentor the winners during their time in Japan.
To enter the competition, applicants must complete an application form on the Crossway Foundation website: www.crossway-foundation.org
Applicants must submit a creative project that relates to the theme: “Encounters with another World.” The project can either be pre-existing artwork or devised especially for the competition. The deadline for the competition is 15 September 2015.
Snapchat will be broadcasting Kuwait live tomorrow (Thursday) for the whole world to see. Last time they broadcasted Ahmadi which turned out to be so bad it was funny but, from what I understand this time all of Kuwait can participate. I haven’t been on Snapchat for over three months now since I’m so over it but I’m actually tempted to get back on it tomorrow and just snapchat all the overflowing garbage behind my house.
Failaka Island, Kuwait – About 20km off the coast of Kuwait City, tiny Failaka Island stands as a constant reminder of the Iraqi invasion a quarter-century ago.
Prior to the Gulf War, Failaka was reportedly home to about 2,000 residents, but they fled when the Iraqis invaded and most did not return. Over the years, the homes and offices they left behind have crumbled, many still scarred with bullet holes from the war.
Today, much of the island lies empty and in ruins, although a small tourism industry has emerged – with boat trips, overnight accommodations and cafes springing up on Failaka for curious sightseers. Failaka is also still used today for military exercises by the Kuwaiti army.
The last time I went to Failaka was back in 1989 so maybe it’s about time I head back there. Check out all the photos on the Al Jazeera website [Here]
The Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Center is set to be the largest museum in the world covering Natural History, Science, Space and Islamic Heritage, together with a Theatre and Fine Arts Centre. Construction has been on the way since June of last year and from what I am told construction will be completed by the end of this year. Once the buildings construction is completed, the interior work will begin and new renderings were recently released giving us a glimpse of how the museums might end up looking like. Below is some information on each of the museums as well as a link where you can check out the renderings.
The Space Museum (4,300m²) incorporates a 130 seat planetarium and tells the story of planet earth, the universe, space exploration and will also include an immersive reconstruction of the International Space Station. [Link]
The Science Museum (6,800m²) includes galleries for Human Body & Mind, Technology & Transport, Experiment and Robotics, with exhibits featuring hands-on experiments, games and simulator experiences. [Link]
The Natural History Museum (7,700m²) will offer visitors a unique insight into the natural world and includes a stunning ecosystem experience that allows visitors to explore a living rainforest, mangrove and coral reef. [Link]
The Islamic Museum (2000m2) tells stories of the importance of knowledge in Islam, the Islamic way of life and Islamic legacy in Kuwait. Features include stunning scale models of iconic mosques from around the world, a Treasures gallery and interactive exhibits that communicate the development and preservation of Islamic knowledge in science, arts and literature. [Link]
If you’d like to see how the exterior is going to look click [Here]
