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As I mentioned a couple of days back I have 5 “Meet & Greet” tickets to giveaway. These tickets will allow you to meet Kim Kardashian at Millions of Milkshakes during the opening as well as take pictures with her. Since I will be interviewing Kim Kardashian for this blog I’ve decided the competition will be as follows:

What would you ask Kim Kardashian if you could ask her just one question? Leave your question in the comments below. The five people with the best questions will each win a ticket. I will decide which questions are the best.

Make sure you use your correct email address because I will be emailing the winners.

Update: Here’s a video of Kim talking about her upcoming visit


[YouTube]

Update: I’ve closed the post for comments so I can go through the questions. I was so not expecting to get 400+ comments I have no idea how I am going to go through them all…

Update2: And the four winners are…
Roy
Rehab
Q8 Teacher
~LE~

It’s been awhile since I’ve linked to the blog re:kuwait but Barrak has an interesting post about the Jaber Bridge, the bridge that will link Kuwait City to Silk City in the North. Barrak is not in favor of the bridge and wants the idea to be scrapped completely. He does have an interesting case which you can read [Here]

I love this place! Make sure you follow me on Instagram I’m posting tons of pictures there. @mark248am

I’m off to Tokyo for a few days and will be back next week. I’m going to Electraglide Friday night which should kick ass since Orbital, DJ Krush, Kode9 and Flying Lotus will be playing sets among others.

If anyone has any recommendation of where to go let me know. I am looking for weird stuff.

Update: I forgot to add that I’ll be constantly be posting pictures on my Instagram account so follow me @mark248am or check out my online profile [Here]

It’s been quiet here the past few days but it’s because I’ve been working on a bunch of stuff for the blog. As most of you know Kim Kardashian is coming to Kuwait next week for the launch of Millions of Milkshakes which will be opening in Avenues Phase III (picture above). Kim will be arriving to Kuwait on the 28th and then leave on December 1st to Bahrain.

I’m trying to get as much content as I can regarding her visit and right now I’ve managed to score 5 tickets to giveaway here on the blog. These 5 tickets are for a “meet and greet”, so 5 lucky readers will be able to meet and talk to Kim Kardashian as well as get their photos taken with her.

I’m still trying to figure out how to give away these tickets so if anyone has any ideas let me know. It will have to be some sort of competition and I already have an idea in mind but I’m hoping someone can come up with a better one.

FADER, a US based music-culture-fashion publication has an interview with Kuwaiti music composer Fatima Al Qadiri who’s currently based out of New York. I hadn’t heard of Fatima until just a few moments ago so I found all this pretty interesting. Her latest EP is titled Desert Strike and is inspired from the classic Sega Genesis game with the same name. The full story behind the album as well as samples of her song are on FADER which you can check out [Here]

Thanks Marko

Update: A reader reminded me that I do know her but I just didn’t recognize her. I posted about her last year and the post generated a lot of hate. [Link]

I was on the first ring road earlier this evening when I noticed lights and music coming out of the huge Kuwait City park across from the Tijaria Tower. Turns out there was a big event taking place where the new golden jubilee monument of Kuwait’s constitution was revealed. Buz Fairy has pictures and more information on the monument and event which you can check out on her blog [Here]

This review turned out to be tougher than I expected since I was expecting the Big Jambox to easily come out on top but the Soundlink put up a pretty good fight. Both speakers are similar in that they are compact and very portable, run on rechargeable battery and connect to your music player wirelessly using bluetooth.

From the two speakers right off the bat I’ll say the Big Jambox is the better sounding of the two. There is no question about that. I played a variety of music ranging from Mumford & Sons and Zulu Winter to 16 Bit Lolita’s and Guy J when testing the speakers out. Switching between the two speaker was very easy using the iPhone and so I was easily able to compare the same songs on both speakers. In each and every case the Big Jambox topped the Soundlink when it came to the sound quality. The Jambox always sounded richer, had deeper lows as well as clearer highs. To top it off the Jambox could also go a lot louder than the Soundlink.

So you’d think there was a clear winner here but there isn’t. The thing is although the Big Jambox did sound better than the Soundlink the difference isn’t that dramatic in most cases. Because I was switching from one speaker to another instantly I was clearly able to distinguish the differences but if I had heard the two speakers on different days for example it would be a lot more difficult to distinguish the differences.

What I think clearly separates the two really depends on what you’re planning to use the speaker for. A friend of mine was looking for a speaker to take when traveling and use in hotel rooms, the Bose Soundlink would be the one to recommend in this case because although slightly taller its lighter and more compact so will fit easier into a suitcase. On the other hand if you have a gathering and want a portable speaker you could move out onto the balcony or onto the beach than the Big Jambox is the one I’d go for.

Design wise I personally prefer the colorful and chunky Big Jambox over the Soundlink. It comes in a variety of colors and it just looks funkier than the classier and more conservative looking Soundlink. The Soundlink has a 6 hour battery life while the Jambox has an astounding 15 which is why I’m guessing the Jambox is much heavier. Both speakers are selling for the same price of KD99 here in Kuwait.

So which one is better? Sound and design wise the Big Jambox is the clear winner for me. But the Soundlink does sounds pretty good as well and comes in a more compact and lighter package. For my needs though, I’d go with the Big Jambox.

Jawbone Big Jambox is available at Blink [Here]
Bose Soundlink is available at Xcite [Here]

StudioToggle is a design studio for Kuwaiti architect Hend Almatrouk and Gijo Paul George. They’re the same team behind the coolest movie theater design I’ve ever seen which I posted about last year.

The same team have now created a temporary pavilion called Pneumatic_Grove, which they’ve installed infront of the National Library of Kuwait facing the Gulf Road. It is part of the Housing Sessions conference which started a few days back at the National Library. The pavilion is an urban intervention which comments about the inaccessible landscapes of Kuwait. The official opening for the pavilion was two days back but it will be running until tomorrow the 8th of November. If you’re also interested, they’re having panel discussion about the pavilion today at 4PM as well.

A reader emailed me telling me about a new German bakery that recently opened in the basement of Dar Al Awadi Complex in Sharq called Bäckerei Wolf. I googled it and it turned out to be a German franchise so I passed by this morning to pick up some breakfast before heading to work. There wasn’t a lot of things to choose from, they had four kinds of cakes, some biscuits, a few kinds of bread, some sandwiches and croissants. I ended up picking up a slice of Apple Pie and a chocolate croissant. The Apple Pie turned out to be so so with little flavor but I still ate it all like a fat cow. The chocolate croissant on the other hand was probably the best chocolate croissant I ever had since the chocolate filling was really delicious.

Their cheesecake looked interesting and I’d probably try that if I ever go back again. The pie cost me KD1.250 and the croissant KD0.750. Their phone number is 22322323 but I’ve been trying to call them for the past hour and no one is picking up.

Last night Harvey Nichols had a very lavish private launch event which I was lucky enough to attend. I don’t go to many events but I had a feeling this was going to be different and it was. The night was filled with a lot of really stylish and well dressed people socializing and being seen. We were allowed to walk around and shop in the store if we wanted to while they had the most incredible seafood buffet outside the store inside Avenues Phase III. The mall looks really fantastic inside and they had small standing tables all around outside the store for us to gather around and mingle with friends. I even managed to see a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for over 10 years! It was a really great and tasteful evening and I’ll probably be attending more events because of it.

[YouTube]

Last night I was on my way to the Harvey Nichols launch event when I somehow ended up getting stuck in my car right in the middle of the demonstrations. I was with a friend and we decided to take the 6th Ring Road since we figured it would be quieter than the 5th but suddenly traffic started slowing down to a standstill and people started parking their cars on the side of the road and walking towards a pedestrian bridge.

Suddenly there were cops all over the place, people shouting and demonstrating and we were just sitting there bewildered to how we ended up being stuck right in the middle of the demonstrations that were supposed to be held miles away on the Gulf Road.

Then all of a sudden the riot police started firing flashbang’s and tear gas all over the place with a few canisters landing on cars ahead of us. It was crazy and that shit is strong! I opened the window for a bit to take pictures and the tear gas just overwhelmed my eyes and nose like nothing I had ever experienced before. Finally traffic started moving again after being at a standstill for at least 30 minutes and we got off the 6th and headed towards Avenues. A completely random night.

Note: I am closing the comments on this post since I don’t want to turn it political, this is just a post about my experience.

Early on in the week I posted about the huge fireworks show that’s going to be taking place this month on the Gulf Road. The show supposedly cost four million Dinars and will be held on the occasion of the 50th year anniversary of the constitution. Well it turns out the event won’t be taking place on the 11th as I wrote but instead the show will be taking place on November 10th.

The day will start off at 2PM with a parade and various performances from Green Island all the way to the Kuwait Towers. Then at 8PM the fireworks show will begin. This won’t be your regular fireworks show since there are a bunch of surprises that will take place (I’m not allowed to say what) but I can tell you it will include fireworks, sound, lasers and 3D projections. The fireworks show will take place from Green Island to Kuwait Towers, a 4.4km distance and the show will last for a total of 64 minutes. That’s over an hour of non stop fireworks. The event is expected to break a total of 7 Guinness World Records!

FYI: The best place to be to watch the show is the area between Kuwait Towers and Chilis although the show will be visible from much further distances.

Cheesecake Factory is going to be officially opening this coming Monday. I was there tonight for a tasting and I think the place is way nicer than the Dubai one. The location is really great and the place is open from three sides so the atmosphere should be really great. One thing I loved about Avenues Phase III is the lighting, I hope they keep it this dim and colorful once it opens (check picture above).

Cheick Kongo, Cyrille Diabate, Greg Babene, Mishal Abul

Every now and then I like to highlight Kuwaiti talent and achievements and I believe that Mishal Abul fits the bill. He is a partner at Paradigm Sports Management, a US based company that manages Football, Baseball and MMA athletes. I met Mishal through my blog sometime back and since I’m a huge UFC fan I was shocked to find out he was managing UFC stars like Michael Bisping and Chris Lytle among others.

Mishal was always into combat sports, he wrestled in high school back in the US as well as college. He got into MMA in 1998 because of the UFC and because of his trainer John “The Machine” Lober who was a pioneer of the MMA scene with a background in Jeet Kun Do, Grappling and BJJ. Mishal is probably the first Kuwaiti to train in MMA.

Jake Shields, Mishal Abul, Tareq Azim

I asked him about MMA in the region and if the UFC is considering bring The Ultimate Fighter to the Middle East like how they did TUF Brazil and the upcoming TUF India. This is what he had to say:

MMA is still way too young for the entire Middle East to recognize it, understand it and accept it. Fighting from a professional position is already here with Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai now they need to learn MMA, the best form of martial arts. There are already some locals or in the region who have trained and are becoming teachers.

Sending TUF to the Middle East is in the plans but not right now that’s because the mentality of the population within the Middle East is not the same as elsewhere with a history of combat sports which usually belongs to other large countries where it would boom immediately like Brazil, Russia and parts of Asia. But, I do believe the Middle East as a whole has some huge potential of breeding the best MMA competitors in the world. Parts of the Middle East strongly train in Karate, some other parts in wrestling or even Judo. Countries like Iran who are naturally strong could develop some amazing wrestlers which is the best base to begin with to enter MMA.

As a UFC fan I think it’s very cool to have a Kuwaiti managing UFC fighters. If you want to find out more about Paradigm Sports Management you can visit their website [Here]