I just heard that there was a fire at Al Corniche Club. I am calling them to confirm but no one is picking up. Anyone have any information or pictures? [Contact Me]
Update: No one is still picking up but I found out it was a fire in the electricity room and it wasn’t that big but it temporary shutdown their electricity.
Update3: Al Corniche sent out the following message to their members
Dear members we apologise to inform you that the Club is closed today due to a small fire damage. We hope to open tomorrow with limited facilities. Thank you for your cooperation!
Update4: The blog q8iblender has more pictures and information [Here]
Update5: I just heard from an Al Corniche employee that the fire wasn’t small with sections like the Men’s Spa being completely ruined.
Found this video on Buz Fairy of cars on the highway driving the wrong way on the highway trying to escape the dust storm. I thought it looked like a disaster movie, check it out above, the video gets interesting at 0:45. [YouTube]
One of the best things about blogging is the fact I get invited to check out a lot of cool work in progress projects like Messilah Beach, Missoni Hotel and The Regency Palace. My dad’s an interior designer and as a kid I used to tag along with him on Friday mornings to various construction sites which is why now whenever I get invited to visit one I can never say no. It brings back good childhood memories and that’s why when I was asked if I wanted to tour the Al Hamra Tower I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve been a big fan of the tower for a long time to get a tour of it before completion would literally be a once in a life time opportunity since they’re only going to build it once.
First a bit of history and some facts. Al Hamra used to be Kuwait’s and the GCC’s first indoor cinema. It had two large theaters, one played Bollywood movies while the other played Western movies. Al Hamra Tower is being built in the same location where Al Hamra Cinema used to be located. It’s currently the second tallest building in the region with Burj Khalifa being the tallest. It’s the tallest asymmetrical structure in the world (no side is like the other side) and it’s also the second tallest concrete building in the world.
So my tour started off with a video presentation of the tower. It wasn’t really boring since there was a presenter and I was able to interrupt and ask questions. After the presentation I was taken to the mall that’s located at the bottom of the tower. The mall is made up of five floors and each floor will be around the size of a floor at Al Raya mall across the street. The fifth floor will hold the Al Hamra Cinema. Whats special about this cinema is the fact it will be the first non-Cinescape theater in 50 years. Back in 1953 Cinescape got a 50 year exclusivity for cinema’s in Kuwait. That exclusivity expired in 2003. The mall will be a luxurious one and having Hermes there is a good start.
Once we were done walking around the mall we headed to the main tower lobby (pictured above) which is really going to be huge when completed. Although the tower is super tall your average wait time for a lift will be under 30 seconds, the lift also travels at a speed of 10 floors a second. To get to the top floor of the tower we had to take a lift up to a lobby on the 54th floor I think and then swap to another lift and continue up to the very last floor.
Once we got to the last floor it was filled with scaffolding since they still have a few more glass panels they’re installing at the very top. But the space up there is just astonishing, the ceiling is incredibly high and the view is just overwhelming. I shot the video above to try and show what I was experiencing and seeing but you really need to be there (Trivia: Can you tell when I hit my head on a scaffolding? Luckily I was wearing a hard hat!). Once completed this last floor will sadly be a private invite only chairman’s club and not a restaurant like I had previously heard. This means very few people will actually get to enjoy this beautiful view.
It’s hard not to like Al Hamra Tower, it’s an office tower done right and we don’t have many “done right” projects in Kuwait. I really can’t wait for it to launch which should be September of this year. Below are some pictures I took today.
Update: Forgot to mention that the windows will be cleaned by a team of robots and it will take a month to clean all the windows. Burj Khalifa on the other hand employs 36 window cleaners who take 3 months to clean all the windows. Burj Arab I believe uses 2 people who take a full month to clean their windows.
I just got back home after spending around an hour walking in Salmiya taking pictures of the dust storm. It was a very uncomfortable experience since I didn’t have a mask or goggles but I think I got some pretty good pictures. I am going to go through them now and try to post the best ones up tonight but I have a few I posted on twitter which I took with my iPhone like the one above of a guy wearing a plastic bag on his head. You can check out my twitter photos [Here]
Back in March 2003 I posted pictures of what until today I thought was the worst dust storm that hit Kuwait but looking at those pictures right now I realized today’s dust storm is the strongest I’ve ever seen in Kuwait. You can check out my old post from 2003 with the pictures [Here]
Update: Below are a few pictures I like from the ones I shot tonight.
Yesterday there was an article in Arab Times about how the Ministry of Interior will start taking fingerprints of all incoming and outgoing passengers. Well it seems this is going to happen very soon since the fingerprint devices have already been installed at the airport. I took the picture above last night when I arrived to Kuwait, not sure why they don’t use the scanning device that was installed back in 2008 (pictured below) but never put into operation. [Article]
I found out about the website Local Tees from Me Blogging. What I understood from her is that you send them your designs and if they like it they will print a limited run of tshirts based on it and then sell it on their website. Although she doesn’t mention it I am guessing you would also get a cut of the profits made from your tshirt design. It’s not a new idea but that doesn’t matter since it’s a good one and going by the the designs already available on their website they’re not after generic ones but after designs that relate to the local region which is the way it should be done. The photography on the site (like the one above) is also very well done and helps set a trendy tone through out.
My only issue with the website is the fact it’s flash based! Not sure who still makes a flash based website now a days but they’ve got one and there is no skip button which drove me crazy. My second issue is the fact that practically all the tshirts are white, which might be fine for others but personally I only wear dark colored tshirts so at the moment there isn’t a tshirt I could buy for myself.
You can check their website by clicking [Here]
To skip the flash site and head directly to the store click [Here]
I’m currently in Lebanon so I can’t pass by but this looks like an interesting (and trippy) art exhibition to check out.
Stories of Eve is a collection of Eve and her sisters daily adventures and narratives whereby we follow the girls through their lives daily routines, squabbles and mundane pleasures.
Artist: Ghadah Alkandari Location: Tilal Gallery Date: March 20th to March 29th 2011 Time: 10AM to 2PM and 5:30AM to 9:30PM
For more information including a map to the gallery check this [Link]
There is an interesting article on 5 things that Donald Duck invented and Kuwait was mentioned in one of the stories:
In 1964, a freighter capsized off the coast of Kuwait. This caused a bit of a problem, as the ship’s hold had been filled with 5,000 sheep, who were now drowned and decomposing in close proximity to Kuwait’s drinking water. And really, no one wants to drink dead sheep water (well, except maybe the Scots). So Danish inventor Karl Kroyer designed a ship-raising technique that involved filling the vessel with small, buoyant balls injected through a tube. The combined buoyancy of which would float the ship to the surface. It took 27 million balls, but it worked. The Al Kuwait rose from the depths, with the furious ghosts of 5,000 dead sheep and all.
So, what does this have to do with Donald Duck? Well, Kroyer wanted to patent his idea and so he applied for it at a Dutch office but they stopped him accusing him of stealing his idea from Donald Duck. Turns out in one of the Donald Duck stories they lifted a sunken ship by pumping millions of ping pong balls into it, an idea similar to Kroyer’s. Anyway you can read the full article and check out the original comic by following this [Link]
I thought is was interesting that the first ship ever raised from the sea bed was here in the coastal waters of Kuwait.
My friend (who’s involved with Fat Burger) told me earlier today they’re opening a new branch soon in Kuwait City at Burj Jassem. I for one hated driving all the way to Mangaf Mahboula just to have a burger so the fact they’re opening next to my work place is cool. Sadly I’m still on a diet and can only have burgers once a week.
According to the description under the image above, this was the first concrete and bricks building in Kuwait and it was built by Alkurafi & Almatrook opposite the customs in Al Seif Street. I wonder if it’s still standing today. [Link]
Update: Mithos from the blog Habatq8 sent me a scan from what looks like an old Kuwait almanac. On the page there is a list of “Prominent Merchants” (see above) and topping that list is Alkurafi & Almatrook who were listed as “Grocer and a dealer in piece goods”. Here is a link to the full scan [Image]
Remember the large mural (above) which I posted about awhile back? Well Cajie a reader of the blog took photos of the mural and stitched all the photos together to form one very wide image. You can check out the large image of the mural [Here]
If you’re in Kuwait, 28 years old or less and in love with creativity and communications then this competition is for you. All you need to do is design a poster based on the subject of Democracy and two winners will get an airline ticket and a delegate pass to the Cannes Lions 2011 festival. Entry is free of charge and the deadline is March 31st. For more information follow this [Link]
I managed to get a hold of the new iPad 2 today courtesy of X-cite Electronics and I’m glad I did since there were a lot of questions I had which I managed to get answered after spending some time with the iPad 2.
The iPad 2 I got is the 3G version so the first thing I wanted to check is to see if the iPad was locked to AT&T or not. This time around there are two versions of the iPad 2 3G, there is the AT&T version and there is the Verizon version. The one I got was the AT&T version and it runs perfectly fine in Kuwait. I took out my micro sim from my iPhone 4 and placed it inside the iPad 2 and it worked right away and I was able to browse webpages and stream music from my favorite stations without a problem.
Now physically I was expecting there to be a lot more difference between the old and the new iPad but honestly I felt they were pretty similar. Sure the new iPad is 33% slimmer but it doesn’t feel that different to me (I’ve got big hands maybe?). I never felt the old iPad was actually thick so the fact that the new one is slightly slimmer is a bonus but not really worth upgrading from the old iPad. One thing I want to point out is the fact that I found it difficult to connect the iPad 2 to the keyboard dock due to the way the dock connecter at the bottom of the iPad 2 is on a curve. It took me a few tries the first time and I am guessing I would get better at it after a bit of practice.
The smart cover is pretty cool since it’s very minimal and easy to take off and put on. I didn’t like holding the iPad with the cover on but what’s great about the smart cover is you just pull it off to remove it so it’s very practical to put on and take off and when on it doesn’t add to the thickness by much.
Now I left what I think is probably the most important upgrade till the end and no it’s not the camera which I find useless but the new faster A5 processor. The new iPad 2 is a lot faster than the older iPad and games like Sim City and Red Alert for example run a lot smoother on the iPad 2 compared to the original iPad. Even when launching the apps the difference is very obvious as you can since in the video I recorded above (The iPad 2 is on the bottom).
If you still don’t have a tablet and are looking to get one I wouldn’t recommend anything other than the iPad (both original and 2). If you already own an iPad and are wondering if you should get the iPad 2, well personally I don’t think there is enough change to justify the upgrade. For me the only reason I might get an iPad 2 is if they come out with cool games that take advantage of the new faster iPad 2 processor but other than that I don’t think I would get one. Some people might need the camera or want the smart cover but I use my iPad to read magazines and play games and the original iPad will do both those nearly as good as the iPad 2. But a few months from now I will probably eat my words and end up getting the iPad 2 just because I’m an Apple fanboy.
You can check out the iPad 2 yourself since they are on display at the X-cite Avenues and Al-Rai branch. They are also taking orders and will be delivering them in a week or two. Here are the prices:
Red Bull is brining their Wanna Panna freestyle football event for the first time to Kuwait. I hadn’t heard about it before until my friend emailed me information on it. Here is a description of what Wanna Panna is:
Panna, Gate in Surinamese, is a type of street football in which fine dribbling counts rather than scoring a goal. Red Bull Wanna Panna will put candidates one facing another on a pitch measuring 6 x 6 meters in quick games lasting 4 minutes. The winner will be the one who manages to outdo his opponent in playing the ball through his legs. In case of a draw, an extra minute is added. If the score remains a draw, a panel of 3 judges will decide on the winner based on control and skills.
Date: Friday March 18th, 2011 Time: Starts at 2PM Location: Souq Sharq
For more information visit the Red Bull website [Here]
I know it sounds bad but this is actually great news. If you remember back in 2007 I posted about how Kuwait was ranked the 8th fattest country in the world and actually ranked 1st if you only counted the industrialized nations. Well according to the latest statistics by the World Health Organization, Kuwait now ranks back down in 13th place. That actually means Kuwait’s lost weight!
World’s Fattest Countries
1- Nauru
2- American Samoa
3- Tokelau
4- Tonga
5- Kiribati
6- French Polynesia
7- Saudi Arabia
8- Panama
9- United States of America
10- United Arab Emirates
11- Egypt
12- Bahrain
13- Kuwait
I believe this has to do with the increased awareness on obesity and the fact that people today are more informed on what causes it. Restaurants are also adding more healthy items on their menu and more and more people are on diets recently. Hopefully Kuwait will keep dropping down the list. Speaking of the list, cick here to download the full list [Link]
