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Events are starting to pick up again but still not a lot happening, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, January 18
Sports Square 2023-2024
Kashmir Textiles Exhibition
Shop Local Market
TK Market
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition

Friday, January 19
Sports Square 2023-2024
Shop Local Market
Experimental Printmaking Workshop
Cars & Coffee
TK Market
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition
Stargazing in Al Salmi

Saturday, January 20
Sports Square 2023-2024
Shop Local Market
DAI Storytime
TK Market
Tareq Rajab Museum Tour
Atyab Almarshoud’s Show Jumping Competition

One of my favorite movies of all time used to be Menace II Society. It’s an old film that came out back in 1993 when I was living in Canada and really into hiphop. It came out around the same time as some other great influential movies including CB4, New Jack City and Juice, all movies related to gang violence and hip hop.

Since then I’ve watched Menance II Society a bunch of times, but the last time might have been 20+ years ago. Recently I was watching live TV on Paramount+ and it came on, and damn it’s still a great movie. It has so much going for it from great acting, incredible writing and lots of scenes that would have gone viral on Tiktok if the movie had come out today. If you haven’t watched it before, add it to your list.

I also watched the first episode of the new season of True Detective. That was also really great and now can’t wait till the next episode. Latest episode of Monarch was also great, and so was Fargo, this week was a good tv week.

What have you been watching?

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
No Way Up (N/A)
Race for Glory (5.7)
The End We Start From (6.6)
The Hunted (N/A)
The Piper (5.5)
The Last Rifleman (6.6)

Other Movies Showing:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (6.0)
Migration (7.5)
Night Swim (N/A)
The Beekeeper (6.8)
Wish (6.0)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Rush Hour 2 (6.7)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

Last year Chipotle signed an agreement with Alshaya to bring the franchise to the Middle East. The initial plan is for two locations to open each in Dubai and Kuwait. A few weeks ago I posted that their first location in Kuwait is expected to be at The Avenues, and now my source just informed me that they’re aiming to open by April.

The first location will be in The Avenues Phase 4, where Blaze Pizza used to be located, right next to Gait and VOX Cinema.

Every time I post about Chipotle the posts tend to go viral and I’ve been trying to understand why. My best guess is that lots of people used to have Chipotle back when they were studying in the US? I have no idea but if you have a better theory, let me know.

The coming soon hoarding is still not up, but I took the liberty of adding one to my photo.

Starting February, if you have a Kuwaiti passport you no longer require a visa to travel to the UK. Instead of the traditional visit visa, you will require an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) which costs £10 (4KD) and is valid for two years.

The UK ETA application process is straight forward and you should be able to complete the online form in a matter of minutes with the following information:

• Personal details
• Passport data
• Travel information
• Answers to some basic security questions

The only other requirements are:

• A valid Kuwaiti passport
• Credit or debit card to pay the UK ETA fee
• An email address to receive notifications

Most applications will be processed within 3 days, so you can apply for it right before you trip. This move is part of the UK plan to digitize their border by 2025 and applies to Kuwaitis, GCC citizens and Jordanians.

To stay posted or for more information, follow @ukinkuwait

TWG Tea is a Singaporean luxury teahouse chain. I hadn’t heard of them until earlier this month when I was in Dubai Mall and noticed them there. I was craving tea so I went up to their tea “bartender” and he started asking me what I wanted. I gave him an idea of what I felt like having, mainly something with no caffeine and had a fruity smell. He then made me smell two kinds of tea and I ended up picking one called Happy Hour, a decaf green tea that smelled so good I spent more time sniffing it than drinking it. Watching him make the tea was fun and the whole experience was pretty great which is why I’m now interested in the fact they’re opening in Kuwait.

I used to be a huge fan of Teavana before they eventually closed down and I haven’t really gotten back into tea since. Things might change now since from what I saw, TWG has similar style teas to Teavana, basically the flavored teas.

The first TWG location in Kuwait will be in The Avenues on the top floor of the Prestige section, right outside the Harvey Nichols entrance, and right on top of Maria Tash. Their instagram is currently active with coming soon posts @twgteakw

Atyab Al Marshoud is Kuwait’s oldest fragrance company and was established all the way back in 1925. Atyab Al Marshoud also has the distinction of being the first fragrance company in the Gulf region.

It’s a family owned business and the new generation has been successful by adding a modern edge to keep the brand current, without losing the historic and traditional aspects that are at its core.

In the last 5 years, Atyab Al Marshoud has been expanding around the GCC and now has over 56 branches. A few years ago they also started venturing into Europe with their first store opening in Knightsbridge, London back in 2018. Now, they’re about to open their second European store, this time in Marbella, Spain.

Atyab Al Marshoud is expected to open in Marbella this coming February, and they’ll be located in the popular Puerto Banús area. To stay posted on the launch, follow @atyabalmarshoud

Not much happening because the county is still in mourning but here are some events taking place this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, January 4
The Avenues Sky
Shlonik? Healing Circle

Friday, January 5
The Avenues Sky
Super Run Race
3rd Show Jumping Event

Saturday, January 6
The Avenues Sky
Creative Printmaking Conference
3rd Show Jumping Event
Snail Mail Workshop for Kids

I’m still out of the country on vacation so posting is going to be slow till I’m back. But, I did come across an interesting TikTok account that might be my favorite at the moment.

@jahra.removals is an instagram account I’m guessing run by the Jahra baladiya or someone that works there and it’s basically non stop videos of bulldozers destroying illegal structures constructed there. There is a bit of ASMR involved and what I love is the fact there is no prep work, the bulldozers just destroy things as they are.

@jahra.removals #بلدية_الكويت #بلدية_الجهراء #فريق_الازالات #ازالة_المخالفات #قسم_ازالة_المخالفات #سعد_العبدالله #جنوب_سعد_العبدالله #الجهراء ♬ الصوت الأصلي – jahra.removals

Clearly other people are also entertained by these videos with a few having over half a million views and one video (above) with 1.7million views.

Here is the link.

B.SOCIAL is a new bakery that just soft launched in time for New Years.

They’re a cake shop but not an ordinary one, you can customize cakes based on anything and everything that comes to your mind. They want to be your go-to place whenever you need a customized cake for a special occasion. You can customize your own cakes by contacting their number on their instagram account, and it will be delivered by January 1st onwards.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝗕.𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟™ (@bsocial.kw)

The name B.SOCIAL is inspired from the concept of cakes being the focal point in any social gathering. They will have 3 product categories to start with; Bento, celebration cakes and customized cakes. They also just released a special New Years cake they’ve created.

The cake is for chocolate lovers since it’s composed of 6 different layers of chocolate, and large enough for 6 to 8 people. If you’re looking for a special cake for this New Years, this could be the one.

For more info and to order the cake, check them out @bsocial.kw

There isn’t much happening this long weekend, but if you’re in Kuwait and are looking for something new and fun to do, you could try skydiving.

Kuwait Skydive has been open since 2017 and I remember when they first launched they were charging 160KD for a tandem jump (that’s when you jump while attached to a professional skydiver). That price eventually dropped down to 99KD, and now it’s dropped even further. They currently have an end of year offer where you could skydive for just 79KD.

For comparison, I paid 80KD to skydive in Cape Town years ago, and in Dubai, it costs around 200KD to skydive right now. So 79KD is a great price, and if it’s something on your bucket list, this is a great chance to check it off.

The skydive center is located in Khiran and so the view while jumping is of the Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City. The whole experience takes less than 2 hours from start to finish. Once you arrive to the center you’ll first be asked to fill in some paperwork before getting a quick orientation and your jump harness ready. The plane ride up is around 15 mins long, and then once you jump, you free-fall for around a minute before the parachute opens. After that it’s a chill 5-7 minute ride back down.

The Kuwait Skydive center is open everyday this long weekend including January 1st. They’ll be open from 9AM till sunset and it’s highly recommended you pre-book your jump online before arrival. To book a jump, click here.

Kuwait has some interesting and scary folklore but most of it is being forgotten. So here are five horrifying creatures you might not know about:

Hemarat Algayla
This terrifying monster also goes by the simpler name Um Homar (Donkey Lady) and tells the story of a half-woman, half-donkey creature who seeks out and devours kids. The monster sleeps most of the day and night but wakes up to hunt at noon when the sun is at the highest point in the sky. Mothers would tell this story to stop kids from going out in the strong sun and get heat exhaustion. The story was a way to scare them to stay inside when it was the hottest time outside.

Tantal
While Um Homar hunts during the day, Tantal hunts during the night. He was known to shape-shift and if he spotted a child out after dark, he would take the form of whatever the child feared the most and then chased them until the child dropped dead from their heart giving out. It was a way for the parents to keep their children at home after dark.

Al-Seolu
This monster was described as a Nubian slave who came back to life with giant teeth and a large appetite for children. He goes out hunting during the night near the sea looking for kids who are out alonem and once he finds one, he drowns them and then eats their corpse. Back in 1910 there was a bit of a scare in Kuwait and people became more terrified of this monster because a child had drowned and was never found leading people to believe he was eaten by Al-Seolu.

Um Al Sa’af Wa Alleef
This scary old lady is a witch like character that is composed of palm leaves and can fly. She was believed to have frighten badly behaved children who disobeyed their parents. She hides up in the palm trees amongst the branches and when the branches shake because of strong winds or heavy rains, the parents would scare the children telling them she was up there looking for naughty children to kidnap.

Bu Darya
This water demon goes by the name “the Father of the Sea”. He was half-man half-fish who roamed the deep seas. At night Bu Darya will swim to the surface near boats and thrash about in the water while screaming for help. Once a sailor tries to assist what they believed to be a drowning human, Bu Darya would grab the sailor and drag him under water and hold them there until they’re dead. Bu Darya also attacked pearl divers so he could steal their pearls and was known to drag sleeping fishermen off their ships to eat them.

Image on top is of a painting by Nawaf-Alhmeli @nawaf_art

Note: Original less detailed version of this post was published in 2011

This week I started watching the animated series Scavengers Reign on HBO Max and it’s amazing. Very interesting, very creative and extremely weird. The series follows different crew members who evacuated a damaged deep space freighter and got stranded separately on a beautiful but dangerous planet. Watch it.

Let me know what you watched this week in the comments below.

Movies at the Cinemas
The movies below are now showing at the local cinemas:

New This Weekend:
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (N/A)
The Sacrifice Game (5.4)

Other Movies Showing:
Boudica: Queen of War (4.4)
Invitation to a Murder (5.1)
Little Bone Lodge (6.1)
Migration (7.5)
Napoleon (7.0)
Role Play
Silent Night (5.9)
Thanksgiving (6.9)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (6.9)
Wish (6.0)
Wonka (7.4)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Anastasia (7.1)
Die Hard (8.2)
Die Hard 2 (7.1)

The numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at the time of publishing.

This is a bit of an odd one, but I haven’t used Google as my primary search engine in three months. Instead, I’ve been using a search engine called Kagi and I love it.

I first heard about Kagi through the blog Daring Fireball or maybe his podcast “The Talk Show“. I tried it out for a few days and liked it, so I subscribed and I’ve been using it since.

I like Google a lot obviously and I’ve been using it ever since they launched. My favorite search engine before Google was HotBot which was launched in 1996 by Wired Magazine, but I haven’t used anything other than Google since. I tried Bing, I tried DuckDuckGo but neither of them did anything for me.

This past year I’ve been experimenting with trying new things that could possibly improve my online experience. Earlier in the year I dropped my favorite browser Google Chrome for Apple’s Safari. It’s been nearly a year and it’s still something I’m getting used to. Google Chrome had become too bloated and on Macs, it drains the battery a lot quicker than Safari. So I dropped it. It was difficult at first mostly because of some extensions that are only available for Chrome, but it’s been a mostly positive experience and I’m glad I’m now using Safari. It’s so much faster and feels lighter.

With Google, my issue was that it became harder to find what I wanted quickly without having to first sift through a bunch of shitty websites that are filled with Ai generated content, or I have to dig past sponsored posts to get to what I want. So I decided to try Kagi and it works really really well.

I started with the free trial which is limited to 100 searches but I went through it really quickly. I then had the choice to pay 5$ a month for 300 searches, or 10$ for unlimited searches. I went with the unlimited searches which was the right choice because looking at my search usage, I’ve exceeded 300 searches every month.

Usage
Oct 2023: 739 searches
Nov 2023: 1319 searches
Dec 2023: 643 searches

Setting up Kagi as my primary search engine on Safari on the Mac and on my phone was a bit of a hassle since Safari doesn’t have Kagi as a search engine for me to pick from, but Kagi have an easy step by step guide which did the trick.

The experience has been really good, I mean it has to be if I’m paying 10$ a month for it instead of using the free Google. All the results I get are relevant all the time. I no longer, or at least very rarely get sent to one of those Ai generated sites and the whole search experience is ad free.

The only time I ever use Google is when I want to search for images. Images.google.com is still better than Kagi’s image search so I always check Kagi first, not find what I want and then head to images.google.

So yeah it’s weird but I don’t Google anymore and surprisingly it’s working out really well. The next step is to try to use Apple Maps over Google Maps just to see if there are any benefits, but I think that is going to be a struggle since Google Maps is pretty great at what it does.

If you want to check out Kagi, here is the link.

Moon Laundry is a premium laundry service that has been open since 2020 and is one of the few I tend to recognize because of their cool branding. Although they refer to themselves as a premium laundry, their prices are actually very reasonable. Their use of the word premium is because of the higher level of care and attention they give to each garment compared to your run of the mill laundry. More importantly, they also have an app.

The app is my favorite thing about Moon Laundry since it makes requesting a laundry pick up very easy. The app even has an option to let the Moon Laundry team count and sort your items after pick up so you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.

After receiving your laundry the first thing they do is conduct a thorough inspection for stains, damages, and special care requirements. If anything is found before a wash, they will contact you and let you know. They will also record any specific instruction or preferences you might have given them when requesting a laundry pick up.

The next step would be to sort your clothes based on color, fabric type, and care instructions. Any stains will be carefully pre-treated before starting the washing process. Once the items are washed, dried and ironed, they will go through one more quality control check before getting packed and sent out to be delivered to you.

If you use laundry services often then you might find their packages interesting since they offer more value at a lesser price. They also work with urgent requests so in case you forgot to wash or iron something you need urgently, they can accommodate you.

Finally, in addition to the regular laundry services, Moon Laundry also offers the service of cleaning handbags and shoes/sneakers.

If you’re looking for a convenient and reliable laundry service, then have a look at Moon Laundry. For a link to the app and more information including special offers, visit @trymoon.app

Below are some of the cool events taking place this weekend, as usual, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, December 14
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
The Avenues Sky
The Festive Bazaar
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
‎‏Stars & Milky Way Photography

Friday, December 15
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
Battle Fitness Festival 2023
The Avenues Sky
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
‎‏Stars & Milky Way Photography
BBQ with Madang

Saturday, December 16
Mirzaam Interiors Expo
Battle Fitness Festival 2023
Saracen Race 2023
CAP Movie Night: Stone Cold Justice
The Avenues Sky
Joyeuse Nuit Painting Experience
Wejha Art Center Bazaar
Shakshooka Market
Cofe Fest at Al Hamra
Season Expo at Murouj
The Festive Bazaar