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Devil’s Advocate, Netflix’s third Kuwaiti Project (the other two being The Exchange and The Cage) was released this past weekend and is now available to stream on the platform. The 7 episode drama revolves around a football player accused of murdering his wife, and a determined defense lawyer who defies popular sentiment and takes on the case.

I haven’t watched the show yet but as of this post it’s rated pretty high on IMDB with a 7.7 rating and is currently ranked #1 in TV Shows Today on Netflix. The series in Arabic but has English subtitles.

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

New This Weekend:
One True Loves (5.4)

Other Movies Showing:
Elemental (6.8)
Fast X (6.2)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
Hidden Strike (5.8)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (6.9)
Insidious: The Red Door (6.3)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (8.2)
The Flash (7.3)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Ocean’s Eleven (7.7)
Lady and the Tramp (7.3)

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

Not sure if anyone noticed but the LED mesh around the Kuwait Towers has been replaced with solid green and red colored lights now. Back in 2015 when they first installed the LED mesh I suggested they should be kept permanently since it gave a Blade Runner look. But I take that back now, I think I prefer it without the wraparound screens but I wish they go back to the way things were originally with just a simple neutral light instead of the red and green.

Theres now a new dining seating area in the Kuwait Airway terminal T4. It opened on the ground floor across from Shake Shack and is meant to serve everyone and not a specific restaurant.

One thing I’d love to see at T4 is an automated bag drop off station. It’s super easy to print out boarding passes from the various machines around the airport but if you’re carrying any sort of luggage that you need to check in, you still end up having to wait in a long line with people who haven’t checked in.

Last night I finished watching the last episode of The Idol on HBO and I loved it. It stars Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn and The Weeknd as Tedros, both of which are the main characters on the show. The Idol is also created and directed by Sam Levinson who was behind the other great (and controversial) HBO series Euphoria. He’s the reason why I watched this show since I was a huge fan of Euphoria and wanted to see more of his work.

The Idol is a drama series about Jocelyn, a pop star aiming to reclaim her fame after a breakdown. Her life takes a turn when she meets Tedros, a nightclub owner with a dark past. The show explores her journey in the music industry and personal life.

The Idol is disturbing. It isn’t a show you binge watch since you want time between the episodes to just recharge. The Weeknd’s character “Tedros” is also the worst, a lot of people have said he’s a bad actor but I don’t think thats true, I think they just really really hate his character and it’s The Weeknd’s acting that brings it to life. And I’m not saying that because I’m a fan of his or anything, I actually didn’t care much for him before this show and I even only realized now while writing this post that it’s actually written The Weeknd and not The Weekend.

If you check the shows rating on IMDB it actually has a 5 out of 10 rating which is pretty terrible. But that’s understandable, so ignore it. The show isn’t for everyone and going through the reviews you can easily spot that. If you have the stomach for it and are willing to plow through the shows 5 episodes, I think you’re in for something really different and great.

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

New This Weekend:
Hidden Strike (N/A)
Insidious: The Red Door (6.3)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (N/A)

Other Movies Showing:

Elemental (6.8)
Fast X (6.2)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (6.9)
Kandahar (6.2)
Master Gardener (6.2)
Snatch a Bullet (5.9)
The Flash (7.3)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Ocean’s Eleven (7.7)
The Rock (7.4)
Lady and the Tramp (7.3)

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

The old abandoned buildings on Fahad Al Salem Street near Salhiya are finally getting demolished (everything highlighted in yellow on the map). They’ve been abandoned for years and they were making the downtown area look really gritty so I’m glad things are moving forward.

I was always hoping they’d get refurbished since when you look at old photos of the street the buildings actually looked great when new. But that wasn’t going to happen and keeping the buildings as is wasn’t going to work either.

I’m not sure if that strip is as sentimental to other people as it is to me. After the 1990 invasion there weren’t that many electronic shops open but there were a bunch on that strip that were. I still remember the night my dad took me there to get my very first sound system with a CD player and then later at various points in the 90s I got a second sound system and a couple of Walkmans.

The buildings on that strip have been around since the 60s and were considered really modern back when they were built. So I went through my archives and dug up my favorite photos of the street to celebrate what was at one point in time, a bustling commercial and cultural hub for the country.

Onus is a glass installation by Kuwaiti visual artist Monira Al Qadiri. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw the pictures and read the story behind it.

During the Gulf War, dead birds, fish, and animals regularly lined the coastline and deserts because of the massive toxic clouds fed by hundreds of torched oil wells. When images of these oil-drenched animals were shared in the news, many people thought they were fake and just propaganda. Monira learned of this misconception while she was studying at university in Japan and so Onus is her way of breathing life back into her memories by recreating these oil-drenched birds as glass objects.

If you’re in Berlin, Monira’s work is currently on display at the Koenig Galerie. If you want to see more of her work online, check out her Instagram @moniraism or website moniraalqadiri.com

Al Kawakeb Sweets, the old ice cream and sweets shop in the city that has been open since 1945 has closed down. The whole building is being demolished and so they had to move out of their location which was across the street from blockat.

According to someone who left a review on Google they’re meant to move to a new location but there wasn’t a poster or a note left at the old location saying anything about it. Their Instagram account @alkawakeb1945 also no longer exists so they could be gone for good.

Update: They moved to Aswaq Al Qurain, here is the new location on Google Maps

GameWorks was an arcade that opened up in Marina Mall back in 2003. It was later renamed to GameWizz and eventually closed down in 2013. While going through one of my boxes the other day I found an old GameWorks recharge card and that triggered some nostalgia which got me looking for photos of the place.

For some reason, I couldn’t find any pictures of the place online. I guess because it was a period of time before camera phones or Instagram were a thing so not a lot of people took photos of the space and shared them online.

I went through my personal archive of photos and found a few, nothing too great and a few that was super low res since they were taken by a Sony Clie PDA, but they’re better than nothing. If you have any photos let me know. Here is a link to all the photos I found.

I’m currently in Istanbul and I’m assuming a lot of people are coming here for Eid so this is a quick guide of all my favorite spots:

Eat
My favorite breakfast spot is Namlı Gurme (@namligurme) which also recently opened in Kuwait. Yeni Lokanta (@yeni.lokanta) is my favorite restaurant here and is based on Turkish cuisine but deconstructed into more contemporary and exciting versions (book ahead of time). Kase No16 (@kase.no16) is a cozy spot located in a trendy neighborhood and has good music, street side seating and great food. Il Cortile (@ilcortileistanbul) is a great Italian place located in a beautiful courtyard. Finally, Borsam Taşfırın (@borsamtasfirin) is a hole in the wall bakery serving probably the best lahmajoun in Istanbul.

Drink
Petra Roasting Company (@petracoffee) is my favorite brand of coffee shops in Istanbul but the one I visit the most is in the Topagci neighborhood. There is another good one in that area called Cup of Joy (@cupofjoy_istanbul) which I usually prefer if I want to sit outdoors. If you’re more of a tea person, Viyana Kavesi (@viyanakahvesi) have multiple locations around Istanbul but really you’ll be going there for their San Sebastian cheesecake. For just tea, Burası Kahveci (@burasikahveci) is my an unassuming hole in the wall option.

See
Salt Beyoğlu (@salt_beyoglu) is my must go exhibition space when I’m here since they tend to have very interesting things happening. The Istanbul Toy Museum (@istanbuloyuncakmuzesi) is located in a large house, a completely random thing to visit but I love toys so I found it fascinating. The Istanbul Museum of Modern Art (@istanbulmodern) just opened last month in their new spot by the sea and is worth checking. For fashion, Shopi Go (@shopi_go) is my favorite place with a great sneaker collection and selection of clothes. Wunder (@wunder) is another good spot near it. If you like Aesop, Homemade Aromaterapi (@homemadearomaterapi) is Turkey’s version.

Sleep
This is easy, Soho House (@sohohouseistanbul), I can’t recommend a better hotel. Other than the fact the hotel is beautiful and their Club House next door is my favorite place to end the day, the hotel service is incredible with the staff always going above and beyond. The rooftop of the Club House is also now open for the summer so you can head there to watch the sunset and enjoy the music.

Mo Amer, the Palestinian American comedian known for his hilarious performances in the Netflix show ‘Mo’ and the award-winning Hulu sitcom ‘Ramy,’ is set to bring his comedy to Kuwait this September.

Mo was actually born in Kuwait and lived here till the age of 9. He only left Kuwait because of the 1990 Iraq invasion which is how he ended up in the US. I’m not sure if he’s been back to Kuwait since then, but if you went to a British school in the 80s, I’d pull up an old yearbook and see if I could spot him.

According to the information I have, Mo will be performing his standup on September 8th at The Arena. More information will be officially announced soon.

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

New This Weekend:
About My Father (5.8)
Katak: The Brave Beluga (7.2)
Resident Evil: Death Island (N/A)
Sakra (5.8)
Snatch a Bullet (N/A)
The Best Man (3.7)
The Minute You Wake up Dead (4.5)

Other Movies Showing:
Elemental (6.8)
Fast X (6.2)
Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant (8.5)
Kandahar (6.2)
Sisu (7.0)
The Boogeyman (6.2)
The Flash (7.3)
The Little Mermaid (7.2)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (7.4)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (6.5)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:
Cast Away (7.8)
Tarzan – 1999 (7.3)

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

There are plenty of public beaches in Kuwait but not that many swimming pools you can access without being a member or staying at a hotel. But, some hotels do offer day passes to their pools so I called as many hotels as I could until I had enough to put a list together.

The pools guide list below is singles friendly, and arranged from least expensive to most expensive:

Al Jahra Copthorne Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 24590000
Price: 10KD

Seashell Julaia Hotel & Resort
Telephone: 1844444
Price = 15KD

Crowne Plaza
Telephone: 1848111
Weekday 20KD
Weekend 25KD (Includes meal)

Millennium Hotel
Telephone: 22050505
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 25KD

Symphony Style Hotel
Telephone: 25770000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 25KD

Holiday Inn Salmiya
Telephone: 25760000
Weekday: 20KD
Weekend: 29KD

Mövenpick Hotel Resort AlBidaa
Telephone: 22253100
Price: 25KD

Hyatt Regency Al Kout Mall
Telephone: 23931234
Price: 30KD
Ladies only on Monday and Wednesday

Hilton Resort
Telephone: 22256222
Weekday: 30KD
Weekend: 35KD
Weekday/Weekend for Couples: 45KD

Marina Hotel
Telephone: 22230030
Weekday: 35KD
Weekend: 40KD

Waldorf Astoria (pictured at the very top)
Telephone: 24774444
Price 1: 40KD (Inc. 2 Cocktails)
Price 2: 50KD (Inc. Food + Cocktails)

The Gulf Road is one of my favorite places in Kuwait but the lack of a bike path is very frustrating. I ride my bicycle on the walkway close to the water but the path isn’t wide enough for both bicycles and people when it’s busy and even when it’s empty the pathway is fairly rough to ride on using a road bike. Because the only other alternative is riding on the road with the cars ,I put up with the issues because I don’t really have another choice.

But looks like we’re finally going to get a dedicated bicycle path.

SSH, the architecture and engineering consultant firm have just taken over the waterfront project. SSH are the same people behind such projects as the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Centre (JACC) and the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre (ASCC) so I’m very excited about this.

The 9.7-kilometre-long waterfront project will stretch from the Yacht Club in Salmiya all the way to the Kuwait Towers and offer essential amenities for visitors, over 60 commercial and investment opportunities for local businesses, various sports activities, swimming areas, a bicycle path, a jogging path, and a recreational area for children.

The project timeline is 1 year.