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Kuwait Motor Town will be hosting the final round of the 2022 24H Series endurance race early next month and tickets just went on sale for it.

The ‘Hankook 12H Kuwait’ is a 12-hour uninterrupted race that starts at 12 PM and goes on until midnight to ensure competitors experience racing during the day and night. The race takes place on Friday, December 2nd, but there are qualifications and practice sessions the day before. Tickets start at KD3 for a one-day pass, and KD5 for both days. They also have VIP tickets.

If you’re interested to find out more or buy tickets, visit the KMT website kmt.kw

Is it me or is everyone else also constantly getting spammed by Alshaya brands? I don’t generally give out my phone number to businesses so I don’t get that much SMS spam, but I had to give my number to West Elm because they had to deliver my furniture and since then I haven’t been able to stop them from spamming me. I’ve tried calling them and asking to be removed, I’ve sent them messages on Instagram and I’ve even tried blocking them on my phone but nothing seems to work. I used to get a message every now and then but recently they’ve started bombarding me a lot more frequently and its become extremely annoying.

Dear Zain and other telecoms, if you offer a service where for a certain monthly fee I could block all spam messages from my phone I’d be willing to pay and so would others!

Kuwait is in the news again and this time censoring the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. There were three scenes cut, the first is a 10-second LGBTQ scene where one of the female characters kisses another female character on the forehead. Another scene cut out is of a woman giving birth and the final scene removed involved the line “A god to his people.”

Only one minute in the 2 hour and 41-minute film was taken out which isn’t too bad, but the odd thing is, Kuwait is the only country in the region that doesn’t have these scenes. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar all are showing the unedited version of the movie. How bizarre. Source

Over the weekend Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced that they will manage a luxury hotel in Kuwait projected to open in 2028 (source). Mandarin Oriental, Kuwait will be located in a new iconic 80-story tower designed by the award-winning architects, Foster & Partners, the same architects behind the NBK headquarters building across the street from Hamra Tower. The hotel will feature 159 guestrooms, including 33 suites, and 10 serviced apartments, with views of downtown Kuwait City.

One rendering of the new tower was released and you can see how huge it looks in the skyline shot. The exact location wasn’t revealed but my guess is that it will occupy the property highlighted above since there’s been a rumor for years now that a gigantic project was going to occupy that area. In case you don’t recognize that area, it’s on the same street as Little Ruby’s, across the street from Crystal Tower where Burger & Lobster is located (Google Maps). The building that currently houses Burger & Lobster will supposedly be demolished as well to make room for this.

The Belgian football team who are competing in the World Cup later this month in Qatar will be playing their last friendly game this Friday in Kuwait against Egypt. The match is taking place at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium and tickets are currently on sale starting at 10KD.

If you want to watch the game live, you can buy tickets from here.

The garbage situation next to my house isn’t anything new, I mean, I’ve been complaining about it for over a decade now. But last week I had an interesting interaction with the Kuwait Municipality (baladiya) over it. At one point the garbage overflowed as it usually does due to the limited number of bins, but the garbage men were emptying the bin and leaving the overflowed garbage on the floor. The trash was just lying there for 4 days straight and the stench was horrible, you couldn’t drive by it without having to roll up your windows.

Eventually, I had enough and decided to contact the municipality over their WhatsApp number. I sent them a message at 8:22 AM, it was a photo of the garbage taken from my window and the location pin. A minute later they asked for more information which I replied with.

An hour later (9:36 AM) while leaving my house I noticed there was a baladiya bobcat and workers picking up the garbage and throwing it into the bin. They actually acted on the issue super fast. I wasn’t sure if the whole send a complaint thing over WhatsApp was still active so glad it was. ‭If you want to also WhatsApp the municipality over a problem you have their number is 24727732‬.

I’m heading to Riyadh this weekend for the Noor Festival so I’ll be missing out on a couple of my favorite events this weekend, the Fall Festival at the Yarmouk Cultural Center and the BLS Winter Bazaar. If you’re here don’t miss out on them. Let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Nov 10
Ali Alghanim & Sons – Padel Tournament
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Chinese Cultural Festival
IFK Cinema Night: Comme un Lion
Healing Powers of Cacao
Healing Circle at Art Therapy
Art N Dine: Desert Eyes Painting Experience
Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri

Friday, Nov 11
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Sailing: Friday Sunset Cruising
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Festival
Yarmouk Cultural Center Fall Bazaar
Seoulian and Friends at Bonjiri
BLS Winter Bazaar
Hot Rods & Classic Cars Festival

Saturday, Nov 12
Disney on Ice Presents Mickey & Friends
Melenzane by the Sea
Story Time: The Rabbit Listened
Miseen Scene: You Will Die at Twenty

Exhibitions
Sara Shamma “Age”
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

Activities
Albohayra Farm
Ascend Rock Climbing
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

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

New This Weekend:
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (7.4)
Boonie Bears: Back to Earth (5.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Big Trip 2: Special Delivery (5.3)
Black Adam (7.5)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (6.5)
Prey for the Devil (5.0)
Smile (6.6)
The System (3.6)
The Woman King (6.3)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:

Classic Movies Showing:
Good Will Hunting (8.3)
The Shawshank Redemption (9.3)

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

Singarea, the popular Asian supermarket has officially opened their new location in Salmiya. This is their third location in Kuwait, the other two being in Shuwaikh and Mahboula.

The new location is around the lake in Boulevard Park, right next to the restaurant Izmir. When I dropped by they were still unpacking some boxes but the space was looking good although didn’t seem as big as their Shuwaikh location, neither did it have as many freezers and fridges will all those food items.

Their Salmiya branch is open daily from 10AM to 10PM and if you want to pass by and check it out, here is the location on Google Maps. Just a note, at the time of this post there was no signage outside but just head to Izmir and it’s the building right next to it.

Honest Grocer is a new local grocery store that sells only healthy food products. That’s not really new in Kuwait but what sets Honest Grocer apart from the competition is the fact that their selection of products is curated using their stringent nutritional and ethical guidelines. These guidelines include:

• No artificial additives
• No preservatives and emulsifiers
• No fillers
• Non-GMO
• No Soy Lecithin
• Free from or the lowest possible levels of sugar alcohol and refined sugar
• Organic (the majority of which are certified)

Navigating their different products is really simple on their website since their interface is very basic. So for example, if you’re looking for keto products or products that are sugar-free, you can get access to them easily from the main page with just a click. They’re also located on Deliveroo which makes ordering from them easy although their products are only categorized by brand on that platform.

The only downside like everything healthy is the price. Because you’re getting the best quality ingredients you’re going to have to pay for it and that can mean 5KD for a chocolate spread or 600fils for a bag of chips. They sent over goodies to my office and the first thing we did was replace all the unhealthy snacks we had in our pantry with their products. Now I just need to convince the accountant why he needs to increase our pantry budget so we can continue to stock up on these healthier but more expensive snacks.

If you can afford it, then definitely check out Honest Grocer either on Deliveroo or their website myhonestgrocer.com

The November schedule for JACC’s Cinema Hall is out and this month they have 5 indie films playing:

90 Days – Saudi Arabia
Farha – Jordan/Palestine
Beirut Hold’em – Lebanon
Frère et Soeur – France
Official Competition – Spain

There is only one showing per movie so if there is one you’ve been meaning to watch don’t miss it. You can book your tickets on Jacc-kw.com

Lots of interesting things happening this weekend, let me know if I missed anything:

Thursday, Nov 3
Perfume & Cosmetics Exhibitions
Improv Comedy Night
Concert: Music is Where Cultures Meet
Art Therapy: Healing Circle
Space Month at Scientific Center
Book Exchange
Kuwait Track Challenge

Friday, Nov 4
Perfume & Cosmetics Exhibitions
Flare Fitness Crossfit Games
Sailing: Friday Morning Cruising
Space Month at Scientific Center
19th Kuwait Rapid Chess Championship
Touch Rugby
Kuwait Track Challenge

Saturday, Nov 5
Perfume & Cosmetics Exhibitions
Hindrance Race – Flare Fitness Festival 2022
Uncovering: NBK Tower Walking Tour
Space Month at Scientific Center
Workshop: Host Florally
Story Time at Amricani: The Gruffalo
Kuwait Track Challenge

Exhibitions
Sara Shamma “Age”
Warhol of Arabia by Raed Yassin

Activities
Ascend Rock Climbing
Cable Park
Ice Skating at the Winter Games Club
Indoor Karting
Little Jungle
Murouj Farm
Movement Classes at Omni Studio
Roller Blade at Roller Hub
Try Windsurfing
Yoga at Darātma

Museums to Visit
Abdullah Salem Cultural Center (ASCC)
Amricani Cultural Center Museum
Bait Al Othman Museum
Tareq Rajab Museum

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

New This Weekend:
Nocebo (6.6)
One Way (3.9)

Other Movies Showing:
Barbie: Mermaid Power (6.5)
Big Trip 2: Special Delivery (N/A)
Black Adam (7.5)
DC League of Super-Pets (7.9)
Detective Knight: Rogue (3.5)
Halloween Ends (5.0)
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (6.5)
Prey for the Devil (5.0)
Smile (6.6)
The System (N/A)
The Woman King (6.3)
Ticket to Paradise (6.3)

The classic films below are currently showing at the 1954 Film House:

Classic Movies Showing:
Good Will Hunting (8.3)

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

Last December, @classic_rides_q8 started posting pictures of his 1994 Landcruiser FZJ with Kuwaiti plates but all the photos were in Arizona. I’ve never met the guy but we’ve been in contact for a few years now through Instagram and it was because of his account I was able to find my first Datsun. So I sent him a message asking how he got the car to the States and he told me it was was a simple process using a RORO service and it cost him only $3,500 including taxes.

I think his plan was to use the car while he was there and then sell it before coming back to Kuwait. That plan changed when the car was accepted at the Barrett Jackson auction, the worlds great car collector auction. The car went on the chopping block and quickly sold for $38,500. You can watch the whole thing unfold in the video above which was originally posted on his Instagram account. It’s a pretty good-looking Landcruiser.

Last week Cari, the new food delivery app soft launched in Kuwait. It was more of a beta launch than a soft launch since the app was constantly crashing at first, there were barely any restaurants and there was no sign of one of their most aggressive features which was 30 minutes delivery. Since then there have been at least two software updates sorting out the bugs so I decided to finally try them out.

Inside the app there are two main categories, one for all the restaurants and then another one just for restaurants that offer 30 minutes delivery. I decided to try out their 30 minutes delivery by ordering lunch from BBT. It wasn’t the most scientific experiment since my office is only a couple of blocks from BBT in the city, but I also wasn’t trying to make Cari fail the test or anything. Here is how the timeline looked like:

12:06 PM – Order placed
12:14 PM – BBT started preparing my order
12:29 PM – Driver arrives
12:31 PM – Order delivered

My order took 25 minutes to deliver from the moment I placed the order which is pretty cool and fast.

Right now they’re also not charging a delivery fee which is great for us. Not sure how long this is gonna last but it gives us a good reason to use Cari for now at least. There aren’t that many restaurants on the app that offer 30 mins delivery, in the city, there were like 10 only and they were either burger or coffee places.

As of this post, Cari still hasn’t officially launched so if you want you to try it out you need to click the download link on their Instagram page @getcari and follow the instructions.

Update: I’ve been told that the official launch of Cari will be happening today

Update2: They’ve officially launched, here is the direct link to the app on the Google Store and Apple Store.