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Sesame Street’s adorable characters are coming to Kuwait for the Live Show “Elmo Makes Music” at the Ice Skating Rink.

I remember watching Sesame Street after school and even the Arabic version on KTV sometimes. My childhood and all time favorites characters have always been Elmo, Cookie Monster and the Big Bird! The only live show I’ve seen at the Ice Skating Rink was the Barbie show back in the 80s, I guess it was before the Gulf War.

Date & Time:

Thu, Jan 26th – 2 shows: 4.30pm & 7.30pm
Fri, Jan 27th – 3 shows: 1.30pm, 4.30pm & 7.30pm
Sat, Jan 28th – 3 shows: 1.30pm, 4.30pm & 7.30pm

Tickets are available at all major malls and the Ice Skating Rink, and range from KD5 to KD60.

[Link] via The Grapevine

Jazeera Airways launched their gift cards last week. They don’t just have them as a standard gift voucher, but instead they went all the way to make them available in various cute little themes for different occasions, and that’s a pretty neat idea for a gift card!

Themes include:

Happy New Year
Happy Birthday
I’m Sorry
I Love You
Happy Anniversary
New Job
Thank You
Thinking Of You

The vouchers are available in the range from KD15 to KD100 with a 12 month validity. Just choose the occasion, fill out the details and even add a personal message. It’s that easy. They will email the Gift Card directly to the recipient who can then redeem it for any of Jazeera’s destinations.

Don’t forget to read the terms and conditions though!

[link]

Last month we completed our blog’s first year! The graph above is a look at our statistics over the year. Although we had ups and downs with our holidays, time-offs and pure laziness, it’s good to see that our numbers keep climbing back up. The biggest fall in numbers was in March when we took a month-long holiday and it took us a while to get back to regular blogging. And the second time in November because of the lazy winter time :)

Here’s a look at our Social Media numbers:

Facebook Friends – 3,078
Facebook Fans – 602
Twitter Followers – 65
Google+ Friends – 122

Now with the start of the new year, we will try to be more regular with our blog posts, attend more blogger gatherings and try to be more social. A big thanks to all our readers! Keep visiting.

This is my favorite part about the New Year – a look at New Year’s Eve celebrations and fireworks from all over the world.

Kuwait’s 5th International Islamic Art Forum is taking place in the Grand Mosque until 7th January 2012 with more than 65 talents participating from different parts of the world. Here are some selected photos and a short movie of the exhibition by the Architecture of Kuwait.

Entrance and workshops are free.

[Link]

While I was compiling my list of places to celebrate New Year in Kuwait, I noticed that some of the hotels and restaurants are still applying the service charge. According to KUNA, the Ministry of Commerce has banned service charge and minimum charge at restaurants and cafes in Kuwait since a few months now but looks like it hasn’t come into full effect yet.

Have you come across any restaurant adding a service charge to your bill? Would you pay it or ask for it to be removed?

I just came across a festival that will be taking place in Kuwait next month – ‘The World in the Heart of Kuwait’.

Arising from our belief in the role the State of Kuwait plays in promoting trade and culture exchange between nations, we are pleased to present to you the exclusive ‘The World in the Heart of Kuwait Festival’.

This festival will be held during the period from 27th Jan 2012 to 26th Feb 2012 at the Green Island and showcase products from more than 12 countries via 500 outlet suites, along with many activities and entertainment.

Some of the events and activities:
- Fire works
- Photographic & Graffiti Competitions
- Summer 2012 Fashion Show
- Classic Cars & Motorcycles Show
- Folkloric Kuwaiti bands and folkloric bands from several countries
- Entering the Guinness World Record Book through 24 games
- Participation of the European group Phoenix Fire Dancers for the first time in Kuwait presenting the Fire & Pyro Show and the Laser & Light Show.

Booths are also available for participation.

For more information, send an email to faten@galbq8.com or call 99988320

[Link]

Perfect! Rain on New Year’s day and blowing dust the day after? Happy long weekend everyone!

[Source]

No one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square, it would incite protests that would topple dictators and start a global wave of dissent. In 2011, protesters didn’t just voice their complaints; they changed the world.

Time magazine chose The Protester as its person of the year as a tribute to the demonstrations that defined 2011 starting with the Arab Spring, moving on to Spain and Greece, Russia and Congo to Occupy Wall Street.

A lot of people expected that Steve Jobs would make the cover but the magazine selects the person that had the greatest impact during the past year, for better or for worse. He has been mentioned in the Fond Farewells section though.

This year’s choice actually makes sense since all the mass protests were very shocking and really shook the world, and the Time honored all of those who were brave enough to speak their minds and change the mentalities.

The Runners-Up are:

• William McRaven: The Admiral
• Ai Weiwei: The Dissident
• Paul Ryan: The Prophet
• Kate Middleton: The Princess

[Link]

The local news making the rounds is that the Kuwait Municipality will possibly ban Shisha smoking in public places including the restaurants and cafes. Apparently the Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Municipal Affairs Dr Fadhel Safar recommended this action and the Higher Committee for Planning instructed the Municipality authorities to increase the penalty for smoking shisha in public places and take steps to ban it completely. The reason being – it is a negative phenomenon in the society.

I can think of a lot of other negative phenomenons doing the rounds in society for that matter, shisha smoking is more like a part of the Arab culture and tradition. But then again, I guess what brought this on is the large number of shisha cafes sprouting up in every area and the clouds of smoke all around. The news article isn’t very clear about whether the ban is on indoor or outdoor smoking, and unless we see it implemented, it would just add to the list of all the other bans that are never really followed through.

[Source]