bazaar June Issue

J u n e 2 0 1 3 - i s s u e # 17 2 b a z a a r - m a g a z i n e. c om

WEST

T ELM

PORS

SCHE

EXPR

RESS

NOOR

CLINIC

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Available in all H&M stores For further information visit us at hm.com Contact us on: 182-12-12

&M

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LIFE IS SHORTS

Soak up the summer in 9 colors.

AMERICA

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Intr

Hasn’t this been the fastest year ever? It’s suddenly June, it’s suddenly hot, it’s suddenly time to frantically put together a summer holiday plan, and it’s suddenly Ramadan in a month or so! It looks like this summer people are again leaning mainly towards Europe and the USA due to the relentless regional problems that just won’t go away. London is always a favorite amongst the locals here, and I know a ton of people heading to Greece, and Mykonos in particular. I have a feeling that if I walk around Mykonos this July, it will feel like I’m strolling around Marina Crescent. Thanks, but no thanks!

The bazaar team...

I actually know a lot of people who are choosing to spend their summer holiday this year here in Kuwait due to the fact that’s it’s Ramadan, but also because very simply, the cost of living has gone up so much that they can’t afford to go anywhere. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, especially if you have tried to rent an apartment or villa recently.

Prices are skyrocketing, with no end in sight, and even though there are dozens and dozens of empty apartments all over the country, the owners refuse to bring down the rent prices to make them slightly more affordable. That, coupled with the fact that many buildings refuse to rent to Kuwaitis or Arab expats (yes, I know that’s very ironic/sad since we are in Kuwait, in the Middle East!) has lead to a shortage of affordable, decent housing. As people pay more in rent, and for shopping, and in school fees if they have children, the luxury of being able to afford travel diminishes.

Ihab Mokalled

This month, the bazaar team, once again has had the privilege of meeting some very interesting, creative, ambitious and inspiring people. You can read about restaurateurextraordinaire Basil AlSalem, of Burger Boutique, Slider Station, Cocoa Room and Open Flame Kitchen fame; Mubarak Al-Rumaidhi who is the person to know in the drifting community; Fahad Al-Musallam winner of the Kuwait Jet Ski Championship; and Mohammad Al Matar, Kuwaiti Ultra-Marathon champion, amongst many others! In our dining pieces this issue you should check out our visit to the much-anticipated meatfest that is the Rio Steakhouse for a unique churrascaria experience, it was as good as we imagined it would be. Just in time for summer bikini-prep we discovered the hidden gem that is eating fresh and delicious (yet healthy) food at dressed in Al Hamra, and you can receive more healthy tips in our piece on #MeanGreenMay. We even have some amazing advice for those in need of the surprisingly plentiful gluten free options available in our very own backyards. Also, with Ramadan prep mode in full throttle, check out our what’s trending Ramadan edition for some Instagram accounts to follow.

Boss

Photographers

Ahmed El-Adly

Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi

Operations

Hamad Al-Fadhli

Rebecca Sweetman

Kuwait Music

Business Development

Saud Al-Kjateib Sumaiya AL-Sharhan Waleed Shaalan

Design

Syndicates and Sources

Sumaiya AL-Sharhan Padmini Chandrasekaran

Staff Writer/Social Media Yasmine El Charif

Staff Writer Brook McClurg

Communications Consultant Hala Y. Sharara

Editor A. Al-Duaij

LA Times MCT International MIT Review Fast Company The Japan News Tribune Media Services Daily Star USA Today Slate Washington Post Variety News Service

Printing

Contributing Writers

British Industries for Printing and Packaging

Ayman Nassar B. Qureshi Bibi Al-Falah Deepa Pant Fatmah Al-Qadfan Jaye Sonia Loaay Ahmed

members of:

Michelle Johnson Mike Campbell

www.bpaww.com

Purva Grover Sarah Strawberry Girl

On a final note you have to check out our entertaining new columns: love/hate and inside-out. Starting with the many love/hate conundrums of living in Kuwait, to unleashing an extremely entertaining Belieber debate. Don’t forget to tell us what you think and what you’d like to see more of on our Facebook and Twitter channels.

So, in these idle days of summer, log on to Facebook.com/bazaarmagazine and Twitter.com/bazaartweets and join the discussion!

Yara Al-Wazir

Happy reading!

The views expressed in bazaar magazine are those of the respective contributors and not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff (but sometimes they are).

Ahmed El-Adly

Zainab Mirza

No one likes to be dumped;

recycle me, please.

facebook.com/bazaarmagazine twitter.com/bazaartweets

tel. 24610017 - fax 24610018 info@bazaar-magazine.com www.bazaar-magazine.com

MINI

INDEX JUNE ' 1 3

110

GLUTEN FREE KUWAIT

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34

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RIO CHURRASCURIA

TWO WHEELS

LOVE/HATE

WHAT’S TRENDING?

We have searched high and low throughout the country to find you the best local options for those who must go gluten free. From dining at home, to a night on the town, and even educational resources, we have you covered.

All you can eat Brazilian steakhouses have long been the best-kept secret in food.

With the opening of the new Rio restaurant in Kuwait City you can now gorge yourselves on all the specialities that only this concept can deliver.

A recent Motorcycle trek from the Southern to Northern tips of Africa, proves to be a life altering spiritual adventure. We check in with Waleed Shaalan between moto-tuneups to get the dirt on the adventure.

Not afraid to explore the intersection that is yin meets yang, this new column explores things that conflict us by nature.

Sometimes good, sometimes bad-but always intriguing. Our inaugural column explores the intricacies of life in Kuwait.

Love it or hate it, there’s an entire commercial world that’s permanently making its claim on Instagram. Just in time for Ramadan, we scoured the region for some of the most interesting businesses that will get you Ramadan ready in no time!

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JET SKI

INSIDE-OUT

Kuwaiti Jet Ski racer, Fahad AlMusallam has made a big splash in the world of Jet Ski racing in a short time in the sport. Having just won his division of the Kuwait Jet Ski Championship for the second time, it appears that he is poised for another successful year.

In this music column, we talk dirt on all things music industry related. This month we propose a Justin Bieber vs. Amanda Palmer (if you don’t know that second name, you’re not alone, and that’s the point) showdown of what fan-dom really means in the new music industry.

Two Wheels p.78

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STORY OF AN ARTISAN, PART II

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

#MEANGREENMAY

ECRU

ALEENTA NAIL SPA

In this special series, bazaar will explore the works of some of the finest Jewelry designers in Kuwait and the region through in depth investigations, special interviews and much more. We’re uncovering the artistes, their inspirations, and the beautiful pieces they create.

When Basil AlSalem made the move away from the world of business finance into the realm of sliders, breakfasts and fine dining, he took a leap to become quite the restaurateur. Basil tells us all about being a full time foodie in up close and personal.

The Aftermath: For the entire month of May, we made the wiser (albeit harder) choice to replace our lunchtime meals with lean, mean salads. One month later, we reckon it’s a whole new world altogether.

Check out how three bazaarites fared in the inter-office challenge that was #MeanGreenMay.

Two childhood best friends, Nur and Noor, invite us to view their first collection from lifestyle and homewares brand ecru.

From kitschy home accessories to dazzling prints crafted by talented artisans, ecru presents items for home and living that are both beautiful and functional.

A much needed beauty sanctuary awaits at Aleenta nail and massage spa. Give yourself a much-deserved break at Aleenta Nail Spa, where you will find various aromatic and holistic treatments that will turn your first time visit into a weekly standing appointment.

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PUMA

bazaar connect Freedom to touch us

40,000 readers

With a bilingual audience, our articles are in English and Arabic, and cover everything from what’s on to the bizarre. We print and distribute 10,000 copies of bazaar every month; each issue is read by an average of 4 people, giving us a total readership of over 40,000 bazaar is published every month (except August) and delivered free of charge to a large subscriber database, as well as distributed free of charge in all of the following locations: Cafés & Eateries

Breadz Burger Hub, Gulf Road Casper & Gambini, Kuwait City Chocolate Bar, Al Bida'a Crumbs, Shaab Dunkin Donuts, Salem Al-Mubarak Haagen Dazs - Souq Sharq, Arraya Hard Rock Café Jade Garden Restaurant, Gulf Hotel, Salmiya Johnny Rockets - Opposite Salhiya Complex, Salmiya, Alia & Ghalia Complex Living Room Lounge MILK, Sief Strip Opao Organica Fish & Chips, Jabriya P.Q. - The Palms Pizza Express - Dhahia, Bida'a Complex, Hilton Kuwait Resort Prime & Toast - Al Bida'a, Seif Strip The Early Bird - Fahaheel, Jabriya Starbucks Adeliya Airport Mall Alghanim Al Rai Al Mowasat Hospital Al Muhalab Al Shaya Head Office Aliya & Ghalia Complex AUK

Awtad Kuwait City Bairaq Mall Baitak Tower Behbehani Complex Bida’a Complex BMW Showroom Daiya Co-op Dar Al Awadi Fashion World Salmiya Hilton Resort Jabriya Jabriya Land Keifan Khalifa Resort Kout Mall Marina Crescent Marina Mall Mishref NBK Nuwaiseeb Nuzha Co-op Plaza Hawalli Rosa Castle Salhiya Salmiya, Salem Al-Mubarak Salmiya Co-op Salwa Co-op Scientific Center Seif Hospital Shaab

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Shamiya Co-op Sharq Co-op Sheikha Complex Souk Salmiya Souk Sharq The Avenues The Palms Hotel Zain Headquarters Clinics & Hospitals Al Safat American Hospital Boushahri Clinic Dasman Diabetes Institute Diet Care Center International Clinic Kaizen Seif Hospital Soor Clinic Hotels & Health Clubs Al Corniche Club Crowne Plaza, Farwaniya Flex Hilton Kuwait Resort & Spa Holiday Inn, Salmiya Pilates & More - Salmiya, Mahboula The Palms Beach Hotel Malls 360 Mall Dunkin Donuts Arraya Haagen Dazs

Galleria Marina Mall/Crescent Casper & Gambini Chocolate Bar Johnny Rockets P.Q. Paul Souq Sharq Starbucks Haagen Dazs Breadz The Avenues Johnny Rockets Paul Pizza Express Crumbs Haagen Dazs Starbucks Airport Mall Pizza Express Starbucks Dar Al Awadi I.O. Center Spoons Chocolate Bar Salhiya Complex Starbucks

Stand Alones 4 Boutique A.W.A.R.E. Center Alghanim Marine

Beautylicious Brush Salon Cozmo Bowling - Salmiya, Kaifan, Discovery Mall, Mahboula Dar Al Funoon Gallery Tilal Goji Boutique Jacques Dessange Salon, Shaab Karizma Kuwait 4X4 Landmark - Al Rai café, Fahaheel, Salmiya London Limos N Bar N Style Pink Moon Boutique Sultan Gallery THE One The Video Club TIES Center Schools & Universities American International School American University of Kuwait Australian College Kuwait Boxhill College BSK - Britsh School of Kuwait Universal American School Kuwait University Starbucks Khaldiya Starbucks Adeliya Starbucks Jabriya Starbucks Shuwaikh

bazaar magazine has been a member of BPA Wordwide since June 2010, ensuring complete transparency, verifying bazaar as an audited publication which distributes 10,000 copies on a monthly basis. To access our BPA report, please visit www.bpaww.com or log onto our website www.bazaar-magazine.com for a downloadable pdf version.

Freedom to surf us

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www.bazaar-magazine.com

As well our monthly magazine, our free-access website gives us the ability to reach an even broader audience, with an average number of 28,000 unique visitors.

Packed with our articles covering entertainment, art, local happenings, music, movies, fashion, interiors, health, and interviews with the people responsible for said genres, bazaar‘s website will not disappoint.

Freedom to share us +7,000 fans and followers facebook.com/bazaarmagazine

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We get even closer to our readers by taking advantage of both our Facebook and twitter channels on a daily basis. With more than 5,000 fans and followers, we love starting different conversations with our readers, sharing music, jokes, competitions, and much more. Twitter gives us the ability to tweet live from the many fun and exciting events that we cover, giving our readers minute by minute coverage and commentary, and allowing us to follow the people and brands that we like too, of which there are so many.

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Too lazy to go pick up bazaar from your local café, now you can browse through the complete physical magazine online via issuu.com. Featuring our in-depth interviews, reviews, stellar photography, and the latest ads showcasing what hot in the market right now; you can browse through bazaar freely and securely, whether you're on your PC, laptop, Smartphone, or tablet.

24

BANANA REPUBLIC

New York | SaN FraNciSco | LoS aNgeLeS | Uae | kUwait | Qatar Facebook.com/baNaNarepUbLic

what's on?

FA GALLERY

SOAP FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT AT GREEN ISLAND

WHEN: May 28, 2013 – June 5, 2013 WHERE: Exhibition Hall, 360 Mall For more information please call Villa UNO on 9008 8182 or visit www.villauno-kw.com SIK PRODUCTIONS: “SEUSSICAL” THE MAGICAL MUSICAL FOR ALL AGES!

WHEN: June 5th – 7th WHERE: Green Island (Shaab Seaside, Arabian Gulf Road For more information call 6099 9668 or 9409 7517.

WHEN: Sat June 1, 2013 5 - 7 pm opening. Continuing every Mon and Wed in June, 5 - 7 pm.

To apply email freeyourlines@loyac.org

“RAMADAN THINGS” EXPO AT AL-FANAR MALL

FA Gallery is located in Sharq, Block 2, Gulf Road, Villa 76, Kuwait. For more information please call 2249 8999 or visit www.thefagallery.com.

WHEN: June 5, 2013 – June 8, 2013 WHERE: Live Theater, Discovery Mall, First Ring Road, Kuwait City COST: 7.500 KD

3RD BUNGEE JUMPING EVENT AT MARINA WORLD!

For more information please contact www.StagedInKuwait.com/Contact-SIK CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPPS II CHAMPIONSHIP

WHEN: May 25, 2013 – June 26, 2013 WHERE: Al-Fanar Mall (Salmiya, Salem Al-Mubarak Street) For more information call 6770 9975 or 9737 7329.

VILLA UNO EXPO

WHEN: June 27 at 4:00 pm – June 30, 2013 at 12:00 am WHERE: Marina Crescent (Salmiya, Arabian Gulf Road, opposite Marina Mall)

WHEN: June 19, 2013 For more information contact 50 Degrees Events on 9998-9200 or 6689-9877.

For more information please call Bungee KW on 9400 4335, 2262 1766

For more event information please visit: GrapevineKuwait.com. Kuwait’s favorite & first true local events & activities website!

26

VISION EXPRESS

what's trending The Ramadan edition As much as we work our hardest to give you one rocking print issue after the other, we’re socially active (or try our best to be, we are bazaar humans after all) and we love it!

Find us online: It makes our day when we see your tweets/mentions/likes/comments/shares about your favorite features and more.

facebook.com/bazaarmagazine

twitter.com/bazaartweets

pinterest.com/bazaarmagazine

START READING!

issuu.com/bazaarmagazine

what: Dikkan Zari type: Fashion boutique editor’s note: Handmade kaftans + abayas in modern styles

what: Seven_Carats type: etsy store editor’s note: Designer gifts for Ramadan

what: Masha Design type: Fashion Design editor’s note: Ramadan geek chic! Funky abayas

what: Jangles @Ishk type: Fashion boutique editor’s note: Stunning jewelry for Ramadan chic

what: Noon Gallery type: Homewares editor’s note: Arabesque accessories for Ramadan

what: Kaftanesta type: Fashion and accessories editor’s note: Ramadan kaftans and more

what: The people’s factory type: Home accessories, @tpfstore editor’s note: The cut out tea tray = Arab modern chic

28

GULF BANK

up close and personal BASIL ALSALEM Food-stradamus- or just really good at his job?

By bazaar staff

When Basil AlSalem made the move away from the world of business finance, he took a bit of a leap.

Rather than being a departure from his business roots and education, however, it was actually fueled by it. Having returned home to Kuwait 30

post- college, and been around just long enough to see a glaring hole in the restaurant landscape, he moved forward with the careful consideration and due diligence that you would expect from a guy with a background in finance. Not even a short

ten years later, and he now represents the pinnacle of local dining expertise writ large: he foresaw the burger movement and pushed it through with his original Kuwaiti concept Burger Boutique, he repeated himself when he created the innovative

Slider Station, and completed his hat trick with the wonderful breakfast offerings of The Cocoa Room.

In addition to his sophisticated and culturally eclectic concept that is the Open Flame Kitchen, as well as a myriad of new openings throughout the region, he has showed time and again that he is just getting started.

When this entrepreneur is not dreaming endlessly out of the 29th floor window of his sea-view office, he is busy travelling the world in search of the next it flavor. We catch up with him in this month’s Up Close and Personal column to find out what drives him forward and how he stays ahead of the trends.

bazaar questionnaire:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Nothing makes me happier than being with my whole family in good health and having fun. It is these moments in my life that are most memorable, and for a very good reason! It puts a smile on my face.

What is your greatest fear?

Growing old too fast too soon.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I love to learn about almost anything whether how things function or historical figures. I don’t like the feeling of not knowing something. I use this trait to my advantage for everything from having a conversation about the economy to developing business ideas assisted by my general knowledge.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

I believe each person has a trait that has more potential to be deplored than others. However, it takes a while to understand those positive traits and focus on the ones that they seem more willing to deplore themselves.

Which living person do you most admire?

My wife. She is everything I can’t be. She lifts me up when I’m falling. She completes me.

What is your greatest extravagance?

I never understood extravagance until I spent the first $100 on a meal.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Do it.

When were you happiest?

Every day is my happiest. I like progressive happiness.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I think I can learn almost anything except being good with music. I like to learn to play on the oud.

It makes me forget my daily routine. I bought one during college; I think I left it there.

What would you consider your greatest achievement?

To me, achievements are relative. I think it is something that others can claim about others. For me I count milestones and see where they take me.

Where would you most like to live?

I love nature. Anywhere where the environment is respected and that possesses peacefulness and serenity. I can live in the desert or an island or right here in Kuwait, just as long as I find those qualities.

31

truth or dare

THE DRIFTER

Mubarak Al-Rumaidhi By bazaar staff

Giving up a career in the corporate world to pursue an innate passion for drifting full time, Mubarak Al-Rumaidhi took a huge risk to create a brand new career path for others to follow suit out of a simple notion: Why follow a dream that isn’t yours?

Before Co-founding and organizing the drifting community, Slide ‘N Glide, with a group of friends, Mubarak knew that his dreams extended far beyond a career in banking. If anything, Mubarak saw a future for the automotive sport in the Middle East, as the technique involved with drifting is all about control and proficiency, which needed to be practiced in a safe environment. From Slide ‘N Glide, his dream to initiate a world of Drifting in Kuwait became a reality. This was followed by the creation of Traction Off with his partner, a professional Drift Team that would go on to participate in competitions and events in Kuwait and the entire region.

Once Mubarak let his competitive edge take over, he began turning his dreams into realities. This started with the Traction Off team competing in and winning the Red Bull Car Park Drift 2012 in Jordan as a Kuwait representative while Mubarak’s partner won in Al-Khobar.

Wanting to prove to himself and the region that there is indeed a career in drifting, Mubarak went on to conceptually direct and take part in NBK’s McLaren campaign as the stunt driver in the campaign video.

Accepting this project alone is a huge feat, as Mubarak was emphasizing a rare opportunity for Kuwaiti youth that usually doesn’t happen, nor is it even encouraged. The amazing success of that campaign is a portrayal of his passion, and the start of a brand new field in the local scene of motorsports in Kuwait and the region. From becoming one of the premier stunt drivers in he Middle East, the future is wide open for Mubarak, as he wishes to expand his career in the automotive field.

How would your mother describe you in one word?

Rebel How would you describe your mother in one word?

Empathetic What is the most insane question you’ve ever been asked?

Why do you want to quit your job?

What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

Driving a manual car at the age of 7 32

What word in the English or Arabic language do you wish you had invented?

Entrepreneurship Where would you like to live? What is your dream retirement location?

Fukushima, Japan. I don’t dream about retirement since it doesn’t exist on my to-do list.

What is the first famous quote that comes to your mind?

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison What animal best describes the kind of partner you’d be interested in?

I never had a pet; you ask me something about cars though...

What do you miss about your childhood?

The freedom of driving recklessly without fear...

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

Bader How would you describe your handshake in one word?

Confident What is the toughest part of your character?

I can’t accept unethical decisions, even if it was in my favor.

Who is your favorite historical figure?

Ayrton Senna What in the world do you least desire?

Money What do you think is lacking in the world, which if there was more of, would make the world a better place?

Thinkers Why do you think most girls/guys like you?

I’m a nice guy!

Finish this sentence: “Happiness is a thing called…”

Being passionate about what you do for a living.

For more information about Slide N’Glide drift days, please check out www.slidenglide.net, and visit www.tractionoff.com for more on Mubarak AlRumaidhi. Photo credits: Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi and Hamad Al-Fadhli.

AUDI

bazaar Love/Hate

TOP 5 CONUNDRUMS OF LIFE IN KUWAIT By bazaar staff

All things considered, life in Kuwait is pretty easy going. You have a relatively small population, relatively high levels of GDP and HDI (Human development index) when compared to the world at large, and enough restaurants, that to burn through them all would require a near-lifetime commitment. That said, as with everywhere in the world, it can be a prickly pear that demands a delicate hand when peeling back the sharp outer skin to get to the manna beneath. Thus, your definitive guide to the tantalizing world of constant vacillation that is daily life, explored. So, without further ado: your top 5 love/hate relationships with Kuwait. #5- Malls, Malls, Malls- For an ever-growing number of us, crowds are a nemesis that must be avoided at all costs. Parking, as an extension of the same, when it is complicated, traffic ridden, time consuming, or somehow anything less than an empty stadium parking lot where I get close enough to practically drive through the checkout line, and I will probably find a way to complain.

That said, for all my griping, it is fair to say that the selections, the restaurants, and overall ability to get something done at a mall is by far the best thing 34

in town (not to mention, when it is 45+ Celsius outside, that AC feels mighty good). Personally, I like to go in a large group, divide and conquer in different directions, and meet afterwards in some centralized coffee shop to dispense appropriately all the goods acquired. Where else can you get the best of luxury, electronics, household goods, office supplies and more restaurants than you could eat at in a year. Though there are times when you need to sharpen up the ‘ol elbows before heading in, it is still often worth the extra effort; so, relax, make a plan, and make it happen. #4- Delivery Everything-I know, I should not complain about this at all. The business of delivery in this country is amazing and awe inspiring. The only problem is, I am getting quite fat and slothlike. I promise, there was a time where I could actually get off the couch myself and go get a bag of ice from the bakala on my own. These days though, I really cannot be bothered. From food, to odds and ends, electronics; the options are over the top. Last week, I came to work with a bit of cold and sans medicine. Inside of an hour I had medicine delivered, cough drop in mouth and a steady stream of tissue at the ready. I am

afraid I am being spoiled for the rest of the world. #3 Hariss- When everything is going great, this guy is your best friend. He helps you when times are tough. He’s watching out for you and keeping an eye on your place while your gone. Sure, he is probably somewhere right now fluffing your pillows and making your bed. But still, when things go wrong, they go real wrong. Do not get him on your bad side or you just might find yourself wondering why it seems like everything in your home is just slightly askew. I recommend gifts, often! #2 Dust Storms- I know what you are thinking already: of course you can hate dust storms, but how on earth can you love them? Well, my friend (he says while ceremonially picking sand from between his teeth), quite frankly, there is just more to it than the bit of dirt that you track in from a day outside. First, what many don’t realize as they rush to shut the curtains from the incoming rolling-in of the brown cloud, is that the dust brings shade. On a hot day, the dust can easily drop the old barometer by a solid 10 degrees, if not more. Secondly, so many people stay in when the dust comes, that this is a perfect time to get things done. A days worth of errands can be done in a couple hours. Not to mention, should you opt to stay in and just hide yourself away for the day, no one will judge you. It’s expected! Therefore, yes I heart dust storms! There, I said it. #1 Wasta- Ok this is an easy enough one to get.

For those who don’t know (and who could that possibly be), Wasta roughly equates to “influence” or a variation of “nepotisim,” in which basically who you know matters. Thus, it is probably safe to assume that your warm and fuzzy feeling towards the unwritten rule that is Wasta can probably be measured in direct proportion to how much of it you have. Yes indeed, when you are in a line and somebody comes up and gets in front it can irk more than a little bit. Still, when that occasion occurs where all of the sudden you need some sort of paperwork or a normally overly-bureaucratic “thing” done in a jiffy, it is nice to know it can all be handled in a phone call. Wasta, for all its potential to make me disgruntled, is sure nice when you have it. I wonder- whom can I call about that?

The brand-spanking new Love/Hate column is brought to you in equal parts by the bitterly cynical and hopefully naive endowments, with additional funding from smileyhappypeopleeverywhere. Be on the lookout for next month when we bring you Love/Hate: Movies.

RAY BAN

ray-ban.com

ECRU Simple luxuries for home and living By bazaar staff

C

M

Y

CM

MY

Once upon a spring weekend, Dar AlFunoon’s artistic milieu underwent a kitschy phenomenon. Lifestyle and homewares brand ecru premiered its first collection, accompanied by a stunning capsule clothing collection for the brand from Noon by Nur entitled “when life gives you lemons”. The setting couldn’t have been more fitting, as ecru styled Dar Al-Funoon effortlessly; transforming the space into a lesson on how to enjoy life’s simple luxuries, whether you’re inside your home or you’re on the go, allowing vibrant colors of block printed table cloths, linens and silk to lift your mood, or to simply connect to the esoteric works of fine handicrafts. Indeed, ecru flawlessly presented its first collection at Dar Al Funoon, yet the brand’s inimitable charms will surely find a place in your home in a manner no less perfect.

Nur Kaoukji and Noor Al-Sabah, childhood best friends, always liked the same things, this creative duo loved playing ‘house’ as kids and continued playing the role of hostesses to many events throughout their twenties, knowing all too well that one day they’d create a lifestyle brand that echoed with their love for simple elegance, home designs and fashions that are both beautiful and functional.

They might have been geographically parted, as Noor Al-Sabah went on to pursue her passion for style, and is currently a stellar fashion director at AlOthman, while Nur Kaoukji moved to India to work with jewelry and fashion design. Nur’s move to the 36

mystical city of Jaipur introduced her to a world of hand-made design; she instantly fell in love with the works of local masons, carpenters, and cobblers, metal and wood work artisans. With Nur’s complete fascination by artisan crafts, and Noor’s amazing flair for fashion and retail savvy, the ecru ladies knew that they had to make their vision come true.

After spending a year developing the idea of ecru, Nur and Noor conceived that they would launch a lifestyle and homewares brand that combined artisan techniques with classically modern designs, deriving the brand’s name from linen in its purest and initial form. Ecru, after all, is the base of all things, and all of their designs. Every aspect of the brand is dedicated towards enriching your lifestyle with designs that are both beautiful and functional, from clothing, a complete living range, bathroom accessories, a darling ‘little ones’ line for children, to patio accessories and stationary items including decorative garlands made from recycled paper.

When producing such a stellar product range, both Nur and Noor insisted on instilling the handmade process in every facet of development.

None of the printed patterns are digital. Instead, you’ll notice block printing and silkscreen printing techniques on various materials, papers and stationary, and even their packaging. Once Nur began working with textile development, she would meet with talented craftsmen who would develop their designs on wood carvings, then stamp the gorgeous prints on various linens that would

make for chic table wares, fabrics, pareos for the beach, clothing, rugs, pillows, and much more. The outdoor area at Dar Al-Funoon was an enchanting example, delicately adorned with carpets, throws and pillows. The carpets’ prints are named after various cities such as Constantinople, New York, and Tokyo. Every print at ecru has its special story and inspiration, from arabesque symbols, the local palm tree, to a whimsical crab; these are all but some of what Nur and Noor envisioned for this brand.

Meeting such talented artisans along opened up doors for ecru, allowing Nur and Noor to even develop graphical arabesque wood and glass carved accessories for the home. Ecru’s product ranges were produced in Bombay, Jaipur, and Kerala, where the brand’s founders worked closely with suppliers to develop the collection.

In creating this simplistically refined notion of elegance through ecru, Nur and Noor wish to travel the world to explore other handicraft techniques.

Expect this designer duo to deliver yet another astounding collection of artisan homewares and lifestyle goodies. From India, their next inspiration is unpredictable; you might find them in Mexico, strolling through the ancient souks of Cairo and Morocco’s bazaars, or even appreciating beautiful embroidery in a traditional market in Madeira. ecru will soon launch its online shopping portal at www.ecruonline.com. Images for Nur and Noor are courtesy of Saud Al-Khateib.

CY

CMY

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EVA

bazaar goes dining RIO CHURRASCARIA Brazilian tradition done right By bazaar staff

When 3 pilots for a local airline decided to start up a restaurant recently, it did not take them long to figure out what they wanted to do. They immediately thought of the place that in all their travels had served them the best food and dining experience: Brazilian BBQ. If you do not know what a Churrascaria is, I would urge you to run (don’t walk!), and find out. At its best, the Churrascaria represents the best mix of old and new world life: a gaucho (roughly translates to cowboy in South American countries), is sitting by the fire after a long day on the range, and he gets to eat an endless portion of fresh grilled meats until his hearts content. Do I have your attention yet?

First, lets talk about the basics of how the 38

concept operates: For one set price, a reasonable 15.5 KD (7.5 for kids 10 and under), you get to pick from a slew of 9 different salads to start with, then you get to choose from an unlimited portion of 12 different sides, all while the Passadors, or meat carvers, constantly rotate past your table giving you endless amounts of a variety of meats. You use a traditional red and green signal method, which they provide, to signify whether you want them to keep the meat madness coming or not (here signified with green when you want more, red when your tapping out); it’s that simple! It all starts with a homemade Pão de queijo while you decide on your salad: these cheese rolls with their soft, chewy center, and made with a cassava flour, are the perfect thing to nibble on as you

start salivating the constant parade of meats.

Now, we should discuss all of the meats themselves. Call it sheer luck, but the first to hit our table was the sirloin: this steak was BBQ’d to perfection. Still, this only set the scene of what was to come. In the next 10 minutes our table had been visited an equal amount of times, like clockwork, with deliveries of: chicken tamarind (a delicious and flavorful regional favorite), beef sausage, chicken sausage, rump steak, flank steak, chicken heart, shrimp, lamb chops, and on and on. There is truly not enough room in the column to go through them all- but they were ample, endless, and delicious. Although they are all served with a variety of daily made sauces, I found it hard to get passed their inhouse made, and very original vinaigrette

(think: almost like a chimichurri in terms of chunky, fresh ingredients combined with just a tinge of heat).

As for the sides, I have a theory here that I must preface this part with: I have long thought that the real proof to whether a place is authentic in origin can normally be found in the sides and the staples; this is normally because it is the first thing to be overlooked when working to sell you a high-priced main dish. Find a place that can grill a steak, and that’s most certainly noteworthy, BUT- find a place that can perfectly execute Brazilian rice and black beans to accompany it, and I will show you an authentic eatery. Not just

local derivatives of same, or even generallyregionally correct, but actually subtly flavored like they do in the homes and eateries of your best Brazilian friends, makes the entire experience all the more pleasurable. Add to that, other awesomely authentic sides like polenta frita, and fried bananas and you may find yourself bartering with yourself over real estate in your stomach!

Lastly, should you have saved room for dessert, there is more to be had here. I must admit that if it were a question of room for more meat versus dessert, I would probably go with the former. However, here I would be remiss in doing so. The first one that absolutely

must be mentioned here is the Apple Crema: a delicious hollowed out apple served with a delicious and delicate mix of warmed diced apples, strawberries, and Zabaglione cream inside. This was the perfect amount of subtly sweet-ness that I needed-seriously delicious.

The Crème Brule and Tiramisu were also solid, if more common. I did not try the Pudim de leite, a Brazilian classic, though; I guess I will just have to go back and give it another go.

Rio is located in Kuwait City, on Ali Al Salem St. at Al Jawhara Tower. Reach them by phone at 2226 0788 or online at www. riokw.com or follow them on Instagram: @riokw 39

JET SKI RACER MAKES SPLASH Fahad Al-Musallam By bazaar staff

In the world of competitive stand up Jet Ski racing, there is little room for error. While many have moved on to the more safe or easier world of sit down sea-doo type vehicles, the purists out there still prefer the older model stand up ones, for their performance response, agility and the ability to trick them out. It is much like the difference between the performance of a classic motorcycle and that of the ATV or Can Am variants: one is created for everyone to drive, it is more stable, easier to relax in, and the other is meant for speed, response and ability to push the edges of power and performance a bit further. For Kuwaiti local Fahad Al-Musullam, his passion lies in the latter, and he is currently proving that in competition, one race at a time.

Tell us how you got into the sport?

Back in summer 2010, my brother and I went to watch our cousin practice in Kuwait around buoys for the Jet Ski World finals held in Arizona, Lake Havasu. The fact that there is a world finals for such sports combined with my love for extreme sports encouraged me to give the sport a try. My first practice was in that same summer, and it was love at first trial.

What is training like for Jet Ski racing?

It is a combination of fun with lots of work and commitment; it mainly depends on what skill you need to improve to be 100% prepared for the race.

There is, for example, the skill of keeping balance: 40

without it you would fall off at the first wave. Second would be how to regain your 1st place position during a race, after it is lost. Third, and most important, would be breathing. These are all of the physical aspects of training; then comes the actual practice for the race.

Creating different courses, some with sharp turns and some with smooth turns, and calculating how much time it takes to finish one round all adds up to whether you are prepared enough for the race.

What is your favorite part of Jet Ski racing?

Nothing beats the feeling of adrenaline rush when I pull on the throttle at the start of the race.

What team are you racing under recently?

Titanium Motorsports, as a racing team, is one that I created myself back in 2011 when I first started racing here in Kuwait. Our current team sponsors are K&S Kuwait, IPD graphics, Quest Nutrition, Rider Zone, and Al-Masar.

What is your greatest achievement or trick/ greatest contribution to the sport?

My greatest achievement until today was winning 1st place in the beginners open class in the 2nd round of Kuwait’s Jet Ski Championship. (Note: since the time we originally met, he will have gone back to win this same event a second time-see photo!)

How is the sport perceived in Kuwait? Do you do any international competitions?

The sport is definitely growing in Kuwait. Even in the last year, the number of people who have started getting into stand up Jet Ski racing has increased

tremendously. My personal hope is that one day, Kuwait will host the Jet Ski World Finals. This would be a tremendous boost for the sport locally. I have myself, raced twice in Qatar’s Aqua Bike Championship. It was my first race outside Kuwait, and was therefore an experience to remember.

If you would like our readers to know one thing about your sport, what would it be?

Jet Ski racing is one of the safest sports that runs on fuel. Falling off on water is always better than falling on the ground!

What is next on your calendar (upcoming competitions, races, public events)?

Currently I am racing in the Kuwait Jet Ski Championship, a total of four rounds. I aim to work hard in my performance in order to be selected by the Kuwait Jet Ski club to compete in the world finals around October. The race will be hosted by IJSBA (International Jet Sports Boating Association) in Arizona US. Although we do not yet know if Fahad will go on to represent Kuwait in this years world championship, his strong showing at our local event, where he again took first in his division, is a strong sign that he is on the upswing. Keep an eye out for him at future events as well as for more Jet Ski racing overall.

Fahad Al-Massallam is currently racing for Ti-22.

Follow his progress online at the teams website: www.ti-22.com.

CHEVROLET

Goji's Pick Shosh NY By bazaar staff

The moment you lay eyes on these summer dresses, trust us when we say that your wardrobe will never be the same again. For June, gojiboutique delivers New York’s most coveted cult label, Shosh NY by Carol Pratt. According to Carol, the ritual of getting dressed alone, even when you’re getting dressed to make toast, is an exercise in self-expression.

With a clear-cut vision in mind that’s evident in her designs, Carol Pratt delivers Shosh NY with simple flair. She adds, “Designing a dress is a layered, sensual, intellectual and emotional progression of choices.” She sees designing as an 42

intimate conversation between herself and her heritage, between a personal aesthetic and the culture imagery that surrounds us. Designing for Carol, is like making magic, a concerted wish to fight the death of creative design. Her inspiration for designing clothing is a display of her personal boundaries. She adds, “For raw material, I draw on my artistic DNA – my mother is a painter, I am a filmmaker, my twin sister has taught me Taoism and life, my children are artists, my hubby is a political animal – all very much a part of my neurology.”

Taking a closer look at Shosh NY style palette,

one will immediately notice the masculine side of the feminine, perhaps an ‘unboyish tomboy’. Carol delivers her passion for lush fabrics with structural properties that hug the body like a mitten as opposed to a glove. Her take on design is to make clothing that women would want to wear, clothing she would want to wear. “My effort is to entice women to wear them for the same reasons that I do; to feel powerful, loved, to participate in community and show up fully in our best second skin.”

Shop the Shosh NY collection by visiting Kuwait’s premier fashion portal, www.gojiboutique.com.

ON TIME

bazaar techno The summer edition Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ~ Arthur C. Clarke

THE SOLAR POWERED TENT

KINDLE PAPERWHITE

LEXON’S TYKHO RUBBER RADIO

The Concept Tent (known as the solar powered tent) was thought up for festivals and partygoers that always need to keep in touch with mates while they’re camping and roaming around the festival site. A new revolutionary way of collecting direct sunlight, and what this design might mean for eco camping in the future. A central wireless control hub allows you to see the amount of energy being generated and used, also sending out a wireless internet signal for anyone to surf the internet displayed on a touchscreen LCD display screen.

Everybody loves a good beach read, but who wants to carry the entire Game of Thrones series in a beachbag?

Even paperbacks can be unwieldy compared to the Kindle, which is the ultimate beach reader. The Paperwhite version, the smallest yet, appears effortless to hold, thanks to a rubberized plastic coating. This allows for easy gripping and simply cannot slip out of one’s hand. You can adjust the lighting for the most comfortable viewing for you. It’s light, sturdy, easy to load, and easy to read even in direct sunlight.

Your sagging abs may not have women lining up at the velvet rope around your blanket, but this mod little number just might. Lexon’s Tykho Rubber Radio (KD 25) has won a slew of design awards, and it’s easy to see why. Simple controls are easy to use. An on/ off button on top, AM/FM and volume buttons on the front, and the antenna is also the knob for tuning in stations. The simple, waterproof AM/FM rubber radio comes in eye-popping red, green, blue and yellow colors that scream “summer” ... in a high-quality tone!

www.inspiredcamping.com

www.amazon.com

www.styleandtechformen.com

AMPHIBIAN – WATERPROOF CASE UP TO 3M + CRYSTAL CLEAR CASE

BOOSTED BOARDS

POWERPOT

Amphibian 5 from InnoPocket is one of the best value waterproof cases for your iPhone 5. Most cases will protect your iPhone 5 from dust, the Amphibian 5 also protects from sand and water. Amphibian’s 2-in-1 design is the only waterproof case with inner shell that can be used as an everyday polycarbonate hard case. This molded polycarobonate inner shell is rigid and crush proof making the case durable and strong. The silicon jacket and its dump out corners will further protect your iPhone 5 from accidental drops. Cutout at the back the camera will let you to take videos underwater with your iPhone 5.

Another Kickstarter project off the ground, a Boosted Board is 2000 watts (2.6hp) on a 12 lb. longboard. More time riding and practicing, less time pushing and walking. It is also the perfect lastkm vehicle as it can go up to 10kms before needing a recharge or swapping the battery. To charge it, simply plug in the included charger just like a laptop, phone, or any other device. If you run out of charge, or you just feel like pushing, go for it - it still rolls like a normal longboard (but with a little bit of drag).

The PowerPot is a new power generator which can use any heat source to cook food and charge gadgets at the same time. Batteries are no longer up to the job, especially if you are away from home for a length of time. What’s important is that the liquid inside the pot is colder than the heat source it’s placed upon as it’s the temperature difference that’s used to generate the alternative energy. It uses the heat from your cooking to generate thermoelectric power which can power up to 3 USB devices at a time. It’s waterproof, lightweight and will set you back about KD 45.

www.innopocket.com

www.kickstarter.com

www.inspiredcamping.com

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ALFA ROMEO

LIVE PAINTING COMES TO KUWAIT “Without atmosphere a painting is nothing.” ~ Rembrandt

By Zainab Mirza

The canvas came to life right before our very eyes.

The French artist Heol’s deft fingers moved quickly and decisively.

A dab here, a stroke there. He was bold in his choice of color. However, the vibrant hues never clashed, and each touch of paint augmented the harmony of the colors. They just were.

Witnessing his imagination transition onto the canvas was incredible. It almost felt as though you could follow his train of thought.

On one side of the canvas was the outline of a man. The colors appeared to come out of nowhere as he began to take form. In a matter of minutes, he grew a goatee and wore a puff-sleeved tunic while his hands held an oud. His eyes were closed and his brow furrowed. He looked as though he wasn’t in the present moment—his music seemed to have drawn him miles away from where he sat strumming the strings of his 46

instrument. His face reflected the inner peace his music evidently gave him. It made me wonder; what was he playing that affected him so deeply?

Who was he playing it for?

The other artist, Amira Behbehani from Kuwait, highlighted contours of veiled women and then a man in a ghutra on the other end of the canvas, adding more details and definitive features to the entire painting. She drew a vague mass with menacing holes in it upon the center. This lay untouched for a long while and I brooded over what it would eventually be cultivated into; it didn’t look very attractive right then. Defined lines and strokes of paint were added and a woman’s eyes beautiful eyes - emerged from behind a veil. I construed each as mirroring different emotions; one, pensiveness, the other, shock. The artists worked in sync, enhancing the eyes with finishing touches as their talent leaped out from the painting.

There was live music accompanying the art, reverberating through the hall, performed by two versatile French musicians that formed the ‘Ganga Mix’ duo—Pierre-Yves Prothais on drums and vocals, and Nournours Lhoumeau alternating on trumpets and keyboards. They would frequently play some very peculiar-looking percussive instruments. The rhythms coming out of these were quite mind-boggling.

Each track held an element of surprise, for you never knew what to expect. One track conjured up an image from an old Western: that of a rattlesnake rattling its tail, scuttling through a desert, with the wind gusting in the background.

Hashim Al Nasser, a talented local guitarist, joined the duo for the latter half of the performance. They played several tracks, some soothing, transporting you to distant lands, others upbeat and playful, evoking smiles of delight from the audience. Every single toe-tapping song encompassed a fascinating blend

of varying rhythms.

I must note how big a difference it makes to attend an event like this with someone who expresses their interpretation of art. A discussion on the interpretation of a painting, since it varies from one person to another, stimulates the senses into observing minute details that someone with a marginal knowledge of art may not notice.

Overall, it was an extraordinary event, one like no other held here before. A huge shout out goes to the Institut Français du Koweït for taking the initiative and introducing the concept of Live Painting—the performance of improvisational art accompanied by live music—to Kuwait.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

Stay updated for upcoming concerts and events through kuwait-music.com.

Images courtesy of Kuwait Music.

SUNDEK

ARABIAN DESERT 250K ULTRA-MARATHON

Third place win – strongest finish ever for a Kuwaiti team.

By Ayman Nassar

I first met Mohammad Al Matar, a Captain with the Armed Forces of Kuwait, in 2011, at a race. It was my duty to record the peoples bib numbers and times at which they crossed the finish line. It sure did not help that 4 people crossed the finish line simultaneously for first place, which meant we needed a random draw for first place. Luckily Mohammed went on to win.

Over the course of the next few months, we would become closer friends and I would see his determination and passion for the sport of running.

Mohammed would spend most of his time traveling, honing his skills as a runner, and with great reward.

He came in first place at the North Face 25KM Jungle Run in Thailand, 3rd place in the 10.5KM Bank Mascat Asalah Marathon 2013 race, 5th place in the Donut 10 Mile race in Dubai, as well as other incredible timings in races in such locations as Jordan, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi and Cyprus, to name a few.

Mohammad Al Matar’s crowning achievement however, lies in his latest endeavor, a return to the 48

fabled sands of Morocco to participate in what is known as the toughest footrace on earth, the Marathon Des Sables (MDS). In its 28th edition, it is a 250KM ultra-marathon through the Sahara Desert bringing together 1,000 runners from 50 different countries.

Divided into 5 stages over 5 days of varying distances - the greatest being 75.7KM this year - it is a test of self-sustenance as runners must carry their own supplies upon their backs from one checkpoint to the next, adding an extra 6-10KG to their own weight as they race across the desert plains of sand dunes, rocky plateaus, valleys and mountains. It is an arduous journey and not for the faint of heart. 2 people have died since 2007 at the event, and one was lost for 9 days in the desert.

At night they camp out in tents like nomads with nothing but the stars for comfort as they dwell upon the long journey lying ahead the next day.

Temperatures range from 10°C at night to 40°C during the daytime. Billowing winds and blowing

dust further exacerbate the running conditions.

This year, 29 year old Mohammed Al Matar teamed up with last year’s first place winner at the MDS, Salameh Al Aqra and their teammate Mohammad Al Swaiti as the Jordanian & Kuwaiti Team, and giving the Arab World reason to rejoice by placing third.

My first question is... why?

It was an adventure. To be honest, I wanted to see what my countrymen had meant about how difficult this race was. It was not my specialty, I had not run ultra-marathons ever before, but I wanted to improve the image of the Kuwaiti sportsman. 5 other Kuwaitis had previously participated in 2009, positions in the 700s, I wanted to be ready by eating right, with the right equipment and light training in distances of 10KM and 21KM. You were part of the first team to run from the northern border of Kuwait to the south, how much distance did you cover, and did it ignite your passion for ultra-marathon running?

I registered for MDS 2012 before the Run Kuwait

event. Our training for Run Kuwait was running, walking and light gear. While attending a separate training camp in Jordan I met my Jordanian friends who motivated me and taught me things I never knew. They informed me of MDS. How do you prepare yourself mentally and physically for a race like this?

Physically, I did distance training, nothing above 20KM, I focused more on speed. My army background prepared me for running and carrying my own equipment on my back, it also helped me as I did not blister like the others did. Mentally it was my love for my country. I was there to represent Kuwait, I was supported by the Army, and my competition motivated me, each representing their respective countries with some who have been taking part in the race for more than 2 years in a row. I was proud to have people know I was from Kuwait when they learned of my accomplishments. Despite everything I saw in 2012 I returned in 2013 and remained competitive, I did not drop out. I could not allow

myself to drop out, even though I was tired. The race, despite being physically exhaustive, takes its toll on you mentally as well. You keep thinking - I am tired, I want to eat, my feet hurt and then you think about the sponsors. Once you are done with your thoughts you need to gather firewood and cook your own food, which was bland and had no taste, it was just consumed for energy. The later you get to the finish line, the further you have to walk to find firewood, as others who got there earlier get the closest, making you even more tired. I wanted to finish the race so as not to go crazy.

How did it feel being the sole representative of Kuwait?

It would have been nice to have someone to support from my own country and to gain strength from.

What was your biggest obstacle throughout the race?

The heat, and the mountains. Last year the path taken was not as mountainous, and they were

not as huge or dangerous as this time. The paths were extremely narrow, crooked and steep. The very next day I said to myself that I was no longer interested in getting a good time or position, I was only worried about surviving and not losing my life on the mountain. I never trained on mountains. I had no experience with them. It is a mountain not fit for running. Rocks would slide down towards oncoming runners from those attempting to get across. It was very dangerous.

How was the competition?

Seeing competitors from foreign lands was in itself a motivation - people leaving their comfortable lives for a week-long perilous journey in the desert. We all shared a sense of adventure, and it was comforting to see familiar faces from 2012 returning in 2013. It motivated me.

Is there anything you would have done differently? My biggest obstacle was distance. It was not my forte. In Kuwait and in the Army I did not do long continued on next page...

49

distance training. I run for Qadsiya Sports Club and even there my friends told me that my training was incorrect as I was doing 10KM and 21KM speed runs and attempting MDS which is an ultra-marathon. I was not an ultra-marathoner.

I should have trained distances, however it was difficult because at both the Army and the Club I was doing speed. My competitors were shocked when they saw my rank and realized I was not an ultra-marathon runner. I was driven by determination.

How did you feel when you crossed the finish line?

The first thing I did was thank God for carrying me across the finish line after the fatigue I had endured and the stress. I was not only running for myself, I was representing all of Kuwait, it was a heavy burden and I felt utter relief at finishing strong, carrying the hopes and the name of Kuwait. I crossed the finish line as a winner not a finisher, unfurling the Kuwaiti flag and taking comfort in seeing a small piece of home. All my efforts and training were not in vain. I funded my own training, traveling around the world at my own expense to participate in races to make myself better and to promote Kuwait on the international running circuit. I always was a winner and did Kuwait proud with 50

continued from previous page...

no sponsorship, attention or care.

Compare between the first time you ran the race in 2012 and now? How is it different?

In 2012 I ranked 46, in 2013 I was 85. First time I placed top 50, second time I was very proud my team made third place. This year I was able to stand on the podium with my team mates as we came 3rd as a team (Salameh Al Aqra, Mohammad Swaiti and me), and the Kuwaiti flag flew in front of 1000 competitors and millions of spectators around the world.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of participating in an ultramarathon?

Train. It is not an easy run; it is the equivalent of 4 marathons. No matter how hard you train, during your first ultra-marathon you will feel your body giving up on you. Once you pass that and endure, you are ready to call yourself an ultrarunner, and will cross the finish line as a winner.

What future do you see for ultra-marathon running in Kuwait?

I left a legacy for any proud son or daughter of Kuwait wishing to participate. They will be recognized and respected as the people now know of the tenacity of the Kuwaiti people.

Marathoners are known to have an extra gear they tap into, when most people would

otherwise give up...has this ever happened to you, and if so, where does the strength come from to carry on?

As I mentioned before, ultra-marathons are a test of endurance. I was not going to MDS to waste time. I was there to represent my country, despite my competition having superior training and longer time to train, I made up for it with my determination, my belief in myself and my will to see Kuwait’s name echoed in the sport of ultrarunning. I had to continue to see the final result.

No rest until the finish line. The Army taught us that after fatigue there is peace; fatigue can be forgotten as victory is forever. One of the sayings I kept repeating over and over was taught to me in the Army, “follow me if I lead, push me if I stop, bury me if I give up”. My greatest source of strength also came from the accolades received from my teammates, season ultra-runners and multiple time competitors at MDS. Is there anyone you would like to thank for helping you achieve the seemingly impossible by taking place in this race twice?

I would like to thank the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Army of Kuwait for allowing me to participate in this event of international stature and giving me the honor of holding high the flag of this beautiful country.

BAZAAR AD

bazaar music

TROUBLE WILL FIND ME

...LIKE CLOCKWORK

MUSIC FROM BAZ LUHRMANN’S FILM: THE GREAT GATSBY

The National is in a league of its own... ( They have found) their way to a big new sound. “ (New York Times Magazine). Trouble Will Find Me is The National’s highly anticipated sixth album. Formed in 1999, the Ohio-raised, Brooklyn- Based band consists of vocalist Matt Berninger fronting two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendor f (drums). The band’s previous 4AD release, High Violet (May 2010), was met with critical acclaim.

Featuring the return of bandmembers Dave Grohl, Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan, plus guest appearances from Elton John, Trent Reznor, Alex Turner, Jake Shears and James Lavelle. Joshua Homme has written the most intense, personal and beautiful songs of his career. While the thunder of Queens past is still evident, there are a number of gorgeous ballads, meditations on time passing, the struggle to create art, and the nearness of mortality. The music features some of Homme’s finest guitar work, at times recalling past greats such as Brian May or George Harrison, at other times uniquely his own.

Original soundtrack to the 2013 motion picture directed by Baz Luhrman. The soundtrack features songs per formed by Jay -Z, Beyonce & Andre 3000, will.i.am, Florence & The Machine, Lana Del Rey and many others. The film is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Long Island-set novel, Huffington Post writes about the album “ The Jay-Z produced musical roller-coaster mixes electronica, hip-hop, and rock with jazz age sounds into a breathy, sexy, dangerous, electric result.”

LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS

SUPER COLLIDER

UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM

Written and recorded around the world from Europe, to India, to the bands studio in California, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS was produced by Jared Leto with previous collaborator Steve Lillywhite (U2, The Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel) co-producing four of the twelve tracks. Jared says that ‘’this is more than an evolution - it is a brand new beginning.

Creatively, we have gone to an entirely new place, which is exciting, unexpected, and incredibly inspiring.’’ LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS is the bands fourth studio record. It follows This Is War, which was hailed by many as an artistic triumph.

Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album for this heavy metal band that’s been around for nearly three decades, selling more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning numerous accolades including 11 Grammy nominations, scoring five consecutive platinum albums including 1992’s twomillion-selling Countdown to Extinction. Megadeth’s founder, leader and primal guitar-slinger and lyricist Dave Mustaine feels the best is yet to come. Super Collider is the first Megadeth album since Cryptic Writings (1997), not to feature a lineup change from the preceding album.

In Unstoppable Momentum, the fourteenth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released in May through Epic Records, Satch sets aside the futuristic slant from his last few outings arguably gives his strongest performances since his self-titled 1995 release. For the Satriani army, this will be a welcome return to a strippeddown sound that relies a little less on futuristic themes and motifs and more on what inspired many of his followers—a cool guitar plugged into a loud amp.

by The National

by 30 Seconds to Mars

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by Queens of the Stone Age

by Megadeath

Soundtrack; by Various Artists

by Joe Satriani

source: www.amazon.com

ihop

#theglossarybazaar A guide to navigating the pigeon-speak of bazaarites By bazaar staff

Should you find yourself in the unenviable position of running into a bazaar staff member in the wild, these words and phrases can come in handy to avoid miscommunications. Though we often nod as if we understand, it is safe to assume we don’t. Feel free to send in your own inter-office jargon that we might reply in kind:

Avocadogate-a reference to an early 2013 event in which a ridiculously hard and unripe avocado almost killed a bazaar staff member by blocking the arteries; Heimlich was performed, everyone is fine now.

Arabish (see also Engbic)-The common vernacular for switching between local tongues Blasépshaw-the act of being indifferently outraged. Most common amongst generation’s X,Y, and whatever we are currently calling the youth of today.

Boverish-a Catherine Tate inspired take on the state of being bothered (as in “I ain’t boverish”) Deplenish-the art of simultaneously depleting and replenishing something that results in no net change Ish-A lazy phrase, meaning sort of or kind of; normally meant to clarify. Often preceeded with a very confused look, a shrug of the sholders, and the non-lexical conversation sound or interjection of “uuuuuuhhhhh” Howboutnow-a conversational rushing mechanism normally used to interrupt the statement “not right now.”

Mamsir-a gender-neutral cordial term of respect that one has most likely done nothing to earn.

Pre-poning- the opposite of postponing; i.e. just doing (can also sometimes mean the act of doing something in your mind, far before it actually gets done) PreTSD-When your friend/girlfriend/4th wife walks around in a constant dramatic state because her horoscope told her something bad is going to happen today.

Tacomurgency-a real-life crisis situation that can only be solved with Taco’s (in this office, it happens to Ahmed everyday at 11:26am-almost on the dot).

Tiki-Puka-Puka-a glazed look one gets in their eyes when daydreaming about vacation.

Todaymorning-a misleading and loosely interpreted timeframe that avoids any definitive commitments.

Tough Tiggies- tiggies from the streets (obviously!).

Tuner-outer-modern adaptation of victorian machinery that can be tuned to the pitch of your coworkers voices, thus allowing you to ignore them completely.

Shrabs-how the often seen mix of crab and shrimp comes out of our designer’s mouth when she’s sick or otherwise not in her right mind (as in “make me a shrab sandwhich”).

Surprose-the act of surprising your coworkers by only responding in poetic verse (not to be confused with jumping out from a dark area and reciting poetry at someone—that’s just weird and you should stop!)

Stalkprose- The act of jumping out from a dark area and reciting poetry at someone (that’s just weird and you should seriously, seriously, stop! Especially if it’s your own poetry) To tell us your inter-office wordsmithing favorites, surprose us on our facebook page @: bazaarmagazine.

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ADOLFO

MORNINGS IN SANTA MARTHA

By Fatmah Al-Qadfan

Slamming doors and screeching neighbors woke me up every morning without fail. I would lay in bed listening to my host sister sing to her bawling baby and fervently wish that people would stop blasting their car horns at six in the morning.

For about half an hour I would try to tune out the noise, focusing instead on the fast and furious plip plop plip plop of the rain. I wondered how my roommate could sleep through it all, sprawled out on the rickety bed next to mine. Eventually, shouts from the neighbors would escalate, thus relinquishing any hopes of sleep, and I would sit up in bed to start my Spanish homework. In Costa Rica, I did not need an alarm clock.

That’s how my days started while I was in Costa Rica: Spanish homework in bed until it was time to get ready for classes and work. For a couple of weeks (that somehow felt like a lifetime) I lived a different life from the one I lead in Kuwait. My days were long but not stressful, my food was significant but not substantial, and my only goal was to walk fast enough to avoid the daily tropical downpour.

I was staying with a Costa Rican 56

family in Santa Martha, the residential district of San Pedro. My host family was made up of four generations of Costa Rican women. Add my roommate (an energetic young woman from Chicago) and myself to the mix and you have a cross-generational, international and multi-faith household. With five women and a baby in the house, the mornings were all about perfect timing, giving each of us a short window to use the single bathroom and hope for a little bit of warm water. I often wasted precious moments of my allocated time just surveying the premise for cheeky roaches that liked to dart out of their hiding places to taunt me.

Soft buenos días and smiles were exchanged during our morning routines. Mi mama Tica (my Costa Rican mother), Rocio, single-handedly raised three children with limited resources and lots of love. She struck me as a resilient woman, every bit a matriarch.

Her dark hair was always pulled back in a tight bun and her plain shirts were serious. She wore a gold cross on a thin chain and would absentmindedly fiddle with it whenever she tried to understand my broken Spanish. Rocio’s mother, a small and spindly woman in

her nineties made her way around with the aid of a steel walker. She spoke a universal grandmotherly language; every morning she saw my roommate and I out of the house with a prayer and a smile.

My host sister (Rocio’s daughter) also lived in the house with her temperamental baby girl. Between a full time job at a call center, a relationship, and raising a child, I was surprised that she had any time at all to look up Kuwait and Islam. She had a multitude of questions ready for me and I did my best to describe everything in Kuwait from the political system to cultural dos and don’ts, from machboos to shopping malls, parks and the economy. Once, I showed my host family the well-known Kuwaiti musical performances from the sixties and seventies. Despite the language barrier, the women were absolutely

fascinated by the timeless performance and I felt a surge of pride and hope for my country, even though I was oceans away. Up until I came to stay with them, my host family had never met an Arab before and they waited for me to fill in the gaps or dispel myths embedded by Western media.

By the time Andrea and I sat down to eat, the baby would be napping again and my host sister would have left for work where she would spend another day answering the calls of grumpy customers in a different country. Breakfast was significantly quieter at Rocio’s. We ate warm servings of leftover gallo pinto and scrambled eggs. Sometimes there was bread and jam; sometimes there was a banana to share, but there was always a large pot of coffee on the table. And during those hectic mornings in Santa Martha, we were most thankful for the caffeine.

KERASTRAIGHT

STORY OF AN ARTISAN Part II: Mystical Treasures Sylvette Blaimont By bazaar staff

Besides her high profile clientele, Sylvette Blaimont’s artisanal talents come alive with her work in precious metals like Gold and Silver. Seeing glory in shape, texture and volume, she sets out to create her wearable art pieces based on an innate calling—she sometimes will take the time to craft an entire collection that she might reconsider selling, simply to get it out of her system and respond to her deeper passions.

Catching Sylvette at her different stages of 58

inspiration is a thrilling experience, and at the same time, she will work with you to develop designs customized to your preferences. After seeing Sylvette premiere her work at a past Pretty Little Things event, I realized that this artist is not interested in the systematic, but rather the organic development of each and every emotionally charged piece. We set a time and place, and I graciously accepted the artist’s invitation to take a closer look at how she works at her studio in Pearl Al Marzoug, the setting where her inspirations

take shape and form.

Her jewelry, like intricate ornaments, decorates her studio. Because Sylvette also incorporates wax molds to produce her work, she highlights that this is done for an ergonomic element in design that adds volume to her work. She adds, “Once a piece is cast, I have endless options and it’s my game, I can play.” Texture, as it seems, is highly individual to Sylvette.

She might be a Parisian at heart, yet this artist’s passion for travel and making jewelry

landed her in New York in 2005, where she started taking courses and spent two years training with a certified Gold Smith. Learning handmade techniques like enameling and the antique technique of granulation, she would later on combine all that she has learned to create bespoke pieces that would capture the attention of New York’s crème de la crème. Publications like Elle Magazine, Glamour, and Le Monde embraced her first line of entirely handmade pieces, while Sylvette’s clientele included Brooke Shields, Demi Moore and Naomi Watts.

What you will find with Sylvette’s intricate work are hand forged gold and silver pieces that emit exquisite beauty and personal charm.

From beautiful bangles and rings engraved with whimsical poems, quotes, and adjectives, to organically shaped rings and necklaces; Sylvette creates one of a kind pieces that vary from solid gold, to being gold plated, depending on her clients’ request.

A pendant she was wearing particularly captivated me during our meeting as it almost resembled a hollowed out half of an ancient scarab. She recounts the story of its creation with a smile, “I created this piece thinking I was

going on a cruise on the Nile with my husband.

I engraved the inside with the saying, ‘Drifting along the Nile, in search of golden light and precious perfumes’.” Although they never made the trip, that pendant remains timeless in style and is esthetically enchanting. She then shows me a simple gold ring, where she uses the technique of stamping designs via the use of a rolling mill.

That’s the magic behind Sylvette’s work; she expertly blends textures to manifest her interest in creating volume. Her pieces seem to have a common element, yet each piece has its own personality. Interestingly so, these pieces can easily be worn together as well!

Her next step is to complete her Masters in Gemology, as Sylvette highly values education, attributes her progression and success to both working and continuously studying in her field.

“The more you design the harder it gets. When you start doing something as an artist, your personal history and personality comes through in your first collection. From there, I worked on conceptual volumes that are abstract because I really hate being labeled as a certain type of designer.” Her next inspiration: repetition. Anything can inspire Sylvette, from concepts to textures; she can even

start a piece with a color, or even a complete mistake. A simple sphere she molds may transfer into a masterpiece with different elements.

Yet now, her eyes seem to wander towards the repetitive patterns, architecture and anything around her. She comments, “My work isn’t the product of a process, but serves more as an answer to a question. Perhaps it is an interpretation of how I can transform an interest into a material piece.”

Just like Sylvette once cut her roots, and left Paris to New York, she does the same with her work in Kuwait. She is ready to explore new concepts, ideas and influences. She adds, “When I found my place in Kuwait, I realized that there is a market for my work. The local talent in Kuwait very pleasantly surprised me. It was a pleasure exhibiting alongside the fellow jewelry designers at PLT –the quality of work is amazing.”

Sylvette Blaimont launched her new line jewelry, and made it available to a larger audience by creating silver pieces, plated with 18 kt or 24 kt gold. She still makes a point in using top quality gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. For more about her work, please visit www.sylvetteblaimont.com.

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MARLENE ANDERSSON Top contender to win for Kuwait at Asia’s Crossfit Games By bazaar staff

Now in their 6th year, the annual Crossfit games have become the fastest growing sport competition in the world. Comprised of a season that moves from open, to regional, and lastly international finals held in California, the games use a combination of endurance, strength, and moves unknown to contestants in advance, to prove the ultimate test of fitness. We recently sat down with Marlene Andersson, a 29 year-old Swede now living in Kuwait (via England), to talk all things Crossfit. As a Sports Therapist, and strength and conditioning coach, she has already made her mark by qualifying for two separate regionals in a brief 2 and a half years in the sport.

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Tell us how you got into the sport?

One of my good friends in London had started to do Crossfit and he really enjoyed it. We usually met up once a month to catch up and do a training session together, so one day we did a Crossfit style workout that he had designed for us.

Afterwards he said I did really well and should try to get into doing it more. I went to a gym to try it out...and hated it: the intensity, being timed etc. A few months later, I found myself in another Crossfit gym and joined there only doing strength training.

Then I started to get more and more into it, learning more movements; now I love it!

What is training like for Crossfit, as opposed to other, more traditional, gym training?

What differs mostly between more traditional gym training and Crossfit is the intensity of the workouts and the blend of different modalities within the same workout. With modality I mean for example endurance, weightlifting and gymnastics. A Crossfit workout is either designed as doing as much work as possible in a set amount of time, or in finishing a set amount of work as quickly as possible. This really puts the intensity up! Some workouts can take less than 3 min but you’ll do the same amount of work as someone in a more traditional gym would do in 30-40 min.

What is your favorite part of Crossfit as a sport, and competition?

My favorite thing with Crossfit is easy to choose, the COMMUNITY! In my opinion, it’s the back bone of the sport and the best thing about it. The bond you make training together in that environment is amazing. Everywhere you go people are friendly, helpful and supportive. It shines through at competitions too when opponents often cheer each other on. That’s not very often seen in other sports.

What is your greatest achievement or accomplishment/greatest contribution to the sport?

The first competition I participated in was a team competition called Divided We Fall Games, 3 men and one woman in each team. One movement often used in competitions to separate athletes is the Ring muscle up, a technical gymnastic move. I managed to get my first muscle up 2 weeks before the competition and by the time it came around I had only done 3 in total. We did really well and made it to the final and of course it was muscle ups in it and every team member needed to do 6 each. I have no idea how I managed but after 2 days of competing I did double the amount of muscle-ups I had ever done and we won the competition..! It was an amazing moment! I try to contribute to the sport by coaching others that are new to it and show them why I love it so much.

Any specific challenges to training in Kuwait?

The biggest things for me to get used to is to train in the heat and the humidity. I’m better acclimatized now but it still feels tough sometimes compared to the colder European weather. I’m not looking forward to summer! The biggest challenge I’ve had is finding coaches for different disciplines, for example an Olympic lifting coach, gymnastics coach etc., was easier to find in the UK. Any injuries to speak of?

I had a pretty bad shoulder during the last Open and it stayed with me during the Regionals. I’m better at spotting niggles now before they get out of hand and preventing them, so right now I’m feeling good.

How are you feeling about your prospects for the duration of the 2013 competition?

It’s hard to tell what Crossfit HQ will come up with for us this year, the sport keeps developing and changing fast and so is the capacity of the athletes. A workout called King Kong, for example, which was created to be impossible to complete, is today done in less than 3 minutes. Previously finishing in second place in the Regionals of course gives me a great push to go for first place. I’m faster and stronger than I was last year and as long as I feel improvement and wake up looking forward to do my training I’m very happy.

The Crossfit Games- Asia Regional takes place May 31st-June 2nd in Seoul, Korea. Follow Marlene’s progress online at www.games.crossfit.com.

MILLER

CRAIG LOOMIS, THE SALMIYA COLLECTION Kuwait University Professor publishes new book By bazaar staff

For our regular readers out there, the name Craig Loomis may already ring a bit familiar to you. A long time professor at the American University of Kuwait, he is also a near-constant contributor of fiction pieces to bazaar magazine. With the release of his latest book of short stories, The Salmiya Collection: Stories of the Life and Times of Modern Kuwait, he gives us a further glimpse of his unique interpretation of local life. We met recently to discuss teaching, the writer’s life, and his new collection of stories.

How did your literary journey begin?

It is a long and winding story but I can give you the Reader’s Digest version. In the 1960s I encountered a book by James Baldwin entitled Another Country, and for reasons I can no longer remember that book enticed me to look harder and longer into the universe of books--and by extension, reading--as much more than simply a painful homework assignment. In short, I began to take my education more seriously, and part of that seriousness, or sincerity, translated into attempting to try my hand at writing stories of what I saw, heard, and believed. So, my fifty-year venture into the world of reading and writing can be blamed on Mr. Baldwin.

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Why did you choose the medium of fiction (vs. poetry, creative nonfiction, etc.)?

I can answer half of this question: poetry is far too difficult for me. Spending all that time searching for that one “right” word would be my undoing.

With fiction I can allot myself more flexibility, more room, to weave a tale. Speaking of brevity, writing stories for bazaar for the last nine years, has, I think, made me a better writer in the sense that I have only about one thousand words to work with, to tell a story; and, of course the catch here is to be able to do so within that word limitation. Sometimes, the story does not work; one thousand words is not big enough. When this happens, I either shelf the story for another time, or rework, revise, remold the telling so it does “fit.” This is the challenge: telling a valid, four-minute story.

What are some of the challenges of the writer’s life?

The biggest challenge is training myself to sit down and write daily. You (anyone who pretends to want to write) cannot wait for the muse to hit you. It is a job. Plus, you must come to the understanding that not every day, and in fact very few days, will the words come rolling out, smooth and golden, everything falling into place. For me, writing is a daily chore that comes in chunks; it is a chore that demands constant revision and process, and even

then I am never completely satisfied, I simply run out of time. That is why once I publish a story I do not want to see or read it again, because if I do I always see that wrong word, that image that now sounds awkward, a character who would never say that.

What writers have influenced you and/or your work?

It is almost impossible to answer this question.

Over the years a good many writers have influenced me. For example, to some degree, I have been mesmerized by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, and his obsession with terse, concise sentences, as well as what has become known as his “ice-berg theory” on writing; and of course I need to include Mark Twain, and his mastery of characterization.

Tell us about your new book specifically?

My latest book, The Salmiya Collection: Stories of the Life and Times of Modern Kuwait, Syracuse University Press, comes from my nine years of living in this country. I see The Salmiya Collection as a bundle of mini-stories–call them snapshots–of, as the title implies, the ebb and flow of life in the State of Kuwait. Of course many characters and situations are involved in my Salmiya life-tide, and to that end, I have attempted to give readers bits and pieces of humanity at work in the gulf region.

How has writing/living/teaching in Kuwait changed your writing?

Any writer must be an astute observer. Writers must constantly have their story-telling antennae out: collecting this dialogue, recording that laughter, feeling that texture, remembering that color, etc. The many coffee shops in Kuwait offer a wonderful vantage point for watching the swell of humanity stroll by.

What do you hope readers will gain from these stories?

Although people can celebrate their individual countries, cultures, and heritages, the human condition does not change. Of course it goes without saying that, in many ways, an Arab can be culturally different from, say, a North American, but at the emotional and psychological core, we are made of the same stuff. We sometimes forget this because these days our world has a tendency to stress the differences, and more times than not, those differences are perceived as less than positive.

The Salmiya Collection embraces this different-butsame notion.

The Salmiya Collection: Stories of the Life and Times of Modern Kuwait is available through Syracuse University Press at: www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu.

TONI & GUY (ELECTRICAL)

bazaar apps H-APPy summer! Top six apps trending this month.

TAN PRO Tan Pro lets you easily time your tanning sessions and track your tanning progress. Independent tan, turn over, and lotion timers let you tan with confidence. Tan Pro uses iOS 4 local notifications to ensure you’ll receive your tanning alerts, even if Tan Pro isn’t currently running. Record your tanning progress with images from your photo album or camera, along with other tanning details. Tan Pro works great for tracking both outdoor and indoor tanning, as it can also help you track sun-bed sessions. Available for $0.99 on iOs devices.

SHAZAM Picture this, you are lazing on your lounger at the beach club and you hear a song playing and it rocks! You need to know what it is….Shazam is the app for the job! Shazam uses your devices built-in microphone to help you identify what song is playing by analyzing the captured sound and seeking a match based on an acoustic fingerprint in a database of more than 11 million songs. Once you tag a song you can instantly watch the music video for the tune on YouTube, share tracks with friends, or purchase the song to listen to on your device. Available free for Android and iOs devices.

GRILL IT! Nothing says summer like firing up the grill. This helpful BBQ app includes detailed instructions and professional photos for all of our favorite grilling recipes for Beef, Lamb, Seafood, Poultry and more. If you can cook it on the grill, chances are they will have it, and have taken photos of the process. Automatic updates add new recipes to your Grill-It! app as soon as they are available on the website. The recipes are easy to follow, but you’ll need a shopping list app to pair with Grill-It. Available for $0.99 on iOs devices.

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WATER YOUR BODY

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Do you drink enough water? Do you always forget to drink water regularly? Especially important in summer heat, this App reminds you to drink water every day and tracks your water drinking habits. You only need to enter your current weight and Water Your Body will help you to determine how many cups you need to drink every day. Every time you drink a cup of water you add this to your stash of recorded water, and it reminds you (non-obtrusively) at regular intervals if this does not equate to what you should be drinking. User-friendly, and available free on both Android and iOs devices.

KUWAIT SEA BASE Featured in bazaar July 2012 a fun and educational app, Kuwait Sea Base is for anyone interested in exploring the underwater world of the Kuwaiti and Arabian Gulf coast line. The device user is able to browse through a comprehensive list of 203 marine species, including fish, sharks, rays and turtles. Providing a visually appealing, and real understanding of the wealth of invaluable species that live down below, users can become more enlightened about a heritage in need of preservation and respect. Available free for iOs devices.

HOPSTOP For travellers and urban dwellers, public transportation is often the way to go. You don’t necessarily need GPS, but it does help to plan your route ahead of time. Hopstop lets you pick the best route to your destination via subway, rail, bus, taxi, bicycle or even walking. It accounts for service changes and other obstacles, so you can be sure you can get where you need to go, when you need to get there.

Hopstop is available in hundreds of cities in the United States, Canada and Europe. Available free on iOs and Android devices.

While online don’t forget to check your Civil ID for any fines to reduce any chance of travel bans. Visit: www.e.gov.kw/moi_en/pages/eservices/trafficviolation.aspx 64

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TALKING Q8CON….

By Jaye Sonia

Following on from last month’s Q8Con experience documented in May’s bazaar, I met with Meshari AlArouj, Khaled Al-Mutairi, and Rashed Rashed, three of the guys behind Q8Con. We met at a small Starbucks and, over coffee and desserts, talked for nearly three hours. We talked games, comics, and about their big dreams – of Kuwait’s very first comic convention! While I could never hope to communicate everything they shared with me at that discussion, they did give me their permission to share a couple of the things we discussed, questions I had about their ideas and plans for Kuwait.

What was your inspiration for Q8con?

I love comics. I’ve been reading comics since I was a little kid, as do many people in Kuwait. Because we also have a lot of gamers, it occurred to me that we needed our own community here. This inspired me to build a comic convention.

In the past, you’ve mentioned the Middle East Film and Comic Convention. Did that also inspire you to build something in Kuwait?

Yes. When I attended the MEFCC, I saw a lot of people from Kuwait there, as well as lots of other citizens from the Gulf Coast Countries. It made me wonder why, with all these Kuwaitis flying to Dubai, we didn’t have our 66

own convention.

Why do you think Kuwait needs its own Comic convention?

Kuwait has plenty of conventions, but all of these conventions are associated with more traditional hobbies, things like food, accessories, photography, etc. There hasn’t been anything for gamers or comic fans, though. So I decided to do just that.

What sort of challenges have you encountered while putting this together?

I think my biggest challenge has been finding people interested in the bigger vision of building a convention for the community. A lot of people have personal interests that aim to benefit them alone. I don’t want that. I want something for the community.

I’ve had a hard time getting people to join me. Too many people believe it will be too hard to make a comic convention in Kuwait!

What sort of challenges do you foresee in the future?

I think our biggest challenge will be finding a location to hold the comic convention. There’s not many locations in Kuwait that can handle an event like Q8Con. Also, because we’re trying to organize a convention that isn’t traditional, we’re having a hard time explaining to people exactly what’s

going on.

DC or Marvel?

I prefer Marvel, but I still like DC. I’m a big fan of Iron Man, both the comics and the films. There’s also a bigger Marvel community here in Kuwait, so it’s more accepted.

When did you first start reading comics?

I started reading comics when I was ten years old. I started with the G.I. Joe comics and, through them, found more Marvel comics. I’ve been reading them since then.

What sort of activities are you planning for Q8Con? First, we plan on bringing in some local comic publishers (the people behind The 99 and other Arabian publishers like MAJED and BASEM). We’re also planning on running some gaming tournaments like Street Fighter and Call of Duty. Of course we’ll have some workshops for video gamers, for the voice actors, for artists that draw comic art (and manga), for movie making, and more.

We plan on making a big spot for people to show off and sell their action figures, too. Several of the big collectors (and shops) will be included. We’ll include some shops for videogames, for books, for art, for t-shirts, and of course, for comics.

We’re also going to invite cosplayers from around the GCC. We plan to have

some contests for them, which should make things exciting. Finally, we’ll have several talent shows and competitions for photography, drawing, and other art.

We should have enough things to keep peoples’ attention for a full day in the convention.

What are you the most excited about?

I am so excited to see this growing.

Every year the community in Kuwait grows and gets better, with fans meeting each other and connecting. I also love to see when fans meet their favorite actors and or people dressed as their favorite characters.

What should fans expect from Q8CON? They should expect a host of activities, things like live shows, shops, competitions, cosplayers, gaming, new video game demos, collections of action figures, as well as a enjoy a change to meet with some famous Arabian voice actors.

What should vendors and companies expect from Q8CON? They should expect a huge community in a place full of events. This would be a great place for them to offer their services to a growing community.

Celebrities? Who should we expect?

So far, we’ve contacted Abdurrahman Al-Agil (a Kuwaiti actor from the 1980s), Sammy Clark (the Lebanese singer behind the intro song for Grendizer), and Jihad Al-Atrash (also from Grendizer).

Finally, why is this important?

We have a huge community of geeks, gamers, cosplayers, and comic fans that remains hidden here in Kuwait and we need to get them all together so they can share their interests. Plus, this gives individuals a chance to showcase their talents and their creativity in public. This is important. It shows people that the world of comics has a lot to offer the people of Kuwait.

For more information on how things are developing, check out Q8Con’s Twitter and Facebook pages!

CHRYSLER

THE HARVEY EDIT Cutting edge fashion and beauty at Harvey Nichols Kuwait By bazaar staff Launching the latest in fashion is eponymous with the Harvey Nichols brand name. This summer, Harvey Nichols Kuwait is raising the bar with innovative fashions and incredible designers right here in Kuwait! Suited to please the styles of its sophisticated shoppers, get ready to meet three new amazing designers: Stone Island, Mawi, and Chantecaille.

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CLUTCHES Upon making its debut at London Fashion Week in 2003 with a collection of jewelry and handbags, Mawi’s designs are a tribute to its creator’s artistic vision in delivering the ultimate mélange of traditional and contemporary aesthetics.

This season, Mawi ventures into the world of soft accessories with a collection of luxury clutches, statement pieces that echo with opulence, melding cutting-edge modern style with traditional influences. Neon glamor and structural chic are the key elements within this line of luxury clutches. Highlights in the collection include a bright green glitter clutch toughened up with the addition of faceted acrylic spikes, whilst pitch-black teardrop crystals and gold tube decorate a sparkling fuchsia two-pocket design.

Also celebrating the brand’s 10th anniversary and moving towards a second decade of luxurious vision, this new line of clutches incorporates Swarovski elements, which is also true to Mawi’s signature style.

Expect sumptuous jewels at the heart of this collection, making each clutch an absolute collector’s item.

STONE ISLAND One of the newest brands to arrive at the Harvey Nichols Kuwait Menswear department, Stone Island conveys sportswear chic in innovative ways. For avid Stone Island fans, this is brilliant news. Yet, for those who aren’t aware of what this inventive brand has to offer, it is a constant dedication to textile research and innovation that will turn you into a cult follower.

Founded in Italy in 1982 by graphic designer Massimo Osti, the label was then sold to Carlo Rivetti in 1993. Rivetti went on to instill a tradition of research and experimentation, always striving for uniqueness in design and integrity in production. Year after year, investigations into transforming and emphasizing fibers and fabrics are constantly in motion, leading to the discovery and production of new techniques. Stone Island is a pioneer in the field of innovative sportswear, using materials and production techniques that have never been used before in the clothing industry.

In celebrating its 30th anniversary collection, Rivetti revived the company’s archives, blending in references from military gear and work-wear with lighter fabrics and new materials. A shining example includes the thermo reflective jacket, which reacts to light and changes color according to temperature.

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A beautiful alliance between nature and science, Chantecaille is the preeminent luxury brand for skincare and beautifying cosmetics. With a beauty and cosmetics range that boasts high concentrations of natural botanicals, this line stands out for its extensive research and technological innovation invested in each and every ground-breaking formula—a must have addition to every discerning woman’s beauty ritual.

With ingredients so pure at the core of its product lines, the skin is nourished and revitalized, holistically treating the body and the spirit at the same time.

Targeting inflammation, also scientifically recognized as the main cause of aging, Chantecaille product ranges retain healing properties based on plant-based formulas. These reduce the aging effects of inflammation across different layers of the skin, often penetrating below the surface with innovative Nano-technology.

However, this doesn’t exclude the fact that Chantecaille believes in combining advanced technologies with centuries-old traditions in skincare.

From Biotechnology, Chinese medicine, aromatherapy to European flower pharmacology; all of these fields contribute to the company’s signatory blend of natural elements and science. In doing so, Chantecaille offers extraordinary results to modern women who demand effective, high-performing products that are also health enhancing and efficient. More importantly, Chantecaille products aren’t tested on animals, contain no animal derivatives, lanolin, or mineral derivatives.

All skincare products are free of synthetic colors and fragrances, and do not contain any sulfate detergents, phthalates, nor petrochemicals.

As nature lies at the essence of this brand’s vision, Chantecaille insists on giving back to the bountiful nature that serves as its muse. From launching the Butterfly eye shadow collection to help fund the protection of the Monarch butterfly’s winter habitats in 2005, to other ‘cause-metics collections, Chauntecaille’s passion and commitment to nature grows stronger with every year.

Harvey Nichols Kuwait is located in the Grand Avenue – The Avenues. Opening hours are from 10 am till midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 10 am to 11 pm from Sunday to Wednesday.

Please call 2228 3008 for more information. You can also get social with Harvey Nichols Kuwait on Facebook.com/HarveyNicholsKuwait and Instagram, @HarveyNicholsKuwait.

69

bazaar health

YOU’RE SOMEONE’S TYPE!

A, B or O?

By Zainab Mirza

“Service to others is the rent we pay for our room on earth.” – Muhammad Ali A somber predicament faced by cancer patients and victims of car accidents are the various forms of trauma. A medical term for injury, trauma can be physical or psychological, and has the potential to impact our lives in significant, long-lasting ways. Any kind of life accident has three elements: the initial crisis, the treatment or cure and the psychological aftermath.

Initial Crisis The importance of blood donation in a country that is infamous for its alarmingly high rates of motor vehicle accidents cannot be overestimated. Last year, Al-Qabas reported over 44,000 road accidents took place in Kuwait in the first six months of 2012 alone, with 4,895 people injured (including 2,397 sustaining serious injuries or suffering disabilities), a massive increase of 900% in injuries from the same period the previous year. Surprisingly, it isn’t victims of car crashes that most require blood in Kuwait, but other patients undergoing treatment for cancer and hematological diseases like leukemia, hemophilia and thalassemia. As per the Central Blood Bank in Jabriya, over 50,000 people—nationals and expats— 70

in Kuwait need blood transfusions annually.

Treatment The entire process of blood donation, from registration to repose, takes about an hour, and the act of donating blood itself, less than ten minutes.

Blood constitutes of red blood cells, plasma and platelets, each of which can be used for a different patient. An hour of your time is all it takes to save up to three lives! Each component of blood varies in terms of usage—surgery, loss of blood, burns, shocks, organ transplants, cancer treatments etc.— and shelf life, with plasma lasting a year, red blood cells up to 42 days and platelets lasting only 5 days, which is why blood donation is such a necessity.

Besides having a hand in saving someone’s life, you can be content with the knowledge that blood donation gives rise to some health benefits for the blood donor: 1. Donating blood reduces the amount of iron in the body. While iron is a vital mineral that carries oxygen to blood cells, prevents anemia and is essential to the functioning of the body, research shows that excess levels of iron could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, specifically in men and

post-menopausal women. One needn’t worry about losing iron as the bone marrow replenishes the red blood cells lost within 56 days of donation (after which it is safe to donate again), and the iron in the body can be restocked through the maintenance of a balanced diet.

2. A donor undergoes a free health screening preceding blood donation, including a temperature and blood pressure check as well as a test for hemoglobin levels, which can serve as early indicators of high blood pressure and other ailments, encouraging donors to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

3. The above are, however, eclipsed by the tremendous joy and positivity that surges through your being on donating blood and knowing that you’ve played a small but crucial part in giving back to the community.

Psychological Aftermath Psychological trauma often takes the form of traumatic stress, which leads to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a serious mental condition that may develop on the witnessing or experiencing of a life-threatening event, leaving a patient in severe mental anguish. While symptoms differ in patients, crash victims may be plagued by anxiety and phobias of death and driving.

Hearing sirens could trigger panic attacks and nightmares. Cancer patients may develop PTSD on learning they have been diagnosed with cancer, at different stages of treatment, or even years after successfully undergoing it. Symptoms can include anxiety, insomnia, stress and fear. Patients try to cope with the devastating effects of cancer by avoiding thinking about it or people or places that remind them of it, but this seldom helps. Research indicates that therapy is an effective and proven method of dealing with PTSD. No one should have to suffer alone and help is out there, all one has to do is seek it.

There is nothing more valuable or uncertain than human life. Weave the altruistic and rewarding act of blood donation into your lifestyle; drive down to the blood bank every few months and donate blood. The life you save could quite well be your own or that of someone you love.

As it happens, Soor Center is hosting a blood donation drive from 9 am – 1 pm on Thursday, June 20, 2013. For more information, visit www.soorcenter.com or follow @SoorCenterQ8.

PARTY LAND (BIG FILE)

ECCO BIOM Shoe brand promotes healthy living with 10K race.

By bazaar staff

Since 1963, Danish shoemaker ECCO has been manufacturing shoes made for the world of sport with a special emphasis on continuous innovation that follows the many paths of the bare foot. Most recently they introduced their BIOM project, which is based on the concept of Natural Motion, and attempts to find the best positions for the foot as it moves. Based on data collected by top experts in the biomechanics of sport, over 45 years worth of studying the human foot, the BIOM line of footwear uses anatomical research and technology of impact zones to create shoes that will best react to the foots sporting needs.

In late May, the folks at ECCO sponsored a 10K race for their first time ever, in order to promote healthy living in Kuwait. The event, which was held at the Mishref track, saw 105 people competing for bragging rights and a chance to be the fastest. Used as a vehicle to promote healthy living at large, it was also a great chance to discuss the BIOM project and how the world of technology is melding with the world of sports in order to help make a better, fitter, you.

The top 3 winners from the Men’s Category included: 1. Kedir Amino Abdu, completed in 34:33 2. Omar Al Rashidi completed in 34:34 3. Jaafar Al Ali completed in 37:00 The top 3 winners from the Women’s Category included: 1. Renata Happova completed in 43:05 2. Fiona Donald completed in 50:30 3. Chantel Marson completed in 52:37 Statistics for running injuries over the last 20 years have shown that injuries of the ankle, foot and hip have not declined. Due to these results, ECCO has removed itself from the cushioning and motion control section of the running shoe market and decided on a revolutionary, yet simple, step which they perceive as getting back to their roots. Taking into consideration that the human body has adapted to the forward motion of running for thousands of years and that running is the most 72

natural human movement, BIOM has taken a closer look at the human foot. Every bone and muscle, every tendon and ligament in our foot is built for both running and stability. Therefore, it is important that a running shoe has limited support, only where the foot naturally needs to be supported. They cite all of this based on the work of Professor Dr. Brüggemann, a leading expert in the field of running biomechanics at the German Sport University Cologne, who recently stated, “the foot has the ability to use its own natural cushioning system, to a certain degree, when it hits the ground. During running on artificial and hard ground the foot has a higher burden and must rely on a shoe to help support this burden.”

As a result of such contentions, BIOM is a paradigm shift in the worldwide running shoe market. The entire concept is made up of revolutionary components. From the material to the concept itself, each step has taken a new look into how running shoes can be better developed for runners. BIOM’s new classification system assesses runners by training level, running type and speed; making it easier for the customer to choose the optimal shoe for their needs. Based on the classification system, four different versions of BIOM will be offered. These are: the BIOM A, B, C, and B Trail.

By combining style and comfort into their design, ECCO has built its success on uncompromising quality, innovative technology and the design philosophy that “the shoe must follow the foot”. ECCO is the only major shoe manufacturer to own and manage every step of the shoemaking process, and its employees are the life force behind its products, designing, developing, producing, and taking responsibility for every detail. ECCO products can be found in 4,000 branded sales locations in over 90 countries, a growth fueled by ECCO’s consistent aim of making the best shoes in the world. Comprised of different shoe styles for as many sports that include, running, trail, walk, train, run and sandals, there is a little bit of each type for everyone.

The all-new ECCO BIOM line of shoes is available at ECCO branches at The Avenues, Marina Mall, Al Muhalab, Al Muthana and Shamiya. For more information, please call 2224 9340 or visit www.ecco.com.

VINTAGE 55

Inside/Out “Please take me seriously!”

By bazaar staff

Lets talk music. In this, our new music column, we aim to speak to music at large, specifics to the local market, local artists doing their own thing, and all with a musician’s perspective.

With over a decade in the ol’ U.S. music biz we welcome any comments or questions you might have as well. But first, our inaugural column: I want to talk Bieber Fever with you. Or, more specifically, I want to talk about the the-self-Bieber-fever that he must have had at the Billboard Music awards in May. The incident of which I speak was the very key moment when Bieber, in all his teenage pompadourgold-chain-wielding beauty stated while accepting an award “I’m an artist and should be taken seriously,” all whilst news of his poor abandoned monkey in a German airport was still making waves.

Ok, lets not get carried away here with the whole artist word. First off, lets acknowledge that he is a bonified pop star. And, from all appearances, a quite popular one within a certain, if preteen dominated, demographic. This should be noted, and if not applauded, then at least plotted on the old chart of pop culture to determine where exactly it is that we as a global society that are interested in such things, are thus headed. Personally, I would put it right up there next to the girls on Flavor of 74

Love and the boys of the Jersey Shore.

So, succinctly I ask, does it matter? Yes. At least, it does in the same way that, Germanic invasions and decentralized power mattered to the fall of the Roman Empire (to say nothing of the Vomitorium at the Coliseum). In the end, it is the cumulative effect of all of our entertainment that decides where the general populaces en masse sweetspot is. But is it art, and are you thus an artist is another matter entirely.

Also notable is the fact that he was receiving a milestone award for ingenuity and innovation. No matter what I, or you might think about the quality of his work in general, can we all just agree that the length of a career that achieves any milestone award should be…I don’t know—more than 3 years (his actual first full length record did not even come out until 2010)?

The pace at which some now rush to say someone achieved such a huge honor is ridiculous, especially given that this award is specifically the type that was meant to signify the difference between a flash-in-the-pan pop star, and a career that transcends time and genre by making its mark on the art itself. It is further all evidence of a faster lifecycle for artists in general. The worlds attention span is shorter, thus careers are shorter—that truly only serve to attempt

to substantiate an otherwise ailing and increasingly irrelevant industry machine.

By contrast I would like to talk about Amanda Palmer. The comparison may seem a weird one at first blush, but give me a sec. As singer and headprovocateur of the band Dresden Dolls, and solo artist to boot, her fan base, I believe it is safe to say, is equally rabid, equally supportive, and equally willing to go out on a limb for her (more so, really). In fact, if you have not seen her TED talk on how to “simply ask for something,” she makes the art of fan base support sound downright obligatory-and perhaps these days it should be. But here is the thing; Amanda Palmer is truly an artist- not because I say she is one. But, precisely because she is one whether I think she is or not.

She was doing her thing in the streets of New Orleans for a pittance of pennies before any attention came her way.

The starkest difference here though is the one between the artist that is pushed forward by the momentum of the crowd behind her, and the one pushed at you from the industry machine, readily expecting your buy-in.

To this point, in the middle of last year, when Ms. Palmer was attempting to crowd source funding via kickstarter (for those who do not know, it is a new way of sourcing cash from people

in advance for something that you plan to make). When trying to raise $100,000 she actually raised 12 times that and brought in 1.2 million dollars, a record for any music project. When you compare that to the old industry mentality of throwing more and more money at a project until it catches almost due to sheer repetition, and the answer of which model will ultimately win, seems pretty clear.

What does all this mean for you local musicians? Mainly that now, more than ever, it is the organic fan base that is making and breaking new artists in the industry. There is no longer only one way and gateway by which to go about your musical business. As global business keep getting larger, people long for a more direct interaction with the brand itself. This is perhaps never more important than when the brand is the person. Do not conform to what you think the people want, just keep doing the best version of “your thing,” that you can. Either one day the people will get it, or at least you can die knowing that your genius will be discovered long after you’re gone.

Inside/Out is the brand-spanking new music column from bazaar.

Feel free to send any questions and/ or belieber hate mail as you see fit.

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MAZDA

‫�إنفاق ال�سفر لهذا املو�سم‬ ‫بقلم‪Strawberry Girl :‬‬

‫في دراسة قامت بها فيزا حول آخر خطط السفر العالمية‬ ‫في ‪ ،2013‬أظهرت أن السياحة الخارجية في ازدهار وأن‬ ‫المسافرون يميلون إلى رفع ميزانيتهم لرحلتهم القادمة‬ ‫بمعدل ‪ % 5‬وحتى أن بعض المسافرين ذهبوا إلى حد‬ ‫إنفاق ضعف ما أنفقوه على رحلتهم الماضية‪ .‬و قد أجريت‬ ‫هذه الدراسة على ‪ 12631‬مسافر من ‪ 25‬دولة مختلفة‪،‬‬ ‫و أظهرت أيضا أن متوسط ميزانية السفر العالمية للرحلة‬ ‫في تزايد‪ ،‬و أن المتربعون على عرش اإلنفاق للسياحة‬ ‫الخارجية هم السعوديون‪.‬‬ ‫و أظهر مؤشر فيزا لصيحات السفر أن الميزانية‬ ‫لم تعد مصنفة من ضمن األسباب الرئيسية وراء اختيار‬ ‫المسافرين لوجهات سفرهم القادمة‪ .‬فقد أصبحت عوامل‬ ‫الجذب والمشاهد الخالبة والثقافة الغنية أسباب أقوى‬ ‫للسفر بحسب تلك الدراسة‪ .‬و كشفت الدراسة أن الواليات‬ ‫المتحدة األمريكية حصلت على المركز األول كأشهر وجهة‬ ‫مختارة للمسافرين خالل العامين الماضيين وبالنسبة لنية‬

‫السفر في العام ‪ .2013‬و بالنسبة للسفر في المنطقة‪،‬‬ ‫فمن المتوقع أن تتقدم كل من مصر‪ ،‬تركيا وفرنسا كأكثر‬ ‫الوجهات المفضلة للسفر المستقبلي بالنسبة لسكان‬ ‫الشرق األوسط وأفريقيا‪.‬‬ ‫و أشارت الدراسة كذلك أن المسافرين من الشرق‬ ‫األوسط وأفريقيا الذين شاركوا في الدراسة قد أظهروا‬ ‫جنوحا مرتفعا (‪ )% 75‬بأن يسافروا أكثر في المستقبل‪ ،‬و‬ ‫يأتي في المراكز األولى سكان المملكة العربية السعودية‪،‬‬ ‫الكويت واإلمارات العربية المتحدة‪ .‬و من المتوقع أن‬ ‫يكون النصيب األكبر من هذا السفر المتزايد إلى وجهات‬ ‫في المنطقة و آسيا‪ ،‬حيث قام ‪ % 24‬من المسافرين في‬ ‫المنطقة بإختيار رحالتهم خالل العامين الماضيين‪ .‬و ينفق‬ ‫المسافرون من الشرق األوسط و أفريقيا حوالي ‪ 218‬دوالر‬ ‫أمريكي في اليوم خالل رحلتهم‪ ،‬وهو أقل قليال من المعدل‬ ‫العالمي الذي يصل إلى ‪ 239‬دوالر أمريكي في اليوم‪.‬‬ ‫البعض فكر في أن يصل رحلته السياحية مع استفادة‬

‫تجارية كما فعل خالد الذي ينوي السفر إلى الصين هذا‬ ‫العام مع صديقه‪ .‬و قد اختار أن تكون الصين لرخص‬ ‫األسعار بها مقارنة بأوروبا مثال‪ .‬و يوضح قائال‪« :‬إن ما‬ ‫أنفقته في العام الماضي أثناء سفري إلى أوروبا كان‬ ‫أضعاف ما أنوي إنفاقه في الصين حيث أني قمت بحجز‬ ‫فندق ‪ 4‬نجوم بـ ‪ 400‬دوالر أمريكي ل ‪ 8‬أيام‪ ،‬ما يعادل‬ ‫يومين فقط في أوربا»‪.‬‬ ‫بينما ربطت رباب بين الميزانية و الهواية‪ ،‬فقد قررت‬ ‫أن تسافر هذا العام إلى دبي لكونها قريبة وبها أسواق‬ ‫كثيرة‪ .‬و تقول‪« :‬بما أنني أعشق التسوق وفي نفس‬ ‫الوقت ال توجد لدي ميزانية كافية للسفر‪ ،‬فقد قررت‬ ‫السفر إلى دبي لرخص التذكرة وقرب المسافة حيث أنوي‬ ‫البقاء ‪ 4‬أيام وصرف ما بين ‪ 400-300‬دينار‪ .‬في الواقع‬ ‫الميزانية هي األهم‪ ،‬فلو كان عندي مبلغ كبير من المال‬ ‫لسافرت إلى أوروبا‪ .‬وبشكل عام أحب السفر إلى دبي‬ ‫والبحرين وماليزيا ومصر‪.‬‬ ‫‪76‬‬

MAIS ALGHANIM

TWO WHEELS ACROSS A Journey through South Africa

By Sarah

Recently, Waleed Shaalan and Christian Ghammachi, two men known in various local circles for their work around Kuwait, decided to embark on a new adventure from the South African city of Cape Town. Now working there as a lawyer, Christian decided to shift from his 78

normal routine and fully embrace the midlife crisis for all of its potential: photographer, artist, and biker, his plan was to travel through Africa from it’s southern tip up to the Mediterranean.

For his part, Christian, now geared up with all his social media mechanisms, plans to make a video

documentary of the ride, to raise money for charities in Africa, and to share the experience of what he sees in a global context. Waleed, on the other hand, happy enough just to have made it through his first South African ride, had a different perspective; he has his dreams, he has his vision, but this time, more than

anything- the ride was an introspective journey.

While many people make pilgrimages for religious or historical significance, Waleed takes on these long rides precisely because it makes him feel more connected to the circle of life. On a bike, he finds himself closer to the feeling of freedom, lightness, and an outside-the-box lifestyle that can only be found on an open highway at 70 KPH. A motorcycle puts you in touch with the delicate gravitational balance between the mud road beneath you, and the open skies above, you find yourself with no confinements- just the exhilaration of exploration.

“As we stood at the furthest southern tip of Africa, looking at the waves, I was left with an off putting and

disoriented feeling of being upside down, ”Waleed said at the first point of his travel. Of course, he wasn’t. It is a mere reflection of the sphere he lives on. It is the fascination of making sense to a world that is constantly changing, moving and rotating.

It seems he also found himself awed into silence, as he adds, “As much as I love music, this time, it was enjoyable to soak up the sounds of nature around me.”

As a musician himself, he lives with music, so this is saying quite a bit; but on this inward looking quest, he came to feel in stride with the beat of another rhythm entirely. It would feel sacrilege to plug the earphones, hooked to an IPod; thus, instead, some silence…until

the moment when the world starts to sing along.

Soon, the elements of nature on the ride were the most striking experiences. When trying to convey the beauty of nature, he says, “I like being in touch with the darkness as it slowly comes down. The sunrise too, with its quick cracking of light on the horizon, the cold wind breathing down my neck, the opposites switching and imposing a shift as constant as the gears on the bike.

“Staying alive” is the motive behind many decisions and issues made on a bike in the wilderness. Still, the anticipation of problems can alleviate the pressure of potential accidents significantly. But, how much can you anticipate the risks of an unknown road: a narrow continued on next page...

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path, an abrupt cliff, curves without enough leeway to manage a heavy bike, a truck coming from the other side, no lights at night, climbing a mountain with no room to feel comfortable, no one to call for help, no phone reception? It is a constant presence to have to push oneself beyond their fears. Making the decision that will move the bike a few kilometers, or a few inches or to stop to prevent a further bigger issue, are just some of the small things you can do no matter the road you are on. Sometimes to carry on at all may seems reckless and insane; yet one must press on.

“The fear that shows up at every opportunity made me think of that element again and again: it is as if we 80

continued from previous page...

think that courage means we can’t have fears; while in reality, it is in the acceptance and management of these fears that enable us to stay alive,” explains Waleed, on one particular night where it was freezing cold we were in a bit of quandary. We found ourselves in a position where going back down the mountain was not an option, and moving forward was too intense. Taking the time to find the strength to acknowledge and give voice to this dilemma, gave us the courage to face it.

Another particularly notable incident involved, some Visa problems. He says, “we had an objective to go to Lesotho - and we did - without a clear plan too.” But, when they got to the border, the immigration officer

asked him for a visa, that he did not have. They sat in a small room while it was being determined if they could proceed. Eventually, Waleed talked his way through by managing to find a crack in the man’s kindness. It was an opportunity to change position and be reminded of the limitations that are put on our roads as challenges.

“When I prepare for a bike trip, I prefer not having a plan, to remove as many expectations as possible. I like to experience the freshness of the moment. I prefer to have new eyes. I can say now that I smelled Lesotho, I tasted Lesotho; I felt the temperature of Lesotho radiating from the pavement. I have also seen the inhabitants of Lesotho rich in both dignity and pride.

I have learned form the architects of Lesotho in their local interpretations buildings, huts, and houses. I have admired the need for the locals to paint a wall in their courtyard in the quest of both beauty and aesthetics.

I have been touched by a kid’s ingenuity when need necessitates him to make a bicycle out of a wire. I have seen them in their original element, tending their sheep and horses.” For Waleed, the glimpse of another life helped him to “get out of the predictability of the norm by stopping the day-to-day routine. It also helps me accept the unknown, and embrace it.”

As an architect constantly seeking creativity, Waleed finds the need to occasionally stop the output and dive

into the input phase of his art. He does this by absorbing the substance and tangibility of nature, thus living with the connection of experience with all of his senses. As much as he could get comfortable with the fancy world of malls, spas and manicured lawns, he can equally grasp a simple exposure to the basic elements of life. It is safe to say that the shantytowns of South Africa spoke loudly to Waleed.

The highlight though, of the entire journey of all the highways and mud roads, was the toughest curve, ominously nicknamed “the grace of God.” In the midst of the ride on the curve itself, Waleed had a moment of acute questioning: what is it “the grace of God” and why

there? Is it the test of abilities? Is it the difficulties of the task? Is it the confrontation with the curve itself? Or is it the acceptance to the beauty of it all?

Meeting people on the road is another enriching moment. A lady, enquiring about a different culture and a different world, asked Waleed, how did he manage terrorism in his part of world. He couldn’t find another way to explain but to say, “We manage terrorism the same way you manage lions in South Africa.” On a bike, Waleed lives to the fullest and he will ride again.

To follow Waleed Shaalan’s adventures find him on Instagram @wshaalan. Images by Waleed Shaalan.

81

closet Bibi

LEVEL SHOE DISTRICT - DUBAI MALL

By Bibi Al-Falah

96,000 SQUARE FEET. Does that sound like a decently sized store dedicated only for just shoes? Give or take a few other accessories, Level Shoe District in Dubai Mall is by far the most impressive collection of designer shoes I have ever laid eyes on. Not for the faint of heart, this massively luxurious mega store requires a strong coffee beforehand and a cross shoulder bag to browse freely. There are several entrances to this shoe paradise, but no matter which entrance you take, your pleasant surprise at this arsenal of accessories will be the same.

I was first told about it by my sister, who I thought was exaggerating when she said it was “the most massive, to-die-for shoe store” she had ever seen. Upon entering it myself, I realized where those words came from. The store is a culmination of independent boutiques lining the outskirts of the entire area (think Prada, Fendi, and Guiseppe Zanotti to name a few) with a multitude of more contemporary designers flooding the middle of the 82

store in many different beautiful merchandising displays. You think you have seen everything when you turn the corner and find a huge round lighting fixture surrounded by even more shoe layouts. Every inch of the store is utilized to show as many shoes as possible, so I can’t even imagine what the storage room must look like! The designs range from casual flats to the most outrageous heels ever produced for consumers. There is also an extremely funky sneaker section exploding with different colors and daring Isabel Marant-inspired designs.

Not just for women, Level has every kind of shoe a man would want as well. One particular store named the Cobbler had a stunning shoe display for men on a pool table inside the boutique. Other popular stores for men included Tods and Lacoste.

Louboutin, of course, had his own section in the center of Level and the often forgotten brand Kate Spade had one of the most colorful, fun shops in the whole place.

I was lucky enough to visit Dubai two weekends

in a row this month and yes, I did go to this shoe heaven on both trips. The damage? A pair of Fendi sunglasses, Tory Burch Flats, and silver flats by a brand called Ancient Greek Sandals. Not too bad, but you had better believe if this weekend was the third in a row I would go back for more.

On my second trip I was accompanied by three girlfriends who thought I was completely overselling this magical place where all gorgeous shoes have apparently joined forces under one roof. Once we got there, I lost the girls one by one which inevitably happens in such a distracting store. You find yourself floating towards shoe displays rather than walking, and the anticipation of whether or not they will have your size once you find that dream shoe is intoxicating. I highly recommend visiting Level Shoe District on your next Dubai trip but in comes with a big fat WARNING: make sure you have disposable income, are in full concentration mode, and ready to carry bags afterwards. My advice? Make it your last stop at the mall. Happy shoe shopping!

TAIBA HOSPITAL

Loaay's Two Cents Got business problems or challenges at work? With his Two Cents page, Loaay Ahmed shares his expertise in strategic management consulting to help managers, employees, and entrepreneurs thrive.

Q

Is it acceptable for our manager to raise her voice all the time when she’s talking about issues that are important to her at work?

Some people are passionate about what they believe in or about the vision that they would like to reach. Sometimes, this passion can be overwhelming to others on the receiving end. The problem with raising one’s voice during meetings, for example, is that people stop listening to the content of the manager’s speech because they are too annoyed by the loudness of the voice and intensity of the tone. What managers need to keep in mind is that when employees feel disturbed and uncomfortable by raised voices, regardless of the truthfulness of their message, they won’t successfully bring their point across. When an extremely loud horn or noise is blowing next to people, they cover their ears and that’s human nature.

There are better ways for managers to get the attention of their employees. For example, if your sales team needs a push to achieve the current quarter’s targets, consider using drama and tragedy to illustrate the impact on the employees themselves if they do not close the gap.

Address with each employee separately what he or she might have to let go of in their own personal lives when they lose their bonuses to help them to visualize the size of the problem and be motivated to work harder. However, if the team was productivity challenged, give employees the freedom to work on one project with the same poor production level as long as they deliver on time and with the right standards. They might surprise you or learn their lesson. Either way, yelling doesn’t work...and that’s just my two cents.

Q

It’s easy to talk about being customer focused on our website and in meetings and press releases, but can we actually translate this philosophy into practical actions?

John Tschohl once wrote, “The goal of any service strategy should be to systematize — to institutionalize — a customer service program that’s well established, for the long term, in the culture of the company.”

If you are a retailer, for example, review your return and exchange policy. See if it is with or against your customers’ benefits and shopping experience. Let’s say you were a shipping company. When you examine your internal processes you can spot areas that may delay customers’ orders from being sent or received on time. For a telecom company, for example, having a clear emergency plan if a network tower got damaged means that customers in that zone won’t have to suffer poor coverage for a long time; and that shows your ability to think ahead of customers’ welfare.

Being customer focused is not a myth. It’s a tangible series of actions and decisions set to reach a balance between customers’ needs and wants and that of the shareholders’. Notice that I didn’t describe it as a balance between customers’ retention and profitability; that’s because taking care of customers and generating profits are not two areas opposite to each other, but rather deeply connected to each other. Winning half the battle of implementing a successful customer experience strategy depends mainly on the shareholders’ understanding of where profit comes from. Yet, with your best intentions to mold the business around customers, you could still miss the target, if your new workflow is based on what you think is best for customers and not what they know is best for them...and that’s just my two cents.

Q

Is there a trick to help us see our brand position in the market without conducting a costly fullfledged research program?

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, but who’s the beholder? If it’s the brand management team or the owners of the business, then the assessment is not as objective as it could be when customers are the ones who are observing the brand. Customers usually are the best people to tell you who you are. You might think you are the best, smartest, coolest brand in your industry, but your customers might see you as nothing more than a commodity. The one-sided perception of the management team of their own brand is like how most mothers can’t see the dark doings of their own children. So, from time to time, you need the input from other partners - that’s employees, customers, suppliers, the media, and so on.

Having said that, a quick exercise you can do with your team is to ask yourselves and random members from your partners circle this simple questions: If our brand was a car (assuming you’re not in the automotive business), what kind would it be and why? Or if our brand was a hotel (again, that’s if you’re not one already), which one would it be and in what city or town, and why? By asking stakeholders to describe your brand using this form of analogy you can get a more genuine description and a more vivid visual of how others truly feel about your brand. In some cases, this exercise will be just the right prescription to give you that wakeup call. Warning, you might not always like the answer, but you should always be ready to do something about it...and that’s just my two cents.

For Loaay Ahmed’s advice on business or work matters, send a short email to loaay@knightscapital.com. Regrettably, only the questions chosen for publishing will be answered.

Loaay Ahmed is a management consultant and strategic expert. To learn more about Loaay and his consulting service, strategic business therapy, visit www.knightscapital.com.

84

NASSER SPORT (CHAMPION)

YET STILL I RISE The Woman Within

By Michelle Johnson

There was a time that I wished the ground would open and swallow me up!

I stood motionless and still as I heard the words “A fire took place in the garage, so yeah it’s all gone”. The world moved on but I stood still. My head was empty, people passed me by in both directions, cars beeped their horns and children were playing and screaming. The words just spoken began to repeat in my head; all I could think of was that they wanted to get rid of me, I became angry and my eyes narrowed. All I had accomplished: my art work, my GCSE course work, Diploma art work, Textile degree work, Design Technology degree coursework, Fine Art degree work vanished! The time, the effort, the pain, the joy the textures, colors and patterns, it had all gone. I held my stomach, took a deep breath and exhaled, I looked sideways as the tears began to build up in my eyes. I felt my chest muscles tighten; I grit my teeth together in pain. Oh my! I called out as I gasped and raised my hands to cover my face. The tears ran down my cheeks uncontrollably as I stood alone on the road. I am an artist, a 86

designer, now only by name, I had nothing to show to anyone!

I, the youngest child of seven and the only one to go to University, had obtained three Degrees, yet not one member of my family attended any of my graduation ceremonies. Inside the family house there were no photos of me. Photos of my brothers and sisters, my nieces and nephews and even photos of family friends lined the walls, but not one of me. My photo had been taken down long ago, all of my things had been packed away and put in the garage, I did not exist and now all my work, clothes and collectable items had been burnt....

I went to examine the garage where they said the fire had taken place. There was no sign of a fire! I did not see any black soot or stain. I concluded that they had thrown my things away perhaps they had wanted the space; I was hurt, my throat felt dry. I felt that I was not wanted nor valued. What had I done?

Why was I experiencing this amount of hatred? Was it because I had dared to dream, to hope, to want something better for myself, for my life?

I wandered the streets, in the

evening I returned to the family house.

I said nothing I went into the spare room locked the door and lay on the bed. Through the night I prayed that the darkness would take with it my pain and the light would bring some ray of hope, the ability and strength to rise and start again.

Since then I have been employed as a Textiles, Fashion and Art teacher, however

it took a total of 12 years for me to decide to paint and draw again. In April 2012 in a School Gallery I held my first exhibition with two other artists. The title was, The Woman Within.

The Artist Living and working in so many different countries has provided me with the opportunity to intermix design ideas and where possible to include different cultural designs, colors and patterns in my work. This I find arouses interest and allows the audience to respond to my work in a personal way and at the same time appreciate the contributions artists and designers from different countries and cultures have made within the art and textile industry.

The Queen “To try and to fail is not laziness” When I was younger I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted my life to be. Now I am older, I have that same picture. It is time for me to live it and paint a new one. I am walking towards a dream and living its reality. All too soon a chapter is being closed and a new one is opening.

“He who does not look ahead always remains behind” Materials: Gouache paint, poster paint, chalk pastels, coloring pencils, chocolate wrapping paper, gold decoration and card.

Size: 50 x 60 cm Date: February 2012 Sand & Time “Wherever a woman goes to dwell her character goes with her.”

Trying to capture a moment in time that stood still, a time when I was with my father.

It seems like yesterday he was by my side, yet it’s been years. Time and sand have come between us. I miss him.

“A diamonds father is coal, yet it regards itself as upper class” Materials: Gouache paint, poster paint, chalk pastels, tissue paper, thin copper sheet, wood, plastic bags, silver foil, red fabric, tissue and colored pencils.

Size: 50 x 60 cm Date: March 2012 For more information you can contact Michelle on 6518 2066.

TONI & GUY (GLAMOUR)

ALEENTA NAIL SPA The ultimate nail and massage spa By bazaar staff

Give yourself some time to be taken care of, and revitalize your senses at Aleenta Nail Spa. ‘Aleenta’, an ancient Sanskrit word, which means “a rewarding life”, makes for a much-needed pause in every woman’s busy schedule. Aleenta Nail Spa is dedicated to provide its clientele with the ultimate relaxing experience in a rejuvenating environment.

Relaxation, as defined by Aleenta Nail Spa, is all about seducing the senses with treatments that not only pamper the body, yet also nourish the soul.

From a specialized Manicure and Pedicure nail bar that offers the most contemporary nail treatments (including amazing nail art designs) a designated room for massage treatments, along with a third space solely created to offer their clients the latest hair and beauty treatments. Such hair treatments include the Brazilian blowout, the Nanogen innovative and technologically riveting thickening hair treatments (instant thickness and hair follicle restoration), and the nourishing Macadamia Nut treatment. Better yet, why not go for a quick 10-minute facial after your manicure? Aleenta Nail Spa uses top quality brands from the US and Europe, and in their latest offering of the GLAMGLOW YouthMud Tingelexfoliate Treatment, you receive the experience of a facial in a jar, used by Hollywood’s expert makeup artists and 88

stylists to prep celebrities for instant camera ready glowing skin.

If your desire is to simply unwind with a long and indulgent massage, you can choose from a variety of massage options, including therapeutic hot stone massages, reflexology, special massage treatments for expecting mothers and after delivery to soothe swollen ankles and alleviate lower back pain, aromatherapy massage treatments and even a slimming and firming massage option.

From the moment you enter Aleenta Nail Spa, you know you’ve encountered a blissful retreat from the hustle and bustle of your daily routine. Let the violet and earthy green tones of its lovely interiors calm your senses, and indulge in uninterrupted hand and feet treatments before your manicure and pedicure in their soft and supple leather ‘treatment’ chairs.

One treatment worth trying has to be the ‘me-bath’ ice cream treatment, it will truly make for a fantastic retreat from summer’s sizzling heat. Let the expertly trained technicians apply the signature ’me-bath’ ice cream to your hands and feet, and wait for it as it will literally start to chill, your entire body will enter a state of absolute ‘cool’. Not only does the ‘me-bath’ ice cream treatment lower your body temperature, the treatment is infused with Shea Butter, Vitamin E an other moisturizing elements as it melts onto your

skin to replenish any lost moisture from the harsh summer heat.

If you’re looking for a totally revitalizing and pampering experience for your hands and feet, then you must try the Moroccan ‘Morjana’ treatment.

Inspired by the rituals of a classic Moroccan bath, imagine a fully concentrated session using the finest Argain oil infused products and mineral mud scrubs, while you rest in a soothing massage chair. If you’re tanning like crazy in the middle of summer, then your hands and feet deserve such decadence.

After any of the above treatments, and many other beauty treatments that are also available, you’ll see how the expert technicians weave their magic on your nails to end your manicure and pedicure session on a wonderfully artistic note using high-end salon nail polishes and products like Essie and Orly, amongst many other household names.

Aleenta Nail Spa also offers a specialized home service. Treatments are by appointment only, so call 2571 0556, 9916 7711 and 9931 9316 to book your dedicated pampering session. Aleenta Nail Spa is located in Salmiya, Block 9 in Baghdad Street, GNC building number 25. Follow them on Instagram, @aleentanailspa.

CROCS

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2530-9670/1 Discovery Mall: 2291-3631 Al-Kout Mall: 2393-0108 Marina Mall: 2224-4814 Sama Sulaibikhat: 2221-6086 Mubarkiya: 2246-1823 Liwan Mall: 2221-0127 Airport Mall: 2431-6334 Now in The Mall - The Avenues: 22200507

#MEANGREENMAY Inter-office salad challenge By bazaar staff

Café Supreme

After a lengthy office debate over the notion that healthy isn’t easy, we at bazaar decided to challenge ourselves. For a period of one month, three members from the team would replace each lunchtime meal with a healthy salad. By partnering up with the wonderful people at Casper & Gambini’s, Café Supreme and dressed salads, our #MeanGreenMay challenge was on!

Check out how our contenders handled all things salad-related and managed to consume over 75 different variations during the month of May. Yasmine@bazaar: With my wedding coming up in June, I knew I needed to get my ‘food act’ together before fitting into the dress. Even though I heard many ex-bride friends tell me, ‘don’t worry Yazzi, the stress alone will make you drop so much weight!’

Of course, I had to prove them all wrong and be that wretched exception of a bride that much rather resorts to French fries and ANYTHING carb related for stress release. With the idea of a 90

#MeanGreenMay, however, I saw salvation! A tip for anyone who wishes to implement healthier eating habits into their routine: do it in a group!

Casper & Gambini’s impressed with the Haricot Vert salad with crunchy sunflower seeds and French beans, along with zesty oranges, red onions, and a delicious mustard vinaigrette. I also especially enjoyed the Cajun Chicken Couscous; a Moroccan variety that is healthy and oh-SOtasty with orange-minted couscous, Cajun spiced and tenderized chicken, roasted eggplants and bell peppers teamed with sweet corn and a citrus dressing. From Café Supreme, a favorite of mine as the salads are consistently excellent, I recommend their new varieties such as the Santa Fe of Mexico salad, the little nacho strips are delightfully crunchy with the red beans, chicken, and sweet corn and shredded lettuce base. From dressed, their Chef Designed salads delivered distinctive ingredients with powerful flavors! The Chicken Cordon Bleu is a wonderfully abstract

interpretation of the classic, with grilled chicken, Swiss cheese, turkey ham, grilled Portobello mushrooms, croutons, and a romaine lettuce tossed in a buttermilk ranch dressing.

Brook@bazaar: It is safe to say, I was not all-in on this whole salad thing! Not only am I a devout carnivore that demands more meat in my salad than crummy‘ol lettuce (should there be a salad at all), but additionally, having grown up in California, practically in a lettuce patch, amongst an orange grove, with an artichoke growing out of my ear-I can be quite snobby about produce selection.

Add on to that a deeply scarring event in which I was served the single least ripe avocado I have ever been served by an unnamed local eatery just months before (an incident known in the bazaar office as ‘AvocadoGate’, once it was apparent that I would not shut up about it), combined with a successive list of side-salad failures used to occasionally dip the proverbial toe into the salad

Casper & Gambini’s

market, and I was skeptical to say the least. But now…after a solid month of eating nothing but salads at the office, I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised. The increasing variety, the ever-rotating options, as well as the new players in the game, means that we are getting more salad options all the time. At Casper & Gambini’s, the Greek is always a solid option to go with. Plus, they de-seed the olives. While this is not preferred when eating olives whole, it most certainly is when it is inside a salad. The C&G special, additionally, was a delicious combination of vegetables that I would normally not have tried. At Café Supreme, The Greek was again strong enough to go head-tohead, but I also really loved the Californian for its vast array of artichoke and palmetto hearts. Lastly, dressed, takes things on a bit different: since the salad comes already tossed, there is no worry about just eating the good stuff first. The Tuscan was absolutely brilliant and must be reordered often.

The Cordon Bleu was also delicious.

Rebecca@bazaar: It is easy to think of a salad as little more than a filler or a side-dish, especially when you were brought up in the meat-and-three-veg generation like myself, where food was much simpler and you had things like ‘meatloaf Monday’ and ‘Sunday roast day’. But if this month of #MeanGreenMay taught me anything, it is that man can live on salad alone – especially with the many options which are available in our own backyard. Some of the many choices are full of protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and we were no longer forced to pick a salad which arrived as solely a bunch of lettuce with an oil-based dressing. I noticed that

dressed

several options did not even require any dressing as the contents were so tasty on their own, and thus reducing the need to add any sneaky calories to the mix. Other health benefits of tossing out that burger and choosing a salad option now and then (and thus upping your fiber and vegetable intake) are that they are known to lower risks of many diseases such as Cancer and heart disease. There would be no ‘losers’ in this month-long challenge.

Favorites of the month included the Beetroot Feta salad platter from Café Supreme that is very simple but trés tasty, with smooth Feta that melts in the mouth! The Halloumi and Vegetable salad from Casper & Gambini’s includes a large array

of delicious baked vegetables complimenting the halloumi, and lastly the Chef Designed Detox Antioxidant from dressed, which was full of crunchy vegetables, roasted garlic, sunflower seeds and baby spinach…a-may-zing! For more on dressed remember to check out our full review of this amazing new concept. bazaar would like to thank its wonderful partners, Casper & Gambini’s 2243 0056, Café Supreme 2575 8850, and dressed 2227 0252, for their amazing cooperation in helping us achieve a #MeanGreenMay. You can also find all of the abovementioned salads on their menus via talabat.com.

91

THE NEW FOOD LOUNGE - MALL 360

Mid-mall dining oasis By bazaar staff

Everybody knows that in Kuwait, the action is at the malls. As the summer heats up and everybody scurries indoors, we are all no doubt on the lookout for the next place to eat. When you are at the MALL 360, your options definitely abound. From the outdoor-ish sleekness of the hanging gardens section, to the food court on the highest floors, to even the high end lobby-like café’s on the bottom floor, it seems that they have a bit of something for everyone. However, what do you do when you want quality food in your own private refuge of the mall? A place where, the food is good, you are beneath a skylight big enough to make you feel that you could be outside, and yet there is still enough privacy and closed off space that you do not feel like you are on display…

The New Food Lounge aims to be just that place for you. Comprised of 6 different restaurants, all with a distinct flare and feel, they represent a huge swath of the culinary landscape and, perhaps more importantly, a completely different feel than the rest of the eateries 92

at the mall. Located in a small little nook of an area of Level two of the MALL 360, that runs along the Eastern side of the larger food section, it is a dining oasis located purposefully between the bluster of the malls central corridor and the arching wooden spires that open down over the span of two floors below.

First, the jewel in this crown for me is Sakura. This Japanese restaurant serves the best of sushi sashimi, maki, and an array of other entrees, all with the feel of outdoor dining. Located right in the center of the new food lounge you are both, tucked in enough to not feel that you are on display, and in the middle enough to not feel like you are missing the action.

Burgerholic, located at the corner where you enter, lightens the mood with an upscale burger feel.

Using all natural high quality beef, this restaurant for burger junkies prides themselves on their high-end ingredients. Meanwhile, Shabestan, by contrast, is a traditional Irananian restaurant that aims to serve you the best of the culinary traditions of the Shah dynasty.

With traditional grill dishes and Iranian stews and

saffron rice, they have a huge offering. They finish it off with a traditional take on Iranian desserts as well.

Figs, the Boston based casual bistro brand brought to us by none other than restaurateur and cookbook icon Todd English, gives you the best of pizzas, pastas, and salads. Ruby Tuesday, brings you a diverse American offering of burger favorites with some unique and international flair thrown in. Lastly, Wagamama offers award winning Asian-inspired fusion and noodle restaurant that combines fresh and nutritious food in an elegant atmosphere, thus giving us one more culinary treat to consider on our next visit.

So, while the main atrium, on the bottom floor, with its luxury lobby feel is good for a quick stop-in for coffee, and the Garden Zone is a great place to see and be seen, this represents something entirely different. The additional food court next door to the cinema, was created for fun with the family as you are doing other entertainment orientated things. They will also have performance of live music coming soon, so make sure to contact them and find out what dates are best.

With three of these restaurants having just opened in the last 6 months, even if you have already been to the food lounge, it may be time to head back there for a visit in the New Food Lounge.

The New Food Lounge is located on floor two of the MALL 360 which is off the Sixth Ring Road, South Surra, Al Zahra’a Area.

AQUA

big boys toys Because grown men still need to play

ULTIMATE FERRARI SUPERCAR ACCESSORY

SAMSUNG NX2000 MIDRANGE MIRRORLESS CAMERA

BOHEMIAN OIL CAN GUITARS

Looking for the ultimate supercar accessory? Luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot appear to have solved your search with the MP-05 LaFerrari tribute watch.

Hublot are yet to reveal the price, but with only 50 to be made, it’s probably a case of “if you have to ask then you can’t afford it”. It is actually manually-wound but, according to Hublot, it has a world-record 50-day power reserve. The watch boasts 637 components and has 11 barrels set in the spine down the center that work to create the power reserve.

Samsung unveiled the NX2000 aimed at those wanting to upgrade but want something more compact & affordable than a digital SLR. Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras are advancing in technology & lowering in price. At just KD 185 the new model has almost all of the NX300’s features. It is compact & light, but it still has impressive picture-taking abilities: Its APS-C sensor can capture images up to 20.3MP. Shutter speed can go as high as 1/4,000th of a second. Also has built-in Wi-Fi phone or tablet pairing.

Tired of playing the same old axes as everyone else?

Consider a Bohemian Oil Can Guitar at KD 70-100.

They’re available in two styles — Boho and Vintage — with the latter born from antique oil cans and lunchboxes, with parts sourced from used instruments.

As you might imagine, the Vintage series tends to be the more interesting, as each piece is unique and oneof-a-kind. No matter which you choose you’ll end up with a fully-functional electric guitar that’s far more interesting than your average Strat knockoff.

www.stuff.co.nz

www.mashable.com

www.uncrate.com

IMAX PRIVATE THEATER

HANDPRESSO PORTABLE ESPRESSO MACHINE

MAX ATVS

Why put a regular old theater in your house when you can put an IMAX in your house? Modeled after IMAX’s private screening room which has played host to many filmmakers coming to see their films in IMAX for the first time, this integrated solution includes all the custom IMAX hardware — including state-of-theart dual 4K projection systems and a 7.1 channel laseraligned sound system — as well as consulting from IMAX specialists who work with your architects and interior designers to ensure that everything is built to the company’s exact performance standards.

With its portable espresso machines, Handpresso has coupled espresso quality to mobility to make it possible now to drink a quality espresso wherever you are. It is now distributed in approximately 35 countries and is affordable at only KD 30, however getting your hand on the ESE pods in Kuwait, may be a little tricky.

With an original and stylish design, it was noticed in France and abroad and has won 7 famous International design prizes. They have also added Handpresso AUTO to their line so you can have a freshly brewed espresso even on long car trips. Perfect for the addict in us all!

Forget four wheels — if you want a vehicle that can go wherever is necessary, you need six! Max ATVs (KD 2,700 and up) have been tearing through the wilderness since 1969, utilizing their 6-wheel drive systems and amphibious capabilities to get wherever their owners needed to go. They come in 3 models — the Max II, which holds 2 passengers, the Max IV, which can hold up to 4 passengers & slightly less cargo, and the Buffalo, the world’s first amphibious dump truck. They may not be as pretty as a new 4-wheeler, but when your four-wheeling buddy is stuck in the creek, you won’t care a bit.

www.uncrate.com

www.handpresso.com

www.uncrate.com

94

JAMAWAR

DRESSED TO IMPRESS A stylish culinary experience for health-conscious eaters By bazaar staff

Located at the uber-chic Al Hamra Luxury Center, dressed unveils the world’s most innovative and stylish dining experience to deliver a new format for healthy meals. Envision a sleek and bold contemporary environment combined with designer salads you curate yourself, ‘Chef Designed’ salads, artisan sandwiches, mouthwatering Panini’s, a Chef Designed pasta menu, home made soups and refreshing smoothies. Stepping into the world of dressed, you step into a world of style. With locations from urban America to the exotic Hong Kong and Taiwan, the people at dressed bring you a fashionable medley of healthy eating and a dining experience that will embolden your senses. At dressed, you will find a serene yet urban space, where international influences are served up in a healthy, flavor-filled menu.

Upon visiting the vast salad bar, prepare to feast your eyes on more than 70 gourmet salad ingredients from preparing its leafy base to ‘dressing it’ with an option from 24 interpretations of classic dressings. This is where you truly become the master of your own salad, along with the help of the friendly staff at hand to guide you towards a tantalizing and healthy experience. Deciding on a light snack, I asked one of the chefs to prepare something for me based on his whim, and was delivered quickly a lovely rendition of mixed spinach, Mesclun leaves, yummy roasted artichokes and pomegranate and sunflower seeds in a light 96

and refreshing ranch dressing. If the salad bar at dressed doesn’t lure you in, then the platters alone will revitalize the eyes and will surely brighten your day, with bold lines of green, orange and yellow to embrace your bowl of fresh ingredients.

To ensure constant freshness and to maintain their signature flavors, the people at dressed guarantee that ingredients are imported regularly, and that nothing remains in the salad bar for more than a day. If you’re feeling less whimsical, and wish for someone to think of a salad choice for you, then rest assured that you have at least 17 ‘Chef Designed’ salads by Executive Chef, Justin Smolev, who has also worked at some of America’s finest restaurant concepts. The ‘Chef Designed’ salads, of course, helped this bazaar team get through a whole week of salad filled lunches as part of our #MeanGreenMay inter-office challenge (for more on our month long salad-a-day experience, check out our feature in this issue!) Perhaps one of the star features that make ordering from dressed a well-received experience is the fact that the salads are pre-tossed, and even pre-dressed (as an option, you can also order your salad with the dressing on the side) for you, avoiding the whole mess of you trying to chop and toss your own salad. Some of our favorite salads included the Middle Eastern Falafel salad with cucumber, potato sticks, tomatoes, red onions and iceberg and a garlic infused Greek tzatsiki dressing and the deliciously Italian inspired Tuscan Salad, with Artichoke hearts, salami, roasted

red peppers, parmesan, white beans arugula and romaine with pesto vinaigrette.

If you’re not in the mood for salads, dressed also offers an artisan sandwich selection, along with the piping hot Panini’s and soups, and even a Chef Designed pasta menu to help you change things up while choosing healthy options. The bread selections provided with the artisan sandwiches are a refreshing break from what we locally see, with options like malted multi-grain bread, SoyaLinseed, Rye and Pumpkin seed bread, and classic freshly baked French Baguettes. Team these baked goods with sumptuous fillings like classic roast turkey with a curried mango chutney, crunchy chicken salad, or Italian white bean puree and Mediterranean tuna. Where pasta is concerned, we’re sure that any of the pasta options will satisfy your cravings, but we also highly recommend the Parma Pasta; fresh Farfalle with asparagus, herb infused beef, mozzarella cheese and crunchy pine nuts in a fresh tomato sauce.

Never leave dressed without trying at least one of the smoothies on offer. In the heat of summer, these cool treats will instantly refresh!

Imagine a dessert treat, like a delectable Raspberry Cheesecake, in the form of a healthy smoothie.

In addition, intrigued by the unique flavors on offer, we ventured to try the Bella Berry, with bananas, mixed berries, indulgent vanilla yoghurt complemented by the slight acidity of apple juice and syrup.

We also discovered that dressed delivers! Not only is the menu available to you via talabat.com, yet there are catering options available for a group lunch or corporate events. dressed is located on the second floor of Al-Hamra Luxury Center. For more information and delivery, please call 2227 0252. Follow them on Instagram @dressedsalads_kw or visit their website at: www.dressedsalads.com. (bazaar tip: A complete list with nutritional information about the menu items at dressed is also available on their website)

SEAS & DESERTS

bazaar - On Time The latest designer watches collections from On Time

JUST CAVALLI – POISON COLLECTION The new models of the Poison collection reinterpret the iconic Cavalli snake shape, mixing it with silver and rose gold PVD finishing with precious enamel, and making these watches authentic jewels to wear with glamour and style for any and every occasion. Let the classic serpentine style add a dash of elegance to your wardrobe—right on key with the animal print trend! With the black, white and gold tones of this watch, you get extra fashion points for working two trends in one piece.

Additional Details: 3 H, Comes with a 27 x 40 mm case, Enamel detail.

JUICY COUTURE – CHELSEA Spring is in full-bloom with the Chelsea watches. Toned in a romantic shade of lavender, each watch has Swarovski crystal bezel detail to provide a subtle touch of Juicy’s glam-style. Oversized case size provides “boyfriend” appeal, while rose-gold cases ensure chic femininity. As part of the highly coveted Chelsea watch series from Juicy Couture, this chic style exhibits the purple silicone strap, an octagonal rose gold ion-plated stainless steel case, rose gold tone dial with Roman numerals, luminous markers, and an additional purpletipped second hand.

MASERATI – POTENZA COLLECTION A line intended for those with a sporty, competitive spirit who also never want to pass by unnoticed. A compact, and innovative design that valorizes the chrome dial and the sporty wristband; the matt, stainless steel case features red-gold PVD coating, black polished bezel, Maserati’s fluted crown with logo, black rubber strap with Maserati logo, a matt buckle, and black dial with honeycomb structure and grey border, luminescent hands. Maserati watches are inspired by the world of racing, where class and prestige come together to give rise to sheer power.

Additional Details: Stainless steel case 42 mm, Integrated leather strap/ Stainless steel bracelet, Fixed bezel, WR 100 mts.

HUGO BOSS – DEEP BLUE SX COLLECTION Sportsmanship is a state of mind. This is truer than ever in the world of diving – a place beyond mere performance and competition focused on the silent communion of adventurers, exploring often uncharted maritime territories. To match the unique mood of the underwater world, BOSS Watches launches DEEP BLUE SX, a watch for passionate individuals in search of powerful sensations.

The new series is available in black, red and green interpretations, all with a rotating bezel and a finely grooved 15 min safety stop feature. Continuing the tradition of its predecessors, the DEEP BLUE SX is a living tribute to sports as an art form. It comes with a generous 46 mm diameter stainless steel case in its original color or with grey plating. Its powerful quartz chronograph movement guarantees that form and function work in perfect unison.

You can find these designer watches and much more at any of the following On Time locations: Avenues Mall: 2259 7451, Marina Mall: 2224 4611, Al-Bairaq Mall: 2382 4066, Al Kout Mall: 2393 0178, Al Mohalab Mall: 2262 9830, Mall 360: 2530 9855, Al-Muthanna Complex: 2244 8111 98

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MIRA NAIR Masala, movies and master filmmaker

By Deepa Pant

“I really believe in the density of the frame.

I always jam it…with completely personal details…. To make things personal…somehow speaks to people, and the truth of it is felt.”

Breaking boundaries with movies like Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake, Mira Nair has proved herself to be one of the topnotch filmmaker of crossover cinema. During her recent trip to India, bazaar had the opportunity to hear this award-winning filmmaker speak at the Penguin Books India Spring Fever festival.

“An immigrant in a foreign land is an immigrant irrespective of his or her background,” notes Mira Nair who has directed over ten narrative feature films and several short films and documentaries.

Nair’s latest film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is a fine adaptation of Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid’s bestseller. The book has been translated into 25 languages and was named a Book of the Decade by the Guardian and a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times.

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“The spring board for making The Reluctant Fundamentalist was my trip to Lahore in 2005.

It was a moving experience. I was awed by the largeness of it, the art of it and wanted to portray a contemporary Pakistan which is something more than what newspaper headlines say,” reveals Nair.

Nair said she wanted to tell the story of contemporary Pakistan. “All we read about Pakistan in the newspapers are the drones, the be-headings, assassinations.”

“May be that is true, but the heart beat is never there. I read Mohsin’s book and craved to make that dialogue between America. I know these both worlds and we have never heard our side of the story but only America’s,” she emphasizes.

For Nair, her latest project, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, about the post-9/11 world we live in, has a special meaning as a mother to her 21-year-old son Zohran, who is growing up and looking for a place to call home.

“Post-9/11, so much has changed in New York

that it does not give you that homely feeling which it did before. I wanted to make this story for him to lift the illusion that grass is greener on the other side. I wanted to show both the sides intelligently,” rues this highly acclaimed director.

She said there seems to be a trust deficit between the West and the East. “I was a proud New Yorker. Then 9/11 happened in front of me. For eight months to a year, we were looked at as the other,” she recalls.

At the center of this deftly told political thriller, is a young Pakistani, his attainment of the American dream and then his disillusionment with it after 9/11, when circumstances change, and this young man is viewed as the other, and is forced to return home to weave his own version of Pakistani dream.

“Adapting The Reluctant Fundamentalist was a difficult task because there aren’t too many conversations in the book; it ’s almost a long monologue.”

how to bridge the gulf between the East and the West. The scenarios in the film are influenced

by Nair and Hamid’s perspective of being South Asian immigrants and focus on their trials and tribulations.

While giving an insight into her filmmaking, Nair says, “I really believe in the density of the frame. I always jam it…with completely personal details…. To make things personal…somehow speaks to people, and the truth of it is felt.”

“One of my mantras is ‘if we don’t tell our own stories, nobody else will tell them,” she reiterates.

Speaking of her future projects, Nair says, she wants to nurture “a Ugandan film” and to help foster “a contemporary, independent, Indian film movement.”

To realize these goals, Nair’s production company, Mirabai Films, has established an annual program for young filmmakers in East Africa and India.

Nair also hopes to work on her much stalled film Shantaram, based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Johnny Depp will be playing the lead character of Shantaram.

Accomplished film director, writer and producer Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard.

Nair discovered cinema verite at Harvard and MIT, and got hooked by a medium that offered her “a way of working visually, working with people, and capturing something extraordinary about ordinary life.”

This iconic director, made her debut in 1988 with Oscar nominated Salaam Bombay, establishing Nair as a cinematic voice that could wow critics. The film received more than 25 international awards, including an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Film, BAFTA, and the Camera D’Or (for best first feature) and Prix du Publique (for most popular entry) at the Cannes Film Festival.

Nair seamlessly oscillates between Hollywood and independent cinema and went on to make internationally acclaimed movies like Mississippi Masala, The Perez Family, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, My Own Country, Monsoon Wedding, Hysterical Blindness, Vanity Fair, The Namesake, New York, I Love You and Amelia.

In 2012 Nair was the recipient of India’s third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan by the President of India.

The film has an international cast that includes Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland and was shot in the cities of Lahore, Delhi, Istanbul, New York and Atlanta.

Lydia Dean Pilcher and the Qatar-based Doha

Film Institute produced the film, whose score includes new original music by Peter Gabriel.

Nair admits that she wants her films to reach an audience. If there is one thing Nair would like her audience to take away from her film is

For more information on Mira Nair, please visit: www.mirabaifilms.com/home.html.

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ASPINAL OF LONDON Refined English elegance By bazaar staff

An English heritage lifestyle brand founded on the principals of fine craftsmanship that creates beautiful objects of unsurpassed quality and quintessential English design for both home and living, Aspinal of London’s arrival to Kuwait elicits our utmost attention. From sophisticated stationary to stylish leather handbags and accessories, Aspinal of London delivers English chic right here in Kuwait. We interview CEO Andrew Marshall and Mariya Dykalo from Head of Design to better introduce us to the refined world of Aspinal of London.

Andrew Marshall- CEO, Aspinal of London Is the Aspinal store in Kuwait the first outside of the UK? If so, why did the brand choose the Gulf for its first overseas foray?

Yes, this is our first stand-alone concept store overseas. Based on the great customer feedback we received from regional visitors in the UK, we decided to launch first in the GCC, starting with Kuwait. What we love so far is that we don’t even need to explain the concept to local clientele because they already love it!

We’re also opening our next store in Abu Dhabi in August.

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How does Aspinal of London define, ‘quintessential English chic’?

From Day 1, the real attributes of the brand are ‘Englishness’; projecting a style attitude that is all about celebrating English symbols, humor, whimsical elements that revive the classic English charm.

What does Aspinal have to offer its Kuwaiti customers?

From beautiful women’s handbags and small accessories, men’s luggage and business briefcases, to various small leather goods, stationery and gift boxes, luggage and travel leather goods. All emit the Aspinal of London attitude: refined, classic, English chic.

Can you tell us about your partnership with Liwa Trading Enterprises?

After a mutual introduction, we found a synergy with Liwa Trading Enterprises as they were looking for new brands to bring to the region, and we felt that the company would represent us effectively in the region.

Personalization forms a key part of Aspinal’s service in the UK. Will this be available here?

Absolutely. Embossing or stamping, these personalization services are part of our core brand elements. This can be done in different colors to make any piece from the store a customized and complete one off item.

Mariya Dykalo- Head of Design, Aspinal of London How would you describe the experience as the Head of Design at Aspinal of London?

English elements, like the stunning English country, filled with nature and symbols of tradition, always inspire me. Heritage houses, beautiful landscapes, the gardens. London alone is vibrant with theater and cultural innovation.

For example, our limited edition collection based on the traditional novel, The Secret Garden, is a tribute to English literature. In celebrating the novel’s centennial, we created a beautiful floral collage that appears on our handbags and small leather goods. For our Kuwait collection, we hand painted beautiful roses, an icon from the English countryside, on top of these collages to make each piece a collector’s item.

What are the most common design elements present within the different collections of handbags?

Aspinal is a classic brand with a twist. The bags are all lady-like, some are named after British areas of significant interest with styles like the Marylebone and Brook Street. Other elements include classic horseshoe buckles, and all exhibit our signature contrast lining that is highly apparent and sometimes appears in bright colors to make for a beautiful surprise on the inside of our bags. Most, if not all, of our bags share chic compartments for practicality purposes.

What’s the most wanted item from the Aspinal of London product ranges?

Even though all pieces are highly coveted, the Marylebone and Audrey Totes are really popular. Also, our convertible clutches are some of our top sellers. For men, our stationery and leather goods are really popular for their functionality, yet understated elegance.

What should customers expect to see in the store right now?

Besides our collection that is currently available, all of this summer’s most loved colors, like vivid corals, will be present in various styles, along with a beautiful collection crafted with exotic leathers and travel luggage.

How can one take care of their prized Aspinal of London leather goods?

Besides looking after it, the bags are waterproof. Also, you can bring your item to the store to help service and repair it if anything was to go wrong with your leather goods.

Aspinal of London is located on the ground floor of The Avenues-The Mall.

Please call 2220 0740 for more information or visit www.aspinaloflondon.com.

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FIND YOUR HOME IN THEIRS Home Centre Kuwait By bazaar staff

Home Centre always proves my confidence in them right, giving me a self-satisfactory sense of delight whenever I recommend this location for finding the coolest items for home furnishings and accessories. Friends usually come to me with questions like, “Where can I find a funky mirror?” or “I need matching tableware for my black and white Lady Gaga themed night”. Weird questions aside, my response is now automatic in nudging my companions to check out Home Centre. They always have something for everyone’s different tastes, their prices are unbelievably reasonable, and the service is always great!

From classic to modern furniture designs for every part of the home, home accessories like mirrors, lights, art, kitchen and dining wares to patio furniture, Home Centre continues to be one of Kuwait’s most favored home shopping destinations because it constantly delivers on the promise of interesting designs and great prices. Part of Landmark Group’s Retail divisions, what started as a single store in Sharjah, UAE, in 1995, is now a leading home retailer in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian subcontinent.

Paying a recent visit to the Home Centre flagship store in Shuwaikh, I immediately notice that the entire showroom has undergone a gorgeous makeover. The layout is more spacious, the showroom is a fantastic visual experience for home shoppers, and strolling around is effortless given the clear divisions that are synonymous with the brand’s tagline, ‘Find your home in ours’. Paying tribute to this year’s monochromatic trend, the 104

appealing black and white installations throughout the store will have you start that long overdue home makeover in no time! They’ve also installed nifty booths with guidelines on how to make sure an item you like would fit easily in your home space, complete with papers, pencils, and your own measuring tape for easy note taking.

If you’re looking for signature pieces to add a dash of style for the home, make sure you check out their collection of eclectic, trendy feature furniture designed to add pep and sparkle to the personality of any room. Surprise yourself with a quirky armchair, whimsical rocker or eccentric nesting side tables to instantly refresh a tired corner. Another tip for the upcoming Ramadan season, which entails turning your dining area into one that is fit for feasting, we highly recommend the stunning tableware on display. From shiny metallic tones of silver, majestic gemstone shades of green and purple, pristine white, to trendy neon orange, your dining table can be fashioned with endless options.

Another recent development in store is the new Brilliant Buys collection, where a new line of items features beautiful designs in various finishing and materials that will suit every home while still offering great value for your money. The selection of Brilliant Buys is available throughout various product ranges, including bedroom, dining, and living room sets, linens, kitchenware, bath accessories, wall art and other décor items.

The furniture styles include a mix of modern and transitional pieces, as well as accessories in the

bright colors and eclectic styles that are simply timeless and hold great value.

Stay tuned for the biggest Home Centre store in Kuwait opening soon at The Avenues - Grand Avenue. The Home Centre Flagship store is located at Pepsi Cola Street (2nd ring road), Behind City Centre- Shuwaikh. For more information, please visit www.homecentrestores.com or call 2484 5995.

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GET ROWDY New taco shop brings the freshness By bazaar staff

When the folks at Kayan Restaurant Group began to plan for their next brand to bring to the Kuwaiti market, it is fair to say they searched far and wide. Having finally decided on an adaptation of a Texasbased chain of taco shops, they began the arduous task of adapting and prepping Rowdy Taco for a local opening. Still riding a wave of from their now ubiquitous Smashburger brand over the last year, they are now moving forward on this new endeavor with the same sense of vigor.

The first thing you will notice when walking into the new Rowdy Taco in Mahboula, is their commitment to a fun atmosphere and overall cheekyplayfulness that will soon no doubt be synonymous with the brand itself.

However, a closer look begins to reveal the in-process legacy being built at the company behind the brand: a carefully crafted attention to detail by people who whole-heartedly live by the food they are serving you. Such intertwined destinies are evidenced at the most basic roots of the restaurant: all fresh ingredients, all in-house preparation, all the time! This 24-hour dining experience is serving up taco favorites, quesadillas, 106

salads and more, at your convenience.

For the breakfast tacos, served all day mind you, they have 6 different egg and meat variants that will get you going in the morning. Both the veal jalape単o sausage with egg and cheese, and beef bacon were delicious. Also not to be missed is the in-house prepared fresh beef variant of chorizo, a classic example of a staple for Mexican eateries that is often lost in the international shuffle of brands.

For their classic tacos they offer 13 different versions of which you can mix and match until your hearts content.

From ground beef, shredded beef, brisket and lamb (both of which are slow roasted for 18 hours!), chicken, fish, shrimp, and vegetarian options, you will have enough to switch it up with each visit. The Baja shrimp was a delicious take, with its creamy Baja sauce as well as fresh cut cabbage for a texture. The fish taco as well deserves some attention here for the Baja-feel that it can impose on the ambiance when seated outdoors with a seaside view.

We also got to try the sides, which here comprised of a wide array of everything from guacamole to cheese sauces. These included the delicious,

if obligatory, Pico de Gallo and salsas.

However, they shine when they take a bit of a risk as with both the Habanero sauce and the chili con queso. The trick with any habanero based sauce is to temper the chili enough to allow your average eater to benefit from the flavor profile (after all, this is not a chili eating contest), whilst still keeping it loaded with enough spice that you get exactly the burn you bargained for when piling it on; here this is done to perfection.

Additionally, the in house prepared chili con queso (which virtually no restaurant in their right mind does from scratch due to the ease of finding can bought versions), here makes all the difference. Seriously, just a tortilla and a bucket of this and I would be set.

And though its evidence of more of their Tex-mex influence than authentic, you wont be disappointed with the BBQ sauce they put on the brisket: a distinctively flavored soda-based sauce of deliciousness.

What is most notable here is that they did not forego some of the authentically Mexican ingredients that you generally do not find from international brands abroad. While staples like cilantro (you better not call it coriander in

this context!) might be the expected prerequisite to your dining experience, there are a surprising amount of extras.

From Achiote and chipotle chilies, to Cotija (aged Mexican cheese) and queso fresco, they have spared no expense in keeping it authentic. Kudos!

Lastly, for desserts they have a number of sweet tacos served with Haagen-Dazs ice cream that may be just the solution to the chili burn in your mouth. While anyone who has ever touched it knows the dreamydeliciousness that is a Nutella and banana combination, here the lightly fried taco shell surrounding it serves as the perfect balance to the sweeter flavors found within. Additionally, the Apple, Cherry, and Peach variants provide fruit based versions of the same, for those inclined. All of which provide a nice finish to an already fun meal.

Rowdy Taco is located at Alia & Ghalia Towers on the Coastal Road in Mahboula (between exits 210 and 211). Reach them by phone at 9607 0102 or follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @Rowdytacoq8.

BAYAN DENTAL

ADOLFO DOMINGUEZ Essence is affordable luxury By bazaar staff

As far as acclaimed designer Adolfo Dominguez is concerned, breaking away from the common notion about how your wardrobe should look is liberation in its purest form. A Spanish firm with great traditions that date back to 1973, Adolfo’s inspiration for the brand’s slogan, ‘Wrinkles are Beautiful’, was conceived out of the same ideology. Our style, let alone our lives, shouldn’t exist in the manner in which social orders dictate.

A student of Art and Film in Paris, Adolfo witnessed the golden decade of the Beatles, and the controversial month of May ’68 when the French nation experienced tumultuous revolts ‘dominated’ his views. Spain, on the other hand, remained as a pillar of inflexibility. According to Adolfo, rigid 108

social orders controlled every facet of life, and fashion represented a collective taste. Individuality was dead. Moving back home to the Spanish town of Ourense and taking over the family’s tailoring business, Adolfo set out to change this reality. From there, his inspiration flourished, “I worked hard to change the situation. For me, the way we dress is a part of the person we show others. Crinkles and wrinkles all bear witness to the passage of time; the stories that we tell and those we do not. Reluctantly, we wear the map of our lives etched upon our features. This honesty of our disposition inspired the slogan ‘Wrinkles are beautiful.’ Clothing as a second skin, not a screen that hides who we really are.”

Coming from a liberated Spain to style seekers in Kuwait, the Adolfo Dominguez boutique at The

Avenues delivers the promise of easy chic in the form of beautifully tailored silhouettes that are commanding in presence yet fluid in nature. From dressing up the cast of Miami Vice, to expanding the brand’s vision across generations to come, as currently there are around 746 shops operating worldwide, the Adolfo Dominguez name continues to represent a new reality. As the designer states, “On that path, I hope to help to provide people with a second skin; a skin that does not hide who they truly are, but shows them at their best.” We’re all for enriching our personal style, as Adolfo Dominguez presents timeless beauty with sleek cuts, innovation without losing craftsmanship.

Today, the Adolfo Dominguez brand name includes fashion lines for both men and women, Kids, accessories, AD+ and the U Line. For the summer collection, contemporary staples range from classic white t-shirts to sequined skirts for glitzy nighttime styles. For the daytime, make sure to check out tailored separates in lively colors. Think polished, harmonious and fluid styles that mix in casual shirts with patterned pants. Nighttime allure arrives with stones, beads and sequins in natural colors and beautiful silhouettes in the form of the new cocktail dress. Slightly tailored, the Adolfo Dominguez cocktail or gown style dress displays extreme versatility that flatters most figures. For men, sport chic arrives in the form of lightweight fabrics, deconstructed volumes and equally fluid shapes. Timeless colors in contemporary styles, with a hint of classic refinement that echos with the brand’s ethos to always present ‘affordable luxury’.

Adolfo Dominguez is located in Phase 2 of The Avenues. For more information, call 2259 7836 or follow them on Instagram @AdolfoKuwait and Facebook: Adolfo Dominguez Kuwait.

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Summer Special

TIME TO CHILL

CAFE SUPREME LOLLI POP

1.750 K.D

OREO FRAPPE

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.250 K.D

MELBA ICE TEA

For your delivery call: 2 575 88 50

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.150 K.D

Price includes a free refill

GLUTEN FREE KUWAIT A definitive guide to your local options By bazaar staff

ALTERNATIVES & OPTIONS

As the biomechanics of our food consumption have continued to evolve in recent years, it seems that we, as a global society, are increasingly taking notice of the correlation between what we eat and how it makes us feel. However, for many, this is often brought on by some negative reaction that one begins to have to some food consumed, which previously they digested without incidence. Getting to the root of what is actually the problem can be a long and arduous process of eliminating and reintroducing foods until the problem is pinpointed. One major category in this regard is the designation of either Celiac diseases, or sensitivity to gluten.

Should you find yourself in this scenario, it can be quite hard to find local options that will work with your new restricted diet. As we here at bazaar love to be a resource for all things local, we recently set ourselves out on a quest for your 110

definitive guide to all things gluten free in Kuwait.

First, a bit of edification on the subject from Dr. Nada Algarom, founder of Revolution Kuwait, whose specialty is family medicine and holistic nutrition. The problem, as she sees it, can be broken down as follows: “Gluten is a starch protein found in Wheat, barley, rye and by contamination, most oats.

Therefore cutting it out from the diet can prove to be a very challenging dilemma that faces many people on a daily basis. A gluten free diet is essential for people diagnosed with coeliac disease or with gluten sensitivity. Coeliac disease is one of the most common genetic, autoimmune disorders, where the immune system in the body reacts to the ingestion of gluten by attacking itself and destroying the villi in the small intestine.

The villi are small finger like protrusions in the lining of the small intestine that absorb nutrients

from food. Without healthy villi, the nutrients will not be absorbed properly. This is manifested most commonly by abdominal pain, diarrhea, gas, bloating, weight loss and anemia. It is also associated with serious long-term complications like infertility, osteoporosis and even cancer.

Although it is not considered a rare condition, yet in my professional point of view it is vastly underdiagnosed and even misdiagnosed. That is because it has non-specific symptoms that can get confused with so many other, more common, conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or intestinal infections.

As a result of that, many people with the condition remain undiagnosed from infancy to adulthood.

What follows is the best of the best of local purveyors; for you this means that whether you want to dine out, dine in, use delivery, or host a huge party, we have you covered. So, without further ado, your guide to all things gluten free in Kuwait:

The Restaurant: Jadi Morgen

wonderfully decorated birthday cakes of various sizes for your next kids birthday party. With plans to open a new location in Qatar next month, they are a brand on the rise.

A must eat: GF pita bread, strawberry cheesecake, and mini Chag o Haleeb Firin is located in Hawalli on Tunis Street. Contact: 2266 6100 or contact@firin.co or find them through all social media: @firinbakery The Retailer: Sultan Center

This funky cafĂŠ in Salmiya is well worth a stop in for both the gluten free or otherwise.

With a menu that is also free of both potato and corn starches as well as all processed or artificial flavors, they are a bastion of healthy eating in an otherwise burger-filled mecca. Additionally notable: they do not deep fry—anything! They use the best quality non-hydrogenated cold press oils for cooking as well as high-end goat and sheep cheeses too; all the ingredients are high quality. They also make hand made protein bars for all you gym junkies who do not want to be forced to eat the packaged, factory ones due to lack of other options. With a special delivery plan for Ramadan of healthy twists of traditional favorites, you should keep them in mind for the summer months.

They are also developing a children’s menu to provide healthy opportunities for your next kid event.

A must eat: Both the gluten free bites and nut cookies are delicious!

Reach them by phone at 2571 0196 or online at www.jadimorgen.com The Bakery: Firin

The Educator:

Everybody knows that you cannot eat out every night. When you must stay home to cook we need a store that can handle an offering of gluten free items as diverse as our palettes. We spoke with Makram Malaeb, Director of International Purchasing for a glimpse of what products we may be able to find at our local Sultan Centers. As a brand that has been stocking their shelves with gluten free options for approximately 10 years now, they have a good range including bread, pizza crusts, biscuits, cereals and desserts.

The largest selection can be found at the Salmiyah, Sharqh, Hawally, Kout and Shaab local stores.

The Caterer: PURE Catering

Originally opened in November 2011, this company has been churning out gluten free options and working to educate the local market for the last 18 months. This exclusively gluten free business prides themselves on no possibility of cross contamination. Originally started as a bakery, they are now working to be a one-stop shop with new options that include retail versions of gluten free cereals, pastas and energy bars. They also now do

that she has studied with the CHEK institute (a forprofit accreditation institute focused on exercise education and holistic well being) and brings that educated mind state to their menu items.

As they have dual kitchens for their two separate concepts, they pride themselves on having zero cross-contamination between the two. With plans to branch into other specialty diets they would be a great resource to reach out to for any specialty dietary needs.

A must eat: Imported coconut water to quench your thirst and chocolate date balls for a lite snack.

Located in the Behbehani houses #19. Reach them on 5556 6676 or www.redcateringkuwait.com

Launched as the gluten free version to their more commonly known two-year old Red Catering company, these girls know what they are doing.

As one of the owners and her entire family are gluten free, she is quick to cite the combined health benefits of a gluten free diet including: less colds and flus, weight loss etc. It is additionally notable

The folks over at We Love Kuwait are doing an ongoing series on food education in Kuwait, with the most recent being at the 360 mall this last month.

Additionally, they are a wealth of information specific to gluten free options in terms of both education and cooking classes. One of their most notable perspectives seems to be a focus on not just replacing gluten with non-healthy variants of same, but rather, they propose that through both education and awareness the lay person can sub out gluten for options that are far more healthy. Whether you want to be educated on the subject in order to better help a friend or loved one, or even just want to learn some new dishes to prepare at home yourself, they are a great resource to us locally.

Reach them at www.welovekuwait.com or on Instagram: @nada_alragom What is most telling about all of the companies included in this article is that they represent a vast amount of knowledge on the subjects of healthy eating, and gluten free options. Further, they are all willing to share this knowledge with you. Please reach out to them; they almost all have created this out of their own personal need, and are happy to share both their individual stories, and vast knowledge base with others.

If you are looking for gluten free options in Kuwait please contact any of the aforementioned businesses. They are all doing their part to create a healthy lifestyle and diet locally.

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An Arab abroad

THE ‘KEEPING IN TOUCH’ DILEMMA

By Yara Al-Wazir

It’s no surprise that in the fastpaced digitally assisted life that we live, things change. When moving away for college, it’s important to realise that you’re not just changing your address, but you’re moving on to a completely different life.

A life where you will inevitably meet completely different people, make new friends, new enemies, have that much more drama, and of course hopefully end up with a degree after 3-5 years, depending on your destination. But as much as where you are going matters, it is important to remember where you came from, and the people who helped you become the person you are today. As hard as it is to do so, it’s important to keep in touch with your family, friends, and loved ones.

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sometimes, yes, relationships fall apart. People don’t just move away, some move on. Maybe you want to move on from every one or maybe you want to move on from one person, it’s okay either way. But for those who matter, here’s a guide on keeping in touch: Text Calling? Ain’t nobody got time for that. With time zones, schedules, deadlines, and habits to consider, it’s difficult to find a time when both parties are free for a phone call. I’ll assume for this piece texting is your preferred contact method.

Take time out of your day Friendships shouldn’t have to be about making an effort, but if you’re risking losing a relationship completely, then go ahead and make the effort. Make it a habit to take

time out of your day, anything from 10 minutes to an hour, exclusively spent keeping in touch. Start new conversations, text an old friend, pick up the phone or send a message on Facebook. The tools are endless.

Keep in mind the time difference between yourself and the person you are texting, especially if you’re expecting a semi-instant reply.

Utilize and Embrace Technology It’s here to help you keep in touch, and being driven crazy by the constant never-ending updates to your smartphone is a small price to pay for long-lasting friendships.

Group Chats Whoever invented group chats on Whatsapp, or any other texting service, is an absolute legend. Set one up for family, high school friends, soccer buddies, or the group you used to jam with in middle-school. It works wonders, and it’s absolutely amazing how much sending a picture or a meme of an inside joke can reignite memories and make you laugh.

I use my ‘family’ group every morning to make sure both my parents know that I’m alive and well. It saves me from texting the same thing twice, and I’m sure it makes both my parents feel equally loved and missed.

Occasionally, I’ll even text them a picture of myself, captioned “in case you forgot what I look like.”

Not only are group chats a great way to keep in touch with all your good friends from back home all at once, they’re also a good way to keep in touch with your new college buddies when you go home for holidays.

Socialise on Social Media - don’t just stalk It is part of social media etiquette - like photos on Instagram, reply to Twitter updates, and comment on Facebook statuses, even if they’re all boring. Don’t just be a consumer, be a contributor. Social media isn’t about letting people know what you’re up to, or knowing what people

are up to, it’s about interacting with your friends, keeping in touch, and finding things you never thought you had in common. Sure, it’s annoying when friends post a photograph of themselves at the gym every single day, but let’s face it, they’re doing it for the attention. Don’t just stalk their progress at the gym, go ahead and give them the attention they want in the form of a motivational tweet.

Once they’ve achieved their objective of letting everyone know they work out, they’ll stop with the photos.

Call At the end of the day, digital communication can only go so far, it’s nowhere near as warm or fuzzy as hearing your mother or your best friend’s voice. You don’t necessarily have to use your international minutes to call your friends; you can use one of the many applications on laptops, smartphones, and iPods to hear their voices. A meaningful conversation that lets you catch up properly will probably need planning in advance, but it’s worth it. Trust me.

At the end of the day, there’s only so much you can do to keep in touch.

Some people will forget you, others will move on, and some will ignore your calls. There’ll always be that small group of friends whom you only see and speak to when you’re back in Kuwait, but there will also be that group of people who’ll keep you sane when you’re away from everything that is familiar. Change is inevitable, and the people you meet at college will most definitely blow you away.

It’s important to not hold on to the past so tightly that you forget to enjoy what really matters: the present.

Yara Al Wazir is an activist and student currently based in the UK her monthly column reflects on her experience of moving away from the familiarity and comfort of Kuwait, to the UK in pursuit of a university degree. She can be reached via Twitter on @YaraWazir.

TONI & GUY VIDAL SASSOON

@GET2FIT

The path towards health starts with your choices By bazaar staff

Ali Al-Haddad is on a mission to rid Kuwait of faulty diet fads, lower the alarmingly high rate of obesity, and empower people to choose healthier food options through GET2FIT. An extension of his GET2FIT nutrition clinic located in Kuwait City, it seems that the Instagram account, @GET2FIT, is garnering an interestingly increasing number of followers. If you haven’t already checked out the account, you’ll notice that it is really helpful, and includes huge lists with calorie counts of different dishes from various restaurants. Additionally, the lists are tailored to suit different people in terms of height, weight, level of activity, age, etc! So, in layman’s terms, you will know exactly how much you need to eat from that burger without feeling guilty!

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In my mind, this is a great sign: People are finally fed up with following regimes that yield short terms results, and even opposite results in certain cases than what was intended. People want to get fit, the right way, all the time, and not just for that summer trip to St. Tropez. Ali states that the best diet is not to be on one, yet to correct unhealthy eating habits into ones that work for you. He’s looking to update our diet systems, to include all the things we love, like chocolates and ice cream, and STILL lose weight!

What motivated you to start GET2FIT? The reason behind GET2FIT is that I was surprised by how people deal with the notion of food and nutrition here in Kuwait. In our culture, most people are well informed about politics, sports, video games, travel, and technology. When it comes to food, however, they tend to have no idea what they should eat, what is considered as healthy, and what isn’t. Along with people’s perceptions of food, and the fact that obesity is a huge problem here—all of these factors motivated me to start GET2FIT. Have you always been interested in nutrition and weight loss?

Absolutely, as I love the subject and all that it entails. Creating ways to spread awareness, working hard and digging deep for the latest news and updates in this field, maintaining great client relations; all of this hard work pays off when I see my clients lose weight and get closer towards their goals.

That factor alone makes me love my job even more and pushes me to work harder all the time.

What’s difficult about maintaining a healthy diet?

The most common obstacle is altering people’s perceptions about what is considereda healthy diet. Does it include only eating grilled items, and nothing else? That might be a common perception, yet it is not entirely true. A healthy diet should allow you to eat everything you want, but you simply have to remember the factors of when and how much you should eat from each type of food.

What does it mean to DIET SMART? To diet smart means no deprivation whatsoever, where nobody chooses for you what to eat. To diet smart is to eat what you love and love what you eat, and that you should always choose the foods you eat. However, you choose what you want, and we tell you when to eat it and the quantity that suits you the best based on your weight, height, level of activity, gender and BMI (Body Mass Index).

What are some of the services offered via the GET2FIT Instagram account?

The GET2FIT Instagram account is a tool that raises awareness about nutrition. The posts include the latest studies, tips and hints about what comprises a healthy diet. We also like to remind people that the best diet is not to ‘diet’ at all, but to simply correct bad eating habits into good ones. We encourage healthy eating habits that will stay with you throughout your life, won’t disappear with the first appetizing ad you see, or temptations you’re confronted with at family gatherings.

Where would you like to take GET2FIT in the future?

I see the concept growing day after day, because people are finally beginning to realize that temporary diets, or fad diets, simply don’t work. Our lifestyles are extremely different nowadays, with new challenges to maintaining a healthy diet. For instance, restaurants are everywhere, kids want to go out for food all the time, and healthy options are becoming more and more scarce.

Since our lifestyles have become very dynamic, GET2FIT aims to play a role in catching up with the latest health and diet updates to help people deal with these challenges.

Check out @GET2FIT on Instagram. The GET2FIT Clinic is located on the first floor of Shaymaa Tower in Kuwait City.

Please call 9718 8033 and 5571 0033 for more information.

LG

bazaar fitness

THE IRON

By Mike Campbell

“The Iron never lies to you…like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs.

Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds” ~ Henry Rollins Everyone should strength train. That means everyone - male, female, young or old.

Barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell. There is perhaps no other exercise mode that can give you so many benefits, whilst simultaneously educating you about yourself.

Lifting heavy stuff is great for you. Now most of the guys out there know this. They might not know how to do it correctly, but they know. So ladies, let’s focus on you.

By lifting heavy things off the ground, lifting heavy things over your head, or carrying heavy things for a time or distance, will not only drop your body fat and lean you up, but it will develop your self-confidence.

It will teach you perseverance and self-motivation.

Knowing that you can do a full range pull-up, a handstand walk, or squat your own body weight without becoming “buff”, will have a remarkable effect on your sense of well-being and your own identity.

But I hear you say “I don’t want to look like a bodybuilder.” So, is strength training body building?

No, it is not. Strength is defined as the ability to exert a force against a resistance.

The strength needed for a sprinter to explode from the blocks is different for the strength required 118

by an Olympic weight lifter to move a 200kg loaded bar. So that means there are various types of strength.

Body builders do incorporate strength training methods, but following a well-structured strength program does not turn you into a bodybuilder. You will not become the HULK if that is not your aim. But you will be able to lift and play with your children without becoming tired and injured. Once correctly educated on the techniques and how a strength program is constructed and delivered, females are quick to see life changing results.

These are the sorts of things I hear after embarking on strength training programs: “Lifting heavy weights and doing interval training have considerably improved my endurance. It has helped me lose more fat of my waist and hips and made me fitter, stronger and in much better shape.”

“Strength training has had a huge impact on me. After being reluctant about weight training for all the wrong information I used to receive, I finally gave it a go. I’ve come such a long way and am loving the results I have been observing. The physical and mental challenges it has produced have improved my confidence. I’m stronger, have better endurance, more toned and in the best shape I have ever been in”.

“I have been training and participating in triathlons for a long time, but it wasn’t until I introduced strength and conditioning into my triathlon training that I learnt the value of strength

training. My performance was greatly improved not to mention that it reduced my risk of injury in such a taxing sport”.

Let’s look at some of the factors which show you why you should start lifting heavy: 1. The best method to develop a lean body is by combining nutrition with strength training. Lifting heavy weights and eating clean is the easiest way to get lean.

2. Strength train and lose fat. More muscle means more calories burnt at rest. Remember a kilogram of fat and a kilogram of muscle still weigh the same....but that kilogram of fat differs in density.

That kilogram of fat is bigger in volume and therefore bigger in appearance. Strength train and drop a dress size or three.

3. Strength training by lifting weights enhances the nervous system. The effect summary shows better brain function and better co-ordination of movement, in old and young alike.

4. Lifting heavy improves bone density, dramatically improves heart function and lowers blood pressure.

5. Strength training improves sleep and decreases chronic pain.

6. Strength training increases endurance in athletes, including you. That’s right…you are an athlete as well.

I know what you may be saying at this point…. ‘’Hang on a minute….isn’t cardio the best way to drop down my body fat?’’ Compare running on the treadmill for an hour verses swinging kettlebells, squatting, dead-lifting or pulling a sled. Tell me that working the battle ropes or pushing the prowler for 20 minutes doesn’t feel like a cardio “sprint” session.

Heart rate pounding, sweat pouring, endorphins pumping. Ladies the winner is STRENGTH TRAINING. If you still have doubts after reading this, I encourage you to get down to your respected strength and conditioning facility and talk to the personal trainers. Better yet, ask to talk to clients.

Find someone that used to be like you, but through strength training has already achieved the goals you want. Trust me. If you strength train the physical and mental benefits will keep coming for the rest of your life. Add in some clean eating and you will see results within a very short period of time.

Until then keep at the Prowler Push, Swing that Kettlebell or complete that CrossFit Workout of the Day.

Mike Campbell is the GM and Co Founder of Inspire Pure Fitness.

For fur ther information please email info@inspirekw.com or jane@inspirekw.com or visit www.inspirekw.com.

ALACANT

bazaar a la mode KUWAITI FENCING CHAMPIONS VISIT MANUFACTURE OF JAEGERLECOULTRE IN SWITZERLAND Balsam and Lulwa Al Ayoub, Kuwaiti fencing champions and friends of JaegerLeCoultre, visited the brand’s manufacturing workshops, testifying to 180 years of continuous development on a single site and the unique integration of all skills under one roof. Welcomed by Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert, the sisters discovered different stages of watch manufacturing, decoration and assembly. Impressed by the work of watchmakers that requires an incredible amount of expertise and precision, Balsam and Lulwa particularly admired gem setting techniques that went into making the Rendez-Vous, a new ladies High Jewelry watch by Jaeger-LeCoultre. “Dedication and talent were all around us when walked inside the Manufacture, committed experts eager to create the best watches. The sharpness of the time in the watch is almost a reflection of a sword cutting to a touché!” – said Lulwa Al Ayoub. Behind the regular beat of its Manufacture movement lies a concentrated blend of the creativity that has pervaded the history of the Grande Maison. These feminine creations continue to forge the legend of Jaeger-LeCoultre and testify to the Manufacture’s amazing creative liberty. More than a watch, the Rendez-Vous line embodies a free-spirited and spontaneous personality that is constantly reinvented and perpetually surprising. Women, fencers and social entrepreneurs, the two Kuwaiti sisters have managed to conduct their life and projects with determination and passion. They have been supporting the re-invention of the lives of the women in Kuwait and worldwide: women expression and empowerment through sport and development. This philosophy is in the heart of Jaeger-LeCoultre RendezVous line, created for free-spirited personalities.

“Being in the historical Manufacture of Jaeger-LeCoultre gave us a unique experience. We made the connection between the precision of fencing and time” – said Balsam Al Ayoub.

REMIX YOUR STYLE WITH AMERICAN EAGLE’S SUMMER COLLECTION American Eagle Outfitters announces the launch of their latest summer collection. The collection continues to build on the idea of individual style and remixing your style with various new items. The assortment mixes aquatic blues and teals, electric neons and bright prints perfect for summer. Warm weather plays a big role in the collection with shorts, skirts, dresses, tees and tanks as key items. For the AEO girl, it’s all about Beach Tribes for summer. Bright sunny colors like lemon lime and shocking pink update tees, tanks and shorts. Tropical florals, Aztec prints, embroideries and crochet add texture to the collection and play back to the festival trend we love so much for summer.

Maxi dresses in global prints, feminine beading and open, exposed knits add a touch of allure and are perfect day to night pieces. Denim continues to ground the collection with bright ankle jeggings, fresh white washes, and a variety of shorts for every look. Light accessories accent the entire assortment with cross body bags, printed scarves, braided leather belts and perfect spring shoes. The relaxing beach theme carries over to the AEO guy this season too. The California preppy surfer vibe comes to life through printed shorts and cutoffs in neon and washed brights. Preppy striped tees and printed board shorts are perfect for the laid-back summer feel. Chambray shirts, Mohawk prints and dip dye styles play into the festival look in desert tones and touches of burgundy. Like the girls, denim still plays a key role in shorts and pants with an emphasis on the distressed styles. Accessories are minimal for summer but backpacks, sandals and woven belts are still big accent pieces to the collection.

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SWATCH SISTEM51 Thirty years ago Swatch turned the watch world upside down. Today, Swatch SISTEM51 presents a new point of view, sets new standards and celebrates the Swatch credo: simplify and innovate.

Never before has simplicity been made so intriguing and surprising. SISTEM51 is an automated (selfwinding) mechanical movement made from 51 components—no more, no less—made possible by a simplified and more efficient design. Most mechanical movements have at least twice as many parts; some have more than 600! 51 is the magic number. SISTEM51’s components are welded together to form a single assembly centred on a single screw. SISTEM51 is a world first: it is the only mechanical movement ever made whose assembly is 100% automated. The movement features a 90 hour power reserve. Since all movement components are hermetically sealed within the case, no moisture, dust or foreign objects can interfere with its operation. The resulting inner peace guarantees the movement a long, serene life and enduring performance. Finally, and this is no surprise, SISTEM51 is 100% Swiss made—a guarantee of quality, end to end.

EYE BOUTIQUE OFFICIAL OPENING AT THE AVENUES Following in the success of its locations at 360 Mall and Dubai Mall, Eye Boutique invited the media and press representatives in Kuwait for the opening of its third store located in The Avenues III. This latest addition to the Eye Boutique network features collections of some of the world’s finest eyewear brands, catering to a variety of lifestyles in both medical frames and sunglasses.

Eye Boutique’s vision and philosophy has always been focused on the delivery of extraordinary service, bolstered with an exceptional collection of world-class eyewear pieces. A team that is not only technically proficient, but also well versed in fashion, style and the demands of modern life, complete the uniqueness of the Eye Boutique experience.

Choosing eyewear that compliments your appearance is becoming increasingly important, and Eye Boutique provides the perfect platform for discovering what works best, regardless of occasion. One does not attend opera recitals in casual shoes, as much as one does not jog in high heels, for example.

Eye Boutique takes traditional eyewear services a step further; its team ensures that every pair of glasses matches perfectly with your complexion, the shape of your face, your lifestyle and the occasion where it will be used. It is imperative for Eye Boutique that every patron finds that perfect piece of eyewear, every time.

The team is also constantly exploring the global marketplaces in glasses, always expanding Eye Boutique’s diverse collection of eyewear pieces. Coupled with exceptional services, Eye Boutique provides the perfect opportunity for those seeking truly sophisticated and perfectly matched glasses.

Eye Boutique extends an open invitation for all to visit its new showroom located in The Avenues – Phase III, next to the entrance of the Gold Market; and enjoy a cup of espresso as you experience a uniquely sophisticated service first hand, and as you discover the new you.

VERSACE OPENS A NEW BOUTIQUE IN KUWAIT Versace announced the opening of its Kuwait boutique at Prestige, The Avenues Mall, with the new store concept conceived by Donatella Versace in collaboration with English architect Jamie Fobert.

The 230m2 store mixes the opulence and traditions of Italian architecture with the dynamism and energy of Versace today. Marble mosaic, brass and Perspex create a modern and luxurious environment for Versace’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories. Past meets future in the boutique with its mosaic floor, inspired by 9th century Byzantine churches, contrasted with Perspex walls and shelving which appear to float above it. The circles of the mosaic floor are echoed in the curved walls, which add energy and the unexpected. Brass fittings throughout consolidate the ultimate mood of luxury. The boutique carries the complete range of Versace men and women ready-to-wear and accessories including this season’s key bags, shoes, belts, watches, sunglasses, and fragrances.

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THE FASHION JUNGLE

By Purva Grover

The animal kingdom is roaring in an en vogue chorus and we, being fanatical fashionistas, can’t dare ignore it. Some might say that the call of the wild on the streets and runways is not an unfamiliar sound. After all, (if you may) even cavemen wore the hides of the animals they hunted. But today, thankfully and humanely, we no longer need to resort to the literal manner of hunting the prints we love, and instead see a stunning collection of nature-inspired fashions and accessories appear from our favorite designers. This season’s loud roar is about upping one’s style quotient with primal power, and romancing its captivating silhouettes in the form of faux furs, prints, motifs, and much more.

When seeing the fashion’s most wanted animals and birds on the runways, the question of whether or not these trends are to be accepted no longer counts. Instead, it’s all about how these trends are to be embraced. Yes, gone are the days when natureinspired outfits were defined by just kitty pullovers and leopard print jeggings. Because as of now, from Paris to Goa and Dubai to London, everyone is unleashing their feline power with absolute zeal. So if you are a true blue fashionista then you have to own at least one wild piece and master style it just right, as long as you don’t sport a complete animal look from head to toe.

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Tip number one: If the animal instinct suggests you slip into leopard print trousers, then these should be teamed up with a pair of nude pumps.

Or sporting a Prada fish scale dress or a Milia M (Summer 2013) printed bird gown with a solid color clutch. Yes, animal prints look sensational on everybody, provided it is toned down with a neutral.

An emerald green cardigan with an exotic snake skin skirt or beige knee-length boots with loud giraffe pants will both tone down and compliment the look. Roberto Cavalli had once confessed that one of his biggest passions is animal print, for it is like copying the nature that God created. No wonder he plays with the feline prints so often. And this feline power can be further supressed for the less adventurous in the form of leopard print belts and cutesy snake skin clutches.

Interestingly, accessories are the best and most chic way to get comfortable with the wild side.

Louis Vuitton’s giraffe heels would pep up a neon asymmetrical dress and a casual evening with the girls will gel well with Marc Jacob’s Espadrille Mouse Flats or Camo Studded Mouse Ballerinas.

If you can handle the bold and the bling, then we suggest that you spoil yourself with Stephen Webster’s (Forevermark) couture Chinese dragon brooch carved on a tattooed leather piece or tempt the devil with the Temptation of Eve, a ring inspired from the devilish serpent. The ferocious

enthusiasts would like designer Manish Arora’s line of panther cuffs, ear rings and maang teekas for Amrapali Jewels.

The primal power always lies in mixing the elements and trends. Even a single button with a tiger print on a black fitted boyfriend blazer, and a hippo patterned scarf with a pair of neon shorts, can be a conversation starter this season.

Don’t be afraid to walk into a business lunch with an Olivia Burton watch on your wrist, let the hand-drawn owl, humming bird or butterfly chirp up the work for you. Play with the winged creatures with lovely butterfly, nightingale and swan pendants from Swarovski.

If the blooms and floral prints are your preference to animal prints, yet you still wish to embrace this trend, then be careful to choose a floral or botanical printed dress that is well-constructed.

Nothing would flatter your figure more than a timeless silhouette. Moschino’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection is one such blooming affair; with its green grass shades and floral prints.

A splash of floral hues on the nails for the beach, a serpentine watch for a dinner, and animal print gloves for a Friday night, are just some of endless other fabulous and fierce choices. So, we suggest you go ahead and step out of that cage. Let your style inhibitions run free, and remember that the jungle is yours!

THINK TANK

MOHAMMED ASSAF The Voice of Gaza in Arab Idol

By Hugh Naylor

Belting out powerful vocals on love and patriotism in front of millions of Arab television viewers, Mohammed Assaf has soared to stardom as the voice of Palestinians. Defying his rough-and-tumble origins in the Gaza Strip, the 22-year-old is one of 12 remaining contestants in the Arab Idol singing competition. Assaf is the first Gazan to advance to such a late stage in the pan-Arab talent competition, transforming him into a national icon.

Homes from Ramallah to Gaza City are draped in posters bearing his glinting smile. Politicians seek photo opportunities with the young star. With his performances, Assaf has managed something few Palestinian leaders have - embodying the hope of his people beyond the usual prism of war and interminable conflict with Israel.

At the time of writing, Assaf is still to complete in the 13th of 24 rounds in the Beirut-based competition, broadcast live every Friday on the Saudi-owned television channel MBC 1. In the show, competitors from across the region perform songs of their choice.

Their performances are evaluated by a panel of celebrity judges and then television viewers vote on which singer to eliminate through text messages.

Last season’s Arab Idol winner won a Chevrolet Corvette and a recording contract with Platinum Records, a Dubai-based company affiliated with MBC. Assaf’s participation has come to encompass much 124

more than the quest for the prize. In the occupied Palestinian territories, politicians, businesses and residents have rallied to him. The two Palestinian mobile telephone operators have lowered the cost of text messages to encourage voting.

In a Facebook post in April, the outgoing prime minister of the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, called “on all Palestinians to support the Palestinian artist Mohammed Assaf, who is deservedly representing Palestine in the second season of Arab Idol”.

Assaf has chosen to perform a mix of classic songs by well-known Arab singers as well as songs about the Palestinian cause. One was a love song by the late Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez, and another about a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon longing to return to his ancestral home in what is now Israel. He faces stiff competition from fellow contestants, including a man from Aleppo who has sung about the ravages of Syria’s civil war.

Assaf, too, has touched on the hardships endured by his people. Wearing the traditional Palestinian black-and-white headscarf around his neck during performances, he has spoken about the Israeli occupation and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

He has expressed admiration for Samer Issawi, who became a symbol of the Palestinian struggle over his long-term hunger strike in an Israeli jail. In

an interview with the unofficial Palestinian news agency Maan last month, Assaf said that “if I had to choose between winning the Arab Idol title and the freedom of Samer Issawi, I would choose freedom for the Palestinian hero whose steadfastness is peerless and I can’t compare myself to it”.

But Assaf’s decision to also sing about topics other than politics has endeared him to much of the public, said Jamal Abu Qumsan, a board member of the Gaza Association for Culture and Arts.

“He has struck a chord with Palestinians by singing classic Arabic songs that deal with issues other than war and struggle,” he said. “Because of years of war, Palestinians have not had much stability, and so they cling to the classic songs he performs because they touch on topics of normality, like love. To many here, that kind of music offers them a sense of stability.” Still, Assaf has faced withering criticism on Facebook posts from conservative Palestinians who see his trade as immodest.

Even before Arab Idol, Assaf, enrolled in a mediastudies programme at Gaza’s Palestine University, was a household name among Palestinians. When he was 11, he called in to a popular Palestinian television programme and sang a nationalist song that caught the presenter’s attention. That led to several local recording contracts. “By the age of five, he had a voice of someone who was much, much older,” said his mother, Intisar Assaf, 55, a maths teacher at a primary school in the Khan Younis refugee camp where the family lives. Three of Assaf’s six brothers and sisters are also singers.

But his family said Assaf nearly did not make the preliminary Arab Idol auditions in Cairo last year.

He had to pay off Egyptian border personnel to let him pass through the Rafah border crossing, the only crossing from Gaza not controlled by Israel, which imposes a blockade on the territory. Egypt generally prevents Palestinians under the age of 40 from passing through the crossing except in special cases, such as medical emergency.

When Assaf arrived in Cairo for the auditions, security informed him he had missed the deadline to participate. “So he climbed over the wall to enter the try-outs,” his mother said. “Security detained him but when he started singing desperately in front of them, they decided it was unfair not to let him.” Even then, his mother added, Assaf was not formally registered to compete. A fellow Palestinian registered for the audition recognised Assaf and dropped out, freeing up a spot for him to compete.

Assaf has since soared ahead of most of the tens of thousands of initial contestants.

Source: www.thenational.ae.

SNYDERS

bazaar books Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures. ~ Jessamyn West

WAITING TO BE HEARD: A MEMOIR

THINGS COME APART

DAD IS FAT

PARIS: THE NOVEL

THE NEW DIGITAL AGE

by Amanda Knox

by Todd McLellan

by Jim Gaffigan

by Dan Brown

by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen

Amanda Knox spent four years in a foreign prison for a crime she did not commit. In the fall of 2007, the 20-year-old college co-ed left Seattle to study abroad in Italy, but her life was shattered when her roommate was murdered in their apartment. After a controversial trial, Amanda was convicted and imprisoned. But in 2011, an appeals court overturned the decision and vacated the murder charge. Free at last, she returned home to the U.S., where she has remained silent, until now. Filled with details first recorded in the journals Knox kept while in Italy, Waiting to Be Heard is a remarkable story of innocence, resilience, and courage, and of one young woman’s hard-fought battle to overcome injustice and win the freedom she deserved. With intelligence, grace, and candor, Amanda Knox tells the full story of her harrowing ordeal in Italy—a labyrinthine nightmare of crime and punishment, innocence and vindication— and of the unwavering support of family and friends who tirelessly worked to help her win her freedom.

Welcome to Todd McLellan’s unique photographic vision of the material world: fifty design classics—arranged first by size and then by intricacy—are beautifully displayed, piece by piece, exploding in mid-air and dissected in real-time, frameby-frame video stills. This book makes visible the inner workings of some of the world’s most iconic designs.

From SLR camera to mantel clock to espresso machine, from iPad to bicycle to grand piano, every single component of each object is revealed. These disassembled objects show that even the most intricate of modern technologies can be broken down and understood.

Stunning photography is interspersed with essays by notable figures from the worlds of restoration, DIY, and design innovation who discuss historical examples of teardowns, disassembly, and reverse-engineering.

Each photograph is itself a work of art and offers a reinterpretation of our familiar world.

”I wrote a book. No, I did!

It’s all about the joys and horrors of my life with my five young children. I’m not sure if it is a memoir, a confession, an apology, or cry for help but Jeannie and friends have told me it’s really funny.” In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, manatees, and McDonald’s, expresses all the positives and negatives of life with five young children—everything from cousins (“celebrities for little kids”) to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood, Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

Internationally bestselling author Edward Rutherfurd has enchanted millions of readers with his sweeping, multigenerational dramas that illuminate the great achievements and travails throughout history. In this breath-taking saga of love, war, art, and intrigue, Rutherfurd has set his sights on the most magnificent city in the world: Paris. Moving back and forth in time across centuries, the story unfolds through intimate and vivid tales of self-discovery, divided loyalties, passion, and long-kept secrets of characters both fictional and real, all set against the backdrop of the glorious city—from the building of Notre Dame to the dangerous machinations of Cardinal Richlieu; from the glittering court of Versailles to the violence of the French Revolution and the Paris Commune. With his unrivaled blend of impeccable research and narrative verve, Rutherfurd weaves an extraordinary narrative tapestry that captures all the glory of Paris and brings the sights, scents, and tastes of Paris to sumptuous life.

Two leading global thinkers in technology and foreign affairs give us their widely anticipated, transformational vision of the future: a world where everyone is connected—a world full of challenges and benefits that are ours to meet and to harness.

Eric Schmidt is one of Silicon Valley’s great leaders, Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas and a former adviser to secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. With their combined knowledge and experiences, the authors are uniquely positioned to take on some of the toughest questions about our future: Who will be more powerful in the future, the citizen or the state? Will technology make terrorism easier or harder to carry out? What is the relationship between privacy and security, and how much will we have to give up to be part of the new digital age? Inspiring, provocative and absorbing, The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business is a brilliant analysis of how our hyper-connected world will soon look, from two of our most prescient and informed public thinkers.

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source: www.amazon.com

CLUCKSTERS

bazaar investigates NEW GENERATION MAZDA6.

Celebrating Challenges. Celebrating Driving.

Kuwait Automotive Imports Co WLL (Al Shaya & Al Sagar), exclusive distributor of Mazda cars in Kuwait since 1969, proudly launched the new generation MAZDA6 in its main showroom in Al Rai, Shuwaikh on 13 May. The unveiling ceremony took place in the presence of KAICO management, journalists and VIP guests.

At the launch event Mr Yousef Alshaya (CEO) elaborated on Mazda`s long history and success story. “Everyone at Mazda, deep in their hearts, has a romance with building cars and a romance with engineering”, he added.

Mr Ashish Tandon (General Manager) emphasized that Mazda engineers, by defying conventions and daring to challenge, produced the world’s best engine, namely the SKYACTIV engine. The features of the New Mazda6 were presented by Mr Mohamed Osman (Mazda Brand Manager) who also invited all journalists and potential customers to test drive the new vehicle and experience first-hand Mazda’s exciting new technologies.

You work hard. You demand the best from yourself. And you demand the best for yourself. So take control of Mazda6 – the most exciting sports sedan around – an inspired expression of Mazda`s KODO – ‘’Soul of Motion” design.

Engineered to respond precisely to your every wish as if it were a part of you (jinba ittai), Mazda6 offers unprecedented linearity in acceleration, cornering and braking to take Mazda`s world-famous unity between car and driver to a still higher level.

Breakthrough SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY lies at the heart of this new benchmark sports sedan, delivering pulse-pounding performance and handling along with truly remarkable fuel efficiency.

Mazda6 is a concrete statement of inspired craftsmanship, with every detail – inside and out – designed and developed to heighten your driving pleasure.

From the newly-developed Soul Red Metallic body colour that captivates the eye to the advanced R&D and studies in ergonomics, Mazda6 is a triumph of craftmanship and attention to detail.

BEAU-TIQUE COSMETICS INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES LABEL.M’S MR. MARCUS GREIG. beau-tique cosmetics international held a label.m event at Tatami Japanese Restaurant and welcomed Mr. Marcus Greig, the Business Development Manager all the way from the United Kingdom. Mr. Marcus met salon’s owners and managers in Kuwait who retail label.m haircare brand in the local market and discussed with them label.m’s future sales plans and marketing techniques. In addition, Mr. Marcus revealed the new member of label.m’s age defying luxurious range, the Radiance Oil, and shared its benefits with the audience.

Radiance Oil from label.m is an ultra-light beautifying oil with luxurious Moroccan Argan Oil, for instant transformation. It also contains Rejuven-8 Complex, for long term rejuvenation, in order to keep the hair protected, nourished and younger-looking. A section of the event emphasised label.m’s electronics devices such as label.m hairdryers and Pro-straighteners. Mr. Marcus explained their performance with their unique Titanium plates. beau-tique cosmetic international is the exclusive distribution house from the British iconic haircare brand label.m in Kuwait, with their simple yet scientific system known as the 4 C’s. Cleanse, Condition, Create, and Complete.

For more information please call them on: 2225 1285.

STARBUCKS UNVEILS NEW LOOK FOR MARINA MALL STORE Starbucks has opened the doors of its newly refurbished store at Marina Mall, reaffirming its commitment to bring customers in Kuwait the best coffee experience. The new look combines class and comfort to provide coffee lovers with a refreshing space to relax and enjoy their meals and beverages. It is completely custom-made from furniture and fabrics to equipment, artwork and details. Commenting on the renovation, Rana Shaheen, regional communications and CSR manager at Starbucks MENA, said: “We are very pleased to open the doors of our redesigned Marina Mall store and bring the high-end coffee experience closer to our customers. This opening is a very proud moment for us, and we invite all our customers to come and experience the store first hand.” Customers will notice nuances of the strong local heritage the company prides itself on, including coffee pots and handheld coffee grinders. The décor of the store is inspired by nature and the sky-lit dome of the mall. The color scheme, bar arrangement, pastry display, and food offering have all been revamped to ensure a unique experience for customers.

For more information, please go to www.mena.starbucks.com/en

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STEVE MADDEN UNVEILS SPRING 2013 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S COLLECTION This season, Steve Madden showcases a wide range of trend-right styles that appeal to the man who is fashion-conscious and creative. From vibrant suede drivers and transformable slip-ons to studded loafers and rugged sneakers, Steve Madden’s spring 2013 collection is all about style that’s confident, cool and casual. The 80s East End punk era influenced Steve Madden’s most exciting embellishment of the season- STUDS! The CRANNKK sneaker rocks out with its heavily studded all over look making it the perfect statement piece. For a night on the town, step out in the PANIKK dress shoe with a studded cap toe and heel for an elevated downtown rocker look. For Spring 2013, bright lights in the big city inspire a whole spectrum of pop accents including the grittier cement greys of urban city streets. The FELIX loafer is offered in suede and features a casual espadrille bottom. The ASPIRE pops in smooth suedes, boasting a lace-less rubber sole ready to make a statement. Steve Madden man is all about looking effortlessly on trend the M-GRENSON slip-on can go from day-to-night with its structured top and rubber sole. The PSY loafer can dress up even the most casual jeans with textured leather and stitching that excites while the WYOTT driver makes the hit list for its super soft leather construction and flexible bottom. For the dynamic woman sculptural wedges, hip-haute fashion kicks, studs galore and pop brights round out the Spring 2013 Steve Madden collection. Beautiful dress heels and sparkling smoking flats are guaranteed showstoppers for that special event while its range of stylish downtown city boots remains a top selling category for trans-seasonal wear. Simplicity-meets-sophistication this season with feminine high heels and delicate ankle straps becoming the focus for the dress category.

There’s no better way to attract true love than with the REALOVE that features an elegant single strap band and closed heel counter. The DYVINE T-strap sandal provides Studio 54 retro flair with all over suede upper, over lasted platform front, and an alluring gold metal covered block heel. Also, glitz and glam is top of mind each season for Steve Madden because every young woman needs a little sparkle in her wardrobe.

Available at The Avenues- Phase III

SACOOR BROTHERS SPRING SUMMER 2013 Discover the latest fashion items from Sacoor Brothers and get ready to shine with bright colors, amazing patterns and chic designs that will make you turn heads everywhere.

The new Sacoor Brothers collection offers you endless styling options. From a relaxed outfit or chic office gear to an elegant evening look – Sacoor Brothers dresses you for any occasion!

ZAFRAN MASTER COOKERY CLASS Held by Zafran’s Master Chef Gaurav Singh & Chef Mohit Dhingra Zafran, the contemporary Indian restaurant by Foodmark, hosted a group of media representatives to an up close and personal exclusive master cookery class held by the restaurants master chefs; Chef Mohit Dhingra and Chef Gaurav Singh. Chef Singh was specially flown in for the event to provide insights and incorporate some of his favorite easy-to-prepare ingredients into approachable home-style dishes. During the course of the afternoon, participants put on an apron and discovered the secrets of Indian cooking and the exciting use of flavors. With the chef’s assistance they created interesting dishes including mushroom and cheese kurkure, murg awadhi korma, and kesar and pista phirnee. They were treated to the mouth-watering delicacies they cooked. They took home a goodie bag consisting of Zafran’s famous spice kit. Zafran, located in Salmiya (Salem Al Mubarak Street), is known for its vibrant and modern setting, and is a warm and welcoming retreat for friends and family who wish to relax and enjoy good high quality food at purse-friendly prices.

To make a reservation, please call them on 2575 0647 129

THE GREAT GATSBY That Baz Luhrmann allure

By Susan Wloszczyna

During a news conference for Hollywood’s fourth big-screen attempt to capture the timeless brilliance of The Great Gatsby — held at The Plaza Hotel, an enduring symbol of urban swank that makes a cameo just before the tragic climax of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel — a row suddenly erupts.

The combatants are the two Australian-born visionaries most responsible for this $100 million-plus cork-popping, confetti-strewn collage of Jazz Age and Jay-Z, glam style and gauche excess that opened recently world wide: filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, 50, and his wife of 16 years, costume and production designer Catherine Martin, 48.

Martin, the two-time Oscar winner in the family for her work on the couple’s gilded music-box spectacle Moulin Rouge! from 2001, is taking loud exception to Luhrmann’s claim that Long Island — where Fitzgerald wrote much of his masterwork about the American dream gone sour — is just a 20-minute drive from where they are seated. Finally, an exasperated Luhrmann asks his spouse, “Do you have a car license?”

Her reply: “No.” Luhrmann: “Your honor, I rest my case.”

Martin pipes up again when Luhrmann states that his Catholic high school in Sydney, where most of the New York-based movie was filmed, was a stand-in for Gatsby’s lavish Disneyland of a mansion. “That is the exterior, Baz,” she clarifies.

“My wife is the fact-checker,” he counters. “I am the storyteller.”

That statement, at least, is no exaggeration. Later on in a private interview, the notoriously chatty Luhrmann concedes, “Journalists are always thinking, ‘Will this guy get off the phone? He is boring me.’” He says his replies come in three sizes: “Epic, long and never-ending.”

Some wags might say the same of his extravagant movies.

The account of how he happened to ponder The Great Gatsby as his next project nearly a decade ago while listening to an audiobook version aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing to Paris is already the stuff of legend.

He insists it is all true. “I went back and checked. I found the photographs, and I was surprised how accurate it is.” Who was shooting pictures? “Myself. I was taking photos of my point of view. The wine bottle, the window. You can see the iPod with the speakers. I listened to it over two nights. The modernity of the story just kicked me over. It was really transcendent.”

Luhrmann has earned his auteur badge after directing just five films, the most recent being 2008’s “Australia,” his uneven stab at a Down Under adventure in the vein of “Gone With the Wind.” He is renowned for boldly tackling tired genres and reviving them with his trademark Baz pizzaz. Who else could have pulled off placing a heartbreaking Shakespeare love story in a contemporary South Beachinspired Verona (complete with Hawaiian-shirted gangsters and a drag queen 130

Mercutio) as he did with his 1996 No. 1 box-office hit, Romeo + Juliet?

What made him think he could find a way to translate a Prohibition-era classic like “The Great Gatsby” for current-day audiences, an effort that has confounded other filmmakers? “I just felt there is a movie here because of its concise construction,” he says of Fitzgerald’s slim volume. “On a technical level, there is a movie here that hasn’t been done yet. “ If nothing else, Gatsby allowed the director to finally reunite with title-roleplaying Leonardo DiCaprio, 38, whose youthful Romeo in 1996 seemed plucked from an Elizabethan-themed boy band. That is despite the fact that the adult Leo has developed an aversion to such glamour-required parts.

“He has run away from his natural screen presence,” Luhrmann says. “He could have cashed that check, sat back and gone, ‘I will just park out on the glamour, and away I’ll go.’ Instead, he has pursued complexity, challenge and risk. Along comes this role, and it has all that. Oh, by the way, Gatsby is glamorous, pink suit included.

Our friendship had something to do with him agreeing to do it.”

The actor was eager to collaborate once more with the one-of-a-kind artist. “Baz is attracted to classic pieces of powerful dramatic literature, and he’s not afraid to take them on,” DiCaprio says. “He’s also not afraid to infuse them with his own ability to transport you to another world. I love those type of risk takers. His enthusiasm about doing this story and Romeo +Juliet is infectious and propels you to believe.”

Much like Gatsby, this is a behind-the-scenes showman who persuades audiences to buy into his grandiose mirage, where fireworks explode at all-night celebrations, lovely ladies are bedecked in diamonds and perch on swings from on high, men swagger about in jaunty Brooks Brothers suits, and anachronistic pop songs fill the air.

“Everything that comes out of my mouth sounds pretentious,” Luhrmann says. “I’m just stuck with it. People expect a top hat and cane.” But just as Gatsby was a humble product of a North Dakota farming clan, the filmmaker grew up with his three siblings in the rural New South Wales burg of Herons Creek — “a town of 11 houses” — where his enterprising father ran a pig farm, a movie theater and a gas station.

“The thing I really relate to with Gatsby is that little boy who looks up and sees a kind of vision of his life,” Luhrmann says. “I have had that experience.” As a child, “I’m learning ballroom dancing — my father would drive my brothers and I two hours to take (lessons). But I am mainly pumping gas, and I am 7. And every kind of human being is walking by. Lovers break up in front of me. Hari Krishnas were arriving with bikers and gypsies. And the Bee Gees.”

The Bee Gees? “They’re Australian. What I remember is a big van that said the Bee Gees. My point is that I was invisible. And there was something out there. I would say I am still going down that road.”

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FIVE NIGHTS IN LEBANON

By B. Qureshi

Two Eid-ul-Adha’s ago, my husband and I decided to forgo our usual visit to his home country, for a trip to Lebanon. We want to see ruins and mountains and to discover the “Paris of the Middle East” while yet having access to halal food. With his visa in hand and my on-arrival visa, we find ourselves richer in memories.

Arrival Fireworks spark up the mountains in celebration of the holiday on our descent towards Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. We take a taxi past French and Venetian architecture on the way to our hotel.

The taxi stalls: the driver restarts it at every signal, once mid-turn in an intersection. He flashes ten fingers.

We hand him 10,000 pounds, not the $10 he demands while speeding away. An inspection of our room— complete with bidet and three kinds of breakfast—precedes a walk along Rue Hamra: neon stars and crescents marking the holiday, a student eating a sandwich on her way to the American University, peri-peri, a French-English-Arabic bookstore, a marked army presence in front of government buildings. People are so friendly they look us in the eyes, rather than down or past, as we 132

walk by. We meet a tourist couple searching for a belly-dancing club, but can’t offer help. My husband gets a Nescafe from a service station. At a fruit shop we buy persimmons, local and in season, to eat with breakfast.

First Day Our concierge recommends we save pounds and time by hiring a hotel-approved private taxi instead of buying tour bus packages. Our driver cruises in the mist north along the coast to the Jeita Grotto near Jounieh. Signboards urge us to vote for the caves as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. In the grottos, water drips off stalactites onto our hair. Some formations look like waxen mushrooms, others jellyfish, or even curtains.

We spend a rainy afternoon riding the Teleferique from the sea to the top of a hill toward the statue of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, a predominantly Christian area.

The evening brings us to Byblos, one of the oldest continuously populated cities of the world, where ruins of a Crusader castle, Ottoman mosque, old souk, and outdoor cafes coexist in time.

Second Day A drive inland leads us to the

Caves de Ksara, a winery built in one of Lebanon’s natural caves. Other tourists sample the wares, many from grapes sourced from Europe. My husband has another Nescafe.

We drive through the Beqaa Valley. Sheep crawl like pixels on the mountains where gunshots ring—fowlhunting, nothing more. At Baalbek, an ancient Roman temple complex, graffiti dated from the 1890s adorns the walls of the Temple of Bacchus, likely from the first waves of tourists to arrive when Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire. A stroll from the ruins takes us to the middle of the modern town, where we have shawarma at a busy intersection. Within the bounds of their residences, children chase each other with new toy guns.

The sun sets in indigo and gold near the ruins of the Umayyad palacecity in Anjar. Banners descry the Genocide from 1915 to 1923 near the large Armenian community nearby.

Third Day The morning takes us south to the Moussa Museum, which houses displays of guns, silver jewelry, and knives. We travel toward Beiteddine to see the former Ottoman palace and current summer presidential residence.

Instead of continuing south we drive

deep in the opposite direction, crossing the Chouf Mountains, past banana groves, grape-covered cottages, and sanobar trees, toward the Barouk Cedar Reserve. Years of exploitation of Lebanon’s famous cedars have led to reforestation efforts. The forest is peaceful and dense with trees, many thousands of years old. No sunlight or sound penetrates the forest.

Before sunset we drive south toward Sidon, an ancient Phoenician coastal city. The boardwalk is crowded and lively this weekend. We snack on zaatar-stuffed bread and climb the Crusader castle near the fisheries.

Fourth Day Today we explore Beirut. We walk along Manara Beach and to the cove so I can dip my hand in the Mediterranean, the farthest point west on our journey. Sleek like two fish, a father and son dive into the sea at Raouche, in the dissipating wake of a skiff taking tourists around the arches of the Pigeons’ Rock. Their tanned backs glisten in the sun.

In the afternoon we lunch on Neapolitan pizza, savoring Lebanon’s golden olive oil. At night we visit the Beirut Souks for shopping, a Maronite Church (an old Christian denomination originating here in the fourth century), the Al-Hariri Mosque, and the Place du Martyrs.

Boys stare at a couple on a bench next to the ancient Roman baths.

Interspersed in Beirut are the ruins of Roman columns, fenced off and preserved, standing alongside buildings being reconstructed postwar as the country, at a point of unstable equilibrium, pulses toward the future.

Departure The customs officer checks my passport and wonders was my father perhaps Lebanese? I can’t help but love her for her friendly desire to claim me as one of her own. I don’t want to leave, but I can’t stay, and feel inspired to learn Arabic, wishing to take the accent I have been hearing for the past few days as a souvenir.

At the gate I watch my rings sparkle, rinsed with the water of Beirut, originating from the mineral-rich springs at Jeita.

CROSTI

CLEARING THE CLUTTER A new app does the dirty work of vacuuming spam from your inbox

By Brian Ries

On a recent morning, I woke up to 55 unread emails—and just a few of them from family and friends. The rest was unsolicited mail from strangers or publicists.

My inbox had been overrun by hordes of email marketers hoping to catch a second of my attention.

LinkedIn wanted me to endorse a few former colleagues; a music promoter suggested I check out a new track; oh, and from Living Social: did I want a discount on a massage?

I’ve been subscribed—both willingly and unwillingly—to hundreds of various newsletters over the past few years. And having a public email address, as I do, has its benefits. People can get in touch with me for all kinds of reasons. The downside, of course, is also that people can get in touch with me for all kinds of reasons. And that’s where Unroll.me comes in.

Launched in a beta form by Jojo Hedaya and Josh Rosenwald—both 23—in early 2012, it was remade 134

“from the ground up” just recently. The newest version, Hedaya said will “totally revolutionize email.”

“We are trying to solve the problem of email overload,” the Brooklyn-based entrepreneur says.

“If you think about it, people do like getting daily deals, coupons, and news updates, but we just get too many.”

Using the tool is relatively easy. You sign in on the website, using your Google or Yahoo account, authorizing the application access to your inbox, where it will sniff around for spam culprits.

For me, it took only a few moments before I was shown a list of every newsletter I’d been stuck with.

Turns out, I’d somehow ended up with 328 of them.

Obviously, some lists you’ll want to keep around. I spared my bank, Netflix, and—after much consideration—AT&T, along with a few arts and culture newsletters I enjoy. Then there were the lists I still wanted to have the chance to review, but not necessarily all the time. And this is Unroll.me’s

most useful feature: instead of getting 25 different newsletters, you get one, The Rollup, a summary of all the emails you kinda-sorta-but-don’t-really want but can’t bring yourself to banish from your life completely either.

Finally, there are the lists you just want to get rid of. And Unroll.me handles the dirty work of unsubscribing one by one.

Hedaya says the company runs emails through a proprietary algorithm that will attempt to unsubscribe its user from the newsletters. If that unsubscribe button is too hard to find, or doesn’t exist—a violation of a 2003 anti-spam law—then that email is automatically filtered out of your inbox.

Last week ads, pitches, and unwanted email updates were darkening my inbox. This morning, when I woke up, the spam was gone. There were only messages from friends and family—messages I actually wanted to read. The clouds had cleared. It was morning in my inbox.

NASSER SPORT (GRENDHA)

bazaar checks it out ‫مستشفى طيبة إحتفلت باليوم العالمي للتمريض رسالة التمريض في مستشفى طيبة هي تحقيق‬ ‫التميز و الممارسة المهنية المتطورة‬ ‫أقامت مستشفى طيبة حفلها السنوي بمناسبة اليوم العالمي للتمريض في فندق كراون بالزا الكويت وبحضور جميع‬ /‫ إستهل الحفل بكلمة من رئيسة قطاع التمريض السيدة‬.‫العاملين لدى مستشفى طيبة والعيادات التخصصية التابعة لها‬ ‫ندي غزيري التي أشادت بدورإدارة التمريض في” مستشفى طيبة” للوصول إلى أرقى الخدمات المهنية التمريضية‬ ‫ كما تعمل على تحسين مستوى الجودة وتحقيق الشمولية في الخدمات‬،‫واإلرتقاء بمستوى الصحة في جميع أرجاء الكويت‬ - ‫التمريضية المقدمة لكافة شرائح المجتمع األصحاء والمرضى ومن خالل مستويات الخدمة الصحية المختلفة (األولية‬ ‫ وتهدف‬،‫ الثالثة) وعلى مدار الساعة وتقديم خدمة راقية ومميزة من أجل الحصول على مجتمع صحيح معافى‬- ‫الثانوية‬ ‫ وتحسين المهارات‬،‫أيضا إلى خلق روح من التعاون والعمل المشترك مع مختلف فئات العاملين في مجال العمل الصحي‬ ‫ وأفادة السيدة غزيري بأن التمريض مهنة‬.‫األساسية وإضافة مهارات جديدة ومواكبة كل ما هو جديد في مجال التمريض‬ .‫ة مسئوليات كبرى تجاه مرضاه تفرضها القوانين الوضعية واألخالقية وضمير المهنة‬/‫مقدسة وعلى الممرض‬

FOOD REVOLUTION DAY TAKES PLACE IN KUWAIT The world celebrated Food Revolution Day for the second time on 18th of May 2013 where Food Revolution assigned ambassadors in more than 62 countries. Representing Kuwait was health coach and member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners, Juna Alawadhi, who had been visiting schools and colleges this past year giving lectures about real food to spread awareness and “empower people to stand up for real food.” She says they aim “to change the way Kuwait eats, one family at a time”.

The Kuwait team have launched their website with the first workshop of its kind in Kuwait. Dr Nada Al Ragum tells us “from my experience in family medicine I have noticed that most illnesses which are common in Kuwait are reversible, or can be prevented by changing the way we eat.” She adds “we are responsible for the health of the future generations and we should help them lead a healthier life and eat smart choices.”

From her house in London Jumana Al Awadhi, who is currently there teaching the secrets of natural living said “Kuwait is ready now for a real food revolution, kids deserve better food at schools, and we should all support each other to choose real food over processed food.”

The Food Revolution included 2 main events. The event designed for the adults included life-changing workshops such as organic gardening, healthy cooking, smart school lunch, and many other topics, with inspiring speakers from inside and outside Kuwait, including Jumana Alawadhi, a pioneer in organic nutrition, Taiba Al Humaidhi, Hamad Al Kulaib, and Dana Al Salem.

In the event designed for the children, under the title “Food Revolution For Kids” children took home a natural smart meal and a coloring book about healthy eating habits.

The participants left not only with motivational thoughts and inspiring stories, but with a natural box and the first series of Kuwaiti children’s books focused on nutrition and lifestyle.

For more information please visit www.revolutionkuwait.com or follow them on social media @foodrevkuwait

A SUMMER TO REMEMBER AT HOTEL MISSONI KUWAIT Hotel Missoni Kuwait has launched its special summer promotion, targeting locals and GCC nationals. From June 1st to August 31st 2013*, guests can enjoy the true meaning of luxury at great value. Starting from 55 KD, visitors can select to stay at Missoni Room or even pay additional 30 KD and get pampered at Missoni Maggiore Suite. All resident guests will have full access to the gym and the outdoor pool and will enjoy full buffet breakfast at Luna, 15% discounts at Six Senses Spa, 25% discount at Choco Café, Cucina and Luna Restaurant, three pieces of laundry, complimentary mini bar, 20% off entrance fee to the Scientific Center, complimentary airport transfers, and children’s club every Friday. Animated with bursts of bold color, the hotel features 169 rooms including 63 suites, all of which allow guests to enjoy magnificent views of the Arabian Gulf.

Please check out Hotel Missoni Kuwait on www.facebook.com/hotelmissonikuwait, Instagram or Twitter @hotelmissonikuw

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.‫مركز بسمة اإلستشاري لطب األسنان يوفر خدمات عالمية‬ ‫ فرج بهبهاني إستشاري تقويم األسنان والفكين والحاصل على البورد األمريكي التخصصي في تقويم األسنان وزميل‬/‫قال د‬ ‫كلية الجراحين الملكية البريطانية أستاذ مساعد في جامعة الكويت ومدير مركز بسمة اإلستشاري لطب األسنان في مؤتمر‬ ‫ حيث‬،‫ أن المركز يعتبر من المراكز اإلستشاريه المتميزه والنادره بالكويت حيث يوفر الرعايه الطبيه لجميع أفراد العائله‬:‫صحفي‬ ،‫ ويسعى المركز إلى تقديم خدمة متميزة على يد أمهر األطباء واإلستشاريين‬.‫أن المركز مجهز بأحدث األجهزة والتقنيات الطبية‬ ‫ من جانبه قال إستشاري التركيبات‬.‫مشيرا الى أن المركز يضم فريقا طبيا من كبار اإلستشاريين ذوي الخبرة العالية والمتطورة‬ ،‫وزراعة وتجميل األسنان الدكتور عبدالعزيز العطار أن المركز يعتبرمن أحدث المراكز التي تقدم كافة وآخر أنواع عالج األسنان‬ ‫ وأيضا يروج لطب االسنان الحديث عن طرق‬،‫باإلضافة إلى تثقيف المرضى بشكل فاعل عن أمراض األسنان وكافة طرق عالجها‬ ‫ مركز بسمة مجهز بأجهزة‬.‫ترتيب كورسات تعليمية للزمالء أطباء األسنان في الكويت والتواصل مع المرضى لرفع مستوى الوعي‬ ‫ ومختبر مجهز بأحدث األجهزة قادرة على تصنيع‬،‫ بالمئة‬80 ‫أشعة رقمية عاليه الدقه مما يساعد على تقليل اإلشعاع الصادر بنسبة‬ ‫األسنان في أوقات قياسية (يوم أو يومين) وغرفة لعالج اليوم الواحد لتقديم العالج السريع في حال عدم توفر مواعيد مبكرة أو‬ ‫ عالوة على ذلك غرفة لإلستشارات العالجية يتم الجلوس مع المريض وشرح أنواع العالج عن طريق‬،‫في حال طلب المريض ذلك‬ .‫عرضها على شاشة كبيرة‬ MERCEDES-BENZ KUWAIT HELPED CUSTOMERS BEAT THE HEAT WITH PRE-SUMMER SERVICE WEEK A.R. Albisher and Z. Alkazemi Co. - the exclusive general distributor for Mercedes-Benz in Kuwait - performed a complementary pre-summer service check-up for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in May to ensure they stay cool and comfortable in the blazing desert heat. Mercedes-Benz vehicle owners were eligible for a free comprehensive A/C system check combined with a visual vehicle check performed by Mercedes-Benz trained specialists. MercedesBenz also offer competitively priced A/C maintenance packages starting from KD 21. Customers can browse through the latest collection of accessories available for their car and enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi at the service centres.

Mercedes-Benz owners can book their appointment vehicle check by calling the A.R. Albisher and Z. Alkazemi Co.’s Service centres in Shuwaikh -1833111, Ext-200/254, Al-Rai - 1833111, Ext-832, or Ahmadi 23982111.

For more information on Mercedes-Benz Kuwait, please visit them online at www.mercedes-benz.com.kw, on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/MercedesBenzKuwait or follow them on twitter: @MercedesBenzKWT You can also download the iPhone application for Abdul Rahman Albisher & Zaid Alkazemi Co. for free by searching for ‘MBKuwait‘ in the Apple app store.

BEHBEHANI GROUP LAUNCHES TIK TOK CONCEPT IN SOKU, THE AVENUES New Showroom for Swiss Watch Lovers – With Trendy Ambiance!

Last month in The Avenues, Soku, Morad Yousuf Behbehani Group, known as Behbehani Group and the sole retailer for many international and luxurious brands of watches and jewelry in Kuwait, announced the opening of a new showroom for the Swiss watch brand called Tik Tok. This new brand, Tik Tok, is a bright addition to Behbehani Group; its new and innovative concept brings together all the brands that Swiss watch lovers prefer, all in a trendy, nonclassic ambiance that transforms its clientele to a world of novelty. Moreover, the opening of this showroom reflects the company’s strategy of expansion, strong presence in all markets, as well as the catering to the tastes and desires of its clientele. The showroom includes a collection of all luxurious brands such as: Tissot, Balmain, Hamilton, CK, Mido and Certina, for both genders and all age groups. While Tik Tok will introduce to its customers a collection of the latest watch designs, it will also remain up to date with the latest fashion trends and creativity in the world of watches, thus fulfilling the passion of many Behbehani Group customers. The setting of the showroom will be modern, refreshing and informative; the customers will enjoy the delicious coffee and chocolates, as well as the internet connected devices that will display the latest Swiss watch models. Mr. Ali Behbehani, the president of Behbehani Group, mentioned “It gives us a great pleasure to announce the opening of our new showroom in The Avenues, Soku; and we take pride in our customer satisfaction. For this reason, in our stages of expansion and development, we work on improving our standards to present to our customers a variety of options to suit their tastes”

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RITUALS OF THE WORLD’S MOST CREATIVE

By Jessica Grose

Beethoven and Woody Allen bathed their way to genius. Dickens (and just about everyone else) walked. And you don’t want to know how Thomas Wolfe got the juices flowing. Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work shares some of the surprising work modes of history’s most creative.

The novelist Patricia Highsmith worked in bed surrounded by cigarettes, an ashtray, matches, a mug of coffee, a doughnut and a cup full of sugar. According to Mason Currey, the author of the entertaining and enlightening new book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, she also liked to have a stiff drink before she settled down to write, “to reduce her energy levels, which veered toward the manic.”

Daily Rituals chronicles the routines of genius-level artists, writers, composers, and philosophers--Beethoven, Kafka, 138

Chuck Close, and John Cheever are among those included. Their quotidian schedules tended to be as regular as they were idiosyncratic.

Even the most dissolute-seeming artists, like the painter Frances Bacon, who “lived a life of hedonistic excess, eating multiple rich meals a day, taking whatever stimulants were handy, and generally staying out later and partying harder than any of his contemporaries”--managed to keep a routine schedule of work, in his own libertine kind of way.

Here, Currey talks about the rituals that successful artists have in common, why enjoying your day job can help you with your personal output, and the importance of bathing on the creative process.

A little bit every day goes a long way.

This may be sort of obvious, but everybody in the book found some

way to carve out time [to work], either in the early morning or before drinking away the rest of the day, like Frances Bacon. In some cases, it’s not that long. Gertrude Stein would only work for 30 minutes each day. Some other writers said two to three hours every day is great, but more than that wears them out and hurts the next day’s work. But they worked at the same time every day, regardless of their other obligations.

It’s the repetition that leads you to getting into a creative state. It’s not the rituals themselves--they don’t have any particular special power--that lead you into this zone. It’s more that these artists tried to stick with the same pattern every day.

Taking regular breaks refreshes the mind.

So many behaviors in the book are ways to take a break. You can’t just work constantly on something that requires a high degree of focus and creative energy, whether it’s writing or composing or painting. No one can do it nonstop for hours on end. Taking a nap and drinking coffee were typical. Igor Stravinsky would do a headstand. Walking seems the most common, especially among composers. Composers all seemed to take a long walk every day.

So many people in the book talk about focusing on the problem or the idea in the work. When you step away and turn your mind to something else, your mind is still working on it in some way. It’s the

spaces in between the work. Philip Larkin only worked on his poetry for two hours in the evening. His brain would work out the problems during the pauses.

You don’t have to hate your day job—it can be a blessing.

The busier people were less precious--you learn to fit [your creative work] in, and you don’t have these elaborate eccentric rituals if you have children or a day job. Someone like Joseph Heller wrote Catch 22 in the evenings after work. He’d write for two or three hours a night after his job as an advertising executive doing campaigns for magazines. He was not a tortured artist. He found as much joy in his day job as writing Catch 22 at night. “I couldn’t imagine what Americans did at night when they weren’t writing novels,” Heller said. Currey also notes in Daily Rituals that even when Heller quit his day job to write full-time, he still only worked on his novels for two to three hours a day.

Some people say it’s almost like maybe they only had so many hours they could work on their art a day and they needed to get out of their heads. When you don’t have to work a day job, it’s a challenge to fill the day for some of these people. Ernest Hemingway talked about that in an interview with the Paris Review. The hard part for him was not the three or four hours he was writing in the morning. It was filling the rest of the day, that empty feeling.

Clean body, clean mind A lot of people tend to talk about bathing habits as part of their creative process. Beethoven would stand at the washstand and pace back and forth and then go back to the washstand and put water on himself.

It was an essential part of the creative build-up, but it also made him hated as a tenant and neighbor because he was splashing water everywhere. The novelist Somerset Maugham would think about the first two sentences he wanted to write while soaking in the bathtub in the morning. Woody Allen would give himself the chills so he wanted to take a hot shower.

Some people get their best thinking done in the shower.

POSTA PLUS

bazaar movie night The latest from the big screen playing in cinemas across Kuwait in May

MAN OF STEEL

AFTER EARTH

WORLD WAR Z

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Adventure Cast: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams

Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure Cast: Will Smith, Jaden Smith

Genre: Action, Drama, Horror Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos

Synopsis: A young boy, sent to Earth from a dying planet, is adopted by a couple in rural Kansas and learns that he has extraordinary powers. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind. Posing as a journalist, he uses his powers to protect his new home from an insidious evil. A Warner Bros production, Man of Steel also stars Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon and Diane Lane.

Synopsis: One thousand years after cataclysmic events

Synopsis: Max Brooks’ epic post-apocalyptic horror

forced humanity’s escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind’s new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty, when an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai’s craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon.

His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.

novel of a fictional time of global war against the undead is brought to life in this Paramount Pictures/ Plan B production. Quantum of Solace’s Marc Forster directs from a script by Changeling scribe J. Michael Straczynski. United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to decimate humanity itself.

WHITE HOUSE DOWN

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

THE INTERNSHIP

Genre: Action, Drama Cast: Channing Tatum, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi

Genre: Comedy Cast: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson

Synopsis: Capitol Policeman John Cale has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer. Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation’s government falling into chaos and time running out, it’s up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country. Features a stella cast including Jamie Foxx, James Woods and Jason Clarke.

Synopsis: In this first ever prequel to a Pixar film, take a trip back in time to when star Monsters, Inc. employees Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan were just two promising young students at Monsters University. When their heated competition to be the most fearsome in their class gets out of hand, however, they find themselves ejected from the prestigious Scare Program, and they are forced to seek the aid of their oddball friends in order to get their education back on track.

Synopsis: Wedding Crashers duo Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn reteam on this Shawn Levydirected comedy as Billy and Nick, salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital world.

Trying to prove they are not obsolete, they defy the odds by talking their way into a coveted internship at Google, along with a battalion of brilliant college students. Now they must compete with a group of the nation’s most elite, tech-savvy geniuses to prove that necessity really is the mother of re-invention.

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For more details on movie timings and the cinema nearest you, log on to www.cinescape.com.kw

pinkberry

THE REAL STARS OF ‘IRON MAN 3’

By Alyssa Rosenberg

There are many pleasures to be had from Iron Man 3, the third installment in the franchise that’s the tent pole of the Marvel Universe. Among them, particularly for those of us in the audience who are nerds but not boys, is the fact that the movie passes the Bechdel Test: the rule that assesses sexism in movies by noting whether women ever converse about something other than a man. Iron Man 3 gives its women, Gwyneth Paltrow as Tony Stark’s consigliere-girlfriend Pepper Potts, and Rebecca Hall as brilliant scientist Maya Hansen, some of its snappiest lines and best insights.

Pepper has evolved over three movies from a beleaguered assistant to the woman running Tony’s company and sharing his life as an equal. The films have veered from teen-aged fantasy into sophisticated comedy as Tony has come to recognize her value, in business and in his emotional life.

When danger strikes, the two are forced to work together, and Pepper saves Tony twice, rather than getting rescued herself. “I think in order to move things forward and keep it fresh, you can only be the damsel in distress for so long, and then it’s old,” Paltrow said prior to the movie’s release. The moments in which she shakes off the damsel cliché, donning one of Tony’s suits and later landing a killer punch on a supervillain, are among the most entertaining in the movie.

Maya, like many of the women in Tony Stark’s universe, began as a sexual conquest. Yet the beautiful scientist is also a genius who created the powerful Extremis virus that drives much of the plot. In one of the film’s best jokes, we flash back to Tony and Maya talking science before they hook up, as if discussing the regeneration of lost limbs were the most alluring kind of foreplay. When she shows up at Tony’s house 14 years later, he says, “Please don’t tell me there’s a 12-yearold kid waiting in the car.” “He’s 13,” Maya deadpans, rattling Tony, who thought he had the upper hand.

As Maya gets to know Pepper, there’s no particular anxiety between Tony’s lovers past and present. When Pepper mentions Tony’s description of Maya as a botanist, Maya replies, “What I actually am is a biological coder running a team of 40 out of a private think tank, but sure, you can call me a botanist.” Then, instead of squabbling over Tony, they talk corporate ethics, defense contracts, the purity of research versus applied science, and Wernher von Braun.

Iron Man 3’s progressive gender play is especially noteworthy when you consider the kinds of roles actresses in superhero movies usually get stuck with. Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in Thor was a wide-eyed true believer more than she was an actual scientist, and spent more time in the movie getting rescued than expanding our understanding of the universe. Captain America’s Peggy Carter got to wear a gun, but she ended up a tragedy for the hero to carry with him, rather than a long-term sparring partner.

But given the uniform dudeliness of Marvel’s films, there’s something to be said for a movie that acknowledges that while the boys are tinkering with their toys and hitting each other with big hammers, there are still ladies out there, getting things done, and without the advantage of superpowers.

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HYPOXI

bazaar around town HIS EXCELLENCY THE AMBASSADOR OF THE USA TO KUWAIT OFFICIALLY INAUGURATES MBMC’S NEW WORLD-CLASS 3S FACILITY In-line with the central pillars of the company’s long-term objectives, which are built around total customer satisfaction, Al Mulla & Behbehani Motor Co. (MBMC), the sole distributor of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Mopar in Kuwait, continues to invest heavily in its facilities to enhance customer service.

“Our latest Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram 3S (sales/service/spare parts) facility is strategically located next to the MBMC showroom in Al-Rai on the 4th Ring Road - covering a total area of 7,600sqm, it has 52 working bays and 101 customer parking bays,” said Chris Henderson, General Manger at MBMC. “It’s also the first facility in region to have a dedicated display area for the SRT brand.”

MBMC’s latest ultra-modern facility features the very latest in technology to streamline the service process, and utilises an advanced WiFi system operated by customer-centric staff that are fully trained to global manufacturer standards.

Customers are assured total peace of mind that their vehicles are receiving total quality service - MBMC’s Factory trained/ expert Mopar technicians use the latest high-tech diagnostic equipment and authentic Mopar parts, which are unique in that they are engineered and tested with the same teams that create factoryauthorised vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep® and Ram vehicles - a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide.

MBMC’s determination to deliver exceptional customer service is a key pillar of the company’s guiding principles and MBMC continues to work hard to instil the mindset that the customer is king to every one of its employees, enabling it to deliver worldclass customer service excellence and add real value to customer relationships.

Nobody knows Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles better - and nobody offers such expert service - plus, for maximum customer convenience, they have also introduced extended working hours, and are now open 7 days a week, from 7:30am to 9:00pm, Saturday to Thursday and 3:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday.

LG SETS THE BENCHMARK WITH 2013 SMART TV LINE-UP LG Plans to Lead Industry with Broader Lineup, Unique Smart TV Features and Local Apps LG Electronics (LG), the global leader and technology innovator, together with its local partner Al Babtain Electronics, recently unveiled its new range of Smart TV products in the Kuwait. With the Smart TV segment representing nearly 35% of the Electronic giant’s sales in the region, the 2013 line-up is expected to have a solid impact on customers in Kuwait. The flagship model, the 55-inch LA8600, provides more intuitive controls, enhanced user interface (UI) and advanced SmartShare feature which enables one-touch media sharing across multiple devices. A redesigned Magic Remote allows users to easily control their Smart TV with everyday voice commands or simply point to the TV screen and direct an on-screen cursor, almost like using an “air mouse”. LG has developed strategic partnerships with regional content providers to offer better quality Smart TV content as well as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. What’s more, the company plans to expand its joint efforts to offer more region-specific entertainment and live broadcasts in order to deliver the best possible Smart TV user experience to LG customers worldwide.

HOTEL MISSONI KUWAIT THINKS GREEN On April 20th Hotel Missoni Kuwait and the Commercial Real Estate Company joined forces on the beaches of the Arabian Gulf street for a beach cleanup project. More than 45 hotel employees joined in to help clean and preserve the beautiful shores of Kuwait. Covering more than a kilometre the hotel bagged a total of 32 large bags filled with plastic bags, soda cans, and plastic water bottles.

Alfio Bernardini the general manager of Hotel Missoni Kuwait also joined his team during this mission, stating “As part of our responsible business toward this community we as a hotel are willing to do this every year delivering an important message across the state of Kuwait.”

After the clean up the hotel arranged a breakfast for all the participants for a job well done.

Please check out Hotel Missoni Kuwait on www.facebook.com/hotelmissonikuwait, Instagram or Twitter @hotelmissonikuw

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HASSAN’S OPTICS LAUNCHES LATEST BAUSCH & LOMB PureVision2 for Astigmatism Hassan’s Optician co. held a reception dinner on Thursday, May 9th at Swiss Bell Hotel in Kuwait City, where it officially unveiled its latest eye health innovation of Bausch & Lomb PureVision2 for Astigmatism contact lenses to eye care practitioners and eyewear retailers. PureVision2 HD for Astigmatism lenses feature HD Optics, which provide clarity and meet the special vision correction needs of patients with astigmatism. It also incorporates Auto Align Design, a unique stabilization system optimized to deliver consistently crisp, clear vision all day, every day with excellent stability and comfort. The dinner featured an opening speech by Hassan’s Optician co., as well as a presentation by Dr. Behrouzi Homa Bausch & Lomb Middle East professional relations manager, on the innovations that went into the making of its PureVision2 for Astigmatism contact lenses and BioTrue, the brand’s flagship bio-inspired contact lens multipurpose solution. “The launch of the PureVision2 for Astigmatism contact lenses comes as a secondary stage to the launch of Bausch & Lomb’s PureVision2 Monthly replacement contact lenses, which are made from Silicone hydrogel,” said representatives of Hassan’s Optician co. during the dinner. Hassan’s Optician co. has long been considered Kuwait’s biggest optics specialist, with 40 stores located across the country, as well as locations in Oman, and a distributor license in the UAE. All of its operations are geared squarely to ensure its leadership role in the optics industry; from exceptional pre and post-sales service, exclusive collections of world-class eyewear pieces and contact lenses, and a cuttingedge laboratory in Kuwait supported by distribution hubs across the country, Hassan Optics is one of the region’s strongest specialists. Also worth noting is the company’s ISO9001:2008 certificate, which is issued to businesses that adhere strict international operating standards. This dedication to quality has been part of Hassan’s Optician co. six decades of operating excellence, whether in its modern infrastructure or its constant attention to innovation in optics, eyewear, sunglasses or cosmetic and corrective contact lenses.

‫طالبات كلية بوكسهل ينظمن مسابقة عرض األزياء األول‬ ‫نظمت طالبات كلية بوكسهل الكويت للبنات أول عرض أزياء يقام في حرم جامعي خاص برعاية كريمة من السيدة الفاضلة أشواق‬ Izonica Modeling School, La Caresse‫ وتحت رعاية العديد من الشركات‬،Degrees 52 - ‫ مدير العالقات العامة والتسويق‬، ‫المضف‬ .‫ ومصممة األزياء السيدة أنفال الطويرش‬,Salon, Astronauts Club ‫إختارت مجموعة من طالبات قسم إدارة األعمال المبادرة كمشروع دراسي خاص حيث تم تقسيم الطالبات الى ثالث مجموعات كل‬ ‫ وقد تمتع الحضور من طالبات والهيئة األكاديمية والضيوف بالعرض المميز لكل مجموعة مما‬،‫مجموعة تعاملت مع مصمم أزياء مختلف‬ .‫يحمل في طياته طابع خاص بفكرة كل مجموعة من الطالبات‬ ‫وقد علقت السيدة أرزو حراف وهي عضو هيئة التدريس بقسم إدارة األعمال والقائمة على تدريس مقرر إدارة المشاريع والمشرفة على‬ ‫ “ وأضافت‬.‫هذا المشروع “ نحن نفتخر بتخريج طالبات ال يتمتعن بكفاءات نظرية فقط وإنما بخبرات عملية تؤهلهن لمسار وظيفي متميز‬ ”‫“ مثل هذه المشاريع تتيح للطالبة فرصة للعمل بطريقة تساعد على ترسيخ األفكاراإلبداعية بطريقة أفضل‬ ‫ وإلى السيدة‬،‫كما أعربت السيدة حراف عن خالص امتنانها إلى إدارة كلية بوكسهل الكويت على دعمها المتواصل لمشاريع الطالبات‬ .‫كارول بيم العالقات العامة في الكلية على مجهودها الكبير لتحفيز الطالبات مما يدعم المسيرة التعليمية في الكلية‬

SONY INTRODUCES NEW XPERIA ZR WATERPROOF SMARTPHONE Sony Mobile Communications recently introduced the new Xperia ZR delivering the highest level of water-resistance for capturing photos and Full HD videos underwater. The Android smartphone offers leading technology and content with a 4.6” HD Reality display, 13 megapixel fast capture camera, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, and 4G LTE. Xperia ZR is precision-crafted to handle whatever life throws at it and is your perfect companion in and out of the water. In addition to its dust-resistant qualities, the waterproof phone is IP55 and IP58 compliant, so you can keep it submerged in 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. The waterproof capabilities let you shoot videos in Full HD or snap pictures underwater, capturing the sharpest visuals. Xperia ZR also features Battery STAMINA Mode, which significantly improves the standby time of your smartphone by four times or more. The solid yet comfortable styling of the Xperia ZR is matched by a choice of classic and fresh colours - black, white, pink and mint – each allowing you to express your individual style.

The Xperia ZR will launch in various global markets from Q2 2013 (availability will vary by market).

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bazaar scopes

ARIES

March 21 - April 19

TAU R U S

April 20 - May 20

GEMINI

May 21 - June 21

CANCER

During June you really need to avoid arguments with loved ones. You may be right in what you are thinking, but don’t forget to consider others as well. You will be proven right eventually anyway. Remember it is important to balance career and ambition and it is particularly important for your health this month to avoid stress. Do things that will boost your immune system and incorporate easy exercises such as yoga into your lifestyle.

June 22 - July 22

LEO

Hard work will pay off during June. It will have taken some time to get here but it will now begin to pay off and you will see some positive results. If you are in a relationship you will enter a period of romance and new adventures. Participate in events and enjoy your health which is really good at the moment. The sun is warming both body and soul, and you will feel much better. This is your month to show your creative side.

June 2013 will seem to be a bit confusing for you. Things in your personal life move on really quickly. Just as soon as you have got used to one new idea, up pops another one. Don’t be afraid to embrace change. There will be some problems which you need to deal with head on and you will amaze yourself with your excellent problem solving skills. Your friends will discover that you are a bit of a trouble shooter, and they will learn to trust you.

You are going to win a struggle this month. This will boost your independence and give you more personal and emotional freedom.

You will learn you don’t need to follow the crowd and the ideas you create within yourself work just fine. Most Cancerians are not thought of as business people but opportunities coming your way this month do deserve a second look. There are some new aspects on the horizon which can lead to a change in lifestyle and you should seize them with both hands.

July 23 - Aug 22

You will experience some family problems this month, but they will be sorted out by the end of June provided you concede to other’s wishes, for the greater good. You will enjoy spending time with friends and have a positive outlook in the second half of the month. Consider adding extra periods of rest this month, and maybe even treat yourself to some pampering. Avoid people with colds and infections as you could easily pick them up this month.

VIRGO

You might get some disturbing news from work this month, but think before you speak up about it. Think things over seriously, before taking the appropriate action. Remain emotionally strong and don’t let negative influences affect your thinking. Avoid confrontations both at home and with work colleagues. Towards the end of June you will have more energy with which you can spend more time focusing on your own interests and hobbies.

If you are not very happy with your job or your employment conditions now is a good time to look for a new challenge and spread your wings. New discoveries and new experiences perhaps in the form of a vacation close to the sea will be coming your way. You will most likely be traveling with friends and family. A new vacation experience will help you to deal with personal problems and make you feel more positive about your life and the future.

Take a look at your home life this month, and make some decisions.

There will be a strong focus on the younger members of the family and they really do need your help right now. Even if you are not their parent, your advice will be appreciated. Although work is important it will not be your main focus this month. You will learn there is more to life than hard work and striving for better status in life.

Aug 23 - Sept 22

LIBRA

Sept 23 - Oct 22

S CO R P I O

Oct 23 - Nov 21 Nov 22 - Dec 21

S A G I T TA R I U S

There is a strong focus on work in June and it will be important for you to remain professional, as this will impress others. If you are assigned a special project at work remember to use your judgment and intuition and not to follow your heart when it comes to this matter. Find new people to be part of the project as you will have much more success in combination with others than pushing ahead alone and will surprise yourself with your excellent leadership skills.

Dec 22 - Jan 19

C A P R I CO R N

Prepare to travel during June and your efforts made on your trip will mean both personal and professional recognition. However you need to be careful with money as you will feel like splashing out during this month, but will need it for the months ahead. You are thinking about organizing a special event. It is important you do your homework for this special event to make sure everything goes smoothly. A good month to give to charity which will come back to you in more ways than you think.

Jan 20 - Feb 18

A Q UA R I U S PISCES

June will be a month of reflection. You will feel a bit lonely but you will overcome this sense of solitude with the help of a particular friend or family member. Your intuition will be heightened during June 2013, and you should put this to good use. Seek new alliances and friendships and perhaps rekindle some old friendships as this could bring new business and settle some old dreams.

Feb 19 - March 20

what’s your sign?

This month you will meet some new people who will forever be a presence in your life. You will learn that you may have to modify your goals due to your present situation. Investments made some time in the past are looking good and will give you scope for movement. This is a good month for winning so you may want to enter a few competitions or even apply for a promotion at work. Be careful with what you eat as the wrong foods, or too much, can cause health problems this month. source: www.horoscopes.hubpages.com

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STARBUCKS

‫ ﻓـﺈﻧـﻪ ﻳـﻤـﻜﻦ ﺧـﺼـﺎﺋﻴﻴﻨـﺎ‬،‫إذا ﻛـﻨـﺖ ﻗـﺪ ﻋـﺎﻧـﻴـﺖ ﻣـﻦ ﺻـﺪﻣـﺔ‬ .‫ﺗـﻮﻓـﻴـﺮ اﻟـﺪﻋـﻢ ﻟﻚ ﺳـﺘـﺮداد ﻧـﻮﻋـﻴـﺔ اﻟـﺤـﻴـﺎة اﻟـﺨـﺎﺻـﺔ ﺑـﻚ‬ If you've experienced trauma, our professionals can support you in recovering your quality of life.

‫ﺍﺿﻄﺮﺍﺏ ﻣﺎ ﺑﻌﺪ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺼﺪﻣﺔ‬

Post-Traumatic Stress

‫ﺍﻟﺼﺪﻣﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻄﺒﻴﺔ‬

‫ﺻﺪﻣﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻹﻋﺘﺪﺍﺀﺍﺕ‬

Medical Trauma

Assault Trauma

‫ﺣﻮﺍﺩﺙ ﺍﻟﻌﻤﻞ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﳌﺮﻛﺒﺎﺕ‬

Motor Vehicle & Workplace Accidents

Under the supervision of USA Licensed Clinical Psychologist Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa Clinical Director Dr. Susannah J. Schuilenberg Clinical Coordinator

‫ﺍﻹﺳﺎﺀﺓ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻨﻔﺴﻴﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﻌﺎﻃﻔﻴﺔ‬ Emotional/ Psychological Abuse

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/SoorCenterQ8 @SoorCenterQ8

SOOR C

πM ∑Éæg ...IÉ«◊G ∂ŸDƒJ ÉeóæY âjƒµdÉH Ú«°ùØædG Ú«FÉ°üNC’G OGhQ When Life Hurts... There is a solution

Kuwait’s Leading Psychologists

CENTER ‫ﻳﺪﻋﻮﻛﻢ ﻣﺮﻛﺰ اﻟﺴﻮر ﻟﻠﻤﺴﺎﻫﻤﺔ‬ ‫ﻓﻲ ﺧﻴﺮ اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ ﻋﻦ ﻃﺮﻳﻖ ﺣﻤﻠﺔ اﻟﺘﺒﺮع ﺑﺎﻟﺪم‬

The Soor Center invites you to give back to the community through its Blood Donation Drive

Date: June 20, 2013 (Thursday) Time: 9 AM – 1 PM Venue: Soor Center, 10th Floor, Munther Tower, Soor Street, Kuwait City

Give someone the gift of life!

(‫ )ﺍﳋﻤﻴﺲ‬2013 ‫ ﻳﻮﻧﻴﻮ‬20 :‫ﺍﻟﺘﺎﺭﻳﺦ‬ ‫ ﻇﻬﺮﺍ ﹰ‬1 - ‫ ﺻﺒﺎﺣﺎ ﹰ‬9 :‫ﺍﻟﻮﻗﺖ‬ ،‫ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﺑﻖ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺷﺮ‬،‫ ﻣﺮﻛﺰ ﺍﻟﺴﻮﺭ‬:‫ﺍﳌﻜﺎﻥ‬ ‫ ﻣﺪﻳﻨﺔ ﺍﻟﻜﻮﻳﺖ‬،‫ ﺷﺎﺭﻉ ﺍﻟﺴﻮﺭ‬،‫ﺑﺮﺝ ﻣﻨﺬﺭ‬

!‫ﺁﻣﻨﺢ ﺃﺣﺪﻫﻢ ﻧﻌﻤﺔ ﺍﳊﻴﺎﺓ‬

TOYOTA (OBC)