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Archive for the tag “event”

30 Jul 2012

National Gaming Union: Diversity, Adrenalin, and a Whole Lot of Competition!

When I was growing up I was one of those kids that was all but glued to a video game controller. Really, I went through pretty much every generation of video game play up until I was in my late teens. Sega, PlayStation, X-Box–you name it, I had it.

And, while I’m not nearly the game player that I used to be, I’m still very much a game lover. I appreciate the art form of game design; I enjoy sharing in the adrenaline rush of watching a well-played game; and, most importantly, I love being a part of what is largely considered something of a geeky boys club (Hello! Feminist!).

So, I was definitely all kinds of stoked when I was contacted by the National Gaming Union to come check out what is perhaps the biggest gaming competition to ever hit Kuwait.

Now, as far as I know, this is the first gamers union of its kind to ever form in Kuwait. And, considering the sheer mass of avid gamers and game lovers which this country holds, I have to say its about freaking time. To acknowledge, celebrate, and bring together a community which has, up until this point, never been given any kind of official voice or platform to express itself is a beautiful thing.

For someone to put in the effort in order to not only unite this growing and wanting community, but to celebrate it is also quite the accomplishment. The National Gaming Union has taken the connotation of gaming from something frivolous and childish to something that bands all kinds of people together under a common, well-loved hobby (some would even say sport). And that ain’t small potatoes.

Now, as for the competition itself, I can think of one word to sum it up: BIG. 

Seriously, the thing was a freaking production. Held at The Live Theater in Discovery Mall (which, as you all know, I’ve had a so-so experience with), the circular set-up of the venue made it feel like I was attending the gamer version of The Thunder Dome. With all eyes set on the stage at which sits the huge–HUGE!–screen projecting the games as the different contestants battled it out at their own stations (I wanna say “play stations” but…), the place was definitely set-up to keep the crowd fully tuned in to the action.

The way the competition works is a group of gamers battle it out over two elimination rounds, playing a separate set of games every Friday. The competition I attended was for Street Fighter and Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom. And, basically, if you come out the victor of either one of those, then you shall be henceforth known as Kuwait’s Street Fighter Champion (for example). Oh, and you also get A TON of seriously awesome loot from the NGU and the event sponsors. Plus, a shirt that says ‘Kuwait’s Baddest Dude.’

Now, as far as my personal experience went it was kind of a mixed bag.

For the most part, I enjoyed the hell out of the night. The entire room was just pulsating with energy and definitely kept everyone in a very pumped up kind of mood. The MCs of the night gave the event a very Fight Club tone and pace which only helped magnify the crowds excitement and thrill. As everyone nestled into their white lounge sofa, encircling the stage, and cheering on wildly with every winning K.O., the atmosphere of the whole event definitely did not disappoint.

One of the things I appreciated the most was the way that the founder of the National Gaming Union, Ahmad Al-Ateeqi, kept a very hands-on approach throughout the whole night. He was interacting with the audience, MC-ing, checking in on the contestants, and contributed to keeping everyone on their feet throughout the night.

Another thing I loved? The diversity of the people that this event brought together. There were children, people with special needs, folks from Saudi Arabia and the UAE–all joining in the competition with the rest of the Kuwaiti community! Seeing this collective love for gaming bring such a diverse pool of great people together was a wonderful thing!

If I had to list a few qualms about the night, I’d say the organization of the event itself could’ve used a little work. The event was supposed to start at 10 PM but actually ended up starting a whole hour later. Now, I get that opening nights are hectic and all but an entire hour is beyond that excuse. Also, at times it became a little difficult to follow who was playing what and against who, which kind of hindered the flow of the night on occasion. Again, I’m going to chalk this one up to first night kinks and I’m guessing they’ve now got a solid system down for the coming Fridays.

The one other personal disappointment I had (which has nothing to do with the NGU itself) was the fact that there were about zero women attending! C’MON LADIES. I know that you exist! I’ve met a number of women in Kuwait who have a real interest in gaming and can actually kick major hiney! Where were they?! The fact that there were nearly a negative number of women that showed up makes it look like all women in Kuwait care about are pretty, frilly, pink stuff.

Not cool, ladies. Not cool.

I’d like to thank Ahmad Al-Ateeqi and the whole NGU team for inviting me to this one of a kind event and for pulling off such a great effort for the sake of Kuwait’s gaming community. It was honestly a blast attending this energized celebration of all that is worthwhile about the gaming world: diversity, adrenalin, and a whole lot of competition!

Be sure to check out the National Gaming Union on Twitter or Instagram @N_GamingUnion, and stop by at the upcoming competitions this coming Friday and the next at The Live Theater in Discovery Mall. Viewers get in for free (awesome, yes?), competitors are 5KD each.

All my love!

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Posted in Beautiful, Kuwait, News and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
03 Jul 2012
4 Comments

Zain Celebrates Social Media Day (And I Master the Art of the Middle Eastern Greeting)

You know that feeling you have when you know you’re surrounded by people who EVERYONE knows while you might as well have the words “Who the Who?” tattooed on your forehead?

That feeling of happy anticipation tinged with a bit of shy apprehension because you want to get to know everyone and be the cool cat that just schmoozes into one fabulous conversation and out of the next, but you know that’s just not you.

This was kind of the feeling I had as I stepped into the Sky Lounge on the 55th floor of Al-Hamra Tower (oh yes, my friends), about 10 minutes before everything was supposed to start. Thankfully,  I immediately spotted a few familiar faces and was greeted by some lovely bloggers so I settled in quite nicely. And as more and more people started filing in, I recognized even more wonderful faces from Project X and immediately the whole atmosphere started to get more chill and laid-back.

Now, really, I’m not much of schmoozer or a social butterfly. I mean, I love to meet people but my awkward shyness sometimes tramples my attempts at actually making any introductory moves. Even worse, I’ve been told I can come off as unfriendly because of the fact that I’m so painfully shy. (Side note: I’m really not. I just have a problem with sparking new conversations.)

But, thankfully, everyone at the event was super duper nice and I ended up meeting and chatting with a whole lot of great people both within the blogging world and the social media biz as a whole. In fact, I got to meet and greet such a crazy number of fantastic ladies and gents that I have now mastered the art of the Middle Eastern female greeting.

As a rule, I usually do the whole one peck per cheek pattern and that’s usually enough, but I found myself pulled in so many awkward directions that, by the end of the night, I had a system down.

It goes peck, switch cheek, peck, and peck again. Done.

I found this pattern pretty full-proof and didn’t allow for a whole lot of awkward push and pull. Any lady who’s ever found herself mingling in a group of other ladies in an Arab country, knows what an uncomfortable moment this can be, but trust me this pattern totally works in any Arab socialization situation. You’re welcome.

But, hey, you want “coverage,” yes? Then coverage you shall have!

The night was kicked off by the ever energetic, charismatic, fully seasoned Man of The World, Omar Al-Othman of Omarker (and everything else) fame. He acted as the emcee for the event and did quite a good job at it as he kept the momentum of the night flowing with his very impromptu and approachable style.

Now, throughout the night, various speakers were brought up to talk to us about a certain experience or issue going on right now within Kuwait’s social media machine. The speakers varied from entrepreneurs, artists, comedians, and social media gurus. Most of the speakers had some very interesting ideas and entertaining anecdotes to share but, to me, the stand out speakers were Fatima Al-Othman and Mohammad Al-Muhaini.

As some of you may remember, I went completely bonkers when I found out about Fatima Al-Othman’s stolen F2O designs, so it was definitely great to see her stand up there and express the way in which members of the social media machine, like myself and other bloggers, have helped her build a real case against these people and have also helped her in her noble fight to stop such acts of property theft from happening in Kuwait again.

I also especially liked Mohammad Al-Muhaini’s speech because, as a member of Zain’s social media team, he gave a wonderfully detailed description on the amount of work and effort that it took to pull this great event off and made some really hilarious comments on the nature of Kuwait’s social media experience and the nature of working within this field. Seeing how decadent and organized the event itself actually was, I definitely had a real appreciation for the amount of time and creativity that this team put into making it so fabulous.

After all the ‘Tales from Social Media Land’ were done, the night was rounded off with a stand up comedy set by the local Kuwaiti v-logging trio, “Shino Ya3nee?” (or “So What?”). They got a lot of laughs from the crowd and provided a good set-up for a relaxed, feel-good close to the event. Personally, most of their humor wasn’t exactly my kind of humor because I’m more a fan of simple, anecdotal punchlines as opposed to loud, slapstick, slightly over embellished humor. But, still, I did laugh a few times here and there at their awesome integration of beat-box skills and their crazy physical gestures.

In a pinch, the night was quite memorable. Mostly because I got to meet and greet so many significant figures within Kuwait’s social media bubble. And while I didn’t get to speak to everyone I was hoping to because I stuck to the same corner of the room for the majority of the time (hey, Elizabeth Taylor made this a freaking art form!), it was still quite wonderful getting to know all the people that I did.

I’ve got to thank Zain’s Social Media team for being gracious enough to invite this tiny little blog to this huge, truly fantastic event. I got to meet so many people that are worth knowing and that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise. I got to hear some great stories from some really inspirational figures. I got to eat, laugh, and relax in a classy, beautiful setting at the highest point in Kuwait City.

And I got to master the art of the Middle Eastern greeting.

All my love! (And, yes, I’m aware that I don’t have a whole lot of pictures. I’m sure if you step on over to any of the other awesome blogs that did attend you’ll get your share of eye candy)

Posted in Blogosphere, Kuwait, News and tagged , , , , , ,
11 Jun 2012
5 Comments

Project X Preliminaries: Fruits, Cheeses, Banana Leafs… and Creativity Abound!

So here it is: The culmination of endless hours of sleepless work, frantic grocery shopping, and tireless phone calls. Project X.

And, my God, was it amazing. Seeing the level of organization, of originality, and full-on fun that everyone was having is a true testament to the work ethic of everyone who put this insanely awesome event together.

It went off without a hitch; like a well-oiled machine; and pretty much every other saying for “hard work that looked easy.”

So, before I actually go into the event itself and provide you with the literally juicy details, I’ve just go to say this first: Bravo! And thank you. Seriously, the team behind this event deserve statues built in their honor. Basma, Ahmed, Victor, and Olga are ‘The Dream Team.’ They deserve everyone’s gratitude. For real.

Now, as for the actual cooking bonanza itself, I have to be honest and say it like it is: I did not have any particularly high expectations. Not that I thought the bloggers were poisonously bad cooks or that they weren’t capable of boiling an egg. I just didn’t expect to see anything stunning or really all that interesting.

And, well, I stand corrected.

I swear, almost every dish that I came across was a creation in its own right. The level of innovation, thought, and strong ability that a good handful of bloggers showed in the preparation, presentation, and overall concept of their dishes was a wonderful surprise for me to observe. Every single blogger who competed in Project X should, no matter what, be very proud indeed.

So, as you’ve probably already read on most of the contestant’s blogs, the bloggers who were lined up for the day one preliminary had to make a dish which could somehow incorporate the first secret ingredient: MANGO! There were salads, there was chicken, and their was pasta. Yes, mango was incorporated into every single one of those. And, yes, its as inspired as it sounds.

By the time the second round arrived, I, unfortunately, had to bolt (damn you, real life!). But, based on what I’ve heard and seen from other bloggers, it looks like second batch of mystery/joker ingredients–BLUE CHEESE AND HONEY!– were game changers. There was shrimp, there was mushroom, and their was dessert. Again: as inspired as it sounds.

After each round, the judges gave their opinion on each dish to the teams then had a little private pow-wow of their own to discuss what they thought of everyone’s dish in a broader sense. This was repeated in the second round as well.

Now, naturally, the judges were a little more thrilled with some dishes than they were with others but I think that, on the whole, they did a pretty good job of surveying all the necessary criteria and giving honest, helpful feedback.

The victors of the first preliminary cook-off were the following:

  • Moody (of the awesome Moody ‘N’ Cheeky duo) & one of the Triple Sisters (Je3da, I believe)
  • The other two Triple Sisters (Lil Teacher and Photographer)
  • FroyoNation & The Side Talk

The other teams that participated but did not luck out with a qualifying win were:

  • Jacqui & Swera
  • Fried Junk & 7abitain Blog
  • The fellas from ChapterQ8

AND ONTO DAY TWO!

In the same order as the first preliminary, everyone started to file in at around 3 PM, putting on their aprons and taking a glance or two at the pantry or the work stations. Once everyone, including the judges, had arrived and settled in, we were off and the first mystery ingredient was revealed: AVOCADO! The first thought I had was guacamole dip or sauce. It just seemed like the easiest, most obvious choice, but I was all kinds of surprised to see some people going in a completely different direction.

Sure, there was guacamole dip. But there was also avocado chicken, avocado mushrooms, and avocado shrimp to name a few. Clearly, most of the bloggers did not care about playing it safe and wanted to push the limit of their creativity here. As I was running around the kitchen area, frantically rushing to help out wherever I was needed, I have to tell you that watching the process through which some of these crazy yet awesome dishes were created was a total thrill.

In the second round, the competitors anxiously awaited the second mystery ingredient, as well as the “joker” ingredient to be revealed: BACON AND NUTELLA! Now, how any of them were able to pull a rabbit out of that hat and actually create something edible with these two things is seriously beyond me. I racked my brains thinking about how I would find a way to incorporate the two ingredients without suppressing the urge to barf AND I GOT NOTHING.

So, seeing some of the amazingly creative dishes that were presented was nothing if not stunning! Nutella wantons wrapped in bacon? Sure! Bacon-Nutella crepes? Of course! Bacon-Nutella burger, lettuce wraps? Well, DUH.

And that’s only the half of it. Seriously, pretty much every single dish that was being brought up in this round blew my mind in one way or another! Regardless of whether or not the ideas worked, they were some of the bravest culinary attempts I have ever seen.

Now, once again, the judges gave their candidly humorous and fair opinion of what they thought of each dish to the respective teams, then they had their own little roundtable talk on the side. And, I have to say, the judges were really quite good sports. They were truly patient and caring enough to endure some seriously spicy salads, salty shrimp, and raw dough. They had a humorous, constructive approach which put everyone at ease and didn’t dredge up any kind of tension.

In the second preliminary the three qualifying teams were made up of:

  • The El-Derwaza team
  • His&Hers
  • The Triple F & UrbanQ8

The teams that just missed the cut were:

  • Q8Rain & Dudette (from 7ajidude)
  • Our Family Nest
  • Danderma & PinkGirlQ8

Of course, as the saying goes, everyone’s a winner. Regardless of whether or not they had actually moved on to the final round, everyone was treated with an enormous amount of loot from the sponsors of the event and left the place with huge smiles on their faces.

I personally can’t express enough how much I enjoyed meeting (or re-meeting) all these awesome bloggers and how much fun it was to help out the creative force of nature that is Basma, Ahmed, and the Chef Boutique gang. Working with these guys and being a part of this amazingly inspired and one-of-a-kind event was a complete pleasure and I honestly can’t wait for next weekend to roll around so that I can be a part of it all over again!

Here are a few pictures of the assorted dishes the bloggers came up with in both preliminaries. They were taken with my iPhone so I doubt they’re going to show up in Epicurious any time soon.

Posted in Blogosphere, Food, Kuwait and tagged , , , , , , ,
27 May 2012
10 Comments

Welcome to Project X! We’ve got Blenders, Slicers, and Tibetan Bells!

So, I’ve been keeping from posting about this little shin-dig because, well, I still wasn’t entirely sure what my part in it was and I really didn’t want to jump the gun and say something that I wasn’t sure about.

But, after attending yesterday’s little orientation gathering (in which I met a handful of awesome, big-time Kuwaiti bloggers) I can say with a good degree of certainty that I am officially psyched. And now I can tell you all about it.

Now, I know a good number of Kuwaiti bloggers have already discussed this event and what it’s about so I’ll just give you the cliff notes version. Project X is an amateur, blogger-exclusive cooking competition held by Chef Boutique. A group comprising of some of Kuwait’s biggest and most exciting bloggers will be competing head to head in six groups of two over preliminary rounds and a final round trying to come up with the most delicious dishes based on whatever challenge those crafty judges throw at them.

They will have to deal with wild cards, surprise ingredients, and all other kinds of insanely crazy but equally fun curve balls. And also there are Tibetan bells involved which, if you ask me, can only guarantee a strapping good time.

Based on the group of bloggers I’ve met yesterday it looks like the line up of contestants will be made up of Danderma, Dudette from 7ajiDude, Q8Rain, PinkGirlQ8, ChapterQ8, The Side Talk, the fellas from ElDerwaza, The Triple F, Our Family Nest, Triple Sisters, and 3ateeja. This is what I understood from the bloggers I met yesterday but I’m not sure if there are more participating. If I’m missing anyone else please let me know.

(edit: Also, local blogging lovelies Swera from Crazy Yet Wise, Jacqui from Couch Avenue, D from FroYo Nation, and the awesome married couple behind His & Hers are competing)

Obviously, I’m not on that list. This is because I will not be competing. I will be assisting the brilliant team behind this fantastic event, headed by the uber-awesome Basma from 13 Cups (who, by the way, can run the show with a dislocated shoulder). And after meeting these wonderful people yesterday and seeing how much work and effort they’ve put into making this event as fun and original as possible, I am beyond excited and totally honored to be a part of it.

Now, the judges will be made up of the following cooking/eating giants:

  • Basil Al-Salem (of Slider Station, Cocoa Room, and OFK genius)
  • Fahad Al-Yehya (a.k.a THE NINJA)
  • Jumana Al-Othman (of Breakfast & Brunch yumminess)
  • From Chef Boutique, Chef Mongkon
  • Kuwaiti chef extraordinaire, Ziad Al-Obaid

The level of my enthusiasm to be a part of this event which is, as far as I know, the first of it’s kind in Kuwait, is beyond measure. I can’t wait to get started and to see what all these bloggers can do with the slightly evil challenges they’ve got waiting for them. I have to thank the beautiful Basma for being so gracious to me and for incorporating me and this humble blog in this huge event. Also have to thank Ahmad Al-Hendi, Victor, Olga, and every one else on the team for, well, just being so darn fantastic.

All my love!

Posted in Blogosphere, Food, Kuwait, News and tagged , , , , , ,

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