An article in ArabianBusiness.com today shared some information about Beirut City Center shopping mall which is located in Hazmieh and expected to open early in 2013.
The mall will house 200 stores including the first Carrefour hypermarket in Lebanon, in addition to 40 international restaurants, cinema theaters, and a family entertainment center. There’s no confirmation however whether IKEA will be opening there or not, and I really hope it does!
I’m not really surprised by the fact that several government websites were hacked yesterday, but rather by how much time it is taking the people in charge of these websites to save face by at least taking the websites totally offline. Up till now (10:26 AM) three out of the 4 hacked websites (general-security.gov.lb, beirut.gov.lb, and emigrants.gov.lb) are still showing the below photo, economy.gov.lb is already up again.
They probably won’t start working on the issue before finishing their foul mdammas breakfast first! You know, the usual breakfast of champions government employees.
Oh and to whoever did that, GOOD JOB!
Al-Jadeed TV showed this video footage of the crime that took place in Saida on Monday. A 22 years old Syrian guy killed Mohammad Natout by stabbing him in his money exchange shop and then escaped stealing $5,000 from the drawers. He was fortunately arrested by the security forces few hours while attempting the flee the country.
A press conference was held at ABC Achrafieh today to announce that the mall is as of today, March 1st 2012, a 100% smoke free environment except for the restaurant in Level 3 which will ban smoking on Mondays only, knowing that most of them already have a non-smoking section.
I’m not sure if the same policy will be enforced at ABC Dbayeh as well, anyway be careful next time you pull out a cigarette at ABC Achrafiyeh!
A total smoking ban at cafes and restaurant will be applied as of September 2012 by the way, and in 2 days from now (March 3rd) all kind of tobacco advertising will be illegal as well.
Photo via @ritakml
Update:
Turned out the smoking ban is effective at the indoor spaces only, so basically you can still walk around the mall with a lit cigarette in your hand. Now that doesn’t really make them a 100% smoke free environment right?
Pasta Di Casa has got to be one of the best restaurants I’ve been to over the past months, a true gem! Located at the end of Jounblat street in Clemenceau, the restaurant’s exterior doesn’t look pretty much appealing, but the inside is really nice, it has a quiet simple decoration with old family photos on the walls making it feel so cozy.
Upon receiving our order, a couple of appetizers and a main dish for each of us, were surprised by how generous their portions are, in fact 3 our of the 4 of us didn’t even finish their meals.
I personally had a half portion of lasagna and tasted a bit of one of their steaks (“coeur de filet” I think) and shrimp pasta, all of which were really really good.
A meal for two with soft drinks at Pasta Di Casa will probably cost you 50,000L.L or even less, and the place if definitely recommended.
The gasoline prices have been significantly increasing over the past few weeks, and have reached today 35,600L.L and 36,200L.L for 95-octane and 98-octane respectively.
I wonder why all politicians are silent about the matter now while a year ago Gebran Bassil and Raya El-Hassan were “competing” to cut the flaming prices by 5,000L.L!
Anyway, I hope we’re not heading towards paying 40,000L.L/20 liters anytime soon!
Alfa’s latest promotion is more like imposing a ridiculous entrance fee at a discount store. Why should people pay $1/week to benefit from a 40% discount on local calls during Sundays?!
Knowing that a minute costs $0.36 for prepaid users, you’ll be saving $0.144 for each minutes, and therefore you will have to speak a minimum of 7 minutes to cover that $1 you initially have paid ($1/$0.144=6.94), so you won’t start really saving until after you have spoken the 8th minute.
Bravo Alfa! Keep the good promotions coming!
I was passing by Hamra yesterday and noticed that Leil Nhar and Classic Burger Joint will soon be opening at the end of the main street next to Pastai.
Leil Nhar is by the way replacing Burger Nation who’s service has deteriorated drastically in the last few months!
“Worlds Alike” is a Lebanese new annual film festival that will be showcasing each year films from a country with a similar recent history to Lebanon. And in its first edition, 9 films from Ireland (listed below) will be showing at Emprire Sofil Cinema in Achrafiyeh.
Tickets will sell for 5,000L.L and you can check Metropolis’ website for more information.
Yet another Lebanese movie!
On his 36th birthday, the underachieving Youssef finds himself alienated from his friends and family for being single, penniless and with no ambition; he leaves his small town and moves to Beirut to start anew. While living out of his car, relying on both his quick wit and a bulletproof
business plan, he obsesses about becoming the greatest taxi driver in
the city.Prowling the streets at night in his impeccable 1966 Benz, he meets Jordan, a bored American pilates instructor working at a twenty four hour gym with no customers; both disillusioned with their careers and sharing a similar dissatisfaction with their personal lives, they form an unlikely bond. With his passion for telling stories of a past time, and her desire to hear them, together they cruise through the back alleys of Beirut celebrating hope, resilience, and the healing powers of storytelling.
Taxi El-Balad is coming to theaters on March 8 2012.
