Lebanese users on Facebook soon to reach 1 million

According to an article published in Byblos Bank’s issue number 193 of “Lebanon This Week“, Facebook users in Lebanon will soon reach 1 million!

As of the end of November there was a total of 968,780 users, which means 1 out of 4 Lebanese currently has a Facebook account in Lebanon! That’s pretty good given that we have the 5th slowest Internet speed in the whole universe, another proof that nothing can stand in the way of our willpower. 😛

Figures on the usage of social networking site Facebook indicate that there are 968,780 Facebook users in Lebanon at the end of November, accounting for 0.2% of worldwide users and for 4.8% of users in the Arab world. As such, Lebanon ranks in 67th place among 213 countries and in 8th place among 18 Arab countries in the number of users of the social site. Globally, Lebanon ranks ahead of Kenya, Guatemala and Bosnia & Herzegovina and comes behind Uruguay, Albania and Costa Rica. Lebanon’s number of Facebook users is lower than the global average of 2,696,998 users and the Arab average of 1,122,076 users.

The Facebook usage penetration rate in Lebanon, or the ratio of the site’s users to the total population, is 23.4%, ranking Lebanon in 83rd place globally and in third place in the Arab world. Lebanon ranks ahead of the Martinique, Costa Rica and Hungary and behind Estonia, Bulgaria and Seychelles globally; while it comes ahead of Kuwait and behind Bahrain in the Arab world.

The article also details the user age distribution, which might be of marketers’ interest.

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Excalibur Show are giving Santa a break!

Unbelievable! 😀

That’s another ad I got by e-mail from Excalibur Show! This time they’re on a mission and look pretty serious about it, they’re giving Santa a break!

But their previous e-mail looked much better, this one looks more like a lingerie ad… Shu hal sheghel!

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Bank Audi’s music bands live at Music Hall

A friend of mine who works for Bank Audi invited me to a free concert they were holding at Music Hall where two of the bank’s music bands, “Band Audi” & “Audiyyat”, were performing to promote conscientious driving along with Kunhadi.

It was impressive to see these musical among Bank Audi’s staff, they were really good! Check the 2 videos I recorded, the girl in the first video has a striking voice.

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Lebanese blogosphere weekly link roundup (2010/12/19)

15 New links for this roundup.

See you next week!

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Ahwet El Ezez to shutdown by the end of 2010

2010 is parting in a few days and it seems like it is taking away one of Gemmayze’s landmarks with it!

According to this article from The Daily Star, Ahwet El Ezez will soon shut its doors after losing a legal battle with the building owners regarding the continuation of pre-civil war rents.

The premises will now return to the building owners, who have been embroiled in legal disputes with the café for years over the continuation of pre-Civil War rents.

What will become of it now remains unknown. Building owners have assured conservationists that the site will not be demolished but speculation is rife over what will become of one of central Beirut’s last traditional cafés, with rumors circulating it will be turned into a new snazzy bar, maybe even a Starbucks or a bank branch.

Do you think it is time for us to finally accept that those small pieces of Beirut’s heritage are not meant to last forever or at least survive the real estate boom in the city?

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Lebanese recipes now on App Store

This definitely doesn’t replace our favorite Lebanese cuisine blogs, but it’s cool to see our traditional recipes available on an iPhone application!

Use this app and bring the delicious taste and richness of the Lebanese cuisine to your home – enjoy 100 of the finest Lebanese recipes and experience the flavor of the Orient. The huge variety of dishes includes among others traditional salads, starters, meat, chicken, fish and vegetarian dishes as well as famous desserts. It will allow you to prepare typical Lebanese menus and surprise your family and friends. All recipes are decorated with high quality pictures to give you an upfront idea of what you are about to cook.

You can find more info about the application here.

Via Beirut Spring

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Lord of the Wings coming to Hamra

I don’t know for how long this announcement has been there, but I didn’t see it until yesterday. Lord of the Wings will soon open in Ibrahim Abd El Aal street, near “3a Zaw2ak” cafe.

I think Hamra is very close to becoming the ultimate destination in Beirut for food lovers since it almost has all kinds of restaurants now. What is still missing there?

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The quest for the best burger in Lebanon – Smokey O’z

Everyone seems to be on the quest for the best burger in Lebanon nowadays! Especially with the rise of several new burger places, like Classic Burger Joint, Brgr Co., and few others.

Until last week, my favorite burgers were the ones I usually have at Roadster Diner and Classic Burger Joint. But that totally changed as soon as I got introduced to Smokey O’z! And I bet you’ve seen their ads on Facebook a lot lately.

I decided to give it a try after I saw the extensive talks about the “Big Bad Wolf” burger on their Facebook page. The place is located at Sassine Square Achrafiyeh, and to my surprise it turned out to be so small! It only has a bar with 6 seats where you get to see the chefs preparing your burgers and sandwiches, no tables, and it mainly relies on take out and delivery orders.

Anyway enough talking, let me show you what I had!

They first start with charbroiling a drooling half pound patty…

Ketchup, mustard, and swiss cheese…

Crispy onion straws, aged cheddar cheese, and the juicy patty, waiting for tomatoes and iceberg lettuce to complete it.

… making up the Big Bad Wolf! Accompanied by just good enough french fries.

It was a treat! I had the burger for dinner after skipping lunch that day, so I leave you to imagine how delightful it was! The overall taste was really good, juicy patty, soft fresh bun, good cheese and fresh tomatoes.

Oh and it is easily eatable regardless of how oversized it looks! I mean you will not suffer from the patty (or any other ingredient) suddenly slipping out of the bun. A definite winner for me, and totally recommended. The burger is priced at 15,000L.L, and you get fries and a soft drink for an additional 4,000L.L.

Finally, the two chefs behind satisfying my hunger that night!

So.. are you drooling already? 😛

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Lebanese blogosphere weekly link roundup (2010/12/12)

13 Links for this roundup.

See you next week!

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ABC Achrafiyeh Christmas Tree

… Yep, the same one that got Sietske into trouble when she was taking a photo of it. Fortunately no guards came to forbid me from shooting the tree though one of them saw me taking a panoramic photo using my cell phone, I believe it all depends on what gear you are using!

It’s pretty cool to see, in addition to the decoration they set up on the 3rd floor.

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