Tag Archives | jordan

Lebanese Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya to Direct Netflix First Arabic Original Series

Netflix recently announced it is launching its first Arabic original series titled “Jinn”, which will be directed by Lebanese Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya (best known for Very Big Shot) and written by Jordanian Bassed Ghandour who scripted the Oscar-nominated Theeb.

Fortunately for us, Jinn is neither a Lebanese drama nor Bab El Hara kind of series. On the other hand, it is supernatural thriller that tell the story of teenagers who discover a genie (Jinn in Arabic) in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra.

Filming should start towards the end of the year with a cast from several countries around the Middle East and it should be available for streaming somewhere around 2019. You can read more details about it here.

0

8 Reasons to avoid Lebanon this summer

live-love-beirut

I’ve been following the #LiveLoveLebanon campaign lately, and I really respect the effort the people behind it are putting to let the tourism industry flourish again. But let’s be honest for a second, would you really recommend Lebanon as touristic destination to a foreign friend of yours?

I mean I know we’ve got some cool places, but the touristic experience Lebanon offers definitely doesn’t come anywhere near the ones offered by several countries around us like Turkey, Dubai, Cyprus and Jordan maybe.

So just in case you were saving money for a summer vacation in Lebanon, here are 8 reasons why you should go spend it somewhere else.

1. Bad infrastructure

Commuting inside the main cities is guaranteed to get you stuck in traffic for hours, and planning long trips will cost you an an arm and a leg due to our bad public transportation system. Meanwhile, other countries have metro networks to make your life much easier!

And talking about bad infrastructure, you should probably know we still suffer from power outages here.

2. Expensive beach resorts

What’s summer vacation without beach? You probably have been to other countries and are used to the fact that beach is for everyone, but that’s not valid here in Lebanon. Access to beach resorts costs $30-35 / person. And don’t you dare to order a sandwich from their local restaurant, the bill will most probably knock you out.

On the other hand, nearby destinations have gorgeous public beaches where you can get your own food and snacks!

People may now argue that public beaches DO exist here in Lebanon. But the question is, are they advertised to tourists?

3. How the hell do I get there?!

Ok, we get it, Balou’ Bala and Nahr Ibrahim among many other places are pretty cool. But how the hell can one reach them?! It is true that we have some hidden gems around the country, but well they’re just… very well hidden!

Unless you know someone here who knows his way around very well, you will most probably just stick to the main boring attractions. (e.g Zaitunay Bay, Hamra, Malls, etc…)

4. Overpriced restaurants and clubs

The trend for restaurants nowadays is claiming to use premium Angus beef to justify the inflated prices on their menus. Wait until they hear about the Kobe beef!

I truly believe we pay a lot of money here in Lebanon for mediocre service and food quality. On the contrary, and trust me on this, you get much better dining experiences in Dubai and Istanbul for less money.

5. Angry people everywhere

Most of the people here seem to be constantly frustrated or upset at something! We always have something to whine about. We whine about electricity, internet, politicians, traffic, world cup broadcasting rights, and then we take it all on each others when driving!

People elsewhere are happier because unlike us they don’t need to worry about basics like water and electricity, and therefore you don’t get depressed everytime you look at them!

6. No, you’re not scoring tonight

So you’re coming from one of the gulf region where Lebanese girls have the reputation of being so easy and you’re expecting to get laid with every chick you meet, right? NOT REALLY! Beirut is not the sin city you think it is, and it isn’t really easy to get laid around here.

If sex tourism is your thing, spare yourself the time and just book a trip to Pattaya, the mother of all sin cities!

7. Safety first

How the hell do you plan a trip to a country where explosions occur randomly?! And even if these explosions are thought to be limited to certain areas, WHY TAKE THE RISK?!

8. Organized chaos

Lebanon is nothing but a state of organized chaos. We cut off each others when waiting in line, we hate to stop on red signs, we let the valet parking people rule our streets, we block roads for no reason, and yet for god knows why we just love how things go around here!

For all of the above, just go put your money somewhere else and don’t let anyone fool you with talks about how good the nighlife here is, we indeed have an interesting nightlife scene, but it’s definitely not worth it. Lebanon is seriously so overrated as a touristic destination.

And finally, you as a Lebanese better stop wasting money on expensive restaurants, clubs and resorts, and I guarantee in a few months you will save enough money to go on a trip or two to some really cool places!!

58

Alexa as viewed from space

The Washington Post posted some photos that were taken yesterday by NASA of the snowstorm Alexa that hit the region last week.

MiddleEast_tmo_2013349

The white areas on the land are all snow, another wider photo shows that even a northern area of Saudi Arabia got a little bit of snow.

MiddleEast_tmo_2013349_lrg

On a side note, the author of the article might have to consider educating himself a bit more about the middle east as he thinks “it is quite something” to see snow around here and our neighbors!

 NASA’s Earth Observatory has posted a photo of the storm taken from space. It was taken Dec. 15, after the storm had passed and the skies had cleared; the white areas on the land are snow, not clouds. It’s quite something to see the snow across Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

1

Angelina Jolie in Lebanon

You probably have heard about Angelina Jolie’s visit to Jordan yesterday to meet with the Syrian refugees who are currently living on Jordan-Syria border in order to help focus international attention on them and possibly attract more funding to help them (more here). It turned out that her plans also include visiting the refugees in Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq during the rest of her trip to the region.

Unfortunately no photos/videos have yet surfaced of her visit to the refugees here. The below 2 photos however are of Jolie at the Grand Serail in Beirut as she was addressing the journalists.

Thanks to both of @maytham11 & @ivysblog

Update:

At the Grand Serail.

And here are some photos of her with the refugees in Bekaa.

2

What if president Sleiman was wrong?

Back in 1994, Youssef Shaaban was convicted for shooting a Jordanian diplomat in Beirut and got life sentence in prison.

In 2002, a court in Jordan found that others were responsible for the murder and convicted them! So logically speaking, Youssef Shaaban turned out to be innocent, however it was impossible to release him since the issued rulings could be overturned unless by a presidential pardon.

Three days ago, president Michael Sleiman pardoned Youssef Shaaban and he was granted freedom yesterday in Beirut.

That was in brief the story of Youssef Shaaban.

I have seen in the media how everyone was giving credits to the president for pardoning him, but I was thinking what if Youssef Shaabad was really the one behind killing the diplomat?

In a special episode of Kalam El-Nas with Marcel Ghanem last night, Shaaban himself admitted that he played a “role” in the Lebanese civil war in addition to being a member in Hamas. Remember that the reason behind the assassination of the Jordanian diplomat was because Jordan and Israel were in negtiations to sign a peace treaty, that’s a good motive for Hamas to commit the crime no?

In addition, those who are supposed to be the real murderers were executed in Jordan, and god knows how did the Jordanian police (maybe) made them admit they were responsible for the assassination. Now how can you assure that Youssef Shaaban is innocent? The Lebanese judicial council made a mistake by convicting Shaaban, so how can you assume the Jordanian rulings were flawless?

To me the crime is still a mistery. Think of it, the guy might really be the one behind the assassination.

5

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes