A friend of mine loves to take his Wrangler on off-road trips whenever he gets the opportunity to, and from time to time goes with a group of other drivers to some area around Lebanon and all put their four wheelers to test in the field. They went to Bhamdoun last weekend and he came back with this cool video.
You can check more photos and videos from off-road trips in Lebanon on LebanonOffRoad.com
I always love to see how things are made, even the simplest ones, and so I found it cool that Executive magazine got inside the Cedars cigarettes factory located inside Lebanon’s Regie and documented in photos the process of producing that brand.
Cedars is to my knowledge the cheapest cigarettes brand in Lebanon since it’s the only local one, and is made from tobacco grown in the south of Lebanon, but is always mocked for its poor quality. Anyway, you may check the photos here.
Thanks to Michael Chaftari
Right when we got bored of the numerous articles in The New York Times and other international journals about Zaitounay Bay, Downtown Beirut and always comparing the two places to a rising phoenix, comes this slide show by Newsweek to show the real pleasures of Beirut.
Jared Moossy, a photographer and also the author of this slideshow, unusually decided to shed light on the other side of Beirut and visit areas like Basta, Bourj Hammoud, the Cornish, and the pigeons’ rock. He’s definitely not the first one to write about these places, but it’s good to let tourists be more aware of these authentic areas. I mean it’s cool to have a dinner at the Beirut marina, but trust me it’s way cooler to have some authentic Armenian food at a place like Varouj in Bourj Hammoud, which I’ll soon be posting a review about.
You may click here to check the “pleasures” chosen by Newsweek.
Looks like the hack of 4 governmental websites last month was just a warm up. A group called RYV (Raise Your Voice) hacked 16 other websites today morning and left a message asking the government to solve its self-made problems, and encouraging the people to mobilize and stand up for their demands. You can check the full list of websites here on Pastebin.
“We are RYV, short for Raise Your Voice, and we are simply a group of people who could not bear sitting in silence, watching all the crimes and injustice going on in Lebanon,” the group said.
It vowed to continue hacking the sites until the Lebanese people earn the rights they are asking for and until living standards are improved.
“We will not stop until this government’s self-made problems are solved, like the power shortage, water shortage, rise in gas prices and rise in food product prices,” the group said.
“We are RYV, expect us to break the silence, whether in the streets or on the Internet,” it said, stressing that “silence is a crime.” Source
The message of course speaks our minds (except that nobody is probably ready to mobilize), but I’m not sure how well was that message grasped by our dear politicians!
You can stay up to date with RYV’s latest news through their twitter and Facebook accounts.
I was passing by Beirut Souks last night and noticed BRGR Co will soon be opening there.
It will will be accessible from Patriarche Hoyek street, close to where Bershka, Stradivarius, and Pull & Bear are located.
An NGO called CitiAct conducted this flash mob at Hamra street on the commemoration day of the Lebanese civil war yesterday.
A couple of drivers pretended they’re fighting in the middle of the road when people around them suddenly started dropping dead, which pretty much resembles to the situation during the days of the civil war when innocent people were dying for the warlords who are now ruling the country.
Tenzekir w ma ten3ad… nshalla!
I’m surprised this news didn’t make it to any of the local websites/newspapers. I actually just read on CNN that BETA (Beirut for the Ethical Treatments of Animals) is now at risk of losing their location because their neighbors no longer want animals to surround them.
“We have villas behind us and they are suing us. They want us out,” said Hesayne. “Now we have to find a land. The problem is nobody wants to have dogs around them.”
Hesayne and her colleague Sevine Zahran have lobbied the Lebanese government to increase its animal-protection laws. Lebanon is one of a few countries not signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), making it an easy transit point for wildlife smugglers, and it has few domestic animal-protection laws. Source
With all the problems the country is currently going through, protecting animals is one of the least of people’s concern I guess.
I was driving from Tripoli to Beirut yesterday when I was surprised with a haze covering the area from Zouk all the way to Khaldeh. It was actually the first time for me to see a haze that thick on the coastline, even flights were halted for a couple of hours at Beirut airport.
Here’s a couple of photos that I found on Facebook taken by Mr. Mohamad Mashnouk around sunset. You’d think the first one was taken in Dubai.
I’ve heard of “the Armenian lady” who makes great Lahme Baajin at Zokak El Blat since ever, but I never bothered checking her bakery out until last weekend and finally knew what was I missing, a lot!
People probably call her “the Armenian lady” because there isn’t lot of Armenian shops in western Beirut, while her bakery is in fact called “Ichkhanian” (by the family name of her late husband) and has been operating since before the civil war.
The Lahme Baajin you’ll find there are just awesome and could be the best in Beirut, the dough is so thin and the meat has a unique taste especially if you ask for the extra spicy mix. Perfect for a quick bite anytime a day.
The bakery also caters Manti, Shish Barak, and Borek at relatively reasonable prices, and I heard they’re great as well.
One thing you should be aware of is the bad temper that Mrs. Ichkhanian sometimes shows, she’s actually a very nice lady but for some reason seems furious all the time. Still, the food is totally worth it.
Here’s a map showing where the bakery is exactly located and how you can reach it.
The Lebanese wine seems to be gaining a good popularity in the world because of its fine and unique taste. I recall reading several articles in world newspapers and magazines about the numerous vineyards we have in the north and Bekaa, and here’s one of the latest articles published in The New York Times about Chateau Musar.
The one consistent thing about the wines is how inconsistent they are, as Mr. Hochar might say. Each vintage is profoundly individual, partly, no doubt, because wine from Lebanon, one of the oldest wine regions in the world, is so unusual, and partly because Mr. Hochar makes so little use of modern winemaking techniques, which might serve to file away Musar’s distinctive edges.
“The dimension of taste in Lebanon is different than anywhere else,” he said. “Not better, but different. Better has no meaning.”
In a world full of wines trying to be the best, many people find it refreshing to see a wine simply trying to be itself. Source
