Tag Archives | Lebanon

Sawfar after last week’s storm

I took these photos in Sawfar last Sunday, I’ve never seen that much snow in the area before!

One good thing I noticed while driving is how better the road has become if you’re coming from Hazmieh, it used to be a living hell with the all the works that have been ongoing for more than a year now to widen the road. I guess a good part of the project is now done and the road condition became much better with separators at certain areas to keep the drivers in opposite direction from jumping to your lanes.

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Snow in Faraya covering the chairlifts

That’s how much snow there is Faraya righ now, the chairlifts are all covered!

I remember the people responsible for the pistes were struggling in the past couple of years to bring more snow into the tracks so people can actually ski, now they sure have to take lot of snow so that at least the chairlifts can operate! Anyway, one thing is for sure, the season is definitely going to last till early in May I believe!

Photos via Mzaar Ski Resorts FB page. Thanks to @peter_khayat.

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Beirut City Center

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!

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Video footage of money changer stabbed in Saida

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.

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Where are the gasoline prices going?

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!

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Alfa Sunday promotion

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!

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Irish film week at Empire Sofil

“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.

  • The Butcher Boy by Neil Jordn – February 29th at 8PM
  • Borstal Boy by Peter Sheridan – March 1st at 6PM
  • Hunger by Steve McQueen – March 1st at 8:30PM
  • The Pipe by Risteard O’Domhnaill – March 2nd at 6PM
  • Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey by Lelia Doolan – March 2nd at 8:30PM
  • Angel by Neil Jordan – March 3rd at 6PM
  • Bloody Sunday by Paul Greengrass – March 3rd at 8:30PM
  • The Secret of Kells by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey – March 4th at 6PM
  • Breakfast on Pluto by Neil Jordan – March 4th at 8:30PM

Tickets will sell for 5,000L.L and you can check Metropolis’ website for more information.

 

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Taxi El-Balad

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.

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Underground parking space at Martyrs Square

According to this article in The Daily Star today,the municipality of Beirut is planning to start constructing an underground parking (with a capacity of 2,000  cars) at the Martyrs square by the end of 2012, to “improve” the appearance of the downtown area. And a garden will later be created in the square once the project is done.

“Work will start before the end of this year. Once finished, the parking space will accommodate between 1,500 and 2,000 cars,” Hamad said, adding that a Build, Operate and Transfer contract would be signed by the company selected to carry out the project. Under the BOT contract, a company will build and operate the facility – earning revenue – before the municipality assumes ownership. Source

There’s no reference however to what’s going to happen to the current parking spaces around the Martyrs square, Solidere might be planning to build some new towers there?

The article also mentions a similar project in Ain El-Mrayseh where a parking space with a capacity of 680 cars is set to be built, in addition to a 7,000 square meters produce market between Tayyouneh and Shatila.

Photo via Stefania Facco

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Horsh Beirut

You probably have seen this at several places in Beirut “ليش حرش بيروت مسكر؟” (Why is Beirut park closed?) among other stencils as well, which appear to be part of a campaign to open Beirut park to the public.

You might be surprised, but I’m actually with keeping people away from this park until they really deserve it. I mean look at all the public spaces in Beirut, are we treating them good? The corniche at Ain El-Mrayseh for example looks like one big shisha cafe now! Young boys come in their 1990 BMW and Golf cars, turn up their radios to Ali El-Deek songs, set their shishas, and start dancing Dabke! Wala anawran min heik.

The possibilities are endless with what they may do to Horsh Beirut. Littering? BBQ parties on weekends? Ripping out the plants?

So until we learn how to treat our public spaces really good, keep Horsh Beirut closed please!

 

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