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A Lebanese Blog

Category: Lebanon

  • Terrible traffic at Ouzai this morning

    ouzai traffic jam

    Earlier this month, minister Marwan Charbel imposed a new traffic plan on truck drivers to keep them from driving during rush hours in order to reduce congestion on the main roads.

    The drivers eventually didn’t like this plan, so they started complaining about it in the media until they decided to go on a protest today. And being the geniuses they are, they didn’t do that in front of the ministry of interior or any other reasonable place, on the other hand, they simply decided to block the Ouzai highway which is used by thousands everyday to reach Beirut, which made people wait for like an hour or two in their cars this morning! I know because I was one of them.

    Police officers were as usual just watching the protestors, and not daring to speak a word with them, while trying to organize the traffic a bit.

    Balad mat3oub 3leih!

  • PureGray at Le Gray Beirut among the top 10 spas in the middle east

    gal.pure.gray.jpg_-1_-1

    According to this article in CNN Arabic today, PureGray Health Club at Le Gray Beirut is among the top 10 spas in the middle east along with the following places:

    1. Six Senses at Missoni Hotel in Kuwait
    2. Hello Kitty in Dubai
    3. Eternal Med Spa in Dubai
    4. Six Senses in Oman
    5. Biolite in Dubai
    6. Anantara in Dubai
    7. Banyan Tree Al Wadi in Ras El Khaimah
    8. Evason Ma’In Hot Springs in Jordan
    9. Asswan Spa at Burj El Arab in Dubai

    I’ve never been to PureGray before but have always read positive feedback about it online. On the other hand, I’ve been to one of the Banyan Tree hotels when I was in Thailand back in 2011 and their service is truly impeccable.

    Thank to Philippe Abou Zeid for the link

  • Tarboush price increased to 500 L.L

    gandour tarboush price tag

    I never believed that the price of Gandour’s Tarboush has increased from 250L.L to 500L.L until I saw it at one of the supermarkets a few days ago.

    This was a bit hard to believe since Gandour are best known for fixing their products prices at 250L.L each for more than 20 years now, but I think the increase is totally justified since the cost of raw material have been increasing over the years too, so it would only make sense for Gandour to do as others do and increase their prices as well.

    However, and while people might keep buying Tarboush despite the price increase, I highly doubt their other products will keep selling if they increased their prices too. I mean let’s be honest, Gandour doesn’t produce the finest products, and at 500L.L, people and especially kids will have a lot of alternatives to choose from. Think about Unica at 500L.L for example, wouldn’t you prefer to get a Nouba mini bar instead of it?

  • Short documentary of 1983 Beirut marine barracks bombing

    On a day like this 30 years ago, a suicide bomber in a hijacked truck managed to bypass the barriers around the barracks and smashed right into the lobby of the main building before detonating his explosives.

    The explosion was so big that it collapsed the building into rubble and killed 305 servicemen.

    The video above is a short documentary told by two marine veterans who were serving in Beirut at that time, with footage and photos of the bombing.

  • Lebanese couple marries on Skype

    skype marriage

    I just stumbled upon this article from Annahar today about a Lebanese couple from Tyre who got married on Skype since the bride, Hawraa Said, lives here in Lebanon while the groom, Assaad Fakhoury, is in the US. Check all about it here.

    Technology for the win!!

  • Satanists around the world better hide themselves now

    elias-murr

    The news is everywhere, former deputy prime minister Elias El Murr has been appointed the head of INTERPOL for a seven-year term.

    My thoughts are now all with the Satan worshipers (AKA heavy metal fans) around the world!

    If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just check the below two news articles from 2003.

    Forget Iraq and the looming war. Lebanon has its own battle to fight against worshippers of the devil, drawing the youth into immoral conduct and threatening the country’s image abroad.
    After weeks of playing down reports of a surge in this phenomenon, Interior Minister Elias Murr and State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum have admitted on television that they are fighting to dismantle satanic cults that have sprung up in the country, but insisted that their numbers were “not big.”

    They also denied rumors that had spread that members of Satanic cults were going around killing teenagers, or that some had committed suicide.

    Murr said Internal Security Forces had been monitoring the abnormal behavior of some youth, and traced them to cemeteries, where they would hold their parties. But this partying developed into graveside orgies under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Source

    *****************

    Three Lebanese university students with images of a dragon, a skull and a fire blaze tattooed on their bellies, are under arrest on a charge of being devil worshippers. Two others, a man and a woman, were released on bail.
    A published police communiqué on Friday withheld the full identity of the suspects, mentioning only their first names and initials of the family names as Danny G, Antoine K and Tewfic Q.

    Their homes were raided in Ashrafieh and Jdeideh, where human skeletons symbolizing the devil were found in their apartments, said a communiqué published Friday. They were arrested and referred to State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum’s office. Source

    Update:

    Ok so just to set things straight, Elias El Murr was actually appointed the head of ” the Interpol Foundation for a Safer World”. The current President of Interpol is Mireille Ballestrazzi, while the current Secretary General of Interpol is Ronald Noble.

  • Haifa Wehbe’s upcoming movie teaser – Halawet Rouh

    Crazy cleavage aside, you can’t but spot the similarities between the teaser and the below two videos, a commercial for Martini Gold and Malena’s trailer.

    Thanks to Labib El Choufani for highlighting the similarities.

  • Adel Karam’s show to start airing soon on MTV Lebanon

    adel karam

    I’ve been hearing for a while now about Adel Karam preparing for a new show of his own which will be quite similar to Bassem Youssef’s Al Bernameg, and it looks like it will start airing very soon since Adel Karam released the below teaser today on his Facebook account.

    It better be really really good since people won’t help but compare it to Al Bernameg, and we all know Bassem Youssef has set the bar really high.

  • Krispy Kreme, Costa, TGI Friday’s and Signor Sassi closing down in Lebanon

    americana group

    I was just informed by a good friend at Americana Group in Lebanon that Krispy Kreme, Costa, TGI Friday’s and Signor Sassi are all closing down in Lebanon due to the turbulant time our economy is going through right now. Americana also manages KFC and Hardee’s as well, but these two are staying for now since they’re making profit.

    I personally feel neutral about Costa, Friday’s and Signor, but I wish Krispy Kreme stays since I just love their donuts and prefer them over the overrated Dunkin’ Donuts.

    It definitely sucks to be in the place of Americana or other big corporations who are all currently in survival mode, since everybody seems to prefer saving money than spending them on restaurants and luxury items. But I feel bad the most about the poeple who work at these places and will now be jobless, and these are mostly university students who work hard to pay their tuition fees.

    I hope the warlords ruling this country are happy about the state we’ve come to!

  • Annahar celebrates 80 years of writing history – Little leaders

    How awesome is this ad? Najib and Nawwaf are just hilarious!