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A Lebanese Blog

Category: Lebanon

  • Lebanese government websites hacked

    I’m not really surprised by the fact that several government websites were hacked yesterday, but rather by how much time it is taking the people in charge of these websites to save face by at least taking the websites totally offline. Up till now (10:26 AM) three out of the 4 hacked websites (general-security.gov.lb, beirut.gov.lb, and emigrants.gov.lb) are still showing the below photo, economy.gov.lb is already up again.

    They probably won’t start working on the issue before finishing their foul mdammas breakfast first! You know, the usual breakfast of champions government employees.

    Oh and to whoever did that, GOOD JOB!

  • ABC Achrafieh is now 100% smoke free

    A press conference was held at ABC Achrafieh today to announce that the mall is as of today, March 1st 2012, a 100% smoke free environment except for the restaurant in Level 3 which will ban smoking on Mondays only, knowing that most of them already have a non-smoking section.

    I’m not sure if the same policy will be enforced at ABC Dbayeh as well, anyway be careful next time you pull out a cigarette at ABC Achrafiyeh!

    A total smoking ban at cafes and restaurant will be applied as of September 2012 by the way, and in 2 days from now (March 3rd) all kind of tobacco advertising will be illegal as well.

    Photo via @ritakml

    Update:

    Turned out the smoking ban is effective at the indoor spaces only, so basically you can still walk around the mall with a lit cigarette in your hand. Now that doesn’t really make them a 100% smoke free environment right?

  • 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!

  • Leil Nhar & Classic Burger Joint coming to Hamra

    I was passing by Hamra yesterday and noticed that Leil Nhar and Classic Burger Joint will soon be opening at the end of the main street next to Pastai.

    Leil Nhar is by the way replacing Burger Nation who’s service has deteriorated drastically in the last few months!

  • 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.

  • Downtown’s famous street seller

    If you go around the Nejmeh Sqaure at night, there’s a high probability you will be frightened by a street seller yelling “BEIRUT!!!” from behind your back in an attempt to later sell you images of old Beirut. To my knowledge, this man, Saadallah Basha, is probably the only street seller in Downtown Beirut…

    It was probably about time someone writes about him, and yesterday he made it to The Daily Star!

  • 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

  • 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!

     

  • Lebanese sushi at O&C

    The sushi menu at O&C includes a Lebanese sushi that is made of Philadelphia cheese, avocado, crab, cucumber, and mango, all wrapped in Lebanese bread!

    Does this qualify as sushi? It’s more like a sandwich cut into small chunks.

  • Almaza’s new valentine commercial

    Is it only me or does Almaza’s new commercial look pretty much like an ad by Heineken done a few years ago where people had to choose between watching the champions league final and going to a classical concert…?

    Almaza’s ad however leaves you wondering at the end “And now what?”, I mean the guys got cheered and stuff but aren’t you curious to know what happened to their dates?

    I’d love to know what the guys at Brofessional Review have to say about it.