+961

A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Beirut

  • Star Academy finally got its first SEX scandal!

    While contestants in the European versions of Star Academy take the liberty to appear nude in front of cameras sometimes, Star Academy Lebanon makes a fuss out of a guy’s boner!

    Filing this video under “sexual frustration”.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Only on MEA flights

    Ka2anna tayyaret bayyo!

  • Lebanese man tries to skin a dying fox

    lebanon fox

    According to BETA’s page on Facebook, a group of people in Nahr El Mot captured a dying fox today, and instead of rescuing it by at least notifying the authorities, they just thought about every possible way to abuse it!

    A frantic phone call about a dying fox today, and 2 of our volunteers rushed straight to the scene.
    To their dismay, the fox was not on the side of the Nahr el Mot highway as they were told; he was on the trunk of a car with men surrounding him as you can see in the photo. Their plan, original plan hadn’t we interfered we must say, was to tie him up on the hood of the car, drive around showing off their “trophy” and eventually sell him.

    Our volunteers tried to rescue the fox, but the proud men there tried to intimidate them and scare them off, especially that they were 2 women. And one very enthusiastic man stopped them, angrily screamed at them, cursed them and asked for money in order to surrender the poor fox.

    We strongly stand against the selling and buying of any animal, let alone a wild victim agonizing in front of our own eyes.

    Shouts, screams, curses, but still, our volunteers tried to calm down the man and rationally explain to him that he cannot claim the fox, a wild animal that belongs to the Lebanese wild.
    We are often faced with hostility during our rescues, but the same man took “aggression and ignorance” to a whole new level!

    It was simple! Our volunteers refused to give up and started calling backup. So the man held the fox by the tail in one hand and a knife in another hand, and tried to skin the fox alive!

    This is when you run out of patience and constructive discussions! Our volunteers aka “task force” took action, screamed, shouted and threatened, came near the fox and took him by force, and kept on threatening until the man was scared off and fled the scene, needless to say without the fox.

    The fox was quickly transported to a clinic, and currently tests are being done to determine his case.
    But the fox is in extremely critical state and the prognosis doesn’t look good so far!

    We will keep you posted! Source

    That’s one more story showing that ignorance is definitely not making for good animal welfare in this country. Two days ago, news about a group of hunters shooting down an eagle in the mountains passed as if it isn’t such a big deal.

    Update:

    The fox unfortunately did not make it since his spine was broken.

    lebanon fox 1

    A fox with a broken spine…

    A wild animal that will never be able to run, hunt or
    live normally…

    A predator that will have to spend the rest of his life paralyzed and completely helpless…

    While cats and dogs appreciate the care and love we give them and can lead a normal life even if paralyzed, a fox would be miserable in captivity, especially that wild animals are not to be touched or cuddled.

    A fox with a broken back completely dependent on humans… This is not a quality of life for a wild animal, and we had to make the very hard and sad decision of letting go and putting him to sleep.

    Rest in peace little one! Source

  • 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.

  • Shake Shack now open at Beirut City Centre

    shake shack 1

    I’ve been waiting for Shake Shack to open at Beirut City Centre for so long now and it finally did today. The place is fairly spacious with glass barrier around the kitchen so you can see where all the magic happens, and the staff is quite friendly and welcoming.

    I ordered a signle ShackBurger (American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and ShackSauce) and was glad to experience the same great flavor I once had in Shake Shack Dubai.

    shake shack 2

    Once you get your order you can’t but notice that their burgers are kind of small, but as soon as you finish your meal you will realize you actually got the right portion due to the fatty beefy meat which will make you feel full (or almost full depending on how big is your apetite!).

    shake shack 3 shake shack 4

    However, and despite being really really good, I felt like their prices are a little bit high. For example, you pay 11,000L.L for a single ShackBurger, and an additional 10,000L.L for regular fries and Pepsi. But then again, they follow the same pricing scheme almost everywhere. Still, this certainly wont stop me from totally recommending it. Do go try it and treat your taste buds to some great burgers!

  • A new 5,000 L.L bill

    I just spotted this new 5,000 pound note which seems to have been recently released.

    5000 ll

    If only Central Bank of Lebanon would consider making all bills the same (reasonable) size!

    photo via @Joanna_Azar

  • May El-Khalil talking about Beirut Marathon at TEDGlobal

    may el khalil

    Little do people know that May El-Khalil was motivated to start the Beirut marathon after she had a near-death experience and was told that she will not be able to run again. Check out this TED Talk she gave at TEDGlobal back in June 2013 talking about her experience with Beirut Marathon. She’s one inspiring woman for sure.

    via reddit