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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Beirut

  • 1,000L.L DVDs in Beirut

    I though I should share with you guys where I get my DVDs from after someone commented on the previous post that he never found them for less than 3,000L.L.

    The place I go to is called “Serge” in Bourj Hammoud. Going from Achrafieh to Bouchrieh using the Yerevan bridge, you take the first exit on the bride, and you’ll find that DVD shop in a very narrow street to your right, situated just before the end of that exit. Serge’s collection is always up to date with a back room dedicated for old movies, and the best thing is that he’s always honest about the audio/video quality of any movie you’re buying.

    I also heard there’s another place in Bourj Hammoud called “Rony” but I never knew where that one is…

  • Beirut contradictions

    The same city that ridiculously blacked out the name of Steven Spielberg on The Adventure of Tintin’s movie posters because of his support for Israel, is also the place that hosted the filming of a new controversial Iranian movie called “Circumstance” about 2 Iranian Lesbian teenagers struggling against the religious and cultural restrictions of their society in Tehran.

    The first feature by the young Iranian-American filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz, “Circumstance’’ was filmed in Beirut with a largely expatriate cast, and while it’s not explicit, the sensuality is outrageous enough to get the leading actresses stoned if they wandered into the wrong neighborhoods in Tehran. Source

    “Circumstance” will definitely be banned in Iran, and I guess there might be talks about banning it in Lebanon as well, but rest assured it’ll be available shortly after on DVD for 1,000L.L everywhere in the country! (Remember Persepolis?)

    Gotta love Beirut!

  • Beirut once again among the top destinations to visit in 2012

    It’s definitely cool to have Beirut among the top destinations for tourists to visit in 2012. But it would also be cooler if editors, for once, focus on other cool stuff to do in Lebanon than Beirut’s nightlife scene. Don’t you think?

    You’ll adore Beirut’s juxtaposition of old and new, traditional and downright funkiness. Restored Roman baths stand in the midst of the business district, surrounded by gleaming skyscrapers and an Ottoman palace. At Music Hall, in an old cinema hall, fez-wearing traditional musicians play Arabic ballads for their 15-minute spot, after an ’80s cover band, while cocktail-dress Beiruti women belly dance with their designer-jeans-clad partners supping cocktails. Soldiers with machine guns keep one eye on families drinking coffee at midnight, with squealing kids playing, on pedestrianized Place de L’Etoile square. Le Gray luxury boutique hotel sits a moment’s walk from the bombed-out Holiday Inn, still bullet-ridden from 1976 Lebanon Civil War.

    You can check the full list here.

  • $1 Hot dogs coming to Beirut

    This website of Authentic New York Hot Dog is promising a chain of hot dog carts soon to be available in Lebanon offering cheap hot dog sandwiches for $1 only, with combos starting as low as 3,500L.L as well.

    I honestly expect the sandwiches to be super tiny since one of these combos includes 5 sandwiches, and I assume it should be a meal for 1 person. Still, I don’t mind it as long as they taste good! Let’s wait and see.

    Meanwhile, my favorite place for hot dogs in Beirut remains Charlie’s in Bliss Street.

    Thanks @HibaMoujabber

  • The ridiculous increase

    The General Labor Confederation (GLC) suspended Wednesday’s planned strike after the Cabinet agreed late Tuesday night to increase the minimum wage to LL700,00 ($466) from the current LL500,000. The government also agreed to increase by LL200,00 the wages of those earning less than LLl million, and by LL300,00 those who earn between LL1 million and LL1.8 million. The agreement also included raising the daily transportation allowance to LL10,000 from LL8,000 while the education allowance for children jumped to a maximum of LL1.5 million.

    I’m no economics or finance expert, but I’m gonna go ahead and call this increase ridiculous.

    Following which logic did our ministers conclude that people of inferior income should get a smaller increase?! And how is this going to minimize the gap between social classes?

    Not to mention that if you earn 1,900,000L.L while your colleague gets 1,700,000L.L, he/she is entitled to an increase while you are not, and will soon be earning more than you do according to the new agreement! Pretty fair eh?!

  • My last valentine in Beirut

    T-GROUP PRODUCTIONS presents ‘My last valentine in Beirut’, the first feature film to be produced in 3D in the Arab region ever, with one of the highest production costs and biggest production team.

    The movie will have a world wide release with professionally crafted plans of marketing mixes and distribution.
    The people behind the movie offer decades of experience in the movie business, and master exciting edgy storytelling and visual side effects.

    This movie will bring a unique movie experience to the middle east and worldwide as it will bring together the touching history and cultural heritage of the region, together with the latest international technologies in the movie business.

    So far the trailer is getting so much negative comments on Youtube, to which the video uploader replied with the following.

    To all people who are adding their comments, thank you, we respect your honest opinions. Nevertheless, for those of you who are trying to drag the movie into z PORN category: judging a movie which you have never seen from its trailer which is only for few minutes makes your comments irrelevant and unaccountable for, and doesn’t reflect what z movie is about but only what you think in general about Arab girls. I think you might want to look at the big picture.

    To me, the trailer looked really cheap, and producers seem to be overusing sex to sell their movie, it’s even like they’re begging to have it banned like “Help”!

    Anyway, regardless of the movie’s topic, why did it have to be shot in 3D?! Did they want Juliette’s figures to be as real as possible when people watch it?

  • Here’s to launching the 3G service in Lebanon!

    Last day I got a phone call from a gentleman in MTC Touch telling me that I will be granted the 3G service for a 1 month free trial period, and so right now I’m among the lucky people who got to participate in the pilot testing of this service in Lebanon. An yes I’m so excited about it!!

    The service got activated at around 1PM today on my phone and didn’t require any special configuration to run. I randomly started loading websites and found the connection to be pretty fast compared to home ADSL and the crappy GPRS. Below are two tests done using speedtest.net after I shared the connection with my laptop.

    As you can see, download is @ 1.7Mbps which is superb compared to the current internet speeds, while upload is varying between 0.11 and 0.22Mbps. Ping is of course higher that it is supposed to be, and I hope it’ll improve soon. Note that I was in Beirut central district at the time of this test, and I guess speed might vary depending on your location.

    3G subscriptions will be available for both postpaid and prepaid lines, and data transfer will be limited to 4GB/month. It isn’t clear tough how much will the operators charge for it.

    I’ll hopefully be posting more updates on the connection quality and speed throughout this trial period.

  • CK One shock drive-by graffiti

    I hope next jobs won’t cause similar traffic jams! Cool job nevertheless.

  • Internet prices going down next month

    Internet prices are finally going down by the end of next month after the cabinet approved the new price list yesterday!

    The good news for consumers: Today a 1 Mbps connection, the second-fastest available, costs 115,000 LL ($76.67) per month. Under the new regime, 1 Mbps will be the slowest connection sold by Ogero, the state-run telecom company, and will cost 24,000 LL ($16) per month. (Both price figures exclude the 10% value added tax.)

    Packages will range from 1 Mbps with a 4 GB download and upload cap (it’s not split; you get 4GB for each) to around 8 Mpbs with a 30 GB cap. Imad Tarabay, CEO of the Internet provider Cedarcom, told NOW Lebanon that as soon as the new packages are implemented, customers with packages below 1 Mbps now will automatically receive the lowest-level new package from their providers (assuming Ogero releases bandwidth to the private sector). Customers can then decide if they want to switch packages or not.

    We’re still way behind what people get in nearby countries but it’s still a good step forward, I just hope there will be enough capacity to accommodate the demand when everyone is automatically switched to 1Mbps next month, and I wish they would reconsider amending those bandwidth cap because one would consume them so fast with the speeds they’re promising.

  • Burger Nation Hamra

    I finally got to try the burger joint everyone has been buzzing about for a while now, “Burger Nation” located at end of Hamra street.

    The menu is very straight forwards and offers either their selections of burgers or do-it-yourself, and while explaining about the burgers you can’t but notice how much the waiters emphasize on the fact that their patty is made of grass-fed Angus beef that’s imported from Australia.

    Farah and I shared two burgers, the Nation’s Pride and the Swiss & Mushroom both 4oz and medium well, and I have to admit the patty is among the best in town, I mean you can easily feel the difference between others and what Burger Nation offers.

    However, the sauces and toppings definitely need an enhancement, at least for the Nation’s Pride. With that holy beef patty, I was expecting a much better taste. And don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying it tasted bad, actually I’m planning to go there again to try their 6oz burgers, but I’m pretty sure BN can do better with the toppings.

    Would I recommend you to go there? Yes, and do try their belgian fries.