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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Beirut

  • Beirut city center to be demolished in the few coming days?

    I just saw this post on Facebook about the possibility of demolishing Beirut City Center (also known as “the egg”) over the next few coming days.

    “The egg” was designed by Philippe Karam in 1965 and served as a cinema for a short time before the eruption of civil war in Beirut. For some reason it survived the demolition works during Beirut’s central district reconstruction in the 90’s and remained standing until some artists started using it in the last few years to exhibit their work inside it. And now, rumors has it that it will demolished very soon.

    I’m not sure I’ll be sad to see it going, though if it were to me I would have renovated it instead, but I’m certain it will feel awkward to pass by the martyr’s square and not see the egg laying there at the end of the street.

    Thank you @SeenKaf

    Update:

    Solidere denied any plans to demolish the egg anytime soon. They even claimed they’re against the demolition and that the dome will be integrated in the new design.

  • Lebanon getting free WiFi in public parks

    I know it’s hard to belive, but the news is true! The ministry of telecommunications is teaming up with the Association of Banks and Sodetel to bring free WiFi to 11 public parks in Lebanon (mainly in Beirut) during working hours.

    1. Herch Beyrouth on a surface of 30.000 m2, knowing that its total area is 330,0000m2
    2. Sanayeh- René Mouawad (22,000 m2)
    3. Sioufi (20,000 m2)
    4. Ramleh Bayda  (10,000 m2)
    5. Manchiyeh- Tripoli (10,000 m2)
    6. Bourj Abi Haidar (7,000 m2)
    7. Talet el Khayat – Moufti Hassan Khaled (5,000 m2)
    8. Abou Chahla (5,000 m2)
    9. Yassouhiyé (4,400 m2)
    10. Saint Nicolas (2,200 m2)
    11. Basta Tahta (2,200 m2)

    Sioufi will be the first park to have the free WiFi starting today when ministers Nahas and Sehnaoui launch the service.

    It’s a great initiative indeed. But given the current internet speed in Lebanon, I highly doubt the service will be really usable by the people. I mean we’re barely able to make use of the internet at home, let alone a shared public bandwidth!

  • Fête de la musique Lebanon 2011 schedule

    Here’s the schedule for Fête de la musique this year which is taking place as usual in Downtown Beirut, Hamra and Gemmayze. I’m personally looking forward to watch Band Audi, Wled El Balad, and Youmna Saba & Jade Balaben.

    Place des martyrs

    20h00 Gabriel Abdel Nour (Pop)
    20h40 Michelle & Noel Keserwany (Folk)
    21h10 Belime (Electro pop)
    21h40 Bruno Live! (Pop rock)
    22h20 Dana Dragomir
    23H30 Anixa@Labex (Funk disco)
    23h55 Epic (Rock)
    00h35 Poly (Soul pop funk)
    01h05 Mancer Dust (Rock alternatif)

    Thermes romains

    20h00 Soukara (World music)
    20h35 Stephy Sfeir (Folk)
    21h00 Nahas Project (Fusion jazz)
    22h10 Les Blérots de Ravel
    23h35 Limelight (Rock alternatif)
    00h05 Lazzy Lung (Rock alternatif)

    Souks de Beyrouth

    20h00 Akachic Field (World music)
    20h30 Rabih Rihana Trio (Jazz rock)
    21h10 Silent Movie (Soundtrack)
    21h35 Sandmoon (Folk rock)
    22h20 Soweto Kinch (Hip hop jazz)
    23h30 The Incompetents (Pop alternative)
    00h10 Wled El Balad (Rock)
    00h50 Jammit The Band (Reggae)

    Jardin Samir Kassir

    20h00 Karim Kneyzer (World music)
    20h30 Episode (Rock symphonique)
    21h10 Nadine Khouri (Folk rock)
    21h50 Samar (Electro folk jazz)
    23h00 Band Audi (Rhythm & blues)
    23h40 Beirut Blues (Blues)
    00h10 Plugged (Rock alternatif )
    00h40 Rebellious Phoenix (Rock)

    Gemmayzé

    20h00 Charles (Pop)
    20h30 Valérie Abou Chacra (Pop)
    21h00 Cheesecake (Jazz pop)
    21h40 Jolly Joker (Rock alternatif)
    22h30 Tony Bayeh chante Zaki Nassif
    23h30 Blue Band LB (Reggae)

    Hamra

    20h00 Purple Sea (Trip hop)
    20h30 Moe Kabbara (Folk)
    21h00 Arcane (Rock progressif)
    21h40 Hanna Barakat & group (Pop rock)
    22h20 Elissa Boustani’s band (Pop soul funk)
    23h00 Nachaz (Rock blues)
    23h40 Youmna Saba & Jade Balaben (Folk)
    00h10 Nasama (Rock)
    00h50 Pulse (Blues rock)

    Scene Basement (souks de Beyrouth)

    21h00 Ladybug
    22h00 The BCE
    23h00 ACIX
    00h00 Djette
    01h00 Jade
    02h00 Vanclode Jandam
    03h00 Ronin & Nesta

    VJ’s :
    Labo Strongsky & Vj Mosig

    Eglise évangélique

    18h30 Ecole de musique Ghassan Yammine

    Schedule via Agenda Culturel.

  • Geekfest Beirut Vol. 4 – The gaming edition

    This edition of GeekFest Beirut is all about games and gaming. On June 17th Beirut Art Center will turn into one large gaming platform with avant premier access to newly released games by Sony & Nintendo, a Mobile Gaming platform sponsored by NOKIA and a small pavilion of vintage games for hardcore geeks sponsored by Multimedia Megastore (M2). This will be the largest Game Case in GeekFest History and a revel for all game lovers to enjoy and participate in and be challenged by other pros. As it goes we expect no less that 150 geeks to come to challenge each other in virtual battles and win prizes courtesy of Nokia, Crepaway and GoNabit.

    The event will also be catered by Crepaway and 961 Beer.

    Do not miss out on the fun.

    Need I say more? You can check Geekfest Beirut’s pages on Facebook and Eventbrite for more details about the event.

  • Noor Holding nothing but a scam

    Remember the construction company that made a media buzz  back in 2009 with the Cedar Island project it was promoting?

    Call me naive, but this company, Noor Holding, had everything needed to let you think they’re doing legitimate business. A prestigious office in downtown Beirut, excessive advertising, claims about hundreds of household units being built, a good looking website, a “golden” phone number (01-999999), and a TV station. And at the end it turned out that the whole thing was nothing but a scam with the founder Mohammad Saleh (the man in the above photo) escaping with 5 million dollars! You can read everything about the issue in this article from Al-Akhbar.

    I definitely don’t want to be in the shoes of those who have paid down payments for booking apartments with Noor Holding. These people will probably get nothing but news about Mr. Saleh moving from one country to another with their money…

  • Group buying websites in Lebanon

    Have you noticed the rise of group buying websites in Lebanon?

    In case you don’t know what group buying is, it’s getting good deals at discounted prices on condition that a specific minimum number of people would make the purchase. For example, one of these websites can offer a discounted dinner at some restaurant (say $20 instead of $40) on condition that a minimum of 20 people purchase the deal. And usually you won’t be charged unless the minmum number of buyers is attained.

    You might also be wondering how do these websites make money. To my knowledge, it works like referral programs, which means they get a small amount of money for each customer they refer to the deal.

    While not all the discounts might seem tempting, but some deals are really good, I personally bought two entrance tickets to Laguava resort for $22 instead of $44 from one of these websites!

    Here’s a list of the websites that get deals in Lebanon:

    Any other one I forgot to mention?

    By the way I’ve noticed that you don’t necessarily have to use a credit card on websites that use Bank Audi’s payment gateway, you can actually input a debit card number on condition that it is issued from Bank Audi. It worked for me on goSawa.

  • On abuse of power and ISF

    Nice catch by Salim Al Lawzi.

    Salim spotted two members from the ISF washing the Mercedes of some Lebanese official in Achrafiyeh. Think of it, if for the simplest things, in this case a car wash, this official is abusing his power, can you imagine what he does when dealing with other more important issues?

    On the other hand, that most probably explains why ISF members act like douchebags with people, they get abused by their supperiors and they eventually have to let it out at others, us! (Although they do have some fun sometimes)

  • Looking for a needle in a haystack

    A guy who participated in the Lebanese Laïque Pride march for a secular state on March 15 2011 started one of a kind blog calling for help, and it’s nothing related to the cause of the demo he attended, he’s actually searching for a person.

    He found himself extremely attracted to one of the girls in that march, and it was his second time to notice her after last year’s march, so he took that as a sign and decided trying to approach her one way or another, and he got really close to his aim until she disappeared!

    That’s why he’s now calling for the help of the internet people in Lebanon in an attempt to find her. And in a country where everyone knows everyone, I guess there’s a good probability for that man to find her!

    You can read all about his story and the updates he will be posting on his blog Finding Dulcinea, and below  is the description of the girl he’s trying to reach:

    1. She has chestnut color hair, natural color not dyed. (Couleur Châtaigne)
    2. Blue eyes
    3. On that day, she was wearing a black tight biking pants and a white jacket.  She was carrying on her back a red sports bag, I think it was an Adidas (not sure)
    4. She had 2 silver rings on her left hand; one of them had a purple stone. (I didn’t notice a wedding band – Geez that would be a bummer if she turns out to be married – but hey let’s keep it positive for now)
    5. All I know is that she works in the protected area of Solidere where the parliament is. So that area stretches from Costa/Blom bank on the upper level facing the Grand Theatro building all the way down to the area past parliament building/Abed Clock area.
    6. I am speculating that she must have left her bike in the office that day and was returning to get her bike and leave the sign at her desk.

    I can’t but wish him all the luck!

  • Good fish and chips where you least expect it

    It’s definitely not the best out there, but Sanyour Cafe in Sarba has a good fish and chips for 12,000L.L only.

    I also liked their Osmaliyyeh Chicken (chicken strips covered with Osmaliyyeh pastry) which comes with sweet chili sauce I think, and the Pizza Tawouk with garlic sauce all over!

    Sanyour has branches in Kaslik, Antelias, Sarba, and Dhour El Choueir. And needless to say, you’ll have to be able to tolerate the arguileh smokers all around you if you decided to go there.

  • Woosh it at City Mall

    Have you noticed these new signs at the City Mall parking area?

    It seems like you’ll soon be able to have your car washed at any parking spot in City Mall since the service buttons are available everywhere.

    I just hope their pricing will not be ridiculous, I usually get my car washed for 5,000L.L at almost any gas station and I honestly am not ready to pay more no matter how eco-friendly their washing process is.

    Woosh by the way claims to be the first eco-friendly car care provider in Lebanon, and they clean cars through the use of special waterless products.

    Update:

    According to Joe who tried the service at City Mall, a car wash will cost you 12,000 L.L.

    the first eco-friendly car care provider in Lebanon