Tag Archives | downtown beirut

Lebanon’s 4G speed test

By Rami on May 15, 2013 in Lebanon

huawei

I was luckily among the people who were selected for the trial phase of the 4G network, so I got my dongle from Alfa yesterday and below are some random tests I performed today after I got my connection activated.

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As you can notice the speeds and ping delay are less than what one would expect on a 4G network but that might be due to my location since my reception meter was half full, so I’ll soon try to repeat the test from another place.

Note that Alfa 4G currently covers Beirut only and will slowly expand to other regions, same as what happened when 3G was launched.

Update:

I performed two additional tests near Tayouneh today and got the below speeds.

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Overnight millionaire – Amer Hazimeh

By Rami on April 4, 2013 in Lebanon

The guys is barely 30 years old and yet managed to steal more than 45 million dollars by borrowing money from banks that trusted him and convincing people to invest their money with him in gold and stocks.

Would you suggest an arrest to Nissan?

By Rami on March 9, 2013 in Lebanon

The guys at Nissan – Rymco are claiming they’ll be trying to reduce drunk driving throughout this month by allowing you to report intocixated people so they would come get them home in a Nissan while someone sober drives their cars safely. But don’t expect the hot police women to show up everytime you report someone!

via Gino

What really happened in Mohamad Al-Amine mosque?

By Rami on March 2, 2013 in Lebanon

News websites yesterday were buzzing with information about gunmen who stormed Mohamad Al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut, and forced Sheikh Hisham Khalifeh to step down from the podium while he was delivering a speech during prayer.

The truth however is that there was indeed a dispute between a few men and the sheikh, but unlike what was mentioned, no one got any guns inside the mosque. A friend was there at the time of the incident filming how the sheikh ended his speech and everything seemed quite normal. So why make people panic for nothing?

The valet parking mafia in Downtown Beirut

By Rami on November 16, 2012 in Lebanon

Check out this special report prepared by Rami El-Amine from Al-Jadeed about the valet parkers in Downtown Beirut and how they overpower the parking meter attendants in the area.

Those people take your car and park it anywhere in Downtown Beirut and they never mind the parking meter attendant since those usually never dare to fine a car with a valet parking ticket on it, and don’t ask why! And if a car ever got fined, the valet parker just throws away the fine and hand you the car as if nothing happened. But you of course end up paying it double time at the mecanique.

If this report is not enough reason for you to stop using the valet parking service then I don’t know what is, I know it’s impossible sometimes, but I personally always try to park my car by myself even if I had to walk for a few minutes to reach my destination.

The fourth part of this report is due tonight by the way.

Update:

Here’s the fourth and last part of the report.

Is the economic situation really that bad in Lebanon?

By Rami on October 30, 2012 in Lebanon

Looks like news about businesses closing or facing troubles are on the rise now. People were surprised to read about the closure of Buddha Bar in Downtown Beirut last week due to the economic and security situation in the country, and today, I just came across this article in Al-Akhbar about Khoury Home facing some difficulties even though it controls a major share of the household products market in Lebanon.

Apparently, due to the decrease in sales and increase in payable to large suppliers, the Khoury family has entered in negotiations with one of their partners to sell their share in Khoury Home. You can read more about it here.

Photos + Video from Wissam El Hassan’s funeral

By Rami on October 21, 2012 in Lebanon

Wissam El Hassan’s funeral started at the ISF headquarter in Achrafieh at around 2PM today and unfortunately ended violently as the protesters in downtown attempted to storm the Grand Serail to demand the resignation of PM Najib Mikati.

Below are some photos and a video from the funeral and the clash between the protesters and the policemen. (I found photo #9 quite funny by the way!)

via BBC News & RT

Should we preserve every single Phoenician ruin in Beirut?

By Rami on June 27, 2012 in Lebanon

The news about the sudden destruction of the ancient Phoenician port in Beirut has flooded the news and the Lebanese blogosphere over the last couple of days. Everybody seems to be against move and some are even asking the minister of culture Gaby Layoun to resign over it.

But let’s be real for a second, downtown Beirut all lay over Phoenician ruins and much more! At the end, it was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times over its 5,000 year history, so the least you can find is ruins WHEREVER you dig around the city! Should we preserve everything we find and halt all construction works for ever? And let’s assume that we’ve succeeded in actually preserving them and turning these site into touristic places, will Khaleeji people be interested in visiting them? In fact, I see them enjoying places like Zaitounay Bay much more than the ancient ruins near the Grand Serail!

Still, don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling to erase our history, but why can’t we be more practical? I know the developers at the Phoenician port did wrong by suddenly demolishing that Phoenician port, but why for instance didn’t we give them the option to maybe move that port to another place instead of totally halting their plans?

Beirut then and now

By Rami on June 18, 2012 in Photography

via Facebook

BRGR Co coming to Beirut Souks

By Rami on April 15, 2012 in Lebanon

I was passing by Beirut Souks last night and noticed BRGR Co will soon be opening there.

It will will be accessible from Patriarche Hoyek street, close to where Bershka, Stradivarius, and Pull & Bear are located.

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