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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: lebanese

  • Custom fees to be imposed on orders from AliExpress?

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    I’m not a big fan of AliExpress as I have tried it once and wasn’t very satisfied with the stuff I received, however I know a lot of people who are literally addicted to it and keep ordering cheap stuff from it!

    The reason why these people love AliExpress is because they pay very low shipping fees and absolutely no custom dues when their packages arrive to Lebanon since they’re labeled as gifts, which sounds like a steal if the stuff you’re ordering are of really good value.

    However, I’ve been hearing from several sources lately that the Lebanese Customs will soon be forcing high fees on all packages received from AliExpress due to the large amount of orders being placed and affecting local sellers here. But I couldn’t make sure if this is really going to happen or not, so it would be good if someone from LibanPost or the Lebanese customs can confirm or deny it.

  • Meet Kiki C – A supposedly Lebanese rapper

    Kiki C labels herself on Facebook as a Lebanese rapper but she seems more like an exotic model to me!

    So far, we know almost nothing about her except that she has has released one song called “The Mediterranean” and claims to have been on tour with Snoop Dogg.

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    I guess she will soon make it to Lebanese TV shows the same way Myriam Klink and Lara Kay did, and we will eventually learn what is she up to!

  • Maya Diab on Ramez Qersh El Baher

    As every year, Ramez Galal always manages to pull the scariest pranks on celebrities! It’s good no one has fainted on the show yet.

    Another Lebanese celebrity who also got pranked on Ramez Qersh El Baher is Nawal El Zoghbi.

  • Careem – Another cab app launched in Beirut!

    Seems like it’s the cab apps day on the blog today! I was searching for similar services to Uber in the region and came across this article on the launching of Careem in Beirut.

    Careem is yet another cab app that connects passengers to drivers and works exactly the same way as Uber, except that I felt like the booking process is smoother in Uber. What remains now though is knowing which one has the best fares and service.

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    Careem is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry.

  • Uber launches in Beirut

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    Uber is a on-demand car service based in San Francisco, California that connects passengers with drivers in over 140 cities through a mobile app allowing customers to order a ride, track their driver’s location, and finally pay using their credit card.

    They have already been operating in several cities across the middle east, and they just announced today on their blog expanding to Beirut with Pierre Rabbat and Daniella Rahme being the first two to try their service.

    I downloaded their app (Available on both iOS and Android) and found it quite easy to use. You first need a couple of minutes to create an account and verify your mobile number and you’re good to go. To order a ride, you choose the vehicle type you want and mark the location from which the driver should expect picking you up from and wait. When you reach your destination, your credit card will be automatically billed with no need to tip or carry cash.

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    I haven’t tried using the service yet so I can’t tell how good are their fares compared to local taxi companies and shared taxi service. However, they’re offering a couple of promo codes one for $20 (“UberLovesBeirut”) and the other for $30 (“rabbat“) which I guess is enough for us to assess the service.

    Thanks @Chemali

  • Hilarious Netherlands football fan from Lebanon

    This video was taken when Arjen Robben won a penalty against Mexico. I hope this guy doesn’t get a heart attack by the time the world cup ends!

    Update:
    I just noticed the video has been removed from Facebook. I will share it again once I find it somewhere else.

  • Ahmad Kaabour – Tnein Tnein

    I loved this clip by Future TV! It’s been a while since they last produced a video of this caliber. It reminded me of the jingles they used to make in the ’90s.

  • Idiot of the day

    This is terrible yet funny! According to LBCI,  some guy decided to fix his building’s overloaded sanitary sewer near Ballouneh last night by dumping some (too much) carbide into it, a substance that is sometimes used to make explosives, which unfortunately led to blowing up the sewer and part of the building!

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    I just hope no one got harmed.

  • Slashing internet prices in Lebanon is still not enough

    Following the announcement of the ministry of telecommunications on their plan to lower internet prices and boost speeds last month, we all thought it would now be affordable for us to get the high speed connections we always wanted, and this was proven true after some ISPs started rolling out their plans with 4Mbps subscriptions for as low as $19.

    However, it doesn’t seem like this sufficient for us to enjoy the newly offered packages. According to this excellent article by Matt Nash from Executive Magazine, the real problem now lies in the copper wires connecting our homes to the central offices. Apparently, these wires can handle transferring a maximum of 8Mbps given that you live near the central office in your area, and the speed of course decreases as the distance to your home increases.

    This is in fact so bad that basically around 1/3 of internet users in Lebanon cannot get more than 2Mbps to their homes since they simply live too far away from a central office!

    So I believe the biggest challenge facing the ministry right now is upgrading the existing infrastructure which can cost up to $1 billion if we decided to go for optical fiber. And until then, the maximum speed we are able to get will remain much less than what average users enjoy in other countries of our region.

  • Video of Jounieh 2014 fireworks

    For those who missed Jounieh’s fireworks show Friday night, I found the below video of it from MTV Lebanon. (Start watching at the 4 minute mark)

    Also, make sure to check these 10 cool photos of the show compiled by Ralph.