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A Lebanese Blog

Tag: Lebanon

  • Not Every Occasion Calls for Witty Slogans

    It was cool around 2009 and 2010 when Almaza used to advertise witty phrases and taglines on holidays and special occasions, but it became really annoying nowadays with every single brand in the Lebanese market attempt to do the same. To be fair some are coming up with creative stuff, but the majority end up appearing like an assignment done at the last minute.

    Below are some example (read disasters*) that were done on the occasion of Army Day last week and did absolutely nothing to convince me spend a lira on the advertised goods.

  • Valet Parking Fee Officially Set at 5,000L.L.

    If there’s one thing that unites the Lebanese people then it must be their hate for the Valet Parking workers. They’re overpriced, always rude, and they have the capability to doom a whole areas just like what they did in Gemmeyze and Mar Mkhayel! I seriously pity the people living in that surrounding as I personally do my best to avoid going there at night…

    And unfortunately, just as in the case with illegal internet and cable TV providers, the government couldn’t keep the valet parking thugs from hijacking public spaces so it simply resorted to “regulating” their activities. For years now they have been imposing ridiculous prices up to 10,000L.L and sometimes more at lush venues, but a recent joint memo by the ministry of interior and the ministry of tourism fixed their service fee at 5,000L.L. So let’s hope it gets applied!

    I’m not sure though if hotels are also subject to this memo.

  • So Did Your DSL Speed Improve?

    It’s been three days now since the new plans recently announced by Ogero became effective, and with them came the “open speed” packages which allow subscriber to benefit from the maximum speed their phone lines can handle.

    All other ISPs have updated their existing plans well, and the most flexible ones are offered by IDM and Cyberia. Others like Sodetel and Wise have less options, but no matter what provider you are subscribed too you can get a decent plan for ~$20.

    I Ā have tested the speed upgrades at a friend in Achrafieh who is now getting ~3.5Mbps instead of the 2Mbps he was originally subcribed too, and at my parents in Kaskas area who are now getting ~6Mbps (The latter spoiled my kid by the way because YouTube videos were loading pretty fast on is iPad! šŸ˜› ). On the other hand, people who live relatively far from the exchange offices will be limited to 1 or 2Mbps.

    I personally was quite excited when the plansĀ were originally announced in May, but unfortunately shortly after that I started experiencing disconnection with my home connection that lasted several hours everyday, and extremely low speeds whenever I get lucky and my modem connects. So I followed up with IDM (my ISP) and Ogero to troubleshoot the problem for over a couple of months until I was recently informed by Ogero that the problem is due to a defected cable in my area which cannot be replaced anytime soon, and that I have to deal with my current connection until further notice.

    This is quite frustrating to be honest since the monthly subscription we pay for our landlines is at minimum supposed to cover the technical failure that might occur on the network, and that should of course include main cables feeding a whole area…!

    Anyway, until a miracle restores my connection, I am currently considering switching to a wireless solution such as Connect which recently updated their plans with higher data caps.

  • Horsh Beirut is Open Again to The Public

    Horsh Beirut has been closed down by the Municipallity of Beirut for several month now ever since a disease spread among the pine trees there and was threatening the whole area. Fortunately, the municipality back then took the matter seriously and closed down the park to treat the issue by cutting down and burning the infected trees, which eventually resulted in containing the disease.

    Accordingly, Horsh Beirut has been officially opened again to the public as of yesterday except for some areas where the municipality is still working to clear the invasive insects.

    For those interested, the park will be open from 7AM till 1PM on weekdays, and from 7AM till 7PM on weekends. Barbecue and Shisha are of course still forbidden inside, and thank god for that!

  • #TogetherAsOne Alex Demirdjian Racing at Spa Francorchamps for Lebanon and Armenia

    After racing for Lebanon at Monza, and racing for Armenia at Paul Ricard, Alex Demirdjian and his teamĀ are racing this time at the Circuit Spa Francochamps in Belgium in the name of both countries raising the slogan #Driveforlife.

    This stage of theĀ Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup in Belgium is Total 24 Hours of Spa, and Alex along with his team will be revving the Ferrari 488’s engine for an ultimate test of endurance in the Pro-Am category race. So let’s wish them a good luck and hope for a good result!

    I have already uploaded a video of Alex making a full lap around the circuit last night, and you can also follow the race live today onĀ www.blancpain-gt-series.com/live.

    Update:

    Alex and the team scored a new milestone with a third-place finish in Spa Francorchamps’ 24-hour race! It wasn’t all easy for them though as they received three penalties throughout the race but still managed to make it.

    They originally took off from the 7th position but thanks to their successful strategy and the alternation of drivers especially during the last four hours of the race, Dermidjian and the two other drivers managed to finish on the podium and eventually raise the Lebanese and Armenian flags together.

  • Lebanese Identified as The Modern-Day Descendants of Canaanites

    A paper published in the American Journal of Human Genetics yesterday revealed that more than 90 percent of the genetic ancestry of modern Lebanese is derived from ancient Canaanites.

    This revelation is quite intriguing now since historical records about the Canaanites are relatively limited. What we know about them from the Bible is that they were annihilated, and most facts about their community are written by their enemies (ancient Romans, Greeks and Israelites) while their origin and fate remain mysterious.

    Researchers were able to sequence the Canaanite genome from the remains of five individuals buried in the ancient city of Sidon (Saida nowadays) around 4,000 years ago, and analysed the genetic relationship between the ancient Canaanites and modern Lebanese by sequencing the genome of 99 modern-day Lebanese.

    It’s worth noting though that some historians consider the Phoenicians a sub-group of the Canaanites, butĀ a study earlier in 2016 concluded that we are not related to them… I have no idea how can one interpret this.

    Anyway, you can read more about this interesting study hereĀ and here.

    Photo via National Geographic

  • President Donald Trump is Clueless About Lebanese Politics

    It seems like Donald Trump is absolutely clueless about Lebanese politics, and listening to the things he said in the below video makes you really wonder how does he take decisions when it comes to our country and the whole region…

    As you all know, PM Saad Hariri is currently on an official trip to the U.S. and has met with President Donald Trump at the oval office yesterday. Following their discussion, the two held a press conference during which Presidend Trump claimed that “Lebanon is on the frontlines in the fight against ISIS, Al-Qaeda AND Hezbollah” (watch at the 1m05s mark) while in fact Hariri’s cabinet in fact has a couple of ministers from Hezbollah, and later even calls the party a menace to Lebanon and the middle east (at the 3m35s mark).

    And it didn’t just end here, when Denise Rahme Fakhri asked him about his opinion when it comes to Hezbollah and their role in Syria, Trump appeared just like he has no idea what to answer by simply claiming that he will be expressing his opinion on the next day after meeting with his “very expert military representatives”. (watch at the 10m52s mark)

    I bet PM Hariri silently went through several WTF moments during the press conference.

  • Top Lebanese Festivals Happening This Summer with Their Full Programs

    With so many festivals happening across Lebanon this summer, it’s definitely hard to keep track of all the performances taking place over the coming weeks. So I compiled to you this list from Lebtivity of the top 20 Lebanese festivals along with their full programs in order for you easily pick the concerts/performances you want to attend and book your tickets ahead of time.

    1. Beiteddine International Art Festival 2017 – Full program
    2. Byblos International Festival 2017 – Full Program
    3. Baalbeck International Festival 2017 – Full Program
    4. Batroun International Festival 2017 – Full Program
    5. Jounieh International Festival 2017 – Full Program
    6. Ehdeniyat Festival 2017
    7. Faqra Festival 2017 | Full Program
    8. Tannourine Cedars’ Nights 2017
    9. Beirut Holidays 2017 – A3yad Beirut – Full Program
    10. Kousba Festival 2017
    11. Tyre Festival 2017 | Full Program
    12. Cedars International Festival 2017
    13. Jounieh Summer Festival 2017 – Full Program
    14. Ain Ebel Summer Festival 2017
    15. Amchit International Festival 2017 Full Program
    16. Ghalboun International Festival 2017
    17. Tripoli International Festival 2017
    18. Kobayat International Festival 2017
    19. Kahale Summer Festival 2017
    20. Zahle Festival 2017 – Full Program

     

  • City Centre Parking Now Has Car Plate Scanners To Help You Find Your Car

    I was at City Centre Hazmieh the other day when I noticed they now have car plate scanners in their parking to help you find your car if you ever forgot where you parked.

    Several machines located at the mall entrances will help you find your car once you provide your car plate number. I tried the system out of curiosity and the machine took around 10 seconds to return images of several cars, I then had to flip through a couple of images before I found my car along with its exact spot.

    Needless to say, the machine will of course fail to find anything if people of the Lebanese 7arbou2 kind remove their car plates or erase the numbers to evade speed radars, but these are douchebags anyway and definitely deserve to get lost in a parking lot.

  • Beirut-Montreal Direct Flights Are Not Happening Anytime Soon!

    Remember all the talks about possible re-establishment of non-stop flights between Beirut and Montreal? Well,Ā Duncan Bureau, VP Global Sales at Air Canada unfortunately tweeted on Monday that the Canadian Government rejected their application to make it happen, which is definitely a huge disappointment for the Lebanese community there.

    For more details I recommend you read this article “What Is It About Direct Flights To Beirut That Scares Trudeau?” by the Huffington Post discussing how illogical the rejection is given that airlines from much less secure countries such as Egypt are allowed in Montreal.