All the Beirut news.

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Once you are done explaining the above equation, I would appreciate if you could help me understand the new hybrid electoral law proposed.

In Lebanon, there are a handful of gems found in different parts of the country. I recently stumbled upon one, just 45 minutes away from Beirut heading North. Get into the car, drive towards Batroun  and you’ll discover a beautiful restaurant with a dreamy view of the Mediterranean sea. It’s colorful, humble, comfortable, homey and »more...

With the global warming on its toll, the temperature rising to 45 degrees, your summer outfit is incomplete without a pair of sunglasses. Apart from acting as a fashion statement, sunglasses also helps us by protecting our eyes from harmful ultraviolet rays and other damages that sun can cause. For the spectacles wearer, there are sunglasses with powered lens which serves all the three functions of clearing vision, protection from sun and being a stylish accessory. It also falls in the category of budget eyewear.
So how do we choose a sunglass? With the flourishing new demands in the market, it’s very difficult to be satisfied with one pair but I can help you narrow down your choice of selection. The trending ones amongst budget eyewear are the following:

Someone who loves food, will love these realistically. Look at this originally realistically looking Salami sticky notes.  These realistic looking Salami Notes take the sausage’s usefulness to a whole new level! Each note pad comes with 1000 printed notes perfect for phone calls, shopping lists, and any other memos that need taking. Sheets are blank »more...

The trailer for my current timelapse project about Dubai and its futuristic architecture. Release of the final video is planned for early 2014. [Vimeo]
Beautiful. Looking forward to watching the final video once it gets released.

[YouTube]
I believe you’ve all heard by now the story of the blogger who got assaulted for taking pictures of ruins at District S’s construction site in DownTown Beirut.
Well the story made it to LBCI News tonight and Habib was interviewed briefly on what happened with him. Added to that, he posted today a picture of what DistrictS was hiding.

I just activated my 4G dongle and here are the results of the SpeedTests I did. Coverage is still restricted to few areas in Beirut so

Prices proposed by Alfa: Is it me or are the new packages really expensive?
Alfa just launched the 4G officially and here are few details shared by Abir and from Alfa. Alfa is the 6th company to launch the 4G technology in the MENA region.

(Photo courtesy of Joumana Haddad)
I always enjoy reading Joumana Haddad‘s articles. This one’s hilarious yet so true.
Lebanese people do not queue. This aversion to waiting patiently for their turn in anything, at any given time and place, is so common, so “natural” and innate, that you’d think it’s written somewhere in their genes: The Swedish are blond. The Chinese have slanted eyes. And the Lebanese don’t, won’t, can’t queue. It is a (para)scientific fact.

Photo credit: Lebanese Blogs

I only have myself to blame
For you, my victory, my downfall,
My need, my hunger, my flame...

I only have myself to blame,
Hoping endlessly, as my mother
Waits for my dad, against hope
For you to change,
For you to become
What I want, to be
Somebody else...

I only have myself to blame
For this, the burn that is my life,
This lie that I insist on telling,
Waiting, against the odds,
For me to become
Someone I want...

I can remember as well as September does,
And what music remains inside of me
Is muted over with memory, strains sad
As the seed that spills from the withered okra plants. The best days of summer are the days of summer gone:
Something cooking, a wash of light on the water...
The music dies, and what I hold is the world.
One leaf falling would break the spell. It falls.-from"The Last Nostalgia"

Picture from KevinInTheKingdom
I would have picked Kababji over Barbar.
Beirut is a cosmopolitan city where food standards are high.
When it comes to kebabs, Barbar is a Beirut institution. It’s a snack bar with branches throughout the city, but its flagship store is in trendy Hamra, where it takes up a whole block and overflows with customers night and day.
You can eat almost anything at Barbar and be happy, but the chicken shawarma is the tastiest pint-sized snack.

I’ve met so many wonderfully amazing people all around the world. Every single one I meet, I invite to come to Lebanon. I try to describe how wonderful parts of it are, how amazing most of its people can be and how delicious our food is. The main selling points are always: history, nature, food and nightlife. However, why would they take my word for it? And it’s hard to describe complex little Lebanon in a few words sometimes.

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit when I saw this. I mean, come on, Barbar is the place you stop at 4:30AM after a night of clubbing when you’re super hungry and your options aren’t that many. But, then again, a good kebab isn’t just the price, presentation, pedigree of the beef, etc. It’s about the most popular one too, the one anyone and everyone can eat, one which without it, Beirut, more specifically Hamra, would not be the same.