All the Beirut news.

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i'm loving Sade - By your side [remixed by the Neptunes]

Ok, I need to get this off my chest.
Ad agencies (with social media departments) are popping like mushroom in the region. Competition is healthy, don’t get me wrong but few are getting it right. That’s not the issue though.

I’ve been asked quite some few times to review sites, products, places, devices. The agencies/individuals/companies sometimes give me the green light to post it online or share my opinion for the public some times and others want it to remain private.
Now, what’s really bothering me. I heard a few times between bloggers that X agency is inviting us to these places or whatsoever so that we review it and give a positive one about the whole experience.

I had a few emails and DMs asking me to post something. I am touched by the 1 email and 2 dms. My fan base rules.

Seriously though, I am in between jobs, things are quite hectic and I might be making the biggest leap of my life. I will try to squeeze in some posts every now and then.
Till then, stay safe and cheers! if you are looking for UX materials check the links, if you want some sarcasm and weird humor, check Cracked

Just yesterday it was reported that Lebanese in Sierra Leone are lobbying to become citizens of the west African country. However today, Samir Hassanyeh, who is (apparently) the president of the Lebanese community in Sierre Leone has denied the claims and has gone far enough to denounce Nasser Ayoub:

“The first and only showroom in the Levant is scheduled to open in Beirut on September 24, ahead of Lebanon’s second annual HOG tour” from October 1 to 3, said Marwan Tarraf, general manager of Bikers Inc., the current Harley Davidson dealership in Lebanon. [Source]
It is going to open in Hamra next to the Central Bank.

Remember my post a couple of months ago, about how the Lebanese health ministry isn’t doing enough to raise awareness about the harmful effects of first hand and second hand smoke?  Well, the post came to mind when I came across this pack of cigarettes that my friend from Egypt was smoking from.  Obviously, he [...]

"There's no justice for the living whose martyrs still suffer unfairness" (or something close to it) this is the latest ad for the Lebanese Forces to commemorate their annual mass for the martyrs of the "Lebanese Resistance" (note that they are trying to highjack the term from Hizbullah)... I truly feel the headline is punchy, smart and very emotional. My main problem lies elsewhere - how come did the Lebanese Forces appropriate all these martyrs?

I was not very fond of sushi until two years back, but since then i’ve tried almost every place in town and i must say it is very hard to tell if one place is that much better than another. One thing is for sure is that sushi is very expensive in Lebanon.
Sushi restaurants are divided into two categories in Lebanon:
- The classy and expensive ones (WokWok, Salmontini, Ybar, Le Sushi bar, and to a certain extent Le Yen and Maki.)
- The affordable and popular ones (Sushi Ko, Scuzi, Tsunami, Oceanus, Sushi Bento, Ichiban, Sushi Mooda, Kaiten etc …)

Not having a car makes getting out of Beirut difficult.  It means that I either have to depend on friends who have cars, or take a taxi.  Because of this, I haven’t gotten out of Beirut very much this summer.  I’ve been to Pierre and Friends in Batroun once, the Jbeil/Byblos old souk three times, [...]

Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel, two of the most important Mathematicians of our time argued at one point about the existence of time... Before you think that Beirut/NTSC has turned into a blog about such things as the quantum theory or whatever, I simply mentionned this fact because of this ad I have seen: "The past is present you lovelies" it says...

By Rana Moussaoui – ZAHLE, Lebanon

In the heart of the Bekaa Valley, a few miles from a temple dedicated to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, Lebanon's vineyards are in full bloom as the country edges into the global wine market.

"After European wine and new world wine, the wine of the so-called old world is emerging" as a market favourite, explains Ramzi Ghosn of the Massaya winery.

"And Lebanon, with its culinary and viniculture traditions, is playing an avant-garde role in the region."

Along with his brother, Ghosn is leading a new wave of Lebanese wines, using French grape varieties Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay, into the global market.

I got a late message yesterday from my cousin telling me that Chopsticks, the Chinese food local chain, is apparently out of chopsticks for the next two weeks!
What’s the point of eating chinese if it’s not with chopsticks? I mean this is like McDonalds running out of fries.

Picture this – an empty plot of beachfront land, the community trying to decide what to construct in its place, a bar or family-oriented restaurant, and in the midst of the arguments, Beirut is slammed a number of times:
Proponents of the [bar] project included Amit Patel, of the Rodeway Inn in Daytona Beach.
“It looks like Beirut when you drive down Daytona,” Mr. Patel said referring to the empty lot on which the developers want to build. “It looks bad. I just want something there.”
Other suggestions for the property included turning it into a beachfront park.