Via Nowlebanon

I noticed the ISF added few categories to the list of Trafficticket finder, most notably Member of Parliament, Minister, Police, Army and some Arab plate numbers.

It will be interesting to see whether any MPs will be fined, but my question is how will those convoys with all fake numbers be fined?

David Frem launched his second concept car yesterday at the Forum de Beirut at 2:00pm and is aiming at producing only 100 for sale. Frem’s slogan is “WAHDO HELMAK …BI3AMER WATANAK”.

We all would like to have a Lebanese sports car but Frem’s first car was a complete disaster, so unless he restarted from zero, he’ll be humiliating himself again. What i don’t understand though is why he is aiming that high?? Why not start with a simple car and then develop it?

Here’s an excerpt of what autoblog had to say on his first car, a bit harsh but not far from the truth.

Needless to say, the styling and build quality leaves a lot to be desired. The front end might bare a striking resemblance to Frem’s targeted marque, but the massive upright schnoz and gaping air intakes won’t lend themselves well to European pedestrian impact standards. And if you think the exterior is bad, the foam and wood interior, complete with offset steering wheel held in place by a bent metal bracket, is even worse.

via Beirut Drive-by Shooting

Here’s our beloved prime minister Saad Hariri behind King Juan Carlos of Spain and Formula One President Bernie Ecclestone.

Eurosport

Here’s the law as proposed by Mhammad Qabbani. I don’t know how you can be caught but the law is there.

“The new traffic law will state that any person using a mobile phone with the aim of revealing the locations of radars will be fined LL3 million,” he said.

“Anyone who uses a device to scramble radar signals, or vandalizes [radars], will be sentenced to two years in prison and will be fined LL10 million … If the violations are repeated, the punishments will increase,” Qabbani added. [DailyStar]

There was a lot of commotion right next to the place I’m staying in in Manhattan, so I got a little bit closer and saw the Bat Mobile with the Charging Bull statue on top!! They were shooting the new Batman movie!! It was really exciting with camera crews everywhere and helicopters. Then all of a sudden they yelled “ACTION!!” and another Bat Mobile came down the road!! (see video)

I asked one of the crew members what the title of the new movie was, he said “Arthur”. Apparently, it’s not Batman, but a movie about a billionaire who doesn’t know what to do with his money so he buys the Bat Mobile! lol!

I just saw Prime Minister Saad Hariri shake Alonso’s hands before the start of the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Formula1 GP. The King of Spain was also next to him.

Update: Sebastian Vettel the RBR German driver (my favorite) won the F1 2010 title and therefore became the youngest F1 champion ever. [Link]

I downloaded the Lebanese Car Plate directory app for the iPad that Najib was talking about in his previous post. It is very accurate. The app is pretty simple to use, all you need is WiFi access. Just input the license plate number and the letter and you’ll get the following information:

- Name of the owner
- Car make and model
- Owners address (a bit inaccurate in some cases)

The government should not allow this much information to be available to the public! It is a matter of public safety. I don’t want people to know where I live just by knowing my license plate!

In Shape is the first event of its kind in the Middle East, covering all Health, Beauty and Fitness related products and services. The second edition of this International event will be held in Beirut, Lebanon at BIEL exhibition center from Thursday November the 11th till Sunday the 14th and from 4:00 pm. till 10:00 pm. [More info]

I visited the fair on Friday and it was very crowded unlike I was expecting. My friend who has a supplement store (Shape Up Store) had a stand there and was selling like crazy. I never imagined Lebanese would be that much into supplements.

There were also Zumba dancers performing and entertaining the crowds. I hadn’t heard of this dance fitness program until recently and I must say it’s pretty intense and fun to watch.

I’m going to the US on vacation for 2 weeks.
Veeeeeery excited about this trip, I’ve never been to the US as an adult. I’ve been travelling so much for work in the past 2 years that I managed to score round trip business class tickets from Beirut to NYC via Paris for 410$ + 160,000 miles (I still have a lot of miles left, so it’s OK)

Some things I’m planning on doing in NYC:
- NBA game: New York Knicks vs. Houston Rockets
- Visit the NBA store
- Walk around Manhattan, I’m following the Lonely Planet guidebook
- NBC studios tour
- Visit Ground Zero
- Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade
- Experience Black Friday
- Visit Yankee Stadium
- Chinatown
- Take a picture in front of the Seinfeld restaurant
- Eat burgers at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien

and about a million other touristy things, haven’t memorized all of them.

I tried getting tickets for shows like Saturday Night Live and Daily Show with John Stewart. Impossible, no tickets available :(

As for the Vegas part of the trip, I’m staying at the MGM Grand. I have tickets to a couple of shows (Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield…)

I’m mostly looking forward to go to Vegas for the outlet malls. I have trouble finding clothes that fit me in Lebanon, I think I won’t experience the same issues there. Apparently the flight from NYC to Vegas has WiFi internet on board, so that should be pretty cool.

I’ll keep posting from there.

I must say i was wrong to underestimate the impact of those new radars installed by the ISF on the Lebanese drivers. They are so far way more efficient than random checkpoints and are resulting in a safer and more controlled driving, to a certain extent of course.

I still believe radars should not be kept as secret so that people get used to them and that some speed limits should be reconsidered, but driving on the highway is becoming more and more pleasant and few accidents are happening as a result.

The Trapster should not be banned as there is nothing wrong in taking extra precaution when knowing that a radar is nearby. After all, those radars were set to slow down Lebanese drivers, and not just fine them for the sake of it.

So in all, i must applaud Minister Ziad Baroud for this initiative and hope that he will follow it thoroughly and steadily, because it’s proving to be highly efficient and that’s not something you get that easily in Lebanon.

I just heard from a friend that whomever is caught using the Trapster or any other software that locates the radars will be fined 3,000,000 Lebanese Liras.

I didn’t read anything official yet related to it, but i suggest you take it off until further notice.

I passed by ABC Debayeh late last week and while there I spotted the Nestle Toll House which Chahe had previously posted about. I decided to try it out and post my review of it. The place looked pretty cozy and the three times I passed by Toll House this past week the place was always empty so finding seating shouldn’t be a problem. They’re located in the basement next to the kids area and right below the perfume section between the escalators.

I went up to what looked like a fridge and noticed they had a few different kind of cookies along with an assortment of cakes like kit kat brownies, cookie cups etc.. I decided to go for the classic chocolate chip, each piece is for LL3,000 which is very reasonable. The cookies and all their goodies are located inside a temperature controlled unit the keeps everything nice and warm.

I took my first bite from the cookie expecting the worst since my dessert experience in Lebanon has always been disappointing unless it’s Nutella banana crepes. To my surprise the cookie was actually pretty good. By far the best cookie I’ve had in Lebanon and over all I would say it would be in my top 10 cookies list (#1 is Ben’s Cookies). The biggest issue I had with the cookies was the sweetness, they were just too sweet which is disappointing since it means you can’t have too many. I had two and a half cookies and overdosed on sugar. Other than that they were chewy and delicious, had them three times out of the five days I was in Lebanon for.

This thing is huge! 4.5 kg of chocolate!
They still have a couple in stock if anyone’s interested, 120$ a pop