We all thought there were only speculations this time as well, but the gas crisis is real and is happening. I don’t know what planet LBC is living in, as they claim only 20% of gas stations are closed and there’s barely any traffic in the open ones.

My brother went to fill up the car this morning and all 7 stations he visited refused to fill up gas. Funny thing is that the foreign workers in the still operational gas stations are now working like bouncers we find in night clubs whereas they pick whomever they want and deny others.

All this because of the stubbornness of a minister and an antique political system that still relies on the government to regulate fuel prices.

I was listening to Mix FM like half an hour ago when they had some competition going on and the question was: What is the largest man-made structure in the world?

The correct answer is not the Great Wall of China as Simon said but is the Fresh kills, the rubbish dump on Staten Island, New York.

I demand that winners be disqualified and blogbaladi compensated for having the right answer! (Not sure though what the prize was in the first place).

Nevertheless, I never thought there’s a dump bigger than the Karantina one. This is utterly disgusting! But of course unlike our dear government, the American government has plans to turn it into a park and ordered its complete shutdown few years back.

Roadster diner introduced proudly their low-cal menu two or three weeks ago and even though it looks delicious and isn’t that bad, the pricing is just unacceptable!

Check out those two burgers, one from the original menu and another from the newly introduced low-cal menu:

P.L.T: Patty, Lettuce and Tomatoes. (7000 LBP)

Ever Slim Burger: Grilled Patty, Lettuce, Grilled onions, Tomatoes, pickles and our Low-cal sauce. (11750 LBP)

The only difference is the onions and the pickles and the low-cal sauce. Do those amount to 4750 Liras?

I was thinking the other day how Chili’s was the most expensive diner in town and is now more affordable than Roadster and many other diners and have much bigger portions.

I hope something is done about those prices in Roadster because I am starting to think twice before going and I am sure many are doing the same, not that I cannot afford it, but it is just not worth it.

(Picture taken from inside Le Yen and you can see the parking in front)

It is either all Lebanese like to show off or are plain stupid. That’s the only rational conclusion I could come up with yesterday while having dinner at Le Yen in Antelias. Le Yen is a really good Sushi place for those unaware of it.

Why am I saying that about the Lebanese?
Because I usually try to avoid giving my car to the valet parking people in Lebanon since they are not trustworthy and could wreck your car (And most importantly they make sure they mention on the small ticket they give you that they are not responsible of any damages or thefts that might occur to your car).

The great thing about Le Yen and Carlito’s is that there is a parking right across the street as you can see in the picture below meaning that you never need to give it to the Valet parking there, yet throughout the night, most people who visited the place gave it to the Valet instead of parking and we are not talking fancy cars here, just random cars.

Is it this hard to park your own car? or to walk for barely 1 minute? or maybe it is harmful to the public image that you don’t give the valet your car?

As you probably read or heard, Mark who posts here on BlogBaladi and is behind the 248am blog in Kuwait is being sued for sharing his experience at Benihana online and critisizing few things.

This issue has attracted a LOT of attention in the Middle East and even worldwide, to the extent that Benihana Inc. had to issue a PR to isolate itself from the incident.

Having said that, I believe it is extremly important that Mark win this case or that Benihana people get back to their senses and drop the case because it will affect blogs and bloggers not just in Kuwait but in the whole Middle East.

Imagine thinking twice and taking the necessary precautions everytime you want to critisize a restaurant that served bad food. This is absurd and unacceptable by all standards. Of course, this does not mean there shouldn’t be certain standards for bloggers when posting, but what is being challenged here is the simple fact of expressing one’s discontent about his/her experience at a certain place.

I’ve had myself many bad experiences at restaurants in Lebanon which I shared online and instead of receiving lawsuits, had impressive and unexpected feedbacks from the restaurants’ managers and staff members.

This is how you gain people’s trust and you enhance your image to the public, by caring about every customer and handling every comment you get, not by issuing lawsuits for people who don’t like your food.

Last but not least, I believe a lawsuit should be issued by Lebanese bloggers against Benihana for stereotyping when they assumed for some reason that Mark was a Lebanese and asked him if he was so.

What does that even mean? So what if he is Lebanese? He’s a bad person?

Until now, the lawsuit is still on and it might take some time before we have a verdict, or before whomever issued that lawsuit drops it and realizes the damage he’s done.

Chahe posted a month back about Jal el Dib municipality’s incompetence and it seems that they are on a mission to prove that they are the best at what they do.

Aside from their need for 15 manhole covers needed within a 4 meter radius, they have turned the roads into a jungle road and did not find time to fix it for over 2 months now.

The saddest part of all is that no one is paying those shops on both ways any compensation for the damage those works have done and are still doing to their business.

We woke up today to find out that we have no water, not even a single drop and it’s been raining heavily all day! The whole day passed and it kept raining and there’s still no water available.

I mean one would expected water shortage during summer time, but in winter time? Moreover, the mountains are very close to the coastal cities and there were no storms that could have damaged the pipes or whatever brings the water down, so it would be really interesting if someone would explain to us why there’s no water.

One thing puzzles me about the Lebanese is how scared and worried they get at the slightest incident, yet brag about partying during the war and not caring about the bombs. My friends were at Gemmayze on Saturday night and there was barely anyone there, or at least not compared to what Gemmayze looks on a Saturday night.

Why you ask?
Because there’s no government and some guy called Bellmare is handing out the STL report to another dude called Daniel Fransen, the STL pre-trial judge.

I wish someone would come out and tell people if he handed out the report, there are still at least 6 weeks until something is announced publically, if anything is gonna come out at all. Second and most important, i wish our army and ISF forces stop spreading their elite commando units on the streets and highways and scare the shit out of people!

You go to Beirut and feel as if it’s a war zone even though nothing’s happening. The last thing people need is a whole SWAT team guarding the intersections and sitting on top of their tanks parked on the side walks.

I spotted this sign in Gemmayze. Are you allowed to dictate your own exchange rate??

Once there was a pothole that decided that its life mission should be to break down people’s cars. It got so excited that it was able to achieve this mission that it peed all over the place…

Jal El Dib municipality put up a countdown timer on a small clock tower for the year 2000 back in 1999. The counter says “Avant An 2000″ (Before the year 2000). 10 years have passed since the year 2000 and the counter is still there… 10 YEARS! It’s not like they haven’t noticed it! There’s a picture of the late Pierre Gemayel right under it!

And the funny thing is that the clocks don’t indicate the right time, each side says something different.

Qatar having won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 against favourites England, i started wondering about the many obstacles that might take place:

- Can Qatar organize the world cup during the summer with its scorching temperatures? Frank Beckenbauer suggested it be held in January or February.

- Will there be alcohol in pubs and restaurants?

- Will the Qatari officials allow “inappropriate” clothes in the stadiums? on the streets? or on the beaches?

I have no doubt the Qatari will pull a great world cup in terms of stadiums and facilities, but i don’t see how they will be able to manage the World Cup fans.

Update: Interesting Article on Qatar hosting the world cup

I am not a big fan of Local TV stations but i do switch occasionally to see what’s on. Around 11 am today, i was watching on MTV a show called “Well Done“, that basically teaches you how to make food recipes. They were making chocolate truffles which i absolutely love, and which is why i did not switch the station.

Nevertheless, i could not help myself from noticing how unprofessional and distracted the hostess of the show was. She was complaining that she wants some music, then that she wants her coffee and was playing with her phone (Blackberry i think) while the cook was working on his truffles. I don’t know if she was having a bad morning since the show was live on a Sunday, but i did not see this coming, specially not from a respectable TV like MTV.

PS: I still don’t have a freaking clue on how to make those truffles. It is too damn hard, i’d rather buy them.

We’ve been witnessing a considerable increase in armed robberies, car thefts, murders, and other types of criminal activities in Lebanon the past few months.

I was puzzled by that fact specially with the appointment of a competent Interior minister such as Ziad Baroud and having Elias el Murr as minister of Defence, but i think one of the many reasons that are keeping those stats on the high is the lack of any considerable financial fines.

What i am saying is that for example, a Lebanese radical Islamist named Omar Bakri, banned from London because of his implication in the bus bombings and found guilty by the Lebanese military tribunal “of incitement to murder, theft and the possession of arms and explosives along with over 40 Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Saudis” was bailed out for the amount of 5 Million Lebanese liras, which is approximately 3400$ only !!! [AFP]

Regardless of whether he has wasta or not, or if a certain political party pressured the officials to release him, our justice body should set a reasonable bail amount relative to such crimes.

If a terrorist can bail out of jail for barely few thousand dollars, why not hijack banks and steal cars and bail out for probably few hundred dollars?

Remember the Lebanese car and phone directories Itunes apps that were causing a major controversy few weeks back?

Well the phone directory stopped working while the car directory is still fully operational.

So much for taking the proper measures and putting the people behind it in jail.