A a friend of mine contacted me around two weeks back asking me if I wanted to review his McLaren and of course I said yes. After spending the day with it this weekend I can easily review the car with 3 words… “I want one”. Seriously I want one. I can’t afford to buy it but that doesn’t change the fact I really really want it.
There are a lot of reviews of the McLaren online and Top Gear have a great one which you can watch on YouTube. So, not wanting to come about this review in the same way I decided to look at the car differently. It’s obviously a fast super car and everyone already knows that but I was curious to how the car would perform as a daily driver. I would hate to spend this much on a car and then only drive it on weekends. I’d want to drive the car to work, to the gym or even to TSC to pick up some groceries.
First thing I looked for after getting into the car was cup holders and I ended up finding two right behind the center console. Cup holders are great for holding your drinks but they’re also more useful for storing items like your phone or sunglasses. The McLaren not only has two easy to access cup holders but there is also a 12v socket inside one of them which means you can plug in your phone charger as well. That’s practical. Another practical feature is the AC, both the driver and passenger have separate control panels which is a feature you usually find in large cars but not super cars.
The seats are also fully electric and have 3 memory positions which is convenient if the car is being shared between say a couple or family members. The sound system is naturally located in the center console and is made by the high end audio guru’s Meridian. The sound system control panel is a large touch screen that is more than double the size of the iPhone and is 100% iPhone/iPod compatible. Once you connect your iPhone or iPod to the car you can then navigate your music by touch and even view album art beautifully all on the center console screen. I think it has the best iPod integrated system I’ve seen so far. The car boot is a lot bigger than I expected. I wouldn’t take the car to Khoury Home if I need to get a 50inch screen, but it’s definitely supermarket friendly.
The McLaren is very comfortable to drive. I actually found it more comfortable and forgiving on worn out roads when compared to say my old Z4. I’m also pretty tall (6’1) and I didn’t feel claustrophobic or cramped in the car neither did I have problems finding my correct seating position (the seats are incredibly adjustable). Driving the car I was actually impressed by the fact I could cruise in it at 80km/h and not feel like I should be driving it a lot faster. Of course once you step on the gas the car is breathtakingly fast but as a daily driver you want to be able to drive on regular roads at regular speeds and the McLaren does that really well. Even the car’s gas mileage is pretty good at 15mpg which is similar to my FJ Cruiser. I did find the brake peddle a bit too stiff to press but it’s something you would get used to after a few hours in the car.
The only two things that hurt the car as a daily driver is the ride height and the doors. It’s a pretty low ride since it’s a sports car which means the majority of the speed bumps you’ll need to take sideways. The second issue is the doors, they swing open upwards which means you can’t park in very tight spots. If the parking spot is tight you won’t be able to open the doors so you always need to make sure you have ample room on the sides. But again if you’ve paid this much for the car, I doubt you’re going to be squeezing it anywhere. Valet wouldn’t be an issue on weekends since it’s a car that every club would love to have parked right at the main entrance. Just drive up and point to the valet where you want to park and they’ll move whatever car is in that spot for you.
I love the car but then again who wouldn’t? The thing is I don’t only love it because it’s a super car, I love it because it’s a super car you can actually use every day. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want one, I do I just can’t afford it. But, if anyone from McLaren is reading this, give me a fat discount (like 75%) and you’ve got yourself another customer.
As I mentioned almost two weeks back, I wa surprised to find on the ISF website that I received a speeding ticket dating back from October 2011. Even though the ticket was from October, it was published on the website in April 2012, which means over 6 months late.
Nevertheless, it turns out I am not the only one receiving late speeding tickets, so I followed the instructions on the website and called LibanPost. After several attempts, the LibanPost operator informed me that my ticket did not yet arrive and that it is still at Jounieh’s police station. I told them that it’s a very old ticket dating back from October but they confirmed to me that it wasn’t received yet.
Having said that, I tried to find Jounieh’s police station contact number but in vain, so I will be waiting for LibanPost to contact me now. However what amazes me is that I passed my “mecanique” in December even though I had unpaid tickets on my profile. I understand delaying the speeding ticket on the website but shouldn’t it be updated with the “Mecanique” database at least?
Last but not least, I was told by a friend that I cannot pay LibanPost once they deliver my ticket but have to go to their office to do so, which means that it is useless to ask LibanPost to deliver the ticket since you will have to go back and pay it afterwards.
When I was in Lebanon over the weekend I tried to book a table at MAD but it was fully packed so we ended up going to Life instead. When we first got there the music wasn’t so bad but that’s probably the only good thing I have to say about the place.
I basically didn’t like it.
Firstly the majority of the people there were either men and women aged 40 and up or really old men in their 60′s and 70′s with young bimbos or Eastern Europeans. The style of people kinda reminded me of Medusa in Jounieh. If you’ve never been to Medusa by the way that’s a good thing so don’t worry about it.
The music also went downhill or maybe I’m just old and lame but the kinda music they started playing would make even Skybar’s seem better. There was a “show” around 1AM where they two girls got up on the cat walk to dance. It was girl on girl action and it lasted for maybe one full song or two and then it was over and they were gone. Too short of a show and there should have been more girls (preferably also stripping).
Then there were a bunch of little things that stuck out as well. I thought the place looked a lot better when it was dimly lit (like in the photo above) but most of the time they had bright lights flashing and so the general ambiance was too bright and it looked tacky. When the girls were dancing they had these bright lights on behind them which brought to notice a huge dirty smear all over the glass window behind the girls. It was so distracting that I was noticing the glass more than the girls! Out table was up on a balcony and there was a horrible make shift bar underneath us. It looked like it was built after the place was finished and it looked cheap, old, broken and dirty. It really wasn’t a pleasant sight to see. The waiters also dressed like those in Lebanese restaurants (black pants, white shirt and black vests) which isn’t very cool. When we ordered a bottle of whiskey they brought us 18 years instead of the regular 12. When we ordered a bottle of vodka they got us the larger 1L bottle instead of the regular .75L. Doesn’t sound like a big issue but it felt like they were trying to get all these extra charges off us whenever they could.
On the other hand their roof is actually pretty cool. It’s similar to BO18 and opens up and closes so it’s an outdoor and indoor place at the same time. Their sound system was also pretty good with a lot of deep bass but if they only used it to play some decent music…
Anyway you can check out the place for yourself, they’re located behind BO18 right next to Sleep Comfort.
When I’m in Lebanon I live in Seheili (it’s like 5 minutes after Jeita) and for some reason a lot of thefts and robberies take place there. For example my building got robbed twice during construction and the second time our buildings caretaker was held at gun point. Then yesterday night a neighbor across the street had his FJ Cruiser stolen. If that’s not bad enough the thieves contacted him from Baalbak the next day and told him he could have his car back for $10,000!
Seheili is starting to sound like the ghetto. It’s really odd.
I was just watching the live coverage of the 5 story collapse on MTV and I have to say the studio news anchor was incredibly annoying. She kept cutting people off and then when another news anchor was interviewing the head of the hospital where they had taken the injured to, she interrupted them abruptly telling them they had to stop because the news was about to start. THIS IS THE NEWS! What the hell are you talking about? I can’t believe she cut them off so they could go into the news.
So based on the feedback I received in my previous post I got myself an MTC Touch line the day I arrived to Lebanon. I also subscribed to their 500MB package for $19 which is slightly less then what I pay back in Kuwait for the same amount of bandwidth.
My experience didn’t start positively. I got the line and subscribed to Mobile internet at 6PM but I only had my internet activated the next morning. Then I only had EDGE not 3G. I called up customer support and found it very frustrating.
First of all it takes a few minutes of redialing to actually connect to 111. Then when you connect you are FORCED to listen to all the menu options. You can’t skip by pressing the number you want, it doesn’t work that way. You need to hear the automated machine read out ALL the options and only once she is done you can select an option. So what should be a 10 second process is suddenly a minute long. I spoke to customer support 3 times and it was frustrating all 3 times since they couldn’t solve my issue. One guy said I should wait till its 24 hours since I signed up, another said to call again after 24 hours and they would register a complaint, another said I should visit the service center. When I asked for the APN information one guy told me he didn’t have it and I should visit their website. Actually one guy refused to file a complaint even because according to him the service was working since I got EDGE. I told him aren’t you guys advertising 3G? Aren’t you guys advertising the fastest mobile internet? My phone works with 3G and I’m only getting EDGE not the 3G you promised so the service is NOT working.
Anyway finally after spending around 20 minutes on the line mostly on hold a guy got back to me after discussing it with one of his IT guys. This is how I was able to activate 3G on my iPhone 4s based on their instructions:
- Go to network settings and choose Alfa as my operator
- Then after I do that I should swap it back to automatic
- Turn off and on the iPhone
- Voila, 3G is now active
I thought that was strange but hey, it worked and that’s all I cared for. If the guy told me to stand on my foot while shaking the phone over my head I would have done that if it meant getting 3G working.
And yes, 3G on the iPhone is great. It’s fast and I love it. Earlier I went and parked under this old railway track in Jounieh and got online with my MacBook while tethering to my iPhone and the connection was great. I used to hate coming to Lebanon because of the terribly slow internet connection but now it’s suddenly become a joy. I also have 3G up in my house in Seheili (around 10 minutes after Jeita) which is also great. So right now I’m extremely happy with my 3G on MTC Touch.
The MEA pilots are still on strike even though the strike was supposed to end yesterday. My wife went to the airport today and turns out her flight out of Beirut Airport was canceled and she was stranded there along with hundreds of other passengers. I managed to book her on a Jazeera Airways flight back to Kuwait but I have no idea if MEA will refund her ticket or not.
I didn’t have a problem when the pilots were delaying all the flights by two hours. I actually was effected by their strike and they had my full support on it. But completely canceling flights that’s a completely different thing. While a two hour delay is a hassle, canceling flights is a life changer. It has a much bigger effect on everyone. Imagine you’re on vacation somewhere around the world and your flight back to your home has been canceled. I’ve never been in that situation and I hope I would never have to. They had a lot of support from passengers and people when they were delaying flights by two hours but by canceling all the flights I believe they’ve lost all the support they had including mine. I was with the pilots before, but I’m not anymore.
Note: It’s interesting that I couldn’t find any news on this strike neither on Naharnet nor Daily Star.
I’m currently at the Beirut Airport and my flight is being delayed because of the pilot strike Najib posted about below.
Until a few moments ago no flight was showing as delayed. If you had called the airport before arriving to check on your flight they would have told you it was leaving on time. If you asked the employee at check in if your flight was delayed they would have told you no. If you entered Duty Free past the immigration desks and checked the screens your flight would have also shown to be on time. I only realized my flight might be delayed because of the Naharnet article Najib linked to. Even then I checked the Beirut Airport website and the departure screen in the lounge and it still showed I was leaving on time so I figured my flight was affected. Only when it was nearly boarding time and I was about to leave lounge did I find out my flight was delayed. On my way out of the lounge I asked an employee if my flight was taking off on time and she told me no it was delayed by 2 hours.
Even though my flight is delayed and I have to sit and kill time in our boring airport, I do understand why the pilots are on strike and I stand by them. You don’t dump an employee who has been serving you for over 30 years because he ended up getting cancer. I’m not saying the pilot should continue flying (depending on his condition he probably can’t). What I’m saying is that the pilot should continue to undergo treatment on his MEA insurance and once the treatment is complete if the pilot can continue to fly then he should. In the meantime while being treated they could assign him a desk job or accommodate him some other way. Keep in mind this isn’t a new employee or one just has been with them for a short period of time, we’re talking 30+ years here.
Update: Here is a response from a MEA pilot
First of all i offer our apologies for this delay, and thank you for your support. Believe me when i say it was the only way to get our management to listen. The Lebanese pilots association is not demanding that the captain returns to fly, but they are only asking that this captain get his rights as described by the Lebanese law; receive 2 months full salary and 2 months half salary on sick leave where after that the Lebanese DCA shall decide if he is fit to fly and fully recovered or not. MEA gave him half of what the law says and fired him after 38 years of work during his sick leave in the middle of his treatment (against the Lebanese labor law). Again my sincere apologies and thank you for this support.
Found this photo awhile back of my grandad (guy in middle bottom) taken back in the 30s or 40s in the Armenian Qarantina camp. I think it’s worth sharing.
I found this place during the summer while walking around downtown Beirut. I think they’ve got the best ice cream in Lebanon easily. My favorite flavors are strawberry, pistachio and hazelnut. 3 scoops came in at around LL14,000 which isn’t bad when compared to placed like Coldstone Creamery and Marble Slab (two franchises I don’t think are available in Lebanon).
Yesterday when I watched the video above and read about how the Police officer was made to apologize to the Saudi Prince I got really really upset. In case you don’t know the story, a Saudi Prince parked in a no parking zone in Beirut, a cop came to give him a ticket and the Saudi Prince insulted the cop and the Lebanese. A crowd nearby overheard the conversation and attacked the Prince sending him to the hospital. The cop was then told to go to the hospital and apologize to the Prince.
As I said, I got really upset at how the cop was made to apologize to the Prince but then it hit me… diplomatic immunity.
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country’s laws (although they can be expelled). [Source]
How many times have you watched a movie where people with diplomatic immunity in the States commit a crime and the cops can’t do anything about it and most of the time have to apologize to the diplomats. It’s unfair yes, but at least it’s not a Lebanese only issue or a corruption thing. I’m not defending the Prince here but I wanted to highlight that the procedure that was taken in having the cop apologize to the diplomat is one that is required by the host country.
I’ve been using the new iPhone for a couple of days now and these are somethings you need to know if you’re planning on using it in Lebanon.
Siri speaks and understands both English and French but not Arabic. You can’t speak both English and French to it at the same time, you have to decide which language you prefer and select it from the Siri menu.
You also need to have internet on your phone to be able to use Siri, even for simple tasks like setting the alarm. This is where 3G plays an important role since it speeds up the response time for Siri. With a regular Edge connection Siri isn’t as responsive and you won’t enjoy using her.
A big issue I have with Siri is you can’t teach it where your home or office is. For some reason Siri uses Google Maps addresses to learn these locations and Google Maps addresses is currently only available in the US. I don’t understand why Siri won’t learn based on my GPS location. If you’ve been using iOS 5 recently you might have played around with the new Reminder App. In that App you could teach it locations using GPS for example you could set a reminder that once you get home you need to walk the dog or once you get to the office remind me to call a supplier. So why Siri can’t learn locations with GPS is confusing specially if another app already does it.
The iPhone 4S is like the previous iPhone 4 with the biggest differences being Siri, a better camera and a faster chip which you will only notice when running games. If you want to see how better the new camera is download the two images below and compare:
