I am not sure if they are re-locating their Allenby branch but they seem to be opening on the main Weygand street in DownTown Beirut right next to Chanel.

Don’t miss this golden opportunity to buy ugly shoes for ONLY 300$! This would go perfectly with the 1500$ iPhone offer.

I like the new website, it looks nice, is very easy and quick to browse and user-friendly. Hopefully the next step will be shopping online. Also, I think they should allow us to buy e-tickets from the website directly specially that there’s a Cinema section.

Check the new website [Here].

ABC was putting the final touches on its newly renovated and expanded mall in Dbayyeh before officially opening it two days ago in the presence the President of the Republic of Lebanon General Michel Sleiman. [Link]

It’s quite amazing how quickly the renovation and expansion were done. What I loved most is that it is all lit and colorful at night. Here’s a picture:

Sorry for the average quality of the picture but I took this picture while driving

And this is how it is supposed to look like.

Here’s a post on the evolution of ABC Dbayyeh Mall for those interested. [ABC]

Margherita Pizzeria will be opening soon in ABC Achrafieh instead of Outpost Grill. For those interested, you can check out Chahe & Mark’s review of Margherita.

This being said, we will have two Pizzerias in ABC Mall Achrafieh now, Napoletana and Margherita.

When I first spotted the ad on the way up to Zouk Mosbeh, I thought it was related to the mall that’s opening next to Le Charcutier Aoun and Zaatar wou Zeit in Jeita. However, the contact number started with a 01 (Beirut area code), so I googled Karout mall and as it turns out, it is a new ten-story mall opening in Boulevard Camille Chamoun, besides Gallerie Semaan.

You can read more about it [Here].

According to this long article on blood diamonds by Al-Akhbar’s Patrick Galey, “it is highly likely – although impossible to prove – that Lebanese consumers are inadvertently funding the Israeli Army through diamond purchases made in boutiques in Beirut”. As one expert on the diamond trade put it to Al-Akhbar, Israeli diamonds “are no doubt flowing into Lebanon,” unbeknownst to jewelers.” [Full Article]

This being said, we should no longer buy overpriced tiny pieces of diamonds as we may be funding the enemy. Long live Zircon lol!

Google Earth 2005

Google Earth2006

Google Earth 2008

Google Earth 2009

Google Earth 2011

There are still no pictures on Google Earth from the year 2012 but the new ABC mall in Dbayyeh promises to be huge. This is how it should look like when it’s done.

More Pictures here

It doesn’t say when it will open but at the rate at which new shops are popping in the Beirut Souks, I am guessing pretty soon. I absolutely love LEGO so I will definitely pay the shop a visit.

Even though ABC mall in Dbayyeh is relatively small, I never find my way out easily specially that everything looks the same to me in the cosmetics and beauty section. However my friend pointed out to me the other day that whenever the floor becomes black, this means we are nearing the exit.

I’ve been going to ABC for years now and I never knew about that. I don’t think it applies however to the new entrances.

I’ve seen singers and celebrities posing for brands or bridal shops but not advertising their song at the same time.

After the collapse of the Achrafieh building, and rumors that the Jal el Dib bridge could collapse any second, the authorities decided to close down the bridge and widen the adjacent road.

This all sounds great but why did they block the entrance to the O&C Fresh Market? What’s the use of all those piles of concrete blocks separating cars coming from inside Jal el Dib and those coming from the highway?

I am lucky to have a brother and few cousins and friends in the U.S as I can easily order my electronics from there, because to be honest, you have to be either crazy or desperate to buy them from Lebanon.

There are few decent shops in Lebanon or sales people who can get you good deals on laptops and other electronics, but most of the time, you have a high chance of getting ripped off.

I was looking for a new laptop to replace my dying Toshiba, and the price range I was looking at was between 600-800$. After some thorough research, I had to choose between a 17-inch HP laptop and a 15-inch Lenovo Thinkpad E520.

I opted for the Lenovo as it was 200$ cheaper, is more reliable and had everything I needed in a laptop. It’s a core i5 2.4 GHZ 4GB DDR3 500GB HDD for only 617$.

When comparing the prices of laptops in Lebanon, there was at least a 200 to 300$ difference between most laptops I found online and the ones I found in shops. I understand there’s shipment fees and customs and taxes but that’s a bit too much.

I have to ask here why doesn’t the government lower its taxes on electronics in general and let Lebanese retail shops be more competitive and sell more? Most people I know want to buy their electronics from the U.S because they think products are either over-priced or not good in Lebanon.

BHV at City Mall have a really great deal on the Nespresso Essenza machine. The usual price is around LL350,000 but yesterday they started selling them for $160 which is a great price. It would make a great Christmas gift but they only had 4 left last night and I picked up 2 so if you want one HURRY.

If you’ve tried going to City Mall at night then you know what I’m talking about. Finding a parking spot is literally impossible and driving around looking for one is a waste of time. Instead I’ve got a tip for you, just don’t park in City Mall.

Instead park across from City Mall on the other side of the highway. There are PLENTY of parking spots available and then just use the cool multi-floored pedestrian bridge to get to the other side. The pedestrian bridge drops you right at the City Mall entrance. You save a lot of time this way and the bridge is actually pretty neat.