I had no clue we have speech therapists in Lebanon. There are a lot of politicians in Lebanon who could make use of some sessions.

Speaking of speech therapists, I recommend you watch [The King's Speech] if you haven’t yet.

Does it apply to American workers in the Embassy in Awkar?

Thank you Khalil

Cool Bishop!

Nice Catch Myriam!

Nathan Sawaya is a Lebanese-American artist who builds custom three-dimensional sculptures and large-scale mosaics using LEGO bricks and is the man behind The Art Of The Brick exhibition. I am a big Lego fan and this guy’s work is just amazing!

THE ART OF THE BRICK, an exhibition by artist Nathan Sawaya, is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit will be the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and will feature brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. Don’t miss the show named ‘One of CNN’s Ten Global Must-See Exhibitions.’ [Link]

For those interested, the exhibition opens on June 14th 2013 and will be on display until January 5th 2014. It will be “the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and will feature brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya.”

You can check out more information about the exhibition, the artist and the tickets [Here].

Thanks Hady!

Every time the summer is here, we are reminded that the beaches in Lebanon are becoming for the rich and that the entrance fees to beaches and pools are even more expensive that the previous year, yet somehow we have new resorts opening every year and the beaches are getting more and more packed.

We know for a fact that people are not getting wealthier in Lebanon, so it’s either people are willing to spend a big portion of their salaries to go for a swim or the numbers are exaggerated. I think that while entrance fees are unbelievably high at certain resorts, there are a lot of cheaper alternatives and free beaches that few of us know of.

K-Lynn Fashion show at C-Flow Beach Resort

However, this doesn’t justify the outrageous prices that we have to pay for beaches that are illegally occupied and exploited. The numbers are scary and there doesn’t seem to be a proper way to resolve this issue except setting up high taxes on these properties and forcing their owners to pay substantial amounts of money to cover our debts (Or in Lebanon’s case, go into some of the politicians’ pockets who will reinvest them in some of these illegal beach resorts they “own”).

Picture from Al-Akhbar

Many Lebanese are fed up with this reality but that’s one of these issues in Lebanon that is very hard to tackle as there are way too many parties involved.

The ministry estimates the total area of intrusions in this region to be more than 2,247,884 square meters (m²). They include 1,651,707 m² of reclaimed sea, and land facilities taking up to 162,383 m². Mount Lebanon’s share of aggressions totals half that of the country’s coastline. [Link]

Lama Yassine met many of her friends last week as if she knew she wouldn’t see them again — the 31-year-old Lebanese woman died in the early hours of Saturday morning in a car crash.
Described by her friends as someone who loved life, Lama died on Saturday at 4.30am when her car suddenly veered off course and hit the central reservation on Al Khail Road. [Link]

I was asked by few people in the last couple of days whether I knew Lama Yassine or if she’s a famous person since everyone’s been mourning her online. Even though her face does look familiar, I only know many friends of her but Lama was apparently very loved by her family and friends. Lama Yassine’s body will be flown to Lebanon for the funeral.

Sincere condolences to her family and friends.

Nice ad for Father’s Day by Exotica. This one is still my favorite though.

Someone was telling me yesterday that a guy swam all the day from Beirut to Amchit and broke the national record of the longest swim of 42km set in the 1960s by Abdel-Latif Abu al-Hauf. I thought of Wassim Nasser first because I remember he attempted to break the record last year but failed as the weather was bad and he was swimming against the wind, and it turned out to be him indeed.

Great Job Wassim!

In the past few weeks, I lost track of what’s happening in the Lebanese Basketball League but from what I understood, there were some legal issues regarding a controversial game that came in Amchit’s favor and as a result halted the season. There were also internal problems with Sagesse team after Mechantaf’s resignation which I don’t know if they were resolved or not.

Added to that, the National Team is getting ready for the Asian Cup and the Federation is keen to redo the same mistakes it always does by naturalizing one or two players (Riyadi player Loren Woods in that case) and paying them extravagant amounts of money (1000$ per day) while Lebanese players get nothing and are forced to join the team or get banned for 3 years.

To make things even worse, there are apparently some technicalities that need to be sorted out in order to allow Lebanese-Australian Basketball player Julian Khazzouh to join the national team, and there might not be enough time for that, but the federation and according to Malaaeb, wants to direct the blame on Khazzouh and is considering banning him for 3 years.

To be honest, I will never understand this twisted logic. Why should a player be forced to join his national team? It’s not like joining the army to defend your country from aggressors. A person should be proud and honored to join his team and not forced and threatened to do so. If he has reasons not to join the team, then it’s his loss. Few years back, I learned that one of the key players in the national team almost got banned because he had to undergo a surgery and rest for the summer but they wouldn’t let him. This is beyond ridiculous.

The funny part is that Khazzouh, for those of you who don’t know, is not just any player but a very talented one who has good chances of joining an NBA team one day. Having said that, the federation should be supporting him in his efforts to join an NBA team, not force him to join the national team or else punish him.

On a last note, I am surprised Ghassan Sarkis didn’t include his son Karl in the final selection of the team. It won’t be the same without him.

Every now and then, we hear about new plans or petitions for the restoration of old houses in Beirut but the truth is years are passing by and these houses will soon be replaced by new skyscrapers, highway projects or even parking lots. As far as the government and related ministries are concerned, actions speak louder than words.

I am all for preserving gardens and creating more green spaces in Beirut and all across Lebanon, but I honestly can’t tell whether I should be for or against the plan aimed at creating an underground parking below the Jesuits Garden in Achrafieh. There’s a lot of ambiguity around this issue and just like the Fouad Boutros highway, none of the information being handled in the media can be verified.

Picture from UrbanStances

Here are few questions that came to my mind while reading about the Jesuits Garden:

Are the protesters/activists confident that this is a bad plan in the long run specially in an overcrowded area like Achrafieh? Are there any pictures of what this new project will look like? Is the municipality of Beirut going to tear down 200 year old trees present in the garden? What will happen to the 4th century mosaics on site? Are there a lot of daily visits to this garden? What is the estimated cost and duration of this project? Is it sustainable to build a garden on top of an underground parking? What happens if the project gets approved?

Picture from UrbanStances

If activists and protesters don’t deal with this issue properly and have a serious talk about it with the concerned parties, people will lose interest and the project will eventually get implemented maybe even without a garden.

Speaking of protests, I hope the ones held lately will encourage the residents of Rmeil, Jeitawi and all of Achrafieh to visit public gardens more often and activists to organize frequent events there. The reason why I am saying that is because I work next to a public garden in Achrafieh which no one ever goes to, and I am sure the same applies to a lot of public gardens in Beirut and all across Lebanon, so let’s start by giving the municipalities a good reason to reconsider their plans by making use of the green spaces available to us. I always thought the reason people don’t go to those public gardens is because they are not properly maintained, but that’s not true.

For those interested in knowing what the Beirut municipality had to say about this, check the interview L’Orient Le Jour has done with Rachid Achkar.

You can check out other pictures [Here].

via Mustapha

I posted few days that Lebanese beaches are no longer safe for swimming according to a study published in the DailyStar and a statement from the Green Party’s President Nada Zaarour. However and as pointed out by Habib, Zaarour’s statement contradicts with the study results as shown in the map (which is not clear) in the same article.

I looked for a bigger and clearer map and was able to find one on Afedmag.com that you can check [Here].

It doesn’t mean we don’t have a pollution problem but at least there are still plenty of beaches where one can swim in Lebanon, such as Chekka, Batroun, Amchit, AUB beach, Damour, Jiyyeh, Rmeileh, Tyr and Naccoura.

There’s something still confusing me though, how samples collected from Jbeil and Sidon all measured above the 100 fecal coliforms mark, and samples collected in Mina and Sidon came back borderline toxic, yet the map shows Sidon, Jbeil and Tripoli beaches as acceptable.

I don’t know whether it was a publicity stunt that DePrague’s owner pulled by changing his mind after having decided to close down his pub, but the reasons for closure and re-opening it are not valid specially the ones linked to the smoking ban and a change of atmosphere in Hamra. If anything, Hamra changed in favor of DePrague (and others) and became a street packed with pubs and nights, therefore attracting more potential customers.

Kayan opened in Gemmayze even before DePrague and is still packed every day of the week despite the smoke ban.

Owner Raed Habib decided to close his doors, with several culprits sharing the blame: a year of declining revenue due to an economic recession, an increase in unrest in Lebanon and the region, and a rise of reported incidents of violence in Hamra, a smoking ban that appears to be selectively enforced in the country and a general change of atmosphere in the neighborhood. [Link]

“There was so much pressure. I couldn’t ignore it,” said Raed Habib, who opened De Prague in 2005, making it one of the first establishments in Hamra to attract a popular following after the civil war. So dedicated were the staff and customers that they organized a sit-in at the restaurant Wednesday evening and then walked to the house of Habib to convince him to change his mind.

“If so many people genuinely want the place to stay open then let us give it a chance,” Habib said Thursday morning after a steady stream of patrons visited his home late Wednesday until after midnight. [Link]

I wouldn’t be surprised if this tower is among the 72% of newly built projects in Beirut that are still unsold. I don’t think you can buy a flat there even if you win the lottery.

I have already prepared a post on how to spend a day in Faraya but I will save it till next week and share this post on the ATV road trip adventure Mark had during the last weekend.

It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but never had time to plan it. If I am not mistaken, you can also plan a trip from Faraya to the Cedars during winter using a skidoo.

Here are few excerpts from the post. You can read it the full post [Here].

This trip will take the whole day so there’s no need to plan anything before or after it. Just have a proper breakfast because it’s a long ride and get a jacket.

This past long weekend I spent it in Lebanon and among the activities I did the most fun was an ATV road trip adventure. I didn’t really know what to expect, I had just previously heard off a friend that you can take an ATV trip with a guide from the popular ski area Faraya, all the way to the Cedars (a few mountains away) and back. The trip ended up being just unbelievably fun.

Depending on where you stay in Lebanon, getting to Faraya will take you anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour with no traffic. Faraya is a popular destination in the winter since a lot of ski resorts are based there, but in the summer, it’s a popular destination for outdoor activities like offroading, mountain biking, camping and ATV exploration. I had booked a bunch of ATVs for me and my friends before arriving to Lebanon and because we wanted to start the day early we got to the starting location in Faraya at around 9:30AM. From there we got geared up, given basic safety tips and the chance to try out the ATVs before heading out on our trip.

The trip is 80% off road with the rest of the time being tiny tarmac roads. It was an incredibly fun journey full of beautiful scenery and general seclusion with no people for miles and miles away. The route heading out was different than the route coming back so that way we didn’t get to experience the same scenery twice. We weren’t expecting the weather to be cold so we didn’t get jackets but our guide recommended we got some since we would be going up to the highest peak in Lebanon (around 2,750 meters high). Luckily we found a small store near the starting point that rented out ski jackets and good thing we got them because with the jackets on we were still freezing our asses off in some stages of the trip.

This was an incredibly fun adventure and one I really can’t wait to go on again. Since we were four people the cost for the trip was $225 per person (guide included). If you’re less than four it’s $250 and if you’re more than four you could probably negotiate a better price. You could also share an ATV with someone else since it can hold two people and that way split the amount. But I have to say it was EXTREMELY worth $225. Make sure if you do take this trip to expect to end up covered in dust and dirt. Also bring a jacket with you as well. We rented the ATVs with the guide from a place called Red Runner. Their phone number is +9613178666. Have fun!

Picture from 248am.com

Deghre Messengers is a fast, clean and Eco-friendly delivery service for a greener Beirut. It’s a very ambitious idea for a city like Beirut but I truly hope it works out.

Read more about it [Here].

Calling all cyclists! Deghri Messengers is recruiting!

Are you a motivated person and an energetic character? Do you want to be part of a business that will change the face of Beirut? Have you got what it takes to work as part of a close-knit team of bike messengers?

Then join our cooperative, earn a living by riding your bicycle all day, benefit from generous working conditions, and enjoy being part of the change.

To apply, please send your CV and a short cover letter explaining why you want to be a bike messenger to deghri@outlook.com.

We’re looking forward to your application.

Lebanon’s public debt is still on the rise due to a slowing economy, unrest in the neighboring countries but more importantly due to the lack of structural reforms. Instead of giving the MPs a salary increase or even worse increasing their number, it’s time we cut down all unnecessary costs.

TeleLiban is one example of an unnecessary cost. In fact, people have stopped watching TL for years now (Unlike Greek TV) and it has become a joke. In my opinion, it should have been shut down a long time ago.

Greece is taking drastic measures to revive its economy and get back on its feet and the Greek people is the one suffering the most. The Lebanese people is already suffering economically and things won’t get any better if preemptive measures are not taken ASAP to cut down the debt.

Greek Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou made the announcement on the afternoon of June 11 saying that the corporations television and radio stations were to go off air at the end of the day. Kedikoglou justified the move by saying that ERT is a “characteristic case of lack of transparency and waste”, that it has not been audited for eight years and that it costs Greek licence payers 300 million euros a year through their electricity bill. He added that ERT had 3-7 times higher costs than private channels and low ratings and said that a new, leaner organisation will be created but did not specify when this would happen. [Link]

According to CNN Travel, Almaza is the No.1 beer in the Middle East and North Africa. Almaza is indeed great but now I am interested in tasting the other 5 beers on that list. I don’t think we have any of them in Lebanon though (Definitely not the Israeli one haha!).

Check out the top 6 beers list [Here].

In at number one is the king of Middle Eastern beers and the staple of any trip to Beirut, the one-and-only Almaza. At a low 4% ABV, Almaza may be a light and fairly standard pilsner, but served ice cold at a Hamra Street café on a warm summer evening, it amounts to far more than that.

“Almaza tastes like a Lebanese summer night would if you could bottle it, with a side of nuts,” said Beirut native Karl Baz, 33. [CNN]

Via MenAribo