To add on Najib’s post regarding “a night out at Pierre and friends” , spending the day there on a weekend is a very relaxing and chilling outing. The music, food and overall ambiance is very nice except for the seating since they are still using the oldest benches ever. This is a must visit place in the summer and during the weekend when you feel like chilling out on the beach with a glass of wine and seafood lunch with some friends.

And we wonder why accidents happen everyday. I saw these billboards today on Jbeil highway going to the north right after Casino Du Liban, they’re displayed over a 2KM distance.

I saw the weirdest eyeglasses ever today, they were the SOS 101 by Nannini. I was having a business lunch when one of the businessmen suddenly pulled out these glasses to read the menu. I thought they looked pretty strange so I asked him about it and he told me he always carries a pair of these glasses wherever he goes and he has around 6 pairs.

These glasses are very flat and indestructible which makes them extremely portable and since they’re only around 10 Euros you can have multiple pairs, one for the car, one for the office, one at home etc. Check out their website [Here]

One of the nicest places to visit in Lebanon is Harissa which is located 10 minutes from the Jounieh highway. One can see a very wide and clear view of Beirut, the sea and the mountains. It is a tradition for many Lebanese to pass by Harissa during the month of May since it is known to be “Saint Mary’s month”. People from different religions and nationalities follow this tradition every year where most of the youngsters go hiking on 30th of April to spend the night there with some friends.

In case you are visiting Beirut during this month you should definitely pass by and if not then pass by whenever you are here.

For some reason, the first traffic light at Sin el Fil intersection wasn’t working this morning and it caused a huge traffic nightmare. The traffic started getting more congested from Jal el Dib and the funniest thing was once I got to the intersection I saw two policemen standing in the middle of the crossing chatting!

I passed through a very funny experience yesterday which is part of the procedure of buying a car in lebanon. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been looking to buy a car and finally I found my FJ in one of the expos in Antelias. But this is not it…My journey just began…
After going to the bank and doing the whole procedure, i still had to register my car bel nef3a and fix the small details and since i am not the only customer because my supplier had too many cars to pick up and sell, part of my contribution was to help him pick up cars from one place to another until i get mine in one of the garages. After he picked me up from work (Sin el Fil), we went in a new Range Rover to AL Nab3a to pick up a new mini cooper and there I WAS SHocked…..the pictures are self explanatory (p.s:I got so scared driving these cars in such places especially after seeing around 10 kids running after us).

Myu is one of my favorite pubs in Gemmayze, I go there with my friends once per week on average although the place is very small (by small I mean there is a seating area for dinner where I never sit coz its boring and there’s the bar on the other side where it’s more fun and crowded. The bar area has the shape of a tunnel and all the crowd is stuck literally in a 1m alley width (between the bar and one of the tunnel’s side.) I don’t really know why all my friends and I like this place although it’s tiny with very limited seating in the bar area but it’s probably because of its nice music and very friendly bartenders.

I went there on Saturday and it was as usual one of the most crowded places in Gemmayze (especially on the weekend), there was literally no room for one more person on the bar, but still I can say that if you’ve never been to Myu (location facing Byblos bank), you should try and pass by early (around 8pm), book a chair at the bar and enjoy the music, your drink and the crowd around you.

I have a business trip to Amsterdam in May and since I have only one nationality which is “Lebanese”, I have to go through the whole visa application process. I’ve lived in Dubai for 2 years where I applied for many schengen visas from different embassies (german, Swiss, etc…) and I started having my visa extended to,I think, 1 year utmost but since I came back again to Lebanon and canceled my Dubai residence visa, the consulates in Leb disregarded my previous visas if they were issued from a different country, so that was my first shock when I came back. In JAN 2010, I had to go to Amsterdam (on a business trip) and my Lebanese friends kept telling me:

“ l safara l elmaniye a7san men l hollandiye w ahyan, rou7e addme 3endon w ba3den fike trou7e wein ma baddik w ma32oul ya3touke yeha for 3 months” so I went for it…and guess what , they gave it to me for 2 weeks only!”

Today again, I had to apply for a schengen visa since I am going to Amsterdam in May and I said to myself, let’s not play it the Lebanese way and I will apply legally at the same embassy even though I’ve heard that they are very strict and tough. After preparing a deck of documents (which took me almost 2 weeks to request), and of course after taking an appointment, I drove today all the way from Seheile to Sofil and passed through all kinds of Monday morning traffic. It was a hell of an experience!!

1- No place to park (and then the policeman came and told me: soffe honik w sakkre 3al parking la2anno ba3ed ma fata7 )

6- In the afternoon she called me back saying that on one of the documents, the person who signed (which was my boss) is not the same person as the one of the register circular so I have to again pass by and drop her the letter signed by the eligible person!

Even writing all this now, frustrates me again as this is really unfair for a Lebanese to go through all these procedures and especially that I had many schengen visas before (from Dubai, which was so much easier to apply for). After all, we always say: proud to be Lebanese but if you really think about these frustrating things, I sometime think, what are we proud about?

Breaking news: a building near the Byblos bank in Gemmayze that was being renovated collapsed tonight around 9pm. According to the news, the collapse damaged only a car driving on the road, causing no major injuries, only one person who was in the car (but nothing is severe).
Well, Imagine this happened on a Saturday evening!!!! I think someone is jinxing this area! (PS: does anyone have any pictures?)

I just wanted to throw this note for all the lebanese people living here and abroad…As of today, it’s been 35 years since it all started in Ain El Remmene (13th April 1975): Lebanon’s Civil war.

I was having a quick chat with my mum an hour ago about the war and how we all survived it and suddenly I had a flash back… Probably many of us was young back then and can’t really recall all the events in details but I can definitely remember some good and bad times we used to spend in the shelters, playing cards, laughing, crying and running from place to another. If you’re interested to refresh your mind about this dreadful war, check out the following [Link]

One of the typical Lebanese show off places on the weekend is Lina’s Cafe at Kaslik on a Sunday afternoon. Its become the place to show off with your car, your clothes, your bags and you sit and talk about what you did Saturday evening and gossip about what happened during your weekend. It is such a cliché tradition where all Lebanese show offs like to do after a nice long weekend. The valets will park the best cars in front of the café (by best I mean Audi R8, Porsche Turbos, F430′s etc…) and the girls will come fully loaded with make up and designer clothes. Men with cigars and drinks, ladies having a glass of wine or coffee…

If you’ve never experienced it you should. I passed by Lina’s yesterday with my girlfriends (for the only reason that one of them is pregnant and wanted an open area coffee shop close by Jounieh) and it was a very funny experience.

I passed by the motor show on Saturday afternoon, it was a nightmare because it took me 2 hours to get there since the traffic started from Charles Helou. I don’t really recommend anyone to go on a weekend, the exhibition was so crowded full of families and kids, I barely enjoyed my tour since people took it as an entertainment park instead of a car show. You Pay 10,000L.L to get in, I’m not sure if kids have to pay as well (I doubt it), so some people thought it’s cheaper than taking their kids to McDonald’s or BK… On top of that, there is only one exit since the security will not let you leave from the entrance thus you have to pass by all the show rooms and even the technical hall ways (tires, oils, engines, etc.. ) which wasn’t of my interest at all but I had to walk an extra 30 minutes just to be able to leave before the show closes at 10pm. Best time to go is from Monday to Thursday only.

Apart from that the show is not bad, If you’re interested to buy a car from the exhibition, SGBL bank has the lowest interest rate during this show (2.45%) and the cheapest amongst all cars at the show is Kia Picanto for $8,000 only. I also noticed that Peugeot is copy pasting Audi TT by launching a very similar model (check out few pics).

Peugeot

BMW Z4

The 12th Lebanon motor show is taking place at Biel starting tomorrow until 18th April, the event will feature the latest and best vehicles from around the world. It will be a forum where global auto brands compete with each other to offer the latest and best in every category. The last Beirut motor show took place in 2004, the one in 2006 got cancelled due to the war which took place during this year. The event seems exciting, if you’re a fan of cars and luxury or even commercial vehicles then pass by Biel between 4pm and 10pm everyday. I will give more updates when I’ll pass by.

I believe everyone is aware that sky bar and white bar are the busiest bars/clubs of the summer season in Beirut. Here are some unrevealed information about white bar for 2010 opening…

They’re redesigning the entire venue by removing the original bar (as per the picture) replacing it with lounges and instead of having one long bar, they will be split into 2: one bar will be in the middle and one at the entrance on the left, the venue will be surrounded with lounges and the place will fit more people. The opening is planned to be on 7th May. Will give more updates closer to the date!

After the strike in Gemmayze which took place on 26th March 2010, new rules came up last week which are considered the greatest for the inhabitants of Gemmayze but very unfortunate for us…Gemmayze pubs officially started closing at 12am during week days and can max close at 1am during the weekend. I was there on Saturday night and I ‘ve seen the police roaming around at 1am to fine the clubs which will not obey to the new rules.

Bad news hit some other pubs which were closed “bel chame3 el a7mar” because they did not pass the security measurements and standards e.g: fire exit, music volume, etc… some of these pubs are like Sepia, intuition and others which I can’t recall right now. Dommage!