Save Beirut Heritage - Call for action

"I got this email, and I thought it is worth sharing."

Save Beirut Heritage is calling for a sit in on Sunday May 1st at 12 noon at the previous location of Cinema Vendome, Mar Mikhael Street.
This is a Report of an abomination that happened in the recent days. For Arabic, read this:http://www.al-akhbar.com/?q=node%2F10615

HAR properties managed to obtain a permit of demolition for 3 significant heritage buildings in Mar Mikhayel near the previous cinema Vendome Cinema in order to make space for a 30 story tower called AYA tower (Plot Beirut 663).

The only compromise was to keep the facades; this is unacceptable.

Furthermore, these permits were obtained through political coercion and gross abuse of power by the owners of the plots; namely Mr. Fahed Rafic Hariri, Mr. Michel Pharaon, Mr. Antoine Samaha and Mr. Fouad Zeidan.

You will find attached photos of the recently demolished buildings, feel free to use them in your respective publications. "The photos in this post"

The buildings demolished had been previously classified as architecturally significant by a committee designated by the Ministry of Culture. This same committee resigned once Minister Salim Wardeh succumbed to political pressure and overturned their decision to preserve the buildings. He granted demolition permits.

In the same breath, three more significant buildings were granted permits and are in imminent danger:

1 - A gorgeous building that is owned by Mr. Michel Pharaon in Achrafieh will be demolished so that he could build parking space and raise it by 3 stories.

2 - Sodeco Plot 5, owner by Mr. Michel Pharaon and Mr. Samaha: A beautiful traditional house.

3 - Abdallah Al Yafi's Villa that will be demolished to be 'reconstructed' as part of a 30 floor tower.

Save Beirut Heritage is calling for a sit in on Sunday May 1st at 12 noon at the previous location of Cinema Vendome, Mar Mikhael Street. We as the Green Party of Lebanon Highly encourage the participation in this sit in.

"This is their website: Green party of Lebanon"

Moving SKYBAR

The rumors seem true. SKYBAR is moving to BIEL's first parking on the left.

They took over a huge space in that parking, and it seems it is going to be a massive building!

So now you think: Cool! SKYBAR surrounded by a huge parking! so we can park wherever we want without giving our cars to the valet parking guys!

Well, think twice, I'm sure they'll find their way to wreck your car and make you pay for it ;)

Traffic Hell towards BIEL

The next forum is the yearly International forum of recruitment ‘FORWARD’. And this year, they are introducing for the first time, the Business forum: the business Opportunities, Services & supplies Fair which will be held alongside FORWARD.

Where: BIEL - Beirut

When: from Wednesday the 27^th till Saturday the 30^th of April 2011 starting 4pm until 10pm.

In case you are searching for a job, or willing for a change, check both Forward or Business forums websites for more details. The list of exhibitors is still ‘Coming soon’.

And in case you are not interested, save the date, and try to avoid the Beirut seaside, because it will be a hell of a traffic, since BIELs architects decided to design one tiny entrance for the whole Marina which, by coincidence, contains parking lots for more than 10,000 cars usually used by Downtown employees and sponsors the biggest events in Lebanon!

I personally never benefited from this forum except for some hats and mugs.

Surviving Lebanon - Unavoidable Tips - Part I

'If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere'
By "here" I mean Lebanon and not New York... Excuse me Sinatra and Jay-Z.
I decided to write some ‘unavoidable’ tips if anyone ever decided to survive Lebanon.

1. First and typical tip: Don't watch, listen or read the news! Or you’ll be singing Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing me softly’ soon; I mean really soon!
2. Don't panic when you see equipped soldiers or tanks on the road. That's normal. Surely not stable, but normal.
3. You need to know and trust a doctor. It would be better if he's from your relatives, and more specifically, the relatives that you do not share any kind of property (Land, building, ...) with! Or you'll find yourself killed by a 'law abiding' doctor.
4. You need to know and trust an auto mechanic. Or you will be changing the whole engine each time you go changing your car's engine oil.
5. Never drive when you are already angry. keep a stress ball in your car.

I feel like I can write a whole novel about 'Surviving Lebanon'.
Feel free to comment and share your tips/ideas.

L'Isba restaurant - Cedars

2 weeks ago, and thanks to my good old friend (@AccidentalTweep) for introducing me to L'Isba restaurant at the Cedars - Bcharre, I went to try it, and it happened to be Valentine (by accident!).

L'Isba (or The Hut) is located under the Cedars reserve in Arz, where you take your right near the Alpines hotel.

(There is a very notable sign)

You will notice a very comfortable and classy interior design.

And you can also get a special table design (in case of Valentine of course :P)

They have an agreeable 'Fondue' formula.

First, a fresh and a very tasty traditional salad. It felt like the vegetables were picked minutes ago.

Then the cheese or meat fondue (or even both). I just tasted the meat fondue, since I'm not a blind fan of cheese, and it was pretty good. You also get a plate of baked potato cubes to enjoy while waiting for the meat (or vice-versa :D).

And finally, of course, the mouth watering (better than sex) chocolate fondue!

My advice is to try L'Isba as soon as possible, since you can enjoy the Cedars in the snow, or some skiing at the slopes.

For reservation or more information, contact Wajih on 00961 3571154.

Fog, snow and Cedrus Libani

Last week, I visited two well-known Cedar reserves. One in the historical Barouk - Chouf that contains the largest natural reserve in Lebanon, and the other in Arz, Bsharre - North Lebanon, also known as 'The Cedars of God' because they were used by Solomon in the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem.

We were lucky to take some photos in fog and snow in Barouk. (I loved the first one below!)

And of course the amazing one drawn on the Lebanese Lira coin:

As for the Arz Cedar reserve, these are some photos.

Check the entourage first:

By the way, the reserve is always closed in winter, but you can ask people there, and they can guide you through a secret path ;)

First thing your eyes lie on is "Heaven's gate".

And this is Rudy Rahme's masterpiece.

And last but not least, the massive Cedar drawn in the Lebanese flag.

Make sure you visit Cedars in winter, and you will definitely know why they call them 'Cedars of God'.

Egypt be careful!

We may all agree that this is a very important period in the Egyptian history.

Egypt, one of the biggest countries in the Arab world, is finally protesting against dictatorship, and calling for democracy.

What Egyptians know that they don't want Hosni Mubarak and they don't want any other three decades presidents.

At the same time, it is very important to differ between democracy and extremism, and between believing in a good case and following a person blindly.

Democracy Vs Extremism:

Radicalism always shows up as a possible solution when a country is weak.

Extremists and all Egyptians are protesting against Mubarak together, but not for the same reason. And That's where Egyptians should be very careful cause extremism never was a solution and never will be. You can check what was/is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan...

Good case Vs following a person:

Any 'power greedy' politician is protesting with people now, and of course for 'other' reasons.

Always remember, the initial cause is your 'belief in Democracy' and not ousting the president.

It is extremely dangerous to follow a politician blindly.

Keep on surviving, I'm sure he's going down real soon. Hoping for the best.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]