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I Can’t Believe MTV is Going This Low #el3ama3alMTV

By Rami on February 20, 2018 in Television

I didn’t feel like I really have to comment on the MTV video that was making rounds on social media website because enough was already being said by the people, and I simply couldn’t have said it better than the video published by El 3ama which garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

The video is unfortunately no more available to view because it was apparently too hard for MTV to digest so they reported it to both Facebook and YouTube for copyright claims, and el3ama’s page on Facebook got consequently suspended for 3 days.

I think it is really a shame for such TV station that has already suffered from censorship by the authorities in the early 2000s when it was shut down for several years to actually do the same with a satirist such as Ghayd Chammas. And it isn’t like what he stated in his video was… MTV and other stations are all delivering very bad content most of the time, they all try to use the sex appeal to attract viewers, and their online presence with their clickbait articles is a complete disaster.

What MTV showed is that is that they are no better than the General Security who censor movies that eventually end up flooding DVD shops around the country. Regardless whether Ghayd is right or wrong in his claims, it is about time for everyone to understand that freedom of speech is a sacred right and fortunately for us there are tens of other websites to publish such content, and I guarantee you will see the video re-uploaded somewhere else with possibly double the views. They could’ve simply let it go but they’re giving it more exposure now that they want it to be taken offline!

Giveaway Day 2: Two $50 Roadster Diner Vouchers

By Rami on February 19, 2018 in Giveaways

It’s the second day of the giveaway series and Roadster Diner are pitching in today with a couple of $50 vouchers to be spent at any of their branches. For this giveaway I will be randomly choosing two winners to get one voucher each.

What I love the most about Roadster is the homie feeling you find at their outlets, it’s more like a comfort place for me and I guess a lot of people my age feel the same way.

For lent season by the way, Roadster Diner is offering two types of value meals, the delivery meal for two ($20) with a variety of seafood and vegetarian sandwiches, and the dine-in meal ($15) with also a variety of non-meat items. Both options are served with a half appetizer portion per person and are quite fulfilling.

To qualify for the draw, go to +961’s page on Facebook, like the giveaway post and tag your friends in a comment. Two winners will be randomly chosen and announced tomorrow morning, and I will message them for instructions on how to claim their vouchers.

Giveaway Day 1: Dinner For 2 At Pier 78 Kempinski Summerland

By Rami on February 18, 2018 in Giveaways

For the first day of the giveaway series, Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort was kind enough to provide a voucher for 2 persons for a dinner at their Mediterranean restaurant Pier 78 ($150 value).

I personally have experienced Kempinski Summmerland’s service on several occasions and they impressed everytime. Aside from the programs they present on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays evenings at Pier 78, I specifically love the family brunch they also offer on Sundays. The open buffet has a lot of variety and is nothing less than what you would expect from a 5-star venue, but what really makes them stand out from other hotels offering similar formulas is that they also provide free kids entertainment so that parents can enjoy their meal at ease.

So, to qualify for the draw, go to +961’s page on Facebook, like the giveaway post and tag your friends in a comment. A winner will be randomly chosen and announced tomorrow morning, and I will message him/her for instructions on how to claim the voucher.

10 Years of +961 and 10 Days of Giveaways!

By Rami on February 17, 2018 in Blog news

Today is a special day for +961 as it marks the 10th anniversary since I started it!

I can’t say I saw this day coming when I first registered the domain name… at first I just started the blog to share cool finds with Lebanese online community and see how much traffic I can drive to it, but I have to admit that later on I even started enjoying the attention that media and businesses was giving to me. And here it is now, part of my everyday life and celebrating its 10th year online.

A lot has changed since February 2008 and +961 definitely had a lot of ups and downs. I got heavily praised for some posts that received thousands of hits but also heavily criticized for inappropriate or silly stuff that I shared. At times I was posting on a daily basis but also got inactive for a relatively long duration more that once (blame it all on having babies but family comes first!). However, what changed the most is actually how blogging is in general done in Lebanon. Back in time most of the posts contained original content generated by the blogger himself/herself, but nowadays society and lifestyle blogs are more like news aggregators that feed on bits and pieces collected from various sources with a lot of sponsored content in between (a special thanks to the Lebanese subreddit for being a huge inspiration for us bloggers by the way! 😀 ), and as long as this appeals to the people then you just go with the flow! I’m being just plain honest here.

Right now I have no idea if the blog will stay around for another 10 years, but what I’m certain of is that I enjoyed the past 10 thanks to you guys being part of it, and will definitely keep posting for as long as I simply enjoy doing it.

Now on to the really big news!

To celebrate this 10th anniversary, I decided to host a series of 10 giveaways in collaboration with very well known businesses and brands in town. So get ready as of tomorrow for some really cool freebies! The giveaways range from restaurant vouchers, to movie tickets, clothing, toys and gadgets, and fine dining.

To qualify for the draws you will only be required to interact with the giveaways’ posts on Facebook, so just make sure to follow +961’s page.

photo via jerseybites.com

The Housing Bank Just Screwed Home Shoppers in Lebanon

By Rami on February 15, 2018 in Economy

The two most popular options for home shoppers in Lebanon in order to finance their purchases is to either get a loan from the General Organization for Housing in case the apartment price is relatively low, or from the Housing Bank if the price is on the higher end.

However, earlier this month the Central Bank of Lebanon issued a new circular with amendments on subsidized loans, and as a result the Housing Bank increased its the interest rate from 3% to 3.75% while lowering the payment period from 30 to 20 years and toughening the lending terms in general.

To give you an idea of how these amendments impacted the monthly payments, a loan of $250,000 used to cost ~$1,050 on the previous conditions, but currently cost ~$1,500 based on the new terms and rate (refer to their loan calculator). Needless to say, this 50% increase means that a lot of home shoppers now can no longer afford the apartments they were previously aiming for!

I, for example, have been searching for an apartment in Beirut for a while now and the new terms mean that I have two options, to either settle for a significantly smaller one in space, or simply look for one of the same size outside the city. The latter is unfortunately a deal breaker for me so I just decided to halt everything now in hope for the prices to go down maybe… I guess it is only logical for this to happen now that the demand is expected to take a hit.

Things are by the way also quite ugly now for people who are already engaged by contracts with real estate developers. Those usually pay monthly installments directly to the developers until the project is fully complete, and then apply for a loan to finance the remaining amount, but they definitely didn’t see a 50% increase on their future payments coming! And while people like me can simply stop searching, others who are bound with contracts can do nothing but go for the loan anyway or pull out of the whole thing and pay a certain penalty to the developer for doing so.

I’m not an expert in economics but things seriously don’t seem right with the new Housing Bank decision, I mean you can’t simply cut down the people’s purchasing power just like that. I just hope this isn’t an indication of the Lebanese Lira being in a bad situation now and I also hope these amendments are only a temporary measure. Otherwise, I guess the real estate market is expected to go into stagnation no matter how developers try to convince the public that it is a resilient sector!

Alfa Restores Hope in Life for A Young Woman This Valentine #الحب_الحقيقي_مش_أعمى

By Rami on February 13, 2018 in Ads

For Valentine this year, and in its continuous quest for supporting people with iron will in the Lebanese society, Alfa decided to gift an eSight 3 device to Sariya, a young mom who lost her eyesight few years ago after being diagnosed with Glaucoma disease.

I can imagine how hard it was for her not being able to enjoy the simplest pleasures in life by watching her beloved ones’ faces… but fortunately this seems to have come to an end with Sariya finally able to be autonomous again, walk around freely, and of course see her family!

Her reaction once she tries the eSight 3 glasses is absolutely priceless…

#الحب_الحقيقي_مش_أعمى

بعد سنين من المعاناة من المي السودا، ساريا شافت 👓 حب حياتها من جديد بفضل تكنولوجيا أمنتلا ياها ألفا ❤
#الحب_الحقيقي_مش_أعمى

Posted by Alfa Telecommunications on Tuesday, February 13, 2018

بعد سنين من المعاناة من المي السودا، ساريا شافت حب حياتها من جديد بفضل ألفا ❤#الحب_الحقيقي_مش_أعمى

Kudos to Alfa for giving that young woman hope in living a normal life again!

Kempinski Summerland’s Floating Dinner For Valentine

By Rami on February 13, 2018 in Reviews

Last weekend, I surprised my significant other with a getaway at Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort. Previously, I enjoyed their luxurious services with dinner at Candelabra, so I was enthusiastic about experiencing a one night stay in one of the rooms.

Needless to say, the service during our stay was impeccable, but what really stood out was the floating dinner we had in their private heated covered pool accompanied by your personal butler. I’ve previously seen a lot of Instagram posts of floating breakfast trays at Kempinski Summerland last summer but little did I know it was served all year long. I did not think twice about upgrading our experience the minute the Lady In Red suggested that wonderful experience.

For Valentine, Kempinski Summerland is also offering several packages, of which, a romantic one night stay and the exceptional floating dinner, a seafood dinner at Pier 78 with famous singer Manel Mallat and a set menu dinner with singer Paola Ibrahim at Candelabra. My recommendation? Surprise your loved one with something out of the ordinary!

You can get more information about their offerings here.

Beautiful Shoebox Apartment in Achrafieh

By Rami on February 12, 2018 in Architecture

Check out this cool shoebox apartment up in Achrafieh up for rent on Airbnb that recently made it to dezeen.com. While 15 sqm are barely enough space to cater for a bedroom or a living room in some modern apartments nowadays, Lebanese architect and designer Elie Metni squeezed everything a person could need into a mini apartment of the same size.

To make it feel relatively spacious, the apartment was all painted white and fitted with custom made space saving furniture including a queen size bed and folding tables to keep the 2 meters wide room as neat as possible the whole time. A kitchenette and a bathroom are also available and separated by a glass door, in addition to an outdoor roof terrace overlooking Beirut.

Practically speaking, the apartment can sleep 2 people but accommodate around 5. You can read all about it on dezeen and if interested rent it through Airbnb.

25 Ideas for Valentine’s Day This Year!

By Rami on February 7, 2018 in Events

It’s the same dilemma every year… February 14 comes and couples are clueless on what to do for Valentine, so here are 25 events from Lebtivity to help you plan better this year!

You can also check the full 2018 Valentine’s events in Lebanon here.

Moussa Maamari of Moussa Castle Dies at 87

By Rami on February 1, 2018 in Culture

Moussa Maamari, the man who singlehandedly built the castle of his dreams known as Moussa Castle, passed away yesterday at 87 years of age.

Moussa Castle, located on a hill between Deir El Kamar and Beiteddine, had its first parts built and open to the public in 1967 but was only officially complete when the final part was done few year ago in 2012. The story behind the castle is both funny and inspiring since Moussa Maamari built it with his own hands just because he was mocked by his teacher at school for drawing a castle plan and by the girl he had crush on for expressing his feeling toward her.

At 14 years old in 1945, Maamari (originally Syrian) left his school and came all the way from Tartous to Saida to work with his uncle who was involved in renovating the city’s caste. And after several years of hard work between several jobs, he saved enough money to get married and buy a plot of land to build the castle of his dreams between 1962 and 1967.

The best part of the whole thing is that he insisted to show what he did to the girl who mocked him when he was young, so he kep searching for her over the years until he managed to make her visit the castle in 2009, and he made sure to make her get into it through the smallest door in order for her to kneel before him.

The castle is currently one of the main attractions in the Chouf area and is of course accessible to the public, with several museums inside housing a large collection of weapons and artifacts showing the life of Lebanese people in the past.

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