Remember when Samra Wana El Hasoudi was a thing? Make your Monday brighter today with this rock rendition of it by the Lebanese band “Meen”!
Middle East Airlines Among the Least Environmentally Friendly Airlines
Earlier last week, London’s Heathrow Airport issued a list of 50 global airlines ranked according to how environmentally friendly they are, and our national carrier Middle East Airlines turned out to be among among the worst coming in the 48th position.
The airlines in the list were assessed based on 7 categories among which are arrival times, efficient landing approaches, nitrogen oxide emissions, and noise pollution. Therefore, this of course has nothing to do with travelers experience on board but rather with the footprint that airplanes flying out of Heathrow Airport leave on the environment.
The only two airlines that scored worse than MEA were Kuwait Airways and Israel’s El Al, while British Airways topped the ranking followed by Aer Lingus, Etihad Airways, Scandinavian Airlines System, Finnair and American Airlines.
You can check the full list here.
Fayrouz Preparing For A New Album?
Fayrouz’s daughter, Reema Rahbany, has been posting a series of teaser-like videos on Facebook over the last 4 day all showing Fayrouz in a recording studio apparently working on a new single or album.
The videos have no caption or description but I really hope a new project is in the making. And if it is the case, then it would be interesting to know the musicians she is collaborating with. She usually works with her son Ziad Rahbany, but I recall he mentioned in one of his interviews that they were not on good terms over the last few years and I’m not sure whether they reconciled or not.
You can check all the videos on Reema’s Facebook profile.
Awesome Trip Back in Time – Hadi Ramadan Retro Games and Consoles
I was recently looking to buy the original Game Boy (the one from 1989) and my internet search led me to an awesome retro games collector in Beirut called Hadi Ramadan.
I initially saw an ad by him for a used Game Boy on OLX so I contacted him and agreed to pass by his place to check it out, and judging by the other ads he was running on the platform I thought he was selling a few of his old stuff but boy I was wrong! When I reached the location he greeted me and showed me his apartment which has two rooms filled with all kind of consoles and games from the 80s and 90s! Nintendo NES, Super Nintendo, Family Computer, Atari, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, Game Gear, All kinds of Game Boy (original, color, advance, etc..) you just name it, a true heaven for retro gamers!
Hadi turned out to be an avid collector who constantly look for old consoles up for sale around the world and gets them to Lebanon with the help of his relatives. He also of course tries to make some extra money by reselling them here but his full-time job keeps him from properly advertising the stuff he has or even just properly organizing them for a suitable display, however he told me he has a plan to soon organize everything once and for all. But for the time being, if you visit his place prepare yourself to dig into several boxes to go through the available devices and game cartridges.
What I first thought would be a 10 minutes visit led into me staying over an hour with him going through the old consoles and he even showed me his own private collection. That guy has probably the coolest bedroom by the way with old games and gadgets all over the walls.
Now you probably are wondering about the prices and all I have to say is that he’s quite fair with his pricing. For example he’s selling the original Game Boy for around $50-60 (depending on its condition) which does not vary much from the prices you find abroad on eBay by the way. On the other hand cartridges sell for ~$10 but the price varies depending on the game rarity and whether it’s authentic or not. I personally got the Game Boy I wanted with 4 cartridges for a good price.
If retro gaming is your thing or if you just want to buy back a piece of your childhood then I highly recommend you get in touch with Hadi on 71-727302 and arrange for an appointment since he’s not always available. I embedded below a map showing his place which is located very close to the old airport road, but you can definitely call him for accurate directions.
He’s also planning to organize retro gaming exhibitions in the coming few months so you might want to follow him on Facebook and Isntagram to keep up with his news.
Things to Do This Week in Lebanon – June 14th 2017
Here are my picks from Lebtivity for this week. “On the silk road” exhibition at Bsous silk museum is opening its door today and I highly recommend you check as it takes you on an amazing journey through the private collection of the Silk Museum.
- Comedy Night Show: ON THE ROAD
- The Harmony of Chaos
- Fête de la Musique #OFF / Colonel Beer / Batroun
- Escape Games Beirut – The New Smart Fun Activity!
- Sunset Yoga by the beach & live music
- Blooming JUNE – Rural Lunches
- Raise Your Paw For BETA
- “On the Silk Road” Exhibition at The Silk Museum – Musée de la Soie Bsous
- Founders on a Boat
- Scottish Ceilidh Dancing
Make sure to check Lebtivity.com for much more options.
Wall Dabke is Now a Thing?
It started with this video from Australia spreading on Facebook and now people want to imitate it and some as going as far as using the ceiling to dance upside down.
We earlier had Tirashrash and Jenno Notto, please don’t make this trend!
Beirut-Montreal Direct Flights Might Soon Become a Reality
According to a recent article, Air Canada seems to be currently focused on making direct flights possible between Montreal and Beirut.
“We started the regulatory process in 2003,” Rovinescu said. However, geopolitical events intervened, and the carrier itself did not have the right equipment to make the route viable. “We are now at the stage where it looks like we can put the pin in it,” he said.
Part of the challenge of operating the route is ensuring right-level security screenings in Beirut, Rovinescu added. Air Canada is working with its Star Alliance partner Lufthansa, which operates in Beirut, to learn how to address these concerns. Source
With more than 200,000 Lebanese now residing in Canada (as per Wikipedia), such direct route is much needed to help them avoid the tiresome layovers in the European or Gulf cities. And attributing the ban on Beirut Airport to security issues is in my opinion invalid since many airlines operate direct flights to European airports that have some pretty high security standards.
Back in 2012 there was some talks about bringing back direct flights between Lebanon and the United States but it never led to something serious, so let’s hope the efforts Air Canada is currently putting to make Beirut-Montreal route possible do not end the same way.
Here’s What Helps Keeping Me Hydrated in Ramadan
During the holy month of Ramadan, it’s important to stay hydrated in order to keep yourself energized during the day. But with the long fasting hours nowadays and with the sun setting around 8PM, it becomes challenging to consume the right amount of water before you go to sleep especially if you’re like me and hate the taste of water. I have no problem drinking a big bottle of juice in a single sitting but I just hate the raw taste of water.
To overcome that, I sometimes add mint leaves and lemon slices to a bottle of water to boost my water intake after Iftar, but on other lazy days I just resort to these Bolero sachets for a sugar free and low calorie drink. They come in more than 20 flavors but my personal favorite are the mango, lemon, and ice tea. You just dissolve them in 1.5L of water and you’re good to go.
I personally rarely wake up for Suhour so from the time I finish my Iftar until I sleep at around 12AM I have little time to drink a relatively big amount of water, but Bolero seriously makes it so easy and I highly recommend it if you too have the same problem as I do.
Some other brands like Darine have similar sugar free sachets by the way, but I’m just used to Bolero simply because they were in the market first.
Old Footage From The Opening of The Beirut-Tripoli Railway in 1942
I’m pretty sure we will never witness something similar to this during our lifetime.
This video I just found on YouTube shows old footage from the opening of the Beirut-Tripoli railway line on December 20th 1942 which was at that time the last link in the Cairo-London line, and you can see the Lebanese president back then Alfred Naccache present at the event (at the 1m56s mark).
As you watch the video you can easily identify Naher El Kaleb at the beginning and probably Jbeil at the 1m10s mark, but it gets difficult (at least for me) to identify the areas that later show.
Ogero New DSL Prices Finally Approved
Remember the new DSL prices that were proposed by Ogero earlier in May? They were finally approved by the cabinet yesterday with a slight modification and should be effective in a couple of weeks once the decree is published in the Official Gazette.
As I mentioned before, people who will benefit the most are those who live near any of Ogero’s exchange offices since their phone lines can handle better speeds. Others will unfortunately have to wait up to two year until the phone network is upgraded.
As for the minority who is blessed with connectivity using fiber optic cables, the below rates apply.
The above prices are of course only applicable to Ogero subscribers, so we should soon expect other ISPs to announce new competitive packages.
Finally, with respect to mobile data bundles, telecom minister Jarrah also announced that E1 prices will be reduced as well which only makes it logical for 3G and 4G data plan prices to decrease as well, so let’s cross our fingers!