Exclusively Lebanon.

Yesterday i watched a nice reportage "Enquête exclusive"on my lovely Lebanon, that shows all the extreme faces of this small unique country. From the nightlife in  Sky bar  to the daily life in Dahye after the 2006 war,  the luxury  life in Down Town Beirut the booming tourism and real estate  industry  when all the world is suffering from different crises ...An interview with some talented Lebanese entrepreneur who believed in Lebanon and will never leave it no matter what... like Tony Salme  the owner of the  luxury boutiques in Lebanon Aishti   Sami the owner of the   961 beer and many others .. they even mention the Hummous War between Lebanon and Israel.Very nice reportage will be re-defused 1 June 2010 at 23.55 on M6 don't Miss it ..
* the picture :Best Press Photo of the Year 2006-Spencer Platt, USA, Getty Images.
Young Lebanese drive through devastated neighborhood of South Beirut, 15 August

Caprice.

Dinner in the sky the new trend is now in Beirut -Dinner in the Sky is hosted at a table suspended at a height of 60 meters by a team of professionals. Dinner in the Sky is available for a session of 8 hours. It can be divided or personalized according to the client’s wishes. The 22-seater is generally available for sessions of eight hours at a time, and could cost around $15,000 ONLY. As for the location, the crane can be installed on the client’s property; otherwise, Alf events can provide a choice spot such as BIEL

Some people Need to eat at 60 Meters in order to either enjoy themselves or feel good about that by telling someone they ate in the air…. I call this caprices de stars .. for the stars only click here.

NB  don't drink too much water and wine … no toilet available :O)

Events are already being booked. Call Alf Events (70 748494) for more details.

Spot the difference!

Apparently Mike sport marketing department get inspired by the savanna and specifically the African savanna  as the World cup will be held there to create his new campaign ...you can see  this campaign on the billboards: From Africa…with love. :O)

Cheers for the world cup!

Almaza is Lebanon’s local beer.Almaza became a part of the country’s culture and the brand became a pride for all Lebanese because of the taste and because of the great communication campaigns on the billboards that you can’t miss..

As the world cup is here Almaza campaign is titled كاس العالم they plays on the words to say cheers for the world (cup) with a picture of a Lebanese singer (Ziad Rahbany ) on this pack and other Lebanese singers on different packs ..  international flags and the world cup ball. I like the title but I did not get all the idea. Why the Lebanese singers are here i mean in this world cup campaign ?? What they want to say? They will sing for the winner ? But Lebanese team will not play on the World cup! World Cup has a different taste Only In Lebanon :O)

Baalbeck International festival 2010

 

• MIKA -POP MUSIC GENIUS-The Courtyard of the two Temples-Thursday June 24 2010
• KEVIN MAHOGANY QUINTET ODEAN POPE'S ALL STAR NONET TWO JAZZ CONCERTS IN ONE NIGHT- Friday July 9 2010
• ORKIESTRA SINFONIETTA CRACOVIA -CELEBRATING CHOPIN'S BICENTENARY BIRTHDAY-Saturday July 17 2010
• BORIS EIFMAN BALLET THEATRE OF ST. PETERSBURG-A BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE OF "ANNA KARENINA"-Saturday July 24 2010
• NASEER SHAMMA WITH THE HOUSE OF OUD ORCHESTRA-Saturday July 31 2010
• TOO MUCH LOVE … KILLS … A MUSICAL BY MELHEM BARAKAT & GHASSAN RAHBANI-Thursday 5, Friday 6 & Saturday August 7 2010

For more info you can visit Baalbeck festival website or click Here for your tickets.

I can make you Pure!

Design By Wassim Alam- 3d design 

The use of herbal medicines (HM) is on the rise on the middle east and specially in Lebanon.

Herbal treatments  are advertised on TV,  billboards , talk shows …..  Herbal medicines that can make you pure make you lose weight  some others claim to cure diabetes and some products make you taller!!! That’s what Zein al athat ,Amanacare and many others promise Lebanese clients and apparently they are selling because this industry is worth millions of dollars …People think that it is natural and it wont do any harm,  without taking the advice of any doctors people self diagnose and buy these product (it is growing in the garden so green is good)

How do people think that there is no side effects for those products?

Is it legal to advertise herbal or medical products in Lebanon?

Finished herbal products are often marketed as herbal medicines or dietary supplements for their claimed therapeutic effects and miraculous cures. Unfortunately, HM are not free of risk and interactions between these products and prescription medications are an increasing concern and may have significant public consequences. However, in most cases the claims have not been substantiated and few HM have been subjected to double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Their potential to cause adverse effects and interaction with conventional drugs are an understudied field of research. It is important to be aware that most HM fall outside of the regulatory framework and evidence is generally lacking on their safety, efficacy or standards of manufacture and control. Until now, herbal medications

were lawfully ignored or classified as dietary supplements. This exempts many herbal medications from safety and efficacy requirements and regulation. On the other hand, more research and information are required (eg, preclinical, animal studies, premarketing controlled clinical trials, or postmarketing surveillance) in order to guarantee the safety of patients using HM. Drug Interactions With Herbal Medicines- World Health Organisation. Read More Here

My Devil Cake

Last Sunday, i made this amazing Chocolate cake

This cake is nice and moist and tastes great – very sweet with lot of chocolate ,for chocolate lovers this cake is a must... don’t cont  calories :O)

Ingredients 
 

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar with enough milk to make 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup boiling water

In mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture, alternating with buttermilk or sour milk, beating well after each addition. Add boiling water; beat until smooth. Pour batter into two greased and floured 9-inch layer cake pans. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pans; remove to racks to cool completely. Frost with chocolate fudge frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting 

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup cocoa

2 2/3 cup powdered sugar

4 to 5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; stir in cocoa. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, stirring constantly until smooth. Pour into a small mixing bowl. Cool completely. Beat in powdered sugar alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups of chocolate fudge frosting.

Sahtein!

Lebanese crowned 2010 Miss USA

A 24-year-old Arab American from Michigan beat out 50 other women to take the 2010 Miss USA title Sunday night, despite nearly stumbling in her evening gown.
Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Mich., won the pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip after strutting confidently in an orange and gold bikini, wearing a strapless white gown that resembled a wedding dress and saying health insurance should cover birth control pills.
When asked how she felt about winning the crown, she said, "Ask me after I've had a pizza."
Fakih, a Lebanese immigrant, told pageant organizers her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths. She moved to the United States as a baby and was raised in New York, where she attended a Catholic school. Her family moved to Michigan in 2003.Read More

For your eyes only...

Marie France ad has been slashed last week on Dora highway, it is not something new in Lebanon, an Anti Ad people feminist movement or religious did that .As we know in Lebanon nothing can be solve by this way but we do it all over again... If you are irritated by this Ad don't look or raise awareness but please stop these childish action...
The action  from Marie France marketing department was this:

A new Fresh Billboards Ad for your eyes only....Not your hands...!!!!

Fun (d) Raising !

Last week I met interesting people on a lovely tweetup at Noodles ABC-Achrafieh, and we discuss different topics , the most important was Rita’s kamel topic to help raising awareness about cancer and specially help unfortunate kids fighting that disease and hopefully win.Rita told us how we can help those children, you can read that on her blog.

Rita’s action plan and the different initiative from our meeting

·         Meeting with the Children Cancer Center in Lebanon (St Jude)

·         Meeting with Chance

·         Tamanna

·         Wigs or “Mitlik Mitleh”

·         Fun(d) raising gaming event

·         Yummi cookup as suggested by joelle hatem and ghassan aballah

For a full details  please visit Fun Raising and help !

Lie To Me...

You’re a liar. So am I
Everyone is a liar. We tell ourselves stories we’re superstitious. Stories are shortcuts we use because we’re too overwhelmed by data to discover all the details. The stories we tell ourselves are lies that make it far easier to live in a very complicated world. We tell stories about products , service, friends job seekers and sometimes even the weather.
We tell ourselves stories that can’t possibly be true but believing those stories allows us to function. We know we’re not telling ourselves the whole truth, but it works, so we embrace it.
We tell stories to our spouse, our friends , our bosses , our employees and our customers. Most of all we tell stories to ourselves.
Marketers are a special kind of liar. Marketers lie to consumers because consumers demand it. Marketers tell the stories, and consumers believe them. Some marketers do it well. Others are pretty bad at it. Sometimes the stories help people get more done, enjoy life more and live longer……
Consumers are used to telling stories to themselves and telling stories to each other, and it is just natural to buy stuff from someone who’s telling us a story. People can’t handle the truth.
Seth Godin-All Marketers are Liars

 In fact I loved that brilliant Lie, this is one of the best lie ad i've seen in a long time. It's really inspiring and It is emotional ….it reminds you of how quickly life passes you by… Great work!

Thank you BuYousef for the link!

WE NEED YOU NOW!!!

An International company Need You NOW ! Are you searching for a dream carrier ??… Great words to make you apply for jobs on newspapers or a web site , you will be tempt to send your resume  and wait for a face to face interview, but don’t expect any auto reply that your CV has been sent to that Hr manager because the poor guy will receive like 100 of cvs  that he has to deal with only 10 of them , so if you weren’t quick your resume and cover letter will hit the recycle bin and you think that The Hr employee is admiring your CV, so you wait till your phone rings for the big day face to face interview.

If you are Lucky and got this interview you will have a meeting with the HR manager or the Recruitment agency, the meeting could be one hour to three  hours , general questions that I know the answers by heart and some psychological questions so you think that you are in Freud Clinic with some weird questions like this one : if you could be any animal which animal would you choose? Did you ever think about killing yourself ? Are you happy ? so you answer all those questions  and forget that you are in a job interview but psychology analysis test !!  & you pray to go out and return to your old job. But after your third interview and the  hours that you have waisted with all the managers "YOU ARE THE ONE." They call you and you have the big meeting with like three or more Managers of the company that will tell you  you are a good candidate for the company and propose to you the Great Tiny Salary and convince you that Money is not important when you are working for an international company with a lot of experience to give you, directly you turn off that offer... but  they make sure to make you feel guilty by telling you this cliche (This opportunity comes once in a lifetime)! LOL

I know most of you Lebanese have the same problem, if you are in love with Lebanon  you will stay and wait for another interview for a better job or maybe another opportunity and what is perfect is to start up a new company yes!! Entrepreneur is so trendy in Lebanon everyone is an entrepreneur in Lebanon! so good luck :O)

Ice In Beirut

When driving to work, I saw one of the billboard that grab my attention (ice in May) I thought it was for the watches Ice collection maybe another Drink Or another event on ice , I was so curious to check the website....But Ice Beirut is another restaurant in Lebanon!!!! Honestly I was disappointed! in my opinion it cant be better of any other Lebanese great restaurant, but this restaurant has something special and unique that no one in Lebanon has , This restaurant has a great facility that all other restaurant will follow .Ice is one of premiers restaurant in Lebanon which are equipped with all the facilities to host handicaps. Great smart idea! hope many companies will follow!

Goal!!! A la Libanaise

I will tell you a secret I’m not a soccer fan (sorry football fan) but I love how Lebanese football fan prepare for that world cup as if Lebanon will play... if you are in Lebanon or in visit you can’t miss the colorful flags on the road with different sizes or on cars,  in fact it is a big business selling flags in Lebanon...On the big games all Lebanese gathered in a pub or restaurant and watch the big games ..... don’t be surprised if they fight! it is normal :O)

11 June 2010  the world will turn its focus to South Africa for the start of the World Cup and then … may the best team win. Any big soccer fans out there?

 If Not Spain Brazil will win for sure !! :O)

Lebanon Pavillon- Shanghai China

The pavilion adopts the theme of "Tell-Tale Cities" involving exhibitions of culture-enriched customs, natural sceneries and historical monuments of Lebanon. The exhibition is an exact and unique reproduction of the beautiful landscape and development process of Lebanon.

Highlight 1: Phoenician AlphabetsPhoenician alphabets on the Axileimu king sarcophagus are regarded as the earliest ancestors of Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

Highlight 2: Lebanon's Natural Wonder of Jeita Grotto Multimedia tools are used in the display of Lebanon's natural wonder of Jeita Grotto. Amazing delicacies and handcrafts of Lebanon are also available
For more info visit Expo 2010 Shanghai China