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Monday, February 28, 2011

Battle Of The Hotels

hotel (3)Beirut is once again a hotspot for tourists. Focal to this is Beirut’s hotel district, home to many 4 and 5 star hotels. These hotels have indeed raised the standard for excellence. As is always the case with Lebanon, there’s another part of this story. During the heydays of the 1960’s, this same hotel district was the playground of the rich and famous. Beirut became known as the “Paris of the Middle East” during this time. The high stakes game of the hotel industry took a turn for the worst during Lebanon’s bloody civil war. Hotels not only suffered a loss of revenue but became an actual battle ground. The infamous “Battle of the Hotels” was waged. The InterContinental Phoenicia Hotel is in the foreground of the photo with the still damaged Holiday Inn behind, casting its ominous shadow over the city. Just a stone’s throw from the Holiday Inn are newly built hotels and residential towers. Some of the newest structures feature a glass facade. Who would suggest such a fragile facade in plain view of Beirut’s violent history? Could the architect be Lebanese? Of course! Only a Lebanese would tempt the Gods of War with such a delicate structure but then tempting fate is part of being Lebanese.
City Daily Photo’s Theme Day “Your Favourite Part of Town”  Click to view all participants

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Fickle February

almaza               The perfect drink for any weather or any mood.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Verbal Agreement

      burger
We can agree to disagree but subject and verbs should always agree.
                       “Hamburgers is all we do”

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Labor Of Love

Exotica (4) 9 months is a long time. 18 months is twice as long and that’s how long the gestation period is for elephants. Coincidentally, 18 months is how long its been since Exotica was declared a perennial favorite of Beirut Drive-by. Welcome back Exotica!!!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

There’s No Place Like Home

china glaze (2)  It’s kinda nice how those Ruby Slippers are now some sexy red peep toe stilettos.  We really aren’t in Kansas anymore.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Step By Step

johnny (9)
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Confucius 
If you’re interested in a journey that isn’t quite 1000 miles, this event may be for you. Lebanon Mountain Trail Annual Thru-Walk 2011
                                             www.lebanontrail.org

Friday, February 18, 2011

TGIF

guitta (10)
Yalla! Make your way to Jbeil to hear Guitta Harb. Can’t make it today? Then you’ll have to wait 168 hours until the next Friday.
                            Guitta’s facebook page & twitter.
            

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Faded Jeans

DT (5)              Your current love might not last, but you and your jeans could be "together forever".

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Who’s Your Daddy?

fiordelli                            “ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ”

Monday, February 14, 2011

Benihana Kuwait vs. Lebanese Blogger

In a collective act of solidarity, bloggers have decided today to collectively republish  the "Post"  that got one Blogger in Kuwait sued..                                     (Intro courtesy of BeirutSpring.com)
My Benihana Experience, By Mark Makhoul
A few days back I posted about Benihana opening up at the Avenues and yesterday night I decided to pass by with Nat and try it out. The service wasn’t too bad for a restaurant that’s just been open for a few days and the staff were really friendly. The restaurant itself is made up of islands and bars with a grill in the middle of each one. You sit around the grill and the chef will come to your table and prepare the food right in front of you which makes things entertaining. It’s actually why I prefer sitting at the bar in Japanese restaurants in general, since you can talk to the chef and watch them put your dish together. The problem with my experience last night though was with the food, it was disappointing to say the least.
We ordered beef negimayaki for starters followed by an Orange Blossom maki and a Hibachi Chicken. The negimaki arrived looking good and was probably the best thing we had there even though I prefer Maki’s negimaki which has a richer teriyaki sauce. The Orange Blossom was very ordinary, wouldn’t order it again. Now the Hibachi chicken which is basically grilled chicken, that was the worst. The chicken was very chewy (I could swear it was undercooked if not raw) and tasted terrible. Even after I had the chef add some more teriyaki sauce in hopes of improving the taste it didn’t work. I tried to dip it into the sauces that came with the chicken but it was hard to figure out if they were actually making things worse or not. Nat only ate one piece of chicken and left the rest while I needed my protein since I’m on a strict diet and forced myself to eat my whole plate (I can do that) but the after taste was really bad. Even the rice and the veggies that came with it tasted bad AND were under cooked. Once we left I considered picking up a frozen yogurt from Pinkberry even though I hate frozen yogurts but I just needed something to get rid of the aftertaste. A few moments later we ended up at Chocolate Bar ordering the gooey chocolate cake (bye bye diet).
I shot the two videos above of the chef preparing our meal. Benihana are known for the live shows they perform when preparing your dish so I was expecting to see [This] but ended up with the above . Would I go back to Benihana? No I wouldn’t. Their sashimi and maki’s are pretty cheap (KD1.5 for 5 pieces of Salmon sashimi for example) but there are two other Japanese restaurants at the Avenues, Wasabi and Maki, and I would prefer either one of those to Benihana.

Happy Valentine’s Day

klynn (19)                Make this special day a little extra special…..
 klynn (38)                                     Bring a friend!

Born This Way

ice (2)
                                 Finally, here’s an ad…..
ice (6)
                      the average Lebanese man understands.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Let’s Summarize

diamony (5)     Tantalize, hypnotize or mesmerize not traumatize or terrorize.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Head To Toe

reva (9)It’s great for couples to try new things. How’s this working for you?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Sleepless In Beirut

   bedbed (4)
If this is a typical night for you, maybe you should consider a sleeping pill or at least some thicker curtains.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

I Don’t Know Why…

veromoda
          but the girl on the left looks a little like Nawal El Zoghbi.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Fine Print

silkor (4)
                  A tattoo is done with ink not pencil….

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

“Say It With Flowers”

exotica (6)
       FTD’s slogan is good but her favorite slogan is most likely….“Diamonds Are Forever”

Monday, February 7, 2011

The End

kunhadi                             ….of life as you knew it.
“Speed doesn’t always kill you” “Respect Life, Respect speed limits”

Saturday, February 5, 2011

You Have Time….

…to see Seasons 1,2 & 3 before Season 4 starts, if you hurry! Shankaboot is the world’s first Arabic web series and it’s filmed in Lebanon.  For non-Arabic speakers, there are English subtitles and if you have slow internet(Lebanon), there’s a low-bandwidth version. The Shankaboot launch party will be on Feb.11th in Hamra.
This video is part of Shankactive. “Shankactive is a creative space to showcase where you can showcase any multi-media project inspired by Shankaboot.”  Awards will be presented to the winners at the launch party.
         Beirut Drive-By Shooting is proud to be a Shankabootee!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Still Of The Night

beyrouth
                           Samir Kassir (1960-2005)
       Beirut Drive-by Shooting participates in City Daily Photo’s Theme Day. This month’s theme is “Fountains”
                     Click here to view all participants