Category: Travel

I was taking a walk today in a Beirut district when I noticed some Arabic graffiti on the wall. I don’t think I had ever seen Arabic graffiti prior to this… I am not talking about the random scribbles regularly seen in Kuwait. I think graffiti agrees with Arabic really well, its because how nearly all the letters in Arabic are connected to each other.

I was at Virgin here in Lebanon checking out the Ingmar Bergman special edition DVD collection when I noticed the box looked like it was missing a DVD. I then noticed a warning label on top which said:

This box set is missing item(s) that were confiscated by the general security for censorship reasons.

So it happens even in Lebanon although DVD censorship here is not as common as in Kuwait and is usually left to really controversial stuff.

I had to shoot a TV commercial today so I had to wake up at 6AM. Its now 11:58PM and I just got back to my hotel so it was a really long exhausting day. Problem is tomorrow I have to wake up at 8AM for another shoot so I will barely have any rest and sleep. I have a lot to write about but I am too tired at the moment to do so. I get back to Kuwait Thursday night.

Since I arrived to Lebanon I have been asking around for a place where I could rent a scooter from but everyone keeps telling me no such place exits. I figured since I don’t have a car here I could rent a scooter and use it as my primary means of transportation but it seems it might be easier to just buy a used one for like $200. I have a friend though who knows someone who works at an impound lot and he told me they have a lot of scooters there and he might be able to hook me up with one. Hopefully that works out.

I went out to Gimayze street tonight pubbing since I don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. I was going to go pub hopping but it started raining so I ended up spending most of my time at a pub called Gautcho. The weather in Lebanon the past 2 days has been really dusty and tonight it was raining mud which reminded me a lot of Kuwait. Speaking of which, its looking like I am going to get back to Kuwait on the 19th or 20th since I have a couple of more jobs I need to finish up now.

I just came back from Boubouffe which is my favorite shawerma place here in Lebanon and anywhere else in the world for that matter. With over 30 years experience, Boubouffe simply make the best chicken shawermas I have ever tasted. The price of each shawerma sandwich is KD1 which I guess would make it also one of the most expensive? Maybe, although I hear the shawermas in London aren’t cheap at all.

Had a photo shoot today from 9 in the morning till 8 in the evening. Its really never as fun as it sounds and its nothing close to being glamorous. At one point today we were with over 20 cast and crew in a small apartment living room with no AC for 6 hours. If that wasn’t bad enough, add to it the stress and pressure of directing these people in addition to the fact that you spend hours shooting the same situation over and over so that in the end you have 1 shot that makes the cut.

Now there are positives of course, I get to travel and meet new people and that usually balances things out most of the time. Still though when you tell people you are traveling for a photo shoot they think you are going on vacation.

Found this outside a Red Cross office. The text roughly translate to:

The Lebanese Red Cross
Gift from the Kuwait Red Crescent

I will no longer be coming back on the 15th to Kuwait, my trip has been extended 2 more days.

Found this book called “Butt Book” at a supermarket and thought it was pretty funny. So I picked up the book and flipped through it, turns out there is a gay magazine called Butt Magazine and this book was a collection of the “best” stuff. Not very pretty…

Everyone I met today in Lebanon has been complaining about how hot it is. Its 32 degrees and they are complaining about the heat!

For some reason when I am in Lebanon I have a very bad habit of lying to taxi drivers. I think its because I feel sorry for them or because I don’t want to seem like a tourist in my own country but whatever the reason is, I always lie to them.

I always make it look like I work in Lebanon for one thing. When I get asked what I do for a living I am honest and tell them advertising but then I complain about how there isn’t much work in Lebanon and how I am considering leaving and that I have offers from Qatar and Kuwait. When they ask me if I know how to drive I say yes of course, how many Lebanese do you know that don’t? Then I either say that (a) I had an accident back in October and totaled the car so until I could afford to fix it I take cabs, or (b) I live with my brother so he drops me off where I want so I don’t see a reason to buy a car.

Cab drivers don’t make a lot of money in Lebanon and the expression on their faces and in their eyes just saddens me. I like giving them big tips, I actually leave big tips to a lot of people here in Lebanon since its like everyone has financial difficulties…

Just finished packing my bags and will head out to the airport in a bit. I am not going to post from there (the airport) since I am packing my laptop with my main luggage. I will most probably post again later in the evening. See ya!

I got back from Dubai last night and since I averaged around 5 hours sleep a night I was really exhausted when I got back. Here are s

The Flight
We took the Sri Lanken airlines to Dubai for two reasons, the first was because it was an early flight (before the 2 hour delay) and the second because I was told the Sri Lanken airlines is owned by Emirates they are the same. Well they aren’t. I think all the old Emirates planes get handed down to the Sri Laken airlines. The two planes were old and setup very similarly to the Kuwait Airways ones meaning no entertainment jukebox of the Emirates with over 300 things to watch. If you want to drink water on the plane its not bottled but out of a jug, even Jazeera Airways gives passengers bottled water and for free.

The Hotel
We stayed at the Sapphire Hotel which was located very close to Dubai Media City where the Young Lions Competition was being held and it was also close to the Mall of the Emirates. The hotel felt more like a furnished apartment because I had a small kitchen, large fridge and even a washing machine. The staff weren’t good communicators and they all felt untrained. They have Internet access in all the rooms via Wifi and it costs 15 Dhms per hour. Problem was that even with my very sensitive MacBook I was only able to get a decent signal from inside the closet located near the rooms main entrance. Finally, no cab driver had heard of the hotel so every time we took a cab we had to give the driver directions.

Lina’s Cafe
Had the Turkey Fillet with cheese sandwich on Wednesday for lunch. It was so good we actually went back Thursday to have the exact same thing for lunch again.

The Butcher
Wednesday night we had dinner at The Butcher in the Mall of the Emirates. I had the steak fillet which was above average but nothing special. The restaurants name is cooler then the food.

Chicago
Virgin Megastore in Dubai don’t sell the Arabic book Chicago, which was the book that supposedly shutdown Virgin in Kuwait. Borders on the other hand which was located a few stores away did sell the book. I should have gotten a bunch and sold them here in Kuwait on the black market.

Cabs
We took a lot of cabs in Dubai since it was our only mean of getting around. Cab drivers were mostly friendly and easy to converse with except for one driver who turned out had been in Dubai for just a month and reminded us a lot of Borat. One tip, if you are leaving Mall of the Emirates at 10pm and notice there is a long long long line of people waiting for a cab in a very orderly fashion… don’t wait with them. Just walk 20 meters to the main road and grab a passing cab from there, it will save you at least 30 minutes of waiting. Seriously the line was as long as those at six flags or Disney. I should really have taken a picture! Vallet parking at the mall is 50 Dhms (KD4).

Aï Zone
Found a really cool pair of Prada sneakers at Aï Zone, there was no price tag on them so I figured if I have to ask then I probably can’t afford them.

Passport Covers
One quick question. At the Dubai airport they had a large stand selling passport covers. Now my question is this, can I use a passport cover of a different country on my passport? For example can I buy the Russian passport cover and then use it to cover my Canadian passport?

Just got back from the Double Decker pub here in Dubai. Me and my friend went there after Mall of the Emirartes to watch the AC Milan vs Manchester United match. The place was super packed, like so packed people were backed up all the way to the hallway entrance. I didn’t get to ski tonight because the slope was pretty packed but hopefully tomorrow while everyone is at work it won’t be so crowded. Other then that I have to say I love the Mall of the Emirates, every-time I go there I discover something new. Today for example I discovered two wings I didn’t know about and thats after spending hours previously making sure I saw every part of it!

My flight tomorrow is 5 in the evening so I am hoping to get a good nights sleep now and then go do a bit of shopping before I head out to the airport.

note: the hotel I am in has wifi but the signal is so weak that I am actually standing inside the cupboard near the rooms door typing this post!