MEDMILES

PART I:



PART II:

Cirque Du Soleil: Saltimbanco

The first time I saw Cirque Du Soleil was last summer, with my family in Montreal. The theme was evolution, entitled TOTEM. And as much as I’d like to say that I loved them, I didn’t. I liked them, but I didn’t love them. I think they’re so overhyped that I had this great expectation from them and they didn’t meet it…

Several months since then, I heard that they were coming to Lebanon. A couple of old friends from Toastmasters were interested in going and so I thought I’d give them another chance with a lighter themed performance, SALTIMBANCO…

We arrived a couple minutes late, with the unorganized parking at Forum. We presented our tickets and quickly found our seats to watch the show. And it was just as I’d expected it to be, good but not good enough. But maybe I’m being biased here, because it wasn’t the greatest night for me...

During the intermission, I got a text message from my boss that tomorrow’s marathon had been postponed due to the current security situation. Shortly after, Dad called, telling me that several main roads in Tripoli had been blocked with burning tires and that they could hear gunshots. I checked BBM and my Twitter and Facebook timelines were all filled with the violence that was erupting back home in Tripoli. And of course I couldn’t concentrate on the show after that…

On the drive back, we got stuck in Jounieh for 2 full hours because they had cut off the highway in order to demolish the burnt carpet factory. After we got out of the traffic and got back on the main road, it was smooth… until we reached Chekka’s tunnel of doom, as I like to call it. The roads got darker and quieter until we reached Tripoli, by then a ghost city. And it all went downhill from there… :-(

N.B. SALTIMBANCO is playing at FORUM DE BEIRUT till MAY 20^TH. 

My New Underwater Camera

When it comes to cameras, I have one word: CANON! I've been shooting left and right these days, but about two years ago near summer’s end, I noticed an ad on a billboard on the Tripoli-Beirut highway, for an underwater camera and I thought, wouldn't I love to have one?! Two summers passed and so did my thought about having one. Until…

A couple of weeks ago, one of my good friends Mohamad called me up, asking if I wanted anything from his upcoming business trip to New York. He was obviously expecting me to say a new lens, but then the idea of an underwater camera floated up again! Yes! I did a little research and found an good contender, behold:

PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-TS20 16.1 MEGAPIXEL DIGITAL CAMERA!

Its 16ft waterproof, 5ft shockproof, -10 degrees freezproof, dustproof, with HD video recording in MP4 format, and Mega O.I.S. (optical Image Stabilizer)… all for $195! Sweet or Sweet?!

Of course I’ll never stop shooting with CANON, but I’m really looking forward to using this little beauty at the beach and underwater this summer! Will keep you posted! :-)

Pictures from Tripoli’s Car Free Day!

So, I know this is a few days overdue, but as I’d posted last week, last Sunday was “Tripoli and Mina’s Car-Free Day”, and what a day it was! I spent most of it at our BankMed stand, handing out gapples (organic apples), which were, all bias aside, the best tasting apples I've ever had!

I also got the chance to see Mr. President Michel Suleiman up close in the VIP section, and I got these two shots of him:

All in all it was a wonderful day, and it was beyond wonderful seeing Tripoli actually car-free! And instead of it being an annual event, I really hope it’s done a lot more often than that… :-)

Happy Birthday Jinane, + Silkor

It’s my friend Jinane’s birthday today and as a celebration, me and two other friends from work, Jinane’s sister, and her cousin all took her out for a surprise dinner at Chocho’s in Batroun last night. I've only been to Chocho’s once before, and I remember having ordered a chocolate chicken combo of some sort (which tasted as weird as it sounds), but this time I played it safe with a chicken sub sandwich, which definitely made up for the last time! BM Friends, keep smiling! :-)

The Trio: Me, Lara, and Jinane! :-)

While we were dining, The Silkor Team burst in to distribute wet towels, which were delightfully refreshing. And as we found our last night, they’re holding a “One Million Competition” for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the country of your choice! (All you have to do is log in to www.facebook.com/silkorholding and participate!)

All in all it was a fun filled night, best wishes to Jinane, and good luck in the Silkor Competition! :-)

OB for Boss Orange

So I was on my way back from Beirut this afternoon, when I noticed this big poster for Hugo Boss Cologne next to C&F. The model looked attractive, and familiar… then it hit me, Orlando Bloom!

I used to be desperately in love with him since the early 2000s. Then, somewhere along the line, I began to lose interest and my fascination with him eventually disappeared. But when I saw him again in this ad, wow! o.O (L)