So I went to Beirut. It was nice. It reminded me of Karachi. I have a feeling after a while everyplace reminds one of home. Its an interesting phenomenon.. seeking out the familiar.. the memorable.. in everything and everyone around us.
The first thing you notice about someone are any similarities they may have to someone else. I’m generally trying to match each new face to which Hollywood actor they match.. (one day I hope to hit the Jackpot with a Brad Pitt lookalike ;) )It’s the overwhelming urge in human beings to categorize into familiar boxes each thing that they come across to kill the fear of the unknown.
So I went to Beirut. And it was nice. Apart from the market dynamics and the socio-economic structure mimicking that of Karachi to certain extent.. with nice office buildings being flanked by rundown highrises housing the relatively less well off.. and a newly built downtown that has risen out of the ashes of the destruction wrought on the city 3 years ago.. the city seemed to have a certain bohemian character. The co-existence of the east and west cultural threads seemed on the surface quite harmonious.. which was interesting.
I saw huge supermarkets, slightly smaller supermarkets, an amazing basketball/football playground that was teeming with children of all ages and sizes and overflowing with energy.. it just brought a smile to your face. I was amazed at how sporty itty bitty little kiddies could be.. all the while guzzling Gatorade :)
I saw the cutest
manakeesh place with a very traditional oven and lots of yummies being cooked inside.
The first thing you notice about someone are any similarities they may have to someone else. I’m generally trying to match each new face to which Hollywood actor they match.. (one day I hope to hit the Jackpot with a Brad Pitt lookalike ;) )It’s the overwhelming urge in human beings to categorize into familiar boxes each thing that they come across to kill the fear of the unknown.
So I went to Beirut. And it was nice. Apart from the market dynamics and the socio-economic structure mimicking that of Karachi to certain extent.. with nice office buildings being flanked by rundown highrises housing the relatively less well off.. and a newly built downtown that has risen out of the ashes of the destruction wrought on the city 3 years ago.. the city seemed to have a certain bohemian character. The co-existence of the east and west cultural threads seemed on the surface quite harmonious.. which was interesting.
I saw huge supermarkets, slightly smaller supermarkets, an amazing basketball/football playground that was teeming with children of all ages and sizes and overflowing with energy.. it just brought a smile to your face. I was amazed at how sporty itty bitty little kiddies could be.. all the while guzzling Gatorade :)
I saw the cutest
manakeesh place with a very traditional oven and lots of yummies being cooked inside.There was this really nice mall next to the Habtoor Grand that had the same Italian style ceiling where the sun could shine through a la Mercato.
The night was quite pleasant in terms of the humidity and the outdoor area of the nice place with very good Lebanese food in Ashrafiyeh. I forget the name of the chaps dad who he had named the place after.. but he had his dads old vintage white mercedes.. aha.. it was called Al-falamanki and all the plates were old and everyone had a different design (as pointed out by my guide for the day) because the idea was that it came from his grandmothers kitchen :).. quite a personable place. The grilled chicken was lovely, the zaater manakeesh was very nice… overall it was a memorable experience. Should have taken a picture of the food..
The clientele ranged from the younger set (relatively :)) to the older set and everyone in between.. One young lady arrived wearing sparkly silver shoes which sparked inquiries amongst her friends “why’d you change your shoes?” .. “we have to go to the budha bar afterwards”.. lol.. and this was not even the weekend..
I missed out on actually walking the streets of downtown Beirut which I have been told is an experience not to be missed. And all my new acquaintances told me I had to come back and actually spend some time just getting a feel of the city.. the coolest part I was told about the city was that in the winters you can go to the beach and an hours drive later you can go skiing in the mountain.. how cool is that!!
So that was that.. an interesting and enlightening travel experience. The gist of it is, no matter where you go, you're always searching for home.
The night was quite pleasant in terms of the humidity and the outdoor area of the nice place with very good Lebanese food in Ashrafiyeh. I forget the name of the chaps dad who he had named the place after.. but he had his dads old vintage white mercedes.. aha.. it was called Al-falamanki and all the plates were old and everyone had a different design (as pointed out by my guide for the day) because the idea was that it came from his grandmothers kitchen :).. quite a personable place. The grilled chicken was lovely, the zaater manakeesh was very nice… overall it was a memorable experience. Should have taken a picture of the food..
The clientele ranged from the younger set (relatively :)) to the older set and everyone in between.. One young lady arrived wearing sparkly silver shoes which sparked inquiries amongst her friends “why’d you change your shoes?” .. “we have to go to the budha bar afterwards”.. lol.. and this was not even the weekend..
I missed out on actually walking the streets of downtown Beirut which I have been told is an experience not to be missed. And all my new acquaintances told me I had to come back and actually spend some time just getting a feel of the city.. the coolest part I was told about the city was that in the winters you can go to the beach and an hours drive later you can go skiing in the mountain.. how cool is that!!
So that was that.. an interesting and enlightening travel experience. The gist of it is, no matter where you go, you're always searching for home.
