Mukhi Sisters - Jewelry With Attitude

Introduciiiiiiiiiiiiing the Mukhi Sisters!!!!

with a mixed Indian-Lebanese heritage, the Mukhis have been coming up with sensational jewelry pieces!! the line is one to look out for in the coming years, for it has been proving a hit amongst the clientele in Lebanon and overseas.

from clutches, to rings, to necklaces, to headgear worn by A-List celebs like blondie Paris Hilton below

Headpiece by the Mukhi Sisters for Paris Hilton, Dubai BFF Press Conference- July 09

The brand has been making fruitful appearances across the local jewelry shows, heavy promotion online through Facebook and Twitter, and most importantly, the frenzy goin around the social networks of both Mukhi sisters

Just today, they have released a video promoting their Jewelry !!! i must say, it was shot with plenty of attitude!!!

The gorgeous girls Karine Yassine (Brunette) and Karen Zaatari (Blondie) are perfect in the video, they are so natural throughout the attitudes they show, their fun with one another is so funny and just puts a huge smile on your face.. still with all the sexy stop motion in the video, you tend to keep an eye on the headwear, necklace and head band they are showcasing !!! The music is so funky u keep on tryin to sing it!!!



hmmm did u spot granny at the end?!

what you waiting for !!! visit the Mukhi Sisters on:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54635101946

and

Twitter.com/MukhiSisters

and

@: info@mukhisister.com

and

Tel: +961 1 247 274



@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

قهوة القزاز

Another iconic landmark of the Lebanese socio-cultural scene is to wither down...

The most famous café in Lebanon, located in on of Gemmayzeh's beautitful old buildings, is set to shut down.. Apparently after finding a technical loophole in the tenancy contract, the building owners have moved along with the decision to evict the cafe owners..


This place has been standing strong for 85 years,


85 years of clients
85 years of entertainment
85 years of politicians, writers, thinkers, etc...


85 years of Lebanese socio-econo-politoco-cultural histroy,,, that's EPIC !!

The cafe will shut down on New Year's Eve and start evacuating the premises that week. im glad ill be in Beirut prior to that and will visit the shop for one last goodbye of this Phoenix!


The cafe will hold a charity concert night, which will raise money to Save Beirut Heritage association, which works on preserving our heritage.


P.S: it is set to reopen in Antellias area... i doubt it will be the same, fingers crossed to rise from the ashes!!


if you had any experiences of the café, do share!!


@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

"I got A's and B's. And I'm not even frontin'" K. (Review of Kanye's Latest Album)

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Mutha efffin, sorry i mean a MOTHAFUCKIN Masterpiece!!!!

Kanye West's new album !!! 

Just loooove the cover!!! Kanye and the Phoenix!! for those who watched the "Runaway" long feature vid, they'll see it right away.... its so provocative that 5 cover albums are available, check at end of post.

i am kinda late on the review of this album, and late in listenin' to it,, especially after the kick ASS 30 mins music video as a teaser to the album, entitled "Runaway"

The music video was considered like a modern "Thriller" release, and it came pretty close in my humble opinion.. the video depicts the story of a phoenix landing on earth Kanye taking her under his wing.. The phoenix offers the stranger's critical eye to our social behavior and more,,, the video is a pot pourri of the songs of the now released album... The video itself is so well constructed that you barely feel the 30 mins pass away!!! 

Check it out hear, talkin about it won't do it justice, lemme know wht you think!! 

Now the album itself... Ooooooo Emmmmmmm Geeee
yes thats how mind blowing i find it !!!! i missed listenin to goooood satisfying intoxicating music!! 
I see this album as the culmination of Kanye's work so far, like his pervious albums merged into a powerhouse!! 
You will find the intoxicating soul beats, symphonic badd ass-erie and that sexy electro maniac music!!! 
playin the 13 tracks in a row, you will find the depth of music layers, of emotions between the tracks, its simply beautiful!! Kanye at his best !!!
The sexiness is having almost every track as a kaleidoscopic blend of music genres, working so well to tell his story...
 The album, could've simply been named Kanye, the man. During his hiatus in Hawaii, Kanye freakin' worked on the album, even bookin 3 recording studios, hoppin between each whenever he hit a musical wall in a song.. The album covers the highs and lows of an egomaniac, sex, escapism, decadence, grandiosity, wealth, romance...
an collection of A-list stars worked with Kanye on the album, most notably Rihanna, Beyonce, Elton John, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Drake, The Dream, Fergie, John Legend, Eminem, Lil'Wayne, etccc....


my fav track on the album is yet to be decided!! ,, but to filter down some down,,,


All of The Lights  - i see it as the perfect track to represent the blend of music mastery in this album!! 



Dark Fantasy - The best cruisin' tune as per my buddy buddy @nchouman



POWER - makes you feel Herculian, or should i say Kanye-ian !! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53gjP-TtGE - for the music video teaser



Lost in the World - @LaSahely's favorittte!!!! 



Lastly, the alternative album cover art version

Kanye, "the PIMP is, at the top of mount olympus"


Share your views of the album/songs if you heard them already!! 


@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13


My musical buttermint of the day!! 

Christmas, my favorite part of the year!

With the heat wave that took over Lebanon and postponed our winter season, we were really starting to wonder if a lebanese cold christmas would stay part of our past memories.

Thank God, fresh days and some rain is starting to appear and a storm is scheduled this weekend/beginning of next week. What better time to set up the Christmas tree?

I love it ! I love it! I love it!

As you can see the details in
our choices.

With our years spent in Africa and some christmas celebrations in France, decorating the christmas tree, setting up the cave where Jesus had been born, organizing the Christmas supper and being woken up at 6AM by my Mother to open the presents on the 25th are unmovable traditions in our house.

Although we are not Christians, this is one of our favorite moments of the year and our parents educated us in a way to be sure of our beliefs but also to  respect, recognize and learn about the other religions.

I'm currently 20 years old and my Mother won't stop waking me up to open the presents even if I beg her not to.

In a way, I'm thankful for these traditions because they give us sort of reasons to get closer, share joyful moments and take a break from the outside world.

A small simplification of the cave where
Jesus was born.

I think these events are important for one to remember how important it is to spread love and be grateful to what we've got.

Today, we spent three hours and a half to finish up setting the Christmas tree. My mother is very picky and we change it every year.

So here is the final result!

The final result :D!

That's one of my buttermints for the Christmas season coming up!

@LaSahely

Follow me: Twitter.com/LaSahely

vrOOm 4x4 Trip!

Last weekend me and a group of friends went to Oman for some Off-Road action and a nice lunch afterwards,

The grid lineup consisted of the following:

Land Rover Defender TD5 SWB a.k.a Ruby

2 Mitsubishi Pajero LWB

Mitsubishi Pajero SWB

and my Nissan Armada aka Butso

once we reached Oman, the action started off easy with some gravel and rocky paths, and then curiosity hit about a leading upward trail into the mountains,,, the wise advice of our women passengers was deafened by typical Boys n' Toys !! 

Butso and Ruby

Butso in action!!

The off-road expedition was cut short due to rough terrain ahead that would damage the stock cars (all except Ruby). We did push our cars to the max with the rough terrain BIG time!! i was sooo impressed by my Butso handling the terrain, and thankfully with no damages, well other than the plants scratching the hell out of my paint, yea Ali, get a black car,, suuuuper bright of you!! well, now the dangerous thought of buying a Wrangler as my Off-Road toy is poking me endlessly, siighhh...

Next stop was the lovely retreat, Hatta Fort Hotel for a quick lunch before heading into the desert for a short camping spot !! 

And here are some pics of our camping site!! it was quickly set up by the boys, with the wimiiinnnzz setting up the food for their Macho Macho Men!! hahaha corn cobs, marshmallows, Nutelllllllllla sandwiches and a crazy dude wanted to bbq a banana !!! 

The trip was a great experience with friends, good food, lotsa laughs and pics!! 

Thank you allll!! 

Dany & Lama, Carl & Maya, Firas & Sally, Tony & Soulaf, Rabih & wife :$, Wael, Hatem, Sarah, Alan and Habib !!

P.S: i still felt alone with all this company, my baby girl @LaSahely was MIA but present in my heart and running around in my head telling me to be safe :D 

Till the next trip, keep those engines revvvvvin'!!! 

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

TEDxDubai - Ideas Worth Spreadin'

TEDxDubai was held on Saturday 4th December in Dubai, with a collection of speakers sharing their ideas,,

Just a bit of history on TED, it stands for Technology Entertainment and Design, in short it is a conference where speakers are given an 18 min window to share their ideas under an umbrella of "ideas worth spreading", to leverage on the power of ideas to change the world.

TEDx is a program that enables schools, universities, businesses or individuals to have a TED-like experience by themselves hosting, organizing and designing the event.

This year's TEDxDubai in its 2nd edition built on further on last year's success, i'll be sharing my experience at the events and highlighting the points that i saw positive and the areas where work is needed...

The event registration was done by filling a form online and being selected for the event, then receiving a digital barcode as a confirmation! A green approach to a paperless registration and entrance, very well done indeed, i do hope to see this being picked up by others soon, makes it so easy, and avoids losing your ticket ;)

The goodie bag was differently thought of as well, it was a specially designed scarf for TEDxDubai, tied to form a loose handbag, with a note pad inside, indeed a nice touch, and was worn differently by the attendees, some held it as a bag, others as scarfs, others as a headband, i tied it to my backpack :p ... 

The wristband also was designed differently, with a clip on mechanism, and made of cloth instead of those annoying rubber or plastic ones which you must rip off after an event,, this was a nice keepsake, as well as your key to get into the after party at ARMANI/privee later in the evening.

This year's event was titled REBOOT, and as per the TEDxDubai blog (http://tedxdubai.com/blog/tedxdubai-2010-reboot/), it revolved around

The list of speakers consisted of the following: (Read More) 

Més Que Un Club!

1,2,3,4,5 - 0 !!!! 

that's how people should remember yesterday's El Clasico !! the famous clash of the titans of two of the best European soccer teams

The tension was at its highest between the fans before the start of the game, with the usual teasing and taunting pre-game and in the first minutes of kick-off... the fans in club shirts, caps and even BlacBerry Messenger profile pics, including me and @LaSahely,,, everything was set for an action packed game with everyone preparing the taunts, the replies, the "gooooooooooolll" broadcast messages and tweeeets!!  

Kick-off, teams testing each other out, and BAMMMM, then KAPPOOOWWW, the first two goals in barely 20 mins into the game and the Blancos' spirit was broken, their play began to fumble down the drain unfortunately, only to be replaced with a 70-30 possession split in favor of the Blaugrana !! 

One would wonder about such a crushing victory against Mourinho, one of the most prominent coaches these days, and his results with Real Madrid, adjusting their playing style to their old beautiful flair, barely though... 

Well i believe the issue was not Mourinho's formation, tactics or instructions to his players which betrayed him and the team,, but it was the players themselves... running a comparison with the Barca play yest, one would notice a team playing as One-For-All, like a build-up of 20 passes before the 2nd Barca goal, against a team playing as 3 teams in one, with the defense trying to just hold their ground and push the ball away, the midfield desperately looking for the attackers and missing the passes, and the attackers passing when their teammates least expect it?! i think the Real Madrid players betrayed themselves with not being in-sync, with not taking things slower, building up their movement through the pitch..

I have enjoyed and quite agreed on the 10 points why we Barca fans should've feared Mourinho, byt my good friend @figo29 on his blog,


http://figo29.com/2010/11/22/i-fear-mourinho/


well i guess tonight my friend figo, we showed them !! Ronaldo still ddnt score against Barca in a Real Madrid jersey, we did not treat them like an Almeria team (they made it easy), Messi was flamboyant against Mourinho's containment measures, we did not need our substitution bench (albeit Bojan almost scored twice), Puyol was Ronaldo's "Sisyphus Boulder", Villa scored twiiice (but ddnt play tht well though)....

The game's golden moments would definitely be the renowned tiqui-taca passing of Barca, the Ronaldo shove to Pep Guardiola, the fighting spirit of the Barca players, the disorientation in the Real Madrid players, the Sergio Ramos red card and the silent Mourinho...

i would like to congratulate Barccaaaaaaaaa :D and hard luck for Real Madrid, but the crushing win left aside, the season is not over yet, this is the first time Barca tops the standings, and we have always witnessed the relentless fight of Mourinho and the Real Madrid team's surprises throughout the league.. 

The coming games are tough for Real Madrid...

Until the next El Clasico in May (with Mourinho having never lost a home game since 2003 with any team he coached), godspeed for both teams!

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Techy Cookie Dough

I want to introduce to you all my close friend's shop Cookie Dough !!! 

Cookie Dough offers multi-brand Luxury for Little Ones from 0-6 years. We harmonize the fashionably avant-garde with the timeless classic, presenting a concoction of styles and trends personally handpicked from both internationally acclaimed brand names, as well as discreet upcoming designers.


The shop offers a great experience and well catered to every last detail!!  form the handmade and hand painted clothes hangers, to the colorful thematic window displays, to the amazing services they offer such as a limo ride at no extra cost to pick u up from your place and take you back !! 

The beautiful door! 

The works

Cutest Hangers !! 

And newly launched is the Blackberry Messenger service! yess yesss,, BBM used for businesses!!  i believe it is a first in Beirut,  and i actually see this for the first time ! 

Introducing our Blackberry Service! Add us on your BBM: 21CEB868 to make orders and deliveries easier. It will also help you stay up to date with our news, latest collections, services, and promotions.

now that's a kick ass idea!!! 

the shop just even released a cookbook full of recipes for babies!!! 

Cookie Dough is PROUDLY owned by one of the most amazing people you will ever meet Ms. Yasmin Agha !!! 

If you are ever free, do drop by and have a chat with her and check out the shop :D 


P.S: do follow Yasmin on Twitter.com/YasminAgha and Cookie Dough on Twitter.com/CookieDough_Bey

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

A Slice of Heaven

This year i spent the Eid break in the UAE, in Dubai more specifically. I had the company of close family visiting and was responsible for activities :D 


For the first time i was able to enjoy all the various good restaurants in Dubai, the good fun to be had with family and all.


The biggest surprise for us all was our visit to Jumeirah's Bab el Shams Resort and Spa !!! 


We planned to arrive there before sunset to watch it from their very very cosy Al-Sarab cafe! it is built like an old fort top with a gorgeous outdoor chimney! the couches and arabic majlis seating are very comfy, the service impeccable and the weather a blissful collection of breezes! 


Unfortunately we left a tad late for the 45 mins drive from the hotel, but we were still treated to majestic sand dunes sun kissed by the sunset through the drive.. The magic kept on goin till we reached and sat in the cafe, with the gorgeous sky colored by a palette of orange, yellow, purple and dark blues !! The sight is truly to die for!! 

Trusty Nikon D5000

The Resort is exquisite with its architecture, reminiscent of the Bedouin times, with a simplistic modern twist, the pictures speak for themselves !! The resort's serene feel is just accentuated by its isolated position in the middle of sand dunes, away from all the busy feel and state of bustling Dubai !! 

Next stop, is a short 3 mins buggy ride outside the main resort building deep into the sand dunes into the Hadheera (The Barn)
The place is basically a reconstruction of a an old times barn. It is used as a great place for a good night time!!!  the menu for entertainment consists of an arabic singer at first (not bad), a Tannoura dancer with his face painted in green (guess its a morrocan thingy), well he was a star with his performance and interaction with the crowd, moving around the place and dancing for almost every table! The dabkeh band was a hit as well, and there is an oriental dancer, but we missed it since the kids were too tired to stay up, but according to the pics we saw of her, she haawwttt!!! 


The place is well designed, with very nice seating, allowing you to see the stage wherever you are, i advise sittin on the sides with the nice couches and majlis areas instead of the classic chairs before the main stage.


The place has a buffet system, but a veryyyy well organised one, with food station scattered around instead of a single line of food... there are almost no cues to get your food, and the waiters can even serve you a collection of the available num num !!!  the meat and chicken kababs are yummmyyy and so are the freshly boiled crabs and steaks!! 


There is also a heritage village within the location, where you have a rebuilt village type of setting, with wax figurines depicting the lifestyle of bedouins from their homes to their habits and professions of carpentry, fishing and barbers... moreover you have the typical camel rides, pony rides, horse rides and falcon posing!!! 


The place is a must see and a great weekend getaway if you are living in Dubai !!! 


@Alexi13


Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

Zangetsu a.k.a Honda S2000

well i was like a kid in a candy store coupla weeks ago, i was granted the chance to drive one of the cars i fascinated about getting before i got my monstrous Nissan Armada !! 


The Honda S2000 !!!! 


(for reference only, the blue car is not the actual one)

My good friend @Wassim_Moumneh (a social media guru, ex-rugby player :p, you should follow him) exchanged his Honda S2000 for a week, and boy what a week that was for me... 


The car has been dubbed a motorbike with 4 wheels, and owning a superbike myself, from the same Honda familia, i must say the car earns it! 


The car looks like a tiny Japanese corvette, with its long bonnet, uber short tail and double exhaust pipes! 


The inside does looks close to the last generation of Corvettes, with the super simplicity it carries in matters of equipment, the radio for example is hidden behind a flip down hatch, and to be honest u won't need it with the deafening sound of the exhaust!!  


a quick look inside 

one of the most distinctive features in the mini-rocket, is the digital dashboard!!! your inner kid awakens and there you are, driving a car from a playstation game right one the street!!! thts a surreal experience, pretty challenging as well, you get confused whether you wana look at the road and watch out for traffic and things zooming by, or enjoy the digital rev counter and the rest playin in front of your eyes, hmmm safety wins and you end up looking at the road ahead :( 

The other clever design feature is the dashboard controls, you can notice in the pic above how closely packed they are... well the engineers wanted to have everythin within a finger reach, for the driver to use without having to take his hands of the steering wheel!!  man the Japs think of everything!! 

Well yes, you have no time to take your hands off the wheel, the only time you can i for shifting gears with the super short stick on the Honda S2000 giving you lots of umphhhh with every gear, making use, abusing this super high rev engine, up to 9,000rpm !!! yes its tht high!!1 

in the words of my friend Wassim, "Ali, below 5,000rpm, you are driving a Civic, but once the V-Tec engine kicks in at 5k, you are driving a little rocket!" 

@Alexi13

Follow me on Twitter.com/Alexi13

That's my buttermint for the day!