Amy, Will You Marry Me?

What do you do when you love your girlfriend? When you feel she is Miss Right, worthy of cohabitation, even if it requires a half-million dollar mortgage?

First off, you discuss the future with her. Life as Mrs. Vota, legally bound to a highly visible, globe trotting uber Geek with an addiction to technology and transit foaming on the Internets and even the streets. Then, when she accepts your insanity, you go ring shopping.

But don’t tell her that you’re buying an engagement ring. Oh no, you do your best to fake her out. You bitch and moan about diamond prices, you defer ring shopping trips, you even question the whole idea of engagement rings until she gives up and stops pestering you.

Its then, when she least expects it, like a Ross family vacation to Fripp Island, South Carolina. And where she least expects it, like the Bonito Boathouse Restaurant & Sunset Lounge, that you pop the question. Down on one knee, surprise engagement ring in hand, you ask her, “Amy, will you marry me?”

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Beirut is Open for Business

If you’ve been following the news over the last year, you’ll know that there’s been a bit of trouble in Lebanon like last year’s conflict where Israel invaded Southern Lebanon and bombed most of the country in its failed attempt to rescue two Israeli soldiers and quash Hezbollah and the continuing car bombing of government officials like Walid Eido.

With that backdrop you would expect the city of Beirut to be empty of people, its residents abroad or back in rural villages to escape the climate of fear and uncertainty in Lebanon’s capitol. This is mostly true, for the downtown shops are empty during the day, and at night many of the city’s apartment buildings are dark.

But that does not mean business has stopped, especially the construction industry. All across Beirut, construction cranes spear the sky in testament to the enduring optimism of Lebanese real estate developers. The very same developers who have not dropped office rents, even increasing them over the past few years despite the political turmoil.

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Sweet Views From Park Tower Suites

While I don’t often have the ultra-luxury experience of the Peninsula Hotel Manila, these days I need not fear a stay at the likes of Hotel Ripcrow. I usually am accommodated at quality hotels like the Nairobi Serena, where the staff are attentive even if the rooms are small.

But on occasion, I luck out. Not with room size, which is nice, or extreme luxury, which is nicer, but in the three hotel qualities I really value: location, outdoor space, and views. Beirut’s Part Tower Suites is a case in point.

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Sea Doo’s Damn the Beach

Let’s say there is a beautiful sunny beach, a Mediterranean paradise. A beach where the sand is white, the water blue, the sun warm and fresh. Now populate this beach with the best of humanity, people with love and care in their hearts. Let’s even put this beach in Lebanon.

Now what would be the best improvements to the beach? What would take it to the next level? How about a pool next to the ocean so you can swim in fresh & clean water. Or how about a bar in that pool, so you can drink while you tan? Or how about lounge chairs and shade umbrellas scattered about green grass and extensive decks? Wouldn’t that be grand?

Then why, oh dear God why, does every single beach with such wondrous amenities also offer the scourge of the seas; the Sea Doo? Loud, smelly and an offense to the oceans blue is the Sea Doo and its older cousin the Jet Ski.

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Beirut Beauties Go To The Beach

If its summertime in Lebanon, there is only one place to be. The beach. And not just any beach, but the hottest beach clubs on the Mediterranean. Today’s fine choice is Oceania.

Nestled on the Lebanese coast just south of Beirut and hidden from the main highway by an endless banana grove, it boasts impressive Middle Eastern beauties from across this fine country.

Beauties who divide the day by the pool bar, where thumping dance tunes overwhelm the slowly inebriating senses as they soak in both booze and pool. Then there is the more staid family pool, itself stocked with parents who keep their looks even with kids. Of course, in the background, the ocean itself beckons with a boom.

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