Friday, December 24, 2004

Holy FOG!

Ok so its like this... i wake up this morning and look out the window and i CANT EVEN SEE THE BALCONY RAILING!

YEESH! the fog enshrouding Lahore in its soulful depths really came into its own this morning. Bye bye PIA flight schedule.. talk about crazy. It really is.
i mean look at this..


Fog on Mian Mir Bridge, Lahore 24th Dec 2004 © Fariha Shah Posted by Hello

thats like the mian mir bridge in lahore. the fog was so thick you couldnt even see the hoarding properly.


Misty Lahori Streets, Lahore 24th Dec 2004 © Fariha Shah Posted by Hello

and thats the street connecting mall road to jail road. Please note.. no visibility beyond 20 feet..
I mean HOW DO PEOPLE LIVE HERE...
sigh sigh.. Its nice and cold though. i hope the sun comes out for a bit but thinks dont look very promising.. lets see what transpires.. Atleast Lahore has seasons :) spoken like a typical defensive Lahori there.. :) thats the statement i get every time my die-hard Karachi self lashes out.

My loyalty to Karachi has seen alot of tests these past few months. Lahore has rains, small transit times, easy shopping, more parking, ... but somehow the food stuff is still easier to come by in Karachi.. i miss the dossas.. dont get to see them here... im not much into formal dining. I'll take eating off the streets anyday over a restaurant... but i guess you win some you lose some.

My fingers feel frozen. Its getting colder by the minute. I dont know how much longer i can survive this weather.. my bones feel chilled. This inspite of socks shoes, sweater and a shawl. For me Hell would be very very cold.

I'll be off now..
cheerios
Princess of the GemWorld

*****************************************************
I dare to dream... so sue me.. :p
GemWorld

Copyright © Fars - FS 2004

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

back and forth...

Xmas days are here again... deck the halls with boughs of holly.. tra lalalalalalala.. *sing song tone

Well thats that.. it was about the same time last year that i suddenly stumbled upon the great wide world of blogging. Sheer freak accident that..
I was trying to find out how to spell que sera sera.. and i googled it..
lo and behold there was a website by that name.. so i went to the website .. and well.. with Sarah Brown (not a distant relative to charlie brown) once you start reading you dont want to stop.. and amazingly the one post that i did find was one of the most nicest one.. she'd asked everyone who came to her blog to list down that one sentence, which if said by the right person at the right time would just make the world perfect for you.. the post was called Longing .. the 200 comments that accompanied it were worth a read too.. and i was hooked..

after reading through two years of her life, i was inspired enough to start the shebang on my own.. so i discovered what blogging was all about.. with help from umy, my underworld friend in the depths of cyberspace, we set about exploring the myriad of ways in which you can.. ahem.. format a blog...

whaaaat! formatting is highly crucial i'll have you know.. it was a fun process..
at the end of the day, ive basically given up on making the blog look good cause seriously i just cant be bothered... i just love writing stuff on it.. even if no one comes to read it except me :)

The last month has been funny in terms of travel schedules. I've realized that if i learn the art of traveling "light" ..(like how the hell do people do that anyway).. my life would be a little easier..

I tried it.. i hated it.. i always feel like ive left something behind when i have forced my self to proverbially travel light..

I am happy to report that my idiosyncrasies contribute greatly to lowering the stress levels in my workplace. The biggest laughs of the year can easily be attributed to my antics in and around work... the latest being a 1-day trip to dubai on which i traveled with no less than 3 peices of luggage. My darling colleagues will leave out the fact that they ended up borrowing stuff from me since they'd traveled too light for words.. *humph.. :) see see theres a method to my madness..
but it was hilarious enough for them to take pictures of the scene with their mobilephone cameras and giggle at leisure.. i however *superior eyebrows raised look there.. had the last laugh ...

That trip was fun.. it was out of the blue.. and they didnt have our room ready at the jumeirah beach hotel so while i would have quietly stood by and let em do whatever, my colleague decided that wasnt the right approach and very politely expressed her displeasure to the management which has us being upgraded to a suite... with the MOST amazing view of the Burj Ul Arab.. even though we'd been up half the night in trasit and were dead tired, it was still an experience to remember..
This would however be the first trip to Dubai on which i didnt find the time to have a Burger King Whopper.. i had my caramel machiato from starbucks.. but no whopper.. incredible, i know..

After that ive had these mad trips to Kuala Lampur & Bangkok.. and whats scaring me the most is that once you enter into that transit mentality, everything merges into a fuzzy picture where you dont notice any distinguishing characteristics.. and that is damn scary..
when i am in another country, i want to KNOW that i'm in another country through all my senses.. smell, taste, touch, sight, hearing.. all of them.. and being tired because of too much airline travel deadens your senses and you stop feeling all the sensations and then a new place turns into just another place..

Thats when you start losing your sense of wonder.. a word of advice.. DONT EVER LET THAT HAPPEN.. once it happens, its very difficult to shake it off.. no matter how tired you are.. or how long you've traveled to get somewhere, before you leave the airport, wash your face, brush your teeth, open up your ears.. and THEN step out into the atmosphere and really soak it in..

This advice is easy to dispense.. its hard to live upto..

:) anyway cheers to all.. its truly winter season here.. life is good.. lets see what happens next..

I started writing this post with the thought that i'd share what had transpired on my last few mad trips which has had me spending more time in airports then on ground.. but i suddenly got sidetracked and now i've lost my train of thought..

take care all
Princess of the GemWorld
*****************************************************
I dare to dream... so sue me.. :p
GemWorld

Copyright © Fars - FS 2004

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Livin on the edge...

Like seriously guyz.. you wont believe what i did a couple of weekends ago...
ahem.. yeah.. well.. i dont know how i managed it.. truth to tell, i didnt actually jump off as much as being pushed off the 50 meters high platform at the top of the tower.. (165 feet in layman terms)

Yes indeedy do kiddies.. i did an actual factual bungee jump.. :) and i have the certificate of courage to prove it..
I wouldnt have believed myself capable of such daring, in fact the only thing going through my head was .. just a few more seconds and then i'll be on solid ground.. except...
the trick with the bungee cord is that its Elastic.. *waggling eyebrows..
so you go down screaming like a banshee once feeling like its a free fall to no where.. till the cord stretches and you realize that something is tied to your feet and keepintg you from crashing into the water beneath you..
and you're thinking.. hey this wasnt half bad you know..

AND THEN.. the cord being EElastic.. RECOILS...
takes you back up to about 40 meters.... you go up quietly enough thinking heh i've done this already.. and THEN...
YOU FALL DOWN ALL OVER AGAIN.... my second blood curdling scream was worth a place in the Horrors hall of fame.. truly!
and then :) of course.. there was the third... fall & scream..

after they've been satisfied that you've truly lost your wits, they go about trying to bring you down.. so the cage lowers slowly with you hanging upside down with a whole new perspective of the world. they stick out a pole, you grab hold as fast and hard as humanely possible and literally start climbing down it before they can even pull you in .. then they lower you down and pull off the elastic and the ankle padding and you are left trying to hold down the blood rush and the shaking in your legs as they try to regain their familiarity with the ground and gravity in general..

I had burst capillaries in my cheeks... i SWEAR.. i did... and thanks to the team with me, i got a full technicolor video of my leap of faith above the grand horizon of Chiang Mai... just watching it makes my toes curl all over again.. brrrrr...

So thats that.. My Bungee Jumping Experience.. this from a person who doesnt even get on roller coasters..

Its the getting your feet off the platform that the toughest.. i got harnessed, in the cage, and all the way up there without panicking.. it was once your standing on that little platform looking out across the sky and you suddenly feel the rush of falling through air ... jumping into nothingness.. and thats just while you're standing up there.. that well.. i for one started hyperventilating.. ahem.. i'm not proud of it but there you have it..

I was standing there white knuckled, gripping the railing for all its worth for a good 20 minutes which forced my jump master Wit to finally ask if he could lower the cage.. but .. i dont know what drove me.. actually i do.. i'd just rather not say it.. finally Wit took matters into his own hands and told me to hold my arms out while he slowly leaned me over and ... theres no less scary way of saying this.. DROPPED ME INTO OBLIVION.... aaaaarrrrrrrrreeeeeeeecccccchhhh... *something between a aargh and a screech..
My scream ... WAS scary.. :)

So that was that :)

On another extremely happy note... I found the Johanna Lindsey book about Jeremy Malory in Kuala lampur.. we've collectively waited about 12 years for his book after totally falling in love with the character back then.. and it was amazing.. :) loved it.. i had to take the train to another station to get my hands on the last copy they had but it was worth it :)

Also had the good fortune to find part two of the Jarku Ruus Trilogy: Tanequil by Terry Brooks.. now ive read two .. cant wait for the third one.. he should really write and publish them faster... i mean aaaarrrrghhh... that was also the last copy they had ... am i lucky or what

Anyway :) gotta run.. its cold in lhr now brrr.. even with the sun out and all..

cheers
Princess of the GemWorld

*****************************************************
I dare to dream... so sue me.. :p
GemWorld

Copyright © Fars - FS 2004

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Jingle Bells...

Its hard to believe that its the end of 2004...

Like so many other things in my life the changing of the years has also stopped leaving an impression.. i remember the transition in 1999 vividly.. the years to follow the same sense of wonder pervaded my mind each time the clock would tick over the dawn of a new numeric year.. 2004 was the last year to do so.. 2005 will be lost in the crowd of other mundane events in life..

Its weird.. i sometimes feel like my childlike sense of wonder is slipping away.. the inherent excitement in everything.. a new place.. an international trip.. shopping.. food... sometimes i feel bereft of it.. i think its a result of the barriers ive created around my heart to shelter it from the pain of disappointment.. having developed a highly blase outlook on life.. nothing upsets me anymore.. nearly nothing.. there isnt anything that i can not face with faith.. but.. somehow the quest to keep my inner sanctum safe and ripple free somehow seems to have diluted the intensity of feeling within my soul..

or maybe for the first time in my life.. i may have experienced fear.. and to counter that detachment proceedings were carried out.. i still have faith in the Almighty.. but somehow i have a feeling that my human side decided to take additional precautions in case he decides to test me.. so it put up additional safety nets all around me to close me off from adverse reactions..

i dont know which is worse.. feeling everything or not feeling at all.. i guess once you make that distinction you can go forward either fully prepared for the consequences or fully safe from everything .. including happiness.. its a mind boggling dilemmna.. :)

Lifes ok.. i have tried to be on a protein diet.. for some reason i found it to be pretty easy.. i guess that makes me a bonafide carnivore.. bring on the meat baby.. lol.. but in all seriousness.. its damn easy.. unless you travel on the 6pm PIA economy plus flight.. in which the entire in-flight meal comprises of 3 portions of carbs.. :)
i had half a McArabia.. i like it.. also had.. umm.. a damascus ka shwarma.. thought it was drier than usual.. had a silver spoon ka chicken roll.. had a chicken dosa from something bbq in khadda market.. had some nice italian food at the Sicilian.. the seafood soup was also pretty nice..

my experience of the world as i keep reiterating is defined through my consumption occassions.. if i dont consume and taste.. it leaves very little of an impression on me.. :) cant help it thats just the way it is.

Ok me be off.. take care me lovelies.. although im not a sea faring person per se.. but i like it..

cheerios
Princess of the GemWorld
*****************************************************
I dare to dream... so sue me.. :p
GemWorld

Copyright © Fars - FS 2004