Lahore Lahore hai...

As luck would have it, Sabir overslept so me and Talib hightailed it out of the house with me at the steering wheel. Sabir finally picked up and we picked him up outside of CSD and then we practically flew to the airport.

The roads were empty in the early morning. We reached the airport with 10 mins to spare before the counter closing and I ran inside. Gave the luggage, Got the boarding pass and got to the departure lounge. 10 mins later we boarded and now I'm sitting on the plane on my seat. Wateen had free wifi in  the departure lounge. There is wifi everywhere.. mashaAllah.

I hope they serve us an omelette :):):)

****** a few minutes later********
There was  NO omelette! Apparently i misjudged and took the red eye instead of the breakfast flight :( i so sad right now. The Good news? I can sleep straight through to landing.

*******landing*******

Lahore wasn' cold :( i mean i wore ami's chitrali jacket so i was super warm. Stopped at Rahat on the way and got the eggy qichey pastries and cream puffs. Got home... st john's park is as beautiful as ever. Everyone was down with the flu. Teeny tiny Asi and Taro chacha were the most impacted. Upstairs the entourage was busy enjoying the holidays. Ali and I had a major discussion on the displacement of mass... i know mass. I carry alot of it :)

Post that i went to see sara n aunty at skmt. MA things were improving. Having never seen the hospital up close, it was a pleasant surprise. The place is quite large. And seems efficient. Time will tell.

After our hospital cafeteria reunion, sharing a cup of coffee and a walk down memory lane, i headed back home in time for lunch. 

There was yummy pulao and aaloo gosht, just like ami had made yesterday :) nostalgia!  Most ppl link memories to sight and smell.. all of mine are linked to taste first and foremost... then comes everything else :)

I napped for a bit... in my room.. there were some birdies chirping. The cool permeated the room. It was lovely. 

Then pulled myself out of the naptime stupor and went to visit the clan in askari. There was garam garam samosas n spring rolls and chai and green national chutney with ketchup and i had gotten a blueberry marble cake from kitchen cuisine. It was a lovely tea. Met the coz's and the kids. 

Then off to home. Had another round of tea. :) then sallo bhai came and we headed to coocoo's. Its a bit of a tradition now for the three of us. Every trip back has had a trip to coocoos with us in it. Sallo bhai has a heavy duty car. I was suitably impressed. 

The food was great as ever. The special tawa chicken was spicy, mouthwateringly soft and seriously yummy. The qeema paratha and the chicken cheese parathas were lovely. Hot and delicious. The achari handi was amazing with the tandoori parathas. And the khalifa ki naan khatai got DELIVERED to coocoo's while we ate. Cant get better than this!

There is a big bus tour of Lahore as well

 The bus goes to all the famous sites. What fun i say!

After a lot of laddu leg pulling by the f&s squad over the wrong kind of incentives, the evening wrapped up with sallo bhai heading up the staircase to the next building and the rest of us taking a small stroll down to the city gate at the end of the lane. There was kashmiri chai and hot gulab jamans at this point which were lovely as well. Every thing is lovely in the winters when the wind is chilly and the tea is hot... the Lord be praised for his unending mercies!

The night came to a close and we headed home. The key stuck in the lock so i called bhaijan.. typical conversation.. "salamz jee u weren't sleeping were u?" " i was actually" lol... he's hilarious.. i love my family.. 

At the end of the day.. as they say.. Lahore Lahore hai:)