Hmmm…

Oh dear! 

This is scary…lol. Now thinking back to the time when I used to make a post literally every day, I cant believe that I am actually nervous writing this post!

Anyway, things are good with me Alhamdulillah. I know I have been away for really really long and I should be giving an update. 

Well, many of my regular readers (or who used to be my regular readers) and the ones who are on my fb list already know that I have a little boss now….she has just turned 11 months (ta-da!) which means she is getting a lil more active everyday Masha Allah and is more than enough to keep me on my toes all day long. Apart from being my boss, she is a great teacher: she is teaching me to be patient and polite and kind and well, the list is way too long.

Other than that, well, just the usual! I am hoping to post every now and then from now onwards. Wish me luck

 

Just another random post

Right now, I just had some random stuff to share with everyone.

To start off, here’s something which I received as a forwarding from an old friend. Safi this one’s for you

1. Once, all villagers decided to pray for rain, on the day of prayer all the People gathered but only one boy came with an umbrella…

THAT’S FAITH

2. When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her…

THAT’S TRUST

3.Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next Morning but still we set the alarms in our watch to wake up…

THAT’S HOPE

4. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future or having any certainty of uncertainties…

THAT’S CONFIDENCE

5. We see the world suffering. We know there is every possibility of same or similar things happening to us. But still we get married??…

THAT’S OVER CONFIDENCE

Movie Recommendation

Traitor

A lil old, two years to be precise but for me its something which I didnt even know about till just a few days back. It’s  an intelligent  movie with mesmerizing performance by Don Cheadle (Samir) who plays a quite, devout Sudanese-American muslim snatched early in the movie for having ties with a terrorist organization. The best thing about the movie is that it stays away from racial/religious stereotyping and very clearly shows how the so called ‘jihadists’ are actually damaging Islam.

Green Zone

Wont say much about it, its an angry film and Matt Damon does a good job enacting the role of a US army officer who wants to do more than just follow the commands. So as not to add any plot spoilers, all Id say about the movie is about how power-hungry politicians would maneuver any situation to keep themselves in power. Might not have done too well at the box office (perhaps cuz at times it starts to feel like a documentary) but the movie is very well made.

Dear John

Sweet and romantic. Its a story of a handsome, polite young army officer and a beautiful girl whose love gets tested when they stay apart because of the war on terror. The whole movie rests on a very thin plot but it works because of the great chemistry between the lead characters. I would have appreciated if the ending was better thought of but over all it was a nice chick-flick.

Shutter Island

Loved it to say the least. A dark and creepy psychological thriller which may not work for everyone, especially those who want to see action packed or sci-fi thrillers. But it surely works for people who look for a strong storyline, great performances, the director’s vision about their favorite book and dont mind watching really long movies: well over two hours. This is one of the few movies with story adapted from a book that didnt really let me down. I just hope the ending was better portrayed, it leaves the people, even those who have read the book, a bit confused and asking for more explanation. In a nutshell, its a technically sound movie with a very carefully constructed plot and the type of performance that you expect from an actor of the caliber of Leonardo di Caprio.

And the Biggest Surprise!

I never imagined, not even in my wildest dream, I could ever like Arif Lohar, but this one really rocks. Or perhaps its just the team at Coke Studio that has made this version so awesome. Btw, the girl, Meesha Shafi, is Saba Hameed’s daughter and lead singer for the band, ‘Overload.’ She has an amazingly strong voice to say the least.

 

Around Taipei

I still remember saying out loud, ‘what a lucky a****** this guy is, his whole life will be a vacation!’ when I saw  pictures of Javed Miandad’s (Junaid) son’s wedding. Regardless of how she looks or the amount of gold that she was wearing, her dad is one filthy rich man and Junaid most probably does not need to work for the rest of his life.

Little did I know back then that I will get married to someone whose work will make my life a vacation at least for the initial period of our marriage. Am I enjoying it? I would be highly ungrateful to Allah (SWT) if I say that I am not. Do I want to spend the rest of my life like this? No, I dont want to spend the rest of my life like a nomad. I would want to spend more time at home and less at a hotel. Obviously, a vacation should be earned and I dont call these trips vacations..they will be part of my ‘routine life’ for some time.

Anyway, I was in Taipei for the last 12 days and perhaps that is also the reason why I was not updating the blog so frequently or responding to your comments. The trip went well, at least for me. So without further vents of my emotions, I’l just talk about the city itself.

Taipei 101

The much talked about tower is not actually 101 floors….its 91 floors. The height is added by the pinnacle. Nonetheless, the building is humongous, grandiose and state of art, especially because the city lies on the earthquake prone region. Taipei 101 was built with this in mind in addition to all other challenges posed to all skyscrapers all around the world. The effect of tremors is controlled (mellowed by 40%) by a huge steel pendulum weighing 660 metric tonnes, serving as a tuned mass damper, suspended from 92nd to the 88th floor.

The huge pendulum

Taipei 101 has two observatories: one indoor on the 89th floor and one outdoor on the 91st floor. Both of them offer a 360 degrees view.

The building can be a shopper’s paradise an houses outlets of some of the world’s most popular brands. It also has a bookstore (Page One) which boasts to have the largest English Books collection in the whole of Taiwan. And oh, the building also has the world’s fastest elevator.

Museums

National Museum of History: Not much to write about. It mainly houses pottery (something I have no interest in) and a few Buddha statues which are worth seeing. The only good thing about the museum is the Botanical Garden which is just adjacent.

National Palace Museum: Architecturally charismatic. The museum is huge and can take you nearly 4 to 5 hours and even then you cannot claim to have seen it all. When the Communists were advancing on Beijing in the final years of the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalists grabbed all they could from the Forbidden City and brought it to Taiwan. Its interesting to see possibly some of the most secretive documents in the museum. The best thing about the museum is that the entry is free after 5 pm on Saturdays….we were lucky to have reached at the right time. Sadly, they dont allow photos to be taken inside the museum.

Shilin Night Market

Not the only night market in the city but definitely the biggest, a ‘must-see’ attraction especially for women. You can buy both branded and unbranded stuff here and the market is so huge that you can actually shop till you drop. Food is in abundance here but obviously as language can be an issue, avoid eating as you might end up eating pork even if you ordered some fried fish. We ate at a korean restaurant and ended up eating so much (shopping can make you hungry!) that I was on the verge of throwng up by the end of it.

Eslite Mall

Simply loved it! Its a 4-storey book shop!! I ended up spending 3 hours in the store and wasnt really impressed wen Pasha came to pick to me up….seriously wanted to stay a lil longer.

Grand Mosque

One of the only two mosques in Taipei and as it was merely on a 15 minutes walking distance from the hotel, I visited this one a few times. The beautiful mosque was built in 1950s with funding from Saudi Arabia and houses a small library in addition to the basic facilities like the wudhu area and separate prayer halls for men and women (the ladies prayer hall is on the second floor). It was simply beautiful to be referred to ‘sister’ by men in the mosque and made me feel at home immediately.

And finally, a bit of Geography

Its a mountainous city with one of the peaks being volcanic. Other peaks are now believed to be ‘extinct’ volcanoes. Wallah-u-Alam. The city is one earthquake prone region and earthquake tremors are quite common….2-3 per month usually of 5-6 magnitude on Richtor scale. We were lucky (or unlucky :S ) to have witnessed one such earthquake during our trip.