It seems to me that there must be a highly secretive position in our local government whose sole job it is to go about Karachi and find spots that are perfectly functional and, having found a prime and highly useful location, assign someone to dig it up and rebuild it for no reason. How else can one explain the recent digging activity taking place at the Clifton beach pavements which consist of tearing up perfectly fine tiled pavement space just by the steps leading to the sand? Previously used on a regular basis by jogging citizens and the picnicking public every day, this once scenic spot used to observe the waves and enjoy some of the cool breeze now consists solely of dug up remains of foundation stones lying around while someone figures out why they were dug up in the first place and what exactly was planned to replace them.

Chequered across Karachi’s urban-scape, a never-ending series of towering billboards seem to add color, life and dismal obtrusion into the city’s periphery. Shahi Mewa to Diapy, Rooh-e-Afza to Servis, and Ufone to Green Star the list of products, services and key announcements (not to mention their ever-bulking variants) keep inflating astronomically. Being an advertising executive, and aspiring to join the comity of brand-sellers in Karachi, I am going to try to keep this as real as possible.
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Fellow Metbloggers and readers – lets welcome two new cities to the Metroblogging family – Phoenix [US] and Birmingham [UK]! :)

I love my job but I hate it when I have to go to SITE area for meetings. The reason is that no matter which route you chose, you are bound to get stuck in traffic, and no I am not talking about ordinary traffic, I am talking about huge 18-wheelers. Imagine my tiny Alto surrounded by giant cargo vehicles. It’s really scary. On top of that, the roads are so well built (pun intended) that the food that you have just eaten will digest in no time. It’s really ironic that the area that accommodates all the major industries of the city is in such a bad shape. Where is all the tax money accumulated from that area going?

One of the oldest and most recognizable landmarks of Karachi has been demolished. The casino (though never used for the purpose) at Seaview was build during Bhutto’s era and lay unused for several years before being converted into a childrenís entertainment center. The demolition work had started a while back and yesterday when I passed by that area it was no more, I hope what ever structure comes up in its place has some architectural value and is not just another addition to the concrete jungle in the city.

A producer from pocketplanetradio got in touch with us after reading my post on the launch of the new Harry Potter book, and he asked me to give my view on the book as a Harry Potter fan from somewhere other than UK and US. You can listen to/download the podcast here. Its all because of the Metroblog – isn’t that cool? =)

Pakola is a line of fruit flavored soft drinks, originally introduced in the 50ís by Haji Ali Muhammad. Produced by Mehran Bottlers (Pvt) Ltd , it is the first nationally branded soft drink of Pakistan .Haji’s family, which include his son Bashir Mohammad Ali have been dubbed the “Pakolawalas” because of Pakola. If you ask me .. Icecream Soda Rox. For those who had a bad first ëexperienceí , try it chilled . Other Flavors include Pakola Lychee and Pakola Strawberry .

The congestion at Sindhi-Muslim has become worse. Before, when traffic used to stop at the Shahrah-e-Qaideen intersection, the Sindhi-Muslim intersection used to clear up in the mean time. Now the congestion extends all the way up to Nursery because the traffic never stops. We desperately need an underpass/fly-over at Sindhi-Muslim.

There is a recent addition in the bowling alleys of the city, the latest one opened on 3rd floor of millennium mall (Rashid Minhas Road). This mall is located opposite to Askari 4 and behind the ground where once stood cityís only Drive in Cinema. Although I havenít been there yet, but it surely is in my to-do list. Yet so far what I have heard about this place is, there are seven lanes but those are bit short in length as compared to area 51(not sure about game fee, maybe its 175 per game). But still I would welcome it since it is very much ìin the cityî, might be perfect for those who just want to have a game and avoid the long drive. But than it has its disadvantage too, there are high chances it will always be flooded considering its location. Lets see, I shall post more after I bring down few pins there.

Karachi has been home to a lot of book stores, especially in the past when reading was the preferred hobby, as compared to the modern habits of playing Counter Strike, smoking up shisha and more. Unfortunately, a lot of book stores have closed down, but the relatively newer book stores and the age-old ones still hanging on are striving to inculcate reading habits amongst people.
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