CDGK while digging a roadside here in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, last night, snapped a set of telephone cables leaving many telephone lines of the area disconnected. The cable provided telephone connections to a part of Islamic Apartment, Abid Apartment, Ayaz Town and some houses of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 2.

Chinese food, that is. Ever since eternity Chinatown in Clifton has been the place to devour noodles for me and my family. But our recent experience left us with a bitter taste in our mouth, literally. Not only the food lacked the quality and taste that Chinatown was once famous for, the staff was unable to handle the large number of people anxious to eat some Chinese (food). On top of that, they messed up our order and then the bill was miscalculated. At that point we decided never to go there again.

Now I have to find another Chinese resturant before my family starts craving for Chinese again. I like Tai Pen at PC but buffet is not an option since we have people of all ages. So what else is out there?

This news item regarding Bilawal house got me into thinking about how many electric and electronic items have been rendered useless due to the never ending ‘black outs’ plaguing the city. In our office, we’ve had to had repaired both our ACs and one computer, while we also had a short circuit in one of the wires, which thankfully did not lead to the office being burned down.

The same could be said for my home, where one of the newer AC’s malfunctioned due to excessive load-shedding. What are the items you’ve had to have repaired thanks to our ever-generous KESC?

While the blazing summer sun tears away on innocent Karachiites, I shall share an experience of fun.
On Sunday, after going almost mad in the blazing heat, I hit the beach along with my family. I tend to avoind seaview due to the excessive sticky dust that keeps flying around (seaview residents may very well feel free to disagree).

We hit a shore strip near Hawkes Bay, before the Nuclear power plant. The area is predominantly rocky, and its fun sitting on the rocks having a nice chit chat while the sun sets in the background, and the breeze blows into your face.

The atmosphere was nice, cool and nothing short of heavenly while the city melted away…

One thing I must add though, is that even if you chose to hit the beach, keeping away from the water is strongly recomended. The tides are high and the sea is rough.

This is my advice to all of you residing in the city of Karachi for the next couple of days. Because its that time of year again, when they need to fill out their chalan books before the years closing.

This morning, while driving to work, i saw police-walas stopping atleast 5 different vehicles for almost trivial charges (e.g. changing lane without giving indicators etc) on shahrah-e-faisal. Ever since i’ve became a victim to this zelousness of “Karachis Finest(?)” i’ve been noticing a pattern as to when it occurs. To date, i’ve identified about three times of the year when they become ‘efficient’, one being just before the financial years closing (June 30th), then New Years (December 30th) and lastly near Eid-ul-Fitr (this when most ppl get off just paying Eidi rather than their challans).

Do you have any good stories about being ‘challaned’ by our traffic cops? I’ll share mine later in the comments section.

Brace your self for rains, because according to this news item in Dawn, almost 90% of our city has been identified Monsoon Vulnerable by The Traffic Department.

Pehli Awaaz

Ab saêe ka imkaaN aur naheeN, parwaaz ka mazmooN ho bhi chuka
TaaroN pe kamandaiN phaink chukay, mehtaab pe shub’khooN ho bhi chuka
Ab aur kisi far’daa kay liyay in aankhoN se kya paimaaN keejiyay
Kis khwaab kay jhootay afsuuN se taskeen-e-dil-e-nadaaN keejiyay
Shireeni-e-lub, khushbu-e-deh’n ab shoq ka unwaaN koi naheeN
Shadaabi-e-dil, tafreeh-e-naz’r, ab zeest ka darmaaN koi naheeN
Jeenay ke fasanay rehnay do, ab in meiN ulajh ker kya lainN gey
Ik maut ka dhunda baaqi hai, jab chahaiN gey niptaa laiN gey
Yeh tera kaf’n, woh mera kaf’n, yeh meri leh’d, woh teri leh’d
(more…)

this might be paranoia creeping in, but since i haven’t been able to connect to any blogspot blog either directly or through pkblogs.com, i get the feeling they’ve got this one as well.

any updates people? have we been blocked out or is it just that i use a lousy isp?

Karachi is once again playing host to one of the largest exhibitions to happen in our country (together with ITCN ASIA and IDEAS), Dawn Lifestyles from the 23rd to 25th of June 2006.

I havent been able to attend (read did not go on purpose) any of the lifestyle events so far, but ive been told that they’re good and usually worth it. With so many promotions and giveaways also happening at the stalls there, they just might be right. Anyone have a change to check it out? Tell us (me) how did u find it.

The last few days have seen a dramatic shift in the city’s weatherscape. The air that was last week pleasant, is now blazing hot and going out is almost intolerable. Even the breeze is hot, as opposed to milod warm, during the day.

Here are some tips to beat the heat (im sure many of you know most of these already, but here they are, just for convenience purposes):

1. Consume lots of fluids. Especially water. The exceessive fluids helps you beat dehydration, which takes place even when mild perspiration sets in.

2. Keep your head covered while going out in the sun.

3. While out in the sun, avoid drinking cold water unless you have spent a few mins the shade.

4. After coming indoors, avoid entering an airconditioned room for a few mins. If you have no other option, try avoiding the breeze coming straight from the AC.

5. Consume yougurt and onions with food. They help beat the heat to a great extent. Cucumbers are great too.

6. Keep praying for the weather to improve and for KESC to have mercy on us!!