What is the ultimate Karachi shopping experience? Some say Park Towers…. No. The Forum?  Not really. Those places are too small to be worthy of being named the “Ultimate”. Once upon a time however, it used to be the Saddar area. Most especially, the Elphinstone Street (current Zaib-un-Nissa street) where you would find most upmarket and good shopping outlets in Karachi. But that was also the days of yore. For our current day and the recent past, the reigning position has consistently been occupied by the Tariq Road. This has most definitely been a go-to place for all sorts of families and all sorts of people to buy all sorts of things apparel related. For easily about two decades Tariq road has occupied the top spot on the Karachi shopping scene. And very rightly so. It is a bazaar-cum-market-cum-mall where you can find the best deals, the best bargains, the most variety and the most seasoned material. Could you say its Karachi’s Oxford Street or İstiklal Avenue? ummmm……

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The $1-billion-grossing sci-fi fantasy Avatar has currently seized the public mind with its beautiful yet dangerous world of Pandora and its natives Na’Vi with a well-thought out plot. Avatar marks Cameron’s first dramatic feature since 1997’s Titanic, which is shot on the proprietary FUSION digital 3-D cameras developed by Cameron in collaboration with Vince Pace, and will offer a groundbreaking mix of live-action dramatic performances and computer-generated effects.

Locally, the movie has been released in cinemas by Jazz Mobilink with the partnership of Paramount Communications and Mandviwalla Entertainment. Being Avatar’s official Mobile partner in Pakistan, they screened the movie in Karachi Cineplex and introduced an SMS Promotion along with their digital agency to win Avatar tickets and digital content (ring tone, wallpaper and screensavers).

If you are a Jazz subscriber do participate in the simple SMS quiz and you might just win free passes. Also, even if you are not a Jazz subscriber, you can add their Facebook App to participate in an online trivia for the same.

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On the 9th of December 2009  Google and CIO Pakistan once again organized yet another amazing event, a Dine up with Dell where around 65 of the key blogger from Karachi were brought together under one roof to talk, discuss and play as silly as we want but only to address and discuss much saner and slightly more serious issues.

The event was held a few days ahead from the first anniversary of the first ever large scale bloggers meetup in Karachi, and although the event was announced almost only 48 hours before but like Farhan says in his blog, it is really hard to miss any event which CIO and Google organizes, so even on such short notice a lot (almost around 65) key bloggers showed up at the event. Also present at the event were Naveen Naqvi, poppy Agha and Sania Saeed.

At the event we discussed a lot of things including “take back the tech” campaign to the pros and cons of the new media revolution and how we can further benefit form the internet communication technology. The event also supported A noble cause for Thalassemia Awareness (http://thalassemia.com.pk/) , all bloggers were urged to place a link or add a badge or ribbon to help and support the cause. You can find more details of the event at Farhan’s blog here

Such events help address the issues bloggers and people associated with the new media technology faces on a day to day basis and provide a platform to discuss and realize our responsibility and our role in reshaping and better representing our country in the world.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz4uKxMg-tM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Norf3jCVbU[/youtube]

Sunday 1st November, 2009 saw Russian extreme sport star Valery Rozov accomplish an incredible stunt. The 44-year-old jumped from MCB Tower -the tallest building in Pakistan with a height of 116 meters, with 29 levels and 3 basements.
Despite of the unfavorable wind conditions, Valery decided to jump. Deploying parachute 3 seconds after the jump, an unexpected turbulence occurred. Based on his experience he managed to land safely on the side of the building.
Pedestrians on the street were shocked to see a person jump from a building as such a feat has never been attempted before in the country’s history.
Speaking after the jump, Valery said that: ‘I feel honored to come to Pakistan & to do the first Base Jump ever in the country, and that too from the tallest building.

Image & Text credits : Demotix.com

Delivery currently only availabe in the Karachi Metro area.

Wednesday, 07 October 2009 Deals

Deal 1 – Serves 4 people ………………. 530.00 PKR
1 Jumbo Biryani
4 Shami Kababs
1 Raita
1 Salad
1 Pepsi

Deal 2- Servers 1 Person ………………. 150.00 PKR
1 Single Biryani
1 Shami Kabab
1 Raita
1 Soft Drink 300Ml

Deal 3 – Serves 2 People ………………. 220.00 PKR
1 Double Biryani
1 Raita
1 Zarda
1 Soft Drink 300ml

Deal 4 – Servers 8 People ………………. 1.050.00 PKR
2 Jumbo Biryani
8 Shami Kababs
2 Raita
2 Salad
2 Soft Drink 1.5L NR

Deal 5 – Servers 12 People ………………. 1.650.00 PKR
3 Jumbo Biryani
12 Shami Kababs
3 Raita
3 Salad
2 Zarda
3 Pepsi 1.5L

Deal 6 – Serves 1 Person (BBQ) ………………. 165.00 PKR
1 Chicken Tikka
1 Paratha
1 Soft Drink 300ml

For more : momskitchen

Click on image to play video.

An interesting documentary on how SAFE are the vehicles in which thousands of students from KU commute everyday

Disclaimer:   This post is not politically motivated. Only inspired by some of my observations during an aimless drive around the city.

You gotta admit. Karachi has been transformed over the past six years. I remember Karachi in 2001 when I left for my hiatus abroad. It used to be a stinking nightmare. Buses, rickshaws and cars honked with frustration in long queues of traffic jams. Pollution hung like a pall in the sky with barely any vegetation in the city. Roads were broken and potholed in all areas. Curbs and footpaths were non-existent or left in ruins. Sewerage water overflowed in a majority of the neighbourhoods. Water was in short supply and tankers used to ply everywhere. Just thinking of those frustrating times is enough to give one a headache.

Contrast that image to now. Traffic flows freely in most areas thanks to signal-free corridors. A lot of major arteries of the city have been re-carpeted… something that had not been carried out in the city for decades. Most of the roads and streets look defined now, with properly constructed curbsides and footpaths. The sewerage system of the city has been fixed in a majority of areas and you dont find overflowing gutters everywhere anymore. A lot of trees have been planted in the city and amenity plots that used to be garbage dumps have been converted into parks. The credit for this vision and for the transformation of this city from an urban disaster to a strident megapolis can largely go to one man: Mustafa Kamal.

A park in Gulshan that once used to be a wasteland

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It has been incredibly hot these past few days in Karachi. The sun has been shining at its extra-scorching brightest and today there was almost not a single cloud in the sky. The heat in this city is usually at its extremes during this time of the year. It does not leave you alone even inside your house unless you have been running your airconditioners 24/7.

I happen to live on the top floor of my house and I have been noticing that my floor gets much warmer than the lower floors during the daytime. Even at night, the heat does not abate to comfortable levels as the roof radiates all the sun’s energy it absorbed during the day. If you are a resident of the top floor of your house / apartment, you would also have noticed that your home often gets too warm for comfort as your rooftop gets baked to oven hot temperatures every day. You would have been getting high electricity bills as your airconditioner works overtime in order to pump all the extra heat out. But is there any solution to this problem?

How much sun does it take to bake your roof?

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Yesterday was a milestone achievement for the bloggers of Pakistan as the Information Technology Ministry, Government of Sindh organized the National Bloggers Conference 09. This is the first time in the history of our region that a government has not only recognized the importance of blogging but had also gone a step forward to appreciate and support the bloggers community without attaching any strings to undermine or restrict their right to the freedom of expression.

The conference held at a local hotel here in Karachi started off with great energy and enthusiasm, two of the front tables hosted a number of bloggers who meticulously covered the event live using a live blog applet, tweet feeds, and photo inputs trying not to miss out even the even the slightest bit of the details while battling a number of jittery but yet working wifi connections provided by the organizers.
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