More of Not This!

I had walked into a strange place. One I was not familiar with in the least. But I have been here so many times, in fact grew up here. This was where my face had split into laughter countless times; this was where my tears had slipped out the most.

As I look around, I see nothing wrong. The walls stand straight where they should, the roads stretch in their prescribed directions. But I can’t help feeling that something is amiss, a certain lack of … excitement.

As I pound the neatly arranged paving stones, I have the urge to constantly look over my shoulder. It’s nothing supernatural, it’s just that the once familiar has become now strange.

Grrr!

I look at the horizon, but all I see is a line, not endless possibilities. I look down at my feet and all I think about is how tired I am, not where they can take me. I look up at the sky and calculate how much money I can possibly spare for a raincoat.

Shit, it’s the A Year Older, Not A Day Wiser

Only food?

Zoe said I only blog about food, and I don’t write anything, and… and… and………..sniff

I want to remind her….

I SLAM A BAD

sniff … sniff….

KL 07 – Tom YUM YUM

There’s nothing like a good yum yum of a tom yum yum! All spice and prawns and HOTNESS! And a Coke to cool things down….

Me all ready with chopsticks and all! Ready to attack!

 

Mmmmm, instant stomach ulcers!

 

I swear someone slipped on my pre-gourging drool…It was an excellent bowl of pure fire and molten lead.

Pakistan – Shah Faisal Mosque

Shah Faisal Masjid…located at the edge of Islamabad, nestling at the foot of the Margalla Hills, is like one awesome modern looking mosque, and yet looks so surrealy medieval.

The architect wanted to capture the spirit, proportion and geometry of the Kaaba in a purely abstract manner. So it’s like the four minarets are the four sides of the Kaaba, and from the top of each minaret, diagonally connect to the opposite minaret’s base, and then you get this pyramid, which you see here as the part that’s built. The remainder of the cube, which you IMAGINE to be there, that’s the abstract part, and is bounded by the lines that the minarets suggest. Amazing what architects tend to dream up to bring a concept to reality.

 

This mosque is the LARGEST mosque in the world, in terms of area.

 

And it was enormous, belittling experience, but a sheltered form of belittling.

 

This was taken standing at the base of one of the sloping edges of the mosque proper.

 

And this, I just turned around, to take the minaret.

 

I found the design of the mosque very very VERY unique. Looks cool, with the pencil thin minarets standing guard on the four corners of the huge tent like structure.

 

Enormous…spacious…

 

What I found hard to do was to define the TIME of this place. Was it ultra modern or remnant of ancient civilisation?

 

And there it is from afar…almost 5 kilometres away….and it still stands prominent!

 

As natural light fades and artificial lights come up, Shah Faisal Masjid remains steadfast and beautiful in it’s dominance over the scenery.

KL 07 – II

Here are more pictures of KL, and I noticed that there are some places which have cropped up which were not there before. A lot of more places!

Like HERE, in BANGSAR! This is one of the CLUBBINGness of the city, but a shopping complex in here! Can U IMAGINE?

 

Now, even in the afternoons Bangsar is Bangsar…it’s jam packed now. Mmm Jam.

 

And just round the corner, is this mosque…what I have heard is, that this mosque was designed by the same guy who did our own Islamic Center. But this information could be some fanciful fabrication I happened to have lodged in my brain.

 

And ANOTHER NEW PLACE! This place is in what is called The CURVE. There used to be just one box of a building here when I left KL 3 years ago, the IKEA building, but now, the place has embraced everything within it’s curve. Dining and clubbing max, from what I saw.

 

I figure that the next time I drop down here, things would change again. This is Sunway Pyramid, another shopping mall here, but they are reconstructioning the place something insane now, for Pyramid II. Can’t wait!

 

Ahh, the famous Desa Kiara is in the background. Also known as the SinaMale’ of KL. Popular amongst us for the amount of Maldivians who are there. Notorious for the amount Maldivians who are there!

 

And we are entering KL proper! It is indeed a magnificent city. Magnifico!

 

It’s afternoon, and do you see another vehicle for heaven’s sake? What if an airplane pilot got confused and landed here? TOTALLY KUOOOL!

 

Sthopping ath tholl booth! AAAARGH BOOOTHU!

 

The very unusual but splendid looking Telekom Malaysia building, the Dhiraagu of Malaysia.

 

I asked one of my friends what that circular thing up there was, was it a helipad, and he said it was like used to collect bird droppings. For some reason I found it hilarious, at the thought of a leather tannery being up there.

 

And the worse possible shot one could have taken of one of the biggest malls in the country, Mid Valley Mega Mall! Place is so enormoungesly hugantic that one would need several days to properly explore all the merchandise! And enough places in there to rest and eat (hehe) and smoke and whatnot. Oh, & one wicked cinema too!

 

Pakistan – Peshawar II

Alright, this is on the way to Khyber Pass, which is like the border with Afghanistan. That’s where Genghis Khan came into South Asia, is what me remembers. These pictures were taken just before entering the mountain range that separates the two countries.

You can always count on the ladies to bring some colour into a drab world.

 

Mud structures such as this were scattered around everywhere…more peppered than scattered.

 

I have no idea what was so interesting that everyone was looking thataway…

 

As we moved further towards our destination, the things we saw became more foreign, and definitely more interesting.

 

I really am unsure as to how to describe what I was seeing. It’s like modernity did make some inroads here, yet the inherent culture prevailed so forcefully, in almost everything.

 

I heard that these structures were made mainly made from mud and straw.

 

They do look odd, yet so strangely apt.

 

It was amazing to see people actually living here, and going for strolls in the barren coldness.

 

Even the elderly are up and about under a gloomy sky held up by bare rocky mountains.

 

The mountains are all rocks, hardly any vegetation on it.

 

We moved closer and closer to the range.

 

And then we were in the mountains…which was like entering a totally alien and foreign world…here’s a glimpse of it.

KL 07 – Food I

If any of you have been reading this blog at all, then you must have deduced that I am into food, and FAST FOOD at that. Must be a thing about not getting the corporate brands forcefeed junk here in Male’. So KL is where I get my feeding forced!

The first meal I had once I landed in KL. The friend I was staying with called me while I was in here, in the airport at that, and like “Are you here YET? Where ARE you?”. And I’m like sheepishly “Umm, Burger King.” And she “Haiyerrrr, start oready issit?” What could I say? It’s a Brrgrr, and a royal one at that.

 

Another of my classic favourites….Nando’s!!!!! Drool drool DRRRRROOOOOOOOOOLLL. I can’t get enough of it, yet I after each Nando’s meal, I get so full I want to regurgitate, yet it’s so freaking delicious, I would then have to chew the cud! I’m having the Extra Hot Spicy 1/4 chicken, coleslaw and fries sprinkled with, what I presume to be, gunpowder! Explosions of taste in my mouth! BADIFATAAS YUMMM! And the Nando’s SAUCE…words fail me…coz of the saliva forming/foaming in my mouth. Shlurpfest. The meal was made a million times nicer coz it was with me friends in KL, who I havent seen for near 3 years! Love you guys!

 

And ranking top on my list…McDonalds! Big Mac summore! GRRAAAWWWWWLLLLLLLL!

 

And this is my last meal in KL, at the airport again, this time a quarter pounder…reason I didn’t get the Big Mac is coz I had a very sumptous meal just a couple of hourse before this…If you want to know what it was…keep coming back here!

Pakistan – Peshawar I

Alright, this is the first of the Pakistan Packets, as I promised. This is on the way to Peshawar, which, if I remember correctly, is the provincial capital of North-West Frontier Province, and also of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

If you’re thinking Blah blah blah…. it is freaking next to Afghanistan!

Just out of Islamabad…those are what I believe to be mustard plants. The green ones there, not the brown trees!

 

As we approached the area, the mountains sprung up…

 

One of the first towns we passed in the area…

 

And within the space of 15 minutes, the scenery just changed completely…

 

As you can see….

 

And even that change of scenery…

 

Changed completely again…

 

The area is very mountainous. DUHH, Bet those two are enjoying the walk on the unused railway tracks.

More of this trip to come later on. Went all the way so near Afghanistan that if I tripped, my buttprint would be on Afghani soil.

 

KL 07 – 1

Well recently, I made a week long trip to KL, the city that sprouted at the confluence of the Muddy River…Kuala Lumpur!

Having spent three years studying there, I thought it would be nice to visit the same place again….so much the same and yet so different.

And of course, KL would not be portrayed well, without of course, the Petronas Twin Towers, and I think everyone who visited the place has this same picture…So consider this the establishing shot!

 

This is not that muddy river…but just some river I passed while riding the KLIA Express, this super fast train that gets you from point A to B in half the time it takes to go the same distance in a car…swish!

 

There is a car down on the road, and another ON THE BILLBOARD, for creativity’s sake! One of those arrows should point UP, as a warning U know, that while driving, a car might come skidding on top of U.

 

A night’s drive is nice in this city…it’s hardly jammed…considering that some cars are stuck to billboards…

 

A fashion show inside Suria KLCC, which is the mall nestling at the bottom of the two tallest towers…which reminds me, I’ve always wondered which tower is the Male and which is the Female…!

 

The towers were behind me as I took this pic, it was a rainy day there…but what can you expect from a rainforest? But it was a nice and cooling day…it was good to be back again…

Rehab

Trying desperately to bring this thing back to life…revamp, refurbish, revitalise, re re re re ! Sigh…

Anyways, if you read my blog u know that I’ve been to Pakistan recently. I’ve got buckets of stories and pictures from that trip remainig, coz Karachi is not the only city there I visited. So will bring packets of them in the coming days, this time sorted into issues and not chronologically. So yea, I might still be posting stuff about Pakistan towards the end of the year too.

I also went to Malaysia after the Pakistan trip. Since that’s the most recent, my next post would be about stuff from that.

And of course, my boredusings will intersperse…