At Last, A Day Out!

31/01/08


More pictures at my multiply



We have delayed dealing with Z's flight ticket for 2 days because of the accident. And there's no more delaying it any further!



Woke up at 9am but always take 3 hrs to get ready in between the power failure, ironing, shower, make up and what nots.

This is Salman all shaven and Saadia, Aunty Shazia's sister who is also Rizwan's fiance.

She's a beautician and a good one at that. the night before and this morning i was treated to facial massage while she put on toner n moisturiser, as well as free make over n hairdo. NICE. ive always wanted to tie my hair other than a simple ponytail and she does it just the way i like it!

Anyways, get this. Once a couple is engaged, they are forbidden to meet each other except at functions where its unavoidable. Its normally quite easy for an arranged marriage but for love marriage? I can't imagine! And S'pore's culture's quite the contrary. Once we're engaged, we feel that it is more ok to go out w each other bcos obviously we have errands to run together like checking out the wedding venue or registering for the marriage and what nots.

So Saadia, who used to hang out at Ammi's house a lot is now banned from going there... well at least when Rizwan's around... *shrug*

The two of us and his cousin Khyyam went out almost 3pm and it took another 30min on rickshaw to reach the airport. Khyyam is so funny and LOVESSSSSS to sing. Remind me of my own cousin, Yayan. hehe

Rickshaw is a 3-wheel vehicle equivalent to a cab.

Its fare is negotiable.

They used to be top polluters but most have converted to run on CNG

Note the barren land and short buildings in the background.

The officer at the Thai office in the airport confirms that they cant issue his new ticket without a return ticket bcos his visa says "short stay". I asked, "How come the travel agent in Spore from whom we bought the original ticket was able to issue it then?" He replied that travel agent some times dont say cause they just wanna earn the money. I dont know what to say. I doubt that my travel agent would do such thing cos we trust them. Prolly its her first such case n this didnt cross her mind. Anyway, i asked the officer what we can do next. And he referred us to this travel agent at Latif Centre to get the paperwork done in PKR 2000 = SGD 50. Oklah better than to actually purchase a real single ticket.

I dont wanna take another rickshaw. you know why? Cos they're painstakingly slow with their tut tut sound. Nice for short journeys but cant stand for more than 20min. So we took the CAR cab instead to Latif Center. It is situated opp the infamous Hafeez centre... something like our Sim Lim tower, in short, an IT centre.

At first the travel agent seemed unsure of our story but took his passport n told us to come back the next day. I felt uneasy at first n wanted to ask more questions (its so irritating when they still converse in Urdu when its obvious im a foreigner). But i decided to heck care about it cos im tired of worrying and decided to let it be n trust Zubair and trust Allah will make it go well.

Khyyam was famished. We went to Pace center to look for food but surprisingly they dont have a decent cafeteria. Pace Center looks like a Malaysian shopping center. Z told me it is the first shopping centre to install escalator some 10 years back? The local department store's located at first floor. The funny thing is the cashier's OUTSIDE at the main lobby!! and i didnt see any scanner barrier at the main building exit. How do they keep up with shoplifting?

At Biryani Express.

I know there's no indication of the place but i just like this photo.

So we crossed the road to another "shopping mall" and went to biryani express. On their poster, there was a picture of fish & chips n i ordered likewise but was told they dont have it. I nagged to Zubair, "if they dont have it on their menu, why they put it on the poster???" i really dont get it.

It's baffling too how that Latif center and this "shopping mall" are VERY vacant save for a few stalls. they cant seem to attract much shopowners to set up there. But still they kept running the building. It makes the building looked more gloomy and i have no doubt tt in turn it will affect the shops in operation. If in S'pore, prolly some big shot company like CapitaMall would have bought it and turn it to a mega shopping mall or office building or hotel or something. I mean, c'mon pple... you're not being efficient enough!

We went back to Pace Center for Chicken Kebab.

Just PKR 70 w cheese. less than SGD 2. *faint*

Khyyam then excused himself and wedid some grocery shopping at Pace. It was prolly 6pm already and Ammi was calling to ask if we've been to the doctor's yet. Oops

So we left our "shopping" to go straight to the doctors by rickshaw again. Today, he opened up my dressing. I didnt dare to look. Then he cleaned the wound but its so god damn painful, can?! He pressed very hard at the sensitive area, i cldnt help but yelped n cried in agony.... i didnt care that the other patients might hear or even see as there's no door to his office! In fact, sometimes there are some of his friends/other patients sitting in during consultation! Er... excuse me, isn't there a law about doctor n patient's confidentiality??? Well there's no LAW in Pak, is all i can say.

Salman then picked us up at the doctor's by bike. I felt sooooooooooo relieved to be on bike again. its very convenient lah!! Not even a car can be this convenient. A car can be diff to maneuver in the super narrow streets that he lives in. A bike can be parked at the main entrance wo causing much obstruction, and thus u can go back to your bike easily to move off. A bike can also squeeze more easily and is faster than rickshaw. But so funny you know, on this certain corner of the small streets, Z had to go down n walk alongside the bike while holding me steady bcos the road was EXTRA bumpy.

Tonight, i had two visitors. Mamoo Ajmal and Mamoo Aslam. Mamoo Ajmal just returned from Islamabad and he lives just 2 doors away.

The first time Mamoo Aslam came, he took some pineapple tarts tt i brought from Spore to give to a bakery as sample. I think he's very resourceful, looking at business opportunities everywhere! Tonight, he also explains a bit more of his career.

That's Mamoo Aslam and my favourite no meat meal called Mattar Chawal which literally means Green peas Rice and it is just that. Saadia cooked this in the morning and im sooooooooooo loving it! It's very tasty! It's got some spice taste almost like biryani but its extra salty. You know me i LOVE salt. heheh Now i finally understand how they can eat just rice n vege wo meat.

I prolly slept smiling that night.