Leaving Pakistan - Returning to Sydney

This day, 15th March 2013 has come so fast when we have to fly back to Sydney. It just feels that we arrived in Pakistan only few days back (9th Feb 2013) and now that we are leaving tonight. It is always a sad time for me when leaving away from family, home. 

I have to do still a lot of things but time is so so short but still manage to write this post quickly. I will have to go now as need to meet few loved ones and do last few things/shopping before tonight. 

See you soon Sydney !

Bye Bye Lahore - Sahiwal - Pakistan !!

Today - at Pacific Highway+Walker St Signal

 

8:30am standing at the lights, waiting for green light to cross the road and reach office while typing these lines.

 

Today is the last working day for me before I go on leave and fly to Pakistan tomorrow. So I will be at the airport tomorrow this time and in Pakistan at night with the family. Nothing beats that feeling for me.

 

This always is a pleasant and fascinating thought for me that in a matter of only few hours a person is able to fly from one side of the world to another. Amazes me still despite the decades old science and technology. GOD I love this.

 

Tomorrow, I & Pakisan will be together. Yeeeha !

Pakistan - 2013 (published)

 

Another new year, another February and another Pakistan-yatra (trip to Pakistan).

 

Last year in Feb I travelled to my homeland (with family) when it was first visit of Musa. This time around he is Mashallah running and all talkative and has developed a bit of personality as well such as he knows what he wants to do and how he has to do it. It is great to see your little one learn and grow.

 

This time we are going to attend a family wedding there and that is why the excitement levels are pumped up and preparations have been done to match that event too i.e. special shopping, wedding dresses, suits, gifts, and etc etc. Looking forward to a fantastic time. Also another exciting (for me) thing is the car that my brother has bought, our first family car (in Pakistan). Allah ka laakh shukar. So this time I will be driving our own car and that means one less thing to worry i.e. transporting the family and self (not that I have to worry last time even). However only thing to worry is the shortage of fuel but will see.

 

Alright this time as well, as the tradition goes, I have plans to eat the local continental food there and list is not shorter than the list of last time, if not longer. I only have one wish is that I can manage time to tick all or most the items off that list :P I may sound greedy but I don't mind because I am, haha. All my hard work into getting fit by running (6 km in 35mins 3 times a week) and gym sessions at two different gyms) will go down the hose but I care NOT (while on this visit). Though I will have to restart the effort after I return back to Sydney, and that I will as I have to get fit and ready for the City2Surf. Enough time.

 

Only two more nights to sleep before the third one will be in Pakistan inshallah. I am as excited as a squirrel who has just spot a nut on a busy road, hehe.

Xmas & New Year Holiday Season 2012

This time around the Xmas and New Year's holidays season, I got some time and opportunity to exercise my favorite thing i.e. taking photos.

A friend visited us from Victoria and that was the ideal for me to show off my new DSLR and skills :P We went to only a few places like Manly Beach, Darling Harbor & Watsons Bay but managed to take few photos worth sharing here.

I am going to add them below. Feel free to leave a comment/feedback (if you happen to crash on this blog).

I took this photo at Manly beach. This was some type of a cone on a tree and I liked how it looked. Quickly took this shot while there were people behind me coming down the narrow track.

 This was at Watsons Bay when it started to rain and we were waiting inside the cars for it to slow down so that we can setup our BBQ in the shed in the park. I took this shot of the rain drop on the car's window. You can see the reflection of the building across the street in it.













Taken at Manly Beach as well.

 This was at the Manly Beach as well. Kept it out of focus for the added affect of the lights. Love it.

These little fountains are like brand-ambassador for the Manly Beach. When you see these, you know it was the Manly beach :P



















Overall had good fun with friends during the Xmas & NY break. Good food, lots of driving (mainly around Sydney) and lots of fun. It was a good holiday (but never enough) :(

Anyway, happy new year to everyone !!

Another 5K Run @ Balmain Fun Run

Note: I started this post last month but only could finish and post it today

Within a month of the last run Run4Fun, I registered for another run and this time it was a longer run i.e. 5K compared to last 3K run. This was on 2nd December and event was called BalmainFunRun.

Once again my running buddy-cum-mentor-cum-running adviser-cum motivator AF encouraged me to register and run in this 5K event. In total 3 of us (I and my work-colleagues AF & AW) participated and we all did very well. It was a beautiful weather on Sunday morning as I call it 'nice running weather' with overcast sky, bit of cool breeze and water-side running track with other runners.

Run start time was 8:30 and I was aiming to keep my finish time under 30 minutes - owing to the fact that I have not been running regularly in last two weeks. The track was different to what I have been running on and I didn't know if it would include uphill / downhill run as well. When the run started and we took the first turn on the track and came towards the end of the ground where the run started from, suddenly track wen uphill and that put me in the first gear, exerting the sweet energy I wanted to reserve for the last 10 mins of the run. The heart beat jumped up to the tops and that's how the run begin. The next 5K went in forcing myself to push and keep running till around the corner and then switch to walking for a minute before resuming the run.

In the end I managed to force and push myself enough to complete the complete run without stopping and within 30 minutes. To be exact it took me a surprising 25 minutes and 36 seconds. That made me happier than I was for completing the 5K runing.

Here is the winning shot from the collection of the run.

At the finish line they arranged for some fresh fruit and drinks. Enjoyed the fruit, did some stretches and went for a coffee with the team.

Next run - City2Surf may be ?

Nostalgia - Sahiwal - Home

9th November 2012 00:00 hours : Sydney - Australia.

It is heavily raining outside and I can hear the sound of heavy downpour inside my living sitting at the kitchen bar stool listening to old indian music "Wo Kaghaz Ki Kashti". Totally nostalgic atmosphere and I am missing my birthplace, my city, my home in Pakistan. I stepped into the balcony and let my feelings and memories take me back home standing in my courtyard at night time when it is raining heavy as well in the summer season. I still remember when it used to rain this heavy (any time of the day) while enjoying the initial moments we used to get worried and pray to the ALMIGHTY to make it stop because too much rain was bad for us and our neighbourhood. Old houses below the street level and heavy rain with the help of poor drainage system used to create more tension for the people than to enjoy the change of weather as summer season is usually very hot and dry there.

I love rain, specially of summer season and at the start of winter season. I loved to take shower in rain and I still do. It is refreshing, joyous, mood changer for me. It always remind me of my hometown, my home street, my childhood time and friends. It brings happy memories of those times when I was not aware with the meaning of tension / responsibility and all I knew is to change into shorts and shower in the rain. Go out with friends on the streets in the rain, play and enjoy it. Years gone by, I would still do this (in fact have done it last season here in Sydney) because it makes me happy.

This post may give an impression of me of a person who likes to live in the past, but that is not true. The fact is that while I do like to recall and cherish the old times, but I do not live in the past. I do take time to recollect the good, happy memories of the past times but that is about it. Stop, recall, rejoice and resume.

I think you should never forget your past because it has made you what you are today.
Rather remember your past, learn from it and invest it into your future.

Run Run Run ..

I have been planning to start running during my lunch hour but have been procrastinating for all the reasons of laziness and slackness :P

But finally last week I have moved my 'butt' and did some running over and around the Sydney Harbor Bridge. On first day, I walked and ran (mixed) over the bridge to the city end and returned that counted for over 6KMs and that made my legs sore the next day. But it was like a case of "his first flight" for me because even sore legs didn't make me not go the next day and I must acknowledge the 'motivational talk' of one of my colleague "MG", that helped me go running despite the aching legs. But it felt great actually afterwards due to that sense of achievement. The total distance from my office (North Sydney) to the end of the bridge (bridge stairs - The Rocks) and back to office is, as per Google maps, just above 6KMs but if I use Sports Tracker then it calculates it to be around 9.5 KMs; don't know - don't ask.

Based on my earlier experiences, I was under the impression that working-out makes me sleepy but I wasn't regular at it, then. Since I've become a regular gym goer and lunch-runner, I have discovered that it actually feels great and refreshing which everyone else agrees to as well. I have found that it is very very important to take a shower after the work-out, otherwise you'll end up feeling sleepy too.

Lunch time run has many benefits for me; 1) There are many people out there running/working-out on/around the track that I follow and I found it encouraging 2) It is also a good time for exercising because stomach is empty and since it is midday usually you still have left enough energy to go out running 3) It feels lively because usually people come out of their offices for lunch break/walk/run/sunbathing /relaxing and that gives the whole atmosphere its hustling bustling look which I like 4) Being a part of the hustle bustle refreshes me as well and helps me relax during a working day full of pressure/stress 5) Above all it helps me burn some calories, lose weight and stay fit which is my main objective to do the lunch-run.

The only drag is that I don't have a partner to join the lunch-run with me, which can be a real drag at times (I know this - knowing self) but nevertheless I have to keep pushing myself out of office regularly for the run and hopefully I will achieve my target (Weight-10) in next 5 months time (no expectations just a try and hope).

Until then,

Happy Running - Shakeel !!!

Learning Panning Photography

Panning is a photography technique in which the objective is to capture a photo of a moving object while capturing the speed as well i.e. the resulting photo will also show the fact that the object was a moving object.

In the last post, Learning the Shutter Value, I have noted that how you can control the speed of a moving object using different shutter values. We touched base with how a fast shutter can freeze a moving object as well. Panning, although is related but, altogether a different concept as mentioned above. In panning you work on 2 objectives; 1st is to capture a sharper image of the moving object and 2nd is to also capture the speed of the moving object.

Panning is done by moving the camera along with the moving object to shoot. This can produce amazing results depending on how skillful you are at this technique. Using panning technique, the main object comes out sharp while the background gets blurry effect evidencing the movement of the object. This requires a lot of practice and patience along with good handling of the camera such as it should not shake vertically while you are panning horizontally along with the moving object. You should 'pan' the camera at least at the same speed as the moving object i.e. along with the movement.

I am new and learning this technique myself. Last week I have tried it for the first time and here are a couple of photos that I can share here (i.e. that came out better than others :P)

-
I took this shot near Bondi beach while standing at the road side where our car was parked. I quite like this one as this was a curvy road (wasn't straight which is recommended for a better panning shot).

-
This shot was taken from the back seat of a moving car and the bike was crossing the car on the left side. This may not be called as "Panning" (i'm not sure) but still this does blur the background slightly while the image is comparatively sharper.
Nevertheless I still like it :)

As I said I am a photography enthusiast, student myself and this is my first ever attempt at this technique, therefore I don't claim whatever I wrote above is 100% true but I know some of it is valid. I am recording this for my own learning and will be adding more as I learn more.

Here is a blog-post "Mastering Panning - Photographing Moving Subjects" where from I have learnt some about this technique. I hope you can also learn some and please do share / leave a comment on the post if you have benefit from it.


Happy Panning !!!

Happy Learning !!!

Shooting With My New DSLR – Canon 650D

Last weekend I drove to ‘The Weir Reserve’ near Penrith to play with my new toy, Canon 650D. Very excited having bought it and looking forward to use it even more frequently and take more photos. I will be sharing those photos here on my blog as and when I take these and get time to update the blog.

Here are some that I captured last weekend.

Trying to capture a Sun-Star




















Some fallen bushes with some kind of beans/berries (don’t know what is it called, any idea?)


Some naked tree branches -


A two feet tall waterfall (this is actually a crossing of the river – has some history attached to it)


The two-feet Waterfall (at the river crossing)


Shallow Depth of Field – Check.


A tip-of-the-petal Point Focus


Another close-up with shallow d-o-f


Loved this hanging flowery bush -


That is it for this post – I actually have more that I want to share but will do in next posts.

In the end if anyone, by chance or mistake, happened to come across this post/blog please do leave comments (critique/appreciation) and also share with me your photos or blog where you have posted your art work. I may learn something new out of that and that way you will have one more fan of your work

If there is no such ‘chance’ or you don’t make ‘mistakes’ then I will just continue to post my photos here until someone does a ‘mistake’ – ha ha...

Happy Shooting !!!

Opera House & Harbour View

Taken with my mobile (HTC One X) few weeks back, this is one of my favourite.

Panoramic Harbour View from my Mobile

Taken one very fine afternoon.

One Hour of my Lunch Break

During the one hour of lunch break I prefer going out for a brisk walk around the block in North Sydney, where I work. It is beautiful around that time when sun is out and shining.
One one such lunch break, I took this walk through the North Sydney Oval Park and there I got a chance to try the camera of my new mobile because the park had so beautiful and rich colours around and it compelled me to capture these on my mobile. A few of these shots I am posting here. The beauty I see in these just make me praise the nature and the creator of all this, ALMIGHTY ALLAH.
It is just so beautiful – I am loving Sydney !
Beautiful addition of the red pole right in the middle of lush green trees.

Walk way & fallen leaves with beautiful scenery in the backdrop.

Sitting benches among trees

Pakistan 2012 - Part 2 Memories

Yay! going to visit family and friends in home country. Pakistan 2012 - Part 1

Aaah! that time of the life of an Expat has come and gone in a flash. It never feels enough time when you are on a holiday visiting your family and friends. Anyway this time the trip was special because little me came home for the first time and it was kind of a surprise visit as we reached one week earlier than what we told our families. So it was all very exciting for us and the surprise was very received as well. Everyone was very happy to see us  home earlier than expected.

Musa's grand parents were very ecstatic to meet him and his uncles and aunts were eager to pick him up. And he loved being the center of attention among all. His (late) phuppo gave him a nick name (which she never ever have given to any other kid), Mithoo.She left everyone of us grieving few days after we've arrived and that was the worst thing that happened during the visit. May her soul rest in higher places of Jannah.Ameen.

In the same time, Butt family was also visiting Pakistan from Sweden and that let Musa meet his cousin brother Ehan and cousin sister Zainab. It was such a pleasure watching grand parents, uncles and aunts loving their grand son that I so wanted them to live with him so that he gets to enjoy their love. However not every wish can be fulfilled, so I just had to agree with the reality that didn't match the wish. He also received  many gifts from them and that caused our luggage to easily cross the allowed luggage limit.

Another highlight of the trip was the delicious Pakistani food that I tried to eat as much as I could in that limited time I had. Although I could not eat all that I thought but still enjoyed whatever I can. For example I had the Hardees Super Star with curly fries at least 4 times during that trip. I just love it !!

The coming back of such trips is always toughest thing for me and it made me feel sad even before I landed there. Thinking about returning makes me home-sick and even though I have been on these trips now for at least 4 times but I think not over it yet. On our way to Allama Iqbal International airport Lahore, I was stuck in a traffic chaos on the Canal road near the Mall Road exit. It took me about 40-50 minutes to get through that chaos and it was then found out that the Police had blocked the under-pass of the Mall road (probably due to some VIP movement - bloody VIPs). It almost costed me to miss my flight. I was very annoyed and I feel bad for the locals that they had put up with that non-sense every day.

Another drama at the airport was at the check-in counter that took sometime before it reached it drop-scene. We were the last one to get the clearance at the check-in counters and through the passport control counters. Musa behaved well on-board and that made our air-travel better that what we thought it could be.

Now that we are back, I am already thinking to plan my next trip in an year's time rather than after 2 years and hoping that I can actually go back in an year's time. Let's see !!

Pakistan 2012

Despite a bit tragic end of 2011 (reference to blog "Goodbye 2011"), 2012 has started with lots of excitement for me as I (and family) will be travelling to Pakistan to visit families and friends. It will be first overseas trip of Musa when he will meet his grand parents, uncles, aunts and cousins.  Everyone there is anxiously waiting to meet little one as they all are counting days (just like we are). Yes this is very exciting !!!

The preparation for such a trip is multi-folded that includes, 1-shopping, 2-shopping, 3-shopping and packing of those shoppings :P and I'm glad that the major part of this preparation is completed (well almost). The packing cannot start until the last 48 hours before we get on-board. 

This time I'm going home after about two years and there are a lots of things to do when I get there. One of the most important (after meeting family of course) is to eat all sorts of local/desi food, hmmm yummy (even the thought of that). The top of the list is 'Halwa Poori', 'Hareesa', 'Muhammadi Nihari', 'Kali Mirch Walay Chanay', 'Bundu Khan ki Handi, Reshmi Kabab, Malai Kabab', 'SnP ka Stuffed Chicken Breast', 'Nadeem Tikka', 'Bhayye k Kabab', 'Liberty Burger', 'Dahi Bhallay' and rest of the list is very long :P 

Along with all the excitement, there is a bit of worry about health that I hope the trip goes without any health issues. The shortage of electricity and gas will also make this trip interesting, aah! There will be lots of travelling involved within Pakistan (I'm expecting although I'd prefer otherwise). 

The trip is going to begin in few days now and I can already see myself at the halwa poori shop, early in the morning "doing the justice" with my craving for it :D

Here is a "screenshot" of the image that I have in my mind, for you :P

With sincere apologies from those having a weak heart :P

Christchurch earthquake - Sep 4th

On 4th Sep 2010, Christchurch - the city of gardens was struck with a power series of tremors. The first earthquake was the most powerful and scary with magnitude 7.1 as recorded on the Richter scale. It rocked the city horribly and teared apart the earth many inches wide. The buildings were collapsed, cars parked on the roadside and/or under the buildings were damaged badly enough to be scrapped. However, luckily and thankfully no one died and only few might have got few injuries.

But that is not what I am going to write about here as there are a number of articles, reports and columns that can be found on this topic. I am just writing this post to share a link that shows the series of earthquakes Christchurch was hit with from 4th Sep onwards within 24 hours. The total earthquakes recorded and counted on that day were 1495 as recorded by this website. This webpage show this series on the map with the location of the earthquake, the magnitude and its impact. On one side it is interesting to see this but actually it was a horrible horrible thing - ask someone who has felt all these shocks within 24 hours' time only.

I have few friends there and it was a relief to know that they were all safe and sound. However I felt sad for the city as I have seen its gorgeousness and just can't imagine to see it turned into a pile of rubble over night. However the caring and loving people of Christchurch will bring its attractiveness back and the city of gardens will continue to be one gorgeous city also known as Ōtautahi.

Lahore to Sydney: via Auckland

When I was working in Total Parco in Pakistan, I wanted to come to Australia to work but I end up coming to Auckland to join Olympic Software. I never thought of coming to NZ to live or work but then I also never thought that I will miss it after I leave to settle in Australia finally. When I reached in Auckland in April 2008, at first I didn't like it much and kind of feeling home sick and even thought of going back Pakistan - home. But with the passage of time, I got use to of the new life style and surroundings. I actually made some very good family friends there and spent two very beautiful years of my life in Auckland - New Zealand.

After two years in Auckland, I accepted a job offer from a company (Professional Advantage) in Sydney and shifted to Sydney in June 2010. When we were in transit mode (preparing to shift), I did not feel that excited about it the way I would have if I were shifting directly from Lahore to Sydney. May be the main reason for that was because I have made some very good friends there and got settled in the country. I also (I can say now) liked the life style very much there. But anyways, this was a decision that I had to make to achieve the objectives that I have in my mind.

Now that I am in here in Sydney, I am missing Auckland more, esp the life with friends there and once again I am going through the same phase that I first experienced in April -May 2008. But I know this is normal with me and I will be back to normal after sometime. At the moment, while we are finding our new street address in Sydney, also finding out that though Sydney is a 'happening place' but it is also one of 'the' expensive cities. But hey, good things come with the price tag that I have willingly chosen to pay. So I am happy to be here and looking forward to explore the city in next few weeks to come.

By the way just one last thing I want to mention that I am excited about. We went to inspect one car (Honda Civic) today, since I need to buy wheels too and I liked that neatly and well kept car. I am expecting to hear from the seller tomorrow hoping to that he will offer me to buy within my budget. I will be a happy man to be mobile again as I didn't have one since December 2009. So lets see if that becomes my car number 2 or not. Fingers X-ed.

Christchurch - the city of gardens

This is, I guess, the 4th time I came to Christchurch and this time I have got totally different feelings about the city and have different experiences touring around the city.

I remember the first 2 or 3 times I came here, I had an unfriendly (no offense please) feeling of the city where I don't see many faces passing out courtesy smiles as they pass by. When I went out after work for dinner on the Riccarton road, there were only a few places open and mostly were closed. That was the only road or area I have strolled around during my first couple of visits and to make an idea of the whole city based on that much was not fair but even then I couldn't avoid having the wrong 'unfriendly' feeling.

This time, the 4th time, I got the time and conveyance to look around more of the city and, to be honest, I just loved the city and am feeling kind of bad for having a wrong assumption of the place in first place. But then that was just abt 1 street only :P

The most attractive thing I found and liked about the city is its old-fashioned buildings and architecture. The color-ful poles along the street, the brick streets, a small river Avon running through the city center and not to forget the beautiful trams that run through the city all day. The amazingly beautiful Arts Centre (the Old Christchurch College) building is a master piece of architecture, I must say. I just loved its corridors, the 'blue water' pool, and that piece of art work hanging in the air right in the middle of the main yard of the centre. Such a beautiful beautiful place to work/study. I would just love to study here if I could.

The old fashioned english style homes really give a nice touch to the surroundings (at least that's how I feel) and the different dressing styles of the people here: the funky, the cow-boy, the gangster's, the biker-boys and what not.

There was a nice dinner place, called Dux-de-Lux where my work-colleague, Phil Walsh, took me tonight. It was a very famous place as I have noticed that almost all of the tables were taken and people were standing in the queue waiting to order their food. Later I found out my guess was correct as the food was very nice and was more than enough for two people (like me and Phil who like to eat) :P

The quick walk through the center of the city, the Cathedral Square, was my favorite thing. There was the huge Cathedral right in the center of the square with loud sound of church bells, and in front of it there were two guys in the buffalo's costumes - don't know what were they doing there but it just added some nice affect and color to the whole scene. On the right of the Cathedral there was a colorful tram stopped there, on a tram-stop where you get onto the tram or get off it and take a walk around the city center.


On the left side of the church, there was a huge pole which was basically a nice piece of art as well made of metal with an open mouth on the top. It was a beautiful place to spend one of your nice and quiet evenings there, just sitting there on one of the benches and watching the world around sipping through your cold drink.


Around the square there are some very nice souvenir shops from where I bought a couple of NZ famous stone, jade and a small ring for SS and now I am hoping that she likes 'em :P I also have bought models of Christchurch Tram, I think they are beautiful and will add to the beauty of my living room - that I plan to decorate once I have my own place (somewhere in future - don't know when) :P DD (day dreamer) ? at least it is free :P


Umm.. I can write more about the city but for that I need to see more of it :P I may actually get to see more of it tomorrow and for that I have to sleep now, lolz. In short, unlike all my previous visits to Christchurch, I am loving it now and liking the place and I intend to come back again with SS :P (I'm not sure if I get time and a chance for that but will do if I get one).

Christchurch - Sorry for making a wrong assumption about you earlier !!!