Round & Round The World with Pakistaniguy

I am back :-)

Hey Crazy People!

After a gap of sometime, I am back here on blogspot. In the meanwhile I used multiply.com and facebook to post my travel plans and travelogues but i still feel that this is the best place to share them therefore, i am back here :)

In the days to come you will get more posts from me.

Signing off from last day at work place in Basel, Switzerland
Umer

Brussels calling...

Hey guys

Yesterday i was about to miss my flight for the first time in my life but again it didnt happe but i am sure sooner or later it will ;)

Right now i am in Brussels, The Capital of BELGIUM. The flight with SWISS was cool. I paid 63 Euros incl. taxes for a return flight. They serve you drinks and a small sandwich. Plus! u get a little Swiss Chochlate before landing :) hmmmm i love it and i always get two, three instead of picking just one ;) hehe...

Brussels was a bit chilly but what do u expect in start of february. I went by train from the airport to my Maltese friends place. He was hospitable. His voice reminded me of another Maltese friend of mine who is a famous singer, 'Triton B'. I was so tried that i fell asleep early and in the morning i was told that i do snore(yuck!) :p hehe...

Now i am online, looking for a couch in Antwerpen tonight. I have never been to the famous Belgian cities like Antwerpen, Brugges, Ghent or Liege so this time i am going to shorten my stay here and check out more of Belgium. I have found a place to crash in Antwerpen. Plus! I have written to the guys n girls in Brugges and now i am waiting for their reply. If everything goes planned then this will be my travel plan inshAllah :)

09 Feb: Brussels to Antwerpen
10 Feb: Sightseeing in Antwerpen, back in Brussels for partying.
11 Feb: Brussels to Brugges. Sightseeing in Brugge.
12 Feb: Brugges to Ghent. Sightseeing in Ghent. Flying from Brussels airport back to Switzerland.

Any comments on my crazyyyyyyyyyyy trips are most welcome :) Photos? yes only the censored ones will be uploaded soon.

Love u guys!!!
Umer

Test

Following Leonardo Da Vinci

Florence is a city with feeling, with emotions, with culture and traditions. If you see spirits roaming around in this city at night - it would not surprise me as countless scholars, philosphers, poets and artist have born, lived and died here. Starting from Leonardo Da Vinci - who inspires me the most, but i have no less respect for Michaelangelo or Dante.

It was good to be back here. Though i was more into partying and socialising than going to Art Galleries and Museums. But i promise i will come back here and see the remarkable places in the next trip.

Love you Florence!!!
Umer
(on my way to Pisa and to Malta tonight...)

I crossed the 25 yrs barrier!!!! Hurray :-)))

ThAnK YoU ALLAH!

Here are the photos from My 25th/Silver Jubilee Birthday Party

on 4th November 2006

at Lahore, Pakistan.

PaKiStAn... PAKISTAN! -My Green land-

I have been back since a few days. It is good to be back here with my parents, my family and my friends, talk in my own language, hear the Pakistani songs and watch Pakistani TV AND play Cricket with my friends in the garden in the house. Just Priceless!

Today is the last day of the holy Islamic month of Ramadhan and tomorrow is the festival of 'Eid-ul'Fitr' that is like Christmas for Muslims. We give gifts and money to the younger and receive from the elders. So, me being the younger one is greatly looking forward to it :-)

The weather here is perfect - mid 20's - sunny, blue sky, little cool breeze. I am good. People say i look slimmer but when i stand on the weighing scale - it says as always 64 K's ! Aggggghhhhh!!!

My plans are to stay here in Pakistan around 10th November then fly to London for a week from 10th till 17th November and then resume my job from 20th November in Zürich and also start working on my book again.

Oh btw, i forgot to tell you guys a big news that Finally Thank GOD! i have started working on my book. I have written the outline of it. Now i have the basic structure and i just need to write the smaller modules to complete it but i still think that it will take another few months.

Okay---gotta go now!!!

LOVE FROM PAKISTAN :-)))

Yours,
Umer.

Time to travel again :-)

67 hours break in Zürich seems to be enough for an addicted traveller like i am ;-) so now i can go back to travelling....

Tonight at 19.00 CET i have a German Inter City Express - ICE Train to the Southern German city of Stuttgart, famous for its Car making industry - Mercedes-Benz & BMW. I will be doing 'couch surfing' in Stuttgart just for a night before flying tomorrow morning with 'Turkish Airlines' via Istanbul to Karachi, PAKISTAN. I will be arriving at 1.45am on Friday, 20th Oct' 06 in Karachi and then i have another flight with Pakistan International Airline (PIA) from Karachi to Lahore - My Real Hometown!

Last time i was in Lahore in February this year but it already seems to be sometime. The longest i have ever stayed out of Lahore was 9 months and this time it was just 8 months so i think its really difficult for me to stay away from my real home. Home is where your heart and spirit resides, where your loved ones think about you often and miss you. It must not be a house or a palace, it can be anywhere, you would love to live, love & be loved..... Isn't it ?

So, my dear friends... i am going home InshAllah to spend the Islamic festival of 'Eid' which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan - on 24th Oct' 06 - this year. We celebrate Eid with as much zest and energy as Christians celebrate Christmas. As many other islamic fests, in Pakistan Eid is celebrated for 3 days :-) but hey, no drinking and no dancing okay ;-) It is an Islamic republic - what do u think! ;-)

This year 24th October is very important for me as it is also InshAllah my parents 26th Wedding anniversary so its a double Fest for me! and this is not the end... just after 10 days i have my 25th Birthday! Yeeeeeaaaahhhh - Time is running fast but don't you think that i have achieved or done more than what others do in their first 25 yrs ? So the question is, who is winning the race ? I or the Time ? :-)

Guys in Europe, who are still waiting to get hold of me somehow... good news for you is that i would not be staying long in Pakistan but would be coming back to Europe around 8th November 2006. I might stay for a week in London before coming back to Zürich. I will inform you guys here about the latest. Yesterday i called my boss and gave my dates for work in November, according to which i will be back in Zürich from 20th November for sure!!!

There is so much more packing left... okay buddies... gotta go now... Talk to you from Pakistan or may be a quick blog from Istanbul, Turkey :-) My one of the top 5 favourite cities around the world!!!