12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 60 was a bit optimistic by the appearance of the last post.
inshaAllah, we'll see if 50 is more grounded. the flight back from Islamabad was quite easy, alhamdolillah. the best thing about being back was seeing my parents. :)
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remember (or can you still see?) all those line breaks in my earlier
posts? well, the extra line breaks are courtesy of the gmail web
browser -- the version that works on cell phones and mobile devices.
and the problem is that the code is prehistoric (by web standards).
so it wants line breaks every 60 characters or so, and it adds them for
you -- without asking. and that feature cannot be turned off in gmail
settings. hence my 60 char number line.
qadrAllahi wa maa shaa'a fa'ala.
inshaAllah i leave for Karachi in the am.
tonight i went to McDonalds. yes pictures of McDonalds boxes are
cheesy. but would you have believed "McArabia" without one?
as bad as that tasted, the spicy chicken sandwich was actually quite
good. and the McRoyale (seriously) suffered only from being
drowned in ketchup and mayo.
would i want to live in McArabia? nope, give me Saudi, inshaAllah,
with extra time in the Haramain. :)
My friend Irtiza was my host in Islamabad. You can read his blog: irtizahasan.wordpress.com Below: fantastic views of Islamabad and of Islamabad's King Faisal Masjid.
Above: This village lies in a valley just over the hill from Islamabad. Below: Several restaurants cater to crowds that enjoy the views in the evenings and on weekends.
Above: Alhamdolillah, the views are beautiful all the way around. This is the view of Islamabad from the border with the NW Frontier Province. Below: Pictures from a small village at the crossing point... and the cow.
alhamdolillah, i'm basically in the middle of a day of tourism. it
started this afternoon with lunch at a restaurant/scenic overlook of
Islamabad. that was most of the way up the major hill in the range
that cradles the city.
then after my friend went back to his office, i went the rest of the
up the hill all the way to the summit marker (pictured), which
happened to also be at the border of Islamabad with the Northwest
Frontier Province (border marker also pictured).
it was idyllic and much less commercialized than the lunch spot.
great for a cup of chai. while drinking my chai, a cow walked by and
i thought to myself that this cow was as home here as if it were in
india, but here it would not be the victim of veneration. yes, i took
a picture, no i did not send it.
from there i made it in time for maghrib at Islamabad's most famous
landmark, Faisal Masjid built as a gift to the nation by the Saudi
Royal family, alhamdolillah.
after salat, i was looking for this pizza place that was recommended
by another friend, and i happened upon a great thai restaurant. yes,
that's the restaurant owner in the picture. the service really was
royal, too, alhamdolillah.
then i checked out the offices of my friend, because it's a local
office of a US company and they literally work on a US schedule -- so
he works nights normally.
and now i'm home, alhamdolillah.
tomorrow inshaAllah we will go into the lower mountain ranges in the
Punjab, as opposed to the really massive ranges a bit further north.
it should be a beautiful day, inshaAllah.
--
Whether you hide what you want to say, or speak out loud, without
doubt He knows what is in your heart. Would He not know Who Created
everything? He is the Most Subtle, the Most Aware. (The Holy Qur'an,
Surah Al-Mulk, v13-14)
Perfect all aspects of your behavior. Why? Find out in Islam. How can
you strengthen the bonds of brotherhood? Fill the gaps: stand close to
your brother in prayer.
Above: After Shurooq outside the Hanafi masjid in F-11. Below: Islamabad is an intensely planned city, and alhamdolillah the planners love parks and quiet residential streets.
The Evacuee Trust dates back to the time of the partition of Pakistan, India, and the other states of the subcontinent. Today these offices are the address for many of Islamabad's modern business ventures.
Yeah, that's right, "Chocodate."
sunday 6:45 am Karachi
big bus. i'm on a 777-200 in row 65 and it's not the last row. the flight is just a 2 hour nonstop to islamabad, but it is fully packed, alhamdolillah.
i am seriously thinking about taking the train back, inshaAllah. my parents arrive in Karachi inshaAllah on wednesday. i may be done with Islamabad by Monday.
in that case the train seems like a great way to get to see the countryside. that is if it's a day train. or maybe train to lahore, and fly back from there?
sunday 9:40 am Islamabad
one thing about a big bus... lots of checked luggage. we landed 40 minutes ago.
sunday 10:10 am Islamabad
wow. this city is so beautiful. to be more precise the land is so beautiful. it lends the city a serenity and softness that makes forgivable the posh development and gutwrenching decrepitudes... so many parks... and the cradling mountain range -- not tall imposing peaks but inviting though steep green slopes.
its lovely. that's really the word for it. alhamdolillah.
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