Tuesday 29 October 2013

The many moods of Kyiv

The 19th of October 2013 was quite amazing. Kyiv that day was quite moody and revealed many of it's true colors: the sullen, broody morning, pleasant and warm evening ending with a dark and bright, the mysterious night. Have a look!


The morning was literally changing it's hues in minutes and it was like watching a mix of colors on the canvas of a passionate artist who is painting a masterpiece! See the blues? It didn't come out as good but it was THE most brilliant shade of blue I have ever seen. MashaAllah.



The evening was romantic to say the least. It was cold but not so much. The soft shades of pink and cyan, the perfect angle of the sun - it was like a melody flowing through.


See how gorgeous the reflection is on this building? If you look closely in the first evening picture most of the building were showing a similar reflection =)


Nope, that is NOT the sun preparing to set. It's the moon. After the sunset the view was like the picture above but the moon ACTUALLY looked like the pictures below. It was SO beautiful. I have never, ever.. and I mean NEVER have seen the moon so close and big and shining ever so bright! Again, it was the MOST brilliant view of the moon I have EVER seen subhanAllah. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get a decent picture. These pictures don't do justice to what all of us actually saw with our eyes but I hope you get the idea at least.




Kyiv, you are truly a beauty. Thank you for the wonderful day =)

Until next time. Ciao!

=(

I am sad.

So so sad.

I might have to come back in two weeks maybe.

But I don't want to.

Not yet.

No snowfall. No chance to stay longer.

I am sad.

So so sad.

Friday 25 October 2013

Kabachi Baketh!

Kashif ne kaha kal ke in my last post there were no pictures of food soooooo... paish-e-khidmat haiiiiiiiiiiii



freshly baked Naan Khatai! =D YUSS I baked it in the middle of the night... 2 A.M. to be exact =P Why? Because I can! =^_^=

And they turned out great alhumdulillah. They were light, crispy and not to sweet. Mere Chottay Bhaiyya ko bohat pasand aye.. he said I should make some 50-60 so we can store and have them with tea everyday =P Baaqi sab isleepu so they'll tell me in the morning ke kaise hain. Tab tak help yourself guys:


Anjoyz laaain! =P Ab tau no complains na? =^_^=

Until next time. Ciao!

Thursday 24 October 2013

Whiny or not whiny?

Hi guys,

So I wrote this long long, REALLY long post about why I was ghaib all this time and it turned out to be so whiny. Like SO SO WHINY! I don't like whiny tau I am not posting it!

I can tell you this though last week kaafi plans rahay humare aur if I sit for too long tau I get swollen feet and severe backache jiski waja se I HAVE to be on bedrest. Secondly, shopping IS a pain here. By here I mean with my family. Baray Bhaiyya ko time ka masla hota, ya driver, ya gari ya the simple fact that I don't wake up at 11a.m to go shopping -____- Chottay Bhaiyya don't have the patience to browse stuff.. he says list banao, khareedo, ghar ajao. Ammi darling gets tired because of her arthritis or she is worried about her food and guests and always rushes us back home. So, I was tired, car sick, uske ilawa bhi sick, low on sleep aur maine itnay jhagray kiye hain aur itni baatain suni hain ke I have literally started crying on little things. Koi zara sa daant de I start crying. On Monday, I cried so much ke Bhai gifted me this =P

500Gb External Hard Drive
Cool na? =D Mujhe itnay time se chahiye thi for my pictures and projects. Now, everyone is making fun of me ke tum tau motay motay aanson baha ke apne kaam nikalwa laiti ho. Just so you know, that is so not true I didn't ask him for this us ne khud di hai and I even offered to pay for it!

What can I say.. aur banao mujhe tag along =P Ab se tau I told Bhai I only want to see parks and  nature and stuff so I can click pictures baaki I'll show you online what I want you go and buy it for me paise mai de don gi =P

Waise I didn't even tell you guys about my Eid. Monday night ko all my cousins came to Kyiv to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with us. We were supposed to go to my Uncle's house in the afternoon (Tuesday) and spend the whole day there but weird issues kept creeping up and we got delayed. The worst one was the plumber (who is actually an electrician). Yehan pe logon ka bara masla hai, woh humara tarhan jugaru kaam nai karte. Bloody parhay likhay plumbers/electricians jarr se issue resolve kar ke hi jatay hain or they die trying. When I was in Moscow there was this slight crack in one of our bathroom tiles.. jinn ke bachay they ripped off all the tiles and jo bhi crack mrack fill karna tha kiya and put up new tiles -_- It took them a whole month and we didn't have a place to take a shower. For a month! CAN YOU IMAGINE? Woh tau acha hai yehan pe mausam achay hotay hain Karachi mai hon tau ek din mai paseenay ki smell se hi guzar jayen =P Jitne nit naye tareeqay humne nahane ke.. aur garam paani se nahane ke humne Moscow mai dhoondain thay shayad hi kisi ne sochain hon =P

Anyways, back to plumber in Kyiv. Ek tau maslay bhi saray mere saath hotay hain.. mere bathroom ka flush started leaking so this guy came a week before Eid to fix it. Pata nai kya kar ke gaya and said I'll have to come back after two days to fix it. Ek haftay baad aya woh bhi Eid pe.. subah 11 bajay jo shuru hua dopehar 3.30 tak laga hi raha. Everyone kept shouting at me ke I am not ready lekin woh paglola nikalta tau mai kuch karti my room wasn't free. I woke up, I had breakfast, I played with my nephew, maine khirki se nazaray dekhay, I watched TV, I TOOK A NAP woh phir bhi farigh nai hua tha =P

Baad mai namaz ki waja se nikala and also we were already almost 2 hours late! Khair mere hisaab se mai kaafi jhat phat tayyar hogayi - an hour =P I mean come on mujhe subah se bathroom naseeb nai hua tha.. you should understand =D Khair, we reached at my Uncle's around 5.30pm. While they were setting the table tau I went to pray Maghrib, wapas ayi tau pata chala khanay pe aisa hamla hua hai ke jaise kabhi kisi ne kuch khaya hi na ho o_O The reason I don't have any pictures! Dinner ke baad they had Karaoke Night. Also, we clicked ALOT of pictures .. I wish I could share but they are all family photos =( I think me, parents and my brothers got a family photo taken after like 10 years or something.. matlab all of us together. Is baar not only was I the photographer but I also forced my cousin to take our pictures (which reminds me I still haven't uploaded hers - yikes!). So, all the halla gulla was going on and ek dum se Daadi stands up and starts to leave :-/ Humko pata bhi nai chala. And the night came to an end.. zabardasti. My Aunt was very upset that our "company was broken" =P

Ek picture achi nai lagri mujhe so here are some random pictures:


I saw these phishies in a supermarket.. they are like super extra tiny! How is one even supposed to take care of them esp in an aquarium jis mai aur bhi macheeeees hoteen? Bari wali khaas taur pe!


One foggy morning in Kyiv. I absolutely LOVE the view. This is the first time I have seen fog and I mean like this. This is from my cell so it's not that good or clear.. Faizan/Farman fog ke liye what settings on Nikon?

I .. matlab we stayed the night at my Uncle's last weekend and this one was my room. Us din I was dog tired.. I had been sitting for almost 12 hours straight and my I could barely feel my legs and back. Irony, I know! Tau I could only manage to click pictures laitay laitay =P

Kid Grocery Cart or Trolley whateverrrr I love it =P

Super cute nai? =D I almost want to be a kid again.. humare time ye khurafaat kun nai theen yawr? I remember when I was a kid I used to go with Ammi just so I could push the regular trolley.. agar ye hoti tau shayad wapas hi na atay =P While I was taking this picture I almost expected this kid's Mom to freak out ... crazy wheelchair lady snapping pictures of little children when I only wanted to get the trolley or cart jo bhi =D

Ye post bhi lamba na karte karte kaafi ho hi gaya :-/ Oh yaad aya DJ invited us to dinner on Saturday. Sochri hoon Bhai se kahon ke please ask him to make Halwa Puri. I want Halwa Puri ='(

Until next time. Ciao!

Thursday 17 October 2013

Khaippy Burzzday Kheena!

I am not kidding that is how they wish Happy Birthday =P

Privet guys!

Sab se pehle maaaIiiiIiIinn (bakra style) ap sab ko moooOooo-habbat bhara Eid Mubarak wish karti hon =P

I am sorry is baar post kaafi late hogaya. I know you guys missed me (=^_^=) but it's not my fault okay? Birthday, Hajj Day, Eid Day, Family Day kind of overlapped and zabardast mash up chalra tha. My 82 (28) years old body could barely take it.. mai tau kahan kahan khud giri pari so rahi thi.. honestly. Pata nai kaun kaun se janmon ki neend puri kar rahi hon -_-

So, about my birthday and super awesome Sunday. It was a blast! First of all, it started off FAB thanks to Farman =) He was the first one to wish me on Pakistan Standard Time, with virtual card, tweets - the whole deal =D Here is another fun Russian tradition: these guys don't accept birthday wishes a SECOND before the actual day. They say it's bad luck. Why? Because it might imply ke something bad will happen and you won't be there to receive the wish on your actual birthday =P HA! And people call me khabti =^_^=

My Chotay Bhaiya was the first one to wish me on Firangi Standard Taime and my Baray Bhaiyya ACTUALLY jumped on me and hugged me and pata nai kya kya barbarata raha for like 5mins suffocating me in the process =P It was so sweet, I couldn't stop laughing!

Few days before my birthday I told Bhai to not order any cake because well, I won't eat it (Halal khabti and all =P ) so he asked a friend of his to bake it. Now, this friend is Indian Sikh and a chef. He too follows the Sikh rules of diet like no meat and stuff tau I don't know why but I was fine with that even though I've never met him. I mean jo apne religion ko samajhta hoga woh dosray ke religion ki bhi izzat karay ga na.. right? And Bhai told him no alcohol, no animal products - he got the gist =D

Humare koi zada oonchay plans nai thay (like my cousin sisters) just a simple family dinner. Bhai also invited Chef Diljeet (I am going to call him DJ) and his wife. They were such a nice couple and wonderful human beings. They met everyone with such warmth and DJ kept calling me Behna, Sister, Choti Behan .. it was so sweet =') And his cake was such a HUGE hit in both taste and look!



I know I know you have already seen it like a gazillion times but it's the first on this blog =P It was supposed to be a three tier cake.. chocolate, almond and pistachio but DJ he didn't find something for the pistachio one so he only made the other two. And you see those flowers? Here have a closer look:


These are NOT real. They are made from sugar or something and you can keep them upto three years or so and decorate them on different desserts. Cool na? Apart from that they also got me real flowers:


Yehan pe flower bouquets are like a BIG deal so you gotta know your flowers. Jitna acha aur jitnay mehngay aur khoobsurat apke flowers utni hi sincere apki niyat =P Ap koi present den na den if you get them a nice bouquet woh itnay khush ho jatay hain jaise pata nai kya teer maar dia ho! Humari maids itni khush ho gayeen fauran se they found a vase and put them in water:


Beautiful na? =') Bas is se upar mera haath nai ja raha tha for a better picture =P My Uncle's MIL also got me flowers but she came late night:



Unhon ne mujhe itna Khaippy Burzday bola, itni dua'in deen and she was like you are as beautiful as these flowers (the ones that she got). Igor, the bodyguard was like -_____- and he cut her in the middle and told my Bhai ke please tell Hina not to take her seriously she is much prettier than THESE flowers.. hahahahaha. Itna seriously le liya us becharay ne k jatay tak mujhe bar bar wohi baat bolta raha. Maine kaha ap pit wit jaye ga Aunty se =P

Oh and ye raha mera Birthday Dinner! Haleem, Daal Chawal, Shaami Kebabs. There was also pakoray, french fries and kheer. DJ and his wife LOVED the food and that's saying something kun ke unke matlab ka sirf daal chawal tha or other vegetarian stuff baaki sab beef dishes theen. Apparently, Sikhs also don't eat beef (DJ doesn't eat meat at ALL!!). Baar baar Ammi ko boltay rahay ke Maa ke haath ka khana, dil khush ho gaya ap ne tau desi cheezon ki yaad dila di =D Aur masalay wali chai pe tau bilkul fidaa jee hi ho gaye. I mean my Mom impressed a chef.. now THAT'S something!



Ye next two pictures esp for Farman. Maybe even for Faizan and Kashif since you guys don't eat spicy stuff =P



Btw, ye meri Ammi ka homemade chaat masala hai.. kha lo tau hosh thikanay ajayen =D

I know I know tum log soch rahay ho.. where are my gifts? Well, ajeeb baat. Is baar I didn't get many gifts. Mostly, everyone just gave me money. Hmm.. ya tau mai bari ho gayi hon ya phir logon ko mehnat nai karni thi to find me a present. I kind of saved up alot though kha ma kha, considering the currency =P Cake, flowers aur paison k ilawa I also got these:


My maid, Luda gave me this bracelet. She kept saying "Coorool" so I thought she meant if I like the color. I told her it's great but she kept repeating "Cooroool" baad mai meri samajh aya she meant Coral =D Ammi told me to wear it later at the dinner which I did. Waise mujh se bhi ziada Ammi loved it =P

Birthday "Card" made by my niece
I have no idea what it says so don't ask =P I told her to translate and she told me she wasn't in the mood -_-

Folding Bed Table from Abbu
I had wanted this table for soooooooooo long! It looks something like this (mere wale ke flowers thoray different hain). Waise tau I was going to pay for this myself but Abbu gifted it to me as a birthday and Eid present. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ITTTTTTTT esp. the little drawer!!! =D =D =D

Aur is tarhan mera burzday tamaam hua. It was a small dinner but it was filled with love, laughter and sincere wishes. Thank you guys for making it such a special case. In case you missed it, I already wrote a thank you post =)

Until next time. Ciao!

Friday 11 October 2013

Super Sunday

Today, I learned two more things about Russians.

1. It's abshagun for a watch/clock to not tick (matlab band gharian ghar mai nai lagani chahiyeh =P);
2. They celebrate monthly birthdays (which my Abbu has named Mahgirah (you know instead of saalgirah).

I have a thing for Sundays. I like to laze around and do nothing. I don't know why. I hate making plans, going out, attending dawats or shaadis or whatever unless I am in the mood to do so on that particular day but otherwise no. Sunday is for lazing around bhalay pura week hi laze around kar k kun na guzara ho. I have a routine.. I eat scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and then I eat a very very light dinner aur baaki din kuuuuuuch nai karti. In mai se ek cheez bhi idhar udhar ho jaye tau sara mood kharab ho jata hai mera! Yehan pe abhi tak mera EK bhi Sunday waisa nai guzra -_-

(Aaj maine socha susti chor ke I should finish this Super Sunday post, warna coming Super Awesome Sunday post ka kya hoga kun k.. kun keeeeee.. I know you know why this Sunday is ispechul. It's SOMEONE's ACTUAL birthday =P )

Last Sunday my Aunt came from Russia specially to meet us. She traveled 12 hours from Moscow to Kyiv and stayed for 8 hours and then back again to the 12 hour train ride o_O Wow! Mai tau marr hi na jaon 1-2 din mai itna travel karna paray tau.

Khair, she came around 12pm and she stayed till 7pm aur din kaisay guzra pata hi nai chala. We met her after almost 7 years! She brought us many gifts but I absolutely loved these:

Pretty na?

I didn't eat these because the ingredients were fishy but they look great =D My Aunt cannot speak English or Urdu so my brother had to stay home for translation. She is good friends with Ammi tau they went down memory lane and started talking about stuff when she used to live in Pakistan. My Aunt I mean. She said when she was leaving for Pakistan her friends told her that people there will sell her for a tractor (hahahaha!) =D but when she came here, it was nothing like she had imagined. She drank tea for the first time in Pakistan and behold! We had Coca Cola! =D

Back in those days USSR was in a really bad state. She once saw a rat in Pakistan and told my Uncle that look they have rats here. He replied that's because they have food here =P Maine Bhai ko bola ke tell her it's the opposite now. When my brother told her the state of Karachi right now.. she was shocked! She said I cannot ever imagine Karachi like that! She used to go shopping late night, everyone was kind and nice and they never had any security issues. I felt really bad and sad when she was saying all these things. I also remember my childhood Karachi and I miss it ='(

She asked Ammi to make cholay and zarda for her. She loves meethay chawal as she calls it! It was so nice to see her appreciate all our desi things: she would smell the tea and chaat masala. She loves the aroma! When Bhai asked if we should order something like sushi or german food.. she was like what??? Are you crazy? That over Pakistani homemade food.. noway! =P While we were having lunch she saw the grandfather clock next to the dining table that wasn't working and it bothered her. Like really really bothered her! She got up from the dining table, fixed the clock and didn't come back to eat till it was ticking away! =D

When she left, we quickly got ready because we had to go to my Uncle's place as my cousin sisters had their one month anniversary! I asked Bhai if it was anything special, he said no it's just family. Alright then. I had the camera in my hand throughout the 30mins ride in case I get to shoot something interesting (ofcourse not!). Just as we were close to my Uncle's house I packed it (in the dark) because well, it was a simple dinner, nothing special and camera pakar ke I can't walk. But just as we reached the gate.. I shouted "WHAT?" and our driver literally LOLed -_- Why? Ye dekho:




This is nothing special? Humari tau shaadiyon mai itni tayyari nai hoti! And it really truly was a simple dinner with JUST family!





Seriously? I MEAN COME ON!!! All my 28 birthdays combined I have never had such an extravagant party! Or rather decorations because this technically wasn't a party =P Although, my silver jubilee was quite interesting because I was in Ukraine and celebrated it in two different cities but THIS WAS AWESOME! They also had some sort of changing lights thing at the back but nobody took  me out so I could take a picture =(

Are you ready for the cake now?





My cousin sisters celebrated their first month with a Cabbage Cake! Now, these people do make beautiful cakes but ours definitely taste better. Bhai agreed. Although, I didn't try this one because well, I am never sure and I try to avoid when I am not really sure. Other than that it was quite a fun evening.

Apart from the celebrations, Bailka was being extremely cute that day! She jumped in my lap and sat there for like half an hour. I was still wearing my jacket, I had the camera in my hand and I sat in the same position for half an hour! Uske baad I asked Ammi ke bahi hatayen isay mai thora hilon tau =P When Ammi tried to hold her she dug her nails (claws?) in my jeans and udhair di saari -_- I think woh naraz ho gayi because after that whenever I tried to click her picture she would just turn around and leave. But I love her to death still =^_^=

Purring in my lap
We had to explain that it's not a morcha but a stroller =P


Go away, Kheena!

I am the Queen!
Ye madam ka mood tau off ho gaya tha but us din dosray mister zara mood mai thay. Waise tau zindagi mai kabhi lift nai karayi except my last two visits. Shakal pe matt jana iski.. His name is Crystal =D

In case you are wondering that is NOT part of the sofa =P

Tell me who Crystal reminds you of? =P
 Can someone please gift me a persian kitten for my birthday? No? Okay -_-

Until next time. Ciao!



Tuesday 8 October 2013

Night Awaragardi

Dobroe Utro guys! Bolay tau a very good marning!

Kahan ho sab ke sab? *ghoors* Even my avid reader is ghaib!!! (are you reading Farman?)

Anyway, I know I still didn't tell you about my Super Sunday.. but I'll tell you about my awesome Tuesday and Wednesday =P (This is a rather short post as compared to the Super Sunday one.)

So, yesterday after my therapy we went shopping. Not exactly shopping shopping but we actually went to buy some stuff for the house, you know grocery and all. Lekin it is a big store and it just doesn't have grocery =^_^=

Apart from my bakarkhani biscuits and my favorite Walnut Icecream, I bought these:


Coffee mugs (or bowls?) and glasses!!! At least that's what I thought it was. Anyway, they were so pretty and they had butterflies and sunflowers and coffee love.. I mean I HAD to buy it right? =P I also like these:


but I didn't buy them because... well, I have no idea why I didn't o_O I should have! They almost look like the background of my blog =D Hum kaafi dair ghoomtay rahay but it was mostly Ammi who bought stuff. Ghar aa ke I had dinner and fell asleep. That's right! I was asleep almost by 8 because I was so frikkin exhausted (hint: I am getting old -_- ).

I was hoping to wake up in the morning but instead I was up by 11.30pm. Ammi Abbu ke saath baithi k Bhai called around 12.15am and asked if I wanted to go for a walk because the weather is really nice (11 degrees =P ). Aafkarse I said YES! =D Ammi was tired, Abbu was not in the mood so it was just me and Bhai. We got ready and left by 1 a.m.  I don't even remember the last time I was out on the roads at night. Humne koi 2km ki walk ki hogi ... in the middle of the night!!! Aisay time pe I wish and pray so much ke Karachi ki, Pakistan ki security bahaal ho jaye (ameen). It feels so weird being able to do these things in a strange land.. the kind of freedom you are robbed off in your own country, your home =(

Sigh. Khair, I took pictures but ziada nai my hands were cold -_-Waise itna kuch khainchne ko tha bhi nai. Everything was closed, there was barely any traffic or people around. Jo thoray bohat thay woh bhi soch rahay hon gay in ghailon ko dekho aadhi raat ko niklain hain =P

Cute na? =^_^=

Vokzal
Yep! It's the train station that I mentioned earlier. Maine phir Bhai ko bola mujhe ek bar travel kara de.. phir us ne mera mazaaq uraya -_-

Can you see the train?
 Woh peechay vaddi wali building dikhi? That's where I live =D

Ghoom phir ke Bhai insisted that we go for coffee. Maine bohat kaha I don't want to go lekin meri sunta kaun hai? Apparently, coffee houses here are open 24/7!

Phir he insisted that I eat something too. There was icecream, sorbets, cakes and other baked stuff. I said no to everything but kun k I had to have something I settled for this yummy delight (after confirming like a gazillion times that it had no alcohol):

Caramel Cappuccino

It was so pretty I honestly didn't have the heart to drink it. Bhai ne kaha photo lo apne twitter/blog ke liye aur wapas bhej do us banday k saath. Kehna bas photo hi leni thi dikhanay k liye =P

It was delicious waise. When we were sitting there I told Bhai it was really weird k Ammi Abbu didn't call to confirm if we are okay and 10mins later our phone rang =P hahaha We came back home around 2am. Aafkarse our very Pakistani parents were waiting for us =P Bahana tau unka ye tha ke Bhai forgot to take the keys lekin le bhi jatay na tab bhi intezaar kartay bechare Karachi k sataye huay. Smh!

Yehan pe halal food ka masla na ho tau I wouldn't mind staying for a bit with Bhai =) I had a greaaaaat time today alhumdulilah and hopefully I'll sleep soon now because I have therapy in the morning.

Until next time. Ciao!