London Update

Fish and chips, anyone?

Cheers from the good old UK, mates. I got in from Paris yesterday evening and have been enjoying some good times with all my family out here in the lovely London area. I've got my two khalas out here, a bunch of my cousins, and of course a handful of nephews (for you gora-fied people, those nephews would be my 'second cousins').

It's funny that I'm here again; twice in just a matter of a few months. Prior to April of this year, it was nearly 22 years since I had been to London. Hopefully my luck continues and I can go back to Pakistan soon.

A tip for those travelling here: Make sure you have the phone number and address of the place or family you're staying with. It will make the London-Heathrow Airport security experience less cumbersome. The first security guy was nice enough to let me go after I told him that I was going to Surrey, which is a county in the UK (so it'd be like telling someone at O'Hare that you're going to DuPage or Cook County). After he reminded me of that fact, I told him the only other name I know is Sutton, the town where my family lives in. Fortunately I had my phone and told him I could call home and get that info, but he let me go after writing my home address down. But as I continued walking, a security agent immediately approached me and asked me the same questions the other guy did, but went into more detail. This lasted five minutes and then he took my passport (probably to run a background check on me) and came back five minutes later. I had to explain why I went to Paris, what I do for a living, and why am I here in the UK. I told him that my company was based in the UK, so they probably did a quick check on that just to confirm it. I guess I can't blame them. A Pakistani guy with an Arabic name travelling by himself and not knowing his exact destiation does sound a bit odd. Stupid Imran. But, I was very cooperative and nice to the guy, of course, so he let me go and thanked me for my time.

Anyway, the first thing I did was go to a really good Portuguese restaruant called Nandos with Rani Aunty, Ridah, and Raafae. The food, as Farooq would say, was phenom. Nandos is a chain restaurant out here and some of the restaurants will have halal meat because of the omnipresent Asian (i.e. desi) population. Can't go wrong with that.

And so today I pretty much chillaxed with all my family. Made fun of Sami (i.e. Samia) out being older, though she tries her best to deny it. Played with the little ones a bit (they totally killed me in a pillow fight). Ate some great iftari food cooked by Shuda Khala. Joked with Sami that the only reason she wanted me to go to the mall with her was so that she could showcase me as some sort of young man trophy to everyone (to which she of course replied jokingly -- I think -- 'Wouldn't be the first time...'). We all made fun of Talha for looking soooooooo nervous and excited that his wife Mahem was finally coming from Pakistan tomorrow. They are a newly wed couple (back in February) and he hasn't seen her in person since. Now that's a killer for any guy. Married, but the wife is not with you. So, Alhamdullilah, I'm happy for the guy. But I'm not really expecting to see him after tomorrow...

Okay, sahoor is coming up soon. I should leave. Tomorrow should be fun as I get to see Musharraf give some sort of talk where they'll also have iftari. On Saturday I have to go check out some larkee for one of my bros (who I just may end up stealing for myself as he is well aware of...haha) and possibly later on tomorrow is another girl to check out, too. Oh and Sunday, too. :) I love having two khalas in the same area.

Until then, blokes!

Salaam