Gladiatorburger was the first place where I tried a Halal burger in Canada and instantly fell in love. The Oakville location simply adds to the experience with its great hospitality, customer service and a wide range of burgers and sandwiches. Everything can be customized to offer an experience that hits all the right spots The […]
Raspberry thumbprint cookies
We love baking; we bake just when we can and we bake when we can not. The baking is usually slower in summer because we like cooler things like smoothies and trifles to beat the heat, but we make sure that there is always a jar of home-baked cookies in the pantry, regardless of the […]
Most misunderstood hygiene habit
You would often see people from my background, i.e. Pakistanis or lets say South Asians, roaming around in malls, grocery stores, hospitals, just about everywhere, with empty, disposable, water bottles in their bags or in their hand. One would wonder why? Well, because we use water to clean up after we use the washroom for […]
How You Would Regret The Use Of Technology
I also came across the video doing rounds on social media where a little girl is seen frustrated and upset and crying while her mother tries to teach her I read the comments across different channels and saw people’s reaction. Some made me laugh, others made me bang my head, some made me want to […]
Entitlement continues….
While at work today, I was busy putting my things away, when something or say someone, caught my attention. A young girl, probably in her tween, sweaty and tired walked in with a woman who she was calling her mom. The woman had a high pitched voice and I could hear her continuously telling her […]
More Digital, Less Human
I just watched Denial and I must say what a brilliant watch. Some movies just bring out true emotions from deep within, and this is one such piece. I have fond memories of my Naani (maternal grandmother) cooking Mutton qorma (mutton curry cooked in traditional spices), matar pulaao (rice with peas), a certain brown coloured […]
The New Milestones
When a baby is born, there are multiple milestones that health care providers and parents look and wait for. When they start to move their head, when they start to raise their arms, when they start to roll over, when they start to crawl, when they’d develop pincer grasp. Now this pincer grasp is what […]
OFFICIALLY AN ORPHAN
Sep 16th when I stepped out of that banquet hall, I was happy and so were number 1 and number 2. We were all smiles because we had had fun. The next day was a rainy and soggy and unexpectedly warm one. We planned to go out to see the dentist for a routine visit […]
8 Things Pakistani-Canadians Need To Stop Doing
Note: I had great feedback from hundreds of people. Thanks for liking. I have edited and added few points that a lot of you thought should be a part of this. Happy reading! Okay so I had been busy, like really busy. There was Ramadan, and then summer holidays. So I am just running, running […]
What touched my heart today!
Unlike the common media (racist) perception, Masjids aka mosques are not places of extremism. Okay may be some are, but most are not. We talk more about donations, charity, matrimonial issues and “where did you get this dress from?” then about “Lets kill some non Muslim” or “Lets blow ourselves” I myself try to avoid […]
How to stay ‘sober’ yet happy, without shopping
Let me start by a confession: I LOVE SHOPPING….. AND I HAVEN’T SHOPPED IN TWO YEARS!!!! I love shoes, jewellery, dresses, lipsticks, lamps, glasses, dessert platters, plants. I am an impulsive shopper, which means I shop ‘just because’, not out of need. If I walk inside a store and I see something yellow, I would […]
Let Them Bloom!
I wake up every morning, turn the alarm off, the next thing in my hands is my phone: I do the same with the alarm, then check Messages(If any), then Twitter for news, then Whatsapp for messages from family and then Facebook for updates. After and when I am done with all this, then only I […]
What’s Your Language?
I have this knack for languages. As a kid, I was the most brilliant student and the blue-eyed pupil for my language teachers. My Urdu was as good as my English. As a teenager, I always wanted to learn German, Chinese, and Arabic. When I had kids, I tried teaching them Urdu. I put them […]
What I made for Christmas giveaways
So I had been sick, really sick for past so many days. I do not even remember since when. I finished two rounds of antibiotics but got sick again two days later. Then someone in the family told me to get some anti-allergy, and I found relief in my kids Benadryl syrup. No I […]
Same old me, same old
I wish there was a place in this world, a place bigger than Harrods or Harvey Nichols or Saks Fifth Avenue. A place where, things were available based on their worth, not the price attributed to it. A place where people could exchange emotions, I would have given my self in exchange of one last […]
Not in my Faith either
Number 1 came to me this evening to get her agenda signed. About to finish doing dishes, I asked her what was written there. And she replied ” Religious- Festival-Hannukkah-Month-Menorah-” And I suddenly felt overwhelmed; overwhelmed with happiness as I myself always have had a passion to learn about other religions, to study history. overwhelmed […]
Ice-cream themed summer birthday
I have often seen child number 1 being the most angelic, most well mannered, well behaved one, while number 2 is usually an opposite. It is not because I am child number 1 but because even my children are like that. My first born is the first born of both the families so she has always […]
Oh it’s just Halloween
Days before October arrived, number 1 told me “I know it is not okay to celebrate Halloween because it has Pagan roots, (I told them about the origin of Halloween and luckily the class teacher also discussed and explained the same to them) but would it be okay if we can just give away candies […]
Sneak peek into an ice-cream/summer themed birthday party!
Blog post with loads of pics coming in soon… Keep checking…..
10 pins that make STALKING so funny
With the advent of “Social Media” comes the risks attached to it. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram…The list goes on…. And then everyday we see posts warning us that our posts can be misused, we can be blackmailed, manipulated and yet there is this urge of posting the pic of our Saturday night dinner, and […]
Pakistan-A loved dilemma
It feels like its been ages since I’m living in Canada. I love and admire this country that has embraced me with open arms and warmth. Yet I hear the word Pakistan and my heartbeat fastens and the adrenaline gushes in my veins. After all its Pakistan we’re talking about. The resilient and most incredible […]
Choice
Featured image courtesy: Fursid.com
Present-Surprise Sugar Cookies
Since birth I have a little issue, a teeny tiny bug that always reined me towards the paths less travelled. I always found different things better. The price tag(read obstacles, hardships) was not the matter, never was. It was always the worth of that different thing for me that made me steer into that direction, regardless […]
Of Hilals and sightings
I just read on Facebook: Quote: “It is haraam to fast on Eid, yet half of the Muslims are fasting today. It is a major sin to leave a Farz Roza(fast) and yet half of the Muslims are celebrating Eid. Who is answerable for this?” Ramadan this year started without much of a confusion. Muslims […]
15 relatives we all love /hate
Well yes I was born in a Desi household, amidst hordes of relatives. We lived in a joint family system. My mother had 9 siblings and my father had 10- Yes I know but they say they did not have TV in those times, hence no other entertainment- If you know what I mean! Only […]
And to Him shall we return
He was young, he was amazing, he was loving, he was caring…. I never met him but what I know from his Facebook updates and from his wife, who happened to be my second cousin, he was an amazing father, a loving husband and a caring son. I’ve known this girl as a sweet and […]
O Canada
Last night as I prepared these red velvet cupcakes, the girls asked if they could watch O’Canada on YouTube. I put it on, and guess what? I got the same goosebumps; just like the ones that I always get when the national anthem of Pakistan is played. Does that mean I am Canadian now? Does that […]
Oh Karachi!
They say a picture speaks a thousand words.. But this one right here left me speechless….. I live in Canada. And the moment I say “Canada”, snow and cold is the first word that comes to mind. We have extreme temperatures here about 9 months a year and even in those three months that we […]
Because tea is love
Ammi(mother) used to say “The color of the perfect tea is golden; just like the color of the skin of almond. Any thing else is not tea!” I can’t say how many other teachings of her I follow, but this one, I kept in the first shelf of my cabinet of her memories. And perhaps its more […]
Do not fear Allah(SWT)
Once again, the same old rants of mine…. First its about the weather, and trust me when I say it…. This morning it felt like part of some post-apocalyptic, dark cold corner of the planet, typical Hollywood movie style, bitter cold, blowing snow, less people, more clothes(No rags though) Today is the coldest day of […]
اے نئے سال
A beautiful piece by famous poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz on New Year. Did not want to spoil the magic of Urdu language, hence posting as it is (Without translation) Happy new year 2015 and happy reading! اے نئے سال بتا تجھ میں نیا پن کیا ہے ھر طرف خلق نے کیوں شور مچا رکھا ہے روشنی […]
Once Again
Its around this time, every year, when I get into this strange kind of mood- Highly sensitive and equally numb…. Just words and visuals echoing in my ears and flashing in my eyes…. Been three years now, and it is as if my biological clock is programmed to work that way…. I may not remember […]
In the land of Gibberish
God created angels…. This universe, the galaxy, the sun, the planets, the moons, stars… He then moved on to creating this world, the mountains, the oceans , the rivers, the animals, the birds…. All the objects, all the creations worshipped and praised God but still something was missing…. And then Man was created…. He was […]
You are sleeping….
And when I tell’em I am a hypnotherapist, the first question that pops up is “Can you hypnotize me?” Well yes I can, but why?? I come across people every day, and regardless of their gender, faith, education and background, all equally fascinated by the mere fact that I hypnotize people for a living. And […]
Raunaq of Iftaar-Chaat masala
There is Ramadan, there is iftar and then there is chat masala- a spicy, tangy concoction of household spices that is used mainly for garnishing and adding in more flavor or spice. A staple of the iftar feast, no traditional savory is complete without this pinch of color and flavor, be it chana chat (traditional […]