Travelling the World on Wheels.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Merci Beaucoup Papa! Part I

Merci beaucoup means thank you very much in French and soon in this blog-post I shall tell why I titled this post as merci beaucoup. I made a four day trip at random and it was all worth it, enjoyed it a lot, although met up with my Dad in Paris (who convinced me to come) as he was invited at a cardiac convention in Paris, and I just tagged along from UK. However it was an awesome break which I think I needed so much and it was so worth it ... Bless him. And that is why I have named my blog-post merci beaucoup...a big ‘thank you very much to my Father’.

The weather was great and by great I mean awesome and warm and sunny. Food was the best had lovely authentic French food at ‘Chez Georges’ on the first day. It was a lovely road side restaurant in 273 Boulevard Pereire, 75017 Paris, France, +33 1 45 74 31 00 ‎chez-georges.com, right opposite the Palais de Congres (that is the convention centre where the cardiac congress PCR was held). It was also very close to our hotel, Le Meridien Etoile (which was awesome, thank you, merci beaucoup Dad!) Please do go there its lovely, the food is delicious and the decor is breath taking. I had lamb shoulder, and oh my word the meat was so, so tender! I had escargots (snails) as an appetizer and the desert was creamy, chocolaty and scrumptious. And our host that Mr. Suleman our host from Ferozsons Laboratories Limited, what a fine young man he is, well mannered and also tall and handsome but married...sad!

Anyways, my evening was the best. I have also taken many pictures and shall be also uploading them along with my blog-post. We left the restaurant at about midnight, I know it sounds very late but life starts in Paris after dark. The shops at the famous Champs Elysees close at half eleven and the road side cafes and bistros seem as they never close, as the French say ‘L'enjeu est magnifique et la nuit est jeune’ meaning the challenge is great and the night is young.

So it all began, the idea to visit Paris was my Father’s, it would be nice short break for you he’d say and yes he was right it was a fantastic break. He had to be there as he was invited to attend the Euro PCR 2011 for four days. Well he flew by plane from Karachi, Pakistan all the way to Paris whereas I came by train (Euro Star) from Ashford, UK; it takes just two hours to reach Paris by train, sweet! The best part is that going with my Father means free accommodation, plus I get to go out for all these awesome dinners and night-outs for free. I know it sounds kind of ... not interesting maybe but it’s worth it all as it’s said ‘sometimes to lose something, in-order to get something’, and even I found out (I really don't know if this is going to interest you but it sure does interest me as I am the daughter of a Cardiologist) apparently a pacemaker has been invented which is the size of a capsule and it has a seven year battery. It shall be out in the market on sale in a year’s time; this innovation has been done by Medtronics.

The Euro Star was as good as always, the ticket was for £65 return, fully wheelchairs accessible, (for further details or ticket booking please go on website http://www.eurostar.com). For me I was travelling from Maidstone, therefore I had to get the train to Ashford from Maidstone East Station, the ticket was for £5.40 (for inquiries please do check out the South Eastern Trains website at http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Karachi with Farheen.

This blog-post shall be slightly different,hope it all works out. Anyways so after we were done at the beauty salon (Sabz) looking all pretty and posh. Farheen decided to take me to Park Towers at Clifton as it is wheelchair accessible. (Now by wheelchair accessible I mean a wheelchair or push-chair can be taken as they are ramps and lift but unfortunately they are no public wheelchair accessible toilets. We parked out car in the underground car park. Then we went to the Mall entrance where there is a ramp. (Park Towers is a reasonably big shopping mall with many popular clothes, jewelery, food, shoe shops, etc.) As we were both hungry therefore we both went upstairs straight to the food court.

We ordered Chaat (a local snack made of chickpeas, tamarind, crispy chips, and yogurt and I love it!) Farheen also ordered a Chinese dish Chicken Chillie, I think. Anyways, we enjoyed it all.

After our lovely lunch Farheen and me roamed around the mall. They were lots of offer and everything was decorated with red hearts as it was valentines soon. Farheen also bough t me and herself a pink, dainty alice-band with a strip of tiny diamond shaped studs on it. I have taken many pictures of shops and decorations inside the mall which I shall be also uploading along with this blog-post.

We spent almost the entire day there and had loads of fun. Thank you Farheen and I am always ready to go out with Farheen any day and any time. And believe it or not almost my entire holiday in Karachi I spent with her and enjoyed every bit of it it. Thank you. X

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Hello, hello Karachi. 

I did reach on Saturday afternoon and as soon as I got seated in the car with my parents, to our way home in Karachi I called both of my Grand-Mothers (my Dad’s Mom and my Mum’s Mum) first from my Father’s mobile. My Dad’s Mum said she’ll come late in the afternoon as she had to visit a relative and my Mum’s Mom was free so we picked her up on our way home. I also called up Sana (my oldest friend best-(eeest) friend from school) who never received the phone! L And then my friend Farheen, who is a doctor who was delighted to receive my call. And this blog post is going to be all about her, Dr. Farheen Saleem and how I spent the first Monday, 7^th of February 2011 with her. X

Monday morning it was, Farheen had already booked an appointment with ‘Sabz’ (beauty salon) a week before, she picked me up from my house at around 10am. The salon itself is not wheelchair accessible (it has 4 steps at the entrance) but the owner and everyone else over there are very helpful and cooperative. They lifted my wheelchair up and took me in (well, we did break all health and safety rules) but I was safely inside the beauty salon. I wanted to get my hair permanently straightened (relaxing/rebounding) as I have naturally curly hair. Yes, my hair shall be straight for the next 6 months, I thought with pleasure. Therefore before the treatment in order to check the strength of my hair a hair test was done. No, oh no! My hair was way toooo week this was because I had already died my hair when I went to Fuerteventura 2 months back, I also wrote about this on my blog. My friend and me were devastated, that means I shall be using hair straighters for my entire vacation in Karachi, Pakistan.

The hair specialist consoled me by saying ‘my child, don't be sad, just apply oil in ure head, use vitamin ‘E’ and use egg and yogurt as conditioner, hopefully ure hair will become stronger.’ Honestly, this didn’t make feel any better in fact even right now (while writing this blog-post) I have oil in my head. Farheen and me did not like this situation at all but the hair specialist saw our sad faces and suggested that its good if I get a protein treatment done in order to strengthen my hair where as Farheen decided to get high-lights in her hair (she already has a nice brown colour and straight hair) with her hair colour high-lights really looked good.

The protein treatment process was very elaborate. First my hair was washed, then a whitish paste was smothered in my head (I have taken loads of pics of Farheen and me during our hair treatments, shall be uploading hem along with my blog-post) it then had to stay on my head for 45 minutes (by the way this time exceeded to almost 2 hours and I’ll tell you why).

While sitting patiently with the protein paste in my head I somehow made friends with the owner, he was so impressed by me that he told his wife that I should be given a complementary pedicure. Yes! It was the best and the lady who was doing my pedicure massaged for over an hour and that is how my 45 minutes hair protein treatment turned into a 2 hour treatment, which was also good for my hair.

After my pedicure was done and my hair was washed I was then sat and my hair blow dried. Oh My! Tina Sani came and sat next to me (Tina Sani is an Pakistani female singer renowned for her classical and semi-classical Urdu Ghazals, and I simply adore her voice). She was reading a book and getting something done to her hair. I should have gotten a picture with her and should have spoken to her but honestly speaking didn’t know how to react with celebrities when spotted at places like beauty salons!

Anyways, but I had a good relaxing morning with Farheen, both of us were happy with big smiles when we sat in the car, our hair looking all grand and posh.

Do keep an eye on my upcoming blog-post. Its going to be all about how we spent the rest of the afternoon, Farheen and me. Xs

Thursday, February 24, 2011

“Everything we do at Emirates is dedicated to making your travel experience more comfortable, relaxing and enjoyable.”

This is so true about Emirates, although it’s a bit expensive. And if lucky one can get a cheap ticket like I got one this time; flight travel to Dubai is great. And yes, it was a great experience. Just like I explained in my previous blog-post (on visiting Fuerteventura) about getting into the plane on a isle aircraft wheelchair it was exactly the same way. I had already visited the loos at the Gatwick Airport therefore didn’t really need to go but the toilets on the aircraft are accessible and assistance is available when required.

I enjoyed the food on the flight. Although I was travelling in the economy class but still we were given food menus. We (economy class passengers) were given a choice of foods, I choose Chicken Coconut Curry with spinach and rice. The other choice was Baked Salmon with roasted vegetables. Then came the desert, Chocolate Fudge Brownie with hot chocolate sauce, yum and it was yum! They also gave me a bag full of Cadbury’s chocolates. As the flight was seven hours long we were given a small pack with small round shaped crackers, and a small sealed pack of salsa dip, this small pack was given the name ‘Nibbles’. The on-flight entertainment was great; all passengers had a variety of films (old and new), television programs (dramas, news, kids, etc) and music to choose from. Emirates was great, although economy but lots of leg room, plus the flight was half full therefore the seats next to us were empty and all passengers could lay on the seats. I’d say I enjoyed my seven hour flight from Gatwick to Dubai. J

It was six in the morning (Dubai time) when our plane landed at Dubai Airport. The airport is huge and my stop-over here was three hour long. Apparently there is a separate terminal especially for flights to and from Pakistan due to heavy load of passenger travel. I visited the toilet then waited in the transit lounge in fact slept for a bit, was too tired from my previous exciting Emirates flight experience from Gatwick to Dubai.

At exact 1 o’clock in the afternoon on the 5^th of February 2011 I reached Quaid-e-Azam International Airport.

Please do stay tuned to read my next blog-post, Waiting anxiously for you comments.

Take care.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

‘A friend in need s a friend indeed’ Thankyou Safia, Aasim and Aayaan.

So at 3pm I was at Gatwick airport. At the same time my friends had arrived the airport as well with my luggage, very nice of them. If Safia, Aasim a nd Aayan would not have been there I’d probably be crying and would have missed my flight (life savers) because I was 10 kilos over weight regarding luggage. It took two hours to sort the luggage out but it was all sorted in the end because of them. In the end that is after two hours of struggle like literally sweat and blood struggle we managed to check-in the entire 40 kilos of luggage and I’ll explain you how.

Perks of being on a wheelchair: (this is when being disabled helps, and being sympathised truly helps, it saved me a £250) The Emirates lady was determined to take £250 for access baggage. Oh my God, I cannot afford that! My friends were there (now this is true friendship my folks ‘a friend in need, is a friend indeed’) and if we are lucky enough, my friend Safia would tell us the entire story in detail in the comments box.

Well after loads of times of unpacking and repacking and sulking and misplacing my own keys many, many a times (this is what happens when I am under pressure and I panic, be calm at all times whilst travelling). The Emirates lady felt sorry for me when she saw lots of medicines and my wheelchair charger (I also took a picture with her, which I shall upload along with my blog post), and yes I also felt sorry for the excess luggage and a £250 payment or leaving my Mom’s medicines with Safia, so I went along with the drama. Soon my luggage was all checked in and we were all relaxed.

‘When there is a will there is a way!’

All four of us with gigantic smiles J went upstairs for a cup of coffee. Instead all of us had cold coffee and Aayaan enjoyed it the most. It was soon time to check myself inn, we all hugged and exchanged good byes and soon I was in the Gatwick Airport huge waiting lounge waiting for my flight. Thank you Safia, Aasim and Aayaan, I couldn’t have managed my journey along with my luggage to Gatwick Airport without you all. Therefore, I am dedicating this blog-post to you and company.

Love you and take care. X