Aaj jaray(winter) ki pehli barish thee. Khamoshi say girtee boondain apnay na honay ka pata daitee thee mager, tez chalti hawa, hila dainay wali sardi jism main jhonk rahi thee. Mosam sarma ki barish hamesha mjhay udaas ker jati hay mager phir bhi mjhay is main bheegna acha lagta hay.  Shayed is barish ki khamoshi mairay ander ki khamoshi ko samjhtee hay. Laikin is dafa tu is barish main ek anjana lutf bhi chupa tha. Is dafa tu kissi ki yaad ki tapish dil ko garma rahi thee aur goya thand ka wajood hi siray say nahi tha. Main dair tak khirki kay saath khara raha aur chup chaap be-qarar usay sochta raha. Who bhi kuch kuch barish kay jaiseee hay. Jo baras jayey tu bahar hay. Jo theher jayey tu qarar hay. Kabhi sara-sar shor hay hay aur kabhi boht chup chaap hay. Kabhi kisi yaad main bay-qarar hay tu kabhi us ki muhabbat bay-misaal hay. Laikin na-janay ku us ko is sab say Inkaar hay.  

aaj na janay ku yun hi baithay baithay mjhay woh khilti dupehar yaad a gayee. jab kay woh mairay pehlu main baithee thee aur yun lagta tha  jaisay poori dunya simat ker mairay paas aan pohnchi ho. Us ki ankhon kay ad khulay dareechon say jo mainay jhanknay ki koshish kee tu goya wahan tu ek aur hi dunya abaad thee. Ankhon main khushi ki who chamak kay jaisay us nay bhi sara jahan paa lya ho. Mager saath hi ek udaasi ki lehr;jaisay kay un ankhon ko her dam yeh dharka laga ho kay yeh sab kuch kaheen bikher na jayey. Laikin is sab kay saaath ek umeed ki kiran kay kia pata yeh sapna sach ho jayey aur yeh sab kuch rehti saanson tak us ki muthi main band ho jayey.

 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Peak

Que for the tickets:

 

 

  Waiting for the tram:

In the tram  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Tram ):







A history lesson:





Going up to the top:





First view from the top of 'the peak' :




Roads reminded me of Nathia Gali:





The Peak Tower:



Views from the top of the tower:









 





Taking a (45 Mins) 'stroll' around the peak: [Peak Circuit trail : http://www.thingsasian.com/stories-photos/20368]


















 

Back to the Peak Station again:

 

 

At around mid-night, the lights getting turned off in the city:



A bit of OLD TRAM service:

 

 

And the new train:

   

Outside the train station:

 

This morning, peak from the place i live:




Victoria harbour:

 They put impressions of their beloved stars on the ground! stars on the ground... stars on the ground... somehow it doesnt sound right!

  Never thought i'd bump into Mr. B. Lee himself!

 

 

 

 

http://www.tourism.gov.hk/symphony/english/about/about.html 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was 19th Ramzaan, saturday, September 20,2008. Trying to resist the temptations and taboo of attending zillions of iftar dinner every Ramzaan, i had decided to limit my outings this time around. Setting myself target of reducing by 4KG and not attending more than 3 iftar dinners, i so far have lost 3 KG and had only one outing. So far so good .... things seem to be as per plan and i should be the happeist person on earth.  Really ? should i be or there are more things to content yourself then just meeting the poorly designed, stupidly imposed self destructing targets ????

Trust me ...nothing changed... am still the same...same Muhammad Imran even if i had gained 6 Kgs or had attended 38 iftareez in last 19 days.  So looking back all i did in last 19 days was to satisfy my EGO. Satisfied my EGO with restraining myself.

Most of the things that we do in our daily lives are to satisfy our EGOs. May it be working like horses (donkeys) at offices, may it be achieving excellence in our areas of work, may it be getting good grades in our skools; we are trying to satisfy our EGOs.  Ever thought even after getting all this why we are not happy ??? ever gave it a thought ? 

Key to happiness is not following your instincts and acting slave to the ego Monster;key is to defeat it. 

 

Mid Autumn Festival preparations at a local mall:

 

  Outside that Mall:

 

This is just outside my university... a tunnel with self explanatory name!



The 'other' side of the same road:



My university from a distance... the large light blue glass building on left is the business school:



My office building:




View from my office:

 

 

The same tunnel during day time:

My first night out here in Hong Kong... well, 'officially' the first night out :) ... Been here for two weeks... havent had the time or energy to go 'visit' places here... but by now my excuses had exhausted... and they say "mauqa bhi hai, dastoor bhi hai"... so, went out to see what they do at the Mid-Autumn Festival...

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_mida.jhtml

 

So, last night I went to Victoria Park in Hong Kong Island to see the 'lantern festival'. It reminded me of the festivals held at Race Course Park in Lahore. But Race Course was much more fun! Here the best attraction for them were the 'fortune teller' stalls. 

 

and then there were some performances by traditional artists:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBs4LfbSqMY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grQu6EsumnE

Some traditional chinese lanterns:

 

Next stop was nearby "Fire Dragon Dance"

 

 

It was a lot of fun... specially the drum beats reminded me of "pappu saein" back home!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaC5lKzXh6c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYuuhxGuqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVz8goxu-9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iewMaLTSRyE

 

 

 

Ik teray na honay say, yun tu kuch nahin hota, phool phir bhi khiltay hain, chand'ni tou aangen mein aaj bhi utarti hay..

Mein bhi yun tou zinda hun aur meri saan'on ki dour chalti rehti hay, roz-o-shab guzartay hen' umar dhalti rehti hay..

It teray na honay se yun to kuch nahin hota, kuch kumi si rehti hay, ankh kay kinarun mein kuch numi si rehti hay..

It teray na honay say yun tu kuch nahin hota, bus tishn'ge si rehti hay..