Expedition Trail 6

Trail 6: one of the many man-made trails made for tourists to scale the sides of the Margalla Mountains located outside of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Situated between the beautiful Faisal Mosque and the scenic mountains, the trail has it's own parking lot which is closed off and on a Sunday with lovely weather, is a perfect cricket ground for visitors. Trail visitors are greeted by trees planted in memory of individuals of the Marker family (whoever the heck they are) followed by a Visitor's Information Center and a sitting area with swings and a bird watch tower (which looks more like a small tree house).

Faisal Masjid, with it's scenic background- the Margalla Mountains and the sky.

Trail 6 passes through the Kavani Valley and leads all the way up to Chak Jabbi in four miles. The trail includes a smooth track for mountain biking as well as sitting areas for hikers. A stream follows some part of the trail as well, so during your climb, you can listen to the gurgling of water or decide to take a break and dip your feet in too.

Cause dates are cool and posting articles as evidence makes you look professional.

My family and I had set out to conquer this trail and reach Jabbi. We started this expedition with the clothes on our back, the shoes on our feet and a bottle of water. The start of the trail was smooth, easy rise and had several signs along the way asking visitors not to litter and to carry back their garbage. Further along the trail came a sign saying "Jabbi" and leading to another trail and that's where the rise became a bit steeper and the environment gave off a feeling of being in a jungle, isolated.

Nice sitting area, right?

The trail was quiet with birds chirping and was shaded by trees all around. The weather was good too so hiking seemed pretty easy and relaxing- coupled with the fact that we were stopping at every sitting area and stream to either: take a couple of pictures, have a hydrating drink or take off our shoes and socks and stick our feet in the running water.

My brother took off just one shoe.

We had crossed the 2.0 kilometer mark when the trail became really steep and climbing became tough business- especially since we lost the company of the trickling stream. We stopped and had a voting: Go on the last 2 kilometers and see Jabbi or head back? Majority voted on going back and ending the expedition. On our way, it was time for Zuhr and we could hear the adhan coming all the way from the masjid.

Doesn't this look tropical? Don't be fooled, this is in the middle of a mountain forest.

It was a great trip and an amazing experience. Even though the expedition turned out to be a failure since we didn't achieve our aim, we still had loads of fun! For anyone who is planning to be a tourist in Islamabad, you should definitely visit Faisal Mosque and swing by Trail 6  for some exercise too!

My Shifa Interview

I had to make an entire post for this because it was really interesting and lots of people wanted details and it's a little difficult typing out the same thing to different people again and again xD So I'm just going to write it down altogether here.

The interview is basically called MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews) and the introduction given by the college is as follows:-

The college will conduct MMI as a part of its admission process. These will consist of 8-10 interactive stations of 7-8 minutes duration with a single interviewer at each station. The stations will focus on the following domains.

-      Critical Thinking

-      Ethical Decision Making

-      Communication Skills

-      Knowledge of Health care system

Final eligibility for admissions will be decided by the admission committee according to the applicant’s performance in all area of assessment.

My interview was conducted on the 22nd of October. The time they gave for me was 11:30 am but since I'd been spending my days in the hospital since Monday, I was there since 9:30 am and went to the college around 11:00 am. I was the first person there but right after me, two other girls came and the three of us settled into a nervous conversation about the ordeal we were about to face.

We waited until almost 1:00 pm- that's when the interview was officially starting. The first ten people to arrive were lined up and sent into the corridor which contained the rooms having the different stations.

Station#1: My first station was the rest station, where I spent my first seven minutes sitting in the corridor.

Station#2: "You are holding interviews for a job position and one of the applicants says that due to his father's ill health, he was unable to complete the application in time. He is now asking for an interview. What would you do?"

Station#3: "You had an argument with one of your classmates. Your teacher has divided the class into groups and both of you are in the same group. You want the groups to be changed. Request your teacher for this"

Station#4: "What qualities should a good doctor have? Relate an incident which shows that you possess this quality"

Station#5: "You run a tertiary government hospital which is supposed to provide free medication. However, you have a shortage and patients have to end up paying themselves. What would you do?

Station#6: "You were exiting a car parking when you hit the car next to you and break something. The security guard sees and informs you that it is Doctor Y's car and he has been told of this incident. Call Doctor Y and tell him what happened"

Station#7: This was a rest station. I sat down in the corridor again.

Station#8: "You are a drug addict and you really want to get admission into a college. The college is conducting screening tests. What would you do?"

Station#9: "Here is a table of a survey conducted by an ice cream company who wants to launch a new flavor. Look at the data and explain which flavor they should launch"

Station#10: "Why do you want to be a doctor?"

The result will be out on the first of November. I'll repost these questions and share my answers and responses then xD. Have a nice day ^^

Picture Perfect Memories #2

Picture Perfect Memories is a monthly meme hosted by Envy at Picking Up the Pieces. I thought this was super interesting to do and now, I've finally decided to do it. Basically, you just share a picture or two that are associated with a share-worthy memory and the best part is, you don't even have to be in the picture! (how cool is that omg xD)

LET ME EXPLAIN FIRST

Weddings are a really big affair in almost every culture- Pakistan isn't an exception. This is an event which excites people from every single age and class because weddings mean shiny new clothes, jewelry, big get-to-gathers, food and excitement in the air. Well, my family hadn't attended a wedding for quite a few months so all my little cousins decided to have a wedding of their own- with dolls.

From Left to Right --> Bride's sister, Bride, Groom, Groom's sister.

It was a full-fledged affair, I tell you. There was a four foot tall mother-in-law fussing with the bride's mother (bth of the moms were sisters, btw) and people bringing gifts for the couple (usurped by the little mommies again) and then all the traditional customs being carried out- including a marriage document being signed .__. (Gudda and Gurya respectively)

My favorite one is the part where the bride's family steals the groom's shoe and the poor guy has to sit down and haggle with his in-laws over the price for getting his shoes back. This part was taken over by the older cousins and there was a whole play about it- where the bride is like "Give him his shoe back!" and the groom is like "I'm just a doll! I don't have any money!" and the bride's sister is like "Pay up 2000 rupees or your shoes will never see the light of day!"

After all that festivity, it was decided that the bride would have to be handed over to her inlaws (or, in the care of the elder sister) but the bride's mom (younger sister) didn't like this one bit and spirited the bride away to give her a bath and wash her up- which of course, ruined all the care taken into making sure the bride was spic and span for her wedding. This caused a great uproar between the elder sister and the younger sister and the mother of both (my aunt) had to resolve this issue.

This was literally, a one of a kind wedding and it was absolutely hilarious. I loved this memory, and that's why I decided to share it with you (: 

September Photography

We had gone out on top of the Margalla Mountains to a resort for lunch.

My personal favorite

This post might get a part two if I get to take loads of more beautiful pictures like these (:

Wake Me Up When September Ends

September has not come out with a good start for me and I shall proceed to tell you why. I think this image here will surely explain it.

I gave my MCAT on the 31st of August and when you give the paper, you get to keep a carbon copy of your test and then you can calculate your marks from the answer key that would be released later that day.

I didn't think I gave a good paper, but I had my hopes, you know.

So when the answer key came out, my dad and I sat down to write down the answers and see how many I got right. So while we were checking, it looked like I did a pretty good test and that I had a chance at getting into a government college but then we sat down to calculate the actual marks and it came out to 67% which brings my aggregate marks to 75% (the 67% dragged my school grades of 83% down, or you could take it the other way around).

The only reason I didn't score so high was because I left A LOT of questions and it was because of the fear that the Academy I went to put in me. Out of 220 questions, I left 40 questions. That drags my total done questions from 100% to 80%. Out of these 220 questions, I got 27 wrong.

Because of this, and several other reasons, I decided to start another blog that would be mostly about studying tips and advice etc. Feel free to check it out here. The project is mostly aimed for students who are going for medicine and have done/are doing O or A Levels.

Anyway, I got a little depressed about this, because I am positive that I will not be able to get into a government college. The merit usually closes at around 83% and it would take a miracle to drag the merit down to my sorry 75%. 

But I've decided to get over it. I mean, how long will everyone talk about this failure? A week maybe? Besides, I don't have to really study anything anymore. There's just one official test left and I'm thinking about applying to FMDC (Federal Medical and Dental College) but they've closed their registration for now due to the dharna (sit in) Islamabad has been having for two weeks.

It's also great that Islamabad is having constant rain since this morning.

Well, I'm sorry for this shortened post, but that's all I've been wanting to say. Not a very bright or cheerful post, but I have a couple of things planned :) 

INQILAAB! REVOLUTION!

I don't know if this shows up on your news feed or news channel or whatevers but Pakistan is currently having a revolution which is... not exactly a revolution. Basically, there's this guy called Imran Khan who won us the Cricket world cup some decades ago and now he's here to try winning us a Democracy cup (cause yknow, Pakistan looks like it's either run by families who take turns on the seat of power, or the military). Now, let's get this clear, I don't have much to say against Imran Khan because honestly, he seems pretty cool most of them time, but that was until he decided to bring this "inqilaab".

[Inqilaab means revolution]

This was brought about by the Azadi (Freedom) March which was around the 14th of August which is also Pakistan's Independence Day. Of course, at first we thought it would fun and games, a march on Independence Day and more festivity and nationalism and patriotism and all the other isms that suddenly makes us emotional slaves of our country for those precious 24 hours of the year where EVERYONE decides to take a selfie in green and tag it as #OMGIHEARTPAKISTAN and #ILOVEMYCOUNTRY while the rest of the year its something like #IwishIlivedinUSA or #PakistanIsSoLame or whatever. I'm not judging this bit, but what I AM judging is how this day got mixed up with Imran Khan's march and suddenly, it wasn't "Happy Independence Day"- it was "Azadi! GO PTI!!"

[PTI is Imran Khan's political party, it stands for Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf, or Pakistan Movement for Justice]

Like, excuse me. What? WHAT?!

And you know what was even more unforgivable? It was how Imran Khan was suddenly equated with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. If you ask my opinion, I haven't seen Imran Khan do anything as good on such a large scale as what Jinnah did- he cannot be even placed parallel to Jinnah.

I think I'll say this again, I don't have a problem with Imran Khan. But I don't have a problem with John Green and TFIOS either- but I just didn't get the hype about them. Same with Imran Khan. My newsfeed is FLOODED with #ILoveImranKhan and #ImranKhanIsMyLeader but honestly, he has been sitting in the capital of this country for almost a week now (maybe less, but the city HAS been semi-locked down for a week) and he hasn't got anything to show for it except for tons of biased updates where people are like

OMG I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH SOLIDARITY IN PAKISTAN

IMRAN KHAN WILL DEFINITELY BRING INQILAAB

THE MARCH IS GOING GREAT

(GOODNESS GRACIOUS PEOPLE, GET A GRIP. THIS CROWD HAS BEEN SITTING HERE FOR DAYS AND NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING IS NOT GOING VERY GOOD)

The thing is, Imran Khan has the support of all the wrong people. He has the undying support of the youth- more than half of which can't even legally vote yet. They'll all come out in the streets and party and go wild and have fun, but they can't give him their votes because they DONT HAVE IT TO BEGIN WITH.

Oh, while we talk about Imran Khan's youth support, I want to bring up the immaturity of his fans. The things I see, posted proudly by underage Imran Khan fangirls and fanboys mind boggles me. I cannot fathom how such young minds can jump from supporting Imran Khan to deciding to take matters into their own hands and insulting people of the opposite party.

Translations:-

"Hopefully I am not disturbing you, lady with the make up"

"We don't like you AT ALL"

"When you ran away to get married, didn't baldy say anything?" 

"Why don't you run away with someone again, and take baldy with you?"

"You are so lame"

"BTW. You ran away and got married, right? Awww :p If the Prime Minister can't get his daughter to listen to him, how can he expect the same of his nation?"

[Ganjay, or baldy refers to the current Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif]

I think it's fine if you tweet to the person things like "I don't think you should comment on this" or "I don't support you" or "I don't agree with your stances" but it's a completely different story if you decide to drag in that person's personal life and mix it up with their politics and then spew it out venomously- especially if you're underage and don't even have a vote.

Let's take away the political affiliations from the example I quoted above. Instead of a bunch of PTI supporters insulting the married daughter of the Prime Minister, it can also be seen as harassment a woman has to face from children a decade- if not more- junior to her. Blatant display of discourtesy to elders- something that is not respected in Islam.

On top of that, it's also against Islam to speak so foully against another person. And since Imran Khan is also marching around Islamabad saying things about Iman (faith) and being Muslims and stuff, I seriously expected better behavior from both, his online fan club and the fan club present at the march (the latter fan club has been seen to be enjoying the concerts set up to entertain them as well as dancing along in shameless ways).

I tried explaining this to the person who was so proudly displaying this on their timeline by commenting about it. I immediately got a private messaging saying "You didn't need to comment that" and instant removal of it (my comment, not the post in question).

This new generation, I swear, is the most jaahil generation I have ever had the fortune to meet. 

Let's talk about the March. It has been almost a week and Imran Khan's demands seem to be getting crazier and crazier. He wants the current PM to step down and he has already declared himself as the Prime Minister of Pakistan ("Prime Minister Imran Khan will never lie to you!"). Can we talk about how wrong this is on so many levels?

First of all, Nawaz Sharif has only done one year of his term. If he does step down, doesn't Imran Khan realize that this would boost Nawaz Sharif's chance at getting hold of the PM seat again? Why? Well, firstly because 1. Nawaz Sharif has NEVER completed a term 2. He can always blame Imran Khan and say "The nation owes me another chance at fixing this country" 3. When Imran Khan messes up, Nawaz Sharif would be like "HAHA LOL I TOLD YOU IMRAN KHAN WAS NOTHING- MAKE ME PM AGAIN GUYS!"

Imran Khan should have waited till the next election before trying to display his strength as a political leader- he should have tried to become the Prime Minister in the "democratic" way- the same way he is fighting for right now. Not only would the remaining four year increase his vote bank as more fanboys and fangirls become legal, but he could also try harder to win the votes of the older population by actually doing something with the province he has won through the last election. I personally think it is hypocrisy- him demanding Nawaz Sharif to step down early and at the same time, demand democracy. It seems everyone loves using the word democracy when it means YOU get the chance to sit on the seat.

Last but not least, Pakistan has much more important problems to deal with right now, much more important than an accused feudal Prime Minister who has only done one year of his term. Pakistan has national debts, a failing economy, terrorism, health issues, power issues, security issues and growing intolerance among its people for minorities. It seems to me that Imran Khan is being used as a decoy to ensnare the attention of the masses and to keep the media busy from reporting the actual dangers Pakistan is currently facing. (Quite possibly a cover to get General Musharaf out of the country and safe from the punishment his nation wants to see inflicted on him).

May Allah protect this country from those who seek to destroy it from within.

Good news and Bad news and Worse News

RUN!!!!

I like how Maine divides her posts into days and I'm afraid that with all the days that have passed by, I'll have to do the same to update it all. I know I left saying that I was going to Chitral and I guess you guys are waiting for a super amazing travel post but unfortunately, that's not going to happen for reasons I will start giving below as I tell you what I've been up to >.>

9th August 2014: SATURDAY

[Excerpt from journal]

I passed the AKU exam! So now I have this permanent grin plastered on my face since yesterday. But that's not important.

The important thing is that today we set out for Chitral. We were supposed to leave at 5 pm but we got a little late. Anyway the drive itself was rather pleasant except for the fact that Islamabad's to-be-condition was making a negative impact on the trip.

There's supposed to be a long march and some other random stuff going on that would cause possible damage to the capital so that's why the city has apparently been scheduled to shut down. Possible bad-case scenarios also put the ER Department on high alert (presumably) so with my dad on a road trip, people were calling and going like "What're we going to do?!"

Well that issue got resolved after a few hours.

We stopped at an army mess in Nowshera after passing signboards saying stuff like Kamra, Mulan Mansoor and Hassan Abdal. The army mess was really well-kept and beautiful place- too bad it was already dark. There was a large lawn which was really well cared for bound by a small fence. On approaching th fence, I realized that there was a vast river-which- in the dark and the distance- appeared like a large, vast plain. The River Kabul.

We had dinner and walked around. There were jasmine bushes with some (few) blooming flowers- it looked like someone had already picked them off. There was s sort of open air cafe (which looked really stylish) and a wall with embedded squares and a light in their center so from far away they looked like lanterns.

^the lantern-wall^

Hania started complaining that her headache was getting worse and worse and that started creating more complications because the next stage of the trip involved driving to Chitral throughout the night- and my father didn't want to have Hania spend solid hours in the car with her headache.

^Outdoor cafe thing^

For a long moment it seemed as though the trip was over and we'd be back in Islamabad just in time for bed-but then we realized that my taya (uncle) lives about fifteen minutes from where we were right then- so that was part of the new plan; split off from the main Chitral caravan and spend the night at Risalpur and see how it fares in the morning.

10th August 2014: SUNDAY

Stayed in Risalpur till almost 1pm and that's when we head out back for Islamabad. The drive itself was- once again- rather pleasant although uneventful but when we entered the city we saw that a lot of the roads had containers set beside them- ready to have the roads closed and the city blockaded.

^container outside the city's toll entrance, ready to block the road^

^containers blocking half of the road already^

We spent most of the day at home, planning on what to do next. My brother wanted to watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes but the seats were booked for today so we reserved some for Monday. In the evening, there was supposed to be a Palestine Rally at Khyber Chawk and we decided to go attend it.

First of all, no one knew what Khyber Chawk was exactly and this event wasn't publicized on Facebook (the positive bit about doing so is that Facebook provides you a map, making it easier to attend) and we spent a good half hour looking for the rally in places it wasn't going to be. However, we finally got there after finding out that Khyber Chawk was near the Zero Point Exchange.

^car found at rally^

^rally from the bystander's view^

11th August 2014: MONDAY

Today wasn't such a good day because I really didn't want to go to academy and give the mock exams (I thought we'd be in Chitral and that I was free of these tests D:) but my mother was like "Go .__." and so I had to go. I'd only planned to go for the exam and come home right afterwards but that plan backfired sort of.

I was trying to leave the campus when the guard was saying something to me which I couldn't understand (I think he was mixing up pashto in it so I really didn't understand) and kept trying to leave but he wouldn't let me leave so I was like what the heck and he kept motioning to the office. So I was forced to stand in the office listen to some other girl say to all the office managers (who were all male) that she wanted to go home and could they let her leave already? But obviously they said no >__> I hate those people, honestly.

Anyway so they were like "Why do you want to go home?"

Me: *totally clammed up and already freaked out with too much adrenaline on being cornered in an office, having my right to leave the campus denied and all of these by men who in that moment looked extremely heartless, barbaric and cruel* I just wanna go home.

Them: Don't you have a reason?

Me: I wanna go home.

Them: Okay, we're gonna call your parents then. Here, call your mom.

Me: *calls mom, find sister, gets told mom is busy*

Them: Okay, we're gonna call your dad then.

Me: *silently swears at them to hurry the heck up cause I wanna go home*

Them: Hello, we're the academy dudes who are totally evil and trying to stop your daughter from leaving the campus two hours early.... Uhuh.... Okay *hands phone to me*

Me: *self-consciously takes phone* *whispers* Hullo?

Baba: What's wrong, you want to go home early?

Me: I wanna go home. *whispers*

Baba: Why, what's wrong?

Me: I just wanna go home.

Baba: ....

Me: ....

Baba: Okay, give the phone back.

Them: *takes phone* Okay, sure, thanks. *hangs up* You can leave, just enter your details in this form.

Me: *writes down name, class date etc and gives reason for leaving early as "none"

And then I left and I was still feeling really shaken because I don't like being interrogated or forced to explain myself to an audience that is 100% male. I hate it. I freaking hate that office now >:| 

Anyway, when my dad came home he's like "Are you okay" and I'm like "Yeah" and he said "You sounded like something was really wrong on the phone" and I said "No I was just stressed out" while I'm silently thinking *no girl should have to go what I went through*.

After that, we went to Centaurus Cineplex to watch the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which was surprisingly a pretty good movie. I liked it- cliches and all.

^Centaurus decked for 14th August^

12th August 2014: TUESDAY

I got my CIE result today- AAABC which isn't so bad considering the C is in Psychology which was an extra subject I took and shouldn't really affect my grade because the pre-med subjects should be what actually count and that's where I got the As in (Biology, Chemistry and Physics).

Bought mithai and went to grandmother's + aunt's place.

13th August 2014: WEDNESDAY

I went to my old school and got a reference letter from the Principal for the AKU Part 2 admission procedure. Oh- and guess what, while I was in the academy I accidentally dropped my phone and wrecked the screen.

I'm sorry, I'm just being really emotional about my phone right now so I'm just gonna spam pictures of it.

And in case you were wondering how it looked before crashing.

I know I wanted an android, but I don't want to let go of my phone just yet :( I know its an outdated Windows 7.5 (heck, it doesn't update to the latest Windows 7.8 no matter how many times you try) and it has a lame battery (barely lasts five hours if you're texting/using continuously) and most of the apps are faulty, but it's still an amazing phone because

1. Less battery means more charging and less using and less playing and more studying.

2. It has FOURTEEN GB inside it, man! How much more could you ask for? I don't have to face problems about storing in phone or on SD card because there is no SD card slot AND the phone itself has LOTS of memory to spare.

3. It's got pretty neat in-built stuff, like the texting system can be directly connected to facebook- so if I want to message someone from my phone, I get to pick if I want to message via text, Facebook or Windows Live which is super cool and wowed me when I found out about it.

4. It has NEVER hanged on me. Ever. The system is fluid and doesn't lag at all despite having an update available.

I hope I can get the screen fixed. The phone is fully functional, everything is in great working order- it's just the cracks on the screen. I can feel the cracks when I touch or swipe and the lines are too close together so it does obscure a lot of things that I have to tilt the phone around to see.

This phone has been with me for a little more than two years and I don't wanna let it go just yet ;n; quick- say a prayer for the Catalina- that she may be restored to her former glory and continue serving Kanra ;n;

Letters With Sparkly Surprises

OMGHIJKLMNOPQRS- Okay. I'm totally calm. This post will be a total jumble for many reasons so I'll just write the important things first and then elaborate (it won't look that way to you though >.>)

AKU MBBS ENTRY TEST RESULT

HEYYYY!! I GOT IT!!! JUST TODAY!!!

So I was typing a blogpost for a reason I will expand on in the next point. The bell rang and my brother went to check it and he's like "There's a package for you" and I was like "Okay bro" and internally I was like "ASDFHWWOAURVN" and then I went outside and the guy is like "Are you Kanra" and I'm like "Yeah" and he's like "Okay sign here" and I'm like *signs* and then he gives me the envelope and then I go inside and I close the door and I just stand there for a few seconds and I'm like.

Dude. What if I've failed?

NAH LOL LETS OPEN IT RIGHT NOW.

And then I opened it and at first I got a little confused cause it was a letter and I thought I'd just get maybe a card that has gigantic text saying "CONGRATS YOU PASSED" or "CONGRATS YOU FAILED" but now I've realized that universities don't work that way.

^The Letter With The Sparkly Surprise

ROAD TRIP TO CHITRAL

I don't think I've updated this bit, but we're going to Chitral tomorrow (Saturday) so that's why I'm busy typing up my book review posts to queue over the week.

I haven't packed anything yet. My mother says that three changes of clothes are enough and that I have to iron all three and fold it carefully and all the other travel stuff. I won't be taking my laptop along (there won't be any wifi) but I would be carrying my camera (which sadly, has a battery charger running on 120V whereas the mainsupply is 240V so I think the camera will be out of action before even half the journey/trip is done). I'll be taking my journal to record everything as well as a couple of books to study/read. Oh, that reminds me, I went to a book shop earlier this week and bought two books.

I've already finished reading Paper Towns and I'll probably taking A Passage to India with me.

REGISTRATION FOR UHS MCAT

This morning I went to RMC (Rawalpindi Medical College) with my dad with all my documents attested and all my photographs and everything ready and we got the form and sat in the auditorium until our number got called and then we got me registered. After that we went to Shifa and I waited until the driver came to pick me up. Meanwhile, some of the doctors there asked me about how my studying was going and if I was nervous about my upcoming result.

RIGHT! So I think that'll be all. I will most probably be without WiFi for about a week but I'll use my cellular data to update Twitter >.> So if you're interested in my road trip updates my username is @KanraTSK (It changes a lot >.> I think this is the third or fourth time I've changed it) and it goes by Catalina Blue. (Sorry if I'm confusing you. Kanra/Catalina will both suffice although I prefer Kanra)

Update + Post + Sunshine Award

I do this tooo much

Alot of things have been on my mind at the moment so here I am, trying to make some sense of it.

I think I know why I study so hard. It's because I'm not good at anything else and I really want to prove myself useful in some sort of way. I've always been placed in the background and never really complimented and the only time people notice me is when they find out about my grades.

I'm not good at anything except studying. I am a disaster in the kitchen and I can't clean properly. I think I have some sort of problem with following verbal directions. I'm not pretty or sociable and I think I just come across as a sullen girl when I really want to be special in some sort of way and I think it's getting grades that has become my answer to this.

I need to pass this MCAT test. I mean, what use am I if I can't pass it? I'm terrible at everything and useful for nothing. The least I could do is ace it and get a good grade. And if I do fail, what do I do then? Sit at home and start messing things up until I get them right? I can't stand constant failure.

Yes TT__TT

Well, those are three random statements that I have formed this weekend. Now on to the good stuff >.>

Saturday, 2nd August 2014 - went to a friend-of-my-dad's place. They had come to visit us and stay at our house in Florida and they moved back to Pakistan shortly after we did but they were in Karachi and we were in Islamabad. Now they've shifted to Islamabad and we met for the second time six years after the first (2008). It was pretty cool xD All I remember are small fragments of memories but my mother remembers a lot more and she's like "Do you remember how mischievous those kids were- they used to do crazy tricks in our swimming pool and remember that incident at the Arab restaurant-" and I'm like "Uhh. I don't remember it all that well, just sketchy stuff". I'm going to dig out my diary from that summer and see what I can find.
After that, we went to my grandmother's place where they were planning to leave for a barbeque picnic the next day.

Sunday, 3rd August 2014 - Sooo- the barbecue picnic! WE set out around 8:00 am ish and went to my grandmother's place to wait for everyone to gather so we could leave at the same time. My aunt had already left early in the morning to set the grill and stuff. We shuffled passengers around in the two cars we had and I had to sit with my aunt's daughter who got left behind because she was asleep and her mother didn't want to wake her (she's barely two years old). Aasia wasn't a problem at all, until we almost reached our destination and that's when she started squirming and crying and I was at a loss on how to keep her quiet. She didn't quiet down and kept wailing until she got back to her parents.
The spot we picked was awesome. The view was great and despite weather reports, it was surprisingly cool with an occasional breeze.

Two of the cars. The one on the left is ours.

Here's part of the view and the third car.

Found some mushrooms >.> or toadstools. Whatever.

Food >.>

It was lots of fun and a well spent Sunday morning :D Now on to the Sunshine Award.

The Sunshine Award is pretty common and it involves eleven answers, eleven question and then some nominations etc. So here are the questions I got.

Q) Happiest experience you've had so far?
A) Well, I can't really recall anything specific. You know how people in books haave this good stuff happening and then the narration adds something cheesy like "And that was the happiest moment that XXXX was ever going to have for a long time" before something tragic happens? Well, apparently my life's narration is yet to say anything like that- tragic turn happening or not.

Q) What are your interests?
A) I'm interested in reading, writing and making things! But when I mean making things, I am usually talking about art and craft sort of things. Kitchen creations aren't exactly my specialty... *quickly shoves all kitchen mishaps into cabinet under sink*

Q) Favorite artist and why?
A) Are we talking about painting artists or music artists or some other kind of artists?

Q)You can control one of the four elements. What would it be, earth, water, air or fire?

A) DEFINITELY

WATERBENDING

BECAUSE

ITS

AWESOME

A shame I couldn't find any Korra gifs, tumblr is being super slow.

Q) Favorite book of all time?
A) Well that's a super hard question, but whatever I recommend on my blog can be said to be on my favorites list xD

Q) Would you rather have a beautiful voice or be an amazing virtuoso of an instrument of your choice?
A) The voice- definitely the voice.

Q) Favorite color?
A) Red, then purple and then black!

Q) Name one ambition of yours
A) Probably reading, writing and stuff. Idk >__>

Q) Any secret talents?
A) 

Q) How do you want other people to see you?

A) Cute but ferocious... OMG SORRY I HAD TO USE THIS OMG HE'S SO FUNNY xD being ferocious and all xDDD

Q) Name one characteristic you want in a boyfriend.
A) Loyal and all the other random fluffy friendship stuff.

I think watching Sherlock and Supernatural and Korra and Tumblr is getting way too  much into my head.
Oh, on the bright side, I forgot to tell you guys that I started playing DOTA 2 >.> and I keep dying and sometimes its fun. I've settled on three characters that I find dependable so far- the Tidehunter, the Legion Commander and Lina. I've played multiplayer a few times but everyone's always like "Noob >.>" and I'm like "Yes, Noob >.>"

Anyway, my questions for the Sunshine Award.

1) The first book series you've ever read.
2) Do you have conversation with yourself? What is it usually about?
3) Favorite childhood memory?
4) That one arch nemesis you have/had- could you describe them?
5) How did you and your best friend meet?
6) Every had an instant dislike of a teacher? (Like Harry and Snape?) How did you realize you didn't like them?
7) Recently joined fandom?
8) The last book you read?
9) The most exciting thing that happened to you this summer is?
10) Blog vs Journal- pick one!
11) Why do you blog?

My nominees
MJ
Kashaf A
Maine Lyn
Syed Arsalan Aijaz