Cricket

Cricket in the company garden during lunchbreak. A view from a layman.

Zen

Yoga in the morning, the red dot in the afternoon…

Stayin’ Alive

With a big fat ;-), if ya’ kno wha’ I mean

Chai

How to make great Pakistani Chai?

According to Ali for every small cup;

• 1/2 teaspoon of loose tea
• 1 teaspoon of cardomom
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of water (or another 1/2 cup of milk)
• sugar to taste

Put everything to boil in a pan until it has a latte-like colour; things will work out fine I guess. Mastery must be the secret, so just try enough till you get it right!

I’m sure there are loads of other ways to prepare it, adding ginger, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn, …

A week in Pakistan

This and other images describing A week in Pakistan; from farmers preparing land for planting in Lahore to the suicide bombing in Peshawar-a look at the past week in Pakistan. (source: Dawn)

My personal week? Well working with the guys in our office. Enjoying a nice company event. Getting used to Islamabad again. And trying to indulge myself in the current political situation. Need to have some background on all the occuring events.
This, and trying to cook with Jelle (pizza today!). I’ve seen, and helped move his cheese-laboratorium today. Interesting! Mozzarella, Feta, Ricotta and some non-describable goat cheeses :-) I’ll surely look into the whole cheese-making thing deeper next week and share you some pictures.

Beetle

Just drove back home from office in Jelle’s beetle! Left side of the road, steering wheel on the right, clutch in my left hand, knees in my shoulder, head against the roof… but way cool man!

I’ll upload a picture of the car soon! And I’ll let you know what year it’s from!

UN blast

One of the first things I found out arriving in Pakistan was that there had been a bomb blast in the UN offices of the World Food Programme here in Islamabad.

The blast having killed 5 people was the result of a suicide attack and happened Monday at 12:15pm. If you’d like to know more about the blast, just click through on one of the following links, combining both Western and local media sources.

WFP statement on the explosion
Dawn: Suicide bomber kills five UN aid personnel
Dawn: Taliban claiming blast
Dawn Editorial: Islamabad attack
De Morgen: Vijf doden bij aanslag op VN-bureau in Islamabad

If you are wondering, I’m doing ok. I’ll keep you up to date in case anything else happens.

Qatar Airways

Wow!

My trip to Islamabad was though, as I don’t like flying all that much. I tend to dry out, and ow I hate sitting in the same position for a couple of hours. Being long certainly has its disadvantages once and a while. But one thing is sure, I cannot complain about Qatar Airways’ service. I’m very positive about this being my best long-haul flight so far, even beating Etihad last january. (To stir up some competition between those companies of the Gulf States…).

The service was great. The friendliness of the staff was striking. The food was exquisite! Oh yes, I do not like high-altitude food at all, but this really was awesome. Scroll down for the first menu.

And yes, the personal screens were full of great entertainment. But I still preferred sleeping above watching movies or television. I did see the movie The Hurt Locker though, which I very much liked.

An intense and gripping portrayal of an elite group of soldiers in the present-day Iraqi war, who in the heat of conflict are expected to perform one of the most dangerous jobs in the world; disarming explosive devices. Click here to see the trailer

And yes, I finally saw an episode of Ax Men, a documentary reality television series that follows the work of several logging crews in the second-growth forests of Northwestern Oregon, Washington and Montana. As some of my friends have said before: They are the true heroes!

The main meal on my flight from London Gatwick to Doha:

Penne pasta salad
Lamb kofta with tomato and pine nut salsa and roasted potatoes
Apple and cinnamon sultana cake
Bread roll, cheese and crackers
Tea
Chocolate!

Weather Forecast

The weather forecast for Islamabad, Pakistan! Nice!

Leaving for Pakistan

Tomorrow, 5am this bloke will be at Brussels International Airport, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, trying to get past the customs and instantly heading for a double espresso. I’m leaving for Pakistan!

I’ll try to keep you up to date of my day-to-day experiences and I’ll certainly share you some pictures and thoughts about all aspects of life in Islamabad, Pakistan.