Afraid of flying? Well, you should be...

... when they are making three planes take-off at once!!!

This is Frankfurt airport with 3 planes taking off (along with their shadows):



I don't know how long will they keep this current view of Frankfurt airport on google maps, as I have been seeing it for an year or so. So enjoy...


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Lahore Light Rail Proposal

The Lahore Rapid Mass Transit project has been on the table for many decades now, but is as far from implementation as ever. Probably, the government could try a much cheaper and faster solution first. By using the existing rail line running through Lahore, a light rail project could be started, where small (and thus fast) trains could run frequently on the existing train lines providing commuter service to the huge population. This project can teach valuable lessons and its success could trigger more support of the Rapid Mass Transit project. Using Google maps, I created a rough sketch of such a project. This would use 6 existing stations (blue markers) and require 7 new stations (green markers) to be constructed. So here is the proposal:


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Lahore Tram Project

The detailed google map of Lahore enabled me to create a route of the first tram line (Green line) of the long planned Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System. The route maps available around the internet are not very clear and differ from each other. So I just created a combined route map to get an idea of the first line. So here is my attempt:

Green Tram Line of Lahore



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Pakistan detailed maps on Google Maps

Today when I opened Google maps, I was pleasantly surprised to see the detailed map of Lahore. Not only Lahore, it has all the major roads of Pakistan and also many large cities like Gujranwala, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and of course, Karachi. At least, I have been waiting for this for a long time and it was at time frustrating. But now this is excellent development. What is more amazing is that it shows bus-stops in Lahore. Also it shows mosques, schools, hospitals, markets, etc.


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My daughter

On Saturday, I did an Aqeeqah party for my daughter. She was born on 14th of January 2009 at 2:55 pm. We named her Hadia Yasir. She is a real cuty. At the time of birth, she weighed about 2885 grams and had a length of 49 cm. Actually I inquired about her weight and height only after I met my friends who have children. They started asking me such questions making me realize that I am supposed to know such stuff.

The city hospital was really nice and took great care of us.

Finding Nemo

Today i tried to find a friend in the streets of Germany. The story began with a friend inviting me over for dinner. My mobile phone's battery was low and i had never my friend's house before. As soon as I got out of office at about 9 pm, my mobile died. I tried to turn it on for long enough to call or read my friend's number, but the Sony Ericsson E900 refused to stay on even for a few seconds. My friend told me that his house was next to the city-park near the water-pump. I got to the pump and looked around. No sign of friend. I walked around trying to find some signs, when a window on a 2nd floor opened. I walked towards it with a ray of hope, but in vain. It was only an old woman who came out for some time.

Finally I decided to try the dare. I yelled "Farhan", and started walking. No windows opened. I walked a distance and shouted again. The woman coming from the front with her dog saw strangely towards (a bit scared as well). I turned in one of the probable alleys and shouted once again. Unfruitful, I repeated it another alley. Another man jogging in the park stared at me. I came home, charged my mobile, called my friend and enjoyed his dinner.

Trip to Nuernberg - trial place for hitler's generals

Some time ago, the university took us on a trip to Nuernberg in eastern Germany. It is a big and old city with the city center enclosed in an oval city wall with castles, forts and watch towers. Much of these is still preserved. A river runs in the middle. It was a three day trip so we had plenty of time to see around. The King's castle has been excellently renovated and converted into a youth hostel. This is thus one of the most beautiful youth hostels of the country and this is where we stayed. It is located at one end of the city wall, high up a hill. The first day we wandered down from the castle into the city and went through the city center to the other end of the wall and back. We also went to the 3-D cinema there to get the schedule of their shows.

Second day, after breakfast, we were taken to a museum to learn about the history of the city through models and see the life of kings there. Then we went looking for a market of Turkish residents. Once there, we found restaurants and shops of Turks everywhere. We are roasted chicken from one shop and prayed in a mosque. We also went to the 3-D cinema to see a small 4-D animation where they violently shook our safety belt laden seats.

On third day, we were taken to the parade grounds outside the city, where Hitler used to gather and display his military strength. It was a very big stadium where about 500,000 people gathered every year before the second world war. There we walked on the long parade road, a large portion of which was a bridge over water. Then we saw the unfinished building which Hitler was building to become the largest of the World. There was also an audio-visual museum about the complete history of Hitler's rise and fall. Even two hours were not enough to go through it completely.