Picking up from where I ended my second Ayyam-e-Aza post, as promised, I’m beginning my travel log of the trip to Syria last month.
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I came back to my house from Zameer Akhtar’s after seeing that he was fine and recovering well, I sat down on my computer and did some last minute net surfing. Stayed up all night. Took a bath and got ready at four and we left our house for the airport. My father was staying back in Karachi and only me, my sister and mother were going. We met my aunts and their familes at the airport and together it was a group of sixteen that checked in and went on to the waiting lounge. Everyone was making fun of my bruise but they couldn’t get the better of me.
Our flight plan was to go to Abu Dhabi and then catch another flight to Damascus. We were flying with Etihad Airways. The first flight was at 6:25 a.m., almost empty and we had the leisure of choosing seats at will. The airhostesses were hot! 
Plane started moving and we could see the tarmac and runway on screens fixed behind all seats. The take off speed was damn slow. Hell, I can drive faster!
Karachi looked cool at night, full of lights: blessings of KESC.
I took my mp3 player to Syria and me and my cousin listened to Nauhas throughout the journey. Apart from that, I took my camera and external hard drive. I also convinced my cousin to take his handycam and laptop along which turned out to be a very good idea.
After sometime, food was served. The table was attached to the handrest of the seats, rather in it. It was very uncomfortable, too close to my stomach and even after extending it forward, I was unable to comfortably use my hands at such close range. The table was low too and was resting on my knees. Disadvantages of being tall… 
They had liquor on the plane. Had my mom not been with me, I would have taken the liberty of trying some. Haha, just kidding!
The food was, well, pathetic! They had a paratha, two rolls with achar chicken type qeema in them, two kababs, fruits (papaya to be exact), tea, butter, jam and…Shezan juice? Being the jugaroo that I am, I managed to have a good meal by emptying qeema from the rolls and eating it with the paratha.
We reached Abu Dhabi airport at God-Knows-What local time, after a flight of 1.5 hours. We had been told that it would be a stay of another 1.5 hours before the next flight but the rude shock we got was that the stay was more than 4 bloody hours!
With the women sleeping in the mosque and the males trying to find places to sleep:
my cousin and I set off to explore the airport. We went to the duty-free section and found all kinds of stuff available there. Liquor, pork, etc, you name it! We thought about buying cigs but nobody was selling single packs, just completely packed bars. We found Burger King and ordered some nugget like things. They were serving hamburgers there as well.
Abu Dhabi airport is huge but I like Jinnah Terminal better. Desi stuff! And the city is not near the airport. At least, I didn’t find one. The only good thing I found about the place is the Wireless Internet Facility.
Oops, sorry, wrong picture!
The time for the next flight came. I thought the first plane was bad, the second one was downright microscopic! Not even enough space to spread my legs properly. And once the plane started to move, the engines made strange noises like someone was trying to start a car. The take off speed was more satisfying this time.
Took some pics from the plane. During the first flight, I was hesitant to take out my camera and take some snaps, worried about the high frequency noise signals being produced interferring with the plane’s navigation system and making it crash. During the second flight, I thought what the heck, let’s crash!
The food in this flight was absolutely pathetic! I mean, baked fish? Looked more like a roasted octopus to me. And tasted like sponge. My friend’s mom was right. Etihad food sucks like hell!
Don’t know if I should be complaining or not. It could’ve been as bad as this:
Although the leg space does seem adjustable in this plane…
When we were about to land, I tried to find the shrine of Bibi Zainab (S.A.) from the sky but to no avail. Later on, I learned that it was in one of the suburbs of Damascus named Muhalla-e-Zainabia, not Damascus itself.
Landed at 3:15 p.m. local time. My uncle was there to pick us up, with a huge bus. I tried to stay awake on the way to the hotel but fell asleep in a few minutes.
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your emptying the roll n eating the filling with paratha was height of funniness…i hope u were seen by those hot air hostesses during the emptying part…
and your mamoo and nani live in Syria? coool
I actually had a corner seat so nobody saw me except myself. And what makes you think my mamoo and nani live in Syria? Mamoo is in Toronto, Nani is in heaven.
OHH DAMN..i thought u said ur grandma called you so you visited her (in ur “Back but khuda hafiz again” post)
*sheepish grin* must be your dadi then..dadi & chachoo
*praying for this one to be correct*
Don’t have a chachoo. Only taya. And yes he did come to pick us up but that’s because we were to join him and a few other people who came from Holland.
As for my Dadi, yes she called me but not my father’s mother. She too is in heaven.
oho chachoo taya same thing…do you have separate titles for mamooz? nahin na..why create confusion
ahem ahem..at least my way off the mark guesses served one purpose..you got the opportunity to tell us about Toronto & Holland *cough*
And how does that help me?
Exactly!!..it helps you in much the same way it helped me when i was (allegedly) bragging about my slimness..score 1-1
waisay i liked the err place-dropping version of name-dropping…
Place-dropping version of name-dropping?
As for bragging, you haven’t guessed about what.
The table was attached to the handrest of the seats, rather in it. It was very uncomfortable, too close to my stomach and even after extending it forward, I was unable to comfortably use my hands at such close range. The table was low too and was resting on my knees. Disadvantages of being tall…
The picture that formed in my mind after reading this, it’s good you can’t see it. ROFL!
Nice post (:
Basically, because it reminded me of my travel to London with my friends and we had a transition at Abu Dhabi Airport! It’s not very huge, i don’t know what made you say that.
For the demerits of being taller, OMG! I laughed so badly at that point since my friend was having the same problems. He is like 6′2 and unlike me he was unable to squeeze like a ball in the seat. It was funny seeing him furious! LOL! Why am i saying it here? Because I am insane…
For the hot airhostesses, oh my!! All guys think alike…
Anyways, have fun in Syria…
@Saira: What picture formed? I would love to know that.
@Komal: Could be because I didn’t get to see the Abu Dhabi terminal from outside.
And you can be as insane on my blog as you want, see my name.
I actually lied about the airhostesses. They weren’t that hot.
And I went to Syria last month.
Dude, they only ask you to switch off electronics during take-off and landing. Any other time is fine. How do you think people survive on transatlantic flights?
And did they build a new Abu dhabi airport? Last time I went there (2005) it was so small, sucked big time!
oh…its a whole series!!! its gonna take me atleast 2 days to read the whole thing
well i can understand SAWJ whom u r sayn ur Grandmother here!! i wish i can also get a call from my Grandmother.
Well, my bad then! For the lying part, not so nice of you
As for insanity, you will find me hanging out here often
If only I could put it in words.
I really enjoyed reading it.
Raza – I guess the Electromagnetic Compatibility and Interference course at PNEC had it’s effects on me.
Dunno about the AD airport, what I saw seemed larger than Jinnah Terminal. Khair, abhi return trip baqi hai.
Leena – Have fun!
Afrin – We share a common grandmother.
Komal – Most welcome!
Saira – Email kardo.
Tazeen – Thanks!
[...] Continued from Trip To Syria: Flying Away. [...]
[...] Continued from Trip To Syria: Flying Away. [...]
[...] Continued from Trip To Syria: Flying Away. [...]