Canada and I

I visited Toronto in May 2008, during dead week, right before graduation. I stayed with a friend and we had a blast. I remember arriving at Pearson Airport, getting on to the Airporter and getting off near downtown with just a small hand carry. I was supposed to meet the friend at around 4 pm and I had a couple of hours to kill so I wandered along the streets, checking out shops and enjoying a Starbucks grande. And then out of the blue, I decided I needed a haircut so I stepped into a random salon and got side bangs :-)

Later that evening, we went out to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant, right opposite a club called Zanzibar that was offering $15 lap dances... I was surprised to see the blatant advertisement... right in the middle of a street with ordinary shops and restaurants :-P

The next day, we went to Kensington market and I had fudge... yum! That afternoon we had dinner at the revolving restaurant in CN tower... good times :)

Around that time, Toronto was celebrating interfaith week so we got free entry into a number of temples... S and I went to the Hare Krishna center where they had a lot of big statues. The other devotees did a song and dance worship routine while we watched in silence. Later, they invited us to have dinner. And so, I ended up in the basement of a Hare Krishna center helping to cook dinner... there was a curry and rice and at the end, we had to wash our own plates in a sink filled with soapy water...

But since that trip, I haven't been able to go back... the visa application process is quite tedious and there's too much 'khwari'

Today, I went to get my passport renewed. I got the photo and then went to get my info updated. The receptionist logged and then, surprise, 'Your ID info isn't updated' :O

So basically, I have 2 ID cards. One is my local ID and the second is an overseas ID card which I had to get made so I could work in Abu Dhabi and they could ship my body back for free on a PIA flight in case, khuda na khwasta something happened :-p

So my local ID card info has been changed from 'daughter of' to 'wife of' but my overseas ID card still says 'daughter of'... I wish Pakistani men had to get their status changed to 'husband of'. Then, they'd realize how much khwari we women go through :'(