I miss Lahore :(

Hangout GupShup Cafe
1

And furthermore, i miss…LOADSHEDDING! I never thought i would ever say this, but i seriously do. The hours of loadshedding provided an excellent opportunity to go outside your home, meet people in the neighbourhood, know whats going on, general gupshup etc.

Its been only 12 days since ive been here in Riyadh, and its so damn boring :frowning: The only thing to see here is cars…Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Audis, VW, BMW’s, camrys, accords. And most of them are not that expensive either. People with average salaries are driving cars which most of us can never imagine to purchase in PAK. Apart from cars, there is absolutely nothing to do here. The only activity to do here is eat food all day long.

People have no social life whatsoever. The only activity people have is to go to huge shopping malls and buy clothes. Thats it. Just Clothes, there is absolutely nothing else in the malls. Not even a single bookstore. I visited the much hyped and over-rated Jarir BookStore and it was pathetic. It had such a small collection of books for such a large store, the Variety BookShop in Liberty Market in Lahore is a zillion zillion times better compared to it.

The job market is so bad, the good companies demand so much work experience while the lesser companies (as i am told) treat their employees like slaves. They seize your passport and you become highly dependant upon them and you cant even switch to a different company easily.

And adding insult to injury is that there is no cable television here. In order to enjoy the ‘privilege’ of watching live fifa world cup, ill have to spend some SR 550 for dish antenna and smart card subscription…WTF!!!

I cannot believe I left my job in PAK to find work here. If things stay like this, most probably ill return to PAK in a month or 2 and find some job there.

I am bored to DEATH!!!

2

i can very much understand how u r feeling... i have one of my cousins there and my sis who is married, she is also there and they both CRY for the same issue that u discussed, EXACTLY THE SAME...and they say that we fear someday we will have to be in hospital out of depression,loneliness and boredom...:(

life there is very boring and more closer to being a slave..u r rite...

but then u have to bear alot in life to earn good and to move ahead..trying seeing the bigger picture..itz just 12 days, wait and see what life has in store for you...good luck :)

3

exactly how I feel about Ireland.

I miss Lahore too.

4

Yeah, if I as a guy find the place so boring, I can only imagine how women must feel since they are not allowed to drive a car.

I might also add that driving cars (fancy cars ie) is probably the only activity men have here.

5

^ it could be worse. Drinking could be the only activity people had ;)

PS: Why is this in life1?

6

oh c'mon...It cant be that bad. Atleast you have Freedom there, Education opportunities and access to the rest of Europe. You also get the chance to meet people from so many different cultures and backgrounds. Over here, I have seen people who have been living here for decades and have no arab or saudi friends, absolutely no cultural exchange and social interaction.

7

I didn’t know life was so boring there…after all how many clothes can you buy & how much can you eat…lol

I miss lahore too…sniff
you mentioned variety book shop…I miss liberty in general & alhamra, empire centre, M M alam rd, food street (ah!), even my school…& the list goes on

I doubt we lahoris like any other place other :wub:

8

Exactly the same feeling for me after just one week in Saudi Arabia, I was dying to see Lahore lol.

Luckily, it was just a short visit.

9

Re: I miss Lahore :(

lore lare aye - Lahore lahore hai .. .. I miss it tooo .. :(

10

Re: I miss Lahore :(

Interesting discussion. Well all the complaints you have here, of being bored, of missing another country, that can go for pretty much every country.

There's people who immigrate to US and never learn English (well mostly the aunties) while some families never make gora/non-desi friends....

I'm pretty sure in Pakistan, cable isn't free and you have to pay for cable as well....

For example, I feel the same way about Pakistan that you do about your country...that theres nothing to do but eat and go shopping. Thats just how my experience has beeN.
Everyone has their own experience, negative and positive and thats okay...if somenoe said they didnt like living in US or in my city for whatever reason I wouldn't get offended......I just wnated to point out that the grass is always greener.

oh and this is going in All views. :D

11

Re: I miss Lahore :(

I think if you're new somewhere...it takes a while to develop a social life. Cheer up, make friends by going to the local masjids, volunteering for a good cause, chatting with your neighbors, etc.

It takes time...:)

12

Re: I miss Lahore :(

Other day someone asked me how I liked Pakistan since I came back , and I was like , you HAVE to like Pakistan , but there you don't have to struggle for it :D

I think it all boils down to where you have your family and people you love and how safe they are . Land never matters , its the people living there . Now if you asked the same question from the family who suffered in Data-Derbar incident and they might tell you that it was a mistake living in Lahore .

Anyways everyone loves their place , its very natural . But circumstances change that feeling .

13

Come on, you've only been there 12 days ... there are a gazillion things to do in Riyad, ....

I'm presuming that you've already visited Faisliah and the SkyBridge at Al-Mamlikah..... if you're bored of malls, you can stroll down Tahlia on weekends, they've got dozens of cafes there and most of them offer free hotspots too.... you also get to see a lot of exotic machines there .... if you're into DIY, do visit SACO, its a machine / tool heaven... . and do visit the enormous museum and park behind the fish market, you're bound to get a great insight into the early years of Al Saud.... and while you're their do visit the Shahrhah Khozam, you'll find the King and Queen buildings there, they used to be the highest buildings in KSA, before Faisliah and Mamlikah stole the lime light....

Once you're done with these, you can move onto exploring Dariyah and Janadariyah ... these are heritage sites where you'll find restored homes dating back 200 years, plus you can also buy swords, daggers and taxidermy eagles .....

If you can gather a few friends you can spend weekends camping out in the desert, or renting an Istaraha and riding Dubbabs (ATVs).......

And if you want to integrate into the Pakistani community there, try becoming a member of the numerous associations there like the Pakistan Cultural Association, IEP-SAC, numerous youth organizations or just hangout at the Taj Mahal Baqala :).... the pakistani school also arranges an annual MEENA BAZAR, again a great event to meet up with people and witness a few 'Phadas' ....

and if nothing else... just walk down the alleys of the Ha'ra area and try picking up fights with Bengalis. . . .

14

Re: I miss Lahore :(

awwwwww

Aunty says, smile! :)

15

Exactly! In the end, it all comes down to where you have your family and friends. It amazes me that all of a sudden, I miss the places and people that I never considered too important back in Lahore!

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Re: I miss Lahore :(

thats life.make the most out of it.

17

WOW! Thanks for your response. I'll surely try out all these places one by one. I am aware of the hara area you are talking about. Its extremely crowded and majority it seems is of Bengalis and Indians.

BTW, I had an awesome day today. Watched the whole Germany Argentina game at a cafe and visited the furniture store IKEA. It was great!

18

Yeah, I guess youre right. But still, I must say that there are a few things about this country that would make you extremely mad. Strange Paradoxes and contradictions. Maybe I'll write about it in detail some other day.

19

one of my childhood friends from KSA is currently living in Malaysia for his studies... he hates living there and wants to go back to KSA :) I guess its not the country, its the people who always like to complain (myself included).

20

In Pakistan cable costs Rs 300 a month and you are offered nearly a hundred channels of all categories. Over here, just to watch the fifa world cup (only 3 sports channels) I am required to pay some SR 550 which translates to some 12000 Rs, and the subscription is for 2 moths only.

And I totally agree with you on the fact that "Grass is always greener on the other side". I must also admit the positive things this country offers too. No Taxes, Negligible electricity bills, petrol cheaper than water :)