Saturday, November 17, 2007

Things I Missed About Toronto

Yes, I am back! While a trip abroad without the stress of work and school can be fun, it's always good to be back. Home Sweet Home and all that. Here's what I missed about Toronto:
  1. Hot water and cold water from the taps.

    Unlike hot water and even hotter water (Dubai) or just ice cold water (Dhaka).

  2. Proper sized tea MUGS.

    Unlike the plastic cups (Dubai) or the miniature airplane-cup-sized-cups (Dhaka).

  3. Courteous drivers on the road.

    Unlike rodeo drivers (UAE) or naam-ka-wasta drivers (Dhaka).

    I just drove for a week in UAE and already my driving skills have deteriorated. People are amazed here if I speed up and try to cut in (oops). And I wouldn't have thought it was possible to drive rashly at 20 kmh, but Dhaka proved me wrong.

  4. Tim Hortons.

    No comment! :-D

  5. PROPER Chinese food.

    It's amazing how Bangladeshis are convinced there's no Chinese food like Bangladeshi Chinese food. It is almost a sign of patriotism to sing praises of Chinese restaurants in Dhaka. I have been to a few. SWEET! It's like they dip everything in sugar. Think Manchurian Roshogolla and you get the idea. Blech! Toronto is great that way, you got authentic cuisines from everywhere in the world.

    Of course Abu Dhabi is still the King when it comes to food. Even the pizza of UAE tastes ten times better. Next time I have to schedule a few days in Abu Dhabi just to eat. *drool*

  6. My car.

    May not deserve it's own entry but there's nothing like slipping into the driver's seat of your own car and just taking in the familiarity of it all.

  7. Just going to bed.

    Without having to bother with mosquito nets, Aerosol or the coil that gives you second-hand-smoke.

  8. Old people not farting or burping whenever they feel like it.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! I was going to leave a comment coz I saw the news about bangladesh and the floods. Really critical situation. Talking about food in UAE, I truly enjoyed it too there, though the best shawarmas are found in Toronto! I think the drivers there are getting worse by the minute(heard it's the worst country with a bad driving record). sf

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! Whats naam-ka-wasta?

I'm hungry...and that made focus in on certain parts of your post....which have now made me more hungry...I think we need to plan a trip to salad king.

Anonymous said...

Welcome Back!!!! I have been a silent blurker for sometime now...I truly enjoy your blog.

LMAO @ #8..that is soooo gross. What is naam-ka-wasta?

Anonymous said...

WB...hahaha..#8..ahaha...that bad eh?

I would have add to #7 with JUST going to bed in my own bed! There's nothing like one's own bed...NOTHING!

Baraka said...

Salaam Mezba & welcome back! :)

5. Pakistani Chinese food is all served on sizzling platters and spicy. *So* good! :)

8. Old people not farting or burping whenever they feel like it.

LOL! Awesome. I'd totally forgotten about that!

Warmly,
Baraka

Em said...

Salaam.
Haha, enjoyed your little list. Re no 8, it's not limited to old ppl, is it? Burping is almost a norm, and it's worst at taraweeh when ppl come with a full stomach and feel the urge to share the aromas of their still-digesting food...

Welcome back.

Anonymous said...

Good to know you are back. Didnt know you were here in AUH though! hmm, did I see you ....?

Anyways, food in AUH was good, but the quality is deteriorating rapidly as most retaurants are reducing food quality as their requests for price increases of 50-75% were rejected by the govt......

As fr pizza hut, a slice of super supreme now typically has 2 olives, an onion shred and one salami, all in the name of cost cutting

Suroor said...

Well, the Chinese food in China is the shittiest! But you haven't eaten anything if you haven't eaten Chinese food in Pakistan. Yummy! And we have "Chinese fried rice Pakistani style" :)

Anonymous said...

Salamaat,
Welcome back!

youngMuslimah said...

Did you try chicken shawarma pizza? it's a new one from pizza hut..

Anonymous said...

Another point regarding Chinese food. Yes, Chinese restaurants in Dhaka offer nothing more than a fusion cuisine comprising 70 % Desi and 30 % Oriental influences.

It is simply not authentic Chinese. That said, how many Bangladeshis would enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine?

'liya said...

"Courteous drivers on the road." .. *sigh* .. not always!

Welcome back :D

Anonymous said...

you're crazy. "chinese" food in bd is the BEST.

- Athena

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the travelogue.

Hope everyone you know in Bangladesh is OK. The after effect of such cyclones are very disastrous for the region.

Anonymous said...

welcome back mezba! u were missed!

Anonymous said...

Glad you're back home safe and sound!

I totally understand the feeling of missing your car. Driving is the one thing I miss doing the most while here in Egypt.

Muse

mezba said...

Sf: ya I am fine and so is everyone I know in Bangladesh - thanx for asking. Yup, I never spent much time on shawarmas in Dubai - coz we have that here - but camel meat! Yum!

Geeki: haha alright! I am goign to fire off an invite to Salad King for all.

Naam-ka-wasta means "for name's sake only".

Lena: Welcome, nice to see more blurkers come out of the proverbial closet.

Mousehunter: Yes - #8 was that bad especially as few of my relatives are getting on in the years haha.

Baraka: they do say old wine has more bubbles but here there's no cork!

Em: haha don't remind me! especially desis - iftar is usually rich food which leads to "aromatic" burps.

mm: oh you are in AUH? could have sent me a message if you wanted to meet up, I always enjoy meeting new people (unless you are a psycho stalker lol). Ya, I noticed the increasing inflation in UAE this time - must be a hangover from increased tourism.

Suroor: LOL! I would be very curious to check out Chinese Chinese!

Maliha: thanx!

YM: No, didn't get the time or opportunity to try that out - it looked too filling!

MM: good point.

Liya: Ah read your blog... oh well driver could have been imported from Dubai you never know.

Athena: nah...:-P

Neena: yes everyone I care about is fine.

Isheeta: thank you!

Muse: oh? :-( but can you drive though? Is it allowed?

Anonymous said...

Completely understand #4-6!

I'm dying to get some proper Chinese food when I get home. And Tim Hortons - my parents pretty much have no choice by to go to one the minute they pick me up from the airport!

Anonymous said...

Yea, I COULD drive in Egypt legally, but its definetly not a good idea for several reasons: 1) right-hand drive. 2) crazy insane drivers with no sense of "lanes." 3) have no car.

cant wait to hit the road when i'm back in the US in my beat up ol' chevy cavalier. :)

Muse