tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:28:21 +0000KarachiFoodFishingWorkOutside KarachiPoliticsShopsThaiVideoBeerMarketsSailingWheelsCharlieSeychellesOwenHong KongNorwichCondoLondonCricketElectricityEmpress MarketMotor BikesWomenChinaExhibitionsMosques and GravesRemote Blog UploadingSarahUKAPFootballChurchCyclonesGardensSnakes<i>Thoughts and observations through the eyes of an expatriate</i>http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Blogger191125en-usnoThoughts and observations through the eyes of an expatriateThoughts and observations through the eyes of an expatriatenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-9107189482593548534Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:55:00 +00002009-01-24T10:06:42.099+05:00Outside KarachiThaiAfter 18 months in Karachi, making good friends and seeing a tiny bit of Pakistan (nowhere near enough of it) it is with a lot of good memories and regrets that we leave. Where to?.. Thailand new job, new location etc. So new Blog. Should do. I fancy writing about my daily life and pick up on the odd things, quirky stuff you know, like seeing 7 people on a motor bike, along with the family dog ofhttp://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2009/01/life-moves-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-6335452531270240789Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:29:00 +00002008-08-02T15:38:57.912+06:00SailingSorry no posting but I've quite literally been at sea. Finished my assignment in Karachi on 11th of July and flew to Seychelles. Departed by sailing boat on 16th to Maldives where we are presently moored. Beautiful place.Will be adding a lot of sailing posts to my sailing blog in next few days so come back for the link and follow up.Fahim how we doing on the video?AlanPLEASE LINK TO http://http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/07/silence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-2340104504351402945Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:21:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:52.305+05:00FoodKarachiWe decided to invite a lot of friends for a Thai dinner before we departed. It was our way of saying thank you to so many people and have them all together to meet each other as well. I've added a few photos from the video I took, and if your not in them and should have been, well, next time. Again thanks to you all for making our initial stay in Karachi such a fun one. See you!!http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/08/departing-dinner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3194252330240950645Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:50:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:53.729+05:00FoodKarachiHaving had our day out in Clifton Beach we made a point of collecting some shells. I do not know their name but they look like the ones you see on the shell petrol station signs.We collected about 20 kilos of them straight off the beach. They were literally rolling up the beach by the wave action. Really amazing to see. (got it on video!!). Everyone watching us to see what we were doing. Everyonehttp://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/07/tek-tek.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-185378106086280787Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:07:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:54.654+05:00KarachiAmazing finally managed to make a few snaps from the movies. Clifton Beach is amazing. Thousands of people every where. Most are enjoying walking along the beach and getting their feet wet. No swimming costumes here. As you can see two ladies are in the full 'Guinness bottle kit'. Everyone who has a chance is busy selling stuff. They charge you for parking and then again for entrance to the beachhttp://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/07/clifton-beach_06.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3122068383715595597Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:29:00 +00002008-07-06T13:00:28.310+06:00KarachiTime is running short and we are due to leave Karachi this coming Friday. Lots to do before then, apart from packing, including closing out several things we promised ourselves we would do. These are last minute restaurant meals, visits to places, trips in and around Karachi, saying good bye to numerous people etc.Well times almost up, and yesterday we managed one item on our list, our last a http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/07/clifton-beach.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-708467014649910260Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:32:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:54.816+05:00FoodOutside KarachiI seem these days to be only posting about eating. During the last few days all my non working time has been taken up with sitting in restaurants and eating large quantities of superb Chinese and Pakistan food. I arrived in Karachi a year ago weighting in at 82 kilos and leave with 89 kilos. Most of it is settled comfortably around my waist and not in my suitcase. SO again last night another http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/07/food-yet-more-food.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3650509250348328523Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:30:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:55.439+05:00FoodKarachiIan's leaving us on Monday. Hes been here about 13 months working with KICT. He has been a strong part of our team and so much so that the lads in the office decided to take him for lunch. In fact we all went. Village Restaurant is situated on the beach front on Clifton. It offers basically a buffet type range of foods. A really fantastic and amazing range of Pakistani foods. Curries, kebabs, http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/village-restaurant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-6663602531655494211Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:50:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:55.835+05:00Empress MarketKarachiVideoNearly there. We've completed the shooting including the coffee scenes for the 'before and after' the market shoots. Poor Fahim! It is now down to him to complete the editing. He is going to try and get it done this coming week. We should have one more meeting together and then hopefully close it out and submit to Dawn Newspaper. Now, I'm not to concerned if we win or just get an acknowledgement http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/empress-market-part-5.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3029476263347148794Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:21:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:55.956+05:00KarachiMotor BikesJust when you think you've seen it all going back and forth to work daily on the same road seeing the same cars and the same bikes... Boring.Then out of nowhere its there, a gas powered bike. Quietly cruising by me as we are going bumper to bumper and he floats by. Ingenious. Only had a few seconds, just enough to register what I was looking at and click a single photo. All he had done was strap http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/gas-bikes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-4962309486143647129Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:55:00 +00002008-06-20T09:48:22.789+06:00KarachiMotor BikesVideoIt's been a quiet week on the reporting front. In fact a quiet month. I did go to a music night with Khalid last Saturday, but, took such lousy photos they did not warrent posting.Today work has also been quiet, and so I took time out to sort through a few files and came across some movie clips. This one seems just so typical of Karachi.http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/waiting-for-train.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Karachi, Motor Bikes, Videotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-8481668923284850958Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:51:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:56.588+05:00FishingOutside KarachiGood day yesterday. Went to Korangi fish harbour for a look round. This was followed by the annual PGFA dinner. (Paksitan Game Fishing Association). Both were real fun.I always like fishing ports. The smells and general layout of boats and gear. There's something about them that is always facinating to see. In the case of Karangi it is however somewhat sad. A beautiful port with what seems like http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/fishing-and-pgfa-dinner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-2797116804045260546Sun, 08 Jun 2008 05:57:00 +00002008-06-27T15:50:39.055+06:00Empress MarketKarachiMarketsBecoming a bit of a series. Empress 1 through 4....Anyway Fahim, Wanna and I finally got our first day at the market and it went well. We had a good idea of what we wanted. But the usual thing, once there things seemed to be a little different. Fahim placed the first section on the uTube.Fahim does Empress MarketWanna's collection of clipsThe best part was chatting to everyone and Fahim speaking http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/empress-market-part-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-7066633551686015659Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:52:00 +00002008-12-09T15:21:58.551+05:00FishingOutside KarachiVideoThis is a longer post than most as I went away for the weekend. Lot to write about.This was my second trip to Ormara. Ahmad had decided we should make it an over night one and so give us a bit of time for a spot of fishing. Official reason for the trip was to undertake a site visit to the naval base and check on some ongoing ground improvement works. Can't tell you about that or I'll get shot!http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/06/olmera-and-night-out-from-karachi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Fishing, Outside Karachi, Videotag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3603822779882094164Tue, 27 May 2008 09:25:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:00.599+05:00Empress MarketKarachiMarketsShopsThe short video is slowly, I mean slowly moving forward. Check earlier Empress Market entries. I went down to the market this morning and took a few site shots. It was about 09.00am and things were just starting up. Fabulous array of traders and rickshaw drivers etc getting organised for the day. Here in this posting you have some fabulous shots of the good side of Empress Market. I know it is http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/empress-market-part-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-2091216882194226066Mon, 26 May 2008 15:13:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:00.914+05:00FoodKarachiThaiAfter my strange lunch with it all being lost in translation (see last post). It was really good to have a sit down lunch with a bunch of Wanna's friends. We went round to Oi's house and together with her family and two other families had some noodles and fish with assorted veggies etc making a great meal. The mixture of nationalities was no real surprise being UK, Pakistan and Thai with the http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/sunday-lunch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-3211777650888387959Sat, 24 May 2008 09:30:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:01.207+05:00FoodKarachiWorkI had been planning on doing a short write up on the local fishing harbour. That's after I get round to the Empress Market story.But today I went to work as usual, realizing I needed to add a short "Alan in Karachi' feature.Well it was a usual day in the fact that I went to work but it turned out not a completely normal day. You know that feeling when you get up in the morning and you just know http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/lost-in-translation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-9223123500490264367Wed, 21 May 2008 01:23:00 +00002008-05-21T06:36:04.360+05:00Remote Blog UploadingJust received an interesting email inviting me to add my Blog to a world map. So I've agreed and added 'Verve' as a side link. Will wait a few weeks and see what it does for me. It does show the location of Blogs around the world which in itself is interesting. However, please, when you follow the link taking you off to some exotic spots remember to come back and visit me again!!http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/links-to-world-web.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-6918490943873907482Tue, 20 May 2008 13:50:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:01.960+05:00KarachiMarketsWe had a walk round the side streets of Saddar Market today looking for furniture etc. Plenty to see and an amazing display of ingenuity by a lot of industrious workers. Amazing because walking on the main road you would never suspect that behind a little entrance was a labyrinth of alleyways and hundreds of tiny shops all making a living. The products range from office chairs being recovered to http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/chairs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-116642836148233666Sat, 17 May 2008 14:57:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:03.288+05:00KarachiMotor BikesWheels Went out for a drive and came across a charcoal maker. Not a fun job. seems they are a few young boys employed to cut wood and stack it up for either selling as fuel or making charcoal. Not much evidence of the charcoal but the stacking was interesting. Notice in the pictures the plain almost lack of colours. That's how it is. Very bland, somewhat dark even with the sun full out. I walked into http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/charcoal-and-things-that-pass-you-byb.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-2373704268731960109Sat, 17 May 2008 08:49:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:03.846+05:00FoodKarachiI've been putting off completing a script for the short video we are doing. Lazy ? No just trying to get it down at the right moment. Should be ready Monday/Tuesday. So have been keeping a low profile with all concerned. In the mean time, Wanna and I went out for a coffee and ended up at the Pearl Continental Hotel in the middle of town. Nothing to exciting but made a change to just going betweenhttp://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/coffee-in-pc-hotel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-8353793656183339115Fri, 16 May 2008 08:12:00 +00002008-05-21T06:29:32.595+05:00KarachiVideoWheelsI've been away and having only got back last Sunday seem now to have woken up. Now its Friday and I've done nothing. Nothing towards the Video project, or writing any Blog entries. Could be I've been asleep for 3 days. Bit like going on a heavy whiskey diet and loosing 3 days! I now know what it feels like without the hangover...Well today I was off around town catching up on a few things. And I http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/camels-ships-of-desert-or-streets-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)Karachi, Video, Wheelstag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-8169184649196211040Sun, 11 May 2008 11:34:00 +00002008-05-27T18:10:57.846+05:00Empress MarketKarachiMarketsJust got back to Karachi this afternoon. Will get onto the video/documentary starting tomorrow.http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/05/empress-market-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-5091968137634241424Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:18:00 +00002008-05-27T18:12:38.921+05:00Empress MarketKarachiMarketsFahim and I are planning to do a short documentary on Empress Market. By coincidence there is a mini documentary film competition sponsored by Dawn Newspaper. Entries by 21st May. So we have some work to do. Fahim if you're reading this......http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/04/empress-market.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170329326888494344.post-7947510970032241802Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:54:00 +00002008-12-09T15:22:04.664+05:00BeerFoodKarachiUKAPHad a really super Sunday afternoon at the British Deputy High Commission in Karachi. We had the use of the staff facilities, swimming pool, grass lawn for Croquet and the indoor bar and amenities. The idea was to have a get together for the members and guests. We did well with about 40 persons turning up. Everyone brought with them some snacks and their own drinks. We had a few games of croquet http://alan-in-karachi.blogspot.com/2008/04/ukap-and-croquet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Unknown)0