Lahore - Day 1 (Yellow Chickadee)

We took off just about 4pm… 20minute delay waiting for connecting passengers from Korea.
Kris Flyer Entertainment system kept me amused during the flight to Karachi. The Korean film, Art of Seduction, got me guffawing out loud a couple of times. Then I helped Akeelah win the spelling bee. I liked the spelling it was fun and at time befuddeling…befaddlin….befuddling! =)

Karachi to Lahore, I slept so soundly only the hard landing of a Boeing shook me up from my sleep. Besides the ice-cream, the flight was uneventful. Checked into PC Lahore and found out that Ramadhan starts a day later here, because the moon hadn’t been sighted. That’s the coolest thing ever for someone like me who’s Hari Raya celebration has never ever been ruined, delayed or brought forward because of the mysteriousness of the moon. But hey, CNN showed that almost all the Muslim world has started fasting. Maybe there are some thicker clouds around these areas.

Well, I thought I could sleep in this Sunday, but guess what we had to go in for a meeting. On a Sunday morning! I thought Singaporeans were bad, but these are some really determined Pakistanis. Meeting went well.

Then we headed for lunch, and decided to explore and go out of the hotel, and use one of those ‘private taxis’. PL, me and D almost got cheated. See, what happened was that another man negotiated for the taxi driver, and he said 300 Pak Rp (bout 7-8 dollars) for a return trip to Fortress road (where the food was) and back to the hotel. When we got out of the restaurant, we thought- let’s walk around for a bit and check out the shops before heading back. The driver than shouted to us that he would charge for waiting another 200 Pak Rp. PL said in not quite so direct terms- go to hell. I’ll pay you 150 and you can go off, and we’ll find another ride back. The guy looked miffed but agreed.

Then after our walk, we saw a group of Chinese near his car. Now he wanted us to pay 200 and he would go off to drive this group of Chinese around. By this time, I had had enough. First, he’s acting like a big time hustler, and his car wasn’t exactly a limo it was a tiny yellow Suzuki hatchback about the size of a Kancil- a little chickadee. So, I told him off and said we’d only pay 150 (and by this time, was also had to pay for 20 for his parking). It slowly got heated and I started shouting at him. He was also trying to get this security guard to help him out. The guard was quite amused at me and PL who’s a tiny Chinese woman shouting quite ‘garangly’ to this big burly Pakistani man. D who’s a old white ang-moh just observed, letting the women do the talking (what is it with men nowadays? Gone are the good ‘ol days of the knight on the white horse coming to save the damsels in distress).

Anyways, he finally barked at us to get into the car and drive us back to the hotel (He left the other group stranded). Once we got there, we handed him 320 exactly, and got out. He then asked for another 100. I shouted ‘Nehi’ and then walked off in a huff.

We’ve decided, that it may be better to just pay more for the hotel car and save the effort of haggling. I love our public transportation.

(Taxi uncles- I’m sorry I ever complained about expensive taxi fares in Singapore, and grouchy bad drivers. You guys are angels compared to taxi drivers here!)
By the way, the food is gorgeous. But tomorrow my jihad begins. It’ll be quite an experience, I’m sure.