By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)
When I sent a
picture of me in front of Hagia Sophia in a family WhatsApp group, first
response I got was “It's so much better when you visit with your wife "
and then the second one was “Only Hamza will go to Cairo and Istanbul alone
leaving his loving wife back in Ajman." Not only in my
family, but in fact almost everyone asked me the same question that why I
travel alone? And my response to all of them is Why Not.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Social Connect with Sana Fakhar
Interview and Photography by Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)
I last interviewed Sana Fakhar for my social connect segment in 2018 and since then we stayed in touch. When I found out she is here in Dubai for some collaboration, I contacted her for an interview, to which she agreed. My idea was to interview post success of GEO network's drama "Tu Mera Junoon" and about her second innings in Pakistan entertainment industry. We met in Dubai Festival City mall and interview soon turned into a discussion on important topics like individuality, feminism, fitness etc. and I was really impressed with how evolved she is as a human being.
I still tried to put our discussion down into my usual format of 5 questions and here it is.
I last interviewed Sana Fakhar for my social connect segment in 2018 and since then we stayed in touch. When I found out she is here in Dubai for some collaboration, I contacted her for an interview, to which she agreed. My idea was to interview post success of GEO network's drama "Tu Mera Junoon" and about her second innings in Pakistan entertainment industry. We met in Dubai Festival City mall and interview soon turned into a discussion on important topics like individuality, feminism, fitness etc. and I was really impressed with how evolved she is as a human being.
I still tried to put our discussion down into my usual format of 5 questions and here it is.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Travel Wisdom – Weekend Trips and how to plan
By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)
Instagram is full of travel bloggers with perfect beach bodies telling their audience in perfect written quotes that you live only once and life is short, so enjoy the max possible. What no one tells is that Life is short and budgets are even shorter. Story of every middle class, corporate slave, Desi travel enthusiast like me. I guess we all have seen ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, where Ranbir Kapoor, to pursue his passion for traveling has to detached himself from his world (friends/ family) and responsibilities to an extent that he finds out 2 weeks late about his father’s demise, and that’s kind a true for our world. If you immerse yourself into Desi world as a responsible adult following the fixed path that most of us follow, you will always have millions of responsibilities and priorities unless you are an Ambani or Zardari. As a result, you will always be short of time and if you manage to find some time to travel then budget constraints will always be there.
I have found a solution for this, which works, at least for me and that is "weekend trips". Instead of planning a full fledge trip that spans over weeks just plan a quick getaway manageable with in available weekend, so you can save your annual leave for the important family events that you may need to attend throughout the year and being in Dubai gives us this amazing opportunity of budget travels with amazing weekend offers, easy on pocket as well.
This year I travelled to Turkey for 2 nights cost 1200 Dirhams (flight and hotel only), 3 nights to Georgia cost 1099 Dirhams (flight and hotel only) and without having this facility of weekend getaways I would have never been able to travel to these two amazing places in the first 3 months of 2019.
My major concern is always how to cover a country having thousands of years of history and hundreds of touristic sites in just 3 days and for that I have developed a simple five step planning process which ensures I see/ experience most of what that country has to offer in whatever time/resources I have. Here it is.
Instagram is full of travel bloggers with perfect beach bodies telling their audience in perfect written quotes that you live only once and life is short, so enjoy the max possible. What no one tells is that Life is short and budgets are even shorter. Story of every middle class, corporate slave, Desi travel enthusiast like me. I guess we all have seen ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, where Ranbir Kapoor, to pursue his passion for traveling has to detached himself from his world (friends/ family) and responsibilities to an extent that he finds out 2 weeks late about his father’s demise, and that’s kind a true for our world. If you immerse yourself into Desi world as a responsible adult following the fixed path that most of us follow, you will always have millions of responsibilities and priorities unless you are an Ambani or Zardari. As a result, you will always be short of time and if you manage to find some time to travel then budget constraints will always be there.
I have found a solution for this, which works, at least for me and that is "weekend trips". Instead of planning a full fledge trip that spans over weeks just plan a quick getaway manageable with in available weekend, so you can save your annual leave for the important family events that you may need to attend throughout the year and being in Dubai gives us this amazing opportunity of budget travels with amazing weekend offers, easy on pocket as well.
This year I travelled to Turkey for 2 nights cost 1200 Dirhams (flight and hotel only), 3 nights to Georgia cost 1099 Dirhams (flight and hotel only) and without having this facility of weekend getaways I would have never been able to travel to these two amazing places in the first 3 months of 2019.
My major concern is always how to cover a country having thousands of years of history and hundreds of touristic sites in just 3 days and for that I have developed a simple five step planning process which ensures I see/ experience most of what that country has to offer in whatever time/resources I have. Here it is.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Perfect Weekend Getaway - Sir Bani Yas Island
Labels:
Abu Dhabi,
In and around UAE,
photography,
Safari,
Sir Bani Yas Island
Sunday, January 21, 2018
17 Pictures That Perfectly Capture EveryThing About Hatta Water Dam
Saturday, June 10, 2017
All Things Good That Bollywood Has To Offer @ Bollywood Park Dubai
Written & Photographed By: Hamza Shafique
Bollywood park is one of its kind attraction in Dubai. Part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, this facility caters to desi families just like mine. Dubai Parks and Resorts is an area developed on the outskirts of Dubai and contains multiple parks and resorts, you can find more details about other attractions on their official website. I have only visited their Bollywood Park and for now I will try to pen down my fun experience there.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Social Connect with Ahad Raza Mir
By: Hamza Shafique
Today for Social Connect we have Hum TV network’s drama
‘Sammi’ famed, long haired handsome actor Ahad Raza Mir. Ahad Raza Mir is the
son of veteran Actor Asif Raza Mir and has not only inherited his Father’s good
looks but acting talent as well. With his second drama serial already on air, he
displays all the signs of a future super star. Here is DDR’s usual 5 questions
interview.
Labels:
Ahad Raza Mir,
Asif Raza Mir,
Hum TV,
Sammi,
Social Connect,
Yaqeen ka Safar
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Throwback Thursday: Chitwan National Park Dec-2014
By: Hamza Shafique
I have so much to share from my past experiences (mostly travel)
that I think it’s good to start a throwback segment. As Thursday is usually considered a day for Throwback, hence the name Throwback Thursday. For the very first post in this segment I have selected Chitwan National Park.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)