P is for Prague

I left for the Czech Republic after spending just 4 hours in Paris sightseeing. Seeing as how it had been the middle of the night when I was in Paris, I was naturally tired and I spent my 1.5 hour flight from Paris to Prague asleep.

Destination #2: Prague, Czech Republic
When I arrived in the Prague airport, I met up with an associate who had arrived just then too and we proceeded to leave for our destination of Pilsen. Customs consisted of just three people standing and gawking at you as you walked by them… that’s it! They didn’t check any papers or any passports or anything… the most lax security I’ve ever seen when it comes to people entering a country. Wow.

After finding our prebooked rental car, my associate and I took off for Pilsen which is an hour’s drive away from Prague. The speed limit on the roads were 130 km/h so we drove 150 km/h along with everybody else on the road… it was so nice to be able to do that unlike in Canada where they would have seized our car for speed-racing. Canada could learn a thing or two from the Czechs…

…so basically, I didn’t get to see Prague upon first arriving there. Instead, a bunch of friends and I made a couple of trips down to Prague including one where we spent the day touring Prague. It’s amazing just how much history is present in Prague and that’s not surprising considering how many different empires and groups occupied and controlled the city. From the Austro-Hungarian Empire to being under Nazi control to being a part of the Eastern Bloc, the city has seen its fair share of occupation. In addition to that, Prague was a major presence in Masonic circles as evidenced by several buildings bearing the Eye of Providence logo (ie: Freemason logo).

We found ourselves a nice halal restaurant – finally some halal food! – where we got some great Turkish food. This came as a huge relief after eating vegetarian food and pasta all week in Pilsen where there aren’t any halal restaurants. We also visited a major shopping mall called the Palladium which was visually nice but also very expensive to shop in. It was nice to visit but not really useful in terms of doing any shopping.

One of the most impressive areas of Prague was Prague Castle – a stunning gothic piece of architecture which screamed masonic rituals and design. One of the largest ancient castles in the world, the site was home to several leaders in its time including Holy Roman Emperors, Czech Kings, Czech Presidents and more. It was haunting and cryptic and almost made me feel like we were reliving The Da Vinci Code with the sights that we saw around the area. No sign of Mary Magdalene…

“Have we forgotten our history, let’s open our Bibles…”
- Jay-Z (Dig A Hole)

P is for Paris

Travelling can be either a wonderful experience that one savours for a lifetime or a nightmare that forces one to never want to leave home again. My travels in life thus far have been very interesting and rewarding yet each has been predictable and much of the same. Europe is a different beast. It’s different from North America…

Destination #1: Paris, France
I met Usain Bolt – the track and field star who currently holds the world record in a few events – while at the airport in Toronto since his flight back to Jamaica was leaving from the same airport terminal. He didn’t look much different than any other Jamaican I had come across in life but he was nice enough to take pictures with the many people who were around.

My seat on my Air France plane was next to an elderly Egyptian couple who only spoke Arabic. I befriended them on the trip and learned a bit about them through whatever little Arabic I knew and through hand motions. The elderly lady was afraid of flying so whenever there was turbulence – especially while flying over the Atlantic Ocean – she became very scared and started praying to Jesus to save her…

I had things spilt on me repeatedly. A flight attendant spilt apple desert on me which was very annoying but forgivable and then I had water accidentally spilt on me by the elderly lady. It’s okay though… no harm done… as long as it didn’t fall on any of my electronic gadgets (ie: cellphone!), I’m good.

Once I finally arrived in Paris, I immediately went to the Metro. It took me a while to get there in the airport – Aeroport de Charles de Gaulle in Paris – but once I got on it, I immediately got accustomed to the Metro. It was an experience I relished since the Metro was quite different than the TTC in Toronto or the Metro in Montreal. Neither was as vast or complex as Paris’ Metro but neither was as wonderful to use. I particularly enjoyed it since I found it to be very convenient to get from anywhere to virtually anywhere else… that’s how it should be.

I spent my time in Paris first touring the area around the Eiffel Tower. It’s a serene place which is meant to be shared with one’s romantic interest and sadly, I had no one to enjoy the place with. Alas, I savoured it still and walked around the promenade for a while before deciding to get some breakfast. I found myself a quaint little restaurant nearby and ordered myself an “omelette du fromage et mushrooms et une baguette”. It was great.. vintage French food enjoyed in the spectre of the Eiffel Tower…

I walked around downtown Paris for a while and got to see many other sites. Le Grande Palais (The Big Palace) and Le Petit Palais (The Little Palace) were beautiful as were the various other sites in and around the area. Le Louvre (The Museum) was nice from the outside but probably a place that should be best enjoyed by being within its walls instead. The beautiful walkways and common areas were fantastic and only made me want to walk more and more but alas, my time in Paris was done… after spending 4 hours in downtown Paris, I jumped on the Metro and returned to the airport for my next flight…

“I want to feel alone and lost in this solitude…”
– Lacuna Coil (Shallow Life)

Double-Edged Sword

Linked together while others watch...

Ten years ago, social networking on the Internet consisted of instant-messaging through programs such as ICQ. Since then, ICQ has pretty much fallen off the map while social networking has evolved into a behemoth that consists of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and a multitude of instant-messaging programs and web-logs (known as blogs). This, of course, only consists of social networking tools that are Internet-based; text-messaging (SMS), picture messaging (MMS) and mobile email only add to the clutter.

This all leads to the question of whether our days of anonymity and privacy are now gone. Sure, we can all choose not to register for these services and that would grant us some reprieve but is that really possible in this day in age? Mankind’s dependency on technology leaves one who chooses to abstain from it vulnerable to missing out on what’s going on around them. Not registering for these services leaves a person out-of-the-loop when it comes to social aspects and that poses its own problems and issues… but joining these services restricts one’s anonymity and privacy. It’s a double-edged sword.

“From the top of the highest summit, again we run it…”
- k-Os (B-Boy Stance)

The Protocol

Walking from one side to the other...

In May I wrote my CMA Accounting Case Exam and hopefully things went well with that. I was looking forward to getting that exam out of the way because I knew that pass or fail, I didn’t have any studying for my CMA accounting designation to do until September at the earliest. That means 3.5 months off to relax… wow…

However, I’m not one to sit idly by and let 3.5 months go by without some accomplishments. I need accomplishments in my life or I become quite depressed with the lack of growth and progression in myself. So… I set up a few accomplishments that I intend to fulfill throughout this nice little break that I’ve gotten:

Memorization
I plan to memorize 3 sur’ahs (chapters) of the Quran… I don’t know which ones as of yet but I plan to memorize 3 more in addition to the ones I’ve already memorized.

Waking Up for Fajr
Serving as my perpetual Achilles Heel, I’ve decided that this will be my chance to finally correct this problem. I’m going to wake up for Fajr (sunrise) prayer each day and not miss it. I’ve been able to do this off and on and stayed up late at night in order to not miss it but that must change… consistency is needed.

Working Out
I keep trying to get back into doing this before some sort of injury or health ailment derails it… but it’s necessary for me and I’m going to commit myself to it this summer. This includes finally getting back to biking and rollerblading a lot.

Extracurricular Projects
I’ve recently decided to accept an offer to join Makki Masjid’s event planning staff. This should provide a nice opportunity to help put together some events for the youth and bring different interests together for a united charitable and humanitarian cause.

Are there any other goals that you think I should be focusing on or goals that I may have overlooked?

“Today’s agenda, got the suitcase up in the Sentra, go to room 112, tell em Blanco sent ya…”
- Notorious B.I.G. (Ni**as Bleed)