Barack Obama - Our best hope for getting back on track

This evening, Barack visited Boston and I got a chance to listen to him up close. The man is genuine, pleasant, stately, smart and driven by a strong sense of purpose to change the way things are in America and bring it back to its respected and revered status in the world. I wish him the best of luck in the primaries.



The event for Barack was organized at Fenway park. Here's a picture of the Red Sox world cup winning trophy

Mikaeel gets his Green Belt

A trip down memory lane with the Yunus Clan

Here are some pictures that I dug out from my backup storage.

Mikaeel at 9 months chilling out in Hawaii.
Who's that stranger holding my son - oh wait that's Zehra.

Zehra on a 4 legged animal - I think it's a horse. We were on a day-long horseback hike in Hawaii and Zehra's horse decided he wanted to just hang out. She was always at last one in the pack which gave me a good opportunity to get this picture of here and her horsy.Mika at 1 hanging out with Daddy. This is where Michael Jackson got his idea.

The two Yunus Studs chilling at Boston Commons.

Mika on his 1st Birthday with his Grandma. Now his second sister carries his Grandma's name Salina as her middle name. (Summer 1999).

Mika at 4, Emaan at 9 months (Summer 2002).
Emaan smiling for Dad (Summer 2002)
Mika at 4 (Summer 2002)

Baba under the tree shade (2002)
Mika's 5th birthday (Summer 2003).

Mika, Minah and Emaan
Winter 2004: Baba, Tony Chacha and Juni Chacha.
Winter 2004. The last time I saw Ilyas Mamu and Mumani Jan. May God bless them.
Winter 2004. Morji with her younglings.

Resurrection - Amsterdam Style

Here's a classic video from a trip to Amsterdam in late 2001. It is about this time of the year that "the boys" would be planning a trip to "Amstergame" - as we fondly called one of our favorite cities. Now, Prague has taken over from Amsterdam.

Lilly Salina Yunus gives Dad the Victory Sign

Lilly Salina Yunus, born at 1:28 pm, November 8, 2007 on the 14th Floor of Mass General Hospital, Boston. She knows how to please a crowd. Very quickly she gave Dad a solid vote of confidence and showed him a Victory Sign. I know it means something else in the UK, but in the US it is the victory sign. Regardless, she has attitude.

Mikaeel decided to wear his "fancy" clothes to school today since he wanted to advertise and celebrate the arrival of Baby Lilly. Emaan was excited to see Lilly's pictures and tomorrow she will get to meet her baby sister for the first time.

More pictures to come ...

Trip log - Prague September 7, 2007

Friday, September 7, Riz and I found a gap in our schedules to walk around Prague and do the tourist thing. Prague is indeed great for architecture lovers. Here are some pictures from our day.

St. Nicholas Church

St. Nicholas Church

St. Nicholas Church

After a hard day of work, one deserves to Relax

I feel like that almost everyday

Rizwan's New Car

Mamoon's New Car

The path to success

The Prague Castle

The Charles Bridge over the Vlatova River

The Altar at St. Nicholas Church

Tower at the Charles Bridge

The National Museum

The Municipal Hall - where the members of the Czech Symphony Orchestra Perform.

Powder Tower - Right near the Marriott Hotel

Rarely get to see a Russian Aircraft. This one is a Tupolov 154

Rizwan's on the lookout for a bride.

This was my third trip to Prague and with every trip I seem to enjoy the city more. Although it has become very touristy, it is still a city one can just frolic around and absorb the architecture. There is still a very Eastern European flavor to the city with significant Russian overtones, but it seems that over the years that may be something that will be lost with The Czech Republic rapidly becoming a part of the mainstream Europe. I guess Hungary and Romania are other countries that I should visit before they start to lose their Eastern European charm.

Trip log - Prague September 6

Although I spent most of the day inside my hotel room working and it was a dreary day, the evening had a special unexpected surprise. On a whim, I decided to go to The Municipal House, Smetana Hall to see if I could get tickets. They were available and for less than USD 60, I got seats in the third row.

Members from the Czech Symphony Orchestra did a wonderful job playing great pieces such as:

• J.S. Bach Air
• J. Dvorjak Humoresque
• J. Dvorjak Largo from Symphony No. 9
• Schubert Ave Maria.

With Lucianno Pavarotti passing away today, I want to pay my tributes to a great icon of our era who will always remain in our memories. Here's Pavarotti singing Ave Maria that I just saw the Czech Symphony perform today.




Also, I was moved by Dvorjak's Humoresque. Perhaps one day Mikaeel will make me proud and play this piece for his dad. The video below is at the Municipal House.

Trip log - London - August 31-Sept 2

Trip log - Rome - August 29-30

This is my second trip to Italy in the last 18 months. Although I do love the architecture and history that Rome has to offer, I haven't been a big fan of Southern Europe until recently. Eventually, everything grows on you - and it's Rome's turn now. Rizwan and I landed just before mid-night. From the moment I got on the Alitalia aircraft, I got flashbacks of Pakistan and India. The Italian demeanor, body language, facial expressions, usually aggressive tone is very reminiscent of the sub-continent culture. Perhaps it is the hot-blooded middle-eastern streak that is common between Southern Europe and the Middle East/Sub-Continent that results in such similarities.

Our taxi driver from the airport to the Marriott Hotel, Via Veneto, may as well have been a Grand Prix driver. Both Riz and I were quick to put on our seat belts. He was friendly and courteous, much like most of the Italians we have dealt with so far. And he was playing 80's tunes on the Radio - even played "It's just an Illusion" - the first album that I ever purchased. The Marriott - Flora on Via Veneto, is right next to the American Consulate. Here's the view from my room:


After checking in, we decided to walk to the Pizza Espania. To my surprise, at 1:00 am, the place was still hopping with people just hanging out, drinking and playing music.




We woke up early and headed to our meetings. After a grueling schedule, we raced to catch our flight at 5:00 pm back to Heathrow. I had enough time to grab Mikaeel a Ferrari bag and a I treated myself to a few shirts as well.