My husband and I are travelling around Europe nowadays. France is our main point of interest but will make it to Switzerland as well. We have been meticulously planning this trip to make it the best of our memories together. Also because it is our first trip together,everything is more exciting! 

The visa process is crucial and  missing out on even the smallest of documents (which you might think is not as important) can easily reject visa. So to avoid any disappointment, one should know all.

As soon as we decided to plan our visit, we made sure that our research regarding the whole process is strong enough so that we don’t skip any material information. But unfortunately, we couldn’t find a good article or report or anything that would have helped us prepare our case.

To our good luck, a few family members had recently traveled those areas and they knew pretty well what was required. This made our process pretty smooth but I know it is apparently very tiring and confusing for many (It was pretty visible while I was waiting for my visa interview and I could see how people were sent back because their application was incomplete). So here is a little guidance for all those people who might want to apply for Schengen in the coming months or in the future years.

First Step:

I had an experience of travelling to Europe once before but it was from London. But the things and the steps required were amazingly similar so fortunately that experience did add up to this one.

Firstly, you need to have a proper documentation. With proper documentation I mean, forms ( taken from internet), three passport size photos with a clear white backdrop, your airline booking, accommodation ( where you will stay during the visit),bank statement ( last six month balance), pay slips ( last three months), previous passport copies, insurance and family tree certificate.

Note:

Required documents will add up if you are travelling to meet your family or friends in Europe . Sponsor letter is a MUST,if there is one in your case.

If you don’t have a family tree certificate, you can easily get it through NADRA’s website.

So once your documentation is complete, you submit these documents to American Express. The fee was approximately Rs. 1500. They scan all your documents and keep a copy with themselves. They then give you a receipt with your interview date mentioned. The interview takes place in Islamabad (French embassy in my case since it was my destination).

Second Step:

Interviews are held at the Diplomat Enclave in Islamabad. They don’t let your cars in ( until and unless you have a letter from some ambassador or diplomat) so you choose either to travel from a shuttle (Rs. 500 each) or Executive option is also available where you get to choose your own car to take you in the embassy (Rs. 1000 per person).

Once you are in your chosen embassy, you are given a token for your interview and then the list of all documentation so that you can recheck everything again.

Note: Your documents should be in the same order as mentioned in the list or otherwise the guys their will send you back. This was announced several times while we  were waiting for our turn and I could see many people returning back because of this error.

Bio metric details are taken first, followed by the fee.

Tip: Take with you the exact amount of Rs. 7,018 per person in our case. They don’t have change (nor will they offer you even if they do) and they will not accept your money if the amount isn’t exact.. We took the exact amount and the guy there was literally surprised as he mentioned very few people do that.

 So once you are done with all these formalities, you are called in for interview. They ask you basic questions as long as your documents are complete. I was asked about my travel history for which I had my previous passports as a proof. Then about the accommodation, leave letter from job (my husband’s was required), bank statement balances etc. But if your documents are not complete, you will probably be faced with pretty harsh questions. You will hand over all the copies of your documents and you are free to leave.

Schengen visa application takes about two to three weeks after the interview ( ours came in 10 days).

Some more free tips:

•        Always keep your original ID card with you throughout the process. You will require it on several occasions.
•        Your bank statement must have enough balance that can  cover your daily expenses abroad plus you should be able to show enough money for your accommodation.
•        Choose English language for your interview (provided that you are fluent). This puts up a strong impression over the interviewee.
•        The date of travel that you mention on your form will be the date they will grant you visa from. Select wisely and make sure the date mentioned is correct.

In case you want an overview of the visa and the procedure, click here! 

On a Monday when the amount of tasks at hand are amusingly countless, i present you a list of my top 5 favoriteTV shows. If you haven't watched them believe me you, you are missing out on a lot in your life.

P.S. I promise exciting themes, addiction and late-night munching.

  1- Game of Thrones
No surprises there. It has to be the top 5 of all times. OUT OF THIS WORLD story line gets you hooked so badly that people around you who don't watch it, will question your sanity after every episode. Been there. I'd say, ignore the world. They don't get it. They never will. If only i can go inside the head of the genius George R.R.Martin and decipher the formula that makes him think beyond our imagination. Get on board and start watching it (if you haven't still that is)! You will be forever grateful to me! I bet!

A picture of Jon Snow to motivate you to watch the show!

  2-How to get away with Murder
I have always been a huge fan of Annalise Keating's work. What class! What persona! An actor who deserves every award and every word of acclamation there is! The TV show is undeniably one of the best thrillers to grace our TV screens.The first thing that you will definitely notice is the pace of the show. Thrillers shouldn't be dragged and should never be slow. This is exactly what you get and the story line is so engaging, you will definitely appreciate this post. Add to your watch list, for sure!

Love her. So feisty!

3-Sherlock Holmes
 I have been reading Sherlock from when i was in grade 5.Every case is so beautifully crafted in the books, it awes the readers every.single.time. The show is no different. John Watson and Sherlock Holmes will take you on a journey like never before. Amazing story telling and outclass rendition. Nothing better than being Sherlock-ed, i promise!

Has to be the cutest couple of all times!

  4-SUITS
 Phenomenal legal drama. If you aren't a law student, you will become one after watching it. That too a good one. The HANDSOME(beautiful genes) Harvey Spector and the superbly talented Mike Ross are masters of what they do. The romance aspect of the show is high and i strongly think that Loise Litt is one hilarious guy! Watch to know. Also, Meghan Markle is a stunner! Lucky Harry.

Those genes! You see it?

     



  5- Designated Survivor
 American political drama which is full of twists and turns that you will be hooked for life.Fascinating story and wonderful acting. The story begins with an explosion claiming the lives of the President and everyone in the presidential line of succession , except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman, who had been named the designated survivor. Kirkman is immediately sworn in as President, unaware that the attack is just the beginning of what is to come.

Best President? Best President!

Some of my other favorites that you might want to watch:

1.  Black mirror
2.  House of Cards
3. The Keepers: Miniseries
4. 13 Reasons why
5. Westworld

 Would love to know your favorites too! Byeee!

If you share your loneliness,despair or heartache on social media, do you take back anything? Have you ever wondered how advertising your personal experiences with complete strangers is making you any happier or even better? Does anybody actually care? We as humans like to communicate and share stuff. It is all a very natural thing to do. However does openly allowing complete strangers into your dark times or even happier just to be judged at the end, also count? I have been there. I have honestly done that. The intention behind is simple. Making the other person feel what you are going through and not be judged in return. This is as ambiguous as it can get.To make it sound even worse, if people don't react to your sentimental post,the loneliness only escalates now that you have been confirmed a loner. Sigh! Happier times are't any different. You post a pic,you expect likes,loves and wows. When you don't get many or as much as you expected,you decide to conclude that people don't like you. This can possibly be because you don't look good in that picture or you are ugly in general.So basically the blissful moment when this picture was taken will transform into an undesirable sorrow in the heart.Ah! That just hurt! Unfortunately,we have all become slaves to a medium that doesn't count anything but exhibition of ourselves which most of the time is fake and filtered. Aren't we all aware of the lives we lead? By all means we are but we continue to do so.It needs to stop or else we will drag ourselves to an abyss of misery and desperation solely created by our own minds. A conscious mind will never allow this.Take help from sanity and avoid being a public person all the time.Family and close friends are the ONLY people that value your trust and time. Don't waste on people who didn't like your display picture. Honestly not worth it! (Sarcasm intended by all means).

Heyloo readers!!! Me and my twin recently read two different, unique stories and also the bestsellers of 2017 and we decided to share our reviews for you guys. Below are the reviews of two amazing books, This house of Clay and Water and Three Daughters of Eve. Enjoy and let us know how you found them!

I am always looking for great stories, novels because reading is something I completely believe in.  Got nothing to do? Read! Got lot’s to do? Read ! Reading is probably the best therapy ever invented and I would never exchange it for anything else.

Two weeks back, I came across an article that had listed 2017’s best read novels. Amazing article and I would totally put the link right here so you can also find the list too. https://www.vagabomb.com/VagabombPicks-The-Best-Book-Releases-from-June-2017

So yes coming back to my story, I went through the list and came across the book I wanted to read then, This House of Clay and Water. The short review looked amazing . I went to my favorite store, Readings, here in Lahore, and thank God found the book. I completed reading the book just a few days back and loved it. Such an amazing tale, unique and beautifully written. Below is a short review for you to decide for yourself J

The Story:

 The story is set in Lahore and it starts with the story of Nida. Nida is married and her husband and in-laws are well off. On the surface, life seems to be comfortable and nice, but there seems to be an emptiness in Nida’s life. The story goes back and forth in time, as we find out more about Nida’s past and try to discover clues to find out why she feels the way she does. Nida goes to the Daata Sahib Dargah sometimes, to calm her spirit, and there, one day, she meets Sasha. Sasha is a free spirit and though she is married and has two young daughters, she rebels against the confines of marriage and goes out with different men who make her feel special. Nida and Sasha meet Bhanggi, in the dargah. Bhanggi is a hijra, a hermaphrodite. His life in the past has been hard, but these days he sits under the banyan tree and plays the flute. People assemble to listen to him and they also come to pray for and receive his blessings, because he is regarded as a qalandar, a Sufi saint. A beautiful friendship blossoms between Nida and Bhanggi and it looks like it would flower into something more. The rest of the story is about how the friendship between Nida and Bhanggi and Nida and Sasha evolve and what happens between them and their families. Well, I am not going to tell you more. You should read the book for yourself and find out what happens next.

I loved ‘This House of Clay and Water‘. It is an, unconventional, unique love story, a spiritual love story. It is also a story about families and human relationships.  It is a brilliant, debut novel and Faiqa Mansab is a fresh, new, exciting voice in Pakistani literary fiction. It is one of my favorite books of the year and I can’t wait to find out what she comes up with next.

The next novel is Elif Shafak's, Three Daughters of Eve. Its review is right below.

Its been almost two years now since i have been following Eliff Shafak's work. Who doesn't know her. Her remarkable book "Fourteen rules of love" moved people to say the least. Shafak hails from turkey so most of her work is centered there. Turkey has a very diverse culture and her narration portrays that remarkably. There is this group of people who are still attached to their Islamic roots and practice the religion with full vigor and there is another one who has modernized to an extent that the western culture has completely engulfed their lifestyles.

The plot begins in the streets of Istanbul. Peri is subjected to a robbery and an attempted rape. During the struggle, a photograph of Peri, with two other women and a man in Oxford, falls out of her bag which seems to have more importance than the robbery itself. The rest of the novel, which travels backwards through her life and forwards through the evening to come, is devoted to exploring the importance of that photograph, and exploring her mysterious relationships with the people in the picture.

  Peri is a Turkish who  is born in a household which is divided by a fine line of personal believes. However Peri takes on the neutral role as the writer conveys,“While some people were passionate believers and others passionate non-believers, she would always remain stuck in between.” 

When she gets to Oxford University her two best female friends are the sensual, confident Iranian-born Shirin, and the modest, religious Egyptian-American Mona. The three women together make up the Three Daughters of Eve, or, as Shafak puts it, the sinner, the believer and the confused.

 Peri is fascinated by the meaning of divinity, and at Oxford she falls under the spell of a charismatic teacher, Azur, who runs a course on understanding God. These heartfelt theological discussions seem to be continuing debates that began in earlier books such as The Forty Rules of Love. Shafak's trademark so as to say.

The novel is yet another piece of brilliance. However a few parts of the story run flat which somehow takes your attention off the novel. But all in all it's an amazing read as can be expected from Shafak.

After my Sunday Snapchat story, so many people messaged me about the face mask i promised to share. I thought i will do it after a day or two but it looks like I have an impatient bunch of fellows around. Haha! So here i am, at your service.
Well basically Sundays are for cleansing, lots and lots of it. The glow  the skin looses after a whole week of work needs to be revived. Also, it's important to begin your week with a fresh and properly hydrated skin. So here are a few trusted facial  masks that you can prepare at home without much hassle.


1-Milk facial mask

You need:
-Powdered milk
-Water

All you need to do  is mix 1/4 cup of milk powder with water and make a thick paste. Coat your face with the mixture and let it dry completely. Rinse your face and you will definitely feel fresh and exhilarated.




2-Yogurt facial mask

This is the one i did on Sunday and if you liked what you saw then you should definitely try. My skin was dead literally and i made a conscious decision not to use any product from the shelf but pick out stuff from fridge.  Yogurt is an amazing coolant too so pretty good to use in summers.

You need:
-Some yogurt (you can decide how much you want to apply)
-Some honey (again the quantity is up to you)
-Lemon juice

Mix everything up, apply it on your face and let it stay for good 15 minutes. After you rinse your face, you will feel that the skin pores have tighten. You will love the mask. I promise.

P.S. You can replace lemon juice with orange juice too. Make sure the pulp is there!




3-Lemon mask

You need:
-Lemon juice
-1/4 cup of olive oil

Moisturize your skin by mixing the two. This is the easiest and the most refreshing mask.

4-Egg facial mask

You need:
-Egg
-Lemon juice
-Honey

Grab an egg and separate the yolk. Beat the yolk and add honey and lemon juice. Mix it up and apply to your face. Let it stay for 20 minutes and rinse it away.


You see how amazing and quick these masks are. You should at least try to do them twice a week for better results. So pamper yourself with absolutely no cost and maybe thank me later?!

I hope that helped you! Keep reading. Bubye :)

Hey fellow hoomans! The weekend has been crazy busy. I sat in front of my laptop twice to pen down this piece but somehow couldn't. Now I am literally sitting at a corner of my room while my room is occupied with family members. But I will, this time I will!

So people who have been following me on social media and close friends who listen to my rants on daily basis are aware of how much i wanted to attend Jeremy McLellan's   performance at Alhamra. I am a huge fan and love his sense of humor from the days he had pretty less followers. Over the time, he has become one of the best at what he does which is comedy. One fine day he updated his Facebook of his plan of visiting Pakistan and oh my did the country go crazy! The tickets sold out like "jalibi" does in monsoon. Our nation is incredible when it comes to welcoming foreign artists and it was communicated so well during this time. 

Anyhoo, those who have absolutely no clue what this is about, let me break down this for you!

Who is Jeremy?

Jeremy McLellan (McLellan with a single c as he is really conscious about this :P)is an American comedian who hails from Charleston, South Carolina. His work specifically focus on issues  like gender, immigration, islamophobia, politics and disabilities which basically make him sound so different than the rest of the monotonous American comedians.

Why Pakistan?

Jeremy has the biggest Pakistani fan following and there are particular reasons for that:

- He loves Biryani. We do too. Biryani apparently acted as the strongest thread connecting the nation with Jeremy.

-Jeremy detests Islamophobia and is pretty vocal about it.

- He knows our nation so well that you might get into speculation of his identity as American. His comedy actually makes him one of us.

-He is anti-trump. Instant tick, yeah?!

The show!

The show was AMAZEBALLS! An American guy in sherwani showcased incredible wit as was expected of him. His genius way of storytelling can easily take your mind off from literally anything in the world and all you want to do is listen to him. The hall was roaring with laughter and the love for the guy reciprocated so well that day. Not a single f**k which by the way is a great achievement for an American. A complete family show with not a single second of feeling bored. Great night!

I really, really and really hope that Jeremy makes more visits to Pakistan and tell people back home that how beautiful my country is (which I am sure he will). 

If that made you want to look up for him, follow Jeremy on Facebook and show some love.

Bye for now! Here's wishing you a great Monday!

Marriage is an amazing thing to happen to a person. The soulmate you have been looking for, the contentment you yearn for and the feeling of being complete is beyond satisfying.

The change is beautiful. The change is drastic.

I met my husband in April last year through our parents who had known each other for a long time but surprisingly I had no clue that my husband existed ( all thanks to my super unsocial personality ).The “liking each other” part was instant. Everything went smooth and we were engaged in July last year.

Engagement periods are fun. Playing

around “get to know your partner” in real life is exciting and eventually falling in love with a stranger is thrilling but then engagement periods are shorter and very sooner you are hit with the reality of leaving your home and begin new.

 Having a twin 24/7 and suddenly not meeting each other for days was bad. Sharing stuff on Whats App had gotten more convenient. Her shopping days became different to mine. Our trips to movie theater were an impossible thing (haven't seen a movie together since my wedding). We just couldn't share clothes, shoes bags anymore. IMAGINE THE MISERY!!!

Getting used to all this is hard initially. It’s a lot more than sharing genes. The connection is the deepest that can be between two humans and it is not explainable in words. However with time people adjust and that’s the beauty of life. You settle down  and eventually everything is in place.

So yes hope you had fun reading. Wanted to write this up so that people could know it ain’t easy for two similar beings, living two different lives , totally separately when they have been together since they took their first breath.

Now Bubye! Will come with another story, tale. rant(hehe) soon :)

Growing up as twins, the most common question that is brought up is the famous query of telepathy. And i don't blame people because the concept of telepathy is so over-rated by society and so interestingly (read: stupidly) portrayed by our movies that the curiosity is justified.

So telepathy basically(for people who might not know and start blaming me for jargon) is the communication of ideas or thoughts by means other than known senses. The communication is considered to happen supposedly. A little too confusing, a little too ambiguous?I understand where you come from. I just do!

In a very simple language my twin and i are capable of communicating thoughts just by looking at each other and annoyingly are capable of asking same question and making a same statement at the same time. For the annoying aspect, refer to my mom! Hehe!


Amazingly now that my sister is married and our interaction has lessen for obvious reasons, the telepathy hasn't conceded. The funniest part is tagging each other on similar memes and recommending similar articles to each other. LOL!
Irrespective of how spooky it may sound, it's beautiful on a different level. The amazing connection of mind and heart shared by two people which will bewilder the world for as long as the universe exists(that just made me feel like a God's miracle).

Also you Might want to know that we:

1- Don't sneeze together.Or get sick. Or fall. Or fight a bunch of goons at amusingly the same time on different locations (ref:a cringe worthy Bollywood movie).Please!
2- Never had a crush on the same guy. In fact sometimes we question each other's choices. LMAO!
3- Don't wear same clothes. Never will.
4- Call each other ugly all the time.
5- Cry seeing the other person crying which is so often that my dad is sick of it!
6- Know that we are different and yes i can feel you are inquisitive when you see us together.
So stop staring. Just ask!


Theenks for reading!