A Very Toronto Valentine

What's Love - Fat Joe Featuring Ja Rule & Ashanti

What's love? Got to do, got to do with it? What's love? Its about us, its about trust.

This hit song of 2002 is the best song that could open this blog post describing my Valentine's day. It is not only "Love" aka Valentine's day themed, but it was also a song, that both my Valentine and I reminisced about during our day together. So how did my first Valentine's day of the new decade go? Pretty epic to say the least.

The morning started pretty early as I had to get downtown to meet my valentine at the bus station. She was travelling down from Ancaster, and I was travelling down from North York. After meeting at the station, we decided we would start our day by heading to the CN tower. Toronto radio station Kiss 92.5 were holding a Valentine's day inspired "KiSS"ing booth event at the base of the CN tower, so my valentine and I decided we would start our day off by checking it out. After circling the tower a few times in and out, we eventually found it and head to where all the buzz was.

As we walked in, we were greeted by these hostesses who were handing out samples of Baci chocolate. The chocolate was pretty good; it had a taste and similar consistency to Ferreror Rocher, though Ferrero Rocher, in my opinion, is far better. As we continued walking, there was a booth with large speakers set up playing KiSS 92.5 music with Adam Wylde (KiSS 92.5 DJ/RJ). There was a spinning wheel, plenty of Baci chocolate, and a kissing booth that seemed to have been sponsored by the film Valentine's Day.

Upon reaching the booth, one of the KiSS 92.5 representatives told us that we could get a ballot to win a trip for 2 to the Dominican Republic if we kiss in the

booth. My valentine asks, "Should we do it?". Before answering the question, the guy tells us it has to be in the booth, not where we were standing (I guess he didn't realize she was asking me a question, not suggesting to do it right then). We move into the kissing booth, and without any questions, bam. Kiss me, down by the moonligh--okay that song is too romantic for the situation, how about...She want that lovey,dovey, that kiss, kiss, in her mind she fantasize 'bout gettin' with me...Okay that's way better. What a way to start Valentine's Day, eh?

Thanks to KiSS, and us kissing, we got ourselves not only a ballot for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the Dominican (we decided we'd take each other if either of us won...neither of us won) AND we got 2 free passes to go see the movie Valentine's Day each (oh and of course, quite a bit of Baci chocolate)! We went to the spinning wheel, and just our luck, we won more chocolate.

After leaving the CN tower, my valentine and I became Toronto tourists (despite it being both of ours millionth time there, figuratively of course) taking pictures with random objects and interesting buildings on our way to go shopping. I needed to update my spring collection, and my valentine knew my style and gave me honest advice, so she helped me pick some stuff up. We went to Forever 21 where I found a few staple items, and then decided to go for lunch before continuing our shopping.

While heading to lunch, I got a "tweet" from Adam Wylde asking why I didn't come say hi when I was at the booth (I had tweeted about getting Valentine's Day passes). The truth was at the time it was quite busy at his station, so I told him we'd go back after lunch. We went to lunch at

this restaurant called Spring Rolls where we both ordered Pad Thai. It was a classic at that restaurant, and was absolutely amazing. While at the restaurant, our waiter told us about how he had scored a date for Valentine's day this year and it was his first time on a date in a long, long time. We weren't sure if he was being genuine with this story, or if he just wanted a bigger tip...regardless, it was cute. During our lunch, the two of us started naming some of our favourite Valentine's Day inspired songs (this was inspired from my "tweet special" I did on Valentine's Day). Talking about this and other things eventually brought us both to the end of our dishes and we began making our way back to the CN tower.

We decided to "slowly" make our way back, stopping at different places on the way. I stopped by two HMV's to look for this old Jennifer Lopez CD (J to tha L-O - The Remixes) which

neither had (though I eventually found it on eBay and ordered it from there). The talk about the CD brought us to reminisce about

some classic songs we used to listen to in middle school. Among

these songs, a popular one was "What's Love?" by Fat Joe featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule. This is what eventually inspired

the opening of my blog. We went through the Eatons centre where they had a Vancouver 2010 Olympics Booth sponsored by Bell,

giving people the opportunity to hold the torch and get their

picture taken. Naturally being "patriotic" about Canada holding the Olympics this year, we got our picture taken. While making our way through the mall, we found other Valentine's Day events including a wall where you can write a message to your valentine. "J'adore le Khizer" is what my valentine wrote. After browsing through a few shops we left the Eaton's Centre and continued our journey back to the CN tower.

Our walk back was very nice, we spoke about many memories, and were able to catch up on quite a few topics...of course we threw some picture taking in our walk too. Eventually we made it to the CN tower...got more free Baci chocolate, and met up with Adam Wylde. It was my first

time meeting him after a few phone call and tweet exchanges, and

we both found that he was a really cool guy. During our conversation with him, myself, Adam and his tech friend tried to convince my valentine to create a Twitter account. Although hesitant at first, peer pressure eventually got her to say okay. We took some more pictures, and then made our way to more shopping. In disbelief, I asked my valentine if she was really going to make a Twitter. "No!" she exclaimed. So much for peer pressure.

After our second visit to the CN tower, we made our way to the other side of Queen Street, my "valentines side of Queen street" as we call it. There we went to shops like H&M, Urban Outfitters, Lush, and another HMV (didn't find the CD there either). I picked up a really cool piano themed belt from Urban Outfitters, while my valentine found some things at H&M. As much as I tried to bring myself to get at least one item from H&M, I couldn't. As much as I tried, nothing there significantly caught my appeal. Sorry H&M, maybe next time.

As we finished the last of our shopping, our day was coming to an end. Although we wanted to see a movie and go do a few more things, we both needed to catch our

respective trains and subways to get back home at a decent hour. We talked about our day and how we both felt it was "epic" as we both say. It was getting darker, and we both had to say our goodbyes. I waited with my valentine at her station stop for her bus. It eventually came and we said our final goodbyes and gave each other some big hugs. Just like that, Valentine's Day for us was over.

Reading through my blog, words don't really seem to capture our day with much justice, however it was the simplicity of our day that made it so good. Spending time with each other where it was by walking or by shopping was fantastic. Ultimately, can anyone take a guess to the secret of our successful Valentine's Day?

Neither of us are dating.

Khizer's 20th Birthday Poster

Hey y'all!

My 20th Birthday is coming up in about a month's time and preparations have already started.

Here is the final copy of the poster!

-Khizer

Movie Review: My Name Is Khan

September 11th, 2001. This is a day that destroyed many lives. This is a day that started a whole new level of hate crime. This is a day that ultimately caused the world to change. Consequently, the events that occurred on this date, caused many filmmakers to produce movies related around the event, but none captured the aftermath of this event as successfully as Karan Johar's "My Name Is Khan".

*SPOILER ALERT: THERE MAY BE FEW SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW, BUT I DON'T GIVE AWAY THE ENDING, I MERELY BRING UP SOME IMPORTANT SCENARIOS IN THE FILM THAT MIGHT BUILD MORE ANTICIPATION FOR THE FILM. IF THAT DOESN'T INTEREST YOU, I WOULD STOP READING NOW*

Starring Bollywood veterans, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol, the film revolves around Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan) who has Asperger's syndrome. The story is told via flashbacks of a letter Rizwan is writing to his wife, Mandira (Kajol), while he is on a mission. The mission is to meet the president and tell him, "My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist". Through flashbacks, we come to know the reasons behind his mission. Khan is a good natured Muslim man who gets married to Mandira, a Hindu female. After being happily married a few years, the couple begins to go through problems after 9/11 strikes. Because Khan is a Muslim, they lose jobs, go through financial troubles, and consequently lose their son who is killed in a soccer field because of his Muslim last name. Mandira becomes devasted, and claims Rizwan to be the killer of their child as he would still be alive had she not married him. Rizwan, who was never taught that one religion is bad but that people come in 2 forms; good or bad despite their religion, tries to explain how terrorism isn't just Muslim based. Mandira tells him to go tell the president that, and so he begins his mission declaring that he won't come home until he accomplishes it...and so he goes on a long and hard journey meeting many people, and obstacles on the way.

Khizer's review/rant/opinions:

Although this movie is Bollywood, therefore being in Hindi/Urdu, I would honestly urge EVERYONE reading this to check it out. Because of the popularity of Bollywood movies in the world these days, they play in many large theatres with English subtitles.

This movie is one of the very few, if not the only one that shows post 9/11 consequences in eyes of the Muslim world. Most of the films that are made regarding terrorism and 9/11 inspired stories, often show the Muslim world to be heavily involved in terrorist attacks, but this movie shows that terrorism does not have any religion. There are good and bad people in every religion. There are extremists in every religion. This movie shows how a Muslim man who is very into religion is also helping to the rest of the community. It shows how as a Muslim, he still hurts, he still feels, he's still a human being. He is not some violent person carrying animosity against the rest of the world. People need to see that, in my opinion. People need to see that there are good and bad people everywhere and to not discriminate, stereotype, or hate based on biased judgements. I published a blog on stereotypes a while back, and as you can see, it is an issue that I think about very seriously.

My Name is Khan also explores other themes in the movie which include, love and acceptance. The love story and chemistry between Rizwan and Mandira is beautiful. Mandira accepts Rizwan for who he is despite him having Asperger's syndrome, and Rizwan's dedication and unconditional love for Mandira is so inspiring. Although he is on his mission to tell the president that "his name is Khan and he is not a terrorist", it seems that the reason behind him doing so (in his eyes) isn't necessarily to make the point that just because he is a Muslim, he shouldn't be called a terrorist, but to prove his love to Mandira. There is a scene in the film, where he sees Mandira looking for him, however, as much as he wants to confront her, he doesn't because he has't fulfilled his promise. In addition to spousal love, the movie also shows parental love, probably one of the greatest love one can get in this world. The connection between Mandira and her son Sameer is so heartwarming, and the amount of love she has for him is indescribable. She sacrifices her husband, her job, and her life, just to get him justice. If this isn't true love, what is?

The movie also shows how the only limits in life are the ones you set for yourself. Diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, Rizwan is bright from a young age, and because of love from his mom, brother, sister-in-law, wife, and child, he is able to accomplish so much. He lives life to the fullest, he functions just like everybody else, he works just like everybody else, and he interacts just like everybody else. Yes, because of the syndrome, some people might look at him as odd, or find things he does funny, or even go to the extent that he should be in special facilities, but really if he doesn't set any limits to his life than who are these people to do so? If everyone was the same and normal in this world where would the variety be?

I could keep going on about how good this movie is, but I will become redundant and annoying. The movie has already become one of the highest grossing Bollywood films, and is getting rave reviews from not only the Bollywood community, but in the Western world as well from major journals like the New York Times. I think the only drawback to the film is its lengthiness (almost 3 hours long), though the time is well used as there are very few drag scenes. The movie just hit theatres last week, so I would urge everyone once again to give the movie a shot. Take a loved one, take a friend, or even go yourself, but check it out....and if for some reason you miss it in theatres, I'm sure it will be out on DVD in the near future...this is one film you don't want to miss.

Khizer's rating: 5 stars

Here's a theatrical trailer:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hello Everyone!

So today is/was Valentine's Day, the first of this decade *OMG OMG OMG*, and I must say it started off with a bang as I had a fabulous time. I will post my story sometime this week to keep a look out for that post.

On a side-completely-unrelated-note, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Valentine's Day is a day of love, which doesn't mean you need to be with someone to enjoy it. Whether you're in a relationship or single, there are many ways to express the joy of Valentine's Day and spreading the love!

My way of spreading the love to all of you is a list of some of my favourite Valentine's Day songs. If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen I did a Top 5 countdown. Here are those 5 songs, plus a few other Valentine's Day inspired songs for you to listen when you get a chance. Most of them are mainstream, so I'm sure you've heard them...but hey, maybe I'll make you fall in LOVE with some of those songs again!

Top 5 Songs:

1. Dangerously in Love - Destiny's Child

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jurs7llY1l4

2. Baby Love - Nicole Scherzinger Feat. Will.I.Am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyx0NFjVzEk

3. With You - Chris Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmjdaBaZe8Y

4. Write You A Song - Plain White T's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YEgLmy7Z1k

5. With Love - Hilary Duff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhgLoanz1b4

Some other songs Valentine's Day inspired songs that I love:

Take My Breath Away - Jessica Simpson

For The Nights I Can't Remember - Hedley

The Reason - Hoobastank

My Love - Justin Timberlake Feat. T.I.

I hope you guys all have/had a great Valentine's Day!

'Till next year,

Khizer

Ask Me Anything!

Hey everyone,

So I recently jumped on the formspring.me wagon. It's a website where you can ask someone a question (anonymously or non-anonymously) and then they answer them and it posts to their profile. You don't need to make an account to ask!

I've already answered a bunch of questions, I know some of them are a bit jokey, but if you ask me an honest question, I'll give an honest answer.

Check it out:

http://www.formspring.me/khizerlicious

-Khizer

Forgiveness

Forgiveness - Anna Faris

Forgiveness, is more than saying sorry. Forgiveness, is accepting people's flaws…To forgive is divine, so let's have a glass of wine, and have make-up sex, until the end of…time, time, time, time.

This song from the movie Just Friends, though a bit humorous, does have a way of connecting to my blog post today.

I was watching Desperate Housewives earlier this morning, season 2 to be specific (I'd get the episode name and number, but that would make me too nerdy). In this season, a character named George is obsessed with Bree to the extent that he'd do anything to get her…this included killing her husband, her therapist, provoking her son and getting him sent to boarding school, and burning the car of her ex fling. When Bree finally realized this, she broke it off with him causing George to overdose on pills. When Bree came to realize this, she told him that she can still forgive him provided that he accepts his mistake.

Why am I telling you this? Well, this scenario got me thinking that in life, one of the hardest things to do is forgive, and at the same time, it can be just as hard to accept your flaws, mistakes, and wrong-doings. But why do we make this hard for ourselves? Accepting your flaws and mistakes may seem embarrassing to you or a loss of pride for some, but in reality, I believe accepting flaws and mistakes, is not only the honourable thing to do, but you will look like a better person. If I were Bree, I would be in no position to forgive George, but then I thought, what if by forgiving the wrongdoer, they actually learn their lesson. I'm sure George didn't expect her to forgive him, but what if her forgiveness would cause George to get help, get him to change, and maybe seek redemption by doing right in this world. People do deserve a second chance. I'm not one to bring religion in to things, but I learned that in the Islamic faith, not forgiving a person who asks for forgiveness, is equivalent to destroying the holy Ka'Bah 10 times. My statistics may be erroneous, and of course many readers are of different faiths, but the example does put it in a sort of perspective, does it not?

Life is short, and you never know what's going to happen next. I'm not going to lie, I've been guilty of both; not owning up to my mistakes, or to keep my pride high, i wouldn't admit to loss or correction and at the same time, I would also hold some everlasting grudges. Who hasn't? But I believe that if someone apologizes and asks for forgiveness, and they seem sincere about it, forgive them. If its something extreme or something huge, you can forgive them and just keep your distance from that person, but at least forgive them. You'll feel good about yourself and maybe even set an example for the other person. As to owning up to mistakes, and admitting that you were wrong…yes, it is a hard thing to do, and your pride and even your ego may feel hurt, but it is (like I mentioned before), the honourable thing to do.

In this world, we don't like to be judged by others, so in return, we should also avoid passing judgement, and leave it to the hierarchy, or if you don't believe in a supreme power, leave it to karma. What goes around, comes around.