Since my blog theme has always been lists, I thought, “What is the next list I could make?”. After taking a nice 1-hour nap and then scrolling through Tiktok, I had an epiphany. Staring at me was a tiktoker’s video about her Coachella experience, so I thought “Why don’t I rate the concerts I have attended!”. Thus, here were are with another random list this week: best to worst concert experiences (although none of them were really “bad” per see).

1. BTS – Circa 2019

Rating: 1000000/10

Obviously, in first place …the GOAT … the one and the only … BTS. If you do not already know, I have been a fan of the K-pop band BTS for the past five years (I blame Gloria Baek for introducing me in 2017). Unfortunately, I have only been able to go to one BTS concert, yet, it was the best concert of my life. I remember the day my friends Gloria, Jessica, Ria, and I got tickets while on Facetime, and Jessica literally started crying (not Jessica from NNHS). 

Fast forward to the day of the concert, we reach the venue at 11 am and start standing in the merchandise line. After a cool 2 hours, we finally get to buy overpriced shirts and head into the Soldier Field stadium. The concert was a rollercoaster of emotions. With BTS’s diverse discography, I did not know if I was going to be screaming or crying next. It was not just the singing that took my breath away, it was the fact that they were so stable WHILE DANCING. Haters will say they lipsync, but it was clear as day that they were performing live. Their show was so jam-packed I was afraid to blink. One second their singing sad ballads, the next they are jumping on a bouncy castle that appeared on stage. Ultimately, all four of us left sobbing that the concert was over and could not wait to buy tickets for next year.

P.S. We did buy tickets, and floor seats in fact, but the tour got canceled due to COVID ;(. 

2. The Weeknd, Circa 2022

Rating: 9.5/10

The Weeknd – quite literally a living legend. I received The Weeknd concert tickets as a birthday gift from my best friends Ameera and Rubiah. They actually told me they were going together as a prank explaining that the seats sold out so fast they could not get me one. Then TWO MONTHS LATER they gave me the ticket as my birthday present. I just cannot believe they kept it a secret for so long. 

As for the actual concert – fantastic. Honestly, the only reason he gets 0.5 points off is that his show was supposed to start at 8 pm but he did not come on stage till 9:30 pm. Other than that little hiccup, his set was a masterpiece. He sang every single hit song in a medley which got the crowd so hyped. One second we were screaming to “Starboy” and then he transitioned to “Gasoline”. I also distinctly remember piercing red, satanic almost, backup dancers during the entirety of his concert. At first, I was creeped out, but they moved so fluidly as one unit that I could not keep my eyes off of them. Overall, The Weeknd made my weekend!

3. Once Direction – Circa 2013

Rating: 9/10 

Now I cannot write a blog about every single concert I have been to because then this blog would be 10000 words, but I have to pay ode to the first one I ever attended, One Direction. I was a mere 8-year-old just trying to live out my dreams. Unfortunately (fortunately), I do not have any actual photos of me there since they were on my old phone. 

 However, I can set the scene:

It is 2013 and in walks 4 of the most beautiful people you will ever see – a group of pre-pubescent Pakistani girls with Zayn Malik adorning their t-shirts and binoculars around their necks. I honestly remember very little from the actual concert, except that our seats were really far away and the binoculars actually came in handy. I have to give the concert a 9/10 anyways, simply because of the nostalgia. I owe my concert obsession to One Direction and will always be waiting for them to re-assemble some day in the future. I do not care if they are 80 years old, I will be attending their reunion concert. 

Honorable mentions: 

Ariana Grande – We sat all the way in the back of the stadium in 25$ seats my brother and I bought impulsively the day of. 

Shawn Mendes – Alessia Cara opened for his concert and she was actually better than him.

Lollapalooza – I do not know if this counts as a concert but it was really fun because Jhope headlined (he is a member of BTS). 

I hope you enjoyed this hodge-podge of concert experiences I’ve had over the years, and let me know if you want to go to a cocert together!

Over this past spring break I *finally* was able to go to Pakistan after five years! The past couple of years my mother and I have been trying to go, however, due to COVID and other factors we were not able to. To sum up the trip: it was the best vacation ever. At last, I was able to see my extended family (especially my grandfather) and explore Pakistan more since I am older now. In this week’s blog post, I will be explaining the highs and the lows of my spring break travels!

Low #1: Food Poisoning 

One of the best parts of visiting Pakistan is the delicious food, although I did not have the immunity to eat all of it. Every time I go to Pakistan I get terrible food poisoning. Back in 2018 I literally threw up everything I ate. This time around I had an upset stomach (you can imagine the rest). For three days I couldn’t enjoy the sizzling samosas at dinner or the spicy omelet at breakfast. However, I did not let this setback stop me from making the most Pakistan has to offer. There is one, specific Lays chips that is only available in Pakistan – masala chips. Every time a family member or friend goes to visit my brother and I request a whole suitcase of masala chips. So, although I could not eat any of the homecooked meals or street food, I could eat masala chips all night! Depicted on the right is an amazing haul reserved for me and my dietary restrictions. 

In addition to masala chips, my diet consisted of McDonald’s for three days. However, it was not ordinary, America McDonald’s. In Pakistan, they have a wrap called the McArabia which is basically a gyro wrap. I am proud to say I consumed about 5 over the course of my 10-day trip.

Low #2: United States Customs

Cannot have an Anwar Vacation without a fun airport security story! My family has come to expect the “random security checks”, especially when traveling with my brothers. This time it was just me and my mom traveling so I was hoping to sneak by without any trouble. Unfortunately, on our way back we got ULTRA random security checked. It was not just going through our bags or taking off our shoes, it was a thorough investigation. My mother and I were taken into a separate room and were told to sit there for an entire hour. When looking around I spotted maybe one white family out of the fifteen families waiting. While we were waiting to be called up, there was a police officer with a sniffer-dog walking around checking clothes and bags. Unfortunately, there was an Iranian family who brought spices in their bag and they all got confiscated. I foresaw this issue arising and made sure the bag filled with masala chips was sent directly to our house instead of us picking it up from baggage claim. After a fun-filled hour of sitting in a plastic chair, it was finally our turn. While swabbing our hands and bags for any explosive residue we received multiple, full body pat downs. We waited one hour for the process to only take about 20 minutes. In the end, although the process was annoying, it was definitely worth seeing my family.

High (worth 1000 highs): Spending Ramadan with Family

Speaking of family, this was the entire reason my mom and I went! Finally, after five years I was able to spend quality time with my grandfather. My grandfather has severe Parkinson’s so he’s no longer able to come and visit us in the United States. Although he spends most of his time in his bed nowadays, I finally dragged him outside to have dinner with us. 

Seeing him get up and come outside actually made my mom and aunt cry, so it was a very special dinner. Because it was Ramadan there were really only two meals in the day: breakfast at 4:00 am and dinner at 7:30 pm. At first, I thought going to Pakistan during Ramadan would make it less fun, yet it actually made the experience better. My cousins and I would get up at 3 pm and stay up till 7 am hanging out. It was like the entirety of Pakistan was also on this schedule, so coffee shops were open till 3 am and the malls were open till 1 am. It was such an eye-opening experience to spend Ramadan in a Muslim country. Everyone was out, walking around the city at 2 am and no one questioned it.

As soon as I came back from Pakistan I immediately wanted to go back. Just being surrounded by family and like-minded people was kind of life-changing. I never realized how much I changed myself to fit into the culture around me. When I was in Pakistan I did not have to do any of that, in fact, I feel as though I learned a bit more about myself.