Coming back to Karachi after three years brought back tons of beautiful memories. These are some of the things I have done, and still do on the occasion. These are the things that make Karachi a source of nostalgia for me.

Crash a wedding.

Karachi deals with water shortage, power outages, etc. If there is one thing that its never short on, they are wedding halls (though booking one is a different story). A Pakistani wedding is not just about your perfect day. It’s about your perfect week and for some people, their perfect month. In any case, many wedding halls are side by side. Besides the occasional accident where your family walks into the wrong person’s function, sometimes this action is done intentionally (mainly by the kids). When I was younger, after spending a good portion of time in one wedding tent, my friends and I would wander into another one. As long as you’re dressed nice, nobody will know. The guest list is usually too long, so that you go unnoticed.

Gola ganda.

When I try to describe a gola ganda to someone, the first image I recall is a snow cone -- a snow cone, except it’s way better. The flavors, rainbow-colored and richer, are drizzled on crushed ice. I prefer to eat gola on a stick, while others prefer the less messy route in a cup. On top of that, there’s condensed milk drizzled over the entirety of this gigantic, icy lollipop. The best gola in Karachi can be found in Dhoraji Colony, a long street filled with vendors.

Street food and chai.

Roadside stalls have all of my favorite savory foods: chaat (garbanzo beans, potatoes and spices), pani puri (chickpeas in fried flour), bun kebabs (burgers in which the buns are fried, with patties fried in egg whites), and haleem (lentil/meat stew), etc. These foods incorporate chaat masala, various kinds of chutney, and other flavors that are difficult to find elsewhere. In addition, these foods are accompanied with a cold drink, followed by a cup of doodh patti chai. This chai is unlike the teas found elsewhere because it’s black tea leaves cooked in milk. Other ingredients can cause the flavors to vary: adding sugar brings the familiar sweetness and cardamom/cinnamon brings a refreshing kick.

Ride a rickshaw.

One of my favorite things to see in Karachi is truck art. Rickshaws, buses and trucks, dowsed with powerfully bright colors can be seen outside of my car's window while maneuvering Karachi's traffic. However, riding the rickshaw is even better than watching it from the window. This three wheeled vehicle, open and illustrious without doors, has space for two to three in the back. When I went for a tuk tuk ride in Lisbon, Portugal, it brought back the nostalgia of a rickshaw ride. Bumpy, exciting, quick-lived and opportune. These are the mini taxis and the life of Karachi's roads.

Spa day.

Everybody needs a spa day once in awhile, but often times the price of this kind of self-care is enough to bring back all the stress. Not everyone can afford to accommodate these pleasures every now and then. In Karachi, you can find nice spas and parlors to get all kinds of massages, threading, waxing, haircuts, blow outs, hair treatments, manicures and pedicures for a lower price. In addition, if you go to the right place at a time when it's not so busy (a weekday, rather than a weekend), the quality of the treatment is even better. I myself will get velvet treatments (protein massage into the hair with a massage and a blow dry, afterwards) for less than I would ever pay for a nice haircut back home.