Another day in February!

Baghdad Day 23

Another day in February!

I'm so happy we have another day in February. There are plans that the Iranian leader is coming to Baghdad on March 2nd, but we're not quite ready. I'm so happy we have this 29th day before entering March!

And also in the afternoon, I took a nap so I will not collapse from overwork in the coming days. But with so many loud sounds coming out from outdoors (especially those blackhawks!), my sleep was broken up several times... better than nothing I guess...

MISSION:

capture the wave! with this worn out dish!?


hey dude! can you help me!?
even a kitten could help me!


having some chocolate I saved for myself...


yogurt with garlic!? it's Iranian... and it tastes weird!


another great Japanese dish at night!

And..

I had a sip of my favorite whisky at night...

Let's see how wild the next month will be!

Three weeks...

Baghdad Day 22

Three weeks...

Just about halfway through. But still I have no satisfaction with what I've done so far. I'm just a bum wasting time, not making any progress. But there's no time to be depressed as there's no other choice but to go one hoping for the better. I know I might be feeling this way because I'm so tired without getting any rest for a long time... oh well...

I've been writing so many things in English so I can communicate with my staff through written documents, but as I was hitting the internet I was shocked to hear that I should leave only one space after a period when I use the word processing softwares.
http://www.google.co.jp/search?num=100&hl=ja&rls=GGGL%2CGGGL%3A2006-38%2CGGGL%3Aja&q=
two+spaces+after+period&btnG=%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2&lr=
When I took typing class when I was a ninth grader in high school, I was taught I should use two spaces after a sentence. Typewriters use monospace characters, so it was quite natural to have more spaces after one sentence, but I learned that isn't the case in computer softwares with proportional characters. Maybe I didn't realize one space is enough, as I didn't have so much opportunities to print out what I've written in English. (I've written many e-mails in English, but I rarely print them out.) But since I've started using QWERTY keyboards when I learned to type in typing class, it's a natural habit for me to hit the space bar twice after adding a period after a sentence. I'm going to change that habit from today!


refuel! it's a Japanese truck!

nice snack! Iraqi one!

and some Iraqi food too!
But...

my favorite dish for a night snack is the best...
cereal!

Sadly...

Baghdad Day 21

Sadly...

I feel so insecure here...
No. Not because there are suicide bombers out there and mortar attacks can always tear out the building. That's not why.
Since I can't move around the city freely, and I have no idea what the Arabic words on TV and newspapers are writing. It's very hard to communicate with staff members who don't understand even simple English.
One thing is certain... I will feel so happy when I can go out and do the coverage on my own anywhere in the world, and I will work very hard trying to learn the language spoken!

having some naan for the first time...
quite tasty!

Running out of time...

Baghdad Day 20

Running out of time...

Loud sounds of helicopters are annoying when they just hover around our heads, but that's what it was like all day with black helicopters probably from a private security company looking out for danger while their convoy hit the streets.

there's one... I couldn't film them when they were right in front of me though... I don't want to be targeted wrongly as some sniper!

With time running out, we're having trouble getting good pictures for our coming coverages next month. We've been planning for quite a long time, but without pictures, we won't be able to make a good story!

Rain!

Baghdad Day 19

Rain!

Winds that roll up the sand all over the atmosphere from the morning. The view was not pleasant at all from our balcony. All the satellite channels were affected.

It became worse in the afternoon...

RAIN!

At around 3:20PM, rain started to fall on the dry city. They say it was the first one in about a month. It was certainly the first rain I've seen since I arrived in Baghdad.

the satellite channels' reception quality was even worse!

It rained till nighttime, but maybe it would briefly stop terrorists to ignite their bombs with lighters!

P.S.

this is my daily breakfast... the bread is very tasty by the way!

Day of sectarian violence...

Baghdad Day 18

Day of sectarian violence...

In the morning, there was an attack killing several in southern Baghdad. and in the afternoon, 40 were killed in a town called Iskandariya. The targets were Shia pilgrims heading to the holy city of Karbala for a religious ceremony known as Arba'een.

With violence targeting specific sectarian targets, the spiral of anger will not see its end with peace running away each time an innocent is murdered...


a treat from Japan!

Mortar attacks in the City

Baghdad Day 17

Mortar attacks in the City

Early in the morning, at around 6:20AM, I heard three explosion-like sounds, but since it quieted down with no sign of emergency, I fell back to sleep.
Later after I woke up, I heard there were nearly 10 mortar or rockets hitting the American controlled Green Zone... They say the attack originated in Sadr City in the northeast, but we're in between the target and the origin... What if it hit our building? Oh, I don't want to imagine...

But life goes on...

looking at our generators... oh, that's how it looks inside!

visiting the shop for the first time...

The Turkish invasion seems to be a more threatening event than expected... whenever Iran starts to evolve, Turkey tries to show its presense... something fishy here...

Iraqi food

Baghdad Day 16

Iraqi food

It's so cold this week. It's not so bad when you're out in the balcony with sunlight shining upon with no winds, but when you get inside and get the cold winds entering the building, it just makes you miserable. I know it is probably the best time of the year not to get either frozen or molten, but since I hate being cold, I have a hard time getting active.

It was a day off in Baghdad as usual, but there were some work to do as the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has announced the extension of the cease-fire by his supporting Mahdi Army. The reports of the Turkish intrusion into Northern Iraq, the Kurdish region were updated and we couldn't dismiss the news, knowing that many of the news being announced by innumerable media will be hard to analyze the truth.

We had Iraqi "home cooking" style meal for lunch

they call these "kubba" made of minced meat

And...

at night we had these!
we had no time to cook so a quick to eat
boil-in-the-bag dish was delicious enough!


P.S.
It was pretty sad to see Horiemon's first day at the appeals court was just a mere "betakiji", a small piece of article used just to fill up the paper space... what was all the bullshit I had to go through those precious months in autumn of 2006 and spring of 2007!

Acryonyms...

Baghdad Day 15

Acryonyms...

Reading an MNF report about IED attacks by AQIZ, the primary AIF of the area and many SAF attacks with HMEs targeting ISF patrols and CLCs in Iraq in which JAM are blamed of.

OK? Got it!?
Well, these three letter and four letter abbreviations just makes me crazy... there's even a report by CNN about these kind of acronyms!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/22/holmes.acronyms/index.html

For reference, the acronyms above mean... MNF(Multi-National Forces), IED (Improvised Explosive Devices), AQIZ(Al-Qaeda In Iraq), AIF(Anti-Iraqi Forces), SAF(Small Arms Fire), HME(Home Made Explosives), ISF(Iraqi Security Forces), CLC(Concerned Local Citizens), JAM(Jaysh Al Mahdi)...

I'm starting to learn these words, but I think I'll never see them again after I leave Baghdad...

our dinner...

meat loaf!

2 weeks!

Baghdad Day 14

2 weeks!

I'm still having trouble shifting to a higher gear, and we're running out of time... It's still pretty cold and without any workouts, I'm just a fat guy waiting for lunchtime and suppertime.


the satellite TV had bad signals... moving it a little might help!?

At night, fighting through the filming tape of our coverage...

with some treats...
a rich flavored milk from Saudi Arabia... and some chocolate I brought from Japan...

and Yudofu (hot tofu) my elder colleague made...

I gotta start filling my tank with high octane gas and burn them to make some progress from tomorrow!!

Back to inefficiency...

Baghdad Day 13

Back to inefficiency...

I can't say it's because it's back to the cold days as I sometimes shiver in the building, but we're becoming inefficient again. There's not so much news we can cover that will oust any of the big news that take away the program time of our news programs back in Japan.
On the news we see that Castro has finally stepped down, a historical turning point in post-war history, and a JMSDF destroyer accident off the coast of Chiba, and of course, the Pakistani general election I missed to cover.

It's now a habit that I get to see cartoons on Iraqia TV!

Tom and Jerry on local TV!

Cloudy

Baghdad Day 12

Cloudy

It was a cloudy and windy day, but we went outside to go see our neighbors and have lunch together. We talked about the security of the area and we still feel the prospect is quite cloudy for the coming few months.

it's surely because of the sands of the desert that's causing this cloudy atmosphere!

Our security situation is always cloudy, as it never safe to go outside, but we have to go on, so we can cover the stories to show our nation that there is still a troubled nation out here that we can do something to help!

P.S.
In the other troubled nation I was staying at just a month or so before, has finally held their general election. whatever the outcome is, they're surely not going to be stable in months!

Sunday: An ordinary weekday

Baghdad Day 11

Sunday: An ordinary weekday

It's a Sunday, but an ordinary weekday in Baghdad. An ordinary day with bombings, this time in the central area of the city by a female suicide bomber.
Bombings by women is now so common that everybody is forgetting how unusual it is to have a female bomber.
Misfortune is still surrounding this country with dark clouds...

Without much work to do today, we were watching the news...

Kosovo's declaration of independence... I wonder how the Iraqis will react!?

P.S.

a group of birds flying in a herd...
are they trying to attack another sect of birds!?

A tough task

Baghdad Day 10

A tough task

I realize how tough it is to make a report here in Iraq, but with limited resources we must do the best. It's also impossible to runaway or even quit, even though I get disgusted at my inefficiency!

So the day rolled on feeling like lying on a bed of thorns, but still I have to quickly learn to make things happen without so much help!


having beer after work was the only relief today...
only...
the first beer in days since we had some at a Chinese restaurant in Amman.

A cold day

Baghdad Day 9

A cold day

It was so windy outside, and it was quite cold inside the building too.
The work was going cold too, as things never go as planned here in Baghdad.
I'm trying to learn how to get something going the right way, but I'm surely stuck in mud, when I'm talking about my reporting. I gotta get going!

Watching CNN International, you see so many commercials promoting tourism. Greece, Spain, India are some of the countries I see that wouldn't surprise me to be introduced with, but...

this commercial with a cute lady from... Azerbaijan!?
it's only a country away from Iraq, right next to Iran!
and there's a place like paradise there!?
yeah, I'd sure like to be there...

We had Japanese dinner!

delicious dishes cooked by my elder colleague!
ggggreat!


together with some dessert I brought from Japan!

After a week in Baghdad...

Baghdad Day 8

After a week in Baghdad...

I'm growing fat each day as I just eat and hang around the office.
The food is great here and I'm satisfied with what I'm getting.

To be in shape I have to use these...

yeah if I have enough stamina to excersize, I'd become a macho man!

But I'm so tired, I only ran through the machines for less than half an hour... my stomach is still plumped up...

Cleaning up!

Baghdad Day 7

Cleaning up!

Last night after writing a story about a CBS journalist being kidnapped in the southern city of Basra, I was quite uncomfortable, and I saw a dream overnight that I was returning to Japan to cover some important news without even staying a week in Baghdad and trying to get some sort of stamp so I can return to Iraq in a week. Dreams never make sense, but there must be something I'm have concerns with.

Well, it was another peaceful day and a ineffective one when I look at my accomplishments. With more than a month to go, I know I shouldn't rush myself, but looking at another perspective, it's already a week till I've arrived in Iraq and look what I've done... NOTHING!


a wet paper towel to clean my face gets dirty in one wipe...
it's quite sandy here and you know what that does to our body and our equipment!
I better get a shower tonight, though I wouldn't get to see my Valentine tomorrow!

taking a shower!
it's great I can get hot water and wash my hair!
the shampoo I bought in Islamabad is doing fine!

And washing my clothes for the first time...

with a two-tier washer!
I haven't used this type of washing machine for years!
not since I was a college boy!

Drinking liquids all day...

Baghdad Day 6

Drinking liquids all day...

I didn't have any nightmares, but with military helicopters and aircraft flying over our heads each night, there wouldn't be so much room for dreams, as nightmares are just realities here.

But actually it was a warm and peaceful day today and I couldn't make it an effective day... Oh, I gotta be more efficient! But you know I have to stay inside the building for safety, so what more can I ask for!?


drinking liquids all day!
coffee... green tea... I'm getting used to this...

Terrorist activities

Baghdad Day 5

Terrorist activities

It was a beautiful day with the temperature rising above 20 degrees Celcius, but it never is what it seems to be in this city.
At around noon, when we were talking in our room downstairs, we heard an explosion-like sound. We found out soon that it was a car bomb explosion at the central part of the city, and we rushed to the roof to see whatever we can from our secured area.


we saw lines of smoke...

We heard the second explosion when we were on the roof, and another series of black smoke coming from gasoline burned from blown up cars. In this incident at least 11 were killed...

We also heard news that CBS journalists were missing and supposedly abducted in the southern city of Basra. It's not clear whether it is an act by terrorists or ransom seekers, but threatening journalists is surely terror!

Oh, I hope I sleep without having any nightmares!

Doing some work... finally...

Baghdad Day 4

Doing some work... finally...

We finally had an American briefing in Baghdad, but not of much interest for the Japanese people. We also had a car bombing in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, but since I had not been able to write anything here, I decided to get a story out of the incident. Anti-al-Qaida forces are being attacked and the U.S. strategy to use local ex-militants to counter terrorists are now getting serious challenges from attackers.

I finally took a shower tonight, a bit relieved I did some work. Being here itself is great work, but surely it's better to write something!
Now, I have to get something going so I can make a convincing report and go on to do research about a special program we are planning to make around the fifth anniversary of the start of the war on mid-March.


got enough shampoos and soap!

Another day without work

Baghdad Day 3

Another day without work

Oh, I better think of some stories to cover...

I finally got a television in my room, but I won't be able to watch any Japanese programs... Well I think I have to stick with BBC or CNN.

it's an LG! cheaper but stable enough!

It's a three day weekend in Japan, so I think we won't hear too much fusses from Tokyo that I'm not doing any work!

I'm getting addicted to alcohol... yeah, you need this to get through the night with Blackhawks flying all over the place!


having my favorite Ballantine's Scotch and some vegetables lightly preserved in salt bran

A peaceful day... a great treat!

Baghdad Day 2

A peaceful day... a great treat!

Thank God I was given another peaceful day to get used to my life in a new environment. We took a brief walk outside to look around breifly, but only inside the restricted area for orientation.

Friday being a day off for the troubled people here in Baghdad, many seemed to be enjoying this peaceful day...

kids running around the park...

I surely pray that they can live in peace... Without electricity and without clean water, at least having a paeaceful day would be a simple treat...

P.S.

The pictures I think are of their Great Prophet looks like the Messiah of another religion... they all have the same type of image! but why do they have to kill each other...

Landing on Iraqi soil...

Baghdad Day 1

Landing on Iraqi soil...

To be honest, I'm a little drunk now... drinking scotch whisky we bought at the duty free shop in Amman, I'm feeling great!

After taking off at around 11AM from Jordan, I stepped on Iraqi land for the first time in my life at around 1:30PM. After leaving the airport with heavy security, we made it to our office without any abnormality.

hopping on to Royal Jordanian's "Jessica" at Amman


my first sight of Baghdad... the unsketchy view of former Saddam Hussein Airport

I saw many people out on the streets with less than a week after a large bomber attack on February 1st, and though I may have been a illusion, I saw hope in the eyes of the Iraqi people. I know it will become a tough six weeks for me, but I will try my best to smile all the time, and write articles that will bring hope to this troubled nation.

Good night Baghdad!

P.S. I will only write my diary on my off duty hours, so I may not be able to update this diary frequently, but I will always write down something everyday on my notebook PC.
AND I WILL NOT WRITE DOWN ANY MATERIAL NOR UPLOAD ANY PICS THAT COULD LEAD TO THREATENING OUR CREW'S SECURITY STATUS.

Still time to relax

Amman Day 2

My second day in Amman.
Suffering from jet lag, I woke up about five times and the watch was showing time like 3AM, 4:45AM, 6AM and so on until I finally woke up at around 10AM.
I had a very expensive lunch inside the hotel...

chicken curry dish!
I paid 15JD for this with rice and water including tax and tips!

The city is so peaceful and it was also a great day! So I decided to walk to the "7th Circle" where I had an appointment. It took me 58 minutes to walk, but it was quite interesting to walk the main road of the city.

walking through Zahran Street


western style fast food restaurants to high-tech skyscrapers in construction:
they're surely getting developed!

It took me just over an hour on my way back as I was a little tired.
At night, my elder colleague joined me at the hotel and with another mate we went out to get some Chinese food with Amstel Beer.

You get really thirsty in this country, and before returning to the hotel, I got some soft drinks to quench my thirst. The night is passing by and the final moment to head for Iraq is coming...


time to relax with some juice and Pepsi!
Good night...