Without the sun

It was sad to see "the sun" has gone. Back to a normal working day in Tehran and I know there's a big hole missing. When will "the sun" be back? Hopefully in the spring. Latest in the summer. I need the solace to cheer me up in this solitary life where friends and some magic liquids will not help me forget the realities.

looking up at the sky... back to the cloudy days... where's my sunshine!?

PS
I was so sleepy today as I went to bed at around 3:30AM after returning to my office at 1:18AM.
Tonight, I was invited to have dinner with people working in the trading business at a banker's residence. of course we had the nice liquids to make our talks cheerful and I really enjoyed it!

Crazy tour!

Leaving the office at 3:45AM to participate in a tour to the southeast.
We went to Zahedan and then flew in the sky to see what's going on at the borderline. It was very cold inside the chopper and I really regret that I didn't bring a warmer jacket to cover me up!

other side is Afghanistan... a very unstable area I wouldn't dare go alone!

I don't know if the tour was well planned, but the interesting parts of it just lasted for about 30 minutes. Using all day is quite a challenge when there's so many work to do back in Tehran!

We finally flew out of the city just before 11PM... oh what a long and crazy tour!

A very different day off!

It was warm in the afternoon and it was a great day to take a walk.
Going out to eat at a hotel and walking in the park was the best amusement I can think of but I guess it wasn't that bad to spend it that way.
I felt a little uneasy to be taking a day off seeing the terror in Mumbai heightening to a breaking news which will surely be the top news for weeks even with the economic crisis enveloping the globe with darkness.
But I made my decision that today was a different day for me and it is more important to relax and have fun today than to take it at any other day in the near future.


walking through the park...

having a nice steak for lunch!

At night, I went to the airport to see off an important visitor. A precious moment to share as it takes about an hour to reach the far out airport in suburban Tehran. The city is getting colder each day, but I think this week was much warmer than expected. Not just because of the weather, but a heartwarming and indispensable supplement to my life. I hope I would be able to spend my life the same soon.

PS
I could see that the Bangkok chaos is also affecting our country!

the flights are cancelled!

A reason to ease down...

It was a sunny day and it was also a Thursday when people start to ease down reaching the end of the week. Actually most of the people are off in the afternoon and though it was a precious weekday for me, there were enough reasons for me to slow down.
I was even expecting a bitter call from Tokyo harshly accusing me of the ineffectiveness I've been showing in my performances, but I took the risk. The extreme Mumbai terror is surely causing panic in the headquarters and I had to take the advantage of using my time to soothe my heart.
In the afternoon, presuming there would be no more progress, I decided to take everyone out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. It was the best way to have a nice time and it was also a great day to walk outside for a reason.
After returning to my office, I did do some work that I have to anyways, like accounting, but it was still a day that I decided to take it easy.

kyababs are nice...

but Japanese food is nicer!

Driven to the corner...

I thought I had a little more time to the deadline...
I woke up early in the morning and started working from 7AM. Working on my proposal about a near future feature program I'm obliged to take the lead in making. There's many ideas, but there's a huge obstacle of getting permissions to film (or even to get just bits of information!) and it may become a unavailing task to write any proposal without securing the needed permissions.
Later in the morning, I was cornered to show some progress in the reaseach as I received a critical e-mail from Tokyo asking for the progress. I couldn't say I'm wasting my time for two months and it was my only choice to write down "overestimated" materials with opacity about how I can manage to make such a program!
In our documentary about India, almost everything we filmed in India was not written in the first proposal. We had to find alternatives to what we were prepared to film, which were postponed or cancelled. Still we managed to make a long program and through intensive debates at the editing process, we were even given words of praise. It was mainly the sufficient work by the chief editors and producers that brought us to success and this time I also would like to see some help from our brilliant staff in Tokyo.
My headaches will continue on until the day of the broadcast, but I'm already walking the path to this challenging feat!

PS
I had a throat ache and headache in the morning... was it the mosquito-repellent smoke? Oh I hate those mosquitos disturbing the pleasant sleep!


rice balls and coffee!? maybe the wrong combination...

Another live in less than a week...

I woke up very early. 5AM in the morning and went down to see off my staff going out.
But I must confess I couldn't resist the dizziness and I went back to sleep again from around 6:30AM for another hour and a half. This really helped me to continue on through a harsh day.

It was the last sprut that really counted this time, unlike the live coverage nearly a week ago, but we managed to get the job done... I think...

After returning to the office, we went out to get some kyababs to reward our souls...

always great to have these!

It was a tough day, but how nice is it to have some company after the battle! Thank you for your presence!

Back to lilfe, back to reality...

Couldn't resist the drowsiness and by 1AM, I'm sure I was asleep...
I started early at around 7:30AM and getting to my office before 8AM, but still one of my staff was already starting to get ready to go to a press conference. I had to get ready for my live report tomorrow and it was really hurting me not to work on it while I was staying in Dubai. (how can I!?) The interview my staff took was not suitable to the report and I had to try to fix the strategy of how I'm going to tell the story.
It's really tough to fight back here in Iran where I know Tokyo is enjoying its three day weekend, but I resisted by taking it easy at night and having a relaxed time myself. I'm back to life and back to reality here in Iran but this time I can think about it with company!

some sweets will be nice!

Japanese would loves these right!?

and a homemade Japanese supper will cure me even more!

Last day in Dubai...

This could be my last day in Dubai for months as there's probably no time or even no reason for me to leave Iran and come here until March of 2009.
I rushed to two appointments with people involved in the business sector and the day flew by instantlly.

Lunch was not fancy at all... but it was my first time visiting this well known franchise as I'm always eager to eat BK burgers!

hungry for fast food...

but these are new!?

in the older business area of Dubai

the new Terminal 3 of the airport... plenty to buy...

I was back in my office at 10PM as the plane left about thirty minutes late from Dubai. So long to the city crumbling from the economic disaster affecting every parts of the world... Let's see how it's doing about three or four months from now!

Irregular... but logical!

Since I couldn't secure any appointments for work and I had to stay in the city for an obligatory business transaction tomorrow, I announced that I would take a day off today and I declined to receive any business trip allowance and I even paid my hotel fee for last night and tonight! It's usually irregular to take a day off during a business trip, as I could usually thrust an appointment even though it was a holiday in the Arab city.
For many reasons, I decided to turn down to get any extra fees and decided to take a day off! You can say going around to see the city is useful for future coverage of the area and anything you do to get new information would be work for a foreign correspondent. But logically, today was just a day off for me.
So I'm sure pasting these pics will not be criticized as I wandered around the city on my private time!

the spice souq

with spices...

and nuts too...

the gold souq

Crossing the Dubai creek

to the other side...

and to the Old Souq area...
I came to the same area four years ago...

We took the taxi to the east...

stopping by the new Dubai mall...

they say it's the largest mall in the world... but only a third of the shops were open!
a little deceptive perhaps!?

But the big aquarium was enough to pursuade me with their appealing propaganda...

not a small one!

that you can walk under!

uh... hello...

And an ice rink!? who knows how to skate in the Middle East!?

But for me the most interesting...

is the fact you can find your favorite fast food!

they said this one which I had a bite in LA a while ago will only open tomorrow... boo...

but these will make me smile!

And at night... I didn't forget to have...

Japanese food!!

What a day off... I probably won't have a nicer day in probably months!!

Resort time

After finishing writing my brief story, I welcomed a very important guest early in the morning and I finally took a rest in the room.

I wasn't able to stay in the $35,000 suite... where they say they can have a 360 degrees view of Dubai...

but the view was fine enough for me from probably one of the cheapest rooms...

In the afternoon, after sending in my English report, I finally had time to feel a little relaxed and see around the resort for the last time to be sure I haven't missed a thing, as we were going to be kicked out from the resort at 5PM.

the guests were enjoying the accompany of cute dolphins

camels on the beach side

outside of the lobby, right near where the red carpet was last night...

We left the resort, saying to ourselves I'm going to be on the other side enjoying, and not working! (but I have to use my own money for that!)

After leaving the Palm Jumeirah it was time to see some other Dubai spots.

We went to...

the Mall of the Emirates...

To look around one of the most sophisticated malls with...

the famous ski slope! crazy to have this in the red heat nation!

Walking around the mall, I couldn't feel any of the financial crisis hurting the people hunting for brands parking their million dollar sports cars at the VIP parking spots.

I didn't want to be too stingy, but there seemed to be no Michelin ranked restaurants around, so I just chose what I wanted to eat!

a beef steak! they say it's a Kobe WAGYU-alike meat...
to be honest, it was tastly like the Japanese Kobe-gyu and I liked it!

It was time to say good-bye to my cameraman as I had to stay a bit longer to do some transactions on Sunday. I can try to relax just a bit more in this resort city... I hope! Please Iran, be tranquil!

and the fireworks!!


it was flaring up the whole man-made island!

I've never seen anything like this in my life!

It is wonderland!

Dubai from the plane... Burj Dubai is in the middle like a stick!

We arrived in Dubai after midnight, and reached our destination on one of the largest man-made island ever at around 2AM. I had to work on my story and it was around 4:30AM that I finally slept in a very nice bed.


nice room... if this was a real vacation...

We strolled around the resort hotel and its vicinity for shots and interviews. We saw many guests smiling with the satisfaction being the celebrities on a newly opened first class resort. Though I was a guest too, we were not here to relax but to cover their opening ceremony and it was really regretful that I was not holding a cocktail on my hands but rather a heavy Sachtler tripod on my shoulders!


a great resort to stay for several days!

looking down on us...


like a castle...


the Persian Gulf behind the resort...

I'm sure it's the best time now as it would be too hot in the summer!

view of the Palm Jumeriah from the resort

enjoying the aquarium built inside the hotel

The other important event in the night time...

the red carpet! I'm never going to cover this unless I'm a correspondent in LA!

After 10PM, we moved to away from the resort to a spot where we can film the fireworks...

Rushing out to wonderland!

I woke up at 6AM and finished recording my radio report and worked on my live coverage scripts. There was an international conference with Asian guests, but I had no time to cover it. I have to make decisions about which job is the priority... To be honest, I really was beginning to be a little skeptical about my trip to Dubai tonight that it may not be a real priority, but it was too late to reverse my decision, as there were so many important things waiting at the wonderland!

We went straight to the airport after my live coverage report.


saying good-bye to Milad tower... not focusing correctly... oops...

everybody was watching the soccer match between Iran and UAE! It would've been a challenge to go to Dubai if the Iranians had romped through their opponents, but it seems the game has ended in a tie! I saw the Japanese had scored first in their match against Qatar at Doha. Let's see how they've done after I reach Dubai!