Time to leave

This time I wasn't that blue to leave one of the best places in the world to be on vacation. It was partly because this time our plan was only to get ourselves to my sister's wedding and see my family and the mission was complete without any flaws. Yes, I was satisfied!


we had steak who took home with a doggie bag!

Today we also went to a Japanese supermarket and bookstore to find things we will never be able to find in Tehran (maybe at Dubai by doubling the price). And finished off with American style getting souvenirs at Costco (former Price Club to me), and stopping by Starbucks and Burger King for our lunch.


Japanese food store...


and the famous bookstore!


wholesale store!


looking for the BEEF!


and my favorite fast food!


drive thru!


the largest one... Triple Whopper!

We left home at 2PM and we were on the way at 4:40PM out of the airport... After saying farewell to my sister and my mother who will also leave tomorrow with my dad... maybe I fell a little blue... At least we still have one more day at Dubai...


oh... we're almost there...


and that will take us back to the Middle East...

PS
It really sucks that our enterainment system was broken! We were offered another seating, but we heard there was another guest together, so we decided to skip movies and just enjoy the time together. Actually we were sleeping most of the way!


not working!

But there's many ways to enjoy...

number one... BEER!


number two... WINE!


crossing the mountains...


and flying through the blue sky!

One full day to enjoy...

We only had today to enjoy and share the life of a Bay Area resident. In the morning, I took a walk with my wife around the vicinity to show her the junior high and high school I graduated from. Both, being a Sunday and summer vacation time, were closed as expected, but I'm sure my wife got some of the pictures. Anyways both schools seemed completely different since when I both left them as a gruadate!


"Middle School"!? I thought it was "Junior High"...


yes... yes... it was "Jr. High"... maybe they changed their formal names...


and my high school... I'm sure I won't be able to make my 20th year reunion next year...

After attending a service at the church I went to when I was a school boy, we went to our favorite nice meal, which I always want to have when I'm here in the Bay Area. We then went to a familiar mall where I've been to so many times! I got two pairs of jeans and for my wife, I was finally able to buy birthday presents! She was looking for a watch with "world time" and she also stopped haphazardly in front of a shoe shop to get a nice pair of boots she can use in the winter.
In the nighttime, it was time to get one of the best dinner treats here in the Bay Area! My favorite prime rib dish that I also had three years ago. I left my stomack open for this, so having a 12 ounce cut was no problem! I was happy having all the members of my family together and two of our relatives here!


one of my favorite!


yummy! yummy!


the familiar shopping center...


starting with the nice clam chowder


and the main dish!! yummy, yummy, yummy!!


finishing with some sorbetto...

We finished off the day at a familiar 24 hour supermarket in the neighborhood of our home. Buying chewable Vitamin C tablets were our goal, but we found the cheap generic ones, which is just perfect for filling up our vitamin necessities for nearly a year in Tehran!





At night we had time for the boys! Together with my dad and brother we enjoyed my brother-in-law's collection of Scotch and it was enough to feel happy that I was having enough alcohol for a year. I'm sure I won't be able to enjoy so much drinks in seveal days!


time for the real thing!

Longest day of my life!?

Going to bed after 12:30AM we woke up before 2AM and was already on our way to the airport at 2:30AM. Our flight to Dubai was not on schedule as we had to wait in the plane for someone who had a baggage problem and one female passanger who didn't feel well. We finally took off an hour and a half later than schedule. We were concerned as we only had two hours for transferring to the next flight but the ground staff lead us to the gate in less than thrity minutes and there we encountered a pleasant surprise.

We were upgraded to business class! Our ticket issued at Tehran was a "standby" pass and it was another concern whether we would have the seats, but how awesome to be able to sit in the business seats for a 16 hours ride! I'm sure this flight is the longest direct flight I've ever ridden in my life and we were saying all the misfortune has paid up!


nice seat!

with... all I can drink!

and a steak already! oh, the rich always have this priviledge!?

Watching three films, The Soloist, Bride Wars, and the Confessions of a Shopaholic, the only other things than eating and driking that I'd done in the plane was... sleep!

We arrived in San Francisco International 15 minutes after two, only half an hour late than schedule and we headed straight to the wedding venue where my lovely sister and his superb new husband were rehearsing. There I met my family, mom and dad and my brother together for the first time in years. It was a great chance to reunite my family living in three different countries now. How glad I was to be able to be here!


welcomimg me... yes I'm happy to be here!

After rehearsal, we went to a wine shop where they offer a "cocktail hour" for the guests. It was a mistake I had three glasses of wine in the plane and I refrained of having too much here. Well, my brother had so many glasses he seemed to be happy than ever!


all the great Californian wine on the table!

It's an 11 hour and 30 minute time zone difference from Tehran, being almost on the other side of the globe, made today probably the longest day adding up to 35 hours and 30 minutes! But I'm sure it was spent the best way ever!


home sweet home!

PS
I made a shameful mistake by jamming my toe into the brick of the chimney of our home... It really hurts!!

Who's story?

Well, the confusion in this country is anyone's story. Though I am the only one from my organization stationed in this country, my wings are clipped and what use is there for a correspondent who has to stay in the office and gather information where everybody can in a warm and safe environment all over the world through the internet!? It's true we're trying to gather information through our channels too, but these everyday events are just for filling up the news. For longer programs they can just take control in Tokyo and analyze everything through their channels... working in a warm and safe environment... this is where the dilemma is when you can't be in the streets being proud that you have the primary sources of information, and many information can just be picked up through YouTube and Twitter... I'm not at all satisfied by the way I'm working right now and only frustrations remain... I hope my broken wings would soon be fixed...

PS
My wife has gladly taken the burden of going out of this country to help us out with an important business task. She safely landed in Dubai and hopefully will return tomorrow. I'm very grateful that I have someone who I can trust to help us out! I hope she enjoys her brief stay there!

PPS
Without my wife at home... I had time to enjoy...


beer! but without alcohol...

A unique experience...

I worked till 3AM and after a brief nap, it was time to leave. We reached the airport at 6:30AM and I was left speechless...

Only one line...

of the bulletin of departures said...

CANCELLED!

I couldn't understand what happened and I was standing in front of the bulletin with my wife open-mouthed and even dumbfounded... I tried to think how we can still go to Dubai while starting back to central Tehran. The next flight available would be too late to get me to Dubai to make it to an appointment and tomorrow is a day off so I won't be able to do anything tomorrow...

After returning to my office, it was nearly the time I had to leave for the next flight I found the solution! I asked our bureau chief in Dubai to help me out to be a proxy and it seemed to become the right solution to my case and everything would be fine if I could meet the bureau chief later on in the day...

After making the decision and going throught the formalities, we rushed to the airport and made it 35 minutes before the flight time. The agent sitting on the counter of the airline told us the ticketing was closed, but I pleaded for mercy and with a smile from an "innocent" customer being troubled with their cancelling, it somehow worked and we were inside the plane in 20 mintues. Everybody seemed to be on board already, but we did see some ladies boarding the flight after us... phew....


the plane we took...
be careful when you're taking this carrier!

After reaching Dubai, I dedicated my time to finish off an important task to meet the bureau chief and felt relieved that my decision was correct...

I had a bite with our bureau chief at...

Sumo Sushi!? hmm... a "mimicry" of Japanese!?

oh... the sushi's not bad... sorry! I'm sorry calling you a mimic!
it's something different but not bad!
I hope we can have one in Tehran... really...


view of Media City

one more beer!

After 7PM, we went out to shopping centers nearby the hotel and finally spent some time feeling relaxed...

Our target of the day...

a "thrifty" shop, very popular in Japan!

a variety of things...

many of the goods were just 6 Dilhams each and we bought 10 items!

Shopping around for other necessities...

we also got some nice shoes for my wife!

We moved on to a different shopping center walking for about half an hour from the hotel...

here in Egypt!?

not really!
it's the Wafi City Shopping Mall...

Here, many of the shops looked very expensive and there were not much people around compared to the first shopping center with many locals...

We hunted for a restaurant and settled in a restaurant near the roof of the hotel connected to the shopping center!

It was very nice to have dinner outside watching the night view of the city and we had a pleasant time... really...


view of the city in front of us...


nice appetizer with beer!

Asian taste!

It was nearly midnight when we finally finished eating our dessert... We have to return to Tehran tomorrow, but I hope the dream will not end now...

PS
Shots of the nightview of Dubai...


New downtown in the far left...


Wafi Mall below...