In Dubai!?

The day passed by peacefully and as the evening neared, I decided to make a tour to a newly constructed spot I was curious to see...
Tied up in traffic, it took about an hour to get to the destination (it was less than 30 minutes to return with less traffic!) which was near the national stadium in the western part of the city.

Our destination...

Hyperstar! the color is different... but as you guessed right... it's Tehran's version of Carrefour! It was part of a shopping center named...


City Star... with the same logo as the City Centre in Dubai!

a large parking...

a large supermarket...

but most stores yet to open in the mall itself...

Some shots of Hyperstar...

electronic appliances from all over the world... just like in Carrefour...


and fresh food from all over Iran...


and lots of customers!! I'm sure they're excited to have a new place to shop around!!

A rare occasion at the prayers venue

It was Friday, but many of my colleagues were working from the morning. We met many of our friends at the University of Tehran, the venue for the Friday Prayers, as we had heard that the President was going to make a speech. Right after we arrived, the speech started and many participants were excited, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". Since it was a rare occasion to get his speech on film, I did my best to file a story about his comments.


many of our colleagues were here for the man!

It was already around 5PM when the job was finished and the only day off was about to be over. Together with my wife, we went out to shop at the usual supermarket and finished the day watching TV together.

Right when I was about to go to sleep, the IAEA report on Iran came in and though I was desperate to sleep, I glanced through it and saw the complexity of the paper, that I decided to analyze it tomorrow. This report will be on the table of the coming talks and negotiations, but it seems that either side can use it to defend their stances and also attack the other side as well. Let's see how the media will use this report to emphasize their stances!

PS
Other pics of the day...

Iranian cola... from the Zam Zam bottlers... not bad...

At the local supermarket...


we found these! wow!


oh! and a Taco Bell brand!

Going out to shop...

In the morning, I went shopping...

shopping for cars!

We're thinking of getting a new car, but it's not a cheap merchandize we're talking about, and I have to think of a realistic way of getting the money. We also have to think about the dimensions of the car as though we would like to have a spacious SUV, it could not fit our parking if it's too big! I see it's not going to be an easy shop to do, but I'll try to think of a great idea to seal a deal!

In the afternoon, I went shopping to a large supermarket, popular to the middle class citizens, together with my wife. Though I'm here for more than 13 months, it was the first time I went to the complex. My wife's already been here several times with her friends. There seemed to be everything here and if you had enough money, there wouldn't be anything you can't get! Well, except nice Japanese food!!


now to the supermarket!


very spacious!


and lots of seafood

One last day to enjoy...

We woke up in the morning, slightly later than usual, and went out to shop for Japanese food nearby our hotel. We found things we wanted including some frozen eels!


at the Japanese food store...

After having a nice lunch, we also went shopping to a supermarket where we could find things we can't find in Tehran.

my wife's choice... Shogayaki Teishoku...


and my lunch... SUSHI, SUSHI!

We also stopped by the Media City to meet my colleague and soon it was time to leave... We found out at the airport that the plane was an hour late, so we enjoyed another hour at the Duty Free zone...


where many journalists work...


and one last burger at the airport...


and this plane will take me back to... uh...

In the plane, we both watched Bolt because it was shorter than 90 minutes. Still, we couldn't listen to the sound of the film as our headphones were taken away, but we could still understand how the ending was! By the way, they didn't bring me any dinner as they completely forgot about me after they handed out the last set to my wife. Anyways, the Whopper Jr. I had at the airport was enough for me and it helped me concentrate on the film!
When we touched down on Iranian soil at around 10:40PM, I was really feeling blue.

Shortest and hottest night!

It was after 7PM when the plane touched down and we felt the heat even when we were walking through the jet bridge! Very hot and very humid!
This time in Dubai, we chose a three-star hotel to stay, right near the shopping center that is reasonable.
Right when we left the hotel to go to the shopping center that is just across the parking area, my glasses were clouded among with my camera!

completely smoked!

We once again hunted through the 6 Dirham shop and finished off at the food court!

at the 6 Dirham shop...


they didn't have Burger King, but I wanted to have one particular burger...


yes, the Quarter Pounder! and my wife had Green Curry!

It was very cool in the hotel, and the shower water was lukewarm too. But I really enjoyed the hottest and shortest night of this year!

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!