White spring!?

It was cold yesterday too and everybody is saying that there's something wrong with the weather. Me and my wife really thought it was cold overnight and I found out why when I looked outside...


SNOW! in April!?

ain't it too cold for the flowers!?

Everybody is saying even more that it's crazy winter is back... maybe we don't have to rationalize the water usage in summer if this continues, but I really hate a "freezing spring"... Who wants a white spring... please give me back the sun!

Today I changed my SIM card... the display on the cell changed from IR-TCI to IR-MCI. I hope the antenna receiving will get better with the new generation!

new SIM card!

Cold again!?

Since we were struggling to find a story to cover, we went out to see the handcrafts exhibition held in central Tehran.

I couldn't find a nice story to cover, but found some nice cups...

As we were leaving the venue, snow started to fall on us and we escaped the sudden change of weather... Are we back in the cold age again? I hope not...

PICS at the exhibition...


here we are at the exhibition!


traditional dresses and clothes...


beautiful turquoise wares...


uh... the shellfish!? what are you doing here!?


more beautiful tablewares...


and more nice dresses...


but I think the favorite for the ladies are these silkwares!


some pictures too... Azeri ones...


these might make nice souvenirs!


and some decorative things made of glass!


some useful for Nowruz... the seven "S"!


wooden tools... useful for cooking!?


and... ???


nice calligraphy... nice to hang on the wall!


oh... musical instruments too! handmade!


and nice ceramic tablewares!
I decided to get some of these...
only 10,000Rls for a cup!

Back outside...

SNOW!! OH NO!!

And my choice...


a nice pair of cups!
but the orange one is a little bit bigger...
oh well... they're handmade!

Reaching the doorway...

We've finally reached the entrance to the great maze with many obstacles and booby traps... It would be a great challenge to reach the goal without stepping on the mines or fallling into a pitfall...
Some of the major appointments we still had to get were not finalized and without having these weapons I have to go through the maze unarmed. I'm sure I will receive heavy fire falling into an ambush or even a frontal attack by a much stronger force.
Oh, I'm always worried, as I do not have my weapon... being able to convince anyone with my own words and my expression of sincerity... yes, I'm empty-handed...

PS
Today we celebrated our colleague's birthday...

he told us it was yesterday, but we celebrated with a cake today!


snow again... not serious I hope...

I received an EMS mail from my dad...

of course... as expected... they open it! nicely taped back... not even hesitating to hide their evil doings! one day they're going to get the retribution for these doings... one day!

Snow, snow, snooow!

I didn't notice till I was told by my colleague, but it was snowing from the morning! No wonder it was cold when I tried to wake up! One of my staff claimed he was stuck in very heavy traffic and couldn't make it to the office on time...
After the snow stopped in the middle of the day, it started again when we were filming in the evening and the traffic was so crazy near my office where thousands come and go in the after hours. When we got to the largest intersection near my office, which I can walk back in 10 minutes, took us 50 minutes with the car!
The snow is really a major blow to the efficiency of our work and since I have no time to go skiing in northern Tehran, all I can hope is that it won't snow for a while after today!


snow!

the rose is covered with snow too...

traffic jam worse than ever with the snow!

Breakthrough!?

Early in the morning, I was given a call that Iran has annouced that they have sent their first homemade satellite into space. The last time I heard this, it was concluded that the thing that went to space was just a "dummy" and it was more of the testing of its domestic rocket. This time, they announced it was a real one! The launch was of course coincidental to the celebrations of the 30th Anniversary of the Revolution and anyone would get the message that Iran wants to emphasize its achievements. I'm told that there will be more achievements I would witness through the coming years, but sadly all I can do is watch the news and find out... just like anyone can in Tokyo!
There's only a week to go until the Anniversary! I gotta tell you how insecure I feel!!


snowing again... back to the cold!?

I can't stand it anymore!

It's almost 6 months after I arrived here in Tehran, but today it became decisive that I really don't want to do this job! I don't want to be too arrogant, but I firmly believe that I've worked so hard these 14 years, hoping that one day I will find a vocation that I can feel satisfied saying to myself... hard work pays off...
Look where I am now. I'm so frustrated that I can't stand it anymore being denounced so much and all I could say is sorry and apologize like I spilled some coffee on my customer at the cafe. Was this what I've worked so hard to achieve!?
I can't quit now and I won't even consider that like I did when I had some sufferings two years ago, as quitting now means I'm just abandoning my responsibilities and I will become a real loser in life disposing even the 13 years of hard work I've accumluated, but after discharge my duty, I seriously want to consider a job change within my organization. It will be too late after I really think about it's a complete waste of time to even stay in this organization!

Today another colleague arrived from Tokyo. I can't jeopardize my colleagues interests who are here to help me and I will do anything to make them feel proud about being here. For me, it's too late to be proud... too late...

PS
We went out to have dinner at a hotel in the north. I decided to walk home to my office, but it was snowing... oh well, I don't care if I get all wet... it's makes me very emotional to see the snow falling down on me and all I can do is feel miserable walking in the streets alone and not feeling confident about my life... It's really miserable...


at the familiar Thai restaurant...


on the way back... it was snowing!
how miserable I felt walking back to my office in this snowy weather...

Losing confidence and patience...

I just can't believe how I've lost my confidence... Was I such an useless guy from before? Why can't I get any results?
I'm also losing my patience... How can I calm myself down when all I see is doomsday in front of me as I can't even see the image of myself smiling three weeks later... A day I won't be smiling? That's impossible!
Reality is creeping up slowly but to a certainty that it'll kill my confidence and patience completely if I lose the fight...

It was very cold again today... my colleague staying at a hotel in the north said the ground was all white with snow... it was snowing briefly near my office too... oh please, at least give me some sunshine!


snow flakes...


hey, how's the food!? I want to eat some nice things too!!


so... I went out with my colleague to get a nice meal to cheer me up! meat, meat, meat!

Snowy season is back!

I just received a pathetic message from a teacher of Japanese school here in Tehran that the kids were postponing their ski class because of limited snowfall this winter, but look what happened today!


snow, snow!


gettin alll white in the city again!?

Not really... in the evening, all the snow had disappeared as it was more liquid than solid this time compared to the snowfall in December...


the cat was walking on the wet ground... without much snow left!


need some sweets in this kind of day!


oh yeah... he's going to leave... I almost forgot!

Officially a holiday...

The "announced" holiday today. One of my staff decided to work for a while today and came to the office around noon. For them it would be a nice to earn some extra money by working on a day that they would have worked anyways if the Government hadn't announced it was a day off, but for me, I don't get any extra money, of course... Oh, when I think about my salary divided by the hours I work, my hourly pay is probably cheaper than a high school student working at McDonald's in Tokyo!
I had some calls from Tokyo and I had to reply by calling some people, who I had hoped would pick up the phone, and who are in different countries that would not be taking their day off. I was tired already before the nighttime came and I took a nap from about 6PM. I couldn't wake up for three hours and the day seemed to have finished so quickly!

PS

it was intially a nice day...

but...

it started to snow again!

my dinner... Italian and Japanese!?

Three day weekend...

As the Government had announced suddenly that Thursday will be a day off, it was a start of a three day weekend. I had to do work, but I was too tired to wake up early and overslept till 11AM. I had several calls to take and after doing some work, I went to bed at around 4PM until 8PM.
Surely I was sleepy but as I had to record a radio report at around 10:45PM, I had to go to my office at night. It was like those days I had overnight duty, taking a nap in the evening and waking up to go to my office late at night. But everything's different when I realize that I'm not in a place where I can buy some tasty food at a nearby convenience store and spend the night feeling secure.
Outside the snow was falling down again and once again I was feeling sentimental...

PS
Challenging the boiled egg once again!

okay... let's see...


hmm... the yolk is always lopsided!

White winter...

It started to snow... it was not powdered snow at first, but as the day proceeded, it was turning into fluffy white puffs that gradually turned all of the greenery into white decorated masterpieces.
It was significantly cold from the morning and the season which I loathe seemed to have started and I only hope the scenary with snow will heal my soul.


it started to snow from the morning, but with puffy snow after 1PM!


everything's turning white...


in the highway...
a white winter is starting!

My office is at the northern side of the city, and when we went to the downtown area further south, I saw no snow was bothering the people. How interesting that the weather can change so significantly!

In the city park located near the Tehran Municipality...

no snow!

In the park there was a

peace monument...

with messages written in five languages...


including Japanese!

After the meeting...

it's still snowing...
getting harder as the night goes...

Gotta warm up!

how about some coffee! "Americafe'" I snatched from the meeting...
this Singapore product (not American!) is too sweet...

And to warm up further...

you need a warm bath with a nice color!

PS
First thing in the morning, I went to a police station located in Azadi to see what happened to the decision about my traffic violation...
They still tell me I have to pay 200,000 rials! Hey, I didn't commit the violation! I'm so angry about the conclusion! My staff told me I can still fight, but now I realize it's a waste of time... What a crazy world I'm living in!
By the way if I had just paid about 530,000 rials in the beginning admitting the violations, I wouldn't have to waste about a total of 7 hours for everything and I'm sure many people just would do so to avoid the complications... What a crazy world...

PPS

the man was finally convicted with the crime!
not everything, but it was finally concluded he had something to do with the English girl's death!

PPPS
In the morning at the garden...

another rivalry! foo...