Friday, July 25, 2008

The IKA rendezvous

I was in the Tehran IKA airport, lining up at the check in counter when I met this middle age couple who looked like Malaysians. In fact they were......Abg Razali and his wife. He works at the Embassy as a Science Attache' and they were on their way to Cairo. He was with the MPOC (Malaysian Palm Oil Council) before coming to Tehran 8 years ago.

I have never thought that I would meet other Malaysians in Tehran........Abg Razali told me to call him the next time I'm in Tehran.....may be we can have a gathering or something.

Then came an Iranian man, Mr Djavid, who's a personal friend of Abg Razali. I guess they met because Mr Djavid is also in the palm oil business. He's travelling to Dubai with his family, probably for the summer holiday.

We continued talking about families, about life in Dubai and Tehran, as well as in Malaysia....about prices that are going up.....about Mr Djavid who's interested in going to Malaysia again (he's been to Malaysia several times....especially to Langkawi).....

I met him and his family again when we were lining up for a taxi at the DXB and he told me several times to get in touch with him.....well, I probably would....the next time I go to Tehran.......

Who would have thought that I would make new friends in just seconds.....

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A Few Good Men (Part 1)

My Emirates flight from Tehran departed and arrived on time....which was a rare occasion according to my numerous experience with Emirates from Tehran.....

DXB on a Thursday night resembles a Pasar Malam......a lot of people coming and going......Maybe that's one of the reasons why the Immigration officers are quite timid, jumpy and cocky at times.....

Once, I was asked why do I always go to tehran to work when I have a Dubai (Residence) visa......? I just smiled.......no use talking back......she was just tired I think.....

Tehran has been my "home away from home" now...especially the Homa Hotel.......I guess most of the hotel staff know me......

I was in the taxi to Homa from Shahab when a thought came upon me.....about a few people who I admired the most in my life....at least for now.....well, of course outside my circle of families........

Mokhtar Dahari, the name sent shivers down the opposition goalkeepers and defenders in his prime days....a great athelete with an iron will and a tremendous work ethics. I was still a small kampung boy when he first entered Malaysia football scenes. I remembered, along with my family and relatives, being "glued" to the small transistor radio every time Malaysia national team played. Just hearing the commentator (usually Dato' Hasbullah or Dato' Rahim) mentioning his name made us proud.....proud of our country....proud of this guy we all called "Super Mokh".

I remembered vaguely the day Malaysia went against England B, coached by Sir Bobby Robson.....he scored perhaps the most beautiful goal then....beating Joe Corrigan from outside the box. Sir Bobby was so impressed about this young man that, the legend said, he offered him a trial with Arsenal...or Newcastle....(I don't quite remember).....I guess there'll be no other Malaysian footballers who will recieved that kind of offer.....It symbolized respects and appreciations for his skills and ethics.....But now Super Mokh is no more.....he left behind such a legacy that will live on forever....

This month marks the 17-year anniversary of the demise of this shining star......the one "No 10" of Malaysian football.....If I had my way...I'll retire that number for good....nobody else desrves to wear the No 10 jersey....not anymore......

To be continued.....

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A Tehran Summer

The day is warm in Tehran......the pollution in the city adds to it.....it's bad here.....the sky is not even blue....it's pale grey.....

I guess that's because there are 12 million people in Tehran....and maybe more than half drive cars, buses, motorcycles etc. And the high mountains that border it with the Caspian Sea Plateau up north don't help either......they create a "blanket" that prevents the pollutions from being swept away by the summer breeze....

Plus, they also have so many old vehicles that run on leaded fuel.....and the dry summer makes it worst....It's so dusty here that after a few minutes outside, my nose is already clogged.....

The summer is so dry that electricity supply has been a problem......One of the Iranians said the government have been rationing electricity supply because the water level at their hydroelectric dam is running low....not enough power is generated. So, when they detected that a certain zone in Tehran is consuming too much power, they will cut the supply....(At least that's what I was told by Tajgardoun).

But I guess I am adapting well to the weather.....it's been warm (not hot like in Dubai)....the temperature at about in the mid 30's.....the humidity in also quite high these past few days (Iran standard)....Today I sweat even in the air-conditioned office of Tajgardoun.

One thing that amazes me is that flowers really bloom here (especially in Shahab where they have planted many Roses)....it really is a plus amidst the dusty surroundings....

I'll be going back to Dubai this weekend....Can't wait to see my family again....2 more days this week to face the dry, dusty and warm Tehran...

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Burjuman

We went to the Burjuman Center.....one of the biggest and trendiest shopping malls in the Bur Dubai area......I was planning to get a new mobile phone as the one that Sony gave me was not up to my satisfaction......the battery goes dead only after a day fully of charging it......

My wife bought a dictionary.......and Lina got a story book....to boost her command of English.....I also bought a Tom n Jerry CD for Apit and the Monster House for the girls.....

Later on, we went to Spinney's, just next to the mall to buy some groceries.....I'll be leaving for Tehran again and the groceries would be for the family to consume at least until next weekend when I come back.....

We took a taxi back to our apartment.....

Click here for photos from Burjuman.....

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Away from Tehran

I have been away from Tehran this week......I had some meetings to attend in Dubai....So, I took the opportunity to have some quality time with family......

The girl took their assessment test at the Raffles International School....It's glad to know that they did very well......Click here for the photos.

Friday night.....Amin and Laila entertained some friends......we contributed some of our own culinary specialities.....I cooked "ayam masak lemak cili api" and Mrs Haza made some fried mixed vege and green bean porridge (bubur kacang)......I think this is the first the Al Attar Escala gang held a gathering......There will be more of a gathering like this in the future..... That, I promise.....For photos, click here

Mr ZBA and Mrs ZBA brought Kelopung (Buah Melaka) and Chocolate Cake, Aidid brought Pechal and "masak lemak udang", Rusdi and Mastura brought "sambal tumis sardin", Syed Nasir brought CDDin who brought his expensive DSLR camera...... Amin and Laila made "sweet-n-sour talipia" and Tomyam......

We had some extra entertainment in the form of "Mind Your Language"...a popular British comedy series back in the 1970s or 80s........

Next 2 weeks I'll be in Tehran.....

Saturday, July 05, 2008

From Al-Khaleej to the Outlet Mall

It's the weekend the whole family was waiting for....the weekend after Ayah's pay day......

On Friday, after the Jumaat Solat, we went to Al-Khaleej Ctr.....I had to do some chores at the Al-Rostamani. I exchanged my USDs from my biztrip to some Dirhams and banked them in into my Emirates Bank account. Then I withdrew some back and went back to Al-Rostamani and TT the money back to my Maybank account. This has been my main activity after the pay day and will remain so for the rest of my tour of duty.......

Then we go to Spinneys....Sayang wanted to check out the prices.....we ended up buying some doughnuts, cookies and some cheese sticks......Apit saw an Alvin & the Chipmunks video games and kept festering me to buy it......I held my ground.....(but I did promise him to come back and buy it...I guess he's forgotten about it....). Sayang wanted to get a taste of shawarma....so I brought them to the vendor near Al-Khalil Masjid just a short distance away from Al-Khaleej Ctr. We also bought a bottle of Pakistani honey at the honey shop by the Masjid.

We went on to Choitram (just opposite from Al-Khaleej) and bought our groceries.....we spent almost Dhs300 there and then went out to wait for the ride home. But after almost a hour of waiting and there's no signs that a taxi would stop and pick us up, I decided that we would walk home. I always did that with Al-Amin before the family came to Dubai. So, at about 1020pm, we distributed the groceries amongst us (Apit wasn't spared either)....and started the 2km or so walk. The amazing thing was that Apit seemed to enjoy the walk.....he carried the lightest items....some fish and shrimps...... Everytime I stopped and put my things down....he would do the same....he never complained....we were really proud of him.

We reached home at about 1115 or so......drenched in sweat and tired........I slept like a log that night....

The Outlet Mall

It's Saturday...and as promised, I brought the whole family to the Outlet Mall....a mall about 30km south of Bur Dubai, on the Dubai-Al Ain highway. We went there after the Dzuhur Solat....It a big shopping mall that house outlets selling surplus or out of season items at bargain prices.....Apit got a pair of Nike sneakers, Ain a pair of Skechers sandals, Lina a Lonsdale sweater.....We ate lunch-cum-dinner at the food court. The kids had McD's and Sayang and I shared Joojeh, an Iranian cuisine. We went home after Maghrib Solat.....

Oh...I forgot to something....I got a Puma jacket.....I need a jacket to wear on my biztrips....

For pictures from this weekend's adventure, click here.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Secret Recipes?

I got a treat for those who like to cook......especially with the Ramadhan is just in couple of months' time.....

Here they are.....a bunch of recipes I got from some friends of mine back in Malaysia.........

Or go to http://hilmyzean.multiply.com/journal/item/74/Secret_Recipes.

Happy cooking.......and Bon Apettit.....

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Osama went to Tehran?

I was at the boarding hall of the DXB with Al-Amin enroute to Tehran......when this guy came and sat just a few meters from us.....Guess who he was? None other than the most wanted man in the Western world......Usamah (Osama) Bin Laden.......He looked so relaxed, as if there's no price was put on his head.........
Check out the photo that I managed to stealthily shoot of him using my powerful Sony Ericsson P1i smart-phone.....



No.....just kidding.....I wouldn't want to be in the same flight as Osama....hehehe...wouldn't know when a Tomahawk missile would hit......He's just an Iranian on his way back to Tehran or an Arab guy on his way for a business meeting in Tehran......
But...the resemblance was really, really striking, wasn't it?