Nostalgia Eid-al Fitr...Jakarta

Salaam,

Nostalgia Jakarta...on the first day of Eid Fitr, 1 Syawal 1424...25 November 2003, at our Pondok Indah residence, Jakarta Selatan. Our last Hari Raya celebration in our four years of memorable and unforgetable stay in Indonesia...

Wassalam.

Nowruz Dinner @ the Gorji's...

Salaam,

Another evening of fine dining...our third in three consecutive days of eating out and smokeless kitchen...

This time we're so cordially invited to experience an Nowruz evening with the Gorji family, so kindlly extended by one of their daughters and our staff members. It is still the tenth day of the New Year and Iranian are still very much in the festive mood.

Not only we were pampered with assortment of sumptuous home-cooked traditional Persian cuisines, the host, the hostess and their family were also kind enough to take us around their modest home to admire the artistic and beautiful paintings...all done by the extremely talented family members, from the grandfather to the grand-daughter/son.

An unforgetable evening of great and fine dining experience and distinctive Iranian hospitality indeed. Kheyli mamnoon, kheyli motashakkeram Aghaye va Khanoome Gorji...Az didane shoma khosh vaghtam...Shoma kheyli mehraban hastid...

Nowruz Mobarak...Sad sal be' een sa^l-ha...!!

Wassalam.

with the Gorji's...

the Gorji's 'haft-seen' table

the charming and warm-hearted hostess

the grandfather's pride...

one of the oldest paintings in the house

the Gorji's talented young daughters

Qom's sohan and Tabrizi's bakhlava...

great selection but difficult choice...

ghormeh sabze

fesenjan...

baghali polow

my favorite...zereskh polow

egg-plant...delicious

assorted appetizers and 'ulam-ulaman'...

home-made pickled garlic...last for years

enjoying our host's hospitality...

grandpa & grand-daughter...accomplished painters and artists...

desserts...

Iranian 'chay'...

Nowruz remembrance...with the Gorji's

another characteristic Iranian hospitality...

grandpa's collection

Maryam's masterpiece...kheyli mamnoon Maryam jan...

Our Friendly Dinner...

Salaam,

Hosted a friendly dinner for our closed Asian and African colleagues at Taj Mahal this evening. An enjoyable and entertaining get-together for us after the Nowruz break to catch up on any latest news and update. A great evening to remember...

Wassalam.

endless jokes and anecdotes...

a beautiful peacock roaming free in the hotel lobby...

Changing Images of Tehran...

Salaam,

If you have been driving or driven around Tehran lately, you surely will not miss noticing all these recent addition of attractive and captivating mural and mosaic paintings, and posters on the walls of residential and public buildings along most of the major streets and highways of the city. Couple of years back we did not see this kind of phenomenon yet, except the usual posters depicting patriotism and spiritualism.

The cityscape is fast and progressively changing, salute and thanks to the awareness, creativity and relentless pursuit of the municipality in its beautification effort and to make Tehran more appealing, evergreen and pleasant to the discerning eyes.

Wassalam.

eye-catching...

and captivating...

creative mind...

patriotism

another product of innovative mind...

abstract from mosaic tiles...

artistry in progress

older and common posters...

and sights...