Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year 2011...

Salaam,
To all my dear friends and readers,
Alhamdulillah, as the year 2010 left us, all praises only to Allah the Almighty for answering our prayers and pouring us with His endless blessings throughout the year.
And as the new year begins, let us reiterate our prayers for a long and healthy life, success and prosperity and continued divine blessings for us and our family and indeed for all humanity in the coming new year.
Wishing all our beloved ones, friends and relative our best wishes and happiness into the new year 2011.
Happy New Year to all...
Wassalam.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Artificial Flowers...

Salaam,

Nothing says it quite like flowers. But if you are looking for an option to decorate your house with flowers, artificial flowers is one of the best things and just the finest alternative for you.

During one of my recent visits to the Shoush wholesale market in the downtown area of Tehran, I found this flower shop located on the ground floor of the Shoush bazaar-e Shar Dari complex. The range of artificial flowers and colors available at the shop are endless. Once you step into the shop, you can't help admiring at the wide-range and realistic-looking collection of artificial flowers, varying in size, designs and color combination. They are so well crafted...the quality and the realism of the stems, sprays, bunches and bouquets is quite simply amazing, so much so that a second look is often required to determine if they are real or not.
Artificial flowers or more grandly known to as 'permanent botanicals' nowadays are widely used and become highly sought after interior decorative accessory throughout the world. They have existed in the market place as a long lasting alternative to everyday fresh flowers for many years to come.
Just like the real thing, artificial flowers are fabulous to brighten up a home all year round. They are a cost-effective, less hassle and maintenance-free alternative to real flowers yet pack as much punch as the real deal. Stunning and vibrant, natural looking and versatile...they are just the perfect vase filler to enhance one's home throughout the year, and are sure to kindle just a little romance in everyone's heart.
And just to share a lovely and adoring poem entitled "Artificial Flowers" originally writen by K.P Kavafis, (translated by Peter J. King and Andrea Christofidou) to bring home the message of the beauty of artificial flowers...
Artificial Flowers (1903)
(Kavafis)
I don't want real narcissi - neither lilies
nor real roses please me,
decorating trite and common gardens. I am grieved,
fatigued, afflicted by their flesh
their perishable beauty bores me.
Give me artificial flowers - porcelain and metal glories - neither
fading nor decaying, forms unaging.
Flowers of the splendid gardens of another place,
where forms and styles and knowledge dwell.
I love flowers made of glass or gold,
true Art's true gifts,
their painted hues more beautiful than nature's,
worked in nacre and enamel,
with perfect leaves and branches.
Their charm derives from wise and pure Good Taste;
they didn't vilely sprout in dust or mud.
If they lack scent, we'll pour out perfume,
burn romantic myrrh before them.
Wassalam.



















Greetings from the Municipality...

Salaam,
Saw this beautiful multi-layered pine tree, called "derakhtkaj-e tabaghei" in Persian, at the chancery today. Apparently it was presented by the Tehran Municipality office to all foreign missions and international organisations in Tehran, including our Embassy, as a gesture of conveying their greetings and best wishes for the upcoming new year 2011. Wassalam.
greeting card with respective flag...



Monday, December 27, 2010

Our Anniversary @ McD...

Salaam,
For many, wedding anniversary hold a special significance of its own, representing a thought and a unique meaning to every loving couple.
With each passing year, a new facet of love and commitment to each other comes in the forefront. Every year marks like a stepping-stone in the bond that is nurtured by great care and respect.
Anyhow, this time around, there was no 'dinner by the candle light' though for our anniversary. Just a modest, simple and quick McD meal at Dubai Terminal 3, awaiting for our evening flight to Tehran. Didn't realise that it was indeed our auspicious day twenty-eight years ago yesterday, until we came across several greetings and well-wishes from our dear friends and loved ones posted in our FB walls.
Nonetheless, this does not really mean our love diminishes without the candle light. On the contrary, it just keep on blossoming deeper and warmer each and every moment of our togetherness over the long years of sharing, caring and loving for each other...
Wishing hubby and me a blessed and happy anniversary...may we all live happily ever after...
Wassalam.
a quick lunch by the sunlight...!!
thanking everyone for remembering...

A Beautiful Tale of Two Cities...

Salaam,
Inspired and fascinated by the beauty and wonders of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I instantly remember a title of a famous novel by Charles Dickens. However, instead of Dickens's illustration of the difficult life in Paris and London during the French Revolution, this post is just the opposite depiction of images of two emerging great cities in the region.
These are but just a few of the images that I could snapped during our recent brief visit to two of the most delightful and attractive urban centers arising from a once desert oasis of the Arabian peninsula.
Wassalam.
dubai city center mall
a two n a half hour drive from each other...
Abu Dhabi...a concept of a clean n green city
a coin-shape building in Abu Dhabi

as guests of our Ambassador & Datin...
sunset in Abu Dhabi...
the magnificent Emirate Palace hotel...
street lighting and decorations...
elevator to the revolving restaurant, Marina Mall
decorative ceiling...
an entrance to the Marina Mall...
the city's main shopping complex

expressway to Dubai
new bridge along the coastal highway...
nightview of dubai mall and the address hotel
x-mas tree @ dubai mall
elegant interior of the new Mirdif's city center

home decor @ dubai mall
of different shapes, style n price...
festival city...
M&S store...
the figure behind Dubai's great emergence
from a desert oasis...
to a vibrant and green city state...
and a great metropolitan city