Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Thought For Food: Butter Chicken At Roti Saturday Night - IMRAN®


Thought For Food: Butter Chicken At Roti Saturday Night - IMRAN® 

I was craving Pakistani Indian food this weekend. Saturnight (that makes more sense to me than calling it SaturDAY Night) I tried out the new place in Riverview. It was opened by a really nice gentleman I got to know from his earlier restaurant in Brandon. 

Ironic to have eaten Naan, clay-oven flame-baked bread — not roti, that’s made on a black metal plate on a stove — at a place called Roti.  It’s a very basic place with reasonable prices for a quick bite to eat.

The butter chicken on the right was an absolutely delicious A+. (Closeup of the delicious butter chicken.) 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #Florida #Riverview #food #dining #foodie #Pakistani #Indian #cuisine #FoodReview 


Monday, February 10, 2025

Spectacular Mild Winter Florida Sunshine Selfie Entering Apollo Beach Neighborhood Gate Late Friday - IMRAN®


Spectacular Mild Winter Florida Sunshine Selfie Entering  Apollo Beach Neighborhood Gate Late Friday - IMRAN®

I wanted to take a picture of something at the gate of my Symphony Isles neighborhood but the iPhone camera switched to the selfie side. 

Who was I to argue? I just clicked and got this unplanned picture. Yes, my hands are on the steering wheel as you can see in the reflection. 

Wearing shortsleeved shirts is one of the perks of Florida living in winter. I still haven’t taken off the 20 lbs I put on from being at the New York home after the hurricanes hit Tampa Bay. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #Florida #TampaBay #ApolloBeach #driving #cars @MercedesBenz @MauiJim @Izod #humor #selfie #winter #style 



  

Sunday, February 09, 2025

Pakistani Flag Symbol Crescent Moon & Solitary Star Framed By Palm Fronds' Silhouette At Tampa Bay Florida Last Sunset Of January - IMRAN®


Pakistani Flag Symbol Crescent Moon & Solitary Star Framed By Palm Fronds' Silhouette At Tampa Bay Florida Last Sunset Of January - IMRAN®

Imagine how fast time flies. As the last sunset of January cast its magic on Tampa Bay, it marked one-twelfth (1/12) of this year already being over. The year 2025 itself will be the completion of literally one quarter (1/4) of this century!

As I saw the crescent moon and solitary star framed by palm fronds' silhouette at sunset near my home, they reminded me of my birthplace, Pakistan. A solo boat was also just entering the frame. 

It being the last day of January, I also reflected on how quickly 36 years of my American life have flown by. Our journey on the ocean of time slides by so fast until we glide away into our final sunsets. 

Grateful for every day and night, I said a Maghreb prayer of gratitude for health, happiness, and family. I asked for strength, courage, discipline, and wisdom to still achieve the many goals and aspirations God gave me the potential for. Amen.


© 2025 IMRAN®


#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #Sunset #sky #clouds #life #autobiography #history #prayers #Maghreb #gratitude #Pakistan #inspiration #symbology 


Sweet Surreal Saturday Sunday Snow Storm Spanned Sea Sky Scene - IMRAN®


Sweet Surreal Saturday Sunday Snow Storm Spanned Sea Sky Scene - IMRAN® 

Almost 5 inches of snow fell on Long Island, New York between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 




Saturday, February 08, 2025

K2 (Not) Howling At The (Full) Moon At New York In Winter - IMRAN®


K2 (Not) Howling At The (Full) Moon At New York In Winter - IMRAN® 

Mid-December it dark like midnight even at 6 pm in New York. During his first real winter at the Long Island home last year, K2 loved the weather. He chose to focus his energy on the big stick at hand (or paw) than to go into werewolf mode howling at the full moon. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #GSD #GermanShepherdDogs #dogs #night #winter #FullMoon #wordplay #nature 


Friday, February 07, 2025

Gold Sunset Cold Tranquility At New York Home Beach - IMRAN®


Gold Sunset Cold Tranquility At New York Home Beach - IMRAN® 

Blessed to have first seen this spot after a snowstorm end-1993, I was sold. I am blessed that it’s been my blessed New York home’s backyard for 30 years. 

The gold sunset in the direction of my “forever American hometown” Manhattan, the cold water of the Great South Bay rippling onto the private beach, the bold tree stump washed ashore many storms ago, all fold into a scene that never gets old, truth be told. 

I captured this moment on 7 December 2024. I was out walking there with my dog K2. A perfect moment to say a Maghreb prayer of gratitude. 


© 2024-2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #Sunset #sky #clouds #seaside #autobiography #HomeSweetHome #nature #tranquility #wordplay 

Thursday, February 06, 2025

Watching First Snowfall After Many Years While At New York Home On Beloved Father’s Anniversary - December 21 Last Year - IMRAN®


Watching First Snowfall After Many Years While At New York Home On Beloved Father’s Anniversary - December 21 Last Year - IMRAN® 

Around the Christmas holidays, I was at the blessed home I built exactly 30 years ago on the South Shore of Long Island, New York. It was a special moment as I witnessed the first snowfall of the season after nearly a dozen years of successfully avoiding that weather, especially the brutal winters. 

Most of that time, I’ve been living in Florida. I made far fewer trips to New York during the pandemic years than usual for me. 

Mild and light snow like this has always been a joy for me since I was a child in Pakistan. Back then, my beloved parents would take my siblings and me to the beautiful hill station of Murree, north of Islamabad, to experience the snowfalls.

My father had visited me in the autumn of 1996 but left before he saw any snow at this home. In a personal twist of fate, I recorded this snowfall on the morning of December 21, the same date he left us in 2008.

Every moment, every breath, every snowflake is experienced in gratitude for having had the parents, the life, and the blessings God gave me.


© 2025 IMRAN®


#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #winter #weather #Christmas #snow #snowfall #autobiography #HomeSweetHome


Wednesday, February 05, 2025

Tokyo, We Have An Addiction - IMRAN®


Tokyo, We Have An Addiction - IMRAN® 

© 2025 IMRAN®  

#food #Japanese #IMRAN #photography #bokeh #sushi #sashimi #fish #cooking #puns #humor #wordplay #home #dining #style #foodie 








Tuesday, February 04, 2025

Shepherd Silhouette Seen Standing Seaside Savoring Stunning Sunday Sunset - IMRAN®


Shepherd Silhouette Seen Standing Seaside Savoring Stunning Sunday Sunset - IMRAN®

As we walked outside at the time we would usually go to sit on my now hurricane-shattered dock and savor the sunset, my German Shepherd Dog, K2, was looking out for dolphins. I captured this image of him from the side, semi-silhouetted by a stunning Sunday sunset as we stood seaside.


© 2025 IMRAN®


#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #Sunset, #sky, #clouds, #PalmTrees, #silhouette, #nature, #Maghreb, #gratitude, #winter, #seaside, #prose, #wordplay, #GSD, #GermanShepherdDogs, #dogs


Thought For Food: Naan At Roti Saturday Night - IMRAN®


Thought For Food: Naan At Roti Saturday Night - IMRAN® 

I was craving Pakistani Indian food this weekend. Saturnight (that makes more sense to me than calling it SaturDAY Night) I tried out the new place in Riverview. It was opened by a really nice gentleman I got to know from his earlier restaurant in Brandon. 

Ironic to have eaten Naan, clay-oven flame-baked bread — not roti, that’s made on a black metal plate on a stove — at a place called Roti.  It’s a very basic place with reasonable prices for a quick bite to eat.

The butter chicken on the right was an absolutely delicious A+. The goat curry on the left was just OK, more like a B-. 

The goat meat was a bit rubbery and tasted hot but lacked the zest of a combination of spices. But the restaurant has only had a soft opening. I am hoping that they will get better and expand their menu as well. It’s not very decorated so I’m not sure what the planned ambiance is. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #Florida #Riverview #food #dining #foodie #Pakistani #Indian #cuisine #FoodReview 


Monday, February 03, 2025

Reverse Logic: Flying Upwards For Landing Touchdown - IMRAN®


Reverse Logic: Flying Upwards For Landing Touchdown - IMRAN® 

No visible horizon, the bane of most typical pilots’ routine flying. Dense fog and IMC, Instrument Meteorological Conditions, are Irrelevant Morning Conditions to birds like herons. 

Pilots’ concept of flying down to the touchdown point at landing is also reversed — as this bird flew upwards towards the top of a piling for a gentle landing. 

Another bird perched atop a green boating channel marker watched nonchalantly. The red marker and its reflection frame the scene to the right. 

The rocks on the sandy shore in my neighborhood add even more zen to the total tranquility on Tampa Bay early this first winter Monday morning in February. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN #Florida #TampaBay #ApolloBeach #flying #nature #aviation #pilots #birds #weather #Monday #zen #tranquility #prose #writing #wordplay 

Sunday, February 02, 2025

Perpetually Excited Perpetual Puppy K2 GSD Watching Dolphins Passing By Outside Tampa Bay Florida Home - IMRAN®


Perpetually Excited Perpetual Puppy K2 GSD Watching Dolphins Passing By Outside Tampa Bay Florida Home - IMRAN® 

A random moment of the beauty of having German Shepherd Dogs in one’s life, from yesterday. 


© 2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #GSD #GermanShepherdDogs #dogs #humor #home #animals 

Saturday, February 01, 2025

Leggy Beach Barbie At Christmas Weekend Tampa Bay Sunset - IMRAN®


Leggy Beach Barbie At Christmas Weekend Tampa Bay Sunset - IMRAN® 


© 2024-2025 IMRAN® 


#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #Sunset #sky #clouds #blonde #beach #babe #model #modeling #seaside #water #style