5 Years of Oia

Good morning, Motor City! (This is the park just next to our apartment, Oia Residence, which is the building on the right in this photo)

Just a blink of the eye, and it’s 5 years since we moved to our current apartment in Motor City. (We moved in in Aug 2019 from International City, along with changing the kids’ schools).

Here’s a picture showcase of our last few years in Oia Residence, Motor City. Enjoy!


Oia Residence, with a view of one of its 2 swimming pools, and the park/ field (aka Windsor Park) beside it. This photo was taken from one of the many vacant units in 2020, when occupancy was low. Now, the whole building’s chock-a-block full! No chance of getting into any empty units now, ahem…


Stretching our legs in Windsor Park (the semi-circle shaped field beside Oia Residence). The row of houses in front is called Windsor Crescent. Guess whose legs these are? (Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find out…)


Temporary resident, niece Sweety. Sweety squatted with us while looking for a job, Jan 2020. “How’s this for an interview, huh?” She moved out soon after she got a job, working for a hotel in Deira. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, COVID-19 came soon after, and she lost her job, as the hospitality industry in Dubai took a huge hit. She returned to India when travel restrictions were eased


Motor City in pandemic times. We were lucky, we moved to Motor City before the COVID-19 pandemic. Motor City Uptown (which Oia Residences was connected to), has a big expanse of greenery, trees, parks, etc, for us to walk around. Imagine, if we had been stuck in International City! We’d be marooned in our apartment, with COVID cases rising through the roof there. Notice Jayden with long hair? That was his pandemic-look… Jun 2020


Durga Puja 2020! Oct 2020. The kids have gone back to school, but with all the social distancing measures in place. See how the money tree (left) has grown, compared to the photo with Sweety above


Buddha in a flower pot. All the paraphernalia in the house, decorations, plants, furniture, fixtures, what-have-you, are the hard work of the missus. She has an eye (and hand, and leg) for these things!!! Thank you, Anu for being an expert home-maker. You make this place just incredible!


Anu’s balcony garden… Nov 2021. If it was only me, I think this place would be an empty space filled with a year’s (or two) heap of sand…


New Year’s Day 2022. At the corridor outside our apartment, Oia Residence, Motor City


Doves in our garden. Anu’s not only a giver of life to plants, it’s birds (and bugs) too. I’ve lost count of how many generations of doves, and sunbirds, that had been born in our garden. There were bulbuls too, but on both occasions, crows raided their nests and took their chicks! Pity. Shoooo, bloody crows! Mynas and sparrows are also common visitors, and there have been parrots, a hoopoe and an Indian roller (who’d knock the bejesus out of any bird that dares go near its nest, mainly mynas. I heard that they scare crows off like that also. I’d vouch for an Indian roller anytime, over a pesky crow). The roller’s nest wasn’t inside our balcony, but was in a hole just below the roof of the apartment building. It was the parrots’ hole, which the roller chased away, and took over. By the way, the parrots have reclaimed it now.


Some table décor – Diwali 2022. See, Anu’s a wizard at these things. Nobody taught or told her to do it, she just loves doing it by herself. This is the Diwali just before Justin leaves for Singapore


Here's a little outdoor fun! The playground at Motor City Uptown. The good thing about Motor City Uptown is that many of the kids who stay here, also go to the same neighbourhood school, GEMS Metropole School, which is just opposite our apartment. And so, many of their classmates and friends are within walking distance from each other, through some nice parks, no need at all of getting out to the busy roads around! Here’s Jayden with his classmate (and crush of that season), Varvara, from Ukraine. Jayden has considerably fewer close friends than Justin. But after his elder brother went abroad, he has no choice but to get out and mingle. There you go, Jayden! What’s with the shades, Varvara? It’s night time!?!


Autumn, Motor City Uptown. As if there’s an autumn season in Dubai, haha. It’s Feb 2023, ummmm… Izit winter? Spring? But leaves are falling, what the heck! In the UAE, there are 3 seasons, according to me, ‘Cool’ (Winter …Nov to Mar), ‘Hot’ (the transition months, Oct, and Apr) and ‘Very Hot’ (May to Sep)


More decorations! Happy Diwali, 2023!!!


And finally, Anu’s balcony garden in Mar 2024, don’t even know what the occasion was, but those roses were for International Women’s Day, and my birthday, ahem! Thanks, honey. You’re the best!

And the answer to the question in Photo No.3 above is: …Anu and Kunal, our nephew. Kunal and her mom, Manju, were stranded in Dubai during the pandemic, and stayed with us till the travel restrictions were relaxed.