The Cursed Island

The boys at Chenang Beach, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia 2019, with a pretty scary looking sky (it’s the real thing, no filters used)

Happy Birthday Malaysia! Happy Independence Day!

Not that there’s much to be happy about with COVID-19 rising thru the roof, and just about everything in a lockdown.

I hope the politicians try to work together to get our country out of the rut. I also hope that we do not vote in anymore tainted politicians or politicians who’ve jumped parties because of power or benefits. They destroyed the country they were supposed to build. Malaysia is a rich and diverse country that has seen its potential wiped away by corruption, self-interest, incompetence and mismanagement. What a pity. I hope the culprits get the punishment they deserve. Fingers crossed.

I’m gonna squeeze in a quick last minute post before the end on the day. Here’s an island in Malaysia that was cursed for seven generations – Langkawi.

In the early 19th century, there lived a girl named Mahsuri on the island of Langkawi off the coast of the state of Kedah which is now in Malaysia. She was the prettiest lass on the island and eventually married a warrior. As Langkawi lies near the borders of Siam (now Thailand), frequent wars happened. Being one of the warriors of the island, Mahsuri’s husband had to fight on behalf of Sultanate of Kedah against Siam. During his absence, someone from Langkawi’s chieftain’s family who was jealous of Mahsuri’s beauty and status accused her of being unfaithful and having an affair with a minstrel. She was sentenced to death by the island’s chieftain. She was tied to a tree and stabbed a number of times, but it did not kill her. Finally, she told the villagers to kill her with her family’s kris (Malay dagger with a wavy blade). When stabbed with the kris, white blood flowed from the wound indicating her innocence. With her dying breath, she cursed Langkawi for seven generations of bad luck. Sure enough, after that, wars and failed crops plagued the island. When I first visited Langkawi in the ummmm, early 80’s I think, I remembered it had next to no cars and only small roads fit for bikes. We went around by a hired motorbike driven by my dad. Only in the 90’s did it start booming, thanks to then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir. I did not visit Langkawi again until 2019, and boy, how it’s changed!! It’s unrecognisable from the time I last visited! I think, finally, Langkawi has repaid the debt owed to Mahsuri.

There, that’s my version of the legend of Mahsuri. Langkawi has many other legends which we read about in our history text books in my primary school years. Another legend has it that two giants Mat Raya and Mat Chinchang fought on the island during the wedding reception of their children. The fight got so bad that they threw things at each other. Where the pot of gravy fell, it became the town of Kuah (kuah means gravy in Malay). The place where the pot was broken became Belanga Pecah (belanga = pot, pecah = broken), and so on and so forth. The two giants became the two main mountains in Langkawi – Gunung Raya and Gunung Machinchang. Langkawi was one of my favourite chapters in my history books, hehe.
That’s it for now. Here’re the photos.


The legends of Langkawi are so well-known (in Malaysia) that there’s even a park dedicated to it!


At the Lagenda Park, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia


A pond between Lagenda Park and Dataran Lang (Eagle Square)


Back to the beaches – the main tourist beach, Chenang Beach (Pantai Cenang) with a pink and orange sky


Battling it out Streetfighter style, at Pantai Cenang, Langkawi




Our own private beach… Nah, it’s the beach of our hotel D’Coconut Beach Villa Resort, just next to the airport








A peaceful little beach, bliss! – D’Coconut Beach Villa, Langkawi


At the D’Coconut Beach Villa Resort, Langkawi


A game of congkak! (We used to play it in class in Primary Standard 4!)


Family pic, Dataran Lang, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia

For the Love of Bugs

Run! Giant Bug!! It's a bug fest in Malaysia!

A quick post for a very busy time…

To the Malayalis who’re celebrating – Happy Onam!

To the Hindu sister & brother-love adherents who’re celebrating – Happy Raksha Bandhan!

To the Chinese ghost enthusiasts who’re celebrating – Happy Hungry Ghost Festival!

(As you can see, gods, ghosts and sibling love can be celebrated at the same time, depending on which part of the world you're in. Therefore, let's all not be so rigid in our beliefs, and celebrate diversity!)

To my fellow Malaysian countrymen who see our country sinking further and further, with a change in government, but not a change in regime – Let’s not despair, and continue to hope that one day, we will achieve the racial harmony and progress that is enshrined in the founding of our beloved Malaysia which is reflected in our National Anthem and our Rukun Negara. (I’ve never read the Constitution, so sorry, no comments there, ahem).

To the Afghans – I don’t really know what to say, but to continue to hold hopes that Afghanistan will one day step out of the violent feuds and conflicts that have plagued the country for decades. (Heck, I don’t even remember when it had been truly peaceful and united). I hope one day, you’ll find a saviour within your midst who can unite the country, regardless of ethnicity, clan, faction or religion, and deliver you from the powers (within and without) that are only interested in extending their own agenda. You’ve been screwed by the Soviets, the Pakistanis, the Americans, etc, etc, etc, your own internal zealots, warlords, clan bosses, religious leaders, whatever you call them… Let’s hope that whoever takes control of the country, Taliban or other, comes to their senses and take action for the good of the country, and not for themselves…

To the world’s superpowers and powers to be – Other peoples’ countries are not your chess board or playground for your war games and proxy wars. Millions are dying and homeless due to your self-serving agendas. Why don’t you help the people who’re helpless like the people who’re caught in the wars or genocide? The Rohingyas, Yemenis, Syrians, Afghans, etc, etc, etc.

Wow, a big, quick lecture, as if I’m the boss of the UN haha. Anyway, I’m only good at talking, OK? Not much action unfortunately. But I’m good at updating my blog with pictures, and for this occasion when Malaysia continues to lie in the hands of many a corrupt politician (there, I didn’t say all, OK?), here’re some pictures of bugs and critters from Malaysia. Of the natural kind, ahem.




This is Entopia, the Butterfly Farm in Penang, Malaysia. If you like critters and bugs, this is the place for you




It has butterflies, of course. They’re all over the place. You can let them rest on your hands if you fancy…


Surely with butterflies comes caterpillars, yechh… Here’s a caterpillar with display screens haha. They’re less gross


And then there’re cocoons… All hung up pretty in a row. Just imagine all the creepy crawly caterpillars before they become these cocoons




The whole place is set in a humongous greenhouse, with waterfalls and forest


There’re also other critters like this frog / ...toad? (really I can’t tell the difference) that looks like a leaf


Lizards


Cockroaches! Ewww…


Silkworms!


Heck, there’s even horseshoe crabs

OK, gotta go, rushing to finish off some really important assignments to submit. Ta.


Here’s a view of Entopia and the Escape Adventure Theme Park (see the slides?) that’s located just beside and behind Entopia, from on top the Teluk Bahang Dam, Penang, Malaysia

Not as Easy as It Seems

Gergeti Trinity Church, at the foot of Mount Kazbek, near the village of Gergeti, Stepantsminda, Georgia

Summer is burning on. The gods must be angry – fires rage, floods inundate, disease ravages the world. Are these the end times? Errrr…. dunno! But what the heck, if the sky falls down, take it as a blanket. That’s what I used to say, when I was single and had no responsibilities. Now it’s a constant worry… when will the next Project come? Will I still have a job next month, next year??

Anyway, thank God, we’re still thriving even when we’re stuck in desert-land in friggin burning summer. How I wish we could (still) go for a holiday? But it’s only 3 weeks away to the start of the new school year, so, bye-bye holidays!

I’m back at holiday dreaming. Here’s a continuation of our trip to Georgia exactly 3 years ago, in 2018. By the way, my colleague just came back from a tour of Georgia commenting on what a good time they had there. …What nerves! That’s like rubbing salt into a wound. But let it pass, we have a higher calling, ahem – stopping the spread of COVID.

Back to our trip, here’s how we worked our way up to the Gergeti Trinity Church in Kazbegi (Stepantsminda).


Time to start our day. Anu at our guest house (Blue Caps) in the village of Gergeti. That’s the Gergeti Trinity Church, on top of the hill above Anu’s head in the photo. The church is visible all over Gergeti and Kazbegi. But how do we get there??? “Hello, ma’am, where is the road to that church there?”, I asked the landlady of the guesthouse pointing to the church. “Mmm-hmm”. “Can we go using this road?” pointing to the road in front. “Mmm-hmm”. Sounds like another cousin of Groot (the tree man from the Guardians of the Galaxy who can only speak 1 sentence). Oh well, “Madloba” (thank you). Oh, she’s better than Groot, she taught us this one Georgian word we learnt in our trip which is not a name of a food!


Oh, this looks like the way. The church is just there (top right)


There! A close up view. It’s a mighty cloudy day. Looks like we won’t be able to catch a sight of snow-capped Mt Kazbek after all. What a waste…


Uh-oh! No through road. Construction workers waving us to go back! Pointed us to go down…


Went back down all the way out of the village and took another road. Oh, this looks like it. Let’s go up… Oops, another no through road! – That’s yours truly with our trusty Great Wall 4WD (yeah, the Chinese car) which we rented from a local car hire shop near our guesthouse in Tbilisi. I hope it makes it (our Great Wall pickups in the Project I was on in the UAE, all had problems with the AC, but this one’s so far so good!). It’s an automatic transmission 4WD, not exactly my cup of tea. I’m more used to a manual transmission 4WD.

Here we go again, went back down the road, passed the river (Chkheri) and went further upstream.


Finally, WE MADE IT! Great Wall triumphs! Gergeti Trinity Church, Georgia – this road ain’t easy for the inexperienced – a steep road of wet soil and boulders – But I’m proud our Great Wall car made it. I saw many a Volvo and Audi SUV turn back down. Also, maybe, the countless times of yours truly driving up and down the wet and muddy hill roads of our Mizoram hill road project in the 2000’s paid off, haha! And mind you, those were on manual cars with no hand brakes. (None of the car hand brakes work in Mizoram, and nobody bothers. They just bloody well use the first gear and stick a stone under their wheels to park. The trick is when you start the car on a slope. You have to bloody well step on the brake and the accelerator at the same time with your right foot, while you control the clutch with your left – Interesting, ain’t it?)


That’s a view of the road we came up on (this was taken on our way down). Look at the wheels of that Volvo trying to climb a rock. I dunno whether he made it or not. The car of choice for the locals (and you wouldn’t believe it) – is the Mitsubishi Delica. They’re unbeatable in the hill roads of Georgia!






This is just amazing! Even if it’s cloudy – Gergeti Trinity Church, Stepantsminda, Georgia


Right behind us, if it’s a clear day, would be the snow-capped Mount Kazbek


A view of the town of Kazbegi (Stepantsminda) and the village of Gergeti from the Gergeti Trinity Church. I guess you can also hike up like these people in the photo, if you don’t wanna drive


Justin at the Gergeti Trinity Church, Stepantsminda, Georgia


Horse vs Mitsubishi Delica - who’d win? On our way down. There in front, is Kazbegi!

Companions in the COVID Year

Three’s not a crowd… Anu, Jashna and Madhavi at the Desi Village Restaurant, Dubai – Dec 2020

This is my annual post on the people we met or were in our lives for the past year. I usually post it sometime around June (that’s when I usually finish sorting out the friggin photos of the past year, hehe. Yep, I’m that slow). But what the heck, it's only a month late. So, here’s a lookback at whatever gatherings we could have in a year ravaged by the global COVID-19 pandemic. I’ll let the pictures speak.

We were in a lockdown for a significant part of the year, let’s see mmm March to about July 2020. Then the government relaxed it a bit, praise God… And we’ve been like this since then. Masks and social distancing are still here (luckily) or we’d be seeing numbers soar like the rest of the world, praise God again…


Anu’s eldest sis Manju and son Kunal stayed with us in Dubai during most of the lockdown as they were stranded from returning to India due to the cancellation of flights. They were here to visit Karishma and was supposed to leave in mid March. The first time Manju and Kunal stayed with us was in 2007 in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India when Kunal was a wee toddler. That was before we had any kids of our own. Check out this old post on Agra to see how they look like then 


Whew, a relaxation – Fancy some chicken mandi? At Mandi Time Restaurant, International City, Dubai – Jul 2020


Finally, time to go back – At Sharjah International Airport to board a repatriation flight to India – Aug 2020. Come back soon!


Meeting our International City neighbour after a year – with a new kid on the block, Adam, son of the neighbour across our International City Apartment. We went back to our rented out apartment to kick out the bloody non-paying tenants of our flat – Jul 2020


This is life before the pandemic – At a function in Feb 2020 organized by Parsons, the consultants of the ITS2020 Projects, of which yours truly is one of the packages’ Project Manager – An Arabic lunch where the contractors' representatives of all the packages and the Client, the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai were also invited. At the front are senior officers of RTA's Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) Department, Sofiene Jegham, Salahaldeen Al Marzooqi (ITS Director) and Mohammed Al Ali – at Bin Laden’s site office, contractor of the new Traffic Management Centre at Al Barsha


Parsons ITS Project Director, Ammar Kanaan


And this is the ITS2020 Package 1B Project Site Office during the pandemic – a photo shoot to commemorate the completion of the erection of the last (and 112th) Dynamic Message Sign (DMS) in Jul 2020. The photo’s not very clear as it’s a Whatsapp photo compliments of Mubashir Wani (who’s not in the photo, what a pity. He’s the photographer, OK?) But these are the names of the people I recognize: - Squatting, left to right: - X, Aliasgar Numberdar (Planner), Mukadas (Office Assistant), X, X, Gul Saeed (Foreman), Shahid Alam (Surveyor), Abhishek Radhakrishnan (ITS Engineer), Sarvesh Nayak (ITS Engineer), Mohammad Saleem (Document Controller). Standing, left to right: - Trinu Rajan (Technical Engineer), Jaicin Joy (QS), Evika (QS), Syed Saadi (Procurement Officer), X (Safety Officer), X, X, Harsha Jayaramaiah (ITS Systems Engineer), Sathyajith (Draftsman), X (Draftsman), X, Baber Javed (Admin Officer), Safi Ullah Khan (Deputy Project Manager Package 1A), Rathinavel (QC Manager), X, Muhammad Waqas (Construction Manager), Devansh Raj Kanchan (Assistant Project Manager), Qamar Abbas (Assistant Project Manager Package 1C), Ayush Agarwal (Technical Manager), Danish Ahmed (ITS Engineer), Yours Truly, Abdul Saleem (Systems Project Manager), Laith Rababa (QAQC Engineer), Nizar Makdissi (Site Engineer), Antoine Atallah (Construction Manager), Bernar Makdisi (HSE Manager), Eldho John (Electrical Engineer)


Diwali – Nov 2020 at one of our neighbours in Oia Residence – KP Singh and wife Abha’s house


A return visit at our apartment


This is our other neighbour in Oia Residence – Milind Pandhare in a Bhai Dooj festival during Diwali 2020 at our house – This was supposed to be ritual between sister and brother but because we have no one here in Dubai, Anu decided to just adopt a brother. There you are, haha


Milind Pandhare et moi


Meeting our old friends, Madhavi, Roby and Jashna for dinner at Desi Village Restaurant, Dubai – Dec 2020


And here’re the kids – Mashel, Aria and Viva with our kids

That’s all for now folks! Ciao!