Colours of the UAE

Flag Fort, Al Taiba, Fujairah, UAE

I have my hands full! Work, personal stuff… And it’s already the end of November, what the heck!

Still haven’t got time to look thru all those photos in the phones, and dunno what to write, so I’m gonna do another quickie post. UAE’s national day is at the end of the week (2nd Dec), and it’ll be another fabulous long weekend, yay! It’s the UAE’s 50th birthday, so here’s to a glorious future for this tolerant and progressive thinking country. God bless the UAE! Love live the UAE!

Here’re some photos of how the National Day is celebrated in the UAE (and some photos of the UAE’s flag in general, ahem).


National Day performance, Mirdif City Centre, Dubai, Dec 2016


Shopping for National Day clothes, Lulu Hypermarket, Al Barsha, Dubai, Nov 2017 – Every year there are celebrations in the school where the kids have to wear UAE themed clothes and stuff


The kids and Camel-Man, Arabian Centre, Dubai, National Day, 2017


National Day 2018, Mirdif City Centre




More photos of the Flage (sic) Fort in Al Taiba, Fujairah, UAE, Jan 2021 – This place is signposted as ‘Flage’ Fort on the main road connecting Masafi to Dibba. I guess Flage means Flag??


The Flage Fort is also a lodge - with a mural of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the UAE, painted on the wall


A flag flying at the adjoining Al Taiba Haritage (sic) Museum, Fujairah, a free entry private museum, set up by a generous local


Yours truly, at the Falaj Al Mualla Fort, Umm Al Quwain, UAE, Jan 2021


A lone flag flying high on the watch tower of the fort at Falaj Al Mualla, UAQ – This is a little visited museum/ fort. When we came, it was locked and the watchman opened it just for us. We had the entire museum to ourselves!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY PEOPLE OF THE UAE!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Our little wedding party in the Ipoh Swimming Club, Apr 2008

This month marks the 15th year of Anu and I starting our lives together. 15 years since we eloped from the hills of Mizoram, never to look back. That was the best decision of my life. Looking back to that time, it was nerve-wrecking scary, full of uncertainties (I dunno how many packs of cigarettes I smoked just planning and carrying out that move). So many people discouraged me from doing what I was planning to do, but luckily there were a few supportive friends and family. As a friend said at that time, this is India, do it the Bollywood way! And so, with divine help, we did it. Thank you God for helping us and looking out for us. I’ve told the story of how we escaped from Mizoram before, you can check it out in this earlier post written for our 10th anniversary.

But God did not stop there. Everything somehow worked out the way it was supposed to be. I could leave my job immediately right after we eloped, because I had submitted my resignation 3 months earlier due to reasons which were not connected with our relationship (my notice period was coincidentally 3 months, at the time of submitting my letter, I hadn’t even planned on getting married!) That gave us a chance to immediately disappear off the grid. India’s huge. Who would know where you are? I switched off my phone and we started on our grand tour of North India, place by place, state by state. If we liked a place, we stayed longer. At the same time, I found a new job which would start a month later, how lucky could that be? After a month of travelling around, we moved to Mumbai for the new job, and the new employer put us up in a 5-star hotel, the Marriott Lakeside Chalet, for 40 days! If that ain’t called a honeymoon, I dunno what you’d call it! In Mumbai, after 5+ months of being together, we finally managed to legalize our marriage in a court of law. (We first tried this in a court in Gurgaon (near Delhi) right after we eloped but were unsuccessful).

Anyway, to cut the story short, everything worked out in the time that it was supposed to work out, first, reconciliation with Anu’s family, then getting Anu a passport (in record time, that girl has a talent for talking her way through in getting things done – she spent a whole day in the Guwahati passport office, going from officer to officer, and walked out of it at the end of the day with her passport in hand, without paying a single extra rupee). And finally visiting Malaysia. Here’re some photos of our little marriage ceremony we did in Malaysia in 2008. It’s a walk down memory lane, as so many of my loved ones who were around then, had left us.


Here’s our tea ceremony – For Mama, my paternal granny (1917 – 2010) we love you


For Pho-pho, my maternal grandma (1925 – 2020) rest in peace


For Tua-kor, my dad’s eldest sister – she’s still with us and healthy. Thank God


For Tua-pek, my dad’s eldest brother and Ah Mm. Tuapek is still strong and healthy, thank God. Ah Mm left us at the end of last year, may she rest in peace


This is Sanh-Kor (meaning third aunt). She too has sadly gone home to the Lord


After the list of aunts and uncles, came the cousins older than I, this is Kok Leong and missus


And then it’s our turn to sit, for those younger than yours truly to serve us (that includes all my siblings coz I’m the oldest, hehe) – this is Keat (Alan). Thank you, here’s an angpow for you!


Now for the group photos – family pic, say cheese! Mom (1955 – 2016), Jipek (1938 – 2021) and Mama have all gone home to be with the Lord, God bless their souls


My mother’s side of the family – Apart from Pho-pho, my natural mom’s younger brother (whom we call Ah-Ku), have also left us a few years after this photo, RIP. What about my natural mom? She passed away a long time ago, when I was 15 years old. She would have loved to see this


With Jikor’s family! – We miss you Jikor, RIP


Jipek looks dashing in this pic, doesn’t he?


Another cousin, Kok Seng and wife


A few close friends were also here


And here’s one for the girls! Kim and Jamie went out of the way to come in Indian attire, way to go!

Anu, I hope to spend anniversaries with you till the end of time. I love you. I put our story here so that we'd remember it when we're grey and old. Mmmmmuahhh!

Gone Too Soon – Beloved Helen Ong

Helen Ong, my JiKor (1940 – 2021)

Jikor, I have a loss for words. You left us too soon. I've still got so many things to talk to you about, laugh about and get silly. I didn't even manage to say ‘Hi’ to you after your surgery, and you said you wanted to visit Dubai again when COVID gets better. We've even found a KTV here that we could go to, in this Arab place, believe it or not?

Thank you Jikor for being that kind and happening aunt we can always go to. Thank you for housing us all in your little KL apartment, my brother, sister, cousins, I, whoever. You’re like a second mother to us, always welcoming, always treated us like we’re your own, even when we were wild and in our crazy phase. No one's matched your hospitality when it comes to being at your home.

There’re just too many memories of you. You were my go-to aunt whenever I’m in KL. You’ve brought up so many little kids in your life. You were my little sis Kim’s nanny when she was born. I still remember the Loo-Loo-Loo tune you hummed to make her sleep. You were here to help us when Anu gave birth to our first-born, Justin. We picked the Chinese word that you like for his Chinese name. You’ve been Anu’s inspiration since she got to know you, she said all ladies should be like Jikor, always looking nice, despite age or lack of money, always creating a happy mood, always having family and friends… Thank you for enriching our lives and the lives of so many others.

You’ve left us for a better place now. I hope all your wishes come true. And I hope you have as much fun in heaven as how you’ve filled us with fun and excitement here on earth. Goodbye and sleep soundly now in peace, Jikor. God bless you.

I know you love photos. I don’t know whether you’ve seen these. I bet you can see any photo you like now… Love you, miss you forevermore.


Meeting us in Kuala Lumpur when we arrived, 2016






You are Anu’s fun-loving aunt and inspiration


Looking pretty with Aunty Choo, Butterworth, 2016


Christmas with Tuapek at your home, 2017


Didn’t know you’d join your brother in heaven so soon. Rest in Peace Jikor. Rest in Peace Jipek


Our last meeting, 2019 Ipoh – You came all the way from KL back to Ipoh just to spend time with us. We love you

RIP Jipek

One Chee Chai, beloved uncle, 1938 - 2021. Rest In Peace

Goodbye Jipek. You left us so suddenly, peacefully left to be with the Lord. It was a privilege to have had you in my life. You and granny had always been my guardians when my parents were at work. My childhood memories are filled with those times in Lorong Jaycee. It’s hard to imagine you not being in this world anymore.

Life hasn’t been very kind to you, crippling you when you were at your prime, taking away the hopes of you having a family of your own, giving you a lifetime of disabilities. You took all that in stride. Always kind, always good natured, never blamed your circumstances or anyone. Thank you for showing me how to live simply and how to live happily. You are now free of all that has constrained you. You’ve earned your place in heaven. Be at peace now, Jipek. Love you. Goodbye.


Our last meeting in 2019 - A nice sibling reunion (but missing the eldest and the youngest). Glad to have made it a point to see you then. God bless your soul Jipek

High Up in the Caucasus

Tusheti National Park, Georgia – View from the Keselo Fortress in Upper Omalo

Would you believe it? I’m still busy! Despite being booted out of the ITS Projects. (We’ve received the official taking over certificates for the 2 ITS2020 Projects where I was the Project Manager. That’s the reason why I’m not needed anymore, sob).

Anyway, life goes on. A school mid-term break for the kids is coming up next week… (Didn’t school just start like last month?!??) Dubai’s EXPO 2020 has opened and we’ve visited and taken some photos (which will stay in the phone for another year, or 2 before seeing the light of day. The light of this blog I mean. You’ll catch ‘em faster by checking Anu’s facebook). At home in Malaysia, some bad news has come up. Our dear ol’ aunt Helen, the happening aunt, has had a major surgery to remove her colon due to a growth of some kind that has blocked it. We hope it’s not cancerous, praying every day. Hope she’ll recover quickly.

And, it’s nearly half a month since I last posted. So, I’m gonna squeeze in another express photo post. On the same Tusheti National Park of Georgia (yeah, why not? The photos are all there, ready to post, sitting in drive, hehe). Here goes.


I love to go a wandering, along the mountain track… (What’s a mountain trip without a little bit of trekking? Come on boys, mommy’s far ahead. Mommy’s the fit one in our family, ahem)


Along a mountain track connecting Lower Omalo to Upper Omalo, Tusheti, Georgia


Mommy on a lookout – There ahead, the fortress!


Zemo (Upper) Omalo with the Keselo Fortress overlooking the village


Mommy on sacred ground – Yeah, it really is marked ‘Sacred Place’ on a signboard – no camping, or driving onto the grounds allowed. And no skimpy dresses (if I understand the sign correctly). The Tushetians have their own taboos and culture. One prominent one is that Pork (which is consumed all over Georgia) is taboo in Tusheti despite the Tushetians being Christians!


Let’s make our way to the fortress! The views are breath-taking…


Hey, careful! It’s a long way down!




Keselo Fortress from the back… Tusheti, Georgia




The kids made a friend. She’s a Swiss girl, about 7 years old, I think the name’s Rachel. We saw her all alone in the fortress. We thought she was local. Her parents were far below (see first picture above, resting below the tower). That’s the Swiss way of bringing up children I suppose, letting the kids roam around the mountains as they like (as Switzerland is full of mountains). We would’ve never let the kids out of our sight, especially at this place, with steep cliffs dropping into ravines full of God knows what… We only learnt later that she’s Swiss when we met her parents. They had driven all the way from Switzerland to Georgia, through Eastern Europe and Turkey. They’d driven as far as Kazakhstan on other trips (how I wish I had the means and time to do that…). This time they parked their car somewhere, travelled to Khevsureti (another remote hill community in Georgia), hired some horses with horsemen in Khevsureti, and travelled through the forests on horseback for a few days to reach Tusheti! That’s what I call an ADVENTURE!


Horses in Omalo, after a brief downpour. That was a nice day trip. OK, time to get back to our hotel!


After a night at the hotel, it’s time to get back down to civilization, bye-bye Omalo, bye Tusheti!


5 hours of mountain road, here we come! Baa baa white sheep, get out of the way! (On this particular day, fog shrouded most of the mountain road, south of the Abano Pass, much to the relief of Anu – she’s afraid of heights).

From here, we headed back to Telavi to collect our rented car and say hi and bye to our friends in the Telavi guesthouse. That’s my last post of our 2018 Caucasus trip! Bye Georgia, hope to meet you again soon! From Georgia, we would head to Baku, Azerbaijan to complete our trip of the Caucasus.

And before I go… HAPPY DURGA PUJA! HAPPY DUSSEHRA! This weekend will be a busy weekend!