Forts of Gulf Arabia, Part 2

Bukha Fort, Musandam, Oman – Notice that little fort in the distance dwarfed by the towering hills behind? That’s the Al Qala’a Fort according to Google Maps. I thought it was just an extension of this Bukha Fort, and even labelled as such in an earlier post, ahem… But heck, no one's gonna notice, hehe…

Another express photo-post coming up! Busy month this January. Committed to finishing big chunks of work before the end of this month, and then there’s Chinese New Year next week. So here goes.

Continuing from the previous post (where I featured the Al Jazirah Al Hamra Fort in Ras Al-Khaimah), here’re more forts we visited not too long ago, if you're into these kinda things. The kids sure are. And so’s the old man, hahaha. Shhhh… don’t tell the missus, she’s not very keen on forts or museums. She’s more of a nature-type of person.


First off the list – Bukha Fort in Musandam Oman. This is a fort I’ve featured before in my first 'Forts of Gulf Arabia' post a long time ago (in 2009), and also in more recent posts in 2019 & 2022. It’s a small but picturesque fort, surrounded by the towering barren mountains of Musandam (ain’t it? Especially in Anu’s photo in my 2009 post?)


Hazel and Jayden looking at something in the depths of that bottomless pit… Nah, just kidding


Justin, exploring the ramparts of the Bukha Fort – the mosque beside blends in nicely




Next up, Khasab Fort, in Musandam’s capital, Khasab. Didn’t visit it on our first visit in 2008. We finally visited, with Dad and Hazel in 2019 – Khasab, Musandam, Oman




Exploring the castle grounds… The fort features traditional boats. And here's a link to a photo of Jayden in one of the huts in the castle


Finally, the little visited Falaj Al Mualla Fort in Umm Al Quwain, UAE


We decided to just stop by, on our way past this town, a little visited area of the UAE. There were no visitors, and an attendant had to open the museum just for us ‘privileged’ visitors, ahem…


See, that’s our car, a lone, solitary car in the fort’s car park, surrounded by empty roads and sand dunes


The fort-museum has creepy mannequins in it. Wouldn’t wanna be trapped here overnight


OK, time to go – Falaj Al Mualla Fort, Umm Al-Quwain, UAE


Hey, this is a nice place for hide and seek! Boys are boys. I’ve posted a few photos of this place in my earlier posts in 2021 and 2022

There you go, express photo post done!

The Cheaper Emirates

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! 2023 is here. And I pray that God will continue to provide hope and blessings to all, especially to the downtrodden, the needy and those in despair. I pray that men will set aside their personal agendas and hatred for those different from them, and strive for the good of mankind and make this world a nicer place.

This is a super-express New Year post.

For new year, we’ll usually head out north, to the cheaper emirates (i.e. the emirates north and east of Dubai) to have a scrumptious meal, usually seafood, haha. (Yeah, yeah, you can call us cheapskates, but a penny saved is a penny earned. Hah!)

This new year we headed out to Sharjah. (And I’ve not downloaded any of the photos yet). So here’re some photos of the past 2 years of what we did on New Year. Bear with me, OK?


Driving up north to Ras Al Khaimah. It’s always fun to find somewhere to drive to!


The day before New Year’s Eve 2021 – Seafood restaurant found! Al Anfalus Fish Restaurant, at Al Jazirah Al Hamra, Ras Al-Khaimah. Wow, isn’t that a nice dish?!


Let’s check out the little castle nearby, and the ghost village behind… spooky (Nope, we didn’t proceed far, before getting out of the ruins…) – Al Jazirah Al Hamra Fort, RAK, UAE


A stop at a liquor shop before heading home… We ran out of whiskey! It’s New Year, OK? – Barracuda Beach Resort, Umm Al Quwain, UAE


One year later… And this is New Year’s Day 2022! Again ended up in Al Anfalus Fish Restaurant, hehe – Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE


This is another spooky place… (Ras Al-Khaimah seems to be full of 'em). The haunted Al Qassimi Palace, an abandoned palace in RAK for decades. Used to be a ‘haunt’ for those seeking adventures of the paranormal kind, until the owners realized the money-making potential of the place and refurbished it. Now’s it open to the public but charges a fee (hefty for us cheapskates …What? It’s just a mansion now that they’ve beautified it?!?)

OK, end of post. See ya!

Expo-Tastic Year End Fun!

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

Here’s a quick year end post, pictures of how we celebrated Christmas and New Year last year at the Expo2020 Dubai (since I’ve already sorted out the photos, haha, or better, ho-ho-ho!)

I’m going on a one-week break! From Christmas to New Year. Easiest leave I’ve ever obtained in my history working for this Company!! I asked, I got. No questions asked, no handover, no nothing. Filled in the form, boss signed it on the same day! Is this good, or bad? …It’s too good to be true, actually. Is it because my work is no longer crucial? Am I becoming redundant?!? We got a couple of new Projects last year, but I was not included in any of them, bugger! But, what the heck! We’ll see later. Now let’s sit back and have some time with the family. Didn’t plan anything. Would love to do so, but there’s too little time to get visas, and also, we’ve spent an enormous amount of moolah already this year. Time to save up.

Wishing all a joyful Christmas with lots of love and blessings and fantastic New Year! Happy New Year 2023! Here goes.






Christmas decorations at Expo Dubai’s central Al Wasl Dome, Dubai, UAE 2021


Merry Christmas from the kids. In front of the Germany Pavilion, Dubai EXPO2020


And this is New Year’s Eve…


The countdown to 2022! 20, 19, 18,... Happy New Year!!!!!!!




Concerts abound! Here’s a concert at the Al Wasl Dome. What about COVID? …Huh? What COVID??!


And this is an Armin van Buuren concert, in one of the other stages in the Expo!


The water feature / fountain in the Expo2020, now called Fire Falls


What a fantastic night!


More fireworks! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wishing all a safe and blessed Happy New Year! See you in 2023!

Justin’s Last Year at Home

Our big son, Justin has started his new life in Singapore. We miss him. After all he’s only 13. But he seems to be coping well, hardly calling us. But looking back, he’s always been like that. He had no problem on us leaving him all alone on his first day of school when he was 3+, hardly even looked back to wave us goodbye.

We wish him all the best and hope he'll do well in his studies, without us parents prompting him to do so. Here’s a look back at his last year staying with us in the UAE.


One of our favourite pastimes in winter in the UAE – Camping, and exploring the countryside! This is Wadi Shawka, a territory belonging to the emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah, but separated from main part of RAK, by other emirates. Looking back, this would be Justin’s last overnight camp with us. This is right after his 12th birthday. We miss you, son. Come back next winter, and we’ll do another camp, OK? – Dec 2021


Ringing in the New Year in Expo2020! Happy 2022! The winter & spring season of 2021-2022 was dominated by the Dubai Expo. We had seasonal tickets, so wanted to make full use of our tickets (no, it’s not that we’re ‘kiasu’, it’s just that overseas travel was not yet an option, and there’re tons of things to see in the Expo, 200+ pavilions, loads of concerts and performances! – Wish it could’ve lasted longer) – New Year’s Day, 2022


Our sojourn to the Expo continues… Justin inside the UK Pavilion. The UK Pavilion was an eye-catching pavilion but with just an empty space inside. Walking up a ramp, you’d choose a word of your choice on your phone, and your selected word will appear in the pavilion’s multiple displays when you reach inside! Some algorithm was supposed to take all these words and use them for making messages to extra-terrestrials (aliens) when we eventually meet ‘em. (Yeah, no kidding. Looks like the Brits are big believers of the Men in Black. Hope the aliens are not like what we see in movies who’re bent on just wiping us out and taking over our world…) – Feb 2022


Finally, an overseas trip, after 2+ years of COVID restrictions! First destination – India, mommy’s home. But India is huge, and we made a stop in Amritsar, Punjab, before heading east to Assam. This is the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India – Mar 2022


Justin in Assam, at the site of the ruins of the old Cachari / Dimasa Kingdom. His aunt Amrita, and Jayden can be seen further down, behind – Khaspur, Cachar, Assam, India – Apr 2022


Back in Dubai. Here’s Justin with one of his best friends and classmate, Jamal (who’s half Kyrgyz and half Saudi) at the World Scholar’s Cup Competition. The World Scholar’s Cup is an Olympic games-like competition for scholars/ students on all things academic, where you can win medals for debate, writing, quizzes, etc. Justin’s school invited all the ‘gifted and talented’ students of the school to be part of this event. This was the first round. They subsequently competed in the Global round, which was also held in Dubai a month later – Cambridge International School, Al Twar, Dubai – May 2022


Another home trip, this time to his papa’s home, Malaysia – Here’s Justin with his granddad, after a trek up Kledang Hill, near Ipoh, his dad’s hometown. Coincidentally, during the home trip, we got an email from Singapore’s Ministry of Education (MOE), informing us that Justin’s invited to sit for an exam in Penang, to ascertain whether he would qualify for the ASEAN Scholarship we applied for. So, Justin ended up spending quite some time studying during the holidays, ahem. – Kledang Hill, Menglembu, Perak, Malaysia – Jul 2022


Woo-hoo! HE PASSED THE EXAM! He was invited to attend an interview with the MOE in Penang. So, we arranged Justin to fly all the way back to Penang from Dubai by himself, and then from there back to Dubai by himself also. It’s a little complicated, since Justin’s still a minor, and many airlines do not allow minors to travel alone, but luckily, he’s just after 12 years old, and we could opt for waiving the Unaccompanied Minor services for some of the airlines. So, there you have it! It turned out that the interview in Penang, although held in an institute, was thru a Zoom call to Singapore!?! Heck! And the MOE subjected us to all that trouble to get to Penang for the interview! – Justin with his grandad and aunt, Hazel at Penang Airport, ready to depart for Singapore en route to Dubai – Sep 2022

JUSTIN FRIGGIN PASSED THE INTERVIEW, by the way. Congratulations son! Told you, your effort will pay off!


Happy Diwali! Less than 3 weeks before flying off to Singapore! In our neighbour’s Milind’s home – from left to right, yours truly, Milind, Justin, Jayden, Mihir and Aru – Oct 2022


An advance 13th birthday party, and farewell for Justin, with some of his friends around! A surprise arranged by his mommy. From left to right, Mosaab (from Egypt), Nikita (Russia), Som (Korea), Malik (Egypt), Moaz (Egypt), Jayden, Angelina (Korea), Justin, Sean Linz (India), Abdul (India), Ashton (India), and Yiro (Korea). Mosaab, Malik and Moaz are brothers, and stay in the same building floor as us. Nikita and Yiro also stay in the same building as us – Our home, MotorCity, Dubai – Nov 2022


Another meeting with a friend/ ex-classmate from his old school, Aria and younger sister Viva – At the ice-skating ring in Sport Society, Mirdif, Dubai, UAE – Nov 2022


Thank you, Mommy. I love you – Mirdif City Centre, the weekend before he flies off


All ready to go! Two of his friends (Sean Linz and Yiro) came to see him before Justin and I took the cab to the airport, BYE! Poor Jayden, he was crying uncontrollably, he really misses his koko


Justin’s new home in Singapore – St Andrew’s Hall. This is the hostel that he’d be staying in for his studies. The day he arrived in Singapore, also happened to coincide with our anniversary date, i.e. the day I and Anu eloped from Mizoram, 16 years ago…


Justin meets a new friend, Garren Tang, at his new school, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI), Singapore, after the induction session. Garren is the only one from his ASEAN Scholarship batch like Justin, entering Secondary 1 in SJI. (The other selected scholars were all for Secondary 3, and were from either Thailand or Vietnam). Garren also happened to be Malaysian, but he lived and grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia


My last dinner together with Justin in Singapore, before I flew off. We were with Jason, Fang and Stacey. Thanks for everything Jason and Fang – Suki-Ya (Japanese Steamboat), I think this was the Dhoby Ghaut branch, if I’m not mistaken – Singapore, Nov 2022

ALL THE BEST SON, WAY TO GO! Keep us in your heart, OK? Take care, work hard, stay focused, always be positive and happy, and never give up hope. We love you.