For the Love of Blue & White

Café des Délices, Sidi Bou Said

Was looking for some romantic settings or flowers to post for Valentine’s. Valentine has gone past by more than a week now. But I finally found something which I think will do for romance. It’s a quaint little village which is almost entirely painted in blue and white. It’s like a friggin village of Police Stations of Malaysia! Nah, just kidding, blue and white is quite a nice combination. Santorini in Greece is famous partly because of it. (Maybe that’s where our police got their inspiration from). But this is no Greece. It’s across the sea in another part of the Mediterranean – Tunisia!


This is the village of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia – it was near where ancient Carthage stood. A long time ago, a policeman came from Malaysia… OK, enough of that lame joke. Wikipedia says that it was actually a French aristocrat and artist, Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger that introduced the blue and white theme to Sidi Bou Said, and that caught on, and it never turned back




The Baron even built his home aka palace in Sidi Bou Said – this is the garden of his home, the Ennejma Ezzahra (the Star of Venus in Arabic …didn’t know Venus was blue??)


Sidi Bou Said sits high on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea…


What’s to do in this place? Just walk around, take photos of things in blue, like doors…


Lots of doors, …pick up a souvenir or two


And eat! Couscous with fish is one of the typical Tunisian meal you’ll find


And this is a Brik with tuna and egg, another common Tunisian fare


And Bambalouni… doughnut Tunisian style (we didn’t take a photo of the Bambalouni we had in Sidi Bou Said). This photo was the one we had in Tunis… (that's why there's less blue in this photo)


Meet some locals – the kids and some friends they made at the Tunisian restaurant in Sidi Bou Said while waiting for our food – Le Chargui Restaurant, Sidi Bou Said


And relax in the hotel, Villa Landalucia, Sidi Bou Said


Breakfast at Villa Landalucia


The cobblestoned street outside our hotel, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia


Finally, family pic with falcons (which the handlers just trusted into our hands …and heads, while we’re walking past …and of course, they were expecting a big fee, but we just insisted on a small tip and went our way – no complaints. Only hustlers we met in our whole Tunisian trip). Nice place! Ciao!

The Infernal Wonderland

A steaming hot lake at Wai-O-Tapu, near Rotorua, New Zealand

Busy like hell! My Project’s in its finishing stage, it’s Chinese New Year in a Chinese company, it should be a breeze! A honeymoon, but NO! Haven’t had any time to think of a decent post, haven’t had any time to download and sort out photos, heck! So, it’ll have to be an old photo post. Again. But luckily, I’ve tons of old post materials, haha.

At home, this CNY is a quiet CNY (not that the past few CNY’s weren’t quiet). But, we have one less family to join us this year in Dubai. Our son Justin spent his CNY in Singapore, with the Singapore side of the family. (But that didn’t stop Anu from cooking up a feast again, hehe. Only for the 3 of us! I love you, honey). Dad and sis Hazel are in New Zealand this CNY, with Kim and family. So, I guess I’ll do an NZ post! – This will be the last of my unposted NZ North Island photos! (There’re still loads of South Island photos yet to post, don’t fret!)


The Devil’s Bathtub… Just made that up, haha! What else would you call this boiling ermm ‘cesspool’?


You think we could hotpot some food in there? Would we die from poisoning?


Welcome to Wai-O-Tapu, the Thermal Wonderland! Well, that’s what they call it. But this is a ‘wonderland’ sitting on a time bomb! New Zealand, especially its North Island, sits on a very seismically active zone, as it happens to be the boundary between two tectonic plates. And Wai-O-Tapu sits right smack in the centre of what you call the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which is “one of the most active volcanic areas in the WORLD.” (I kid you not - that’s what it says on the signboard in the park – see above). So, if you wanna see this place, go before it disappears completely (like the Pink & White terraces, which was the main landmark and tourist attraction of NZ in the 19th century, but is now gone, destroyed by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886)


God knows what’s in there. A Balrog would be a good guess!


The Balrog’s toilet… Fancy that - hot, boiling mud!


The name says it all – Inferno Crater!


There’s also a famous geyser (no, not your home water-heater variety) – the Lady Knox Geyser – No, I have no idea how it got its name




And she gets quite a lot of visitors…


Ooohh, what a nice-looking sinister lake? Is that where poison apples are made?


No, you’re not allowed to go out of the path… Do that at your own peril


Jared in the woods at Wai-O-Tapu.… Don't the trees look like they've been trampled on by some sinister monster (a Balrog, maybe, hehe)


Wonder how they built this platform? Standing on bricks? (There’s one they left behind in the water)


Ta-ta! The boys at Wai-O-Tapu, North Island, New Zealand, 2018. (The girls didn't join us, with the exception of Anu, who took the photo)

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!