Rotating Offices

And the award for the office with the best view goes to... – The Opus by Omniyat, Business Bay, Dubai! Nov 2022. Alas, we were only here for 4 months?!?!

Here we go again. Shifting offices. Just shifted my office to a different container. But in the same compound. Yup, I’m in a container office. Nothing new, seeing that I’m in construction, but starting from 2018, I’ve changed offices so many times that I’ve lost count. This is my effort at trying to recall the offices I’ve changed since 2018.

I’m gonna use the Abu Dhabi Airport Project Manager’s Office, which I’d been based in since the start of 2018 as base. Ground zero. Here goes.


Change No.1 – Al Gurg Tower, Baniyas Road, Deira, Dubai, Jul 2018. This was the ITS2020/1B Project’s first office i.e. Scientechnic’s office in their corporate group's building (Scientechnic is part of the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group). Fantastic view of Dubai Creek's dhow wharves. ITS2020/1B was a project I was assigned to as the Project Manager under a JV agreement between our company and Scientechnic, a local company specializing in traffic signal controllers, etc. They basically have a monopoly in Dubai on Siemen’s products and many other specialized systems, traffic, lighting, automation, etc, etc, etc. The ITS2020 Projects were a project for the supply and construction of intelligent traffic systems all over Dubai city. Basically, under the agreement, Scientechnic would finance and run the project, while CSCEC provided the project management. Part of Scientechnic’s responsibility was to establish the Project Site Office. They were not as quick as CSCEC in setting up, and we had to temporarily squat in Scientechnic’s head office, while the premises were being sourced and set up.


Change no.1.5 – Same Scientechnic Head Office, different tables. I wouldn’t call this a big change, just a change in table, due to more staff joining… Still, fantastic view, but not very conducive for parking, nor commuting, as it was right smack in the city!

Change No.2 – ITS2020/1C’s Project Site Office, Al Barsha South. (Sorry, no photos). No more views, but better parking. Traffic still sucks (because I gotta travel from International City where I was staying then), but it was, OK. This was the office of the ITS2020/1C Project, a ‘sister’ project to ITS2020/1B, operating under the same JV agreement with Scietenchnic, but under a different Project Manager. 1B had to squat here while we got our own Project Site Office done. Later, the 1C team also had to shift as this site office's location was rejected by the Client, RTA. Better luck next time!


Change No.3 – ITS2020/1B’s Project Site Office, Al Quoz, Dec 2018. We finally got our own office!!! But I wouldn’t stay for long… I wasn’t approved as the Project Manager by the Engineer or Client, despite being the ‘Acting Project Manager’ from the start of the Project. I was approved only as Deputy Project Manager. Therefore, my company had other plans (there was no budget for a Deputy Project Manager’s post)…

Change No.4 – Close-Out Office, Al Quoz, May 2019. (Sorry, no photos again!) Ahhhhh… Bliss! The intense pressure which yours truly was subjected to daily in the ITS2020/1B, was suddenly all gone! I completed a smooth hand-over of my responsibilities to the newly appointed Project Manager of the ITS2020/1B Project, and I moved to the Close-Out office to close out two Abu Dhabi Projects, one of which was my old Abu Dhabi Airport Project! The Close-Out Office was a mere 5 mins drive from the ITS2020/1B Office, by the way, 1 km away.


A cement factory near the ITS2020/1B Site Office and CSCEC’s Close-Out Site Office in Al Quoz. Al Quoz is an industrial area in Dubai, surrounded now by nice neighbourhoods. Strange that an industrial area lies here. A remnant from the past when Dubai was smaller, I think…

Change No.5 – CSCEC Civil & Infra Head Office, DIP (Dubai Investment Park). Dubai Municipality suddenly asked our company to vacate the Close-Out Site Office land in Al Quoz to make way for a new petrol station that'll be built there. The only place available for the close-out team to move to, was a ramshackle site office, used by the stores of the Dubai Hills Mall Access Project, in the Dubai Hills Area… with dirt roads for access. I had a look at that dump and decided to move myself to our company’s Civil & Infrastructure Division’s DIP Head Office instead. That was my old office before I moved to the Abu Dhabi Project. And DIP was much nearer to Abu Dhabi than Dubai Hills was (plus there was ample office space and parking, and OK traffic). Luckily, my bosses didn’t object, hehe. (Little did I know at that time, that I would eventually end back up in the ramshackle close-out office!)

Change No.6 – Back in the ITS2020/1B Office, Al Quoz, Oct 2019. SURPRISE! SURPRISE! I was told, at short notice, to report back at the ITS2020/1B Office, to be the Deputy Project Manager, again! It seemed that the Engineer and Client were really annoyed with the Project Manager, and just before the recall, there was a road accident related to the 1B Project which had a fatality. They used that excuse to recall me. The Engineer’s intention was to replace the Project Manager with yours truly, which eventually happened in Jan-Feb 2020.


Celebrations at ITS2020/1B! We completed the 112 nos. new Dynamic Message Signs. Only 8 more refurbished ones to put up before we complete the Project! – Jul 2020. As you can see, it was deep in COVID era! People I recognize here – Ayush Agarwal (left), Engineering Manager; Devansh Raj Kanchan (in blue, walking away), Assistant Project Manager; Nizar Makdissi (right), Project Engineer. The others? I can’t really tell with their backs facing the camera.


Change No.7 – Scientechnic Maintenance Office, Jebel Ali, Dec 2020. That’s it! We finished the ITS2020/1B Project. Now we have to close it out, and also ITS2020/1C. The show must go on, but not at the site offices' premises, which had to be vacated. So, it’s another shift. To one of Scientechnic’s many offices in town. This time, it’s their maintenance office in Jebel Ali!


Jebel Ali is another industrial area in Dubai… This is Jebel Ali, on a normal, dusty day, cough, cough! Scientechnic’s office is the building on the left. – Jun 2021


Jebel Ali Industrial Area, on a nicer day, with clouds. Just bearable, haha. – Sep 2021


Change No.8 – Close-Out Office, Dubai Hills Area, Sep 2021. We received the Taking-Over Certificates for both the ITS2020/1B and ITS2020/1C Projects. No more Project Manager required, sez Scientechnic. I guess it’s back to the Close-Out Office I go. Ramshackle dump, here I come!


Whoa, this place is so cut off, that it even has gazelles in our yard! Who would’ve known?


Change No.9 – The Opus Building by Omniyat, Oct 2022. This was a building designed by the late renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It looks like a melting friggin ice-cube, to me. This was the best office move ever, in my opinion. Beautiful view. Ample parking. A little traffic woe being back in the city, but bearable for being in an iconic building. But, alas, this wouldn’t last, as only a few months after we moved, we were told by our head office to vacate the office. Apparently, this property was to be given to a party our company owed money to, as part of the settlement. Incidentally, our company had also received this unit from the developer, Omniyat as settlement for some unpaid dues. What a waste, especially considering the time that our company took to have the office fitted out in the first place for us to move in, more than a year I remember, and we had to vacate it in err… 4 months??


Change No.10 – CSCEC’s Al Awir Site Office, Warsan 3, Mar 2023. Back to a site office. Near International City. Not bad, I had my own shaded car park, plus traffic's usually smooth between Motor City and this office, both ways. No complaints at all!

Change No.10.5 – Same Site Office, different rooms, ummmm… May 2024, maybe. I had seen 2 occupants moved in and out of the room I was sharing with, before I, myself was told to move to another shared room to make way for some new people. That’s life, when you’re in Close-Out, and had no project to house you in… Beggars can’t be choosers…

Change No.11 – Same premises, into a container, Sep 2024. And that brings me to this current office. The wonky office (it was sagging on one side) with the quaint Chinese lights. Feels like a dingy Chinese restaurant, hah! But this I’m told was just temporary. The old site office that we were sitting in was supposed to be shifted to a new Project which we’ve just obtained, to be its site office. Till that happens, chill!

So, it’s 11 friggin changes in 6 years. Beat that!


Ending the post with a photo of us in our tree-planting campaign for World Environment Day! CSCEC Close-Out Office, Al Awir, Dubai – Jun 2024. From left to right are: Prathap, Contracts Manager; Ren Bofei, Deputy Project Manager; Eyad Alkhaligy, Project Manager; Qiang Lianhe, Project Director; yours truly; and Nishad Chengot, HSE Manager

This Ain’t Hogwarts, but It’ll Do

This post has nothing to do with Hogwarts or Harry Potter for that matter. It’s about their school actually, but the kids have talked about how cool a school like Hogwarts would be, like forever. Their school in reality looks nothing like it. That’s life kids. You could build one when you’re successful next time, haha.

That’s it for this year’s summer break. It’s back to school and Jayden’s in Year 6! (And Mommy can finally get some respite from the kid).

Looking back, I think we started school a little too early for Jayden. Sigh, if only he behaves his year-age. Anyway, this year marks the fifth year since we shifted the kids’ school to GEMS Metropole School, the school just next to our (then) new apartment. That was the idea. We had been looking for a school and apartment combination just like that, and this fits perfectly! Here’s a look back at their school life.


First day of school (or was it the second?), 5 years ago, in Sep 2019, at GEMS Metropole School. Justin just started Year 5, and Jayden, Year 1. New school, new uniforms! See how little they were at that time


It was only less than half a year later that friggin COVID-19 happened! Here’re the kids at our apartment, just before the lockdown started – Mar 2020. The building in the background (with the little bit of green, is their school!)


Back at school after the lockdown ended. Jayden in Year 2 then, Nov 2020. (Justin was already in class, in Year 6, on that day). Year 2 students could still be dropped off by their parents…


Start of another year! Aug 2021. Justin’s first year in secondary school (Year 7). Jayden’s starting Year 3. This was Justin’s last full year at GEMS Metropole School. He shifted to Singapore in his first term of Year 8 in Metropole…


This was the ‘Farmers’ Market’ set up to celebrate ‘Spring Fest’ at their school… There’re bouncy castles, musical performance, etc. Jayden was in the school primary choir. He’s not shy of singing (unlike Justin), and he’s quite quick at picking up tunes and lyrics… Mar 2022


Sunny Side Up! The first musical production in GEMS Metropole School's history, thanks to the Head of Performing Arts and the Principal of the school. Jayden was one of the very few Year-3’s chosen to participate in the school production. As you can see from the masks, COVID-19 was still very much a part of life… Mar 2022


Actually, we exposed both Justin and Jayden to music at a reasonably young age. Although Justin hates to sing, he could play the guitar and piano. Here’s Justin, playing the guitar in the orchestra at his old school, GEMS Royal Dubai School’s graduation party in Jun 2019


And this was Jayden’s old school, Newlands School – Graduating from FS2 (Foundation Stage 2, the UK equivalent to kindergarten), Jun 2019. The lady standing on the left, was Jayden's FS2 class teacher, Ms Leyla Borich, from Bosnia. June 2019 was the last time the kids were at their old schools before we changed their schools


Justin’s last full year at Metropole was filled with competitions. Here’s he with his classmate and friend, Jamal, in Dubai Mall, after a round of events for the World Scholar’s Cup. – Jun 2022. He’d love to continue participating in the World Scholar’s Cup if possible, as they’re held all over the world, but his current Singapore school isn’t in this. Plus participation ain’t cheap…


Back in Metropole, Nov 2022. Jayden’s all alone now, with his Koko gone off to Singapore. This is the school’s Lost & Found Room… JAYDEN, WHERE DID YOU PUT YOUR JACKET AND HAT???!?? Nope, not here. You’ll be amazed at the treasures that lie here… stinky shoes, sweaty clothes, etc. Luckily there’s no half-eaten food, (I think they throw the food away, before stashing the lunch boxes here… Can’t imagine if they’d not done that, Yeccchhh!)


The choir strikes again – Nov 2022. Is this for UAE National Day or Christmas?? I think it’s for the National Day, as that falls on 2nd December, but what are they doing with Christmas hats??


Jayden enters Year 5. Here’s he, with his Year 5 teacher, Mr Ashley Kearsley, from the UK – Oct 2023


Another musical production, the Little Shop of Horrors – Mar 2024. There was a change in format, and the head of performing arts of the school. The 2024 production featured only secondary school students, but the primary choir (which Jayden was in) was included in the last minute… Here’s the lead character mourning over the loss of his love, whom he accidentally fed to the plant monster seen in the middle. Duh, how did that even happened??


GEMS Metropole School, Home of the Mustangs, Feb 2024. Jia you, jia you!(加油! 加油!)

I hope both the boys turn out good. I hope they know the value of putting in effort, and maintaining discipline and perseverance, to achieve success. That they continue to value kindness, righteousness, tolerance and humility in their walk in life. That they are smart, practical, respectful and brave in doing the right thing. God, please look after them, and guide them. In Jesus's name I ask, Amen.

A Foodful Trip Back Home

Ahhhhh…. Scrumptious Malaysian fusion food, at Kafe Empat Sekawan, Butterworth, Malaysia – Jul 2024

Did it! Here’re all the valuable family photos of our recent trip back home!

It looks like it’s all about food, but it’s more than that. (Although, I admit that we’ve been heaping up on the cholesterol… ahem. Can’t help it. There’s just so much variety, everywhere, and for a fraction of the cost of what you’ll have to pay in friggin Dubai). (No wonder, Malaysia’s the most obese country in South East Asia!!! Sez some report. Not something to be proud of unfortunately). Amazing, how dad and his siblings remained so thin…


First breakfast of our Malaysia trip …Dim Sum at Thong Sum Restaurant, Butterworth. Eat up dad! Match our size, haha!


We, at Gurney Bay, Penang, a new park built on reclaimed land along Gurney Drive. Right after our medical check-ups in the Penang Adventist Hospital. We, typically do a full body check-up, when we visit Malaysia. Dad, Anu and I did it. Hazel was supposed to do it, but opted out due to her period. The results were OK, luckily. (It would’ve been worse, if we did it a week later, looking at all the food that we gorged down in the week ahead, ahem). I prefer the old Gurney Drive promenade to this reclaimed, ‘sanitized’ version. The old promenade was cooler, ermmm… more natural.


More food!! At the famous Teksen Restaurant, Penang …where you’d have to queue up to get a place, even at 5-ish pm. Don’t believe me? Go visit yourself. Heck, even the tourists queued up (it must have featured in some tourist guide). Right behind us in the queue, was a Dutch couple on holiday.


Visiting the Ipoh family. Meet Tuapek, dad’s eldest brother, at the Moonlight Care Centre Old Folks Home. Tuapek is the ‘delinquent’ of the home, well-known for his exploits of trying to escape. Don’t blame him. What’s an old man gotta do to get some freedom? His children visit, but they stay overseas, unfortunately. He’s got a little ‘behavioural dementia’ according to the home. We saw a little of that on the first time we met him, but on the second and third, he was lucidly clear. Just didn’t like the lack of freedom in the home, he said… Pity him, I hope he gets a better deal soon


And this is Tuakor, dad’s eldest sister, 90 years old this year (a year older than tuapek), with son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Still strong, but thin as a reed. Sure hope they’ll eat more. If only I could give them some of my excess fat…


Ah Yee, my cousin sister from mom’s side, with husband and son, at our Canning Garden old house. Thanks for pandering to my last-minute plea for meeting up!!!


Looking for food in Ipoh. Dad’s a stickler for the tried and tested. But all his favourite food shops were closed! Maybe because it’s a week day. We ended up in Concubine Lane (near where dad grew up in Ipoh), and tried a new restaurant, at our prompting, The One Café, that specializes in Chee Cheong Fun, with multiple flavours that you could choose from. Not bad! “Get out of the way, Jayden!” The photo-bomber of the family strikes again.


Back in Butterworth… another new restaurant, again at my prompting, hehe - King Kong Ramen. See, it ain’t bad, right?


Cheers! First time, in a long time that we had a drink in a pub! The Beer Factory, Butterworth, P Pinang, Malaysia


Time to go! So quick. – Penang Airport. Sure wish we had more time. Hope to visit again soon! Stay strong, stay happy!


We’re in Singapore! Hello Justin! We miss you! The Jewel, Changi Airport, Singapore – Aug 2024


Time to tuck in, again. With Jason, at Tai Er Restaurant, a mainland Chinese restaurant which specializes in… wait for it. …Chinese Sauerkraut Fish! Sauerkraut?!? What’s sauerkraut doing in a Chinese restaurant? Sauerkraut’s a friggin German thing! Wait, ooh, it’s only ‘suancai’ or what we called ‘kiam-chai’ in Hokkien (salted vegetable). Kiam-chai therng (salted vegetable soup) was a pretty common dish we had at home, growing up. But who’d have thought of pairing it up with fish! But it obviously worked, or it wouldn’t have grown into this big a restaurant chain, with branches all over! This is their Singapore Jewel Branch. Thanks, Jason, for the treat!


Another meal. This time a Korean barbecue. So that the kids could serve us for a change, haha. They loved the cooking! Seorae Korean BBQ, Compass One, Singapore


Hey guys, family photo time! At Compass One (near Jason’s flat), Singapore, before we fly back to Dubai!

That’s it for our short trip, with lots of errands, but we managed to squeeze in a road trip to Tioman Island, hehe. More on that next time. See ya!

The Lion-Less City

The Merlion, at Marina Bay, Singapore

We’re back! From our Malaysia home trip with short stopovers in India and Singapore. Two weeks is too darn short, now that it’s done. Still having holiday blues, and tired with jet lag. Guess I’ll put up some leftover Singapore photos of our last family visit in July 2022, while I sort out the photos of our latest home trip. Here goes.


Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

No, there’re no lions in Singapore. Although Singapore literally means ‘Lion City’ (in Malay), lions have never existed in this tropical island, nor anywhere in South East Asia. But, there’re legends, and statues, and symbols, and dances, and what-have-you, all about the mighty lion! I guess these were borrowed from India through the Hindu and Buddhist epics and stories, when South East Asia adopted these religions.

And so it is with Singapore, when a Malay prince in the 13th century (whom I assume would never have seen a real lion before, …unless he ventured to India, the Middle East, or Africa, which I doubt), saw a ‘lion’ on the shores of this island, and decided to establish a kingdom with its namesake on the island! Nobody knows what he really saw, was it a tiger? Or a bear? Or a Chimera? Or some silly Chinese people in a lion-dance costume? (which I doubt happened at that time).

Anyway, fast-forward to the 1960’s when Singapore became independent, and the inhabitants of the lion-less ‘Lion City’ were trying to find their identity, some smart alec thought, “Hey, what the heck! Since we’re a maritime port and a ‘lion’ city (without a lion), why don’t we combine the two?” And Voila! The Merlion was born. That’s how you create a mythical creature, folks!


The Jubilee Bridge at Marina Bay, Singapore. Do you see the Merlion? It’s at the far end of the bridge


Jason was our guide for the night…


Anu at the Jubilee Bridge, Marina Bay, Singapore


A walk in the rain, by the Singapore River


Smile! Cavenagh Bridge, Singapore River


Boat going under the Anderson Bridge, on the Singapore River


And here’s something from Nov 2022, when I dropped Justin off in Singapore to start schooling – catching up with an old friend, Raymond Ho, at Dian Xiao Er Restaurant, in NEX, Serangoon. Thanks, Raymond, for the treat!


Bye-bye, till the next post. The Butterfly Garden in Changi Airport’s Terminal 3