Castles of Black Sand

Black Sand Temple, Piha, New Zealand … This sand castle we found, left by some other people, looks awesome doesn’t it? Looks more like a mysterious temple in ruins…

I’m running out of ideas to post. Might as well continue with posts on New Year beaches, since I’ve got another one saved up for some time now. This is Piha Beach, New Zealand. It’s one of the many black sand beaches near Auckland which my sister and her husband Daniel had been talking about bringing us to see, during our NZ family trip at the end of 2018.

We finally went to one, on the day after New Year 2019. That’s a day (or was it 2) before we were due to depart NZ for our long journey back home to Dubai. How we wished the holidays were longer… Anyway, here’re the photos.


Another view of the ‘sand temple’


We tried to build our own… but didn’t really manage to match that of the abandoned one we found…


Piha, North Island, New Zealand, from the road above – the rocky hill in the middle of the beach is called the Lion Rock


Lion Rock, Piha, New Zealand


Brrrr… It’s chilly. On a summers’ day!


“Daniel, meet Daniel”. Of all the names in the world, Kim had to end up with a guy having the same name as her dad… Well, it’s a small world… By the way, the sisters Kim and Hazel decided to bring little baby Skye to a beach nearer to home. So it’s the just the boys here… and Anu, ahem




Piha’s “Black Sand Beach”, New Zealand

There, another short photo post done in record time! That’s all for now. See ya soon!

Justin's COVID Year

Justin is 11 years old! (As of early last month.) Alas! Only one more year of childhood to go (in terms of airline tickets and hotel bookings). Aww what the heck, they’ve gotta grow up sooner or later – Here’s he, at the cycle track in front of Dubai Solar Park (or officially the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Dubai’s solar power plant), a couple o’ days after his 11th birthday – Dec 2020

Finally, finished sorting out the photos of Justin’s 11th year for my annual posts of the kids. It’s only 1.5 months late, not too bad, looking at my past record, hehe.

Here goes.


Dec 2019 – Our last overseas trip before the coming of COVID – At Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia – Falcons, shoved onto our hands and heads, compliments of a troupe of bird trainers trying to get some extra money. Demanded quite a big amount, but we paid a small token sum (I forgot, 10 dirhams, or was it 20) and got away as fast as we could. This was the only time we encountered touts in Tunisia…


Is this the Colosseum? Yeah, the Colosseum of Africa, if there’s such a thing – El Jem, Tunisia, Dec 2019


Yay! It’s 2020! Heard about the coronavirus in China, but that’s far away, nothing to worry about… (if only we had known…) – City Walk Dubai, Jan 2020 (the red circular building at the back is the Coca-Cola Arena)


Koung Hey Faat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year 2020! …But very little CNY celebrations around in the UAE compared to last year (2019). Must be the coronavirus in China. Even the Annual Chinese Gala which Justin’s Chinese teacher had informed us about, was cancelled. But there’re still no news of the any coronavirus cases in the UAE?!? – Our home, Jan 2020


Shutdown!!! The coronavirus disease has a new name, COVID-19, and cases are spiking all over the world including the UAE. All schools closed and lessons moved online, but mommy can still make things happening – smiley face mashed potatoes with yellow tulips to match – Mar 2020


Online classes extended till the end of the academic year. “Going CRAZZZYYYY!!!!” – May 2020


Nice time to hone your computing skills, that is if you like programming… Computer Genius e-Award?!? – Jun 2020


Whew, lockdown relaxation, the kids can go out again! Here with his Ama (aunt), Anu’s eldest sister, who was stranded in Dubai because of the pandemic – Basement car park of our apartment, Jul 2020


Monkeying around one of our neighbourhood playgrounds – MotorCity, Dubai, Aug 2020


Time to freshen up with a haircut… for going back to school… Justin posing for mommy for a guitar playing video shoot (I forgot which song he played, mommy posted it on Youtube) – Aug 2020


Back to school, with masks (compulsory) and shields (extra precaution we took)… – Sep 2020


The morning after our first night not spent in our house since the beginning of 2020. We went camping on Jayden’s birthday, drove on the new Khor Fakkan highway and around the Wadi Shees area looking for a suitable place to camp, but there was none. Ended up ‘freedom camping’ (meaning camping at an unofficial site as what the Kiwis call it) off a dirt road between Wadi Shees and Nahwa Village. We were the only ones, for miles I think. Just us under the stars. Scary, but nice! Google Maps puts the location somewhere within the boundaries of the Omani exclave of Madha! – Oct 2020


Another guitar stint, this time at Papa’s prodding (yup, he has pretty demanding parents, hehe, but he’s a nice kid who’d usually do what we want him to do, if we prod him enough). Playing Havana from memory, at Wadi Shees (part of the Emirate of Sharjah), UAE


Diwali! At our home – Nov 2020


Finally, Justin’s 11th birthday party, a joint birthday party shared with 2 other ex-classmates of his, with 3 cakes. The cake in this photo is a gobsmacking Bespoke Cake from Melange, and costs a hefty 600+ bucks, compliments of Mashel’s (above) mom. We had a little accident with said bespoke cake, and it toppled! Had to continuously prop it up, till we sang the birthday songs and the kids blew out the candles. Ours was a humble honey cake, ahem and Arya’s parents brought a gold-coated chocolate cake!

That's it, for now. And today happens to be Makar Sankranti, an Indian festival related to the sun. For those celebrating, Happy Sankranti! Happy Pongal!

A Cathedral of a Beach

Cathedral Cove, NZ – “Umm… so where’s the cathedral? Oh, it’s just a name izit?” And I thought there’d be a cathedral…

But what the heck, it’s still a nice place to visit, …that is if you like to walk a bit. It’s a friggin 1.7km walk thru some pretty nice trail from the nearest car park. If the car park is full (and it’ll be, in peak season around Christmas), you’ll have to park further down the road… (I turned out walking a further 0.6km… just for the friggin car park)

By the way, it’s Christmas again! Orthodox Christmas for that matter, for churches using the old Julian Calendar. It’s celebrated by, among other people, the Russians, the Ethiopians and the Coptic Christians (Egyptian Christians), and there are more than a handful of these people in the UAE. That's part of the beauty of the UAE, ...the diversity!

Therefore I’m putting up another picture post of what we did in the Christmas season, …this time from 2 years back, on our family trip to New Zealand in Dec 2018. This was a continuation of our trip to Hot Water Beach. Here’re the photos.


So is THIS the cathedral?? No one seems to know… Google Maps calls it the Te Hoho Rock, so I guess it’s not the ‘cathedral’ unless Te Hoho means cathedral in Maori?!? - Cathedral Cove, North Island, New Zealand

We figured the 1.7 km hike under a bright afternoon sun would be a li’l too much for little baby sister Skye. So, Daniel (Kim’s husband, not dad – both are Daniels by the way) took little Skye to the beach in Hahei instead.


That, down below, is Hahei, view from my walk from where I parked the car, to the start of the trail to Cathedral Cove


Views from the trail – you can see Cathedral Cove on the left, see that Te Hoho rock?


Fabulous weather, by the way…


A plaque here says New Zealand World War I Memorial Forest …I didn’t know World War I came anywhere near New Zealand?!?


Fooling around is part of the fun – Gangsta Kim! … How can I resist not posting this?!? (Shhh… I remember Kim forbade Anu from posting any photos of this trip, as she ran out of clothes and had to make do with her pyjamas! But Kim seldom reads this blog, haha)


“Monkeys” on a tree! Their names are Justin, Jared and Jayden, hehe


We reached Cathedral Cove! Or is this Mares Leg Cove? (It's a little confusing looking at Google Maps)


Time for photos! First the girls… Kim, Hazel, Anu


Then the boys…


The other side of the cave! I think this is the actual Cathedral Cove


Heading back to Auckland after a tiring day on 2 different beaches… on the Tairua Road, about 1.7km before Hikuai


More fooling around?!? Papa on a …‘what-the-heck-is-that?’ At a gas station in Hikuai, Tairua Road, Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, NZ

Our North African New Year

Monastir Beach, Tunisia a year ago on New Year’s Day 2020 (Never guessed that 2020 would turn out like this)

So, 2020 is done! It’s a WHOLE YEAR now (well almost) that we’ve stayed put in the UAE. First year that we’ve not flown anywhere for as long as I can remember!

Thank you COVID for helping us save money by not allowing us to fly anywhere for a holiday.

Thank you COVID for helping us spend quality time at home (due to not being able to go anywhere on a holiday).

Thank you COVID for giving me time to write this post, and so many other posts in December (had it been a normal year, we would be wasting our time and money in some god forsaken exotic paradise which will contribute to nothing more than some interesting photos and memories, and a place crossed off our bucket list…).

Thank you COVID for letting me accumulate my annual leaves to an extent that when things return to normal (if it ever does), that I can make a killing on holidays (that is if the Company allows me to carry forward my leaves to the next year. Hmmm… come to think of it, I better take some leaves before that predicament happens).

Thank you COVID for teaching me how to better budget my finances by making businesses so bad that my Company has to slash some allowances off our salary packages.

Thank you COVID for teaching us the value of my new home (luckily we moved) and my family, by forcing us to hunker down and not go anywhere outside.

I can go on but I don’t think COVID will appreciate any of the things I’ve said. So I should focus on better things like chucking some interesting photos into the blog, and fantasizing about all the friggin exotic places we could go to, especially during these times when there’re less people, if only we could friggin FLYYYY!!!

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR MATES! Let’s look forward to 2021 to kick some coronavirus butts! Here’re some photos of how we spent our New Year celebrations a year ago. How I miss those times, sigh…


Our Tunisian New Years’ Eve dinner, complete with fish and couscous, under the stern stares of a portrait of the founding father of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba – at Le Roi du Couscous (The King of Couscous) restaurant, Monastir, Tunisia


Despite the freezing cold and the gale-force wind (dunno whether it’s really gale-force, but it sure feels like one), we braved it all, with Anu wearing a skimpy New Year’s celebration outfit (above), and we headed out looking for some clubs, some drinks, some celebration of a countdown, whatever. Found a place, but yours truly left his wallet in the hotel room! Turned back and celebrated ourselves in our hotel room with just some simple red wine. Happy New Year! – At the lobby of our hotel, the Delphin Habib… Ummm… it’s a big hotel, but somewhat run down. Imagine, this was New Year’s Eve and there was hardly anyone in the lobby at midnight, with most of the lights switched off. A worker switched on some lights for us and snapped our photo, bless him


Good morning 2020! A view of the Mediterranean seashore from our hotel room – Delphin Habib, Monastir, Tunisia


Justin in the hotel grounds


New Year couple, Monastir


Family pic – Monastir Beach – "Mommy, I can’t open my eyes!!"


Monastir Beach, with the Ribat (Fort) in the background




Inside the Ribat (Fort) of Monastir




Habib Bourguiba’s Mausoleum (at the far end) – Habib Bourguiba is the founding father of Tunisia. He was born in Monastir. He died here too


Outside the Ribat


Another family photo! – Ribat, Monastir, Tunisia

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! HAPPY 2021!