South of the Equator

Pura Luhur Uluwatu (Uluwatu Temple), Bali, Indonesia – the temple is the small pagoda-like building on top of the cliff on the right

Happy Durga Puja! It is Anu’s biggest festival today. And I am working! On what’s supposed to be my alternative Saturday off! What’s new?! >: (

Still at the Abu Dhabi Project, which looks more and more like it’ll never end. Summer’s officially come to an end (yeah, there’s an official period for summer in the UAE, June 15 to September 15, where no works in the open are allowed between 12.30pm and 3pm!) The sun’s gone south of the equator now (since Sep 23, the autumn equinox), and the days are getting shorter, meaning that I’ll typically reach home after sunset, which unsurprisingly annoys the dear wife (what, I leave before sunrise and return after sunset, who’ll not be annoyed?)

Anyway, here’re some photos of Bali for a change. Hindu temples, south of the equator. Although the Balinese Hindus follow their own strange calendar and celebrate none of the normal Hindu festivals that the Indians or Malaysians are familiar with.




Views from the cliff-side Uluwatu Temple, Bali, Indonesia

Uluwatu Temple is where people come to watch the traditional Kecak Dance, a dance depicting parts of the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Kecak Dance is performed with continuous chants of ‘cak’ from the male dancers, with no musical instrument accompaniment.(As in Malay, Kecak is pronounced as 'Ke-chak', with unaspirated ‘k’ and ‘ch’).


The stadium-like arena at the left, on top of the cliff is the Kecak Dance arena


To watch the Kecak Dance, we have to wear some traditional clothes, i.e. amber sashes for the kids and sarongs for the adults.

We also have to pay about 30 bucks (ringgit / dirhams) per adult… (I forgot whether they charged anything for the kids). And we have to get to the arena early to ensure we get some nice seats, so said our trusty driver. What he didn’t tell us was that there was no shade whatsoever from the burning sun in that arena, nor were there any fans. The ‘silk-like’ sarongs worn over our shorts, felt comfortable for about 5 minutes until you start to sweat (silk’s not very good at bloody soaking up sweat!) Add 2 irritated kids and an entire arena filled with sweating adults, and you’d know why Anu said she’s never going to another dance again, …if it ain’t air-conditioned!


Anu, Justin and an arena filled with enthusiastic sweating people – Yo Anu, you aren’t supposed to use your sarong as a sunshade!!


Before the start of the dance – the priest praying at an altar beside the arena, while the dancers (with flowers tucked behind their ears) wait


With fires lighted on the central pedestal by the priest, and the sun setting, the Kecak Dance begins


Kecak Dance, Uluwatu Temple, Bali


Kecak Dance depicting the forces of Ravana trying to burn the monkey god, Hanuman in Lanka, and the subsequent burning of Lanka by Hanuman. Take that you puny demons!

That’s all the time I have to write. Enjoy your Puja. See you again!

A Country Called Liechtenstein

Vaduz, capital of the Principality of Liechtenstein

Next stop on our 2015 Europe Trip after Luzern, was Liechtenstein. The Principality of Liechtenstein is a tiny independent country ruled by a Prince, wedged between Switzerland and Austria. I have no time to write about this interesting little principality, so just Google it willya?

There’s not much in Liechtenstein in terms of landmarks, (unless you have time to do a little hiking – it’s in the Alps after all, where hill trails and castles are common!) But how could we give it a miss when we were already so close! So, here we are!


Vaduz Cathedral, Liechtenstein

Here’re a couple of Liechtensteiner castles: -


Schloss Vaduz (Vaduz Castle), which gave Liechtenstein’s capital its name – it’s still the private residence of the Ruler (Prince) of Liechtenstein, and is not open for tourists


Gutenberg Castle, Balzers, Liechtenstein

We entered Liechtenstein from Balzers in the south, drove northwards to Vaduz the capital, spent some time there and exited through Schaan, the largest town in Liechtenstein, north of Vaduz. And that’s it, our tour of Liechtenstein in an hour! And another country off my bucket list to visit, hehe!




More views of Vaduz, Liechtenstein






Us in Liechtenstein - the building on top of the hill on the left hand corner, is Vaduz Castle


Justin, as a prince! Jayden was a prince too, click here

The Gloom Begins

The Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal), a stone carving of a dying lion, Lucerne, Switzerland

No mood to write. Also no time. Last week there was a spate of staff transfers out from this Project (Big Boss’s surprise instruction!), but I’m not one of them. Which means my workload just increased triple-fold! Damn!

Now, back to my 2015 Europe trip posts. After enjoying a few days of wonderful weather in Switzerland, we had no choice but to face the gloomy rain and clouds for the remainder one week of our trip. (Yeah, checked the weather forecast a week before we flew off, and found that there’s just no escape on the second week of our trip. Europe sucks big time that way!)

Well, what the heck! We made the best out of it. First stop in the rain, Lucerne!


Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in gloomy weather, Luzern, Switzerland




More views of the gloom around Kapellbrücke




We at at the Kapellbrücke, Luzern




Don’t fret, you can still feed the swans if it rains

Lucerne (or Luzern in German, Lucerne is actually the French spelling) is the only city in Switzerland that I visited a second time. On my first Switzerland trip in 1994, my friends and I visited Zürich, Lucerne, Bern, Basel and Geneva. Of that, my favourite was Lucerne, and that’s why I’m back, with the family!


The River Reuss, from the Spreuerbrücke, Luzern, Switzerland


A walk around town - Hirschenplatz, Luzern

Here’s a small guide on what to do if the weather during your Europe trip sucks: -

Skip the countryside, see the towns instead – a no-brainer, unless you like to see fog, soaking wet fields, grey skies and rising river water. The towns on the other hand, contain historical landmarks, museums, shops, restaurants, opera halls, etc where you don’t need the sun to be shining to enjoy! Bring an umbrella.

Visit museums, palaces & churches – What the heck, it’s indoors! It’ll frequently be an architectural wonder. And it’ll contain a whole lot of treasures. (The Europeans know how to value ancient artefacts, unlike those idiots at ISIS).

Go shopping – the streets and squares of the old towns are usually pretty charming to explore, shop and eat! (...If you have money).

That’s it.


Outskirts of Lucerne. Bye-bye, heading to the east. Originally planned to go thru Klausen Pass, to Liechtenstein, and then onwards to Germany, but decided to give Klausen Pass a miss due to the rain! Luckily, …or we’d be bloody tired when we reached our next hotel in Füssen!

Eid Is in the Air

And so is Onam.

The festivals are back. Summer’s coming to an end. Justin will start school later in the week. AND I AM STILL AT THE ABU DHABI PROJECT!!!

Anyway, I got 3 days off (including the weekend) for Eid! That’s better than when I was in the friggin Dubai Canal Project last year. I took the opportunity to …sleep, eat, and find out what my family has been up to all these months! (Working in a project is like staying with the family but not knowing what they’re doing! Yeah, it’s that bad!)

Here’re pictures of a traditional Dubai for the season! Eid Mubarak everyone! And for the Malayali friends (whom I think make up half of the friggin project team), Happy Onam!


Al Salam Mosque, Al Barsha, Dubai – this Al Barsha mosque is a reasonably new building. I kinda like it, that's why I'm posting a picture of it for the second time. (Here's a picture of the same mosque from my earlier post).




A walk in Bur Dubai - Ali bin Abi Taleb Street, Dubai


Close up view of the Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, Bur Dubai, Dubai


A Persian looking mosque at Bur Dubai


Bur Dubai adorned with flags of the UAE, on UAE’s National Day in December 2015




Al Fahidi Fort (Museum), Bur Dubai




Views of Dubai Creek


Here’s a 2015 view of Dubai Creek that I’ve photographed and posted way back on our first month in Dubai in 2008. Can you spot the difference?


The things for sale at Bur Dubai Souk (Market)


The walls of the old souk at Bur Dubai - Notice what they’re made off? Chunks of friggin corals collected from the sea!