Small Island Big Eye

Bluewaters Island, Dubai


New Year Fireworks 2021, Bluewaters Island – This was where we celebrated New Year at the start of 2021. We were lucky, we got there just on time, stuck on the bridge leading onto Bluewaters as the parking I think was full. It would’ve been a disaster if we were stuck inside the car park searching for a vacant spot while the new year fireworks went off! The view from the bridge was amazing, we could see about 5 different fireworks of various locations at 1 time! JBR (right in front), Bluewaters (to the left, not seen in this photo), Palm Jumeirah (I think coz it’s near the Atlantis), Jumeirah Beach (I think also), and far off in the distance, the Burj Khalifa fireworks (the far-off tower that looks like it’s on fire in this photo)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bye-bye another COVID year. 2 years in a row of the pandemic, and we’re still alive, hah*@*! Is that all you’ve got, coronavirus? Delta, Omicron? Where will it go after this? Let’s see, ummm… the Greek alphabet, …after Omicron is Pi! Is that what we’re gonna get, Pi?

Hey, what happened to Xi? It was supposed to come just before Omicron. Now, wouldn’t that be interesting, having a prominent president and a virus strain with the same name. And what would happen when you get to Omega? I bet you, they wouldn’t name any strain ‘Omega’, the watchmakers would sue WHO. Besides, people would get mightily confused between ‘Omega’ COVID and Omega-3 oil. Anyway, enough with this nonsense, let’s get back to my blog. I’m leaving another quick picture post for New Year.

Here’s the Bluewaters Island of Dubai. Bluewaters is a small manmade island, off the coast of Dubai and connected to the mainland by a bridge. It’s so small that I wondered at that time why anyone would take all that trouble to build the island and the bridges which connect to it. But boy, was I wrong? They friggin cramped a whole lot of buildings and stuff into it, and capped it up with the mother of all Ferris Wheels, the Ain Dubai (aka Dubai Eye). Here, I’ll let the pictures speak.


Bluewaters Island, with the gigantic Ferris Wheel called the Dubai Eye (now known as Ain Dubai) on it


A luxury yacht (I think it’s the Lotus) passing by the island. Here’re some pictures of us on board the Lotus


Ain Dubai, Nov 2019 – This pic is from our first ever trip to Bluewaters. Ain Dubai has the honours of being the tallest friggin Ferris Wheel now in the world. Nope, we’ve never gone up. It was completed only recently


Family visits – Dad, Hazel and us with the Ain Dubai as a backdrop, Nov 2019


Bluewaters in the day


Another family visit – Anu’s sister and her son were stuck in Dubai for 5 months due to the pandemic. That’s Kunal with us, Bluewaters, Aug 2020




The views of JBR (Jumeirah Beach Residence) from Bluewaters are spectacular. Here’s a day and night view of JBR


The pedestrian bridge connecting JBR to Bluewaters Isle

Here’re more views of JBR - the Address Beach Resort Hotel in JBR at different stages of construction


Nov 2019


Aug 2020


New Year’s Day 2021

Happy New Year everyone!


Ah, what the heck, here’s an extra family pic just for the occasion – Wafi City Mall, Christmas 2020

Bye-bye 2021. We hope 2022 is better. Once again, wishing you all a bright and hopeful new year, and an end to the pandemic once and for all. Happy New Year and God bless.

A Little Christmas Cheer

Christmas at the Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai 2020

Yikes, times fly! It’s Christmas already and I haven't put together a post! Here’s a quick little Christmas post to cheer all up in these hard times of COVID and uncertainty.

God, deliver us from the hardship and uncertainties that the pandemic has caused. Continue to give us hope, o Lord. Provide all those who are in need of help and support, a lifeline to overcome our difficulties. Thank you Lord for your grace and blessings. Amen.

And here’re pictures of Christmas through the last couple of years in Dubai. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!


Christmas from before the coming of COVID – A Christmas snow cone! Burjuman, 2019


The boys with Gingerbread Man, Me’aisem City Centre, Dubai 2019


Christmas tree at Oasis Centre Mall near my old site office, 2019


The coronavirus arrives! Dubai will not let COVID-19 dampen the spirit of Christmas – the boys at the Waitrose Hypermarket near our house, MotorCity, Dubai 2020




Souq Madinat Jumeirah with its fabulous Christmas decorations, 2020


Not so happening though in Dubai Mall, hey you're supposed to be the largest mall in the world?!?


A Christmas performance, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai 2020


Mall of the Emirates during the Christmas Season, 2020


Winter wonderland on a beach! La Mer Beach, Dubai 2020


Now that’s more like it! Wafi City Mall, Dubai 2020


Nothing beats Christmas at home though – table all set out for a cosy little Christmas Eve dinner at our balcony, complete with a ‘snowman’ made of rice, MotorCity, 2020


All thanks to the missus. You’re great honey! Hmmm, is that Christmas or Chinese New Year?!? Christmas Wreath, with Chinese Spring Couplets??


Family Christmas pic, Mall of the Emirates, 2020. Wish all a blessed, safe and merry Christmas!

Colours of the UAE

Flag Fort, Al Taiba, Fujairah, UAE

I have my hands full! Work, personal stuff… And it’s already the end of November, what the heck!

Still haven’t got time to look thru all those photos in the phones, and dunno what to write, so I’m gonna do another quickie post. UAE’s national day is at the end of the week (2nd Dec), and it’ll be another fabulous long weekend, yay! It’s the UAE’s 50th birthday, so here’s to a glorious future for this tolerant and progressive thinking country. God bless the UAE! Love live the UAE!

Here’re some photos of how the National Day is celebrated in the UAE (and some photos of the UAE’s flag in general, ahem).


National Day performance, Mirdif City Centre, Dubai, Dec 2016


Shopping for National Day clothes, Lulu Hypermarket, Al Barsha, Dubai, Nov 2017 – Every year there are celebrations in the school where the kids have to wear UAE themed clothes and stuff


The kids and Camel-Man, Arabian Centre, Dubai, National Day, 2017


National Day 2018, Mirdif City Centre




More photos of the Flage (sic) Fort in Al Taiba, Fujairah, UAE, Jan 2021 – This place is signposted as ‘Flage’ Fort on the main road connecting Masafi to Dibba. I guess Flage means Flag??


The Flage Fort is also a lodge - with a mural of Sheikh Zayed, the founder of the UAE, painted on the wall


A flag flying at the adjoining Al Taiba Haritage (sic) Museum, Fujairah, a free entry private museum, set up by a generous local


Yours truly, at the Falaj Al Mualla Fort, Umm Al Quwain, UAE, Jan 2021


A lone flag flying high on the watch tower of the fort at Falaj Al Mualla, UAQ – This is a little visited museum/ fort. When we came, it was locked and the watchman opened it just for us. We had the entire museum to ourselves!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY PEOPLE OF THE UAE!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Our little wedding party in the Ipoh Swimming Club, Apr 2008

This month marks the 15th year of Anu and I starting our lives together. 15 years since we eloped from the hills of Mizoram, never to look back. That was the best decision of my life. Looking back to that time, it was nerve-wrecking scary, full of uncertainties (I dunno how many packs of cigarettes I smoked just planning and carrying out that move). So many people discouraged me from doing what I was planning to do, but luckily there were a few supportive friends and family. As a friend said at that time, this is India, do it the Bollywood way! And so, with divine help, we did it. Thank you God for helping us and looking out for us. I’ve told the story of how we escaped from Mizoram before, you can check it out in this earlier post written for our 10th anniversary.

But God did not stop there. Everything somehow worked out the way it was supposed to be. I could leave my job immediately right after we eloped, because I had submitted my resignation 3 months earlier due to reasons which were not connected with our relationship (my notice period was coincidentally 3 months, at the time of submitting my letter, I hadn’t even planned on getting married!) That gave us a chance to immediately disappear off the grid. India’s huge. Who would know where you are? I switched off my phone and we started on our grand tour of North India, place by place, state by state. If we liked a place, we stayed longer. At the same time, I found a new job which would start a month later, how lucky could that be? After a month of travelling around, we moved to Mumbai for the new job, and the new employer put us up in a 5-star hotel, the Marriott Lakeside Chalet, for 40 days! If that ain’t called a honeymoon, I dunno what you’d call it! In Mumbai, after 5+ months of being together, we finally managed to legalize our marriage in a court of law. (We first tried this in a court in Gurgaon (near Delhi) right after we eloped but were unsuccessful).

Anyway, to cut the story short, everything worked out in the time that it was supposed to work out, first, reconciliation with Anu’s family, then getting Anu a passport (in record time, that girl has a talent for talking her way through in getting things done – she spent a whole day in the Guwahati passport office, going from officer to officer, and walked out of it at the end of the day with her passport in hand, without paying a single extra rupee). And finally visiting Malaysia. Here’re some photos of our little marriage ceremony we did in Malaysia in 2008. It’s a walk down memory lane, as so many of my loved ones who were around then, had left us.


Here’s our tea ceremony – For Mama, my paternal granny (1917 – 2010) we love you


For Pho-pho, my maternal grandma (1925 – 2020) rest in peace


For Tua-kor, my dad’s eldest sister – she’s still with us and healthy. Thank God


For Tua-pek, my dad’s eldest brother and Ah Mm. Tuapek is still strong and healthy, thank God. Ah Mm left us at the end of last year, may she rest in peace


This is Sanh-Kor (meaning third aunt). She too has sadly gone home to the Lord


After the list of aunts and uncles, came the cousins older than I, this is Kok Leong and missus


And then it’s our turn to sit, for those younger than yours truly to serve us (that includes all my siblings coz I’m the oldest, hehe) – this is Keat (Alan). Thank you, here’s an angpow for you!


Now for the group photos – family pic, say cheese! Mom (1955 – 2016), Jipek (1938 – 2021) and Mama have all gone home to be with the Lord, God bless their souls


My mother’s side of the family – Apart from Pho-pho, my natural mom’s younger brother (whom we call Ah-Ku), have also left us a few years after this photo, RIP. What about my natural mom? She passed away a long time ago, when I was 15 years old. She would have loved to see this


With Jikor’s family! – We miss you Jikor, RIP


Jipek looks dashing in this pic, doesn’t he?


Another cousin, Kok Seng and wife


A few close friends were also here


And here’s one for the girls! Kim and Jamie went out of the way to come in Indian attire, way to go!

Anu, I hope to spend anniversaries with you till the end of time. I love you. I put our story here so that we'd remember it when we're grey and old. Mmmmmuahhh!