Expo 2020, a Look-Back

Mobility Portal, Expo 2020

A big fat climate summit is happening in town! It’s the COP28, or the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference. (COP stands for ‘Conference of Parties’. No, not the Parties where you drink yourself silly and boogie till you drop, the Parties who signed the climate agreement! Duh!) The whole world is in Dubai and it’s in the Expo 2020 site. Our company has a booth there, and we’re invited to go have a look. But I ain’t going. Too busy (…preparing for our holiday next week, hehe).

Anyway, here’re some throw-back photos of the Dubai Expo 2020. It was a fabulous event. We bought a discounted monthly ticket for the first month of the Expo, which was Oct 2021 (oh, if you’ve forgotten, Expo 2020 was pushed to 2021 because of the pandemic), which we then extended for the entire Expo season (there was an offer for that at that time). And we’re glad we did it. We spent many weekends and holidays in it (we’ve paid for it after all). There were free concerts and children’s playgrounds. We'd typically packed our food and drinks from home and had it at the many parks and rest areas at the Expo! Your typical cheapskate family, haha.


Flags of the nations at Expo 2020, Dubai, Oct 2021


The main Al Wasl Plaza at Expo 2020. This was where many of the main events were held. It could be spectacularly lit up!


One of the many stages for performances and concerts… I think this is the Jubilee Stage, and we’ve just finished a Portuguese music festival


A UB40 concert in front of Terra, the Sustainability Pavilion. Expo 2020 is divided into the 3 main Expo theme districts, Sustainability, Opportunity and Mobility, with 2 other districts Jubilee and Al Forsan in between them


Is that a phoenix? In front of the Opportunity Pavilion, Mission Possible


There’s even a waterfall feature where you can waddle in! It’s called the Fire Falls


Now, you know why it’s called the Fire Falls!


Play time! The boys at a children’s playground (Rashid’s Adventure), Jubilee Park, Expo2020, with the ‘Garden in the Sky’ feature behind (it's a platform with a garden which could go up and down)


The UAE’s Pavilion is shaped like the wings of a falcon


Family pic, inside the UAE Pavilion


The Vision Pavilion, a pavilion dedicated to the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. He loves horses


Inside the Women’s Pavilion. Yup, there is a Pavilion dedicated to women


One of the common features throughout the Expo 2020 grounds


See you! Expo 2020, Dubai

I do hope they come up with some real action on climate this time. It’s the 28th such conference, and I still don’t see any improvement in climate. Instead, every year I hear more and more floods happening, forest fires, temperatures reaching their record high… God save us.

Oh, and I hope they talk about Gaza, and put a stop to the mindless bombing and destruction that Israel is still inflicting. C’mon, if we’re talking about justice, justice is when Israel stopped killing at a thousand or 2. That’s what I call an eye for an eye. This is like, he killed your brother, and you go ahead and wipe out his family, his friends, his village, destroy everything in sight, heck, anybody and anything that's around him? That is pure insanity. An act of an unrestrained bully. And I ask the West, especially the US, the so-called defender of justice. Is this justice? I’ve always advocated for the recognition of Israel. I’ve always thought that some of the Muslim nations were being irrational not to have this stand. Israel and Palestine must agree of each other's existence to move ahead, to have peace. But this time, I stand for Palestine. Israel, if you want peace, you need to change your mindset… You need to treat others as equals, people as people, not like master and slave. If you are so high and mighty and have no regard for others, others will have no regard for you. God save Palestine. God save Israel.

Forts of Fancy

Somehow, my head’s just not working. This weekend is the UAE’s National Day. It’ll be a 3-day weekend holiday, but we’re not going anywhere this year, because on the week after next, we’ll make a trip to Uzbekistan! And we’ve gotta save up. Can’t go everywhere, can you? (But, how I wish I could… hehe).

Anyway, I meant to send out a post before the weekend. I’ve finished my tender assignment, which is due next week. (Yup, I’m ahead of time, for a change, haha. Not rushing like mad). Now, I have time to post something… I’ve not sorted out the photos of the trip we made last year during UAE’s National Day (we went a thousand kilometres across a barren land to Salalah, Oman …and back!) Guess, I’ll post some photos of some forts of the UAE. These aren’t real forts by the way. These are forts made for tourism, you know, like the castle in Disneyland. Here comes some forts of fantasy! Happy Birthday UAE! Happy Birthday Justin! (Justin’s back from Singapore for a visit, and his birthday coincides with the National Day weekend.) Now, where shall we go for his birthday???...


Hey guys! There’s a castle there! Wonder how we could get there…


Ta-Da! We made it! Najd Al Maqsar Fort, Khor Fakkan Road (part of Sharjah), UAE, Jan 2021




This fantasy ‘fort’ / ‘heritage village’ is on the Khor Fakkan Road opposite to the Rafisah Dam. Sharjah’s Ruler really spruced up the place… brand new road connecting Sharjah to Khor Fakkan. A revitalized Khor Fakkan with loads of new monuments and attractions. A dam with a nice park (Rafisah Dam). Kudos!




The village is actually a ‘hotel’, believe it or not, with rooms that you could rent. It wasn’t opened yet when we visited in Jan 2021. Workers were putting the finishing touches to the place at that time


The path behind the Najd Al Miqsar ‘Heritage Village’


While I’m at it, I might as well post these photos of the Flag Fort (or Flage Fort as was actually written on the signboard at the time of our visit Jan 2021), some of which I’ve posted 2 years earlier for National Day


‘Flage Fort’, Al Taiba, Fujairah, UAE


UAE zindabad! (What the heck, I dunno the Arabic equivalent of that word)

And God, let peace prevail in Gaza, and beyond… Why are Thy children fighting in Thy land? From the river to the sea, there should be 2 lands (or maybe 3). From the river to the sea, there should be 2 nations at peace with one another, and free. Hand-in-hand, to chart the future, for their generations to live in harmony… Amen.

Jayden on His Own

Jayden, 8 years & 4 months old, at Al Hafiya Picnic Park, Kalba, UAE, Feb 2023

Jayden is 9 years old! (As of last month, actually). This is my yearly post about the kid’s life, but before I go into it, here’s some GOOD NEWS!!!

Amrita, Anu’s sister, who is in Canada, just gave birth to a healthy baby girl!!! This is wonderful news for the family indeed, especially after a heart-breaking earlier pregnancy 2 years ago, that resulted in the birth of an extremely premature baby boy, who sadly did not survive. That pregnancy was complicated because of fibroids in Amrita’s womb, and all were worried about whether the fibroids would pose a problem for future pregnancies. Thank God for answering our prayers. Praise God. Jayden has a new cousin!

As I was saying, Jayden is 9 now, but he’s still behaving like a baby, sigh… Maybe, we give him too much love, or maybe it’s just the nature of him being the youngest in the family. Nope, it’s definitely too much love, so we gotta get tough and start being serious-er…

This past year, he was pretty much on his own, for a change. His elder brother left for further studies in Singapore last Nov, exactly one year before. I think it did Jayden some good. At least, he started having his own friends, instead of hanging out only with his koko and his koko’s friends. (Thanks a lot to his mommy actually, who helped him build up his courage, and arranged play dates). Here’s a recap of his past year. Enjoy!


A temple visit, with his Mommy and Koko for some divine blessings, before his Koko left for Singapore. This was like a week after Jayden’s 8th birthday – Dubai Hindu Temple, Jebel Ali, Dubai – Oct 2022


Jayden on his own, his first time attending a friend’s birthday party! (As far as I can remember). In contrary, Justin had attended countless birthday parties by the time he was this age. The birthday boy was Mosaab (the one in red) from Egypt. He’s the youngest brother of Justin’s 2 school mates, and they lived in a unit on the same floor of our apartment building. At The Zone, Circle Mall, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubai – Nov 2022


Our first camping trip without Justin. Good morning, Jayden! How do you feel being on your own? (He missed his Koko). At some random suitable camping spot by the road near Ain Lighmour (aka Blossom Valley), Fujairah (Google Maps calls it Jabal Al Haleefah). The missus is pretty good at picking camping spots, when we need one (like when sun is setting, and yours truly hasn’t got a clue yet of what to do…) We were all alone for as far as the eye could see. It isn’t really a popular camping spot I think, but we’re no longer strangers to lonely camping spots, hehe – Nov 2022


This ain’t a pool, believe me!! It’s all natural and it’s in Arabia! Oman, to be exact. We made a 1200+ km road trip to Salalah, Oman (and another 1200 km back) during the UAE’s National Day holidays last year. This is a gem of a place in the Arabian Peninsula. Waterfalls in Arabia?!? Yup, it’s true. No wonder it is so popular with the Arabs – Wadi Darbat, Salalah, Oman – Dec 2022


Jayden and his Year 4 Teacher, Mr David Moore, GEMS Metropole School – Dec 2022. (He prefers lady teachers he says. He thinks they’re kinder… Are they?!?)


Back in Oman! We love Oman, ever since they made it free for UAE residents to enter, we’ve made 3 visits in a span of 5 months! – Jebel Akhdar (literally, Green Mountain), Oman – Dec 2022


New Year treat for the little one to his favourite type of place, an aquarium! This is the Sharjah Aquarium to be exact. We’ve visited it before, but what the heck, it’s the most affordable, nice aquarium around! – Sharjah, Jan 2023


Motor City, the name of our neighbourhood, isn’t just a strange name selected from nowhere. Its main feature is the Dubai Autodrome! Apart from this, it has an outdoor and an indoor Kartdromes for go-karting. When there’s a race, it’s a din!! – Jayden at the Dubai Autodrome, Motor City, Dubai – Jan 2023


It’s spring break, and we headed to India, to do our boring banking work and to visit family. Jayden at the Victoria Monument in Kolkata. We’ve visited this place before, a long time ago, before we had kids. But what to do? We’ve visited Kolkata so many times, that we ran out of new places to visit, ahem… West Bengal, India – Mar 2023


Jayden made lots of friends at his Mommy’s village! From left, Mahi (his cousin), Ankit, and Prince (whom Mahi and Jayden kept calling Princess… Jayden, Mahi, you shouldn’t tease your friends!), Fulertal, Assam – Apr 2023


Not Oman again?!? Yes, Oman again. Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain), again. It’s an interesting mountain, where access is only allowed for 4WD cars (which our trusty ol’ Hyundai happened to be, hehe). It’s a nice, cool place, with beautiful views and treks for as far as your feet can walk… Plus it’s rose harvesting season. Jayden pointing to some fossils, at the Sunset Viewpoint in Jebel Akhdar, Oman – Apr 2023


Yippee, koko’s back! It’s Koko’s school break, and he came back for a visit! Bloomsbury’s Café, Silicon Central Mall, Silicon Oasis, Dubai – Jun 2023


Jayden in Albania on his summer break. Koko’s school break and Jayden’s do not match. Justin’s mid-year school break is from the last week of May to the last week of June. Jayden’s summer break starts from the second week of July! By then, Justin would have been back in Singapore, and preparing for his Term 3 exams. For the summer break, we made a short trip to Albania. This is the first overseas trip we made without Justin – at our hotel, the Logu i Harushave, Theth, Albania – Aug 2023


Jayden made another friend! Daniel from Ukraine at our house. Daniel was staying with his aunt at the exact unit where Mosaab’s family (see third pic above) used to stay. The Egyptians have relocated to Abu Dhabi in April this year. Unfortunately, Daniel also left the UAE for Germany in early October. That’s how it is with the UAE, it’s a halfway home. People come, people go. Hope to see you again sometime, somewhere, Daniel! – Sep 2023


And finally, it’s Jayden’s 9th Birthday! At home! A small party with a few of his friends. Here’s Hardit (left) and Callum (right). Both of them are Indians – Oct 2023

Our Very Own Blue & White

It’s our anniversary! 17 years and going strong! I love you honey.

I’m putting photos of some of the places in Dubai we visited, for a feel of romance. Let’s put it this way, Dubai ain’t really that romantic. The most romantic place I can think of is, ……wait for it…… Home!


Anu, at Sansation, a restaurant/ café at our neighbourhood, Motor City, Dubai

Anyway, many places have been trying to create that blue and white vibe that you associate with the Greek islands and Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Said. It’s a nice combination, I’d say. Is it a colour of romance? I dunno. You tell me. It happens to also be Anu’s favourite colour combination, so much so that she’s painted our village house in Silchar the same colours, although at that time, she’s never been to the Mediterranean. I used to say, “Hey, it’s gonna look like a police station” (that, coincidentally, are also the colours of the Malaysian Police Stations). (How would I know that entire villages and towns in the Mediterranean would be painted like police stations!?!) Dubai has its own versions of blue and white. Here they are. Though, it’s nothing compared to the real stuff! Ahem.


This is our local blue and white – the MotorCity variety


Sansation, Motor City – Jayden was with us. His koko preferred to be at home, planning out his nefarious schemes. …No, actually, most probably watching some ‘nonsense’ in YouTube that we’d normally not allow (when we’re around)






Another blue and white – the Fish Beach Taverna, at the Le Meridien Mena Seyahi Beach Resort, overlooking Palm Jumeirah




Inside the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi, Dubai, UAE




Finally, here’s another effort at copying Europe… the Vincitore Boulevard at Arjan, near Dubai’s Miracle Garden


I dunno what it’s trying to copy. Hey, somebody, does this remind you of anywhere you’ve been before??

That’s it! Short and fast post done. (Luckily, the tender which we had to finish today, was extended by 3 weeks! Hehe.)

Our anniversary this year so happens to coincide with the Hindu Festival, Diwali. Today is Dhanteras, the day that you should buy gold! I guess the goldsmiths are gonna be fully packed today. For those celebrating Diwali, HAPPY DIWALI, HAPPY DEEPAVALI!