The Pearl of the East Coast

The east coast of the UAE that is, ahem.


Khor Fakkan Fountains at Khor Fakkan Square (but seriously, it’s a circle, from any angle you look at it from…), UAE

Eid Mubarak! I know it’s a few days late, but what the heck. Here’s a post for Eid/ Hari Raya.

I’m putting some photos of a rejuvenated Khor Fakkan, a port town on the east coast of the UAE, belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah. Khor Fakkan (which in English translates to the Creek of Two Jaws), is an exclave of Sharjah, completely surrounded by areas owned by Fujairah and Oman. In the past few years, Sharjah has poured in a lot of money to beautify it, and the results are nothing short of spectacular. Just a few years back, there was a beach, a park, and nothing else much. Now, there’s a brand new dedicated 90km highway, the Khor Fakkan Road (what else) with multiple tunnels through the hills, connecting Sharjah on the Gulf coast with Khor Fakkan on the Arabian Sea. There’re scores of new roads all over town. There're monuments and gardens at every prominent spot you can think of, and grand government buildings that look like palaces. And all this for free to visitors! (Unlike Dubai where everything comes with a ticket price tag, ahem). It’s like a complete makeover! Don’t believe me, just check out street-view in Google Maps where the photos were taken in 2015-2016, and compare them with the actual view in Khor Fakkan now. You’ll be amazed at the changes. Here’re some photos. Enjoy.


Approaching the Incense Burner roundabout in the middle of Khor Fakkan ‘Square’ (or more accurately, Circle…)


New government buildings line the refurbished roads… these are the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Marine Transportation, Khor Fakkan. (How do I know? …Google Maps man, it shows everything!)


The gardens and fountains of Khor Fakkan Square (Circle), Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. That ummm... phallic-looking building (sorry) on a hill is the Resistance Monument




Frolicking in the gardens, Khor Fakkan Square, UAE


And this is the Al Rafisah Dam, on the Khor Fakkan Road just before reaching Khor Fakkan. Yup, even dams can be beautified


Flowers at the Rafisah Dam Tourist Centre




It’s a favourite among the locals, I think…


A cafe at Al Rafisah Dam, Khor Fakkan Road, Sharjah, UAE


Wow, what’s this? A waterfall?!? Khor Fakkan Waterfall, a man-made water feature along the waterfront promenade


Hello kids! Khor Fakkan Waterfall, Khor Fakkan, UAE


Khor Fakkan Waterfall and Amphitheatre


Family photo, Khor Fakkan Amphitheatre, Khor Fakkan, UAE

That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed your Eid/ Raya holidays!

A Tragedy in Bangladesh

Some very sad news came to us from Bangladesh when we were visiting India 2 weeks ago. A young and promising nephew we met for the first time in Dhaka last year, was hit by a vehicle on 1-Apr, when commuting to work in the eastern part of the country. He passed away.

He was the eldest child among the children of Anu’s long-lost cousins in Bangladesh, and the only son of his family. He leaves behind his grieving parents, a younger sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Good bye and rest in peace, Hridoy. May God bless your soul and strengthen your love ones on earth to live on with hope and strength, in your memory, so that you may be proud of them. God bless.


Hriday is the one in blue on the right – Hob Nob Café, Banani, Dhaka. They came all the way from their village in Sreemangal in the eastern part of Bangladesh just to meet us.


A lighting storm in Hatirjheel, Dhaka as seen from the Hatirjheel Bridge 2 (Mahanagar Bridge) - This was the last place we were with the Bangla family before we went our separate ways. They left for the bus station to get back to Sreemangal and we went back to our hotel.




Leaving photos of Bangladesh’s National Martyr’s Memorial (Jatiyo Sriti Soudho) to end this post. May God bless the family, take away all their grief and restore hope. Protect them from harm, evil, sicknesses, strife and deceit. Amen.

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple (aka Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, Punjab, India

Happy Vaisakhi. Happy Songkran. Happy Puthandu. Happy Boisakh. Happy Bihu. Happy Vishu… Too many to name them all, what the heck, Happy New Year to the myriads of people celebrating their new years this weekend in South Asia and Indochina!

I know a post just for this! Here goes – photos of our stopover at the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine. Have a blessed New Year celebration to all those celebrating.


The alley outside our cheapo hotel, Hotel Swaran in the congested area north of the Golden Temple. What the heck! What sort of place did we book? The hotel looked decent in the photos on the booking site, and it was CHEAP. Yup, and that was exactly what we got, CHEAP! The people here have no sense of cleanliness, at all. Dust to them is no big deal. Nuff said


OK, let’s go. Gosh, this place is a maze of small alleys crammed to the brim with shops, filled with honking bikes, autorickshaws, you name them. Hey, watch out!


Whew, the Golden Temple! Let’s hide our shoes somewhere there (hope they don’t disappear like what happened in the Balaji Temple in Tirumala…)


We’re in! Look at the crowd! And this was 2022 March, when COVID-19 was still prevalent and we had to make a hundred declarations just to fly


What COVID?!? We're the only ones with masks


A dip in the holy pool


No, we did not try to enter the Golden Temple itself… Look at the line!


Blessed are you


Family pic, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India


Here’re some other views of Amritsar – the Partition Museum


One of the statues outside the Partition Museum – Hey, where’s his sword?


Oh, this chap took it! Just kidding… Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue on a roundabout

Ta, till next time. Gotta bet back to the pesky audit work (don’t the Head Office have better work to do???)