The Year of Farewells

For the past few years, at around June or July, I’d post photos of the people in our lives in the previous year. (It used to be March or April, and it got progressively later as the years went by. That’s how it is with yours truly here, the bloody procrastinator). I’ve not done a people post this year. It’s September, shucks! Another 2 months late. But never mind, better late than never, as the saying goes. So, here are the people who graced our lives in 2022. God bless them. Thanks for coming into our lives. You’ve made our lives more colourful and happening. I hope we continue to meet.

But sadly, 2022 was a year of farewells. So many have shifted away. That’s how it is with the UAE, a transitional home. You come, make a living and then go on your way, to greener pastures, or back home. To you all, may your futures be bright and joyous, may you have success in all your endeavours! Cheers!


Justin and his school mates, GEMS Metropole School, Dubai, Mar 2022 – From left: Justin, Jayden, Ritaj (girl with mask – from Pakistan), Sebastian (from the US - he left at the end of the academic year in Jun 2022), Yiro (I hope that’s how it’s spelt - from Korea), Nikita (from Russia) and Jamal (from Kyrgyztan)


Jayden made some friends when he was selected to join the school musical play when he was in Year 3. Jayden isn’t shy about singing. Here he is with 2 of the lead performers of the school play, "Cindy" (behind, real name Melissa) and "Bobby" (beside, errr... dunno her real name, sorry) – GEMS Metropole School, Mar 2022


The Director of Performing Arts of GEMS Metropole School, Mr Andrew Sullivan (left). This was Justin’s drama teacher when he was in Year 7 and the person who made GEMS Metropole School’s first successful big-time school play, ‘Sunny-Side Up’ which Jayden was part of. This photo was taken at another GEMS School i.e. GEMS Wellington International School where a music competition which Justin participated in, was being held. Unfortunately, Mr Sullivan left GEMS Metropole School at the end of the last academic year, in July this year. What a pity, he was a great drama and performing arts teacher!


Jamal, one of Justin’s best friends (if not the best), at our home in July 2022 on his last visit, before he and his family moved to the UK. His younger brother is the same age as Jayden. They’re Kyrgyztan nationals, but are of mixed Saudi-Kyrgyztan parentage. Their dad is from Saudi Arabia, and mom is Kyrgystani


Another farewell. A gathering with Aria and Mashel (right most), Justin’s ex-classmates from Year 1, before Mashel and her mom moved to Canada, Dubai, July 2022


Here are the adults. Mashel’s mom is Jasna (right most) at Dubai Silicon Oasis, July 2022. Our families have been meeting since Justin, Aria and Mashel were in Year 1. Aria’s parents Roby and Madhavi (middle) threw a birthday party for Aria at that time where all of us attended, and we’ve kept in touch since then


And then it’s Justin’s turn to leave. Diwali 2022, two weeks before Justin was to fly off to Singapore. Here, with the Pandhare family, our neighbour in Oia Residence


Pretty damsels in a row, at Bhavna (right most) and Umesh Aggarwal’s house, Oia Residence, Diwali 2022. Bhavna’s daughter is Dyuti (left most). The other ladies here are Bhavna’s friend and her daughter


With the kids of another neighbour. Advika (standing) and Shreya (sitting), daughters of Abha and KP Singh, at our hone, Diwali 2022


A return visit. Abha (middle) and KP’s (right most) home in Oia Residence, together with Rajeshri and Milind Pandhare


A farewell / advance birthday party for Justin with his school mates before he flies off to Singapore! Nov 2022. From left, Mosaab (from Egypt), Nikita (Russia), Som (Korea), Malik (Egypt), Moaaz (Egypt), Jayden, Angelina (Korea), Justin, Sean Linz (India), Abdul (India), Ashton (India), and Yiro (Korea)


With Roby and Madhavi Mathew, parents of Aria and Vivah. One last play date at the ice-skating rink in Sport Society, Dubai, before Justin leaves Dubai, Nov 2022


The Hassan Family from Egypt, our neighbours in Oia Residence and the kids’ school mates, in Circle Mall, JVC, Dubai, Nov 2022. Moaaz (second right) is Justin’s classmate and good friend. Malik is also in the same academic year as Moaaz and Justin, but in another class. Mosaab, the birthday boy, is the same year as Jayden, and became Jayden’s friend after Justin left for Singapore. Unfortunately, the Hassans have also left Dubai for Abu Dhabi earlier this year


And here’s a grainy picture of the one family visit we had in 2022. Cousin Jane visited us while on holiday in the UAE, with a German friend, Mark, who works in Abu Dhabi – Dec 2022


A people post wouldn’t be complete without at least one photo of my colleagues at work. Here is an Iftar gathering at last year’s Ramadan (Apr 2022), at a hotel restaurant at the Meydan Racecourse, Dubai. Those in the photo are, from left, Aimen (Traffic Engineer) (sorry Aimen, it was not I who took the photo), Ashik (NOC Coordinator), Ramy (Project Manager), Wang Wei (PM), Eyad (PM), Mohsen (PM – he’s also left our Company), yours truly, Cheng Qianli (DGM – then, now GM), Wei Chuanhai (GM – then, now VP), Talal (DGM), Naser Khalil (CM), Pramod (CM Electrical), Ren (DPM), …and others who’re cut out of the photo by our trusty photographer, sorry mates, not my fault!

That’s all for now folks.

Our River Cave Adventure

Boat parking area at the entrance to Clearwater Cave, Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

Happy Malaysia Day! 60 years ago, on 16-Sep-1963, Malaysia was born, when Malaya, Singapore (yup, Singapore was with us at one time), Sabah (then called North Borneo) and Sarawak united to become 1 country! Hurrah! (For the non-Malaysians, this isn’t Malaysia’s Independence Day. Independence Day is celebrated on the day that Malaya gained independence from Britain i.e., 31-Aug-1957.)

What better way to celebrate Malaysia Day (for me) than to continue on my posts of Sarawak’s Mulu Caves! (Yeah, I’m just looking for excuses and reasons like these to post picture posts, haha. I already have loads of these cave photos downloaded and sorted out. Posting all the caves at one go would be bloody boring. Who’d wanna see photo after photo of rocks and holes?!!!). So here goes. Part 2 of the Mulu Caves.


The Wind Cave and Clearwater Cave (and also Lagang Cave if you choose to visit) can only be reached by river. Yippee, a river adventure. What’s a trip to Sarawak without a ride on a river? Sarawak after all is famous for its rain forests and rivers. It contains Malaysia’s longest river, the Rajang River (Batang Rajang). River transportation still plays a big role in Sarawak. Many of the settlements in the thick jungle interior are still accessible only by river and/ or by foot!


Off we go! This is fun! On the Sungai Melinau Paku


The ascent to Wind Cave. Before that, we actually made a short stop at a Penan village (but more on that later, another post I think)


A chamber in the Wind Cave with an open roof


Inside the Wind Cave, which is anything but windy. Hey, where’s the wind?? It’s humid like a steam bath. There’s actually a river inside the Wind Cave (that explains the humidity) which connects to Clearwater Cave. But that is strictly for the adventure caving enthusiasts. The connection is 5km along the underground river. It takes 6 to 8 hours and you’d have to climb over rocks, get muddy and swim in the underground river! Interesting, but no thanks. Not for lazy bones here, hehe


This is the easier way, hah! Via river boat on the Melinau Paku river. Here we go again, onwards to Clearwater Cave


We’ve reached Clearwater Pool which is at the entrance of Clearwater Cave. (You can swim here, which we will, later on)


Jayden makes a friend. Jayden calls him Luke (he said his name is like the number 6 in Chinese), but I think his name is actually Louie, or something like that, as clarified by his mom, but my memory’s a little fuzzy to recall it all. He is half French (dad) and half Hong-Kong Chinese (mom). The single leaf plants hanging above them, on the cave entrance grows ONLY in Clearwater Cave according to the guide!


Looking back towards the entrance. That’s where we entered from. Here’s a picture of the whole family at the entrance of Clearwater Cave


Downwards into the cave. There’s a rumbling sound all over the cave, the roars of the underground river…


The roar gets louder. There you are, the river… Nope, no swimming here. Too dangerous. You can swim in the pool outside


Up again


Emerging from the abyss


Chill out time, on the Clearwater Pool. It’s bloody cold, but relaxing. We’re the first ones in the pool, yours truly and the kids and Louie

That’s all for now.

For those who’s wondering why Singapore isn’t with Malaysia anymore, here’s my 2 cents’ worth. (But don’t quote me, I’m not the historian here. This is just my take on it). Less than 2 years after the forming of Malaysia, Singapore got kicked out. No, they didn’t agitate or fight for independence or anything like that. Singapore actually wanted to remain with Malaysia, but Malaysia expelled them. Which other country do you know of, that got evicted to become an independent nation of its own?? I know so many countries who had to fight tooth and nail for years just to have freedom, and here we have a country ‘expelled’?!! And for what reason? Ummm… I think Singapore was just being a pain in Malaysia’s ass. That’s putting it a little crude. We just differed in opinion on how to run things. Singapore meant business right away, putting things right, no fucking around, unity, integrity and clean government is everything. Screw corruption, screw racial politics, equality for all regardless of race or religion. Malaysia was like …hey, rilek lah bro, little bit here, little bit there, slow a little bit, is OK lah, and the Malays still need some time to catch up with the other races, OK? Unfortunately, letting people do as they like, and a little bit of cronyism and corruption here and there, became a lot, and see where that got us. Looking back, Singapore did a way better job than us. They’re developed and grouped together with the first world countries (since the 90’s). And despite us creating a Vision 2020 in 1991 (where among other things, we’re supposed to become a developed nation by the year 2020 – that’s 19 friggin years to do it, OK??!), we’re still arguing about letting Zahid (the Deputy Prime Minister) off from all his corruption charges, and thinking of ways to stop the Islamic zealots (who’ve taken over the north of Malaysia) from coming to power (and transforming Malaysia into the ‘Islamic Emirate of Malaysia’ or something like that). But not all is bad though. Look who’s the nanny state now. Not Malaysia, haha. Chillax man. Signing out for now. See ya.

A Park or a Mall?

The world’s largest fountain at The Pointe, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

What the heck! I might as well post the remainder of the old mall pictures I collected. (Saves time, and I get 1 post done!) These are all from 2020, when COVID-19 was going through the roof. Yeah, the malls in Dubai carried on like nothing happened. Oh COVID?? Ummmm…. OK, please wear your mask! And keep 3 feet apart!!

These are from what I call the ‘confused mall’ section. The developers didn’t know whether to build a park or a mall. Oh well, we’ll just combine the two and VOILA! Here you are!


The Palm Fountain holds the Guiness World Record for the world’s largest fountain (before it closed down). Yup, it’s closed, in May this year. That’s Dubai, things changed like the changes of the wind. Bye-bye fountain! RIP 2020 – 2023. I dunno what redevelopment plans Nakheel (the developer) has up its sleeve… Let’s see


Anu at The Pointe with a view of the Atlantis Hotel at the ‘top’ of the palm-tree-shaped Palm Jumeirah Island, Dec 2020


Here’s another place that the developers closed down, or partially closed down – La Mer Beach, Dubai, 2020. As of today, this is all GONE! Being redeveloped. That’s the problem when you’re undecided. A park, or a mall, or just a bloody beach?!






Some scenes at La Mer, Dubai, Dec 2020. Bye-bye. I don’t how much of these will stay. Just think of the works wasted! At least, we have some memories. RIP La Mer, 2017 – 2023






Now, do you spot the masks?? That’s a reminder of the COVID times. La Mer, Dubai


Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, 2020. This is an old timer. Nope, it’s not going. It’s been here for quite some time and it’s here to stay!


Christmas time at the lobby of the Theatre of Digital Art (TODA), Souk Madinat Jumeirah


And this is City Walk, another Park / Mall


A performance at City Walk, Jan 2020


And that’s the Coca-Cola Arena, just across the road from City Walk! It’s still well and very much alive!

That wraps up the post for today. See ya!