The Rain Returns

A Little Valley (Combe) of Wild Flowers!!! One of our picnic spots near our favourite UAE camping spot, Wadi Showkah, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE -- Mar 2024

Well, well, what can I say, it has been raining on and off in the region from March till earlier this month. Nice for a change. Last year (2025) has mostly been dry, and hot, and dusty. Rain cooled down the weather (but sheesh! I can’t friggin count how many mosquito bites I’ve got since the rain started…).

I’m sure the wadis will be flowing by now, and wild flowers will carpet the normally barren landscape. We would have gone camping, multiple times, …if only, there wasn’t a stupid war going on (yup, it’s still on, despite the ceasefire, and nobody knows when it’ll end (except Trump, maybe. ‘He can feel it in his bones…’, he said)). Alas, that’s life. Sometimes, you just have no choice but to put up with dickheads, and in this case, their boss.

Anyway, here’re some photos of our favourite UAE campsite, Wadi Shawka (or Showkah, whatever you prefer), from about the same time in the year, but in 2023, and 2024, when the wadis flowed and the flowers bloomed! (What about 2025? Sorry, haven’t sorted out that lot yet). Enjoy!


A mountain pond, up on the hills, near our campsite, on our 3rd visit (and second time we camped overnight), Feb 2023


It’s a wild flower fest! A spot near our 2nd campsite


On the track to the rock pools, Feb 2023




2024 was also a wet year! Wadi Shawka, Feb 2024 (our 4th visit)




The pool that saved my live! I finally decided to swim in it, voluntarily! Unlike in Dec 2021, on our first ever overnight trip there, when I fell in! Luckily, it was deep, and I escaped unhurt! (But the Redmi7 phone which I was carrying wasn’t that lucky…), Feb 2024


The high road over the rock pool… We didn’t know this route, that bypassed the rock pool, existed on our first visit. That’s how I fell into the pool, while climbing down on the return journey (nothing happened when we climbed up). Was lowering Jayden onto the ledge below, and then I lost my balance and sploosh!!! Into the pool I went!


Water isn’t the only attraction in Wadi Showka, there’re miles and miles of hills to climb. We made our first hike up the hill tracks towards the dam (Shawka Dam) on our 5th visit, Mar 2024




Our fourth campsite (6th visit), beside the flowing wadi, Mar 2024… Reversing through the rocky wadi wasn’t such a good idea after all. It damaged the car’s front splash shield (i.e. the engine’s bottom cover)…


Another wadi-splashing time, Wadi Shawka, Ras Al Khaimah, Mar 2024, on our 7th visit! (Yup, we visited the wadi 3-weekends, in one month!)


And then came the big flood of Dubai! (in April 2024). This photo was taken a few weeks after the big flood, on a day trip to see how it affected the wadi, May 2024 (our 8th visit). That path, which crosses the water, was still passable!


Looks like we’re not the only ones checking out the damages! Wadi Showkah, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE, May 2024

That’s all for today, gotta get back to work. Tons of it waiting, gotta finish it this friggin week!

The Prince of Trouble

Finally, I’ve put together the photos for Jayden’s 11th year of existence. He turned 11 last October, so I am… umm… 5 months late. Only. Wink!


Jayden, 2 months after his 11th birthday, at Mawlynnong, aka “Asia’s cleanest village”, Meghalaya, India

What can I say, Jayden? You’re 11 going on 12, and you’ve started secondary school. Why, oh why, do you keep doing the darndest things, that’ll get you (and us) into trouble?!??? I have a long list of those… Shall I let the list fly?? No?? OK, but on one condition… From now on, please THINK, use your BRAIN, before you friggin do, or say something! And grow up already, willya? We love you lots. Hope you’ll grow up into a responsible boy, who’ll know how to take care of the people and the things around you. Hope you’ll be loving and kind, well-mannered and considerate. That you’ll be hardworking, and know how to focus on the important stuff first (rather than waste time on clutter and nonsense). Hope you’ll be organized and self-driven. Hope you’ll be righteous and brave. Hope you’ll never be greedy, or boastful. Hope you’ll be smart and resourceful. Hope that when life throws you its problems, you’ll have the grit to persevere, and never give up. With lots of love, Papa. OK, here goes the recap.


A month plus after his 11th birthday, at the Address Beach Residence Hotel, Dubai, with his koko. Jayden was performing in the school choir for a pre-Christmas function at the hotel


Winter break 2024 – A visit to his mother’s home in India! Jayden with 2 of his cousins, Mahi (left) and Anshu (middle), Fulertal, Assam, India


Back to Dubai, and to school – Here he is with 2 of his school friends, Vivaan (left) from India, and Aryan (middle) from Iran, Metropole School, Dubai, Feb 2025


It’s camping season! Jayden with a blue lizard at our regular camping spot, Wadi Shawka, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE


What’s Eid without a trip to Oman? (That’s what we’ve been doing for the last few years… including this year!) Jayden with 2 friends he met in the guesthouse that we stayed in, the Alshumukh Guesthouse, Qalhat, Oman, Mar 2025. The kids are Polish, but they reside in Jordan. The older one is Yager (pronounced 'ya-zher' it may not be spelt like that, it’ll probably begin with a ‘J’), and the younger one is Franco… We asked Franco where he’s from and he said he’s from 'ospital' (hospital)… ‘Be nice!’ Franco would say to his older brother…


Jayden dressed up for …what’s it for?? For his prom!??. When did Year 6s start having proms??! Oh, so, it’s the last year of primary school! I see! May 2025


His koko is back from Singapore for the midyear break. Here they are with mommy at Dragonmart 2, Jun 2025


The end of Jayden’s academic year means lots of school functions. He won 4th place for the Arabic Reading Competition (for non-native speakers)! Bravo, keep it up!


It’s the summer break! On the go again. Jayden, at the Great Wall of China (Mutianyu). A stopover at Beijing, China en route to Malaysia, Jul 2025


Here we are again, Malaysia! At the Floating Mosque of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia


With his grandpa and aunt at Empat Sekawan Restaurant, Butterworth, Malaysia – Malaysia’s all about food! Seriously, we’d kill ourselves from overeating if we stayed any longer in Malaysia


Some family visits! With his second cousins (children of his father’s cousins), Ginny and Eugene (I think… I hope I got them right), at Jayden’s father’s old home in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, Aug 2025


More family! With his favourite uncle now, Jack (they got lost talking about fish and marine life, Jack is an avid diver, among other things…) at a restaurant in Petaling Jaya (Kean Fatt Restaurant), Selangor, Malaysia


More Malaysian holidays – in the old town of Melaka, the place that gave the olden Sultanate of Malacca and the famous Straits of Malacca its name...


And finally, his 11th birthday party at home! Be nice!! Be good! Love you.

The Valley of Dead Goats

Oh, what the heck. I might as well post these photos. Of the time we camped in Wadi Bih. (Since I’ve saved these photos up for posting… for a long time now…)


Wadi Bih, or what I called the Valley of Dead Goats… (What? I saw 3 goat carcasses on that day itself, OK?! If you look closely, you’d spot one too, in the photo above)

I thought we’d do a camping trip before the end of the year, with Justin, before he heads back to Singapore. But circumstances changed, and there were more important things to do… so we ended up not going camping. He’s heading back to Singapore tonight, to restart school. We wish him all the best. And that he will understand the importance of hard work, self-discipline and effort in achieving success, and that he’ll put his whole heart into his studies in his O-Level year. Take care my son, we love you. Give it your best!

These photos are of the last time Justin camped outdoors with us in the UAE… In Dec 2023. Here goes.


There! We’ve made camp! Definitely not a good thing to do, reaching a camping spot at night… But it’s something that happens (especially with us, …a lot. And most of the time, it’s bcoz of yours truly, ahem, but how would I know that there’d be a friggin traffic jam in Jebel Jais!! Wadi Bih is at the foot of Jebel Jais, by the way). If only we spotted the dead goat carcass nearby earlier, we might not have camped here. (Do you see it? It’s there if you look closely). But we reached after sunset and didn’t see it until way after we’ve settled in, and were looking for places to relieve ourselves. I just pulled it (by one of its dead legs) far away from us… (Yeah, there you go, goat. Be gone, rot in peace!)


Making fire. Mommy’s the expert and our guru. So, Justin, can you start one yourself now?


Good morning! Let’s climb some hills, while it’s early! (Our camp was by that lone tree, in the middle of the photo)


Heading out to the hills, Wadi Bih, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE, Dec 2023


Exploring the hills…


The hills are alive, ...with the sounds of Jayden (he's the noisy one)


C’mon let’s get back to camp and have some breakfast!


Some morning yoga for mommy


Breakfast’s ready!


Tidying up. See the hard work we put in at night… Making that clearing, where our tent was, and propping up that tree… It’s full of thorns mind you, and rocks…


Happy New Year everyone! May 2026 be the greatest year ever for you! And may every year after that be even better!

When Summer Ends…

Some hill near the UAE-Oman border, (Google Maps calls it Jabal Al Haleefah), Fujairah, Nov 2022

Another express post coming up. (Yes, yet another. The workload keeps piling up, which is good, bcoz that’s how we survive, OK?)

It’s mid-October. But it’s still hot and hazy. When is summer gonna end?? And people say that there’s no global warming?!?? (Yeah, I’m referring to you, o great President of MAGA. A con job, eh? Doesn’t look like it from here. But I have to say, President (Trump), you did a great job cobbling together the Israel-Hamas peace plan (I don’t wanna admit it, but I’ve actually praised him twice this year, although I’m no fan of his. But he delivered the results, you can’t deny it). I really hope it’ll lead to a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people, and I hope it’ll bring about a truly independent Palestinian state, that is peaceful, progressive and cooperative, like the countries in the Gulf. If that happens, go ahead, take that friggin Nobel Peace Prize, you’d fully deserve it!) Oh, I spoke too soon. It actually friggin rained 2 nights ago… After, ummmm… a year? Or more? It’s just a little sprinkling, but it’s better than nothing, right?

Anyway, back to my post, the family’s eagerly waiting for it to cool down so that we could go camping again! Here’re some photos of our camping times of past years. Mountains, we’re coming! (When summer truly ends, that is).


The road to the east, (one of the roads anyway), the E102, or the Sharjah to Kalba Road, the one we used mostly to get to the hills nowadays… because it leads to our favourite campsite in the UAE, Wadi Shawka! On our way to our first overnight camp in Wadi Shawka, Dec 2021. The first of many, bcoz after trying lots of locations, this seems to be the best!


Standing around a fire, in the desert-hill, Wadi Shawka (Or is it Showkah? What the heck, it doesn’t really matter in the UAE, because they’re just transliterations of the place’s Arabic name, anyway), Ras Al Khaimah, Dec 2021… This was Justin’s only time camping in Showkah before he went to Singapore for his studies (And we, ummm… maybe close to 10 times now)


And this is from our least favourite road to the east now… the E88, or Al Dhaid to Masafi Road. E88 was the main road to the east before. Now, there’re so many roads to choose from. The last time we used the E88, it was packed with traffic. This photo was taken near the once popular (or maybe, still popular, but not for us) Friday Market, Fujairah. Just look at the dirt! Oct 2020


Another nice location to camp, where there’s close to no one around, in the Madha Exclave of Oman, Feb 2023. We found this place by accident in Oct 2020, on our first ever overnight camping excursion by ourselves. The Khor Fakkan Road (yes, another road to the east) had just opened, and we went exploring. We decided to check out Wadi Shees and the connecting road (or more like ‘track’) to Madha and Nahwa, but we went too late. Finally, after driving up and down between Nahwa and Khor Fakkan a couple of times in the dark, the missus picked a random spot in the hills, and we set up camp (in the friggin dark). It was scary, because we were the only ones around… but it came out all nice and cool (check out this earlier post) … So, why not a second visit?


That’s where we parked out car and camped. The road (i.e. track) is just below, and you’ll hear cars driving past in the night, if cars drive past that is, but they’re very rare. Madha Exclave, Oman, Feb 2023


Our first overnight camp after Justin left for Singapore, Nov 2022, at some random spot by the road near Ain Lighmour (Blossom Valley), Fujairah (It’s called Jabal Al Haleefah according to Google Maps). Somehow or other, I repeated the same stupid mistake I did in Oct 2020, (on our first trip to the Madha Enclave). This time, I headed out to the interesting-sounding ‘Blossom Valley’ in the afternoon, underestimating the time it’d take to get there (i.e. 2 friggin hours, …and I thought we could get everywhere in the eastern Emirates in an hour, plus 30 mins tops). And so, we ended up, reaching Ain Lighmour at dusk, finding out, in the dim light, that it ain’t a field of flowers, and that there’re no suitable campsites… But luckily for me, I have a missus, with a knack for good camping spots. This is the spot we finally camped in…


Good morning, everyone! How was the night? Scary? (Bcoz there was only us and us alone, but we survived!) Let’s hike up the hill!


Sunrise! And we’re all alone!! (See our car? Our tent is by the tree in front of the car). This is near the UAE-Oman border. The land in front, where the sun is, after the road and behind the hill, is Oman proper! Jabal Al Haleefah, Fujairah, UAE


And that’s Blossom Valley (Ain Lighmour, or Ayn Al Ghamur, depending on which transliteration you fancy, yes, another confusing Arabic transliteration problem), in Nov 2022, without a single flower! Only friggn DONKEYS! That’s why, it’s important to do some research before you head off, silly… (How would it have flowers, if it hadn’t rain?? But it friggin rain! Did it rain here?? Doesn’t look like it, does it?…)




Wild flowers!!! Blossom Valley in full bloom, finally, after rainfall! Ayn Al Ghamur, Fujairah, UAE, Feb 2023


That’s it for today. Signing off. On the Sharjah to Kalba Road (E102), UAE