Our Local Train Adventure!

Talking about flower gardens, not all flower farm trips turn out good. This post is one such case. Here goes!


Khirai Railway Station, West Bengal, India

How It Started…

“Honey, we have to visit our banks in India. We have to reactivate our accounts. Can’t bloody transfer or touch our money!”

(They’re dormant because the banks need us to update the KYC documents, and it ain’t our fault. That’s because when we visited Kolkata a year before i.e. in Mar 2022 to do our banking stuff (yes, that trip’s ONLY for the banking stuff), which was our first such visit after the long pandemic lockdown, the bank workers decided to hold a 2-day nation-wide strike. Why they decided to time it to the exact day that we visited, beats me. Maybe, they have a bone to grind with us, for ignoring them for the last errr… 3 years. (Hey, it’s the pandemic, OK?) We didn’t wanna hang out in Kolkata for an extra 3 days, staying in a hotel, with nothing to do. (We’ve been to Kolkata countless times, and have seen just about everything there is to see). So, we left and went home to Assam. Bye HSBC, bye SCB. See you when we see you!)

“OK darling. Are there any interesting places we could stopover on our way home? Like this place (shows a photo of a hill station in Karnataka).”

“We could. Let’s see. Ooh, that Karnataka hotel is fully booked. What about Cochin, Kerala? It has more or less the same stuff, and has both banks that we need to visit, and you’ve never been there. Then, we could fly to Silchar via Kolkata or Guwahati.”

“How much are the flight tickets? … … Whoa! That’s not cheap. Besides, Kerala is hot and humid. Aren’t there any places with nice, cool hills like Kullu Manali?”

“Ummm, let me see. That’s even more expensive, and we can’t do our banking stuff. Kerala has some nice waterfalls! And hills. And we could stay in the backwaters in a houseboat. Watch some Kathakali, huh? What say you?”

“Ummm…” (looks at some pictures, but not convinced, primarily because of the increased costs). “Hey, there’re some flower farms near Kolkata. Do you think they’re in season?”

Google shows only photos and info from the winter season. There’s nothing much about how it is in late March.

The Trip…

“OK, we’re here (Kolkata). It’s Sunday. Banks only open tomorrow. What do we do today?”

“Darling, shall we go to the flower farm???”

“OK honey. But you do the bargaining for the car, OK?”

And so, we got an OK deal with the first car that came along.

“Madam, good car, good AC.”


Good car, good AC leaving Kolkata. Namaskar Madam Mamta Bannerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal

Good car, good AC, started heating up even before we got out of the city-proper.

“Hey, where’s the AC?”

“No problem, madam.” (No problem for him, but big, sweaty problem for us, because there was no more AC! What more about ‘good’ AC?!)

After some time, the driver stops. Opens his bonnet and puts some water into who-knows-where. And then, he drove on.

“Are you sure you can make it? If not, just stop and we’ll get another car.”

“No problem, madam.” (My foot). And he keeps calling someone on the phone (yeah, while driving, no police around) to discuss about how bad the car is, I think…

He stopped a couple of times and repeated his water-filling rituals.

Finally, … “Madam, small problem, madam. Car need repair!”

FUCK! I knew this was coming. Luckily, we were in some sort of a town and we saw a car workshop, so our good car with good AC, pulled into the workshop. We were also lucky, because not too far away, we noticed something that looked like a restaurant. Lo and behold, it was indeed a restaurant, a dusty one which only had us as customers. (I think it was way past their lunch time by then). Halfway thru our lunch, the driver came and declared that his good car with good AC will not be able to go further, but could take us back to Kolkata. We said he could go fly kites. And paid him a fair share (which, of course, he disagreed), but he brought us out to the middle of nowhere, I mean somewhere, but nowhere that we wanted to be in, and it was only halfway to the flower farm location. Plus, earlier, the missus had been having a chat with the restaurant proprietor, asking for ways to get another car, and learnt that there was a railway station in town and that the easiest way to get to the flower farm, or back to Kolkata was by train!

The Train Trip to Khirai…

And so, after our late lunch, we took an auto-rickshaw to the Bagnan Railway Station, and bought tickets to Khirai Station, where the flower farms are. The tickets are a fraction of the cost of a car. It’s like riding on a public bus. Heck, that train rides to Khirai, and back to Kolkata eventually, for the 3 of us (Justin was in Singapore, lucky him), was cheaper than the public bus fares in Dubai City! I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.


Bagnan Railway Station – See those people in fancy dresses? That’s what everyone else in the station think we’re in


The train’s here! One small tip – the only thing to watch out for here, are the Hijras, the eunuchs of Indian trains. (For the Malaysians who don’t know what these are, they’re the pondan’s and akua’s). They’ll hop on the trains, harass people for some tips and leave. You could oblige, or just pretend to be deep in dreamland, how ever much they goad you… Good luck!


Hey, it started to rain… the countryside near Khirai, I don’t see no flowers?!?


Khirai Station – We’ve arrived, but let’s go get our return tickets first. We dunno what time the train to Kolkata’s coming. Huh? In 20 minutes’ time? (It’s either this, or the next train in 2 hours’ time. Shucks, better not risk it. It’s getting late, don’t wanna wait here in the dark).


Is this Khirai? It’s not even a village… A few shanty huts with a dirt track and acres and acres of farms


Finally, we see the flowers. Hi Khirai! Bye Khirai! We gotta go, no time!


Our train’s here! In our 20 to 30 minutes in Khirai, we’ve managed to cross the pedestrian bridges umm… 4 times? 6 times? Getting to the platform, then going back to look for toilets, getting to the platform again, then went looking for my sunglasses which I dropped, near the toilet (we found them, ahem), and rushing back to the platform, just in time for the train to come. Whew, what an adventure!

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

By the Mighty Hooghly

Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kolkata, India


The Hooghly River, view from the Dakshineswar Ganga Ghat on the east bank of the Hooghly

Happy Durga Puja!!! Anu’s biggest festival is upon us (although there’s really not much of a celebration here in Dubai), and I’ve saved some pictures just for this occasion, haha! So it’s gonna be another picture post. (And that’ll be the case till the shit at work clears up, sigh).

Welcome to Kolkata, the capital of Durga Puja celebrations!




Sri Ramakrishna Belur Math Temple, Kolkata


Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, Kolkata


The Belur Math Ghat on the west bank of the Hooghly River


Jayden with Papa at Dakshineswar Temple, Kolkata, Apr 2017




Howrah Bridge, at the centre of Kolkata


Mullick Ghat Flower Market near the busy Howrah Bridge


Kolkata International Airport


Salt Lake, Kolkata – Salt Lake is where we usually stay on our stopovers in Kolkata. Kolkata is where we do our banking stuff (coz HSBC and StanChart are too high and mighty to set up base on our humble home city of Silchar). This picture was taken from the roof of the Columbia Asia Hospital. (Kolkata is incidentally also the place I stop to do medical check-ups!)

By the way, we just celebrated Jayden’s 4th birthday. But the pictures will have to wait. As usual. See ya!

In Comes the Goat

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Koung Hey Faat Choi! Keong Hi Huat Cai! Happy Chinese New Year everyone! A little late, but Chinese New Year’s 15 days long right?

By the way, we spent the first day of the New Goat Year travelling, in India, from Silchar (Assam) to Kolkata. Flew back to Dubai from Kolkata on the second night of New Year. Spent Day 3 holed up in our Dubai apartment due to an on-going sandstorm. Earlier, said sandstorm delayed our flight landing in the wee hours of the morning by up to an hour! (Pilot said it was congestion… but do you believe everything a pilot says?)

On the map display screen in the Emirates plane, 10,000 feet above ground, it showed the plane circling over different parts of the UAE (first Fujairah, then Ras Al Khaimah) for like …a 100 times (I lost count after fifteen). And I can tell you, flying in circles, at low altitude, in a friggin sandstorm, holding a sleeping baby, with the older kid whining due to numb legs (and disturbed sleep I guess), ain’t much fun, unless you have a crazy liking for Merry-Go-Round rides. Imagine yourself in a Merry-Go-Round for an hour. Luckily didn’t throw up, or it would’ve been worse…

Anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR again! Here’re some specially selected pictures to usher in the New Year!


Happy New Year everyone, sez Jayden (on his 4 month old birthday)


Justin, in our Silchar home, fooling around with the little red dots (bindi) of his aunt’s


A hookah (shisha) session at home, in Silchar – Celebrating CNY the Arabic-Indian way. Instead of a reunion dinner, we had a big lunch at Anu’s mother’s home, and later at home, a dinner of chapatis, curry chicken and mutton liver (gotta be mutton right? It’s the Year of the Goat after all!)




Where we were at on the night of CNY 2015 – some Victorian treat at The Astor, Kolkata. The hotel botched up our booking, so gave us a night at their penthouse suite at no extra charge hehe!

Let’s hope that the Year of the Goat is less ‘exciting’ than the tumultuous Year of the Horse. For one thing, no more plane crashes please…

Stopover City Kolkata

The Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, India, May 2007

I'm not happy. Over some unjustified deductions in my payslip. But I have hopes that it’ll be sorted out. Meanwhile, to keep my mind away from that issue, and to not spoil my mood any further, here’re photos of a city that we visit quite often. Every year, a couple of times at least.

Why? Because all flights into Assam and North-East India fly via Kolkata. (OK, with the exception of some flights from Delhi and Mumbai that goes direct to Guwahati). And Kolkata has direct flights to most of the main cities in India and every airport in the North East, plus direct international connections to a number of destinations, including Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, the cities that matter for us.

That’s not all. My high and mighty international banks (namely HSBC and Standard Chartered) have no branches in our dear village of a city, Silchar. The most convenient place where they're in is, …yeah, you guessed it, Kolkata, where each of them has at least emm 6, maybe 8 branches?? Don’t actually know.

Kolkata’s not small. Its population is around …20 million people. That’s about the population of Australia!

And although we’ve been there uncountable times, we’ve not thoroughly explored the place except for the New Market area, and Salt Lake (to be near the banks). I’ve been keeping these photos for ages to post them with the other attractions in the city, when we visit… But what the heck, these are almost antique now. Could have sworn I have more photos than these but dunno where they are now…


The spanking new International Airport of Kolkata, Apr 2013. I like the looks, neat and simple, but bold, with huge calligraphy on the ceiling. Nice touch, but there’s next to zero facilities (meaning no shops & restaurants) when we were there. Heard it just opened a few months back.


At Kolkata’s Old Airport, which is closed now, Aug 2012. With Mary Kom, India’s 2012 Olympic bronze medallist for women’s boxing. She’s from Manipur, a neighbouring state of Assam. We’ve bumped into a few well-known people in the airports while travelling in North East India. We flew in the same plane once with the Chief Minister of Assam. He was on the seat just in front of us and Anu didn’t recognize him!




More views of the Victoria Monument


Recognize this? My Facebook profile photo – taken in the gardens of the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata


Howrah Bridge, Nov 2006. Taken with my old film camera.


Inside the Indian Museum, Sudder Street, Nov 2006


Sudder Street with a church in the background and a pulled rickshaw, taken from inside the Indian Museum. Sudder Street is in the New Market backpackers’ area. This is where we usually stayed before Justin was born. After that we sorta upgraded ourselves.


Kalighat Temple, May 2007. Well known for animal sacrifices, mainly pigeons and goats. Mother Teresa’s Nrimal Hriday (hospice for the dying), is just next door.


A rare picture of Anu pregnant, June 2009, at Fairlawn Hotel, Sudder Street, one of the nicer hotels in the area. Owned and run by an Armenian family, probably settled there during the Armenian diaspora days