Hot Bubbling Whamily Whun

Sessions on how to make a scary face

I’m gonna make this post a quick one. I’m short of time. Those motivational videos which my lovely missus keeps listening to, say that all successful people count their time in minutes, not hours, days or weeks. (Or in my case, months…) Never too old to start being effective. So here goes the post.

Since, we’re on family visits and cousins (see last post), here’s a family visit on the other side of the world – New Zealand.

This was the time we visited a real ‘living Maori village’ (as if there’re actually dead villages to visit). …But, a ‘dead village’, would just have been as interesting, if we’re into spooks and spirits, ain’t it?

This village is called… wait for it… Whakarewarewa! In NZ, in words of Maori origin, the ‘WH’ consonant cluster is pronounced ‘F’ for some reason or other. So, Whakarewarewa, would be pronounced Fakarewarewa or Waka village for short (no, not Faka, just for this particular case. Just imagine how Faka would sound like? Of course, there’re exceptions! You wouldn’t want to be a friggin Faka, would you?)

But why then, would the people who first transcribed Maori into the English alphabet use ‘WH’ for ‘F’? It turned out that the original sound wasn’t really like an ‘f’ as in English but something close to an airy ‘w’ like how the Japanese would say Mt ‘Wh’uji (for Mount Fuji). Well, that’s what I read somewhere. Nuff with that, continuing with the picture post…


Whakarewarewa Village performance of Maori dances, like the war dance, Haka where you can have fun making scary faces. (Heck, I don't even need to try, especially on a grumpy day...)


Cousins in New Zealand – Jared and Skye. “I can’t climb up mommy!” Behind is the Te Puia Park that has loads of geysers including the Pohutu Geyser (no, not the friggin home water heaters which Indians called geysers)


“There you go!” Skye and mommy (today happens to be Skye’s 6th birthday, wow, time sure flies – by the way, Skye & Jared are currently having a holiday at their grandparents' place in Germany!)




Hot springs and steaming pools are a common feature of the village area. No, I don’t think you can swim in that… unless you wanna boil off your erm... precious parts


See what I mean? The villagers use the geothermal vents for cooking. They actually also use them for hot baths (there’re special bathing pools), and for heating up their houses in winter!


Now, that’s something you can swim in… A stream at the entrance to the village


Entrance arch to the village (& World War memorial)


The village’s community hall (and here’s a pic of Jayden & Skye in front of the community hall)


A village house with a nice garden, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, NZ


Inside the village church


Heck, what’s this? Doll house? Spirit house??! Let’s get outta here…


Oh, here’s something not from Whakarewarewa, but from the nearby Kuirau Park in Rotorua, which I missed out in my earlier Rotorua post. It’s a hot bubbling mud pool! The whole place is a geothermal ummm… “mess”

All in the Family

The sisters 5! Fulertal, Cachar District, Assam, India

Do you know what we did for our first overseas trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? We visited our India home, after 5 years (our last visit was 2017). (By the way, we have 3 homes, in 3 different countries, ahem.) Here are the family photos of our trip home. And oh my, how the ‘kids’ have grown in the 5 years since we last visited. See for yourself!


Anu and her sisters. From right, Manju (eldest), Sandhya (2nd), Anu, Rekha (3rd) and Amrita (youngest), in front of Rekha’s house


Justin, Jayden and cousin Mahi (Rekha’s daughter) – Mahi was born in the same year as Jayden, but is 8 months older


Jayden and Ankit (Anu’s godbrother’s son) – Ankit is also a 2014 child. He’s 3 days older than Mahi if I’m not mistaken


The youngest cousin in the family, Anshu, born 2019 I think, (left most) with his father, Anu’s second eldest brother, Ganesh. Finally, Jayden became a ‘dada’ (elder brother). Together in the photo are the kids’ cousin Sonia (middle) and aunt Amrita (right)


Ganesh’s house in Pailapool, about 20+ mins slow drive from Anu’s mum’s house in Fulertal – In the photo are, from left: Justin; Sumitra (Anu’s sis-in-law, wife of eldest brother Ramesh); Anu’s mother; Ganesh and son Anshu; Ganesh’s mother-in-law; Jayden and Amrita; and someone whom I can’t remember…


Breakfast at Manoj’s house – Manoj is Anu’s third eldest brother – In the photo are, from left: Rohan (Ramesh’s eldest son), Sonia (Manoj’s daughter), Deb (Ankit’s elder brother), Anu, and Akash a.k.a. Chhandam (Manoj’s son). This was where we stayed when we were in Fulertal. Thank you Manoj dada and bhauju Ruati


Akash’s a keen footballer – Here’s he (middle) warming up for a match against an opposing team. Akash is his Gorkhali name and Chhandam his Mizo name as Manoj’s family used to live in Mizoram until a few years back. Till now, Akash is more comfortable with Mizo. His team mates are mostly, if not all, Hmar (a sub-tribe of Mizo), from the neighbouring Hmarkhawlein village. That’s the beauty of this place, it’s mix of all types of people! This football match was played in Singerbond, a predominantly Manipuri settlement


We’ve come to watch the football match! Akash! Akash! Akash! (We don’t know his team’s name). From left: Ruati (Manoj’s wife & Akash’s mother), Ankit, Amrita, Anu, Justin, Jayden and Rohan


Visiting a friend at their riverside abode. From right: – Amar Gurung (son of Sangeeta Gurung a local politician – Amar used to work with us in the Pune-Solapur Highway Project in Maharashtra in 2011); Amar’s grandma I presume; Anu; Jayden; Sangeeta Gurung (Amar’s mother); Justin; Manju; Ramesh (Anu’s eldest brother); Anu’s mom; and Amrita


How can we do a post on Fulertal, without a picture of the Barak River? – A view from Amar’s riverside house. At the time of writing, the river has swelled up considerably, and big parts of Assam including the Barak Valley are flooded. Pray that the rain stops soon and the waters recede before more deaths and damage occur... 


Justin and an old friend Vineeth from his past home visits


Anu meets her college friend, Gayatri, in Pailapool


Family pic at the Mukam, Fulertal, Cachar District, Assam, India


Bye till we meet again, gotta get back to work in Dubai – Family in front of our Silchar home. At the back, from right: Sandhya, Gopal Singh (Sandhya’s husband); Debanjan (Sweety’s husband – Hey, when did she marry?); Sweety; Justin; Kunal (Manju’s son); Deb; and Amrita. In front, from right: Ramesh; Manju; Jayden; Raja (Ramesh’s son and Rohan’s younger brother) and Zeeva (Sandhya’s son and Sweety’s brother)

That’s it for now folks!

A Door for Every Occasion

Eid Mubarak everyone! Selamat Hari Raya! Alas, Ramadan has to end sometime. Ramadan happens to be my favourite month, haha. Less pressure (except for this Ramadan), shorter working hours, less traffic jams, less crowd, except at night after Iftar…

Here’s a short picture post, before I go off for the long weekend!

Here’s our adventure in the heart of Tunis in Jan 2020! The city of Tunis is nice and planned on one side, and a crazy maze on the other side, and that’s the fun part – venture in if you dare!


Here’s the planned and organized eastern side of Tunis city centre, the Place de l'Indépendance. The church there is the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul


Papa and kids, Place de l’Indépendance, Tunis


Habib Bourguiba Clocktower


This is the dining room of our hotel, the Tunisia Palace. Our hotel is on the planned side, just before the start of the crazy side


Ready for the maze? That arch, called the Bab El Bhar, with the Tunisian Flag, is the gateway to the old city. Here we go!


Mommy at Victory Square, just beyond the Bab El Bhar


That’s the old city. It’s a maze of alleys, shops, houses, mosques, you name it!


What’s with the colour coded doors? Do they mean anything? Is this the doorway to a Ravenclaw club?


What about this? Hufflepuff? Most of the doors are blue, second most I think is yellow… Somebody enlighten me, willya?


Hey, here’s a mosque, time for some rest – the Zaytuna Mosque, Tunis, Tunisia


Minaret of another mosque… I think it’s the Sidi Youssef Dey Mosque


And when you’re tired, you can stop at one of the hundreds of cafes, restaurants – Here’s us waiting to tuck into our couscous with fish meal


Another Hufflepuff facility, with matching window and car…


Say bye boys! Tunis, Tunisia, Jan 2020 - This was our last overseas trip before COVID-19 hit.

Have a blessed and joyful Eid, Hari Raya and holidays!

Inside a Mythical Elephant

The world inside an elephant!

I’m back! From a short and hectic 2-week break. First trip overseas since the beginning of 2020!!! Went home to my in-laws in India for the first time after 5 years. (Our last India home visit was in Mar 2017).

But that home trip story would have to wait. (What? It’s a long story, OK? And all the photos are still in the phones. Plus, so many unexpected things happened. We planned like for a hundred things to be done, and we ended up with ummm… OK, more than half done! Not that bad after all). Anyway, while I pick up the bits from where I left off from work, and recover from the holiday blues, here’s a short picture post to commemorate the many festivals and new years that are happening this week! Happy Vaisakhi! Happy Easter! Ramadan Mubarak! Happy New Year to the Tamils, Keralites (Vishu), Thais (Songkran), Bengalis, Nepalis, Assamese (Bihu), Sri Lankans, Burmese (Thingyan), Laotians, Cambodians! Etc, etc, etc.

Since it’s Songkran, here’s something from Thailand! Ever gone inside a mythical creature? Here we go, venturing into the body of a mythical three-headed elephant!


Whoa, what’s that? A towering elephant monster?


The Erawan Museum, Thailand

This is the last of Khun (Mr) Lek Viriyaphan’s creation featured in this blog. (Yep, we happened to visit all three!) Khun Lek was an eccentric Thai millionaire businessman and arts patron who created fantastic landmarks such as Ancient Siam (aka Ancient City) and the Sanctuary of Truth, in addition to the Erawan Museum.


Anu, Erawan Museum, Thailand


Guess who this is? Yes, it’s chubby Jayden when he was 3 years old! This visit was in Dec 2017. What about Justin? Check out this post for Justin’s pics at that time.


And that’s Dad and Hazel!




The intricately ornate shrines inside the Erawan Museum’s main elephant structure




Peaceful grounds of the Erawan Museum


Finally, the shrine in the belly of the mythical elephant

On this day of celebrations and festivities, God, grant us humans the wisdom to make peace, instead of war. Let cooler heads prevail, oh God. Amen.