The Picnic Times

Good morning! The view from our tent in Jebel Jais, Ras Al-Khaimah, during the crazy COVID times – end of Oct 2020

Know how we overcame the boredom and challenges of being stuck in the UAE during the travel-restricted COVID years? We took to the hills with our tent, food and barbecue grill! And it felt like the entire UAE had the same idea as us… So much so that when we went up to Jebel Jais, UAE’s highest mountain, the road was jammed with cars, and tents set up at any empty space you could find! It was a friggin tent city in the mountain. But that is a story I’ll leave for next time. For now, here’re some of the photos of our picnics in the UAE.

We had our first camping night out during the COVID times in mid Oct 2020, on Jayden’s birthday near Nahwa, on a weekday. All alone in the night and quiet as hell (coz it ain’t known for being a camping site, like Jebel Jais). But it turned out nicely, and nothing disturbed us. And from then on, picnics are the things we looked forward to in winter.


This was us barbecuing at home (shh… luckily, no neighbours complained)


A hookah (or better known as shisha here) is a nice complement to a barbecue


There you go! Barbecued chicken Filipino-Chinese-Mediterranean style

We upgraded to a slightly larger tent, and went up to Jebel Jais to a completely opposite atmosphere. Sleepless night, from all the tents around us, some with lights that could light up a friggin stadium, crazy people who could talk from night till dawn (tents aren’t exactly soundproof) and rival camps playing rival music in Arabic, Hindi, etc. What a din! I’ll leave the photos for next time (coz I’ve not sorted them out yet, hehe).




A picnic at the foot of Jebel Jais when coming down…


Hey, a gap in a road, why not eat here… There you go! – On the Khor Fakkan Road, in the stretch between the Al Multaqa Tunnel and the Al Saha Tunnel – Jan 2021. We were returning from an outing to a fort near Khor Fakkan




And while we’re at it, let’s do some exploring…


Looks like it goes nowhere (where cars could go), except to a tunnel that goes thru to the other side of the highway – I have no idea whether this place belongs to Sharjah or Fujairah. The internal boundaries of the UAE are mighty complicated


Another picnic, this time on the Masafi to Tayybah Road, Fujairah – Jan 2021


Oh no… ambushed by goats! Shooo! Go away


Wadis and hills are not the only place we could picnic. How about a desert? Near Umm Al Quwain’s camel race track, north west of Falaj Al Mualla – Jan 2021


Of course, there’re camels. But when there’re livestock, there’re always pesky flies around


That’s all the photos for now! Leaving one photo of our first trip to Wadi Shawka – Feb 2021. The kids having lunch at a visitor’s shelter at the entrance to the road to Wadi Shawka Dam. We would later find out that the road to the dam is not the greatest route to get into Wadi Shawka (cars are blocked by the dam, you could only trek in). There’re routes where you can actually drive into the wadi. Yahoo!

Sigh, there's only about half a month left for picnic season, before 'glorious' summer (or what I call the scorched months) comes...

Fantastic Beasts and Where We Met Some

Fiordland National Park – Milford Sound Road (just west of the tunnel – you’ll know which tunnel I’m talking about if you visit), South Island, New Zealand

Express photo post coming up. Dunno what to post. Wanted to post some photos of the picnics we have in the UAE. This is picnic season after all, and whenever we get a chance, we pack out stuff, food, tent, whatever and head off to the hills or wadis to barbecue food under the stars, camp for the night and explore the wilderness the next day. But there’re too many photos to sort out. So, digging into my huge reserve of old holiday photos to post, ahem. We’re heading back to New Zealand, to our campervan adventure in the South Island in 2018. Dad and sisters’ recent South Island adventure brought up nice memories of our own adventure, and so here it is, a continuation of our very own campervan adventure!

To recap, we stopped at Milford Sound. Here’s what we did on our way from Milford Sound back to civilization.






First stop – Gertrude Valley Lookout (we were looking for a toilet actually, ahem). We found one at the start of the Gertrude Saddle Dirt Route, and it was a fabulous ‘Thunderbox’! Don’t know what a thunderbox is? Go, find out for yourself (Hint: I’d prefer an Indian toilet to a thunderbox. Anytime)


Next stop – Monkey Creek, Fiordland National Park


This is where we met some Kea. It is a huge parrot species endemic to NZ. It isn’t a very shy bird and will eat your car. No kiddin. It friggin took a chunk out of the rubber lining of our campervan’s door. Luckily, Jucy (the campervan’s company) didn’t ask us to pay. I bet they have insurance to cover Kea bites…




Next – Hollyford Valley Lookout – after a while, all the hills look the same…


Finally, a town, Te Anau


On the move again, …the countryside between Te Anau and Mossburn


Hey, look! There’s a campsite here. Shall we? It’s getting late, won’t be able to make it back to Queenstown and find a camp. So, here we are! Mossburn Country Park camping site. That white, green and purple ‘Jucy’ van in the middle, with the pop-up tent on top was ours


Forced labour?!?… No Papa, that’s our friend. He volunteered




Feeding the alpacas! How did alpacas get here by the way?? I thought they’re found only in South America?


There you go. One express photo post done! Gertrude Valley, Fiordland National Park, South Island, NZ

For the Love of Blue & White

Café des Délices, Sidi Bou Said

Was looking for some romantic settings or flowers to post for Valentine’s. Valentine has gone past by more than a week now. But I finally found something which I think will do for romance. It’s a quaint little village which is almost entirely painted in blue and white. It’s like a friggin village of Police Stations of Malaysia! Nah, just kidding, blue and white is quite a nice combination. Santorini in Greece is famous partly because of it. (Maybe that’s where our police got their inspiration from). But this is no Greece. It’s across the sea in another part of the Mediterranean – Tunisia!


This is the village of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia – it was near where ancient Carthage stood. A long time ago, a policeman came from Malaysia… OK, enough of that lame joke. Wikipedia says that it was actually a French aristocrat and artist, Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger that introduced the blue and white theme to Sidi Bou Said, and that caught on, and it never turned back




The Baron even built his home aka palace in Sidi Bou Said – this is the garden of his home, the Ennejma Ezzahra (the Star of Venus in Arabic …didn’t know Venus was blue??)


Sidi Bou Said sits high on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea…


What’s to do in this place? Just walk around, take photos of things in blue, like doors…


Lots of doors, …pick up a souvenir or two


And eat! Couscous with fish is one of the typical Tunisian meal you’ll find


And this is a Brik with tuna and egg, another common Tunisian fare


And Bambalouni… doughnut Tunisian style (we didn’t take a photo of the Bambalouni we had in Sidi Bou Said). This photo was the one we had in Tunis… (that's why there's less blue in this photo)


Meet some locals – the kids and some friends they made at the Tunisian restaurant in Sidi Bou Said while waiting for our food – Le Chargui Restaurant, Sidi Bou Said


And relax in the hotel, Villa Landalucia, Sidi Bou Said


Breakfast at Villa Landalucia


The cobblestoned street outside our hotel, Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia


Finally, family pic with falcons (which the handlers just trusted into our hands …and heads, while we’re walking past …and of course, they were expecting a big fee, but we just insisted on a small tip and went our way – no complaints. Only hustlers we met in our whole Tunisian trip). Nice place! Ciao!

The Infernal Wonderland

A steaming hot lake at Wai-O-Tapu, near Rotorua, New Zealand

Busy like hell! My Project’s in its finishing stage, it’s Chinese New Year in a Chinese company, it should be a breeze! A honeymoon, but NO! Haven’t had any time to think of a decent post, haven’t had any time to download and sort out photos, heck! So, it’ll have to be an old photo post. Again. But luckily, I’ve tons of old post materials, haha.

At home, this CNY is a quiet CNY (not that the past few CNY’s weren’t quiet). But, we have one less family to join us this year in Dubai. Our son Justin spent his CNY in Singapore, with the Singapore side of the family. (But that didn’t stop Anu from cooking up a feast again, hehe. Only for the 3 of us! I love you, honey). Dad and sis Hazel are in New Zealand this CNY, with Kim and family. So, I guess I’ll do an NZ post! – This will be the last of my unposted NZ North Island photos! (There’re still loads of South Island photos yet to post, don’t fret!)


The Devil’s Bathtub… Just made that up, haha! What else would you call this boiling ermm ‘cesspool’?


You think we could hotpot some food in there? Would we die from poisoning?


Welcome to Wai-O-Tapu, the Thermal Wonderland! Well, that’s what they call it. But this is a ‘wonderland’ sitting on a time bomb! New Zealand, especially its North Island, sits on a very seismically active zone, as it happens to be the boundary between two tectonic plates. And Wai-O-Tapu sits right smack in the centre of what you call the Taupo Volcanic Zone, which is “one of the most active volcanic areas in the WORLD.” (I kid you not - that’s what it says on the signboard in the park – see above). So, if you wanna see this place, go before it disappears completely (like the Pink & White terraces, which was the main landmark and tourist attraction of NZ in the 19th century, but is now gone, destroyed by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886)


God knows what’s in there. A Balrog would be a good guess!


The Balrog’s toilet… Fancy that - hot, boiling mud!


The name says it all – Inferno Crater!


There’s also a famous geyser (no, not your home water-heater variety) – the Lady Knox Geyser – No, I have no idea how it got its name




And she gets quite a lot of visitors…


Ooohh, what a nice-looking sinister lake? Is that where poison apples are made?


No, you’re not allowed to go out of the path… Do that at your own peril


Jared in the woods at Wai-O-Tapu.… Don't the trees look like they've been trampled on by some sinister monster (a Balrog, maybe, hehe)


Wonder how they built this platform? Standing on bricks? (There’s one they left behind in the water)


Ta-ta! The boys at Wai-O-Tapu, North Island, New Zealand, 2018. (The girls didn't join us, with the exception of Anu, who took the photo)