A Home Trip with a Difference

At the neighbourhood temple, Fulertal, Cachar, Assam, Apr 2023

Finally, here are the photos of our recent family trip to Assam, India.

This was a trip of many firsts. This was the first home trip that we went without Justin since he was born 13+ years ago. (He’s in Singapore studying). This was the first trip that did not have any side trips (save one silly excursion out of Kolkata that nearly ended up in disaster). This was a pure banking and family trip (although while planning, we had a whole bunch of side trips lined up that we wanna do). This was the first time that we did not get to use our little yellow car since we bought it 10 years ago (it friggin broke down, probably due to last year’s flood and a lack of maintenances, and we spent days trying to get it fixed). That partly accounts for why we didn’t make any side trips… (And it’s not even fully fixed when we left!) But this was not the first trip that we got food poisoning. This was the second in a row, actually. Maybe we’re no longer accustomed to the water in India. (I blame it on that blasted COVID. It made us too clean, ahem). So, to Anu, this felt like a wasted trip, because she couldn’t fully enjoy the ‘feasts’ that we used to have on home trips! Anyway, here comes the photos of the family in Assam and a few friends.


Anu with her sisters and mom… at our Silchar home. They’re only 4 sisters this year. The youngest sister, Amrita has moved to Canada with her hubby


Yours truly with Anu’s eldest brother Ramesh (sitting), second eldest brother Ganesh (right) and Ganesh’s brother-in-law, at Ganesh’s in-law’s home, Pailapool – Ganesh’s brother-in-law just became a brand-new father, but we forgot to take a photo of the new-born… or her mom


Cheers! Having a beer with Anu’s third eldest brother, Manoj at his home in Fulertal (Anu has 3 brothers and 4 sisters…)


Anu with her godbrother Rajendra’s family, in Fulertal. On the left is Savita and their kids are Deb (elder) and Ankit (younger). Ankit is Jayden’s age


Jayden loved it in Fulertal (except for the toilet, ahem). He made so many friends. There’re lots of kids his age. Plus this time, Jayden didn’t have Justin to play with. Here’s Jayden with his cousin Mahi (left) and a friend, Arohi


More friends! The kids from right are Mahi, Jayden, Prince (whom Jayden and Mahi kept calling Princess) and Ankit. The lady behind is Sudadi, Rajendra’s sister. Behind in the ‘auto’, you could see Deb and Kunal (Jayden’s cousin)


Here they are! The cousins 3, Kunal, Sonia and Raja. They’re trying to replicate their posts in a photo I took more than a decade ago (in 2008). Many of the cousins are no longer in Fulertal or Silchar. Rohan and Sweety are in Delhi now, and Aakash is in Punjab


The new cousins 3. The 3 youngest of the family, the Generation Alpha. Mahi and Jayden are the same age both born in 2014 (Mahi is 8 months older though), and Anshu was born in ummm… 2019 I think


More of Jayden’s friends, Fulertal – From right, Ankit, Jayden, Mahi, Sangvel and Prince


Some old friend of Anu’s at neighbour Mamuni’s house – Rinku and his family. Rinku grew up in this house but have settled down in Jorhat, another part of Assam. He was on a one day visit


Back to Silchar, we met an old aunt I’ve met more than a decade ago. She used to stay in Fulertal in the house opposite to Anu’s mom’s house. Anu called that house ‘the Clean House’ because the family staying there was obsessed with cleanliness


And they have a new grandchild (or is it great-grandchild, beats me – I only put this photo because that’s such a cute baby, haha)


Birthday party! For niece Sweety’s mother-in-law. Sweety got married a month before this, but has already left for Delhi to resume work. Her husband is Debanjan. He’s not seen here because he’s the one taking the picture, duh! From right, only the people I know, OK? … our nephew Zeeva, Debanjan’s cousin who’s a manager in the Tata Automobile’s Silchar showroom, Debanjan’s elder brother’s wife (yeah, that small girl there, she’s a grown-up, OK?), Sandi (Anu’s sister and Sweety’s mom), Jayden, an uncle of Debanjan, Anu, Debanjan’s eldest brother’s son (the little boy), Debanjan’s mother, Gopal (Sweety’s dad), a boy umm… I forgot whose kid this is, Manju (Anu’s eldest sis), yours truly, one of Debanjan’s relative who’s a British citizen (her family owns these flats), the lady’s daughter who’s also a British citizen, and finally, Debanjan’s elder brother… Whew!


Finally, dinner time. Gopal, Debanjan and yours truly, at Silchar, Assam, India, April 2023

That’s all for now folks! Ciao!

Where Carthage Stood

Happy Vesak to the Buddhists around the world! May the Fourth (Force) be with you! (It’s the informal Star Wars Day!! – Just because of how the date sounds like, haha!)

There’s no reason for this post, other than that I have these last photos of Tunisia in my laptop which I wanted to post, but can’t seem to link it to anything. Vesak was just a coincidence and Tunisia has nothing to do with Vesak, but Tunisia figures big time for the Star Wars movies franchise (since so many scenes were filmed here). So, what the heck! It’s Star Wars Day. Here goes.


The Gulf of Tunis at dusk from Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia – This was where Carthage was located in ancient times

Carthage was an ancient maritime empire and rival of Rome. They fought 3 wars called the Punic Wars. (Oh, it was in our history books. Yup, somehow in my days, the Sejarah books in Malaysia had a section on this! If not, where would I have known about it?) At the end, Carthage lost and was conquered by Rome, spelling the end of Carthage. The ancient ruins now are in a suburb of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Here you can still spot the ruins among houses and gardens, and what have you.


Another view of the Gulf of Tunis from Sidi Bou Said. This must be how the view looked like in ancient Carthage. Imagine Roman ships approaching the Carthaginian coast…




The ruins of Carthage dot the place. Some are fenced off and form part of a series of archaeological sites and museums


The Acropolium of Carthage sits on top of Byrsa Hill, one of the archaeological sites of Carthage. It used to be a Roman Catholic cathedral, built by the French during the colonial times. It was built on top of the ruins of an old Punic temple. It’s now used as a concert hall or convention centre


The Malik ibn Anas Mosque at Carthage


The blue and white suburb of Sidi Bou Said occupies a significant area of the promontory which Carthage used to be


The Café des Délices, in Sidi Bou Said has a commanding view of the Gulf of Tunis. "Romans approaching, fire at will!!!" (I think they have catapults, don’t they?)

Here’re some photos of us in Sidi Bou Said.


Yours truly, outside the Café des Délices


Exploring Sidi Bou Said


The courtyard of our hotel in Sidi Bou Said, Villa Landalucia. Did you let the bird out of the cage?? Just kidding. There was no bird actually. They're still waiting for a suitable bird to put in there...


Breakfast at Villa Landalucia – nice cuppa coffee, eh?

That’s all folks! See you next time.

The Pearl of the East Coast

The east coast of the UAE that is, ahem.


Khor Fakkan Fountains at Khor Fakkan Square (but seriously, it’s a circle, from any angle you look at it from…), UAE

Eid Mubarak! I know it’s a few days late, but what the heck. Here’s a post for Eid/ Hari Raya.

I’m putting some photos of a rejuvenated Khor Fakkan, a port town on the east coast of the UAE, belonging to the Emirate of Sharjah. Khor Fakkan (which in English translates to the Creek of Two Jaws), is an exclave of Sharjah, completely surrounded by areas owned by Fujairah and Oman. In the past few years, Sharjah has poured in a lot of money to beautify it, and the results are nothing short of spectacular. Just a few years back, there was a beach, a park, and nothing else much. Now, there’s a brand new dedicated 90km highway, the Khor Fakkan Road (what else) with multiple tunnels through the hills, connecting Sharjah on the Gulf coast with Khor Fakkan on the Arabian Sea. There’re scores of new roads all over town. There're monuments and gardens at every prominent spot you can think of, and grand government buildings that look like palaces. And all this for free to visitors! (Unlike Dubai where everything comes with a ticket price tag, ahem). It’s like a complete makeover! Don’t believe me, just check out street-view in Google Maps where the photos were taken in 2015-2016, and compare them with the actual view in Khor Fakkan now. You’ll be amazed at the changes. Here’re some photos. Enjoy.


Approaching the Incense Burner roundabout in the middle of Khor Fakkan ‘Square’ (or more accurately, Circle…)


New government buildings line the refurbished roads… these are the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Marine Transportation, Khor Fakkan. (How do I know? …Google Maps man, it shows everything!)


The gardens and fountains of Khor Fakkan Square (Circle), Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. That ummm... phallic-looking building (sorry) on a hill is the Resistance Monument




Frolicking in the gardens, Khor Fakkan Square, UAE


And this is the Al Rafisah Dam, on the Khor Fakkan Road just before reaching Khor Fakkan. Yup, even dams can be beautified


Flowers at the Rafisah Dam Tourist Centre




It’s a favourite among the locals, I think…


A cafe at Al Rafisah Dam, Khor Fakkan Road, Sharjah, UAE


Wow, what’s this? A waterfall?!? Khor Fakkan Waterfall, a man-made water feature along the waterfront promenade


Hello kids! Khor Fakkan Waterfall, Khor Fakkan, UAE


Khor Fakkan Waterfall and Amphitheatre


Family photo, Khor Fakkan Amphitheatre, Khor Fakkan, UAE

That’s all folks. Hope you enjoyed your Eid/ Raya holidays!

A Tragedy in Bangladesh

Some very sad news came to us from Bangladesh when we were visiting India 2 weeks ago. A young and promising nephew we met for the first time in Dhaka last year, was hit by a vehicle on 1-Apr, when commuting to work in the eastern part of the country. He passed away.

He was the eldest child among the children of Anu’s long-lost cousins in Bangladesh, and the only son of his family. He leaves behind his grieving parents, a younger sister, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Good bye and rest in peace, Hridoy. May God bless your soul and strengthen your love ones on earth to live on with hope and strength, in your memory, so that you may be proud of them. God bless.


Hriday is the one in blue on the right – Hob Nob Café, Banani, Dhaka. They came all the way from their village in Sreemangal in the eastern part of Bangladesh just to meet us.


A lighting storm in Hatirjheel, Dhaka as seen from the Hatirjheel Bridge 2 (Mahanagar Bridge) - This was the last place we were with the Bangla family before we went our separate ways. They left for the bus station to get back to Sreemangal and we went back to our hotel.




Leaving photos of Bangladesh’s National Martyr’s Memorial (Jatiyo Sriti Soudho) to end this post. May God bless the family, take away all their grief and restore hope. Protect them from harm, evil, sicknesses, strife and deceit. Amen.

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple (aka Harmandir Sahib), Amritsar, Punjab, India

Happy Vaisakhi. Happy Songkran. Happy Puthandu. Happy Boisakh. Happy Bihu. Happy Vishu… Too many to name them all, what the heck, Happy New Year to the myriads of people celebrating their new years this weekend in South Asia and Indochina!

I know a post just for this! Here goes – photos of our stopover at the Golden Temple, Sikhism’s holiest shrine. Have a blessed New Year celebration to all those celebrating.


The alley outside our cheapo hotel, Hotel Swaran in the congested area north of the Golden Temple. What the heck! What sort of place did we book? The hotel looked decent in the photos on the booking site, and it was CHEAP. Yup, and that was exactly what we got, CHEAP! The people here have no sense of cleanliness, at all. Dust to them is no big deal. Nuff said


OK, let’s go. Gosh, this place is a maze of small alleys crammed to the brim with shops, filled with honking bikes, autorickshaws, you name them. Hey, watch out!


Whew, the Golden Temple! Let’s hide our shoes somewhere there (hope they don’t disappear like what happened in the Balaji Temple in Tirumala…)


We’re in! Look at the crowd! And this was 2022 March, when COVID-19 was still prevalent and we had to make a hundred declarations just to fly


What COVID?!? We're the only ones with masks


A dip in the holy pool


No, we did not try to enter the Golden Temple itself… Look at the line!


Blessed are you


Family pic, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India


Here’re some other views of Amritsar – the Partition Museum


One of the statues outside the Partition Museum – Hey, where’s his sword?


Oh, this chap took it! Just kidding… Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue on a roundabout

Ta, till next time. Gotta bet back to the pesky audit work (don’t the Head Office have better work to do???)