A Northeast Christmas

On the grounds of the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

It’s way past Christmas, but what the heck, here’s a glimpse of our recent trip, a Christmas in Northeast India, with family and friends. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la…" Enjoy, and may peace be with you.


Smile! Anu with her sister, Rekha (right) and niece, Sonia (left) at the Catholic Church of Mary Help of Christians in Shillong

We decided this time, to take the long way home, i.e. by road (as bad as it may be) from Guwahati (main city of Assam) to Silchar (South Assam) via Shillong (Meghalaya). Not really recommended at a time like this, with the ‘amazing’ conditions of the road between Khliehriat, and Malidor on the Assam border. I’ve driven on this road (on return trips) twice before, first in 2006 and then in 2013. This time, we took a taxi, and the road was just horrendous (not that it was good in 2013, but that’s nothing compared to this time) especially from Lumshnong all the way to the Meghalaya-Assam Border. The potholes were humongous. None of the stretch had anymore asphalt on it, and it was road dust all the way (pity the villagers). Many of the bridges had their steel reinforcement bars exposed, heck, there was even a bridge with a friggin hole thru it! And trucks were clogged to the brim on both sides of the road, wherever they were allowed to linger. Numerous stretches were under maintenance, no, make that under construction. (There’s no way it could be maintained). Heck, this road could have won the World's Worst Highway if there was such a category in the Guinness Book of Records. Hopefully, construction would complete soon…


Another Shillong church, the All-Saints’ Cathedral, Shillong


The interior of the All-Saints’ Cathedral, Shillong


Putting up Christmas decorations in the Church of Epiphany in Mawlynnong, the so-called Asia’s Cleanest Village! It was coined by an Indian magazine called Discover India. I dunno how they measured cleanliness, but Mawlynnong was indeed neat and nice! And peaceful, and worth a visit. Bravo, keep it up!


Inside the Church of Epiphany, Mawlynnong, where just 10 days after we visited, some numbnut of a social influencer, went into the church and shouted out ‘Jai Shree Ram!’ (a chant celebrating Lord Rama, an Indian god) and posted it on video. Of course, it created outrage, which I think was just what that jackass wanted. (Publicity, you know?) If he’s so gung-ho, let him do it in a more prominent church, or a mosque, in Pakistan…


Christmas back home! In Fulertal, Anu’s home village in Cachar District, Assam. Anu’s mother and sister, Rekha on the main road in Fulertal on Christmas Eve


Merry Christmas!!! Jayden with his Boju (grandmother) at Fulertal’s main road, on Christmas Eve, 2024. This place is a melting pot of people from the North East. There’re no clear dominant tribe or race. Each village is different. For example, in Fulertal, Anu stays in Nepali Basti, a Nepali or Gorkhali village. Directly adjoining it on the east, is Hmarkhawlein, a Hmar (a Mizo subtribe) village. Further down the road are Naga, Kuki and Khasi villages. On the west of Anu’s village is the urban part of Fulertal which are Bengali, Naga and Manipuri. Right opposite Anu’s mother’s house is a Manipuri Shiv Temple, and directly adjoining this, is a big mosque, with a shrine of a Muslim saint, revered by Muslims and Hindus alike. The Hmars are mainly Christians, and therefore there’re churches. With such a mix, people here have learnt how to co-exist with one another. Although this is part of Assam, Bengali is the official language here, not Assamese. I hope this peace prevails continuously.


One of the 2 churches at Labac Pailapool’s Christian Basti (Christian Village). This is the Presbyterian Church. We visited the other church (the Baptist Church) on Christmas Day. Pailapool is the next big town away from Fulertal, 4km away, towards Silchar


Christmas Day service and performance, Labac Pailapool Baptist Church. The sermon was in Bengali, and the dance performance was in Nepali, nice! The pastor is the one holding the phone on the right of the photograph. The performers were all from the house of Anu’s college mate and friend, Moni. The church asked us to stay for a Christmas feast after the service, but we decided to visit Anu’s friend instead. Thank you so much for your invitation!


At the house of Anu’s friend, Moni (right most, with baby in hand) at Pailapool’s Christian Basti. The family who are Christian Nepalis did not attend church on that day, as they had a really young baby. Anu telephoned her friend to find out which church they attended, and we headed there for Christmas. Moni was a Hindu Manipuri, but converted to Christianity after marrying into a Christian family. Her husband is Manoj (third right), and the two young girls in the middle of the photo are their niece (in green), and elder daughter (in pink). They're the ones who performed a dance at the church, earlier on


At Anu’s elder sister’s Manju’s (left) house. Anu’s family is Hindu, but what the heck, what’s wrong with having a Christmas tree for Christmas! We were eating chhangban, a traditional Christmas treat of the Mizo and Hmar tribes, which Anu loves (sorry, forgot to take any photos). It’s made of slightly sweet sticky rice, wrapped in leaves and steamed. Anu’s mom is half Mizo, by the way


Boju (meaning grandmother in Nepali) – Anu’s mom, surrounded by some of her grandchildren, Justin, Jayden, Sonia and Mahi. Let’s see, she now has umm… 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren! (She herself had 8 children by the way)


Christmas decorations at the Asapalli English School. That’s the school at the end of the road where Anu mother’s house is. Many of the English medium schools in Fulertal are missionary schools


Finally, a family picture. Smile! At a random church in Cherrapunji (Sohra), Meghalaya, India. Cherrapunji was once the wettest place on earth. It’s lost that to its neighbouring village, Mawsynram, which is also in Meghalaya, India

That’s all for now. There're so many other family pics, but that'll have to wait. See ya soon.

Pray for World Peace

Happy 2025! We’re back from our year-end trip to our home in Assam, India. The photos as usual, will have to wait. Meanwhile, here’s a wish and a prayer for the year to come.

May 2025 be a better year for all. May peace prevail and hope shine. May people with love and kindness triumph, and win over the cruel and the power-hungry. May God create, in us all, a desire to do good to others, regardless of nation, religion, race and creed. Heal our hearts so that we can forgive and can love those who are different from us. In Jesus’s name, Amen.


Dubai Expo 2020 – With the pavilions of Turkmenistan and Russia in view

The world used to be a much more peaceful place. Not too long ago. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, all seemed good, and it looked like nations were learning how to get along better, despite some wars, oppression, and discrimination (which have always plagued humankind since we came into being). All of that seemed to have crumbled in the last 2 years, with the Ukraine and Gaza wars, dragging nations and people to take sides. Not to mention the devastating civil wars and unrest in numerous parts of the world. The peaceful times of before could be clearly seen in the Dubai Expo which happened in 2021-2022, where pavilions from nations like Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine were all present. Here’s another look back at the Dubai Expo. Make peace, not war!


This big, huge ball of multi-coloured yarn, was the Russian Pavilion, Dubai Expo, Mobility District. Moscow was actually a candidate city for Expo 2030, but I guess that's all gone down the drain now, what with Putin embarking on his 'adventure' in Ukraine...


Not too far away, in the Opportunity District, stood the Ukrainian Pavilion. Here's a sculpture inside the Ukraine Pavilion – Whose eyes are those? Putin’s?!?!? The Ukraine War actually started, while the Expo was still in progress! (The Expo took place from October 2021 to March 2022)


The Israeli Pavilion, Opportunity District, Dubai Expo. Yup, Israel was there. The UAE and Israel established diplomatic relations at the end of 2020, as part of the US brokered Abraham Accords, just in time for Israel to set up a pavilion in the Expo. I believe this is the right step to start the 2-state solution process. You’ll have to first recognize that there’re 2 states in that territory, to be able to talk to both. Denial of any one of the 2 states’ right to exist is impractical, and will just prolong the problem


East Jerusalem, as depicted inside the Palestinian Pavilion. Yes, Palestine, despite not being a fully independent state, had its own special, self-built pavilion in the Dubai Expo 2020, Opportunity District. Not bad for a small state


And this is a view from the pavilion of Israel’s ‘arch-enemy’, Iran, Dubai Expo, Mobility District


Even ‘financially-challenged’ Lebanon, had its own self-built pavilion, Dubai Expo, Opportunity District. One of 2 (or was it 3) that featured swings

And here’re some small (modular) pavilions which used the Expo’s ready-built structures to exhibit their displays.


The Syrian Pavilion, created by the Syrian diaspora all around the world. Syria at that time was divided and under international sanctions. Each of the tablets in the photo above, was created by a Syrian individual expressing his/ her wish or memory. Bravo Syria! For putting this together. Mobility District


Myanmar, which at that time was already in a civil war, also had a modular pavilion in the Opportunity District. Myanmar’s Civil War has now been nearly 4 years long. When will it end?


Even Haiti, where the government has now more or less collapsed, had a small pavilion. At that time, the president had just been assassinated. Gangs are still rampant in Haiti, and it seemed like it’s everyone for himself there now. I wouldn’t want to be in a place like that. Hope some semblance of control comes soon. Dubai Expo, Mobility District

Now back to the big pavilions. Pavilions of the other powerful ‘veto’ countries of the UN Security Council coming up (apart from Russia, which I’ve already shown above).


This is the pavilion of the Stars and Stripes, Mobility District, Dubai Expo – The American Pavilion featured a travellator that took visitors around its pavilion, like how sushi is taken around in a conveyor in a sushi restaurant. Wouldn’t this be more appropriate for the Japanese Pavilion? C’mon America, can you stop sowing war, and spread peace instead? Only you have the power to do it


The China Pavilion, Opportunity District, Dubai Expo, the pavilion with laser beams shooting out of its roof


The UK Pavilion, Opportunity, which continually displayed words chosen by its visitors. It’s supposed to use AI to generate messages from the words visitors selected. Dunno if any interesting poem or story came out of this?! How do you fit ‘orgasm’, ‘supernova’, ‘ebola’, ‘quantum’ and ‘donkey’ in one message? Inside, the pavilion was just an empty space, with words on display. You could see the Luxembourg Pavilion further down in the photo above, after the UK Pavilion. It was one of the more interesting pavilions, as visitors had to slide down a metal slide to exit the pavilion after their visit. The kids loved it! We had to stop them from going again and again!!


The France Pavilion, Mobility District. Vive la France! Hmmm… Don’t seem to remember anything about what’s inside the French Pavilion


Finally, ending my post with a peaceful and beautiful small modular pavilion, that of the Holy See (Vatican City State), in Mobility, one of the last pavilions we visited before the Expo ended. Nope, we didn’t succeed in seeing all the pavilions, despite having seasonal tickets, and visiting multiple times!

Dubai actually did quite a good job in getting the participation of countries in the Expo. I counted only 5 or so countries that weren’t represented in Dubai’s Expo (Ecuador, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Korea and Taiwan). Quite an achievement, Dubai! I wonder how Osaka's Expo later this year would do?

May God have mercy on us. God bless all. Take care.

Jingle around the Town

Season’s greetings everyone! Merry Christmas!

It’s a bit soon, but what the heck, it’s a week left before school ends, and we’re starting our year-end break earlier this year, because Justin’s gotta get back to Singapore before the year ends!

So, here’s to a blessed Christmas and a hopeful New Year to all. May the wars end, may the death and destruction stop, may the despair and suffering end, may God enlighten the leaders of the world to bring peace to the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, etc, etc, may wounds be healed and hearts be mended, may people forgive and love again. In Jesus’s name I ask and pray, amen.

Leaving this post with a little festive spirit of the past few years!




Christmas at Nakheel Mall, Dubai, 2021


Giddyup! Rudolph, c’mon! Me’aisem City Centre, 2021




Nshama Town Square, 2021


Christmas at home, Dubai, 2022. Missing Justin, because he’s in Singapore!


Ho! Ho! Ho! Dubai Expo, 2022


Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, 2022


This isn’t the toilet, Papaa! Bluewater Isle, 2022


Dubai Eye, Christmas 2022


Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi, 2023


Dubai Festival City Mall




Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2024!

This may very well be my last post of the year, since we’re gonna be busy on our holiday soon. (Or can I squeeze in another? …Let’s see). An advance Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!! See y’all in 2025!

The UAE’s Hill Tent City

Good morning, Jebel Jais! Early morning view from our tent, Jebel Jais, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE, Oct 2020. The view is deceivingly peaceful. But beside and around us were full of tents and cars. People come, people go, throughout the entire friggin night. Bringing their friggin high powered lamps that lit up the hill like a friggin stadium, music system that could wake a friggin village! (And tents aren’t designed to be soundproof! Know what I mean?) What a difficult night!

Camping season starts again! If only I hadn’t had that fistula, we’d be camping already. But, we’ll give this year a miss. Still recovering from that fistulectomy. The surgeon did quite a good job, I’d say. Highly recommended, if you have butthole problems like me. I sure hope it heals before we go on our trip in December.

Anyway, I’m putting some photos of our one camping trip which I swore we’d never do again… Jebel Jais, the UAE’s highest mountain. The mountain becomes a tent city at night, with people from all over the UAE driving up, and putting up their tents on wherever flat place they could find, and making it their hangout for the night. You’re lucky if it’s just for a shisha break, but some people out there have other ideas, like making it into a party hall with music and bright lights. C’mon, you can do that in your friggin home, or a friggin beach, down there! Where you lot belong.


It’s October. It’s a bit cooler. Let’s head to Jebel Jais! (But we would find out soon that we weren’t the only ones having that idea)… Quite a lot of cars, huh? (Note: this was our second camping trip of 2020 by the way. On our first trip, we ended up camping in something of a no man’s land, with no one in sight for miles… (somewhere within the Omani territory of Madha). It was a lil’ scary, but bloody cool. This time we decided to choose a place with ‘more civilization’. Let’s just say we weren’t disappointed…)


Shite! It’s a jam! We’ve not even started going up the hill!?! (You have to remember, this was Oct 2020, the COVID year, where travelling outside the country was next to impossible, unless you’re super-rich and important. Maybe that’s why there’re so many cars… But, Jebel Jais has always been popular with the local crowd, as we found out on our first trip to that area in 2017).


Whew! Luckily, we found a place to put up camp. Somebody was leaving, and we waited for them. That’s how crazy it was. The lights on the hill behind us were from the cars on the road coming up the hill. It’s like we're in the middle of a friggin city!


Good morning! Time to pack up and go. Look at the tents and cars. And some have gone earlier…


No sleep, but still looking fresh, huh? Jebel Jais, Oct 2020. If you look closely, behind us are some string lines across the ravine. I think they’re the ziplines of Jebel Jais, ‘the longest zipline in the world’. They were closed at that time


Let’s explore! Jebel Jais Viewing Deck Park


A view of the other side of the mountain… That’s the Gulf and the port of Khor Khwair, where the cement factories are, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE


Let’s get down. There’re nicer (meaning less crowded, and shadier) spots at the foot of the hill for picnics


There we are! See, not bad? Somewhere near the foot of Jebel Jais, Wadi Bih, Ras Al-Khaimah


And there’re mountains to explore! See how small Jayden is compared to the massive hill behind!


Looking savvy, even without the sleep! Time to go. We’d better camp below the hill next time.


True enough, we kept our word, this was our camp at Wadi Bih, in December 2023. At the FOOT of Jebel Jais, hehe. So much more peaceful… (I call this place the Valley of Dead Goats. Why? I’ll leave this story for another time to tell, hehe)


And our visit up the mountain in the morning… (with no jam). Gave the kids a treat on the Jais Sledder, so called ‘the region’s longest and highest toboggan ride’! There you go!


Bye-bye Jebel Jais, Ras Al-Khaimah, Dec 2023. The ‘longest zipline in the world’ (i.e. the Jebel Jais Zipline) was operational then. See those spots in the sky? They’re the people who could fork out the hefty price of the tickets for a 3-minutes, 160 km/h zip across the ravine!