COVID Art …in 2018?

Can’t resist posting this picture of some street art taken in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2018. Does it not look like COVID?? And this was in 2018! (But what’s that dwarf vomiting a rainbow supposed to mean? The next pandemic?)

Happy Halloween! Last week was a wonderful week, 2 personal leave days off for Durga Puja (the missus’ main festival), and 1 day of Public Holiday for Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Nice, but not in terms of work! Up to my neck now, even when the Project’s supposed to be finishing.

Here’s a quick picture post. Posting the rest of my Tbilisi photos which I’ve more or less collected… Till freer times, enjoy!


More street art – that mandrill’s gonna sneeze if you keep doing that! (And here’s a link to some nice blue people with Jayden) – Underpass at Baratashvili Bridge, Tbilisi


And that’s a statue of Baratashvili himself (don’t ask me who he is, I found it out on Google Maps)


More statues… and the kids, near the Ambassadori Hotel, Tbilisi


And just beside the Ambassadori, the crooked clock tower of Tbilisi – Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre, Tbilisi


Europe Square, complete with a tree filled with metal boxes


Anu and the Peace Bridge (if only the world could learn to embrace peace…)


A stroll on Shota Rustaveli Avenue – that’s the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts (sez Google Maps)


And that’s the Opera & Ballet Theatre at night (also sez Google Maps)


Awww, when’s the food coming?? Waiting for our khachapuri, khink’ali, pork ojakhuri… at a Georgian Restaurant on Shota Rustaveli Avenue… (I think it’s the Tannini Restaurant, I didn’t record down the name, but the pictures of Tannini in Google Maps sure look like it!)

That’s all for now. Meanwhile, enjoy a spooky Halloween!!!

Flying Saucer in the Water

Whoa, what’s that? Is that a flying saucer in the water???


Uh-oh! What are those things surrounding the flying saucer?!?


Run!!! It’s an alien invasion!


Alien on the ground! Get out of the way before it… Wait, is that an alien or a big fat octopus?? Oh sheesh, it’s just an octopus prop for a pirate-themed Light, Sound and Water Show named "Imagine" at Dubai Festival City. And the flying saucer’s just the friggin projector!

No time to write. Took 2 days off earlier this week. Celebrated Jayden’s 6th birthday. We spent the night camping in the hills, some random spot we picked off a dirt road, under the stars, far from anyone else for miles. It’s off the road in between Wadi Shees and Nahwa village in the Hajar Mountains of the UAE, but the spot is technically within the borders of Oman! Interesting, init? Scared the bejesus outta us whenever we heard cars driving past in the night in dirt road below – I could still remember how many – 4 throughout the night from 9pm to 7am. Gonna take another 2 days off in the coming couple of days, to celebrate Durga Puja (the biggest festival Anu celebrates). Decided to clear some annual leaves and spend time with the family since there’re no friggin places to go. Anyway, Jayden’s photos will have to wait (I’m about …errr, just a quarter done, collecting photos of him for the past year, for my annual post on the kids).

Yes, it’s only 2 days off, but a ton of work was waiting for me when I got back. (Gotta learn how to delegate better… C'mon it's only 2 bloody days!). Running late, so I'm throwing in some old photos of Dubai Festival City, of a time when the malls were thriving and festivals were still celebrated in full splendour… When will those times return? Sigh...

Anyway, to those who’re celebrating, Happy Durga Puja! Happy Dussehra!


Another Imagine show starting. With lights projected onto adjacent buildings announcing the Gulf Car Festival 2017


The kids at the Gulf Car Festival featuring super cars, monster trucks, and the lot – There’s actually a steep entrance fee, but there’re no barricades at the back. What the heck, we just walked in – it was a cold, rainy day (nice for a change in the desert)


Sunset from Dubai Festival City – This used to be a marina (before the renovation) - check out that link, it has photos from the 2008 era


Dubai Festival City Mall’s ‘new’ façade at the marina – I can’t count how many times they’ve had major renovations… This façade dates from umm sometime around 2016 I’d say. Here’s a picture from 2013


The new Dubai Festival City Mall – this huge atrium didn’t use to be there. It used to be bifurcated with an outdoor area with canals that had dhows that you could ride in, and another outer building that contained mainly restaurants. They removed all that and joined them all together, reclaimed more of the sea and removed the marina completely, replacing it with a sound, water and light show!


Honey, you look pretty!


In front of a ‘new’ (then, in 2017) Italian restaurant. We would eventually try it (in 2019 – it’s called Buca di Beppo). I dunno whether it’s still around. So many restaurants have closed!


Circus performers… You’ll see performers like these in almost every mall in Dubai. But I like the colour of this one…


A Confetti Dome! Party time! These features change with time and occasion. It’s usually free if you have some receipts showing you’ve bought something from any of the shops in the mall. (Click here for a Ramadan feature)


The kids in the Confetti Dome

Alright, time to get back to work, enjoy your Puja / Dussehra!

Pretty, in a Broken Sort of Way

Back to Tbilisi, Georgia. On the blog I mean. Not physically… (If only we could go somewhere! Sigh…)

The first thing that struck me on arriving in Tbilisi, is not the monuments, or a landmark, or scenery. It’s not the friendly people (whom I would learn about only after staying), nor the food. It’s the crumbling old buildings, which must have once been the houses of well-to-do residents, aristocrats, and what have you. You could see the old elegance, finely ornamented but faded in time. You could see buildings at different levels of deterioration or renovation rejuvenation, some on the verge of collapse, while others restored back to opulent splendour.

At least that was the impression I got when arriving by Armenian cab at our booked room which was a small apartment in the old part of town. Don’t know what I’m talking about? I’ll let the pictures speak for itself!


This quirky clock tower outside Tbilisi’s Marionette Theatre is to me, the epitome of old Tbilisi. Crookedly stacked as if on the verge of falling down, but beautiful and elegant at the same time, to me, it portrays the playfulness and youth of a city in the process of rejuvenation


It’s pretty isn’t it? In a broken sorta way? Rezo Gabriadze Marionette Theatre, Tbilisi, Georgia


And this is the courtyard of the building (right) that housed our little apartment, with creaky wooden stairs that go straight up two stories high at one shot. If you look closely, high on the right side, you'll see a little boy waving ...(Justin) 


Old and weathered, outside our little apartment (no, not that faded yellow door in front, our apartment is to the left of this pic)


But neat, tidy and spotlessly clean inside the apartment. These are the beds, upstairs for mommy and papa, downstairs for the kids. There’s a mini living room (from where the photo’s taken), a mini kitchen with everything you need, washing machine and a bathroom / toilet – Neat! No complaints at all – Maia’s Apartment 15 Lermontovi Street


Inside the ancient Anchiskhati Basilica, the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi (according to Lonely Planet), built in the 6th century


The old and the new – Anchiskhati Basilica on the right, and the new Presidential Palace straight up ahead, across the river


Whew, it’s hot! (Tbilisi was experiencing a 40C heat wave during our visit in the summer of 2018). Having a rest at the entrance arch of the Anchiskhati Basilica


A building that has been nicely rejuvenated! Opposite the Marionette Theatre


Another of many old churches, this one is the Metekhi Church, overlooking the Mtkvari River


Crumbling balcony… One of the many old crumbling buildings in the Avlabari part of town, between the Sameba Cathedral (the main cathedral in Tbilisi), and Europe Square. ...Who in their right mind would park his car underneath that thing you call a balcony?? Oh never mind, it's shadier?


The toilet of the Sameba Cathedral is surprisingly rustic… I bet there must be other toilets around, the cathedral is after all, the main church of Tbilisi and Georgia

That’s all for now. Meanwhile, I hope the nearby war that’s started recently between Georgia’s neighbours Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) disputed region will not escalate further. I hope the ceasefire that they worked out yesterday prevails… What’s the point of fighting, when we can all live in harmony and prosper…

The Gloom Times

Life sucks, at present. I’m not gonna list out the things which made me feel miserable in the blog. (I’m still too private for that). I just take solace that I still have a missus who’s always there for me, a family and home that I can get back to, and a job. Praise God.

Here’re some past photos of Dubai’s bustling tourist activities when times were better. Hope things get better soon…


Al Sahra Desert Resort 2017, on the Jebel Ali – Lahbab Road, Dubai – Now closed for good – Bye-bye






More Al Sahra photos, a night out compliments of Karishma, our niece, who used to work for Tour Dubai. Here’s a link to our family pic at Al Sahra and more photos




A cruise on the Dubai Marina 2019 – also compliments of niece Karishma and the company she switched to, Dutch Oriental


Sailing past Bluewaters Island


The Lotus, flagship yacht of the Dutch Oriental company, comes complete with a swimming pool!


And performances by scantily clad Samba Dancers


Another of Dutch Oriental’s yacht, the Desert Rose 1. The company’s yachts have retractable roofs to allow them to pass underneath the many bridges of the Marina. Photo shows retractable roof in action




Dubai Marina in better times, 2019

Into Georgia, the Country

Tbilisi city view, from the Narikala Fortress

And so from Sanahin Armenia, we entered Georgia, a country of friendly people, strange languages and Joseph Stalin, more or less.

Friendly people because that’s where we met the friendliest guesthouse ever in our travels.

Strange languages because Georgian is the main language of the Kartvelian family of languages which is unrelated to any other languages in the world, making it a primary language family. (And it so happens that the other Kartvelian languages are also indigenous to Georgia). Also, since we are at strange languages, the Caucasus is a gold mine of languages. It has two other primary language groups totally unrelated to other language families in the world, i.e. the Northwest Caucasian languages (languages of the Circassian regions of Russia and the breakaway Georgian state of Abkhazia) and the Northeast Caucasian languages (languages of Chechnya, Ingushetia & Dagestan regions of Russia). What is common among all these 3 groups of unrelated language families though, is that they all have some pretty crazy groupings of consonants, and relatively little vowels! You can see that in the name of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi. It’s pronounced exactly like that, Th-B-I-LISI not TIB-LI-SI! Its olden time capital is Mtskheta and is pronounced more or less like how it’s written. Now go figure out how you’d pronounce Shio-mghvime!

Georgia also happens to be the homeland of Joseph Stalin, one of the greatest leaders of the previous Soviet Union (USSR) (which as you may know, encompassed the entire friggin Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus countries, the Baltic states, all the Central Asian ‘Stans’, etc!) Stalin isn’t Russian. No. He’s pure-bred Georgian, son of a Georgian shoemaker and his Georgian wife. Stalin's birth name was Ioseb Jughashvili. Stalin was the one who kicked Hitler’s butt in World War 2 as Soviet leader i.e. the USSR defeated Nazi Germany together with the US and Britain, invaded Berlin, and put an end to the Nazis in Germany. Stalin ruled the USSR (as de facto dictator) for 30 years, turned it into a superpower, and created the Eastern Bloc (comprising communist states opposed to the US-UK backed Western Bloc) which gave rise to the Cold War. Controversial, but no small feat I would say.

Anyway, here’re some assorted photos of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. Enjoy!


Tbilisi, with the Narikala Fortress on the left and the Mother of Georgia statue on the right (on top of the hill), view from Europe Square


Yes, another Tbilisi photo, this time from the Metekhi Street Church overlooking the Mtkvari River (or if you can’t pronounce it, the Kura River), the main river that flows through Tbilisi


Europe Square, Tbilisi – Despite not being geographically inside Europe (Europe ends north of the Caucasus Mountain range; and Georgia is south of the Caucasus). And why are there EU flags flying?? I don’t think Georgia is part of the EU?


This is Tbilisi’s answer to any threat that comes its way! Mother Georgia, 20m tall, complete with Sword of Power. “Godzilla, Mothra, attack if you dare!” – Kartlis Deda, Tbilisi (Deda means mother in Georgian and Mama means father. Easy, it’s just the opposite of English)


The Bridge of Peace, Tbilisi – stretches over the Mtkvari River, at Rike Park, near Europe Square


Mtkvari River, the main river that flows through the heart of Tbilisi, seen from the Peace Bridge


Liberty Square, Tbilisi


The Georgian Parliament on Shota Rustaveli Avenue – Again, it has European flags flying?


Our hotel ….err just kidding. You think cheapskates like us would stay in a lavish hotel like this? We’re more of the ‘travel like a local’ type traveller, hehe


The café scene in Tbilisi, between the Peace Bridge and Liberty Square – I think it’s Erekle II Street (sez Google Maps)


Churchkhela for sale – Georgian candy made from fruits and nuts… They’re all over the place here (and also in neighbouring Armenia)


Another thing found all over the place, Khachapuri (Georgian bread), in the making. So they’re like nan and tandoori roti, baked in a tandoor


That’s it for now folks. Gotta get back to work. Meanwhile, us, at the Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral, Tbilisi, Georgia