The Rain Returns

A Little Valley (Combe) of Wild Flowers!!! One of our picnic spots near our favourite UAE camping spot, Wadi Showkah, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE -- Mar 2024

Well, well, what can I say, it has been raining on and off in the region from March till earlier this month. Nice for a change. Last year (2025) has mostly been dry, and hot, and dusty. Rain cooled down the weather (but sheesh! I can’t friggin count how many mosquito bites I’ve got since the rain started…).

I’m sure the wadis will be flowing by now, and wild flowers will carpet the normally barren landscape. We would have gone camping, multiple times, …if only, there wasn’t a stupid war going on (yup, it’s still on, despite the ceasefire, and nobody knows when it’ll end (except Trump, maybe. ‘He can feel it in his bones…’, he said)). Alas, that’s life. Sometimes, you just have no choice but to put up with dickheads, and in this case, their boss.

Anyway, here’re some photos of our favourite UAE campsite, Wadi Shawka (or Showkah, whatever you prefer), from about the same time in the year, but in 2023, and 2024, when the wadis flowed and the flowers bloomed! (What about 2025? Sorry, haven’t sorted out that lot yet). Enjoy!


A mountain pond, up on the hills, near our campsite, on our 3rd visit (and second time we camped overnight), Feb 2023


It’s a wild flower fest! A spot near our 2nd campsite


On the track to the rock pools, Feb 2023




2024 was also a wet year! Wadi Shawka, Feb 2024 (our 4th visit)




The pool that saved my live! I finally decided to swim in it, voluntarily! Unlike in Dec 2021, on our first ever overnight trip there, when I fell in! Luckily, it was deep, and I escaped unhurt! (But the Redmi7 phone which I was carrying wasn’t that lucky…), Feb 2024


The high road over the rock pool… We didn’t know this route, that bypassed the rock pool, existed on our first visit. That’s how I fell into the pool, while climbing down on the return journey (nothing happened when we climbed up). Was lowering Jayden onto the ledge below, and then I lost my balance and sploosh!!! Into the pool I went!


Water isn’t the only attraction in Wadi Showka, there’re miles and miles of hills to climb. We made our first hike up the hill tracks towards the dam (Shawka Dam) on our 5th visit, Mar 2024




Our fourth campsite (6th visit), beside the flowing wadi, Mar 2024… Reversing through the rocky wadi wasn’t such a good idea after all. It damaged the car’s front splash shield (i.e. the engine’s bottom cover)…


Another wadi-splashing time, Wadi Shawka, Ras Al Khaimah, Mar 2024, on our 7th visit! (Yup, we visited the wadi 3-weekends, in one month!)


And then came the big flood of Dubai! (in April 2024). This photo was taken a few weeks after the big flood, on a day trip to see how it affected the wadi, May 2024 (our 8th visit). That path, which crosses the water, was still passable!


Looks like we’re not the only ones checking out the damages! Wadi Showkah, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE, May 2024

That’s all for today, gotta get back to work. Tons of it waiting, gotta finish it this friggin week!

The ITS2020 Project

Finally, a ceasefire! Whew, we’re still alive and kicking! Tired of this stupid, futile war. I hope it holds for good, and that it fucking includes Lebanon! Someone, reign in that trigger-happy, deranged Israel! If you wanna know what an overkill is, this is it – Israel’s senseless bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon! This war feels like those movies with a twist, that the evil villain turned out not to be that stern and corrupt patriarch (Iran), but the guys you thought were the ‘good guys’ (the US and Israel) - who have gone bat-shit bonkers! Way to go, that’s a sure way to dismantle the world order that’s been keeping the peace for so long. God save the world!

Anyway, on the work front, my ITS2020 Project, has finally ended! We obtained the Completion Certificate (or more accurately, the ‘Performance Certificate’ as it is known contractually) 2 months back! Signifying that we’ve completed all our obligations! Now, where’s our friggin payments?!?? Yup, that’s what I’ve got to do now, go after the Client for the balance of our money... And life goes on…

Here’re some photos of the ITS2020 Project(s), for memory’s sake.


A dynamic message sign (DMS) in Dubai, ITS2020/1B Project …as you can see, it was taken during the COVID times… compliments of a photo-savvy colleague, …umm… what’s his name, yes, Harsha Jayaramaiah, the Systems Integration Engineer of our project.

The ITS2020 Projects were a set of intelligent traffic systems (ITS) projects aimed at upgrading Dubai’s traffic management system to more efficiently monitor & manage road traffic and incidents. Our company (in partnership with local specialist contractor, Scientechnic) was awarded 2 of the 5 packages on offer, Package 1B which was for the installation of dynamic message signs (DMS) all over Dubai (112 of them, altogether), and Package 1C for the construction of the communication network and power supply systems to all the ITS field devices across the city. Yours truly was the Project Manager of the 1B Package (for most of the project duration anyway), and also took over the 1C Package for its close-out phase, ahem.

Here goes the photos…


A DMS gantry on Sheikh Zayed Road, near the Museum of the Future… Again, taken during the COVID-19 times, by the same photo-savvy colleague, Harsha… ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’


And this was taken by, none other than, yours truly, ahem… Can’t even read what’s on it! It’s the darn LED lights… I think you’ve gotta do it with long exposure with a proper camera, not with some measly Redmi mobile phone, while on the road…


The message signs are the nice and visible parts of the project, but that’s only part of the works involved… you’ve gotta drive some piles into the ground for them signs, you know?


And you’ve gotta dig loads of trenches for the cables and the ducts, install manholes, and cabinets, etc. (Incidentally, the 1C package’s scope is mainly that, hundreds of kilometres of cables and ducts, but everything’s underground! The only visible things after the work is done, are the communication hubs, feeder pillars and IT cabinets, and there’re hundreds of them all over the city)


This is the only photo I have of the 1C Package, pre-casting of manholes… at the ITS2020/1C Site Office


Sometimes disaster strikes! Accidentally hitting an irrigation pipeline while carrying out soil investigation works! This photo shows the trench where the damaged pipeline lies (under water), with dewatering pipes sticking out like weeds in a marsh (they’ll have to be connected to a main dewatering pipeline to carry the water away to a discharge point…) so that the damaged pipeline could be replaced…

Now, for the people, the most important part of any project…


Eid Al Fitr 2019 gathering (yeah, that long ago), organized by our specialist partner, Scientechnic, for the ITS2020 Project, at the Patiala Restaurant, Souk Al Bahar. From left to right, they are: - Kevin Williams (Scientechnic’s Project Director), Habeeb Khan (NOC Coordinator), Rathinavel Arumugam (QC Manager), Devansh Raj Kanchan (Assistant Project Manager, a promising engineer from Scientechnic… wonder where he left to), Qamar Abbas (Scientechnic’s Senior Project Engineer), Mohammed Badruddin Naveed (Technical Engineer), and Arunkumar Chenicheri (Technical Manager of the 1C Package). With the exception of Kevin, who’s an Irishman, the rest are all Indians.


The first DMS installation, Jul 2019. A butterfly post structure, but done without the cladding (a big mistake, we’d find out later… it had to be taken down again, sent to the factory for the cladding to be fitted, and brought back for re-installation …with traffic diversions to be done for bringing it down, and reinstallation – just imagine the extra costs for that silly bravado, just to prove we were on time…) Let’s see whether I can get the names correct (it was done during a time that I wasn’t in the project), from left to right: - Ali Ruhi Alsancak (Ortana’s representative in Dubai – Ortana is the Turkish supplier of the DMS panel); Devansh; Ghazi Al Sheikh (Parsons’ Resident Engineer of the ITS2020/1B Project); Sarvesh Nayak (ITS Engineer); Laith Rababa (QAQC Engineer); Ibrahim Dib (Traffic Engineer); hmmm… is that Ali Ridha?? (Project Engineer); …the next two look familiar, but I can’t really place a name…; and lastly, Gul Nawaz (I think, Foreman). Ali of Ortana is Turkish, the RE is Syrian, Devansh & Sarvesh are from India, Ibrahim is Lebanese, Laith is from Jordan if I’m not mistaken, and Nawaz is Pakistani. A mix of nationalities as you can see! That’s Dubai!


A group photo at the ITS2020/1B Site Office, Oct 2019. From left: Trinu Rajan (in front, Technical Engineer); Arunkumar (at the back); Maricel Cabatbat (NOC Coordinator); Naveed; Sameh Mahfouth (NOC Coordinator, yes, another one – NOC or No Objection Certificates are permits or approvals issued by the respective authorities and/ or stakeholders to allow construction works at any particular location to proceed. As the ITS2020 project covers different locations all over the city of Dubai, NOCs are the most important thing to possess to enable works to take place); Hussein Shawkt (Project Manager, he’s the PM who took over from me in April 2019, and whom I succeeded later on, in Dec 2019, let’s just say that he had a fallout with our Consultants and some of us in the team); Habeeb; Devansh; Vineeth Thomson (Planning Manager); Laith; Abdul Saleem (Systems Project Manager); Sarvesh; Avinash Kuruba (way at the back, QAQC Engineer); Rathinavel; Abhishek Radhakrishnan (ITS Engineer); Mohammad Saleem (Document Controller); and Eldho John (Electrical Engineer). Of the ‘new people’ mentioned in this photo, Trinu, Vineeth, Abdul Saleem, Avinash, Abhishek, Mohammad Saleem and Eldho are Indians, Maricel is Filipino, Sameh is Palestinian (from the West Bank), and Hussein is Egyptian.


Fancy bumping into project colleagues at a conference – Meet Shahid Riaz, middle (no, not Shahed. That’s the drone…), Materials Engineer from Parsons, the Engineer/ Consultants of the ITS2020 Project. His colleague on the right also looks familiar, but I can’t recall his name. Shahid is Pakistani. At a conference organized by Dubai Municipality at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, Nov 2019


Back to the ITS2020/1B Office, another group photo! Dec 2019 (while I was on a short 1- week family holiday in Tunisia). From left: Trinu, Maricel, Francheska Tiamson (Secretary), Jaicin Joy (QS), Evika Mathew (Document Controller+QS), Naveed, Mukadas (Office Assistant), Mubashir Wani (Senior Project Engineer, specializing in NDRC i.e. non-destructive road crossing works), Mark Anthony Abeleda (I think, Document Controller), Ayush Agarwal (Technical Manager), X (can’t really recognize him, with only half his face seen), Brijesh Moothat (Scientechnic’s Senior Manager for Technical Support), Hussein, Hashir Mohamed Kaleel (QS), Harinder Bhasin (Scientechnic’s Manager for Projects), …hmmm, this is a very familiar face, but for the love of God, I can’t remember his name…, Vishnu Vijayan (QS Manager), Aliasgar Numberdar (Planner), Sarvesh, another 2 persons whom I just can’t remember, and Satyajith (Draftsman). The ‘newbies’ in this photo are all Indians with the exception of Francheska and Mark (who’re Filipino), and Hashir, who is Sri Lankan.


The 3 musketeers, Feb 2020 – Ahmed Nehro (left, Construction Manager, from Egypt), Edsel Nariz (middle, Project Engineer, from the Philippines), and Faseeh Ullah (right, Project Engineer, from Pakistan).


Installation of the penultimate DMS… (the new ones I mean, not the rehabilitated ones, those are another headache altogether), Mar 2020. As you can see, installations were done at night, typically after 1am, with help from the police. We had to close the entire friggin road when installing it… From left: Man in red whom I don’t know; Laith; Bernar Makdisi (Safety Manager); Antoine Atallah (Construction Manager); Engineer Ghazi, the RE from Parsons; yours truly; Ibrahim Dib; and Nizar Makdisi (Site Engineer). The Makdisis are Syrian Christians, while Antoine is Lebanese (Christian, obviously, from his name).


Finally, all things must come to an end. Here’s a farewell party in Dec 2020, for Ajeesh Ramakrishnan, the Project Manager of ITS2020 Package 1A, which was directly under Scientechnic (middle, in green), in Scientechnic’s maintenance office in the Jebel Ali Industrial Area. Of those that I can recognize here (even with their COVID-masks on), are, from left to right: - Shahid Alam (on the left of Ajeesh, Surveyor); Bernar (in black, on the right of Ajeesh); Safi Ullah Khan (the tall one in the middle, Deputy Project Manager of Package 1A); skip; Sohail Ali (the muscular one in black, Document Controller); Hashir; Rathinavel; skip; Shamsudheen Sharooth (QS); Bashar Al Nuwasir (NOC Coordinator Package 1A); and Ibrahim Dib. Ajeesh and Sohail are Indians, Shahid and Safi Ullah are Pakistanis, Shamsudheen is Sri Lankan, and Bashar is Iraqi.

That’s all for today. I hope I got all the names correct. Let’s pray that this senseless war stops for good…

The Prince of Trouble

Finally, I’ve put together the photos for Jayden’s 11th year of existence. He turned 11 last October, so I am… umm… 5 months late. Only. Wink!


Jayden, 2 months after his 11th birthday, at Mawlynnong, aka “Asia’s cleanest village”, Meghalaya, India

What can I say, Jayden? You’re 11 going on 12, and you’ve started secondary school. Why, oh why, do you keep doing the darndest things, that’ll get you (and us) into trouble?!??? I have a long list of those… Shall I let the list fly?? No?? OK, but on one condition… From now on, please THINK, use your BRAIN, before you friggin do, or say something! And grow up already, willya? We love you lots. Hope you’ll grow up into a responsible boy, who’ll know how to take care of the people and the things around you. Hope you’ll be loving and kind, well-mannered and considerate. That you’ll be hardworking, and know how to focus on the important stuff first (rather than waste time on clutter and nonsense). Hope you’ll be organized and self-driven. Hope you’ll be righteous and brave. Hope you’ll never be greedy, or boastful. Hope you’ll be smart and resourceful. Hope that when life throws you its problems, you’ll have the grit to persevere, and never give up. With lots of love, Papa. OK, here goes the recap.


A month plus after his 11th birthday, at the Address Beach Residence Hotel, Dubai, with his koko. Jayden was performing in the school choir for a pre-Christmas function at the hotel


Winter break 2024 – A visit to his mother’s home in India! Jayden with 2 of his cousins, Mahi (left) and Anshu (middle), Fulertal, Assam, India


Back to Dubai, and to school – Here he is with 2 of his school friends, Vivaan (left) from India, and Aryan (middle) from Iran, Metropole School, Dubai, Feb 2025


It’s camping season! Jayden with a blue lizard at our regular camping spot, Wadi Shawka, Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE


What’s Eid without a trip to Oman? (That’s what we’ve been doing for the last few years… including this year!) Jayden with 2 friends he met in the guesthouse that we stayed in, the Alshumukh Guesthouse, Qalhat, Oman, Mar 2025. The kids are Polish, but they reside in Jordan. The older one is Yager (pronounced 'ya-zher' it may not be spelt like that, it’ll probably begin with a ‘J’), and the younger one is Franco… We asked Franco where he’s from and he said he’s from 'ospital' (hospital)… ‘Be nice!’ Franco would say to his older brother…


Jayden dressed up for …what’s it for?? For his prom!??. When did Year 6s start having proms??! Oh, so, it’s the last year of primary school! I see! May 2025


His koko is back from Singapore for the midyear break. Here they are with mommy at Dragonmart 2, Jun 2025


The end of Jayden’s academic year means lots of school functions. He won 4th place for the Arabic Reading Competition (for non-native speakers)! Bravo, keep it up!


It’s the summer break! On the go again. Jayden, at the Great Wall of China (Mutianyu). A stopover at Beijing, China en route to Malaysia, Jul 2025


Here we are again, Malaysia! At the Floating Mosque of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia


With his grandpa and aunt at Empat Sekawan Restaurant, Butterworth, Malaysia – Malaysia’s all about food! Seriously, we’d kill ourselves from overeating if we stayed any longer in Malaysia


Some family visits! With his second cousins (children of his father’s cousins), Ginny and Eugene (I think… I hope I got them right), at Jayden’s father’s old home in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, Aug 2025


More family! With his favourite uncle now, Jack (they got lost talking about fish and marine life, Jack is an avid diver, among other things…) at a restaurant in Petaling Jaya (Kean Fatt Restaurant), Selangor, Malaysia


More Malaysian holidays – in the old town of Melaka, the place that gave the olden Sultanate of Malacca and the famous Straits of Malacca its name...


And finally, his 11th birthday party at home! Be nice!! Be good! Love you.

The City Stands Tall

Thank you, UAE. Thank you, Dubai. For the excellent job in protecting us from the missiles, and drones for the past weeks. For keeping us safe, and letting us go about our normal life as much as possible. For your sacrifice, restraint and wisdom, despite the destruction around the country, in not getting us dragged further into this ridiculous, unnecessary war, started by outsiders who have no regard at all for the people living here. I stand with you and salute you. I pray that there will be no more deaths, no more injuries, no more destruction and that this war will soon end.

I wish and pray that some wisdom will come to that President who started this stupid war (yes, the same one who covets the Nobel PEACE Prize. He can shove it up his arse now). May he go back to MAGA, and not poke his finger where it doesn’t belong, and cause misery for the thousands affected. May the world have mercy on the poor, normal Americans who suddenly find themselves to be the ‘enemies’ of so many people in the world, just because of some daft act of their MAGA-leaders.

I wish and pray that Iran’s leaders will have a change of heart, and a realization, that they are not going to ‘win’ anything, with those outdated revolutionary ways of the theirs. May they realize that without the support of their populace, no regime can stand in this modern age. May they channel their resources and efforts into enriching their people’s lives to ‘buy’ back their loyalty, instead of putting money and resources into silly weapons and militias that do nothing for their people, or their country. (C’mon be real, how can your ragtag, under sanctions since forever country-machinery compete with 2 of the most technologically-advanced and rich countries in the world in terms of weapons. Look at the world now, the way ahead is intellectual and economic strength, which is where your people are important, and Iranians aren’t stupid).

I wish and pray that Israel will get benevolent leaders of unity and reconciliation (like Mandela or Gandhi), not hate-spewing bigots like Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Katz, …and who else? Who makes things worse, not better. Or, make these hardliners have a change of heart. Don’t they know that this Mafia mentality of eliminating all your rivals, will only breed a new generation of rivals who will take you down when you are off-guard, and continue this vicious cycle of hate and vengeance? May Israel learn to live in peace and harmony with its neighbours, and help build a separate and independent Palestinian state that is free from terrorists, insurgents and extremists. And may all its neighbours, and detractors across the world accept and embrace Israel, and forgive it for the wrongs that it has done.

I wish and pray that International Law will prevail, to prevent the fiasco that has been going on for the past few years from happening ever again. I don’t want the world to go back to the age of empires, when the powerful could do as they like at the expense of the weaker countries without any fear of retribution (yes, that includes Russia). May the perpetrators of the war and its atrocities be brought to justice, and may there be help and hope for the countless people affected.

I have so many wishes and prayers for this region and the world, for Palestine, for Lebanon, etc, but I can’t put them all down in this post (I have work to do as well, OK?) Ultimately, I pray that the warring parties in this stupid war will find a way to deescalate and return the region back to its peaceful norm, as soon as possible, and let diplomacy take over to make this region a haven of peace and cooperation.

Ending this post with pictures of the resilient city of Dubai, my home, our home. Stand strong, stay strong. Happy Eid Al Fitr everyone! Eid Mubarak. Selamat Hari Raya.


Dubai Business Bay, from the Paramount Midtown Hotel’s infinity pool deck, Aug 2025


That deliberately misshapen building in the middle of this photo is the Opus Building, which was one of the many offices yours truly happened to work in… Sadly, this ‘office-hopping’ routine still hasn’t stopped, sigh…


A street view inside Business Bay – This one features the UBora Tower on the right (yeah, I found that out, now, when doing this post), Feb 2024


The Burj Khalifa on a cloudy night, Jan 2024


An aircraft takes off from Dubai’s International Airport, Jan 2025 – I sure hope normal flight schedules resume – so many people’s travelling plans were disrupted!


Dubai Silicon Oasis. Or what everyone calls, ‘the Pineapple Building’, May 2024


Dubai city’s skyline at dusk, from the Al Jadaf Walk, Jan 2025


Dubai Marina at night, Dec 2024


Dubai Marina in the afternoon, Feb 2025




Dubai Marina (again), Aug 2025… O yeah, it was hot, but what the heck!


Dubai Marina from the Marina Mall – I know Emaar built many of these buildings, but must they name them all 'Emaar'??


The Address Beach Resort, Dec 2024


See you! Take care! Have a blessed and safe Eid celebration!