Razzaq Mohammed

Razzaq Mohammed

I am Razzaq. I work in the energy efficiency sector. I love travelling, reading books and blogging about both. I am also a big fan of Victorian era Gothic horror; both books and movies. This website is an amalgamation of all my previous blogs (all 4 for them). It is a one stop place for all my different types of readers. Here I write about my travels, books that I have read, energy, horror, history and anything else that catches my fancy! The section 'Random thoughts' will take you to more topics there. Hope you enjoy it!

Latest posts

Kilby Historic Site, Harrison Mills, BC, Canada

Kilby Historic Site is a beautifully preserved group of old buildings near the town of Harrison Mills some 100 kms from Vancouver. On a sleepy weekend in September I drove over there on a whim. The drive to Kilby through Highway 7 was pleasant. I like that route as its away from heavy traffic and also passes through some amazing scenery. The area around Harrison Mills used to be the home of the Scowlitz and Chehalis people from time immemorial. Read More "Kilby Historic Site, Harrison Mills, BC, Canada"

A Visit to BC Vintage Truck Museum, Cloverdale, BC, Canada

While driving in Surrey, BC one day, I noticed a board with the letters 'BC Vintage Truck Museum' on the side of the road. I made a mental to visit it sometime. That sometime finally came up last month when I drove over there on a weekend. The Museum is located in the historic neighborhood of Cloverdale. Read More "A Visit to BC Vintage Truck Museum, Cloverdale, BC, Canada"

Solved || A 10 point book review

In this book, David Miller, who was a former Toronto Mayor, talks about the role of city governments in taking action on climate change. He makes the case for cities being one of the most important players in our fight against climate change. In the book he shows how some cities around the world are already doing impactful work, and urges other cities to follow. Read More "Solved || A 10 point book review"

My Travels


I travel whenever and wherever I can. Travel for me is not the glamorous Instagram type pics. A walk in a neighboring nondescript village is also travel. Squeezing in a 3 hour sightseeing with a 20 hour journey is also travel. I do what I can with what I have. Sometimes its elaborate with week long trips. Sometimes its just a bus ride between two places. I try to enjoy whatever experiences I am privileged and lucky to experience. I have travelled a lot in my home country India. More than average I would say. Covered 15 states out of 29. Internationally I have been to only USA and Bhutan apart from my country of residence India and Canada. Presently I am based in the beautiful province of British Columbia in Canada and am trying to explore it as much as I can.

Peru

I did the 4 Day Inca Trail to Machu Pichu in this beautiful country.

Bhutan

I did a multiday trek in this beautiful country.

USA

I went on two trips to the United States so far.

Canada

I arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia in December 2018. Since then I went on a couple of multi day road trips and many day trips in BC. I also spent a year and a half in the sunny Okanagan region which gave me nice opportunity to explore the Interior regions of BC.

India

The country of my Birth, India is a country like no other. With its population of a billion people and the vast variety in landscapes and history, India is a place where even if you spend your entire lifetime in exploring it, it wont be enough. In my own limited capacity I travelled a bit in this beautiful country. I did 3 different multi day treks in the Himalayas which still remain some of the best travel experiences of my life. I visited 15 out of the 29 states.

Multi Day Trekking

Adventure activities

Energy


Here, I write about energy related topics.

I began my energy career in 2013 with working in a 4 x 600 MW Subcritical thermal power plant and later worked in 2 x 660MW supercritical thermal power plant. In these positions where I gained experience in various areas including commissioning, operation, as well as energy conservation. With the climate change crisis we find ourselves in, I wanted to leave behind fossil fuel power plants and pursue a field which would make an impact in alleviating some aspect of the climate change. What better area than energy conservation and improving energy efficiency. I moved to Canada in 2018 to pursue Master of Engineering Leadership in Clean Energy Engineering program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). From 2021 I have been working in the energy efficiency sector of Canada.

Here is a link to an Efficiency Canada feature published in 2022.

Mentoring for new Immigrants to BC, Canada

Are you new in BC and/or are a student looking for a job in the energy management/efficiency sector? Are you looking for any pointers from someone already in the industry? I would be happy to chat with you for 30 mins and share my thoughts and advice with you. Please fill out the form below.

Featured

Celebrating 15 years of my blogging journey!

I recently completed 15 years of my blogging journey! My very first post was back in 2008, made while I was in my 12th grade. It simply had a list of names of our group of friends. I started off my blogging journey by sharing stories of the activities our group of friends did together like trips, parties etc. Later I started writing about my individual travel trips. Full story here. Since then I have come a long way. My blog (the travel one) was featured on multiple websites and platforms, I was interviewed by a top travel podcast channel, a newspaper printed my photos and best of all I received countless words of appreciation from friends and readers! Over the course of 15 years I was also fortunate to have traveled in 5 countries including India. The others being Canada, United States, Bhutan and Peru. A bit more detailed story of my blogging journey can be found here which I wrote when I had completed 400 posts in 2022.

At this milestone point I am doing a Reader survey. It would be great if you, the reader, can fill it out! Thank you!
Here is the link: https://forms.gle/L222WkTvgY7vG25e7

Some of my popular travel posts:

Some of my popular book posts:

Kilby Historic Site, Harrison Mills, BC, Canada

Kilby Historic Site is a beautifully preserved group of old buildings near the town of Harrison Mills some 100 kms from Vancouver. On a sleepy weekend in September I drove over there on a whim. The drive to Kilby through Highway 7 was pleasant. I like that route as its away from heavy traffic and also passes through some amazing scenery. The area around Harrison Mills used to be the home of the Scowlitz and Chehalis people from time immemorial.

A Visit to BC Vintage Truck Museum, Cloverdale, BC, Canada

While driving in Surrey, BC one day, I noticed a board with the letters ‘BC Vintage Truck Museum’ on the side of the road. I made a mental to visit it sometime. That sometime finally came up last month when I drove over there on a weekend. The Museum is located in the historic neighborhood of Cloverdale.

Solved || A 10 point book review

In this book, David Miller, who was a former Toronto Mayor, talks about the role of city governments in taking action on climate change. He makes the case for cities being one of the most important players in our fight against climate change. In the book he shows how some cities around the world are already doing impactful work, and urges other cities to follow.

A morning at the Seaspan Shipyards Open House, North Vancouver, BC, Canada.

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to attend an open house at the Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver, thanks to my friend Sunil. He had arranged a ticket for me along with some of his other friends. Seaspan is a ship building company based in North Vancouver which, along with lots of other work, also builds ships for the Canadian Coast Guard.

The Intelligence trap || A 10 point book review

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed in the existence of fairies which seems off for a genius like him. The Intelligence Trap tries to explain this behavior of high IQ people making seemingly stupid mistakes. Packed with examples and real-life case studies, this book also explains how to avoid the intelligence trap by following some simple techniques.

Unstoppable || A 10 point book review

Unstoppable is about the solutions offered by science to deal with Climate Change. In it, the author, Bill Nye, first gives an explanation of Climate Change, then moves onto explain the different sources of clean energy we have including solar, wind, hydro, nuclear etc. He also looks at other aspects which are connected like water, space and what the general public can do.

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