• family,  yassin

    Yassin is 6 today!

    A little celebration at home attended by Yassin‘s cousins and uncle as well as the neighbourhood kids.

    yassbd2009b

    yassbd2009a

    yassbd2009c

    yassbd2009d

    Our bookshelf pole saw the development of Yassin’s height and weight since 2007. It’s my husband’s creative-doing.

  • ABOUT ME

    The truth…

    …is that my cough this time is taking a long time to recover.

    And I hate it.

    Tried different kinds of expectorants but the condition is still the same. It has been more than two weeks and I am so tired. I have not been productive to date. There are so many things I wanted to do in a day but I can only manage to do one little thing per day. If I get online too long, my head will be spinning like a ferris wheel. I am also having mild low grade fever on and off.

    Dearest friend, Yoon See suggested that I take propolis and garlic for the cough. I went to the pharmacy but there was no medicine with both combination. I found Kordel’s Echinacea and Garlic. So I bought it. It helps bring down the cough a bit for few days only. My auntie suggested that I try honey with lemon. I just bought a bottle of both mixture today and hope to bring down the cough to lower level. Or none.

    But I will try to finish online illustration orders by tomorrow or at least before Friday.

    my scanned hand

  • digital photos

    Light trail

    I never knew how to capture light trail photograph and the night before Christmas, my husband and I went out to capture the above subject, knowing that there would be traffic all night long.

    This one is the view from Ampang (south) to KL (north):

    ampang2

    Location: Pedestrian Bridge, Ampang (near Star LRT station)
    Aperture: f/22
    Exposure time: 15sec
    ISO Speed: 100

    We later switched to the opposite side and adjusted the setting:

    ampang

    Aperture: f/16
    Exposure time: 20sec
    ISO Speed: 100

    And this was captured from inside our car, I forgot to adjust to auto, so the last setting applied.

    light trail

    The result: messy Light trails!

    It makes a great abstract background though, in my opinion.

  • digital photos

    Like a moth to a flame

    moth

    A moth perched on my printer the other day. I think it wanted me to switch off the printer when not in use. I always seem to forget to do that even though my husband reminded me thousands of times.

    One advantage of having landed home is that you have uninvited winged visitors all the time.

    I dunno why but everytime I see a moth, it will reminds me of Janet Jackson’s That’s The Way Love Goes. It has a lyric like this: Like a moth to a flame burned by the fire, my love is blind, can’t you see my desire?

    That’s why I put the title like that. 🙂

  • family,  yassin

    Camping + BBQ

    Q: What do you do when your son, nephews and niece wanted to go camping and have a barbeque but at the same time you do not want to go far as you think it’s not safe out there?

    A: You go and camp in your own yard!

    bbq1

    bbq2

    Turning your own yard into a fun destination spot by camping out right at home is easy, affordable and fun! But of course make sure it is free of cat’s poop! We had a smelly camping when we place the tent right on top of the poop!

  • FT of Malaysia,  Putrajaya

    Blog4FT prize-giving ceremony

    When I arrived at Kelab Tasik Putrajaya, I was greeted by Hakim, one of the team members of Blog4ft organising committee. He is the person behind the familiar chirpy voice since October, in charge of delivering the good news via the phone.

    And it’s always nice to put a face behind a voice.

    After talking with Hakim and filled in a form, I was led inside to the front table. After being seated, I was approached and greeted by a fellow blogger, Categorically Random (CR). We talked awhile and later I saw a familiar face waving at me from far. It was Bain! Bain joined us and I introduced Bain to CR. “Aa, the crony,” CR said. And the three of us laughed. Bain, my neighbour during the 80s, has won the monthly prizes for the Public Category as well! Yay Bain!

    I was informed earlier that I would be seated with other monthly ‘winners’ and would be separated from my husband but little did I know, I was the only monthly winner seated there. I became suspecting as Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Elyas Omar (The Former Mayor of KL)  and his wife, was seated at the same table. When Encik Ahirudin Attan (The Editor of The Malay Mail), and later Datuk Fauziah Bachik (Federal Territories Ministry’s Deputy Secretary-General (Management) and her husband arrived with the Minister of Federal Territories, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, I finally concluded to my own self that I was the only monthly winner seated with the VIPs. I panicked but was truly honoured to be seated with them albeit the feeling of being a little ant amongst mighty elephants.

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    The ceremony started with a prayer and later a speech by Datuk Raja Nong Chik followed by the prize-giving ceremony.

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    I went up the stage twice as I won for both October and November. It was a double joy for me!

    Before dinner, winners were gathered on the stage for a photography session with Datuk Raja Nong Chik.

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    From left: Azizul Fahmi, Razzi Rahman, Muzaffar, Shaun Low, yours truly, Nadiah (cute little girl in front of me), Bain, Wong Ee Lynn, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, Emily Yeow (Minyi Yeow’s sister- cute girl in front of Datuk), Ooex, Selamber, Smiley Aisha, Cayenne, Comelgurl, Wan Fakhrul, Sharifah Hani and Mustapa Lakawa.

    Datin Nafesah Raja Nong Chik arrived later during dinner and I was all smiles when she said she likes my postcards!

    For those who wanted to enter for December, it’s not too late! The closing date is on January 5, 2010. Just visit Blog4ft to find out how!

  • my books,  watercolor

    Mother’s Garden: old vs new

    I have finished illustrating my new Mother’s Garden and in the process of combining them into a book. Have done most part of it and in the middle of cropping flowers for the Glossary page at the end of the book. Am going to submit it to my publisher tomorrow.

    Here’s a comparison of the old and new:

    mother's garden: old

    mother's garden: new

    I like the old one; cute and simple.

    I even like the new one; more detailed, more Malaysian and better coloring.

    Yay me!