Emila Yusof

Went to the Floria Festival 2010 at Putrajaya last Saturday. It was the last day, so most of the flowers were drying and quite some gardens were left unmaintained. Typically, every garden has heliconia or crane flowers or strelitzia or bird of paradise. This was because they were the theme flower for this year. Nonetheless, there were other local flowers as well.

The feeling was not that great compared to the one I attended in KL Lake Garden back in 2008. I kinda like the 2008 one better as the individual gardens were quite big and constructed as if they were there to stay.

crane flower bouquet

periwinkles

The French Marigold

Hibiscus

Wooden pavement. I like this idea, kinda suitable for my wooden house.

Yassin playing at the the playground field just in front of the Millennium Monument.

We missed the march band.

Datuk A.Samad Said or better known as Pak Samad or Bapak is having his 2nd solo exhibition entitled Kata Luhur at Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kuala Lumpur. There are about 100 drawings (ink on papers) being exhibited.

The launching of the was held last Friday (9th April 2010) to commemorate his 75th birthday on that day.  I was there amongst hundreds to celebrate the special day.

The exhibition was launched by YBhg Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal.
From left: YBhg Dato’ Hj Mohd Rozali Isohak (BSLN), YM Tengku Elina Tengku Azidin (Pelita Hati) and Datuk A. Samad Said.

The exhibition will be from 9th April until 10th May 2010 at Gallery 2B, Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Opening hours of the gallery is 10am to 6pm (Monday to Sunday).

More pictures of the launching can be seen in Bapak’s Facebook Fan Page.

My publisher, Linda Tan, and I will be at the Art for Grabs!! We’ll be selling books, prints, notecards, notepads, calendars and many more!!!

Please come and rock our booth:

Dates: Sat 6 & Sun 7, March 2010
Time: 12.00 noon to 8.00 pm
Venue: The Annexe Gallery, Central Market Annexe, Kuala Lumpur.

Went to visit the National Crafts Day (Hari Kraf Negara) today at Kompleks Kraf, Jalan  Conlay, Kuala Lumpur. Made appointment earlier to meet with Rizal (RestNRileks), my blogger buddy, who is happen to be a Craft Lecturer/Instructor with Institut Kraf Negara. Rizal accompanied me to visit the whole exhibition and it was fun discussing about the latest trend of local crafts while looking at some new craft designs.

These are some of my favourites:

And my top favourite is:

Rattan orca lamp!

I am very sure this will be Yassin’s favourite too!!! Yassin couldn’t make it as he has to attend school but maybe I’ll bring him during the weekend.

Rizal has contributed a lot of effort in bringing his team to work on this Rattan Orca Lamp design. You can read the detailed process at Rizal’s blog.

It was really a great festival and if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur, do drop by and see our many beautiful local handcrafted items.

Location:
Kompleks Kraf Kuala Lumpur
Seksyen 63, Jalan Conlay
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Telephone: 03-2162 7459
Fax: 03-2161 2622

The National Crafts Day will be until March 8, 2010 but the overall Malaysia Crafts Festival will be until March 24, 2010 at selected locations as below:

Shopping Complexes
- AEON Alpha Angle
-Great Eastern Mall, Kuala Lumpur
-Central Market, Kuala Lumpur

Hotels
- JW Marriott, Kuala Lumpur
- Prince & Residence, Kuala Lumpur
- Istana, Kuala Lumpur
- Hilton, Petaling jaya
- Royale Chulan
- Grand Season
- Best Western Premier Seri Pacific

Amongst activities currently going on at Kompleks Kraf are:
- Craft sales
- New Design Exhibits
- Exclusive Souvenirs
- Traditional Musical instruments Craft
- Crafts Technology Exhibits
- Buyers Meeting
- Design Workshops
- Craft Demonstrations
- Interactive Activities
- Entrepreneur Advice Counter
- Cultural Shows
- Tradtional Games

Before we leave, Rizal and I exchanged goodies. I only gave Rizal few small things but Rizal on the other hand, gave me beautiful goodies! Thank you so much Rizal!!

And before I end this post, I would like to promote craft books published by Institut Kraf Negara that I already have in my hands! Yippee!!! Been looking for these type of books for quite sometimes already! Thanks to Rizal for telling me about it, I own 6 of them!

If you are looking for elementary reference about our local crafts, do look for these books:

Books included in this series are:
- Seni Kraf Logam (Motif & Teknik)
- Seni Kraf Kayu (Motif & Teknik)
- Seni Kraf Batik (Motif & Teknik)
- Seni Kraf Batik ( Pewarnaan Asli)
- Seni Kraf Tenunan )Motif & Teknik)
- Seni Kraf Seramik (Motif & Teknik)
- Seni Kraf Rotan (Motif & Teknik)

All books are in Malay Language. The hardcover is RM80 each, while softcover RM39.90.

For enquiries/order please call:

Institut Kraf Negara
No 1, KM 20, Jalan Ipoh Rawang
Taman Rekreasi Templer
48000 Rawang
Selangor.

Tel: 03-60915322 ext 103/151
Fax: 03-60926072
E-mail: faridah@ikn.gov.my/shamsheila@ikn.gov.my

Oh, I almost forgot, here’s a picture of Rizal and me!

One night (it was Christmas night), my husband and I got bored, so we went out to take photos. Here’s one of the photos I like.

Angle spot: Road divider, Jalan Ampang 4-Junction near traffic lights: straight heading to KL (to BSN and all), left to Jalan Pinang, right to Jalan Yap Kwan Seng.

So what do you do with a bunch of twigs?

You can do wonders if you want. Like these:

Although I have two big trees at my front yard but there wasn’t enough supply to make the above. So what I did was, went to the park, KL Lake Garden to be precise, and collect dry twigs. I am very sure that DBKL wouldn’t mind as I was doing nature a big favour; recycling.

Cool projects, right? I bought the plain frames from Ikea (3 for RM5.90) and made the pencils stand out of tissue tube. Covered the bottom part with layers of masking tape. I don’t think you need instruction for these projects as you can already figure it out by looking at them pictures.

Do you like music? You do, yes? But do you know anything about the science of music? Not really, yes? My answer is ‘not really’ as well and that triggers me to learn more about it. So, yesterday I went to visit the latest exhibition in town: Petrosains Muzika at Petrosains, Level 4, Suria KLCC, Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur with my husband and son. The visit was great and we had tons of fun! Petrosains Muzika lets us mess around with music in ways we probably haven’t before; we can listen, see, touch, create and learn! Among exhibits we enjoyed include Speed of Sounds, World Music, Digital Piano Multi-Touch, Sound Spaces, Air Guitar, Never-Ending Piano, Vinyl Scratching, Giant Panpipes and many more.

Strum away the invisible guitar like Yngwie Malmsteen or Man Kidal!

Listen to World’s music by putting on the earphone and point the listening device to white spots. Can you guess what song represents Malaysia? Go and find out ‘coz I am not going to spoil the fun ^_^

You can listen to the panpipes humming by pressing your ears onto the mouth of the panpipes as well as play to the notes given by hitting the mouth with a club.

Vary the sound by just playing the strings instrument, or add woodwinds or brass or percussion to the Lahti Symphony. Better still, combine all together.

Listen to different quality of music samples from phonograph, gramophone, turntable (vinyl record) and CD.

I was lucky to be born in the era of turntable; my father had one. Funny thing is, as I recall it today, it was playing Boney M, many times over, to the extent that I could really remember the song by heart. Really.

Interactive information about Music & Seismology.

Virtual drum.

Do visit Petronas Muzika to experience all the fun. Below are details about admission hours and rates.

Admission hours
Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri – 9.30am – 5.30pm (last admission is 4.30pm)
Sat | Sun | Public Holidays – 9.30am – 6.30pm (last admission is 5.30pm)

Rates
Children (4 years old and below) – Free
Children ( 5 – 12 years old) – RM3
Adults – RM6

Booking Line
603-23318181

Logon to Petronas Muzika and join the on-going contest. Answers can only be obtained by visiting the exhibition. Prizes include PlayStation3, Nintendo Wii and iPod Touch. All winners will also receive a 1-year Petrosains Membership. Closing date of the contest will be on March 31, 2010.

p/s Have you been to Petronas Muzika? Let me know what you think about the exhibition and what exhibit do you enjoy most.

UPDATED WITH LABUAN POSTCARD!

Here’s all the eight postcards in the series:

Download as print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard VIII
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.80MB

Download and print postcard: Illustrated Postcard VII
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.7MB

Download and print postcard: Illustrated Postcard VI
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.5MB

Download as print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard V
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.65MB

Download as print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard IV
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.8MB

Download as print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard III
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 1.5MB

Download and print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard II
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 2.9MB

Download and print postcard: KL Illustrated Postcard I
Resolution: 300dpi, jpg, 2.56MB

Terms of Use
You can use them long as it’s for personal use only.

Instruction
You need:

• a two-sheet card (120gm)
• a clear self-adhesive lamination sheet
• Spray mount or PVA glue
• and of course a color-printer.

Instructions:

• After printing, cut along the dotted line and fold by half.
• Glue the inside by using spray mount or if you don’t have spray mount,  use PVA glue and use a piece of cardboard to spread the glue evenly.
• Fold it and keep it under thick book for a while.
• Cut the lamination sheet just about the size of the postcard.
• Stick the sheet onto the image side of the postcard. Take a piece of cardboard and squeegee the sheets until it’s even.
• Trim the edge nicely.
• Keep it under the thick book again for half an hour.
• Now you can send it safely to any destinations of the world!

Note: If your printer’s inks are waterproof or if you’re using laserjet printer, you can skip the lamination process.

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.

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

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.

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!