As birthdays come and go, I often wonder how time just flies by…seconds into minutes: minutes into hours and hours slipping into days, months and almost in a blink of an eye, years have passed. I still remember the time when I was carrying this precious life in my belly…and she went everywhere I went!! But nowadays, she almost always makes a beeline to the bookstores whenever we go to the malls.

So my little bundle of joy is now twelve years old…and wanted a birthday party !!! Me being the more careful parent said “let’s discuss with dad” but daddy being himself let his heart melt and said “Yes”…before discussing. (you know, daughters always know how to melt daddy’s heart : LOL me definately speaking from experience).

Her party was from 4pm to 8pm…if you look carefully at the photos, one can notice the sweat and dressed down look of my girl. By the time these photos were taken they were playing games for about an hour or more (I did not take many photos, so if you want to see more kindly go to my girl’s facebook)

Anyway enjoy..

it's such a hot day...I'll just lean on the cool water container and look cool at the same time

singing the birthday song...

..I'm trying to...make my wish and blow...

trying to cut my cake...oops mummy should have brought it out earlier!

presents, presents cool unusual pens, erasers, mugs, storybooks, musical box, teddy bear...things to make, wear n carry LOL

Time really, really flies…it felt like just a few months had passed since my daughter’s last birthday but it’s now fast approaching! So here is a couple of photos from that birthday party. Enjoy!!!

Yummy food for the party!

Homemade Pizza for the guests

So beautiful...but edible!!!

...and her Castle Birthday Cake!!!

....cake cutting time!!!

"Makan" Time...thought they ate very little

..Games Time went a little off the original plan..lol

...we had flour covered guests at the end of the birthday party

and now we are going to plan for the next birthday party!!!! Flour again? Maybe? Eer?

“Mummy ! My room is FLOODED!!!“

God has always been Good to us…He has always been there when we needed Him the most regardless of whether we realized it or not. Let me explain…

Charity, my daughter and I left early for church on this sunday because I had to run thru some songs. So we arrived at 3.40pm and did our usual preparation for K4 ( sunday school) and continued into K4 time from 5pm to 6.3opm or 7pm. After church and dinner we went home.

Upon reaching home, my girl had bounced up the stairs to her room while I locked the gate and door…then I heard her shout

and blur as I was, immediately thought “Flooded? How did the rain water get in?”…it had rained a little at dinner time but not as heavy as last sunday.

I hurried up the stairs and looked for my girl…she was not in her room (she had zoomed to my bathroom to fetch the mop) while I surveyed room…Water! Water! Water had filled the whole bedroom and had reached the door! Then it dawned on me! My girl’s floor standing lamp was ON! and its connected to the main electrical wall point by an extension!

YIKES!

Both the electrical extensions were in the water!

Quickly I turned off the floor standing lamp and paused for a moment and whispered ‘Jesus’ then walked acrossed the water filled floor and switched off the main electrical wall point and disconnected both extensions. By then my girl had returned with mop and started to mop up the water and joined by her grandmother too.

Me being me scolded my girl for forgetting turn off the water tap after her bath…but inside me I knew it was a close call for us. She had stepped in the water to quickly get to the bathroom to turn off the tap without realising the danger of being eletrocuted and I knew God had once again protected us.

Later after the clean up, I talked to my Charity to make her realise the danger of walking on wet surface when there is electric current and how God had protected her from being electrocuted…we both cried and hugged as we both knew how close it was to losing her.

Sometimes words don’t seem sufficient to express the gratitude I feel…

Thank you God for protecting my family!

…swoosh

It almost happened again…the two dogs chased a cat…here we go again, I thought to myself as I saw the scene unfolding before my very eyes!

The big black dog and the slightly smaller white dog had very quickly turned back to chase our neighbour’s cat as it sauntered out from the safety of its home for a morning stroll around the neighbourhood. For a moment there, I thought “Oh! No! Not another cat hunt and cold blooded kill for the dogs!”

with a lightning fast reflexes, the cat climbed up a tree right outside of our school garden…the two dogs barked at it and tried to jump up to see if the cat could be frightened out of the tree. But the cat dug deep into the branches and clung on for dear life!

As I approached the tree, the dogs took one last look at the cat and moved away….while the cat hid in the tree (only its head could be seen) as I tried to snap a picture of it but it kept hiding itself . Suddenly as it sensed it was safe,

it leaped out of the tree!!!

cat to safety

Can you see the cat?

…please excuse my poor photography as I was using my handphone to snap this photo.

I was glad that this cat escaped from the jaws of the dogs…I did not like the idea of another ‘killing’ as this would have been too close for comfort.

ooh dear…me got tagged and this is my first time…so abit ‘blur ‘about this, so feel free to guide and give constructive comments…so here goes

1. I like going to the bookstores like MPH, Popular to sit and browse thru books and of course enjoy their air-con…hee hee
   
2. Toy shops! Toy shops! if I see them I must make a bee line for it.
3. Teddy bears! I like them…is that why I sometimes call my husband “My Teddy Bear?’
4. Art shops…I will definately go and have a good long look at all the arty stuff there
5. I enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles
6. I am trying to learn some origami…made a tiny basket!
7. Can you believe it?….I use to cross-stitch!!!!
   
8. Sometimes I’m very forgetful…can’t even remember where I put my specs
9. I wear jeans almost all the time…ha ha ha I’m sure u all have noticed
   
10. I ‘m procastinator..there I said it
11. I like ironing clothes!
    
12. I like good food like all ‘Penangnites’...seafood,..hawker food too
13. I don’t usually complain about the taste of food unless its really really really bad
14. When I was child, I use to play with toy cars!…and capture ants and torture them!!!!
    
15. I would like to go for a holiday with my friends!
    
16. My cycling skills can be terrible on certain days…hee hee
17. I have not climbed anything higher than Penang hill…and that was so so so long ago
18. I’m right handed but play frisbee using my left hand
19. I can’t dance like my sister but I can sure try…please don’t laugh at me!
    
20. I like oldies…songs I mean, so at the moment I would try and watch ‘American Dreams’ on Astro

When we returned to Penang for the school holidays, we stayed in a different apartment…. We had hoped to visit earlier but my husband was still tiding up the apartment so we asked not to visit just yet …so we waited patiently. Taa Da tha day finally arrived and we could visit him..hooray!

home entertainment

mirror mirror on the wall

My daughter was so interested in this vanity table, she could not stop smiling and of course had to sit and try it out . This apartment is on the 3rd floor so it does not have a great view…we can only see the playground and a tiny bit of the sea from the balcony.

the view from the balcony

The best part about this apartment for me and my girl …it has a swimming pool!!! Children really enjoy swimming or even just splashing around in the pool. It has a separate children’s pool where they can sit in the big float and slide down into the pool with a splash!

Children's pool

Big swimming pool! Yipee!

My daughter and her daddy

Whenever I see this picture of my girl leaning on her dad and smiling…aah a picture of how a little girl loves her daddy! It also reminds of a song about leaning on Jesus, which speaks about relying on Jesus for strength and all our daily needs and resting in His love for we know Jesus loves us!

The day started as usual…waking up early at 6am ( though I wish I could snooze a little while longer ) then the normal rush to get ready- to prepare breakfast and some yummy food for recess time; not just for my girl…its for me too!

After dropping her off at school, I drove to work and waited for the children to arrive. Soon enough they came trooping in. As usual, I greeted them at the gate, suddenly I noticed two dogs from across the road running towards us. They were running with great speed and purpose. I thought they were just chasing each other! (You know instead of chasing their tails)

They stopped and turned back sharply and started running back towards another house that’s when I saw they were chasing a cat ! ( I could not figure out if it was a kitten or a full grown cat) “Poor cat, being chased by two ‘bullies’!” I thought to myself…then again the cat always manage to escape as far as my experience with cats told me.

But as I watched to my horror, the cat lost its footing as it tried to escape up a slope, then black dog managed to get the cat on its back and it was barking and growling at it. Suddenly before my eyes and most of the children, it picked up the cat at its the midsection and began to swing it violently.With each swing, the cat’s head and back would hit the ground. By now all the children had stopped what they were doing and watching…

I started to shout at the dogs while looking for something to throw at them or maybe a long stick to separate the dog from the cat…but then I realised it was too late for when the black dog put down its victim…it did not move at all. I was speechless and sad that it had all happened so fast and nothing could been done to save the cat. I walked over to the children to see if they were alright and not traumatised by what they had just witnessed…they were talking about it and pointing to the dog as it stood triumphantly over its lifeless victim. Thank God the children were not affected by what they saw…maybe many of them could not comprehend the full extend of what had just happened.

I could only guess that the cat had suffered internal bleeding ( as we did not see any blood, thank God , for it would have been very gruesome if there was blood ) and broken bones or even a broken back because the black dog had swung it repeatedly on the ground with great force.

After it was convinced that the cat was dead, the dog once again picked it up and trotted around as if looking for a place show off its trophy…it finally set the cat down in front of the driveway to a house!

It was uncomfortable to witness this and I know this incident will be etched in my memory banks even if I tried my best to forget it…

…if only the cat had chosen a different path…

From the earliest childhood memories ‘I was always drawing’ or sketching. The moment I complete my school work or chores, I would find a comfortable spot, be it sitting at my desk, lying on my tummy on the cool, cool terrazzo floor or silently sitting behind one of the bedroom doors! (to hide away from prying eyes)

Inspiration would come from all around me. I’m basically like a sponge that would soak in my surroundings…be it an interestingly shaped cloud in the sky, a curly dried leaf, water ripples, even a nail! I even tried portrait drawing…and my dear sister would sit for me.

Having said all that I’m not a great artist, I would like to think of myself as one who can visualise and create…

I would like to share some of my painting, wallpaintings (murals) or drawings from time to time on my blog with you Please bear in mind the murals that you see here on my blog are not 100% painted by me but by partners who are good painters in their own way! Bravo to them!

A city at night (mural)

Hi I’m back again!

As you may know I am a Penang person though now relocated to Kota Kemuning, Selangor, I still travel back for visits. Although I have been to Ipoh City a few of times, I am unfamiliar with the roads and so never ventured into the city to explore! …just never like to get lost..ha! ha! ha! I can hear some of my friends laughing!…and smiling too!

Whenever I think of Ipoh, I can ‘see’ mouth watering chicken rice and a big plate of ‘taugeh’…oooh hoo. So this time when we headed back to Penang, my hubby suggested that we stop-over to eat lunch in Ipoh…wah! lah! I quickly agreed

We enjoyed our lunch in the air-conditioned shop

the delicious tender chicken...

'taugeh' not overcooked, still crunchy...that's how I like it

After enjoying every bite of our lunch, we headed out to the highway and onto more delicious food….Penang, Pearl of the Orient …everywhere you turn, one can only find good food…I know, I know I am promoting Penang, my hometown again

Note : ‘taugeh’ is beans sprout

…one January morning…Whenever I take a tumble, everything around me seems to switch into slow motion mode…really really slow almost like watching a movie frame by frame.
I had just finished my bath and had turned to walk out but I slipped and fell…like a bag of potatoes and landed on my bum! As I went down, I could actually think to myself, ‘Hey! you are falling!…Quick! Grab on to something!…Nope..Still falling!’
Sigh..I fell down twice in the bathroom that day but THANK GOD I was ok and could go to work.

…3 February about 1.30pm…I had finished work abit early and picked up my daughter from school and was driving back home…because I was early, I drove much slower than usual. As we approached a corner, suddenly a yellow, 12 seater school bus appeared right in front of us, coming from the opposite direction, it had taken the tight corner quickly and had driven onto my side of the road!!! THANK GOD, the driver managed to pull the vehicle back to his side of the road in time and a head-on collision was avoided.

I know of experienced drivers who say its OK to drive onto the oncoming traffic’s side of the road when they take a corner…but can one see the other vehicle or estimate the speed of approaching vehicle?

What I do know is this, IF I had driven a tinny weenny bit faster, I would right at the corner and would have been hit by the school bus!

Thank God for His Protection !