Beauty of nature

Feast for your eyes...

Enough of eye sore from Alor Star..lets soothe our mind with these gift from nature

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
~William Wordsworth, "Lines Written in Early Spring," Lyrical Ballads, 1798

The contractor just changed this corner with these lovely flower..they looks refreshing compared to previous plant which was just green and white.

The petals are soft and the colours are harmony and they dance smoothly with the breeze


'Rose rose I love you, with that aching heart..' Rose from my mom's garden in Alor Star..


Fresh flowers from Cameron Highland..various palette of petals



Birds of Paradise from Putrajaya....they are a good subject for oil painting

Have a nice weekend everyone..take a deep breath and 'smell the roses'

St Nicholas Convent

'Listen to our motto, guiding us as we go...'

This is my first visit after maybe 15 years or more I left this place. The changes are dramatic and an eye sore, this is the worst thing that could ever happen.

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Primary school..the excitement of everything new and a dream of going to England (En Haffis---> jgn kata i perasan..)



This is current entrance from main road to Kopitiam parking, this is the exact spot where school chapel used to be and where sisters stayed. The chapel has a white trellis with purple flower and used to be our background during photo shoot at year end with kakak and adik angkat :-P

There was a long covered corridor with timber bench connecting the school canteen and primary school, but it has been demolished. I remember while waiting for my beca to come, I will watched and amazed by looking at the secondary student, they were tall and pretty with long hair and speak very fluent English. There was one Chinese girl who have a long thick hair like Rapunzel and her face is round and fair...


Former site of the chapel and access to the secondary school. On the left was a garden full of carnation and some vegetables and beans were crawling up the chainlink fencing.


Primary school block with school office and headmistress office, I was in Kelas Satu Kuning in 1982, the class was at the corner adjacent to the toilet..a girl next to me said 'don't cry baby, don't cry'...but I did not cry at that time, but I like the way she talked...

At standard one I already freak out thinking what will happen to me when I grew up and became a teacher and I can't speak English with other teacher in the staff room :-P...you know la at that age, dalam kad 001, ambition no.1 = cikgu, no.2=doktor....bla bla..one day during P.E I overhead this one girl said..'nineteen eighty..something..'..and I was like ..'oo okay that is how we pronounced 1982 or 1984..)..I learned anywhere and from everyone because I was afraid that could be ketinggalan zaman

One lucky day, my drawing of ketupat were hang at our classroom notice board, I was so proud of it and kept on looking at that drawing many many times. And one unlucky day, I asked Chan Suey Hey a talented girl in my class to draw anything and everything in my exercise book..the whole book for me to later enjoy colouring it..when my mom did her spot check..apalagi I hide behind the door and waited for her to come with rotan... :-P

Anyway, the original colour of the wall were white and after few years, few talented pupils were selected to paint them with characters from Snow White, Cinderella etc..as a small girl, I did envy them...I wish I had the same chance to paint the wall..I watched them with their brush and happily painting the wall with various colours...can't the back the clock though..

On the left of this photo, nearer to the office were where a small pond with waterfall made of cement ferro and decorated with bangau putih stood . I like the sound of the water running down the rock on hot afternoon.


This is the spot where I stood on the day Miss Sibert left our school compound where she seat on a trishaw and everybody wave goodbye to her. It used to be green with cow grass and primary school sports days were held here...there were kemboja tree at three corner of this school field and various colour of hibisbus line the green grass

In 1986, my classroom was on the left block in this photo, next to the staircase leading to secondary classroom. There were so many memories in this class, one day we were asked to draw below our poetry..draw something that is related to the poem, it was about a robbery, but me with my poor English, confidently draw a robot..what the heck...

Notice that last palm tree..? One day at around 4pm after heavy rain we saw a fire ball around that tree...I don't know what it is, but it fell down from the tree..

Back then Enid Blyton was a must in our reading list..I had so much fun reading them but not enough time to finish all book, therefore on the last day of that school year, I hide the book in our classroom's cabinet so that I could continue my adventure the following year..and in January 1987 when the new term came, I managed to finished it..


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Secondary school...where more fun and adventure began




Secondary school pavillion...a place where we held a discussion after school period and it used to be seating area for parents and teachers during Sports Day.



My Oh my...I fell down at this left corner masa saringan untuk sports day..every year few days before the big day, they will paint black lines and it smells of minyak gaih.





We also had a small two days gathering for Girl Guide and Scouts at this field. Guides from Sultanah Asma, Bahiyah and Scouts from KSAH were invited..that was the time where we had the opportunity to cuci mata..especially the Sea Scout in their white uniform... :-P.. but they were a good cheater..during of the cooking contest, they bought outside food insted of cooking it themselves...and they won...hampeh !!




Corridor towards school hall where we girl guides line up during Hari Penyampaian Hadiah. Next to SRT Lab were two science lab.


That orange wall hurt my eyes...

The wall were once plain white and an important background for photo session as well. That is the domestic science lab where we learn to cook properly using the right knife, the right measurement and separate our fork and pan in the wash basin. There were six main working table with cabinet underneath and one big wash basin. We have a recipe books wth hard cover decorated with photo's of pastries and cakes and delicacies cut from magazines and newspaper.

This door is new addition where else previously there were all adjustable louvered window.

There are so many things that has disappeared but the memories still remained in our heart

I wish for a mini car

I had a bad start today..luckly I managed to punch my card before 8.30am before sending the kids to their nursery.

I made 3 rounds of tawaf around parcel C looking for a parking space, there was one near the saure but someone who was kind enough used two lot for his damn car..so gone that one precious parking lot.

I drove further and found a space near a corner leading to the exit of this parcel and I moved those red cones and try to park there even though it is illegal but I've no choice..I thought that it should be ok but suddenly there was a knock on my window..a security guy asking me to find another spot at visitors area...sigh...

It was fully occupied and the parking space looks like a garage with cars that are blocking and parking on each side of the road and when you pass by you have to drive like a snail and make sure that your side mirror don't kiss other's..

Then I saw a man in white shirt with neck tie..I guess he just finished his interview and he have to pushed a car that are blocking his. From where I waited I could predict that it will not be an easy manoeuvre because there it was only 2 meters wide lane left to pusing kanan pusing kiri before you could park the car and to make it worst it is one way lane with 4 cars queing behind me to find a space...grrrrrr

I finally managed to park my car safely after semua peluh dan keringat keluar and my knee need a massage and my feet dah lenguh-lenguh tekan brek tukar gear...at that particular moment I just wish that I have a mini car...

And I officially start my work at almost 9.45am...sungguh tidak cemerlang, terbilang,..whatever !!

Sketches and Honey..honey

31 years ago, a pencil and a pen was something that I really treasure..it was hard to buy even a Lunar set of 12, 2B pencil could last for many months or until they were too short and hard to handle..but back then we were creative and rubber band was used to make it longer...and they goes the 2B pencil..


We did our homework on cement floor, we our feet were numb, we changed position again and again until our job were done. Geography execise book were sometimes rendered with different texture of colour pencil because the cement floor were uneven..or sometimes I did my homework at Mak's house (my grandma) so the pages will have a timber texture... :-)



Sufiya with her abah's old book..she loves to sketch nowadays...and that yellow Habib's paperbag has become own bag to keep all her pen and pencils...

She talk a lot now and her vocab are increasing but still pelat..she speak with loghat Utara sometimes...'mama, nak nasi'..'nak ayakk'...'nak makan'...and her favourite song...'ani ani..cepat..'---she wants me to sing ABBA's 'honey honey how you thrill me ahaa..honey honey..'..over and over again..

Happy Birthday :02-07-09

What a spoilt child...don't blmme me..point your finger to her abah...

She had three birthday cakes..not one not two but THREE....at 2 years old, with celebrations at three different places..

Sufiya with her best friend- Nasha..


Party pack..with her photo from holiday trip in Genting...i think her abah was more excited than the birthday girl.. :-P


Two cake for two places : Blueberry cheesecake for Alor Star and Chocolate cake for Penang...

I never had this kind of celebration at that age...dah sekolah menengah baru buat...but that was just a cake..no balloons and party pack...

Takpelar..as long as dear husband happy..Sufiya and friends happy...i'm happy too

Heritage Trail: Malacca town

When I proposed to go to Malacca for a short holiday, some said that it was a boring idea.."ada apa di Melaka..?" and so on..but to me any trip to Malacca is never a boring journey even thogh I've been visiting the same place many times. The place is there but it change a little bit or some rather tremendous compared to last few years.

We left for Malacca on Saturday morning after having nasi lemak daun pisang and arrived at Emperor Hotel at Jalan Munshi Abdullah at 1.30pm, it was just a decent hotel with only 3 star rating but at least the location is near to Oldtown not hard to find but En Haffis who went adventurous on his own at night could not the way back to the hotel...I think that you're relying too much on GPS rather than memorizing the landmarks.... ;-p

view from Emperor Hotel overlooking Straits Of Malacca and oldtown


Even though I'm familiar with this area but there are some places that has been upgraded and lost it's charm just like this one:-
Dataran Pahlawan,...new building with shops like Mc Donald, Euro Moda...etc.
A row of food stall has been replaced by so called 'modern attraction'...stu*i*

This is where Padang Pahlawan used to be, it is historically significant in our country's independent but look at what happen when we try to please and attract tourist. We forgot that by doing this dramatic changes, we've lost the sense of place in the name of tourism. This new development comprises of well known company like MNG, Mango,Padini,Gulatis,McD,..and the list goes on...by introducing this mega mall and what not, we are not only destroying the sense of history but we make future generation to totally forget about the hardship and struggle of of past ancestor. I don't see how are we going to connect to the past even though they provide a square or something at roof level and these new shops at sub-basement..but to me the square should be at road level where people could just walk thru and there should be some kind of vista or focal point.


Natural history...at least they could think of conserving this old tree... not far from those red building- Stadhuys

Jonker Street:
One of Oldtown attraction - Jonker Walk, where roads are narrow and shophouse are full of history and charm of Peranakan legacy. They best way to experience it of coz by walking but don't forget your hat and sun block :-)






But...of coz I could not shut my mouth and dear husband has to tadah telinga listening to me and my membebel about this gerbang or entrance or what ever they call it..I think this is unnessary, I know that they need sponsor and conservation need a lot of fund but these ain't a bill board..sigh...talking about World Heritage...

River Cruise:


I should give a credit on this wall...made of pebblewash..indicating a map of Bandar Hilir, Kg Morten and other places where the boat cruise along..The yellow line in the heart of this map is the Malacca River


Family photo..Hadif was sleeping and Sufiya was so happy waving to each boat that passed us..





I like this facade treatment where light were only on the edge of these grey old building, it really stands out at night


Blue river..reminds me of this song - Moon river...



Kg Morten..a place not to be miss..typical Malacca House that has been restored and conserved..most of the house are like a living museum with antiques and old and rustic furniture including old black and white photos of their ancestor..but the best thing is to go there and talk to them, hear the story and appreciate that moment..

I think that the aim of this River Cruise is a success..the objective has been achieved and most of the historically building has been well uplifted and the river bank are in good condition with board walk...except for some small fake replica of mushroom..??...but I think one major part of muara sungai Melaka telah hilang begitu sahaja..there used to be an old godown with boats full of timber and batter trade were an important element..maybe they have a better reason for that...




Lights and more lights by the riverside


Almost a full moon

Final day

Sufiya's new friend..Ah Meng...

no.. no...they are not our long lost family..but a family from Beijing who loves to show their traditiional dance...

There are many places that we skip due to time constraint and travelling with small kids are different all together...but we will definitely come again to trace the history

Dari Kemboja ke Tanah Melayu...

People change with age and are wiser and more open to their surrounding thru experience and knowledge. Our perception change each day upon seeing new or even old thing, because when we reached certain level or stage of life, we understand how and why things are or the way they were.

I hate or maybe not that harsh, but I don't like going for family gathering or kenduri when we were small, not entirely because of scared meeting many people but the thought of waiting for bas bandaran no.2 under the shade of trees in front of an old wooden house with black planks and railing that look like they gonna fall down..and sometimes that house looks a little bit spooky for my wild imagination..(this is just part of the reason anyway)..the journey itself from Seberang Perak will take about half and hour or more despite it short distance to the final station which is stesen bas baru. Riding a bus was not a first choice back then, but we can't afford to have a car so bas bandaran was the most economical way to travel. From Seberang Perak it will travel to Stesen Bas Lama and head to Stesen Bas Baru where another waiting session awaits us, there were less seat, it was smoky and full of people especially on Saturday where people from all ceruk of Kedah will come to Pekan Alor Setar in their most best attire..and this is also why I hate to attend kenduri...We have to wait for bas Gunung with its green body and a small picture of Gunung Keriang proudly painted on the side and the bus is always full but normally we managed to grab a seat. When we arrived at our destination, we have to walk again..sigh...and again....just like going back to my farther's side...

But that was then..I grew up and matured now, have a kids of my own..have a small car that could accommodate anything and everything and look like tin sardine cap ayam....

Lately family gathering is full of surprises and interesting facts , it was more than just makan-makan session anymore, we hardly see each other and that was the only time to meet long lost family members, new addition or even discovered our roots that has been buried by time and history.

From this meeting I discovered many things that could explain many other things that confused me when I was a kid...

I met an uncle who's working on finding facts on our family line, and he laid out the roots and explained that one of our ancestor were from Kemboja!..travelled down to Tanah Melayu and started a family here and the family grew and have their own family name that sounds like typical Kemboja's name.Somehow the name dissappeared thru times and thru marriage.

Another line were originated from India..that explained why my late tukang rumah grandfather had a strong jaw and prominent nose and so does my mother who on her wedding day, the grooms family said ..'tu diaaa...hidung boleh sangkut baju...'

Another interesting fact was a bit spooky and hard to explain to anybody who don't really understand Malay culture especially the way of life of orang dulu-dulu with their beliefs and pantang larang tok nenek.....'Abdul Rahman' was born with a twin that have his own family line now...but 'Abdul Rahman' is still single but they said that he's in everybody's blood...he is no homosapien..only few people had seen 'Abdul Rahman', people who were closed to my late moyang Tok Dah. She was a bidan and her skill we passed down to my mother who are brave just like her Tok Dah.
According to my mother, Tok Dah on certain night will carry a white cloth with some bertih inside and head to the riverside opposite Istana. Back then she did not understand but she just willingly followed her grandmother everywhere she went.
This story only came out when one of our relative has been diagnosed with a strange sickness that a medical doctor could not cure and even the doctor adviced us to seek a bomoh's help..! By then each of them started to revealed many things that I never heard of before...

It was believed that before Tok Dah died, she had promised that the 'thing' will stop with her death..no anak cucu cicit will follow any ritual pertaining to 'Abdul Rahman'...but something never stop, it will run thru in every vein of the family, some will have her strong and brave character, some will be able to help other people just like what she did and some will just admired her story.

Now I'm waiting for more family gathering and appreciate them even better and don't mind the long journey anymore coz that long journey is a journey to discover the roots of everything.....

This is only part of the missing pieces that we discovered, it is only on my grandfather's side (my mother's side)...my grandmother's line were originated from Malacca and Johore (Bugis) and my grandma's father was called Tok Man Melaka.

When I was at Kg Morten, Malacca doing Urban Study, we visited one old house and the old lady asked us to ketuk gong....after my turn she said to me..'macam Orang Melaka'..and I just smile to her....


My daugther with her Dada's(Benggali for grandpa) prominent nose with my uncle's daugther at our family gathering. She is a combination of Malay and Benggali..hmmm that will be another story

Meeting at Pullman Hotel Putrajaya

..off Replica in ARCHITECTURE and Roman Column....

We had a meeting today at Pullman Hotel Putrajaya..the hotel is not fully complete yet, but there are few wings and portion that has been operated. The meeting was a success and so does the makan-makan session :-P..nothing to complaint when you got to dine by the lake, with a vista like that accompanied with good food and interesting people...

The design of this hotel is a masterpiece of Raja Bahrin..who is well-known for his Terengganu style architecture, heavy with carving on stone panel as well as timber works..but I personally think that it would a massive job for maintenance..

But for the sake of learning the art and architecture, one could grab a lot of experience here because they have not only Malay architecture but also Chinese and Indian, one wing of this hotel looks similar to Rajastan palace..


Timber panel with dark colour creating a warm ambience with water feature at the back gives a cooling effect


oohhh..I look so serius in this photo..waiting for my braised lamb shank which was so tender and juicy and you don't need a knive to cut it thru..the portion was not too small nor too big..there are a lot of timber works on this place as well...


View toward viewing tower and lake


Tiling work at the corridor


Another tiling work


Combination of matt and glossy finish tiles, various size (4 types of ceramic tiles here)and colours


Decorative panel at the corridor..the works of artisan- so well designed and well carved but too many things to maintain


The roof of deck area


Washroom : Wall tiles with interesting horizontal pattern

Courtyard:
Two similar concept with a little bit of differences on the elements of timber works and colour





I think that this is a nice place to visit, to enjoy the view, to appreciate the architecture of multi culture and to have a different taste of dining experience, but architecturally it was not that original..I mean, there are too many things or element that has been copied and paste from other culture or country and they ended up like a replica in Putrajaya, some part of the buildings looks too heavy with elaborate detailing that will give a headache during maintenance work. As we all know maintenance is not a field that we really have a passion and expertise in Malaysia, people tend to take for granted this aspect.

It is true that they want to create or reflect a different or fusion architecture, but sometimes it is best to do it in a subtle way..rather than seeing a replica..we had enough of Pharaoh's heritage in this country (Sunway Pyramid) and other building that signify 'other' element that we sometimes don't really understand the 'true meaning' behind it.

Some building ..or most of them has been designed with certain objective and purposed according to their local culture and context or derived from a certain 'belief' that only that particular society could understand.

And that is why I hate roman column..!!! dulu2 orang kampung pantang tengok roman column ni...buat rumah mesti nak kena ada column ni..cantik pada depa, tapi we copy bulat2 without knowing the meaning or we never think whether that element could suit our house, or our lifestyle or not.


Parthenon - 'Temple of all the Gods'

Roman column was meant for a temple, it looks proportionately appropriate for Parthenon but not for a bungalow house in khatulistiwa :-) which as we know a house is a place for people to live in, a place to nurture, a warm and cosy and intimate...

So next time when you have enough money..or too much to spend, never ever eye this Roman column and think that they will make your main entrance looks more grand and majestic..do you know the meaning of those column..? the meaning of that triangle thing (pediment)...? do you know that they are not just an architecture of the Romans..do you know that they represents more than just ARCHITECTURE..!!!

They are representing a society that is controlling our life now...go figure..it is a high time we need to open our mind and eyes and observed things around us..they are they way they are right now and before on PURPOSED..A PURPOSED with big AGENDA...

Sketches and Water Confident

My first drawing lesson was when my father handed me mosquito coil box- cap ikan emas, a light yellow box with a picture of goldfish, he taught me how to draw a coconut tree at later stage and few other things around our house. From then on I started to observed ordinary things around me and made them a subject for my painting. The fist drawing competition was back in 1980- pre school...my father and few other relatives gathered and taught me and giving support a day before the BIG day...it was a typical Malay house on stilt with coconut tree and hens and shrubs with paddy field at the back and a small mountain..

It was a big thing for a six years old..but that was not my lucky day...


Sufiya's Bold expression...

Last week when we fetch Sufiya at nursery, she ran towards her abah with her drawing..it looks like a meaningless sketch..at one glance it does look like an abstract painting..she was really proud of her drawing and keep showing it to everybody inside the elevator...I'm proud of her achievement, at her age (she'll be 2 next month), she has started observing a lot of things and copied everything..good and bad...;-)

I guess this must be the feeling when my parents saw me draw..and when they saw the development and passion,..they too started pouring their support by patiently cutting beautiful pictures from newspaper so that I could copy and draw...

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I've wrote few years back that even though my parents house is by the river, we never allowed to swim freely like any other kids..and that make us what we are today (but i've joined swimming class :-P )....





Yesterday was a water confident session for Sufiya at our community centre, the pool was full with kids..some with floaties and what not..my girl was glued to her abah..but after a while she started to enjoy the water..and did try to bend down and let hte water touch her face...

She's happy...and I'm happy too looking at her having a good time

An Ode to My Mother

When I have my own child now, I started to realised how this big wild world is dangerous and unpredictable, I started to worry like any other mom, thinking and praying for their safety..now I knew how my mom feel raising six...not just one or two girls..understand why she have been so protective all these years...


I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to her:

Sorry for being so stubborn,
Sorry for not listening to your advice,
Sorry for using one whole 'buku latihan' as my colouring book,
Sorry for giving you much trouble buying ikan bawal for my SRT class,
Sorry for making you worry,
Sorry for making you cry..not once but many times.

I know that I made many mistakes and there is no turning back..but I would like to say thank you to you:

Thank you for being loving to us,
Thank you for reading us Tamar Jalis's Bercakap dengan Jin in the middle of the night during heavy rain,
Thank you for buying me Brownies and Girl Guide's uniform..it must have cost you lot,
Thank you for taking your time cutting all those beautiful picture from newspaper for me,
Thank you for the cooking lesson even though you never let us cook on our own,
Thank you for without fail sending me money every month despite our hardship,
Thank you for making us brave and tough just like you who never afraid of anything.

Tomorrow is your 55th Birthday...there is no better gift that I could send to you, but I always pray for you and Ayah and for our family..

I wish I could have been a better daughter to you,
I wish that you don't have to work so hard anymore,
I wish I could pay back all your love, your suffer to raised me,
I wish you A Happy Birthday...

Semoga dimurahkan rezeki dan dipanjangkan usia