Live Well ~ Laugh Often ~ Love Much

To those who have been reading this blog for juicy updates of my life, fear not of the long silence in the past few months, for I have finally migrated my blog to Wordpress.

Wordpress is far a better and more convenient blog publisher, thus the migration was long expected to happen.

Thanks to kind and expert advice from Mr. Kay and Anthony, I’ve successfully moved everything here to my new ‘home’ in blogosphere.

Hence, it is official that I would be updating my posts at www.blusher.wordpress.com from hereon.

Keeping my fingers crossed for regular visit from you! Yes, you, my friend!

With Love and Laughter,

Friends are like bras, close to your heart and there for support.

A friend was wondering what were the things I bought from Bali and I decided to post this pic.

This was the thing I bought from Bali. I have always been fascinated by the sound coming from the bamboo.

I remember during my secondary school, the teacher in charge of the Band team introduced this piece of instrument. It’s called the Angklung and what wonderful music to the ears when it’s played.

Judging from my non-musical background, I’m afraid the purchase of this Angklung was merely at a moment of weakness. Of course, I’m sure this instrument will lay in on side of the living room and gather dust by the end of the year. However, it proves to be good material for me to use with the kids in my class. I predict they would be amused with such an extraordinary musical instrument.

Behold the Great Angklung Player to-be.

My niece, XR, trying to make some melodious music by fiddling with the Angklung.

Phew! It’s been ages since I made an entry here. Lots of %$^&&^ reasons, i.e. broadband was down for entire month in April, traveled a bit and mainly, I was so immersed in my work with the kids!

Well, anyway, we had a couple of days for a vacation, the hubby and I. And boy was I glad for the short break!

The destination was Bali, Indonesia and the timing was perfect for a relaxed vacation. When I say ‘relaxed’, I mean, real invigoration of the body and all the lazing under the sun.

This time, we stayed in two hotels for the 4 days we spent there. Day 1 was spent in Kuta Beach, near Hard Rock Hotel. Yep, I was a little paranoid then, kept thinking that bombs would start exploding any minute. The public beach in Kuta was filled with surfers, having a thrill with the waves while local hawkers were selling fried chicken by the beach. We idly watched the busy commotion from the terrace restaurant as we lounged and drank iced drinks. It was real cool, I mean, relaxing in this way.

We checked in to Club Med, Nusa Dua the next day and were joined by the rest of the group from his company. From that day, we were lost to the world outside the resort. Our next couple of days were spent with fun-filled moments. We even kayaked out to the sea! It was real fun cos I have not indulged myself with water sports for ages!

Yea, tried to wake up to see the sunrise but all was in vain. It was so cloudy that we failed to watch the emergence of the ‘yolk’ shape of the sun. Dang! So, we only managed a pititful quality pic which I don’t think it’s nice enough to post it here.

Well, I could say that this vacation, we played hard (golf, basketball, archery, kayaking, volleyball etc), lazed and had our skins burnt to brownish gold and partied hard during the nights when we danced away with the GO’s of Club Med.

Wish I have more pics of this vacation but we were too busy and lazy to bring our camera out.

Just bought me-self a box of oil pastels. Yeah, I know, who in this century still longs for a box of crayons, right? Well, I do. To mark this crazy buy, I’ve posted a pic of my crayons….plus a fuzzy pic of 2 little paintings I’ve done today. Please take note that the illustration ideas are taken from the web, thus I’m not quite sure if that’s called plagiarism.

I hope I won’t be kicked in the ass sued for that.

Err…Anyway…I’m really, REALLY happy that I can start colouring and painting, just to satisfy my craving for a little bit of creativity on my artistic side. Heee!

Aren’t the colours beautiful?

Pardon the bad quality of pic ^__^

Last weekend we went back to Johor for the Qing Ming festival. I should say that it was really an eye-opener for a very ’sua-ku’ me. I have not been to the graveyard for ages (literally speaking-la) and have not attended any Tomb Sweeping Day at the Tan’s family. BTW, I’m married to a Hokkien Tan family.

According to experience, Granny said we had to wake up at 5am so that we would not be stuck in the jam at the graveyard. I didn’t really understand what she meant, but when we were up the hill, there were crowds of people with umbrellas, scythes, trowels, joss sticks, flowers, fruits,  teacups and whatnots.  Unfortunately,  there were no proper car parks and we had to park our car next to an empty space in front of another person’s tomb. There were throngs of people, from the young to the old.

I was really excited because I got to witness the rituals of Tomb Sweeping which I don’t really know. While walking to our grandfather’s tomb, in the drizzling rain and the mucky ground, there were so many flashes of colourful lights from the fireworks (yep, fireworks at the graveyard) and the resounding noises from the firecrackers. 

I had no idea why there were fireworks and firecrackers on a Qing Ming Day. Truly beats me, man. I’ve heard of fireworks for the New Year, but Qing Ming???? I guess, it’s like a wake-up call to the dead, so that they would ‘come out’ and eat??? I kept walking with my jaws opened, fascinated with the fireworks in the grey skies of the early day.

The guys scraped off weeds from the grounds near grandfather’s grave and the rest of us hurried to prepare an impromptu altar to put the offerings and tea. There were so many ‘pantangs’ and I had no idea why we were not allowed to do this, why we were not allowed to say that. Jeez, I wonder if our generation would remember all those rules and regulations of Qing Ming. I had so many questions myself, like, why do we need to bring along a pomelo leaf in our pockets? and why do we need to discard the pomelo leaf before we reach home? why must we place colourful papers on top of the tomb? Why are some tombs covered with red cloth? Why can’t we lift up the ‘gold ingots’ to let it burn faster?

I know I’m not very traditional and is not well informed with customary traditions, thus, I try to learn more about it now.

I think most young people nowadays are also quite ignorant about the traditions which our forefathers religiously adhered to for so many generations. So, attending these events is a good experience and we get to learn new things from the elders.

Yeah, I know, this is quite a boring entry but I wanna document this event so that I could remember the day I was flabbergasted with fireworks…at the graveyard. That really was different. hehe.

That was the famous quote from the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, in which I believe almost every kid who speaks English would know the tune to the famous childhood song.

Of late, I’ve been trying my best to practice how to truly appreciate any friendship that I have. Even the long forgotten ones, friends whom I have been acquainted to in the yesteryears.

So, two days ago, I was searching for some of my old friends and after I googled some names, I found some info of a very old friend of mine, W. However, he’s now called Dr. W, a certified Vet in Serdang (a place near mine). The problem was I only had an address with no phone number.

I made up my mind to look for him and yesterday, I gathered my guts to find someone whom I had not seen for 10 years. It was pretty scary and yet exciting.

Well, the story didn’t end well. To cut things short, I went through a massive traffic jam on the way, worried that my car would spurt and die because it was seriously running out of fuel . After I finally got out from the jam, I was totally flabbergasted.

Serdang was a huge area and what’s worse, the roads were so confusing! I kept asking for directions but nobody knew the place I was looking for. Anyway, while I was frantically looking for the place, I nearly had an accident. The lady in the other car actually decided to come out from the junction when my car was actually speeding along the main road. If it weren’t for the slamming of the brakes, I would have banged her car. I nearly had a seizure!!! Man! I really don’t know how she got her license.

Okay, back to my search for Dr. W.

After the near collision, I proceeded in the long, winding and confusing roads of Serdang. I should say, I was sorta lost in a maze for some 2 hours before I finally found the place. Whoa! I was so excited and happy when I found the right street.

Nevertheless, my triumph was short lived.

What I saw was just an empty house with overgrown weeds in the garden. My spirits plummeted drastically and I headed home with disappointment. All the effort and that’s all I found.

Lesson Learnt? Next time, get a Street Map. It could be handy and help save lots of time.

Er…Seriously, I was disappointed for not able to find my old friend, Dr. W. I knew that the info I found on the Internet was 2 years old but I had hoped that he still lived there. Anyhow, I had given lots of effort and risked my life (well, sorta) to look for an old friend. That’s the least I could do from my part of friendship.

I don’t know when or where shall I see my friend again, but I’m really glad that I had not forgotten this friend.

Phew! Finally, an entry, successfully posted

I’ve been having some bad experiences since the Chinese New Year with my blog. I actually typed an entry about my Vietnam trip but the PC hanged on me. Sigh. The second time, I typed another entry about celebrating birthdays homestyled but I accidentally erased the post. Duh…how stupid oh me. And there were numerous times when I actually had some stuffs to write about but lost the inspiration once I got home. I think it was about a Merentas Desa (Cross-Country Run) which I happened to see some high school kids panting all the way up some hill in a housing area in Puchong (near my place).

Anyway, I really really wanted to sit down and type this time. So, tada!!!

I was driving home after work today, thinking to myself how some of my friends are struggling with their careers and work at the moment when a rubbish truck drove by.
When the truck was approaching my car, I saw a piece of yellow stuff in front of the truck. I thought that something was stuck at the front grille of the truck.

I squinted my eyes to have a better look for I was a tad real curious about that yellow thing which caught my eye.

Then, I saw it.

When I realized what the yellow thing was, I laughed so loud in my car that I seriously thought of stopping at the side of the road.

The piece of yellow thing ‘caught’ on the front grille of the truck was a yellow stuffed duck (a soft toy) and it was actually strapped onto the front grille which made it looked like it was making a brave attempt in jumping from the front of the rubbish truck!!!

I didn’t manage to snap a pic of it though but the image of the duck’s bill flapping in the wind and its wings and webbed feet strapped at the front of the truck really looked hilarious, especially for a person with great imagination like me. Hehehe!

Many people I know don’t actually like their work. Most of them are struggling through their jobs and hardly enjoy what they do. I used to be like that as well and I found it to be suffocating me a lot.

However, unlike many of us with good salaries and comfortable working environment but with less enjoyment at work, the rubbish truck man actually found some humour while at his work. The yellow toy duck not only decorated his truck, but it made the truck stood out on its own.

By doing so, I suppose, it helped to make his work more bearable and enjoyable. Not only that, the yellow duck had made me laughed so hard with its pose right at the front of the truck.

So, fellas, the next time you lose motivation at work, find some HUMOUR in yourselves to keep you going

Just got back from my Hanoi trip.

I’m beginning to think that I’m pretty good at traveling alone. It helped me to be more independent… uh-huh…..hence the need to pack less and light so I don’t have to drag my luggage everywhere. I’ve survived almost 3 trips in solo-traveling. I can’t really count 3 though cos when I was in Japan, half the trip was accompanied later by the hubby.

Anyway, Vietnam to me, is like KL twenty or thirty years ago. Though Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, it did not look anything like any other cities I’ve been to. The roads were practically decorated with all kinds of motorbikes and bicycles of colours and sizes.

Anyone could start a vendor business in the
street with just a stick and two baskets. Seriously! All sorts of
fruits, vegetables and even hard bread vendors were squatting at any
nook or corner.

Although this trip, I was mostly and conveniently traveling in the comfort of the tour bus, I tried to walk around as much as I could. The weather was cold and it’s still winter. When I first landed in the airport, I kept thinking why the locals were wearing thick winter clothes. A few hours later, I knew why. The weather was quite chilly with gusts of wind repeatedly blowing at our faces.

The landscape was a dull grayish picture, with lots of padi fields stretched across the flat lands of Hanoi. It was a long stretch, I say. I’ve never seen such flatter lands before, except the yellowish grasslands of the Australia bush.

Well, since Vietnam is still struggling from post-war years, I could see that the people are recuperating but the economy is still at a crawling pace. Many are still facing poverty and this was realistically dawned to me when I was besieged by a mob of  ragged children, trying to sell postcards and old women who kept pestering me in Vietnamese, to have a look at some potato-look-alike vegetable.

Instantly, I recalled back my experience when I went to Shenzhen a couple of years back. The scene when I saw numerous beggars feeding their babies with the scraps they found in the dumps. I had a raw feeling of sadness then, that in some countries, the gap between the poverty-stricken  and the filthy rich is so huge that it posed a big socio-economy problem and it doesn’t seem to improve through the years. Being in Malaysia makes me feel really blessed.

Here are some pics I would like to share.

One of the classy restaurants I went to dine. Brother’s Cafe provides an elegant ambience where we dined in the courtyard of a
refurbished ancient Vietnamese temple. Dining under the stars in the
open courtyard was a very romantic experience indeed. Sigh! Wished the hubby was with me to experience it.

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Water is very precious in Vietnam because tap water is not filtered and treated, thus the water is undrinkable even after boiled.

Therefore, in every restaurant we went, each person was only allowed a bottle and water was really expensive too!

I feel so lucky that we have proper water treatment in Malaysia 

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The endless fields of padi. This was the greener padi pic I took. Most of the padi field were now in dry yellowish colour.

I’ve finally started my freelance schedule and to be honest, I was freaking out a couple of days ago. Why? Cos I have been ‘out-of-work’ for the past two months now and I’m getting used to the slothful pace in the mornings. Yep…no more rushing to brush my teeth and choosing my clothes. Now, I just laze around on the bed till I’m wide awake. Err…not so productive, I know.

Anyway, starting work again, means using my brain more actively again….Heee

Well, I’ve gone through 2 classes so far and I guess my momentum is picking up and so is my energy level. Good sign, right? It means, I’m getting back to my ‘useful’ mode again, instead of leeching off the hubby and lepaking.

It’s good to be back to work minus the long hours and stress. Freelance is my thing.

DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT
DO NOT OVER EAT    DO NOT OVER EAT   DO NOT OVER EAT

Apparently, my weighing machine refused to read my weight this morning. Umm…my hubby thinks its the contact problem at the button (It’s a digital machine) but me thinks otherwise….

My weight has been taking its toll in hiking up the pounds since last year. Err…can’t blame much about it cos I’ve been whopping in cheesy and starchy stuffs like nobody’s business.

So, when I saw the digits of my weight, I nearly collapsed!!!

ACKS!!!

I’m gonna end up 20 pounds overweight and won’t be able to see my toes even before I get myself pregnant!

Gone were the days of slim arms, trimmed ankles and a sexy shapely butt. Now, I’m just a flabby person with no waist!!! OMG!!!!!!!

Therefore, the Mantra.

Wish me luck! er…more like wish me Persistence & Determination *winks*