Tattoo...

...ehemmmm...
...not body tho'...
but these...








...kakak's...I thought it was not yet finished eventho' she already wore it last Sunday to KK...she told me it represent darkness and light...her interpretation of her drawings...








...Adek's..."cantik kah, cantik kah ni" she asked, showing me a beautiful sketch of heart motif...was a bit surprised when she painted this tho...I guessed it is a bit easier to manipulate only one colour...




..."eh tembirang lah tu kan, suka betul lukis hantu jepun ni" I heard the girls saying as soon as their Uncle Joko return home one night...this was really a surprise tho..."oohhh...ko pakai cat yang baru saya beli pula tu ah" hubby garang2 kunu cakap sama si Joko...he even told us that some of his friends are interested...hmmmmmmm...

...later...

My mothers...

Mak...

I do not need to wait for Mother's Day to remember you by...
Wherever you are...
You're always in my prayer...
Always in my heart...
Rest in peace...
You're in good hands...
You're in a better place...
Till we meet again mak...
Until then...Alfatihah...Amin










...a studio photo when there's only 3 of us siblings...
...except for Bapa's, all our clothes were sewn by mak...
...mak, if only I can taste your cooking one more time...






Mummy...


Thank you for giving me the opportunity...
For letting me be a daughter again...
You're one of a kind...
I am honoured...



...Alli took this photo of mummy holding some mangoes she picked from the small orchard beside the house...a big woman with a big heart to match it...mummy may good health and happiness be with you all the time...


I am blessed...

Inspirations...

Last night...

Hubby told me an inspirational story narrated to him by Chai during their lunch together on last Tuesday...

...some time in the 80s Chai was doing research work at Danum Valley...he met this one gardener who worked there...the gardener was still there when Chai was doing another research work some time in the 90s...

...this gardener is weirdly special...weird because he would take whatever seeds he found and started to plant them...special because in this way he would be able to monitor the progress of the plants, nurtured them, watch them grew and understand them right from their seed...a self-gained knowledge that others might perceive as something that is merely done just to kill time...nothing out of the ordinary tho, after all, he is the gardener...

...but I guessed little did everyone knew that this hands-on-self-gained-knowledge would open up the path to a new world to the gardener...he was very passionate about what he did and over time he became an "expert" on these plants....so much so that when a group of students from the UK were doing their thesis...he was there teaching them about the plants...they were very impressed with his knowledge...I mean who wouldn't...a lowly worker who most of the time did not even deserve a nod of our head...a lowly worker whose existence is none to some of us...

...the gardener was later joined by his nephew at his workplace and he instilled the same passion into him...his indepth knowledge of the plants won the heart of the students that they suggested he went to the UK and worked in one of the green houses there...he went there in 1999 (if I'm not mistaken)...he is still there...still doing what he did when he went there...lecturing!!!

I was very sure about one thing...
...one does not need credentials to change one's life...
...one does not need all the worldly materials to transform one's life...
...it takes a little bit of passion...
...it takes a little bit of confidence...
...it takes a little bit of desire...
...this is what I believe...

I forgot to mention one thing tho about this gardener...oops two things actually...
...from a non-english-talking-person, he is now lecturing in UK...
...it gets even better...the gardener is a Timorese!!!

Talking about inspiration, I was inspired by what I saw in one of the blogs...I was forever harassed by my colleagues to make use of my children's artistics talent...a talent that they inherited from their father...

I have bought all the necessary materials for them to experiment with but their father dearest has beat them to it...

This morning hubby showed me this...he did them last night...an image of the Borneon Bristlehead, the 5 star-endemic-sought-after-close-to-his-heart bird, hand-drawn on one of his hiking boots (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jordansitorus/3185219520/in/photostream/)

...inspirational stories are abound...
...if we look closely, the doors of opportunity are everywhere...
...if we look closely, the windows of opportunity are there...
...we see them...
...but how many take a good look inside...
what we're good at...
what we're best at doing at...
...be a spectator...
...be an audience...
It's no longer enough for me tho...
I'm feeling inspired these past few days...
It's a wonderful feeling...
It's a mighty wonderful feeling when you shared them with your family...