Country Cottage Arts

I just celebrated my 21st wedding anniversary recently. Every year is a milestone and an accomplishment of patience, patience and more patience!. Over the years, my outlook has changed considerably, for the better, I guess! " I've no time to cry over the past and don't have enough time to plan for the future. I live for the present " a quote by Omar Shariff of Dr Zhivago fame, and that about sums up my outlook too. Why worry over the future when I don't know what's going to happen? My kids will grow up and will build lives of their own ( can't interfere too much these days, not good for my stress level!) and life has to go on for everyone, no matter pleasant or unpleasant...... so all the better reason to live our lives fully now.....

On the home front, Arvind's ( that's my son) saxophone was stolen from our home in the wee hours of the morning a week ago. The idiot/s used the mop stick drying at the side of the house to extricate the sax from the sofa near the window. The window had a grille..... Upon making the report at the local police station, they had the stupidity to ask me, get this, " Kenapa saya membuat laporan ........" Duhhh, why I made a report? I looked at them incredulously and my eyes almost popped out when I heard that..kenapa..!!! sigh.... no hope of ever setting eyes on the sax again...

Here's wishing all my Muslim artists, friends and bloggers a Happy Festival of Eid Mubarakh.....celebration

Another delighted customer was Sharifah from Batu Tiga for whom I had painted a wrought iron garden table top with a matching set of 4 chairs. The roses were done in a soft white background with light pink roses in a semi circular arrangement. The finished piece looked extremely well that Sharifah couldn't wait to collect it even though it was almost close to 11 o'clock at night when she reached my house. The look on her face said it all . It was a very happy gal who went to bed that day

This is the lime green distressed window panel frame that I wrote about. Would appreciate comments from readers........

The 'mad cow' disease has taken Shah Alam by storm and we are in the grip of madness in more ways than one, depending on whom you talk to, I guess. Some recoil in horror and some are resigned to it. From the New York Post to the Washington Times, Shah Alam has become the topic of print and conversation for all the wrong reasons . I don't want to go into the details lest this becomes a topic of contention. Suffice to say that in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, I wish all my Muslim friends 'Selamat Berbuka Puasa' and hopefully, they won't forget to call me for their celebration of Hari Raya Puasa. I simply cannot resist the mouth-watering rendang and ketupat, together with all their 'kuih muih'...

Todate, I have painted a beautiful window frame panel, which incidently, is from a salvaged wood of a'kampung' house. The first one was done in a lime green distressed background with large roses. Upon completion, I was rather pleased with the compliments I received from the happy customer, Cikgu Zaleha. I then decided to paint one for myself but with an off-white distressed background . I must say that I am mighty pleased with myself as I did it without referring to anyone or any book .

The school holidays have started. Yesterday my kids and I saw a movie''UP' at the Bukit Raja Shopping Centre. It was a heartwarming and a very funny kinda movie, literally- about two kids who become friends, get married and grow old together, the wife 'goes' first and the old man is now all alone- reminiscing about their unfinished trip to Paradise Falls. ( The scene showing them growing old together was very simple but, oh so touching and heartwarming that you'd wish that it was you and your husband who'ld be like that when you're old. I cried when she died and my daughter made fun of me when we came out of the theatre !) Along comes a brownie points kid who throws himself at the old man's doorstep and together they forge a reluctant friendship which is the start of their journey on a new adventure. A memorable line I still remember is when the little kid tells the old man that its the boring things he did with his dad that he remembers and comforts him most. And it does strike a chord in us, I think. It's the boring and mundane things we'd done during our childhood days that brings back fond memories of our time with our parents. So go right ahead and faithfully do some boring stuff with your children - hopefully their memories will be happy too!

I would certainly recommend this movie to everyone- a feel good movie for the whole family. If you can't go to the theatre, get the DVD ......

August started barely a week ago (for me, that is) and before I know it, it's already towards its tail end. Everything is whizzing pass fast and furious. Along its path, I've met some interesting people and some whom I care not to meet again.... I've read the terrible news headlines which sometimes borders on the ludicrous... and come across jokes which makes me speechless in the wrong sort of way...the list goes on...

On the brighter side, I've seen and am still watching re-runs of 'The Nanny" and can still laugh every time Miss Fine speaks in her nasal twang. Hmm, how I wish I was in her place...(having a butler certainly helps, don't you think ?) I thoroughly enjoy the sitcom - the nanny in her unbelievable designer togs, although I can't fathom how any nanny can afford those, Mr Sheffield, the perfect gentleman,a wisecracking but loyal butler and of course, the adorable and wholesome kids. Miss Babcock just adds to the laughter.. ha..ha..That's about the only program I can watch on TV without my husband flipping the TV remote to ESPN..and all the sports channel together with it.. I've literally stopped watching TV programmes for the same reason. There was a time when I used to watch a good movie or two after my household chores were done for the day..but along comes my better half(?) who will switch the channel for Manchester United vs Arsenal or PGA Golf series or singles/doubles badminton matches or NBA basketball or whatever .... Being the dutiful wifey that I am, I just hand over the remote and start on my painting... no arguement and fights. How cool is that! My painting hobby has actually helped my marriage, phew! Another perfect reason why all married ladies shoud pick up this skill.

I am just recovering from an avalanche of dust ,grime ,cement, bricks and mortar and worst of all the shrill bone shaking noise from the industrial drill. All this punishment for just redoing my bathroom. Oh, did I mention it was upstairs in the master bedroom? If it had gone any longer, I would have had a nervous breakdown and admitted myself in one of the premier ICU wards, really! Kindly imagine 2 adults and 2 kids crammed into 1 bedroom and sharing
1 bathroom for a whole month !. I think you can get the picture, no ?

With no maid to help and my husband and son feighning ignorance, seemingly oblivious to the mental breakdown I was going through, it was left to my poor daughther and I to cope with the shmuck. Why is it that women always end up doing the dirty work? Washing, mopping and cleaning the entire house from top to bottom, which included all the cooking utensils, cutlery, pictures frames, curtains, upholstery, walls, fans, eletrical equipment and gadget,4 wardrobes and their entire contents... etc, etc, etc,...was... heck, there's no word in the Englsh Language to describe it! And this was not a one time affair, it had to be done over and over for several days.... All I could say in the local lingo was "Aiyo!! it was just toooo much lah...."

It's been 2 weeks now from the horror and guess what? I can't use the bathroom because the idiots fixed in a too small water outlet that even a small tub of water down the outlet will flood it. Calls to the morons to rectify the blunder has, as usual,not been answered, since I was stupid enough to pay them (as I thought that was the only way to get them to finish the work faster and leave )Always the expert on hindsight, I guess. Now, we can't use the bathroom and I dread another messy job in the offing. Contractors are such imbeciles you know!!- especially the ones from a neighbouring country.

This is my personal experience and I mean no offence to anyone. By the way,does anyone share a similar experience or is it peculiar to me only ?

Is it only me or do all the over 50's feel that time is flying faster than it should? Turning 50 has made me,sort of, strange and weird.I can't seem to put a finger on it but it has certainly enlarged my vision, physically, mentally and emotionally... sad movies makes me cry even more than it normally would, to the point that even my kids make fun of me; news of someone's death, whether a friend or foe,makes me dumbstruck, reminding me of my own mortality; listening to someone's sob story makes me doubly appreciate my own family with all its warts and all and living in denial of my diabetes has finally caught up with me-now, even a tiny morsel of sweetness is like ambrosia...urgh... how terrible...

On the other hand, I'm happier now than I was before, my sense of humour has heightened so much that I don't laugh anymore, I guffaw uncontrollably, even for the silliest of jokes!; my dancing shoes are seeing the light of day more often with the 60's and 70's beat and best of all, I don't have to make attempts to solve problems anymore, I just let the problems solve itself, courtesy of the ' no fuss and no mess' policy .

Goodnight and sweet dreams....

50 years have I spent on this earth and now I'm in the 'contemplating' stage and while doing just that, Michael Jackson died, aged 50 too, how about that? Life has a whole new meaning to me now. One moment happy and living life and the next minute, gone permanently; leaving only our name and whatever infinitesimal contribution we have made in our lifetime. Michael Jackson has left his name to speak for himself. The average Joe or Jane? Something to really think about, isn't it......

The days pass slowly when we are young but literally fly by as we age, at least, that's my perception and my husband, for once, seems to concur. Things seem different for me now. It's no longer just black or white, like MJ's hit, but shades of greys and neutrals have crept in larger swathes of my outlook. I've learnt to let go of a lot of emotional and physical attachments and this has left me remarkably relaxed and stress free. I mean, there's no point in working myself up in a frenzy over some mistakes or problems. They won't disappear, for sure, (however much we rant and rave) but will somehow work itself out with the passage of time, with the right mode and method presenting itself. A case of 'que sera sera, whatever will be, will be' by Doris Day. How sooo true!

On a lighter note, I took my kids to watch 'Angels and Demon' and 'Transformers' at the local cineplex, which is Klang, by the way. Both were gripping and exciting movies and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, my eyes were totally glued to the screen and my hands were literally gripping the handrest of the seat throughout. I'm beginning to enjoy going to the movies nowadays and the movies, with their non-stop action packed scenes and special sound effects, make me feel all wide-eyed and tingling with excitement! My only grouse is, there's not one theatre or any family entertainment centre in the great City of Shah Alam itself.

But being the relaxed and stress free person that I am now, it doesn't really matter! Just book the tickets online, pack the kids into the car and zoom off in my buggy... and hey presto! problem solved. No need to gripe and groan and fill up the complaint column in the papers. See, I'm practising what I preach. And,...I just thanked my daughter for cleaning up the house. Now, I'm really really relaxed to the point of insanity... what's the name of the next movie ..... and where's my bed....? Goodnight

Do you know what happens when you're given the runaround for the 3rd time - you rant and rave and let off steam in the most expressive way you can . I'm doing it right here and now and there's no stopping me...

I received an sms and attended an impromptu hurried meeting last Friday afternoon to make arrangements for setting upa craft centre of sorts. It was to exclusively cater for a large group of Singaporean tourists who would be arriving on Monday. We were told to particularly showcase Shah Alam as the City of Orchids and thus to create suitably designed crafts.The booth was to be ready by 10am. I had only 2 days to accomplish this and that included the day of Sabbath,Sunday, which was strictly family day for me. Alarm bells should have rung by now in my head, what with the two previous similar incidences, but perhaps I deliberately chose to ignore it, hoping that I would be 3rd time lucky in Kampung Shah Alam. ( read previous articles)Oh God, how did I ever get entangled in this mess again with my eyes, ears and mouth all wide open? Fool..fool...fool...Am I getting Alzheimers or senile.......I digress but back to the story...

I spent the weekend looking for beautiful orchids to paint. I traversed the internet and library but found nothing suitable for painting. Let me tell you now, even if you are a die hard orchid lover, that orchids are meant to be admired in their natural form, fresh and beguiling with their intricate colours and shapes. They can be photographed but are not, I mean NOT meant to be painted- they look stupid and silly. I tried and you wouldn't want to repeat my mistake. Thus my weekend was spent..... sigh... waste of time if I had but known what was in store..

First, I didn't know the venue had been changed. I received an unclear message from the organiser at a quarter to midnight on Sunday to go to Mawadah kiosk at 10.00am.
For the world of me, I sure didnt't know what the heck that was or where it was or what it meant.There were no directions .

I left home at 6.30am on Monday morning with my son to PJ and rushed back by 9.30am, thinking I would be late. Quickly did the cooking for my kids and rushed back to Antan whatisname restaurant,the venue, lugging all my painted works with my daughter in tow . Found no one there, rang the organiser and she tells me that its at Galeri Shah Alam. Lugged back and drove to Galeri Shah Alam. Oh God, it was a lack lustre building with a dinghy entrance and an air of mustiness prevailed everywhere. Frankly, no one was in sight. Seeing no booth or whatsoever, I dumped my bags and paintings at a corner and rushed back home to attend to my contractor, then rushed again to the Gallery, this time waiting for the organiser to set up the booth. It was 11am . The organiser set up 2 booths but there were 3 of us! After a frantic call, 3 booths were put up at the corridor. There were no one about and the whole time I was there it was like a deserted place. It took me 20 minutes to display my artwork ( I had good experience by now ) and there was nothing much to do after that but wait for the busloads of tourists with anticipation. There was only Sheeda with a few trays of costume jewellery on my right and Aisyah with even less, to my left. I was in the centre. We were a pathetic looking bunch, sitting there in the heat with no one about, waiting for the 'tourists'....We were told that they would arrive by noon and after a prepared lunch, would have ample time to browse and buy at our booths. We could pack off by 3pm.

They arrived at almost 3pm, not your usual tourists with wallets filled with money to spend but a bunch of rag tag old religious group who I think were all retired and had nothing bettter to do but jump on a bus for a free ride to Shah Alam.

We were instructed to go and greet them at the car park under the sweltering heat and I felt so conspicuous because they were all of a religious denomination,well covered from head to toe in dark colours and I was the only odd one out, in a pair of white slacks and sunflower yellow t-shirt! I think the tourists thought so too by the surprised look on their faces. I found out too late that they were not your regular tourists but a prearranged religious group who had been invited by the local authority as part of their tour in Malaysia. It also dawned on me too late in the day why the organiser put up only 2 booths. Heck, why didn't they tell me so?,why make me go through all the trouble if I was not meant to be there? Or was I only an afterthought to fill in the space because the others conveniently backed off at the last minute?

It was almost 4pm when they came to our booth. They bought a few of the $5 - $10 beadings from Sheeda and Aisyah and that was it. They walked pass my booth without even a cursory glance. Was I invisible or was it because I was not of their race and faith?. How could a large group of people ignore a person just like that? They had to pass my booth to reach Sheeda's and not one of them even bothered a 'hi'. Their nochalant attitude dented my confidence to the core and hit me cold. It was all over in a few seconds. How long had I taken the effort to prepare for this gig and waited for them in the blistering heat with no fan?

I didn't even want to think. My legs trembled and I felt a hot flush in my face. I sat there like an idiot and put on a brave smile. Even the driver threw a sympathetic glance at me and shook his head. Waves of anger and a feeling of dejection and hopelessness washed over me. I was just too overcome with emotion and disillusionment. I lowered my head and busied myself under the table. I could feel warm tears clouding my eyes and I felt like crying.

I had spent a whole day in the hot weather, been given the runaround by the authorities , set up booth to help promote Shah Alam as a craft centre and then completey ignored by the targetted group. The organisers had disappeared and I was left alone without even a word of thanks for all the effort put in. I could have used that 8 precious hours in the comfort of my home with my children and done something useful instead of being made use of on the pretext of promoting Shah Alam as a centre of craft Ha! that's a laugh, isn't it?! What started of as a promising journey turned into a wretched and heart-breaking experience for me.

Weariness has set in and personally, the rainbow has all but disappeared from my horizon in Shah Alam . I've become extremely disillusioned with what's been happening at all these bazaars and booths and I'm pretty sure I won't fall prey to another wild goose chase anymore. I don't know whether it's the town, or its peoples' mindset or faith. Or, it could be like what my well connected friend said ' it's not what you know Lakshmi, but whom you know in Shah Alam ". Maybe I'm in the wrong place .... well, it has certainly proved difficult to make a living from painting in Shah Alam. This is the last of my foray into taking booths to sell my beautifully decorated art pieces. I would rather keep them in my house and admire them or give them away as gifts to my cherished friends. My love for painting and teaching is undiminished as ever and I do so hope I will get other opportunities to teach and paint elsewhere... I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope you will do the same for me.. Let me know please for I could sure use some encouragement and a whiff of optimisim.

I've got a load off my chest and feel much better now...

Lakshmi

PS : I mean no offence to anyone of any faith mentioned or otherwise and if anyone does, my sincere apologies to him/her.

A cool and crisp air greeted me when I woke up in the wee hours of the morning at Berjaya Hills. Looking down from the large glass walls of my bedroom, I wished the morning would continue on...the mist was rising and I sat cross-legged on the bed with my hand cupping my chin. I couldn't sleep a wink, much as I tried. I wanted to savour every minute and second of my first overnight outing ever with my girl pals after 21 years of marriage! Now that's a record meant to be broken and I just did. yippee....

I skipped breakfast and donning my leggings and T-shirt, all of us trooped into the car and drove downhill to her farm . Two professional videoman and photographer were clicking away all our movements. I silently prayed that I won't turn out looking like a Bangledeshi immigrant doing hard labour.( sigh), I'm just not the photogenic type and next to Sabrina, I thought I always looked like the Beauty and the Beast..

Like a scene from Indiana Jones, a convoy of 4WDs were waiting to take us up the humpity bumpity hill. The ride was a nightmare to some and a jolly one for me ( I hadn't taken breakfast, you get it ?) Upon reaching the grounds,the party planner had organised a treasure hunt of sorts. I had a sinking feeling when I was given a life-jacket to wear. We trekked with our jackets on under the sweltering heat. The trek was slippery and winding and the treacherous path was a test for the braveheart. At one of the paths, the dry and brittle bamboo handbars gave away and I almost slipped and lost my balance. Praying was the order of the day, ha ha... My worst nightmare was when we reached the deep stream beyond which was a 8ft waterfall. Not knowing how to swim was already a major handicap and making a spectacle of myself shrieking and wailing for the entire forest to hear was a big boo hoo. ( aiyo, major major embarrassment for me la !) To top it all, everyone present was having a good laugh at my pathetic antics and desperate attempts at crossing the deep stream- instead of holding the rope and surging forward, I was grappling with the stupid rope and going sideways, bobbing up and down and screaming for anyone to hold my legs and arms! I was that desperate. God knows how I ever let myself into this...

In spite of all this, my team did manage to get the treasure chest simply because I was lucky to find the exact key out of a box of about 50 keys!. So I did have a streak of luck in me after all. I'm sure that streak will accompany me wherever I go henceforth.

Ha! I had the most memorable time on my 50th birthday which fell on the same day as my good friend, Puan Sri Sabrina Syed Yusoff. The theme was 'Walk the Red Carpet' and the venue was at her Berjaya Hills Homes in Bukit Tinggi. The party was fabulous, the ladies were dressed to kill and the food, of course, was 5 star quality. Ever the gracious hostess with a heart of gold, she had prepared and organised beautifully wrapped door gifts and specially crafted plates and souveniers for all invited guests (lucky me !).From the caterers to her kitchen help, everyone went home with a quality gift. Added to the list was specially baked and iced birthday cakes by Puan Sri herself. The cake cutting ceremony included 1 for her kids, Farouq, Fareena and Azareena (all June babies, believe it or not!) another cake for all the June birthday ladies present, and, of course, another beautifully iced cake presented to her by her good friend, Dato Seri Azalina, which was cut at the stroke of midnight. The endless trays of cakes and the gastronomical food soon took their toll on me. Luckily, the band did their gig well, which made me dance away about half the loaded calories. Did you know that I took part in a last minute impromptu line dancing number to the beat of Slumdog Millionaire's Jai Ho? You have to be there to believe it!. Barely given less than a few hours to practise, my hands went east while my legs went west, kept forgetting the routine and looked as silly as a goose , prancing around clueless, all in front of the other guests! It was almost 1am when I called it quits, had a shower and came to the patio for a quiet walk. Oh my God! the music fellas were playing the sixty's rock and roll and the twist and there I was in my pyjamy twisting away. (Aiyo, couldn't control myself la !) I just pray that the video guy and cameraman didn't record a mad woman of 50 rocking away in her red pyjamas at 2am! Horrors, what would they say? ( As if I care.....ha ha )

Finally, I dragged myself away and sat myself down on a hanging rocking chair placed strategically overlooking the hills. In the solitute and quiet of the early morning, I could see the beautifuly lit fairy tale like castle of Colmar Tropicale on the highest hill amidst the lush green surroundings. It was like a scene out of Cindrella and (sigh ) a 50 year old was feeling like she was Cindrella herself. I took in every sight and smell and put it to memory lest I forget. I want to be able to retrieve it again when back at home while folding my kids unmatched socks late at night! Hey! the story doesn't end here, the next day's adventures will come in my next posting.... so stay tuned...

This is a beautiful picture which I saw while browsing the net. It does give inspiration to any artist to paint it. Its the quintessential picture perfect home that I want to live in one day.... I'm sure you share my dreams. If anyone does paint this, please drop me a line in the shoutbox. PS: Since this gadget is user friendly,just about any Rani, Mei Lee or Siti can simply write in their thoughts without registering anywhere. Hope to see more comments this way la!

I had the good fortune of meeting one of my bright students, Shakeel,recently and guess what he has majored in ? - something to do with computer communications/multimedia. To tell the truth, I can't differentiate between a giga and a terrabyte , so having his help in updating my blog is a real God send. Bless him. What you see now is so much better, isn't it?- and anyone can just about pen their thoughts without having to register anywhere. Now, that's simply great!!! But in the process, I'm afraid the pictures went missing and so I have to put them up again. Soon, I think....

It's the start of the holidays again and I'm back in action, having classes for my friends and students. I'm feeling great and several of my former students have rejoined for class from where they left off.... The usual moaning and groaning about how they forgot this stroke and that pull is back again. I teach with glee!

Unbearable, thats the word to describe the terrible heat wave . I've had to have a bath every 1 hour,literally. The weather has made me lethargic that even my painting has taken a back seat.I'm now spending most of the time in shopping complexes!, something that I have never done ,its called 'lepaking' according to my teenage son. The only drawback is, invariably, I'm drawn to making unnecessary purchases...Oh well, it comes with the territory, I think.

I'v now into Facebooking! Aha, that's a new entry for me. I haven't got the hang of it yet but it is nice to write on the 'wall' and see how many friends I've collected along the way. So far I've got 2! (sigh) Hello, it simply means that my friends are not as savvy as me in Facebooking!!, I think, probably they haven't gone into it yet.....

I've started to give art classes to some of my friends after a lapse of ,I don't know how long. As most Malaysians are not generally into crafting (of any kind!), interest in Folk Art is limited to those who go searching for it or by word of mouth from those who practise it. Even art teachers in schools are unaware of it... It's quite an uphill task to find like minded practitioners in our neighbourhood, thus limiting our exposure and interaction.

I wonder if it is because of our rat race lifestyle, running all the time to earn that extra dollar, sacrificing all others, be it family, relationships or leisure activities in the pursuit of trying to keep up with the Joneses.I really wish that we have a community like lifestyle,where like minded activites of whatever kind can be shared and enhanced, at the end of which a craft market could be set up to showcase all our craftwork. Maybe, we could have judges too to give awards for the best artwork or whatever is showcased.....It's not a bad idea, really, to start small somewhere, after all watermelon growers in US have annual competitions to pick the winner who spits the seeds the furthest!! Of course there's also a prize for the biggest and best watermelon, pumpkin, potato, tomato and all the vegetables under the sun . (I've been watching too many episodes of Travel and Living Channel 707 in Astro!)My point is, why can we do something similar here ? A feeling of camaraderie between like minded artists in a community environment is so so lacking. I really don't know .......are there any takers to start the ball rolling?

There was no fancy Mothers Days lunch in a swanky hotel and there was not even a cake to cut . There was no breakfast in bed and the proverbial Mothers Day gift did not arrive. Urrg, it sounds terrible, doesn't it?



Despite it, I had a rather special celebration. My husband brought home ( 'ta pau' la, in the local lingo ) my favourite food, Chicken Chop from the Supper Club and my darling little boy of a son , Arvind,( he's only 14!) took pains to choose and assemble a basket of healthy food items all by himself. Let me see, there was a bottle of cheese spread, a low fat yoghurt fruit drink, a tub of cholesterol free butter, plums, dragon fruits and lovely sweet mangoes , a large bar of Cadburys and not to forget a sprig of Baby's Breath for the soft touch. All of them my favourites . He had even washed the rattan fruit basket and dried it in the sun a day earlier. Now tell me, isn't he God's gift to me or what? You may or may not agree with me but that's the way I feel, no apologies offered.



Come to think of it, I had mentioned to him in passing, a few days prior to Mothers Day, that I was feeling all of 50 and getting a tad more tired than usual. He must have been quite concerned about my health. It touched me to the core when he presented the basket to me and I realised his intention behind the carefully selected items. All I could do was to give him a big bear hug and feel tears at the back of my eyes. My daughter, Shireen Thangam, while busy with her ongoing A level exam muggings , did not forget to buy me a loaf of delicious multi grain bread which I particularly like and which was only available at those swanky gourmet bakeries.



A lazy Mothers Day spent in the company of my children and beloved husband, accompanied by a well thought of lunch, served in a basket filled with devotion, love and happiness. What more could a mother want ? I am blessed.

I just found out that my cute chicken has been copied and made into stickers by a customer .

I had been asked by a customer/dealer to paint an egg holder . So, I duly painted a fat and cute chicken sitting on a bed of straws with some eggs. ( courtesy of Sandra Mclean's Chicken Pot Pie) Coincidently, while visiting her blog to find out her address, I noticed that the same chicken was on her other 'reban ayam' or chicken coop! items. Curious, I went to her and asked her if it was my painting but she denied. I'm quite quite sure it is my painting, for wouldn't I know my own handwork? However, having no concrete evidence as I had not seen it personally but only on her blog, I can't confront her. Anyway, what can I do? I can only give a big sigh and resign myself to it. I don't think I have any options to do anything about it. If and when I do confront her, she sure isn't going to pay me any compensation. I didn't expect this from her though and it upsets me terribly. As far as I am concerned, she simply has no morals ( she sells all those China made items and boxes for painting) and I don't want anything to do with her

Here I am, struggling to make myself a better artist and there she is, plagiarising mine. Hmmm.. the only consolation is that my work is good enough to merit being copied . Now, this makes me feel better already. I just hope that I don't encounter another one of her ilk .......

It's time for tea and I need to stuff myself now with tarts and cookies to make me feel even better!

Oops! my part 2 has been long overdue but I have the perfect foolproof answer - my streamyx was down and just when I managed to get it started, my motherboard ( that's what the computer guy called it, not me) was damaged . As the saying goes, ' it doesn't rain but it pours'. It certainly did.. my microwave went kaput, my washing machine played me out and the computer part had to be replaced - all in a matter of 2 days. Sigh......

To continue where I left off, not many of the vibrant citizens of Shah Alam were aware of our expo and subsequently, Shikin and I had to be content with talking to each other. We walked about all over the interior of the stadium, looking for something to distract us from our languishing minds. Miss Boredom, with a capital B, was with us all the time. To escape, Shikin took to having her skin analysed at the booth set up by teenagers(!), for want of nothing else to do. I guess she didn't like what they said about her skin analysis, for she came back and went into a tirade about them. ......ha .. ha...


Time : 1.05pm
A speaker came on stage to talk about the Palestinian cause. Nothing unusual. The speech became lengthy and the lady speaker became overly emotional and aggressive in her presentation. It was now all fire and brimstone. A few parents with kids in tow left. The 4 big video screens displayed gory and violent scenes of decapitated heads and body parts. The acoustics system went into high pitch and children were starring wide eyed at the screen. In the midst of these going ons, a large group of children with donation boxes went around soliciting funds from the customers . Some of the parents left and the few who were browsing around listlesslly ,( Shikin and I included) felt distinctly uncomfortable. Just as we heaved a sigh of relief when the lady left, a second speaker, continued in the same vein with a rasping voice and this time, the interpreter joined in .

This was more than I could take. This certainly was not the appropriate venue nor forum and the targetted audience was ill prepared for this. I am all for humanity and have done my fair share of helping whenever I could . I still do. I don't look at colour or creed for aren't we all Children of God ?. However, using a bazaar on a lazy Sunday afternoon to expouse about war crimes with ghastly gory scenes in the midst of parents and children was certainly inappropriate from every angle, no matter how much one wants to justify it. I was very disappointed and decided to call it a day. Not that it mattered if I had stayed longer. No one was in the mood to buy anything anyway and the listless few who were drifting about were just fidgeting as I was. I had had no breakfast, I missed my morning cuppa , had a terrible driving episode, had to bear the pain of listening to a terribly upsetting speech, there was hardly any sales and plain hunger was gnawing at my stomach. This was not my idea of a relaxing Sunday at all. All in all, I learned another lesson in patience and more patience. Sigh, part of the learning curve thingy again... I guess....

Oh, I would like to share something funny before I sign off... the lady who was demonstrating how to cook 'briyani' rice kept on saying 'beras mati' instead of 'beras basmathi'. Have a great beras mati day on me.......!!!