moon on 11th Sept 2010 21:03

was out in frasers hill the whole weekend. on 11th Sept, I decided to stand out on the balcony to just enjoy the cool fresh air. Lo and behold, the clouds blew away just for a few minutes, and I saw this beautiful sight. Grabbed my camera and took a few shots. Later the clouds moved again, and though I waited, this sight did not show again. I'm certainly very thankful for the 10 mins where i got to enjoy this scenery. I think this is the moon with planet venus.

how Jo fell in love with the Cicada

Since my children and I love the outdoors, we decided to have a few days of science in the great outdoors. The focus of the trip would be finding insects and spiders. It was really exciting. Just within one night, and a day outdoors, we (my children and cousins) discovered at least 30-50 different types of insects, spiders, moths, butterflies and birds. Amazing.



During our hunt, I heard the unmistakable sound of the cicada. When we first saw it, it was flying like a mad insect without direction, vertically and horizontally. That frightened the children a little, especially when it went zooming over their heads.



Finally I caught it and asked the children “Who wants to hold the cicada?” Nobody volunteered. Then li'l Jo said “I will.” She held it and was a little taken aback when it buzzed strongly while croaking within her little palms. She let it go immediately but I told her that she was REALLY a VERY brave girl for holding it. Immediately she caught it herself and held it.



It was love at second hold. :)



Jo held that cicada lovingly, talked to it, petted it and we gave it a name, Chica. Then came time to let Chica go, and Jo was really sad. While trekking she kept asking “Mum, does Chica know I miss him? Is he thinking of me? Will he come back to meet me? I miss Chica..”



That evening while walking, we heard a faint sound of a cicada nearby. Jo ran excitedly towards the sound saying “It’s Chica! It’s Chica!” She caught it….but alas, this was a very weak cicada, one that was…dying. Jo noticed how it did not buzz as strongly and how it’s sound was so much weaker. She said “mum, is Chica dying? Mum….he’s sick, he’s dying,….he’s dying…” as the cicada kept calling in a very weak voice. Jo began crying streams of tears… I said “Jo, maybe this is not Chica. Chica has a strong voice, and strong wings…maybe this is a different cicada Jo, but we’ll let it go into the woods.” So I walked a crying Jo to the trees and let the cicada go. She kept crying… “Will it live mum? is it happy I let it go mum? Mum…it’s dying…why is it dying…? Mum..what if it’s Chica? And Chica is dying ?”



We headed home…and then guess what? A strong buzzing cicada flew over us and Jo waited till it landed, held it and shouted “MUM! this is CHICA! It’s CHICA!” …… It still touches me as I recall how gently she talked to that insect. The parting was difficult again with more tears… Then I had to tell her the truth that there were thousands of cicadas… thousands.



That night, heading back to our apartment, Jo ran ahead. We then heard her little voice shouting excitedly “Mum, I caught a firefly!” I didn’t believe her at first and thought she must’ve been mistaken. We caught up with her…and within her little palm, was really a firefly! We took it back to the apartment ..and while the children examined it, it flew up. So we switched off the lights, lay on the floor and watched the firefly showing off it’s beautiful glow. Then somewhere in that moment, the children dozed off one by one…probably with beautiful dreams of the lovely day they’ve had.


I took 100's of shots....too lazy to put all here, but here are just 3 shots.

My dad, who made us beautiful, huge, magnificent kites when me and my bro were young, decided he wanted to share his passion for kites with his grandchildren. So he invited us for an evening at Pantai Remis (located near K. Selangor).

The beach there is partly sandy and MOSTLY MUDDY! it's an excellent place to dig for mussels, lalas, cockershells. (oh yeah, fishing too!) Well...my children enjoyed flying kites for a while, but in the end abandoned the kites for something more TEMPTING,--------> MUD! MUD! MUD!I remember warning my children before leaving home "DO NOT WET YOUR CLOTHES!" It never occured to me that the warning should have been "DO NOT GET YOURSELF DIRTY!" and thus this is what happened..............

first muddy hands.....and feet...

then muddy dress..... and the ultimate...muddy spots on face! *uughh!*
So you know, if you have very inquisitive kids who don't mind some/a lot of dirt...beware! haha...Overall, P Remis is an ordinary beach, I give it a rating of C- or D. A little dangerous coz of the cars parked on the beach and Mat Rempits. However, SUNSET there is REALLY beautiful, I think lovely for artists and photographers.!


Nel walking on rocks as the sun sets..

lovely sunset

Anyway, yeah to clean Jo up, we headed to the nice clean toilet with the nice keeper, but it was closed. So we found another one located behind the stalls, where we had to pay 30cents each and 1$ for Jo. The lady was terribly RUDE!As for going back there......I'd say maybe..... but my children would answer with a YES

my favourite jewelry

I am crazy about accessories, yeah, cheap kinda jewelry, preferably stones and shells. It’s nice having diff colored accessories to match with diff color clothes. However, I keep buying the same 2 colors (in diff shades), coz I’m crazy about these colors. You’d know what colors I’m talking about when you see the pics.

Well, it’s school holidays for the kids here, so I had some spare time to take pics of some of the pieces I own. They didn’t cost me much. I like my accessories unique and cheap. So I usually go bargain hunting at random small stores, and really, most of these pieces were bought for under 15RM, except for one or two which cost about 30RM, but not more than that.

I think…I should go look for more reds and purples coz I have lotsa clothes with those colors too. Oh well..gotta go.

p.s we spent the weekend up in the hills with close friends. That was really nice. Five families with a total of 11 kids. Was really enjoyable, especially for the kids! Nel also celebrated her 6th birthday up there. Happy Birthday my little Nel…you’re growing up…way too fast for me.

love turquoise colored stones...this one combined with brown stones is my favourite.

That piece with the flower is really old from early 1990's ..bought from Walmart Illinois. :) The one with the stone is quite new. Am looking for a pair of matching earrings now. well, actually I ordered a pair already, for a really cheap price, to be collected next week.

More turquoise colored jewelry. Some bought by my mum on her travels. The one which alternates between white and turquoise was bought in Sabah for just 8RM. Beautiful.

This combination of shells and beads was purchased in Sarawak for 10Rm. I love it's unique shade of green. So beautiful like a sunflower.

another turquoise piece bought by my friend from Thailand, and the green piece at the back is a choker, hand made by a native S'wakian.

More matching turquoise jewelry...the bracelet in front bought by my mum while on a trip to India.
Earrings in the background from Somerset, and that beautiful beaded bracelet in the middle bought while on an adventure trip. Was on a boat ride on a rough river near Mulu Caves. We visited the Penan long house, and the ladies made such beautiful jewelry. It's priceless. Bought it for only 4Rm.

this pendant was bought from an Indian preservation center in New Mexico. One of my favourites too.

A favourite bought in the 80's, one of the rare pink pieces i have. Made of shells....

Super Moth

COnversation with Nel today:

Nel: Mum, why can't my dolls and teddy bear talk like the ones in the story book and cartoons?

Me: coz, that's all imaginary, they're only in stories and on TV, they're not real.

Nel: Mum, is someone watching us on TV?

Me: Why do you ask that?

Nel: well, we watch people on TV all the time, so surely someone else must be watching us on TV.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conversation with Jo while reading a book on farm animals:

Jo: Look mum, baby cow likes to drink mummy's milk, and baby Goat likes to drink mummy goat's milk.
(Jo turns the page)
Jo: Look mum, baby chicks like to drink mummy chicken's milk.

Me: No, Jo, baby chicks don't take mummy chicken's milk. they eat grains. Look at this Jo, the mama chicken can lay eggs! lots of them.

(Jo looks....and after a moment says)

Jo: Jo cannot lay eggs. ....... but Jo can Eat Eggs!!! yummy. :)
(Jo turns the page to look at a picture of a lady milking the goat)
Jo: Mum, why is the lady.....why is she pulling the the..... the...... the....... the............ milk?

Me: She's milking the goat, when she pulls the milk comes out.

Jo: (thinking hard...) Mum, is it pain? Is it pain when the lady pulls it like that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway, today we met a Super Moth! Actually this Super moth came by our house last night and hovered around the porch light.

This morning, while driving the kids to school, I looked in the rear view mirror to see Super Moth stuck to the back window! I told the girls "Look, the moth is stuck on the glass!" The girls got REALLY excited!!
After 10 mins of speeding down the highway, it WAS STILL THERE! "Wow," I said in a screechy high voice pretending to be the moth, "I wanna go school, I wanna go...wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee this is fun!! wooo hooooooooooo"

Then the moth started sliding slowly towards the edge of the car. I told the girls to say goodbye to it, but Super Moth decided to hang on!!!!!! and it DID!!! I dropped the girls, drove back another 20 minutes, and the moth was STILL there stuck fast on the back glass! Simply Amazing! So I grabbed my camera, and then proceeded to see if I could get it into a glass container. That's when Super MOth decided to say adios, and it flew off. I admit, I missed it when it left, for it sure created a super morning for us all. haha...

Dear Moth wherever you are, I hope you don't end up as bird's food.
now I must go google Moth to find out about it's amazing ability to stick on glass through wind, turns, bumps and brakes. It must be an adrenaline junkie!

Super Moth
Super Moth on edge of car, but hanging on tight.

Pretty aint' it?

Close up of its beautiful wings

Shots from trip to Kuching, and the Story of how I saw the Rafflesia

As promised some shots from our recent trip back to Kuching. Hope you enjoy the pictures and stories.

Here's some from the Sarawak CUltural Village It's a place where you get to experience a bit of the ethnic diversity found in Sarawak. The children really enjoyed this place. They tried all sorts of ethnic musical instruments...tasted diff goodies, and Nel even went up on stage to dance the native dance and you'll see in one of the pictures, she got dressed up like them too. :)

One of the houses...Bidayuh i think?

a native lady showing us how weaving is done.

It was drizzling while we were there....


what used to be a headhunter's house



Man playing the Sape. I SO want to get, buy one of it, but the man said, the ones he had were booked already. Sigh...perhaps next time.

See all these half made sapes? fully booked. The shop outside only sells souvenir ones. I would like to get a real one. He said to try on my next trip. Fingers crossed, I'll be the proud owner of one next time.

My little Nel, all dressed up in native costume. She looked beautiful. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's some shots from the town of Sematan, almost at the tip of West Sarawak (about 3 hours drive from Kuching.) A really sleep little town with hardly anything except for a row of shop houses and REALLY cheap seafood. Well, there are also private chalets, isolated peaceful beaches, pepper farms and padi fields. A piece of heavenly tranquil on earth.

the only row of shops we saw there

Heavenly seafood for very very cheap. Half of what we pay in town.

Tranquility.... not a soul in sight except us....and the sand flies. haha...

The Red House... by a beach near Lunduk
Nel...my free spirited girl...running by the waters...into the sunset...

Here's some from Gunung Gading National Park located near the town of Lunduk, about 2 hours from Kuching. This is a park famous for the growth of the very rare Rafflesia flower. However, the Rafflesia is not always in bloom, and if they do, it only lasts for a week. I've a story to tell here.

We hiked 2 hours in the thick, humid rainforest only to face disappoinment. Not a Rafflesia in sight. Park rangers, said there was none in bloom. :( We even risked crossing a no entry sign to walk the Rafflesia route which was closed for repair of broken boards. I've to say, my kids were WONDERFUL. They walked those hours with us, Jo was carried every now and then when it got a little too dangerous. Finally, we decided, it was getting dark, thus time to head home. I refused to give up, and in desperation prayed "God, I came here..to see the beautiful Rafflesia... Please, let me see, just one. Amen."

I finished saying that prayer, and 2 seconds later, these 2 burly men with tatoo all over their bodies appeared. They looked at me and asked "enjoying your hike?" I replied "...well, I came to see the Rafflesia, and didn't see any." They replied "We know where there is one!"

I jumped in excitement and said "I'll follow you!" 5 minutes into the walk, I began to wonder if they were robbers or something...even my husband started wondering...... 10 mins passed, then they showed us a narrow trail off the main one. I began worrying a little. Then they man said "here it is!" I followed, looked behind a large tree, and there it was. :) A medium sized one....about 6 days old...but that man who showed us the way, wanted to move some sticks and he broke some of the petals!! grrr...... still I thanked him profusely...and was just so overjoyed at the sight of the Rafflesia. It's amazing how God answers simple prayers. :)

In the forbidden path. No one in sight, except us...me, my hubby, children, niece and nephew. We were looking for the Rafflesia.

Nel had watched Tarzan and asked if she could one day climb a vine. this one was PERFECT for climbing and so she climbed. :)

One of the many beautiful waterfalls found in this park. There are altogether 7 waterfalls in this park.

A Rafflesia bud which the men showed us. The rafflesia takes 9 months to bloom! and when it blooms, it starts decaying within 7 days.

The Rafflesia that took my breath away coz I was just so thrilled and overjoyed at finding one.

Me and the Rafflesia. As mentioned...petals broken by the careless men. *sigh* Nevertheless...still beautiful in my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kuching Town. Padungan Street, famous for it's Chinese New Year sales of flowers, fresh fruits, etc etc etc.

Nectarines and Peaches! Though expensive, i had no choice but to buy them. The temptation was unbearable. I just LOVE nectarines.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chinese New Year. As usual, the crazy, deafening, bombing sounds of fireworks, fire crackers and fire "bombs" and thick smoke permeated the air....to almost an unbearable level on New Year's eve.

New Year's day was "happening" with an endless stream of people visiting the house, angpows, lion dances, gambling (for some) and EATING.

The lion dance troupe. I took this shot from upstairs. here's the young boy, checking ME out. haha...
The lion dance that Nel found intriguing and entertaining. However, Jo thought otherwise, when she told me "mum, carry me, run, lion coming!!!!" I had to show her later, how they were only people inside... I suppose the music itself is already scary.

Lion dance in the house.
Well that's it for this album. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. :)

oh yeah, there were several other places which we visited like the Semenggok Orang Utan Sanctuary. That was nice when the kids saw the orang utans swinging HIGH up in the trees, and then directly above us!

We also found a famous seafood Kolo Mee restaurant. All fishballs handmade, as in, the lady used her hands to make them. Umm...seeing her make these fishballs, certainly made the noodles suddenly seem less appetizing. It's the way she was squishing them out of her palms.

Finally.........the time spent together as family was the best part of the whole trip. Also time for my children to be free...to experience nature as it is helps them appreciate the mighty God who created all things. :)

Happy NEw Year everyone. We just got back from Sabah on New Year's day. It was a wonderful trip with family and extended family, about 30 something of us. We were actually there for my cousin's wedding. In between we did lots of shopping, sight seeing and eating. Sabah is really known for its incredibly fresh and wide variety of seafood. So of course, we ate and we ate and we ate. The wedding was lovely...romantic, emotional and joyful. Congrats my dear cousin on your wedding. :)

Well they say a picture speaks a thousand words...so here are some shots taken from that beautiful "land beneath the wind."

Lots of seafood here, dried and fresh. (Sea Cucumber...very expensive if purchased from the city.)Fresh seafood in abundance! we ate and ate and ate.....not very good for health I know...but hard to resist...
My cousin Vincent and his bride Angel saying their vows...they make a very beautiful couple.

We had to try this species of durian..very different from the usual ones we get in the city.

A fisherman's boat

Some of the stuff you get at the Phillipino Market. Actually most of us bought baskets, batiks and Pearls. I got myself some really lovely pearl necklaces....after spending close to an hour bargaining.
Stalls by the ocean Night market coming alive. We bought some of these lovely delicous grilled chicken
MOre fisherman's boats...
sunset
Part of the mountain. I climbed it in 1999 and hubby plans to climb again next year.

kundasang...very cool mountain area with fresh veges. Lovely place...I plan to stay here for a few days on the next trip.
by the pier
This is me after I fell into the mud. Since I'm the photographer, no shots of my mud packed butt. :) Basically I was standing there telling everyone, "Be careful, slippery, careful careful...." and then whooopps....I WAS in the MUD! haha...

Some of the very beautiful Padi Fields At Ranau. Really so beautifully green as seen in the picture. Lots of water buffaloes too.

Anyway, if you have an acc at Facebook, you can view the whole collection. and no, this is not and add for facebook. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From now on comments will be moderated. So if you don't see your comment appear immediately, don't worry, it'll appear after I've read it and know it's from a friend and not stranger. God bless.