The atmosphere at the mall

I love the atmosphere at the mall - everything about Christmas

Simply the Rose

There is simply the rose; 

it is perfect in every moment of its existence.     Ralph Waldo Emerson

Birthday

Cherish all your happy moments; they make a fine cushion for old age -Booth Tarkington
 

Penang's street art

It seems there are nearly 30 street art in Georgetown Penang but I only managed to see 5 on the recent trip with LeeAnn and Deedee.

May your dreams be larger than mountains

May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits. -Harley King

My daughter Fedelia (second from the right) and her friends successfully conquered FanSiPan 3,143m peak,
the Roof of Indochina on 14 Sept 2018, after scaling for 2 days and 1 night

Happy Birthday my girl

My daughter's birthday celebration yesterday. A very big girl now, intelligent, sociable and has a mind of her own.   So proud of you my girl.

She represented Malaysia in rock climbing in the Shanghai X games held in May 2007.  An Article about her can be found at http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=0719&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Feminin&pg=fe_06.htm entitled FEDELIA SUKA DEBARAN, KEPUASAN. 

I remember the coral vine

The Coral Vine is also called  Chain of Love, Cadena de Amor, Hearts on a Vine, Coral Bell, Queen’s Jewels, Chinese Love Vine, San Miguelito Vine, Coralita, Honolulu Creeper, Mexican Creeper, Rose of Montana Vine, Coral Vine, Confederate Vine, Sandwich Island Creeper, etc. These lovely names all have that romantic ring to it, don’t you think? In Malaysia it is known in Malay as ‘Air Mata Pengantin’ i.e. ‘Tears of the Bride’!

For me personally the coral vine reminds me of a little humiliation I experienced  in my childhood.  I was  then about 14 years old.  My class teacher required everyone in the class to take turns to bring flowers for the vase on the teacher's table.    My classmates would bring orchids, roses and other beautiful cut flowers that their mothers bought for them  from florist shops. I know I would not ask my mother to do so because we were poor and could not afford that luxury.  When it came to my turn I cut a bunch of coral vine from the bushes growing wild along the road to school. It was a very common plant then and normally found growing wild.  "Who brought this?"... the class teacher shrieked..."throw it away". I was so very embarrassed I wished the ground would open up under my feet.

So the coral vine has some significance for me.  Now that I have taken up gardening as a hobby I think I will try to grow it in my little garden.  

A ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world

Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.
 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Bengal Clock Vine in y front porch blooming profusely today

You want to do everything, but you feel like you can do nothing

You want to do everything, but you feel like you can do nothing. You know they’re hurting and it actually hurts you more than you had expected. How is it possible to feel like this?  They listen to you as you try to cheer them up and make them laugh, but something inside them is missing and all you can think about is how to get it back.

Supertunia Violet Star Charm Petunia Hybrid

I just came to know from the nursery that this is called Supertunia Violet Star Charm Petunia Hybrid, a most charming present given by a dear friend 3 months ago. These beauties are self-cleaning, meaning, there is no need to dead-head them, unlike the more common varieties

 

a rose for every emotion

Roses are one of the most popular flowers in the world due to their beauty. It is said that there is a rose for every emotion. However roses are also one of the more difficult plants to grow.

My rose plant looking its best today

You can be stupid with them

One of the blessings of old friends is that you can afford to be stupid with them. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A happy afternoon with my high school mates of 54 years ago   

Roses or diamonds?

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck  - Emma Goldman

A beautiful perfect rose in my garden today

Love you always, no matter what

“Being a family means you are part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what.” ~ Unknown Author

Pic taken on first hari raya 2018

The most beautiful vine in the world

The Bengal Clock Vine has been called by some "the most beautiful vine in the world". From a distance, this twining, flowering vine looks like a morning glory and even up close the flowers are quite similar. The curious name clock vine comes from the fact that it twines around a support in a clockwise direction. It is a vigorous evergreen vine and native to northern India. From the rope-like stems, that can reach to the top of large structure or even cover a good sized tree, emerge the dark green leaves that are leathery and have a distinctive elongated heart shape, 4-5 inches long and often have a slightly toothed margin. The beautiful 3 inch wide pale blue or white flowers are cup-like with pale yellow to cream blue striped centers.

Source: http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Bengal%20Clock%20Vine.html

Scientific name Thunbergia grandiflora . Common names include Bengal clockvine, Bengal trumpet, blue skyflower, blue thunbergia, blue trumpetvine, clockvine, skyflower and skyvine.

The bengal clockvine has been flowering non-stop for 2 weeks at my front porch 

You brighten up my day

Murraya

Rose

Hibiscus

Gardenia

Bengal Clockvine

Bengal Clockvine

Mother's day

给自己人生画上一个完美

I like this:

生是一次偶然 死是一次必然~！活着的过程 这就是人生~！不要求自己走出的每一步都是对的 只要求自己走出的每一步都是无悔的 人生足已~！在活着的时候要找到自己存在的价值~！让自己过的充实一点~！.既然来到这个世界走一回，就好好的活上他一回~！活着一定要属于自己的“目标”和“梦想”给自己的人生画上几道色彩~！要是找不到自己存在的价值 就想想 自己 给自己一个交代 给父母 朋友 心里最爱的那个他/她一个交代~！然后在好好享受夕阳美 傻笑一下 给自己人生画上一个完美~..！ 活着的意义就是为了寻找活着的意义

You light up my heart

You light up my heart the moment you were born
You are the reason I never gave up

In a blink of the eye the big one turned 42 on 23 April and the second turned 39 on 20 April

Birthday dinner for my 2 sons

250 million children are working in the world.

Do you Know?

Today, close to 250 million children are working in the world. More than 150 million of these children are working in dangerous conditions. Additionally, each year more than 1 million of these children will be victims of human trafficking.

Source: https://www.humanium.org/en/child-labour

Source: http://www.abc.net.au

I simply love flowers

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature. 
De Nerval

Flowers currently blooming in my little garden

Believe it or not (2)

As a child I often had to look after my younger brothers while my Mother was busy with her household chores.  One particular activity I remember very clearly was rocking one of  my younger brothers in a cloth hammock.  I have 3 younger brothers.  I still remember clearly the daily scene.  I was probably about 6 years old. My brother who is 1 year+ younger than me would be playing around, another younger brother would be carried by  my Mother on her back in a baby carrier made of cloth (while she went about doing her chores) and I would be tasked with rocking one of the brothers (either the second youngest or youngest) in a cloth hammock.

cloth hammock

Our house was a wooden house on stilts.  The kitchen was downstairs.   To reach the kitchen we had to go down a long flight of stairs at the back and pass a long corridor.   Whenever my Mother had to go downstairs to wash the clothes or cook she would not leave us upstairs but instead bring all the 4 of us downstairs.   

It was again one of those typical days.  My mother set up the hammock outside the kitchen door.  I was tasked to look out for my toddler brother and to rock the hammock.  She carried another brother on her back and did her cooking. The only difference that day was the presence of a construction worker who was on the roof repairing the leaking roof. 

While I was rocking my brother I noticed a man looking and smiling at us from the window upstairs, next to the long staircase.  However what was strange about the man was the size of his face.  His face was huge and actually filled the whole window.  When my Mother came out to check on us I told him about the man with the big face.  She look terrified because she actually did not see any face.  She then called out loudly to the worker who was repairing the roof and asked him whether anyone was with him. She told the worker what I saw.  The worker responded " Oh, your daughter can see him?  Then I'll ask him to go home first".  The big face then disappeared.