Mid Autumn Celebration

We had a small gathering on this fine Mid Autumn Festival, just to get together as a family and spend some time together, having yummy food and playing lanterns and fireworks.

I had fun lighting up some old school lanterns with traditional candles and so did the kids. I guessed that is still a huge part of me that is so kiddish....We had so much fun that i've forgotten to take photos for this occassion. Here's just some last min shots that I took before we separate ways, marking the end of this celebration.

Chinese Garden outing for Mid Autumn Festival

We went to Chinese Garden last Fri for look at some of the beautiful lanterns and lightings for the Mid Autumn Festival. We went early this year, just to avoid the crowd on the actual day. It was a mad rush for me and so.... i left my camera at home... so pls pardon me for the quality of the pictures as it was taken by my hp camera.

The kids were excited about the outing, and were happy to see lots of huge colorful laterns on display.

Kieran at his best behaviour, sitting quietly in the pram for a while.

This year, the lantern theme is sea creatures.....Daddy and Faith trying to make a funny face in the shark's mouth. Faith with her favourite sea character Nemo...The gang with the mermaid.BabySeals hidding in the Pelican's huge beak. Fruits hanging in the air.
Money Tree....
Faith with 2 huge bears.

Froggies....
Lots of Penguins

The last shot is Kieran and daddy... looking straight to the camera :)

Kieran's 1st Swimming Outing

We brought Kieran and Faith to the usual swimming pool at Hillview today.

I bought Kieran a thermal swimsuit, in fear that the water will be too cold for the boy for his first attempt in a outdoor pool but it all turned out well.

He was all anxious and couldn't wait to get into the water. This is a shot taken just before he was wet.

He was not fearful at all. He splashed the water with his hands and kicked his legs hard... not too bad for his first swimming attempt.

The picture of the father, the son and the daughter in the pool.Can you spot the resemblence of Faith and Kieran?? The next two pics are taken when Faith was abt the same age ( 8 mths old) back in 2004. She looked like a boy, didn't she??

Back to reality... faith was all happy after the outing cos it has been a while since we brought her for swimming. She happily posed for me, wearing with a frangpani flower on her ear.End Note : Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.

Adaptive and willingness to learn and improve

I was enjoying Jacky Cheung's concert album in the car today and i was moved by something that he said in the concert.

Some history about this man.... taken from wikipedia.... Born on July 10, 1961 in Hong Kong, Cheung is regarded by many as one of the finest male singers to have come out of Hong Kong, known for his rich baritone voice, wide range and exceptional interpretative powers. Since the early 1990s, he is arguably the world's most respected Chinese pop singer.
Cheung is sometimes dubbed the God of Songs (歌神), a title which was once given to another Cantopop singer Sam Hui.

His successful music and acting career has led him to be recognised as one of Hong Kong's icons. Cheung was elected by the Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential persons in the new Hong Kong in 1997. In 1999, he was named one of the 10 Outstanding Young Persons of the World by the Junior Chamber International, a worldwide federation of young professionals and entrepreneurs.

He mentioned in his concert that he started singing in 1985 and have never looked back ever since. However, even for this God of Songs, he also had his humble beginnings. From his first album to the rest of his additions, there were lots of critisms for his work. Some inital critics commented that he doesn't have the looks although he has got the voice, that there isn't much feelings in his love songs, that he can't dance etc etc etc.

However, he define his success as a result of being adaptive and willingness to learn and improve. Whenever he is faced with negativity, rather than being affected such critics, he would reflect on himself and improve on that particular area. After lots of adaptation, learning and improving, He is now one of the most widely known singers in the Chinese industry.

I admire his kind of determination and willingness to learn and improve. It will be easy for him, given his current status and wealth to be proud and arrogant, instead, he remains humble.

I will take note of this critical success factor.... and hopefully, make it mine as well.

A nice note to end this entry :

Embracing Destiny by Julie A. Bushong

To become the person You are truly meant to be,You must be subjected toLife's trials and tribulations. Stumbling along the way,Experiencing love and heartache, To appreciate all that you had ...And that of which you have yet to attain, Never allowing life's lessonsTo shatter your dreams ...Embracing Destiny

When fate throws you a curve,And it's not within your master plan ...

Heave it back. It is within each of us,To determine what is desirable for us individually.

Life and love is meant to be cherished,Sharing with all those you adore

Whether you choose to forge your path alone Or hand in hand with person of choice. Doing it with enthusiasm Is truly paramount.

Live your life to the fullest, As if it were your last day of mortality. For each day is truly a precious gift. Fear not the unknown.

Embrace Destiny and make it your own.

Source Here and Here

my new creations- do you like them?

After a long haul, i decided to start to work on some new creations again. Regina was requesting for a new pair of silver and black earrings to go with most of her outfit. So i had to oblige and if you don't already know, once i start, it's hard to stop. But my eyes were just too tired and I had to stop after 1 hr.

Usually i will purchase some nice beading materials i see in shops on a ad-hoc basis and then, after some creative thinking and trial and error, I will mix and match the materials that i have to create a nice piece of art. You'll need lots of creativity, good color co-ordination, lots of patience and just the right mood to make a nice pair. I don't have much of all that I've mentioned so I do refer to some japanese magazines for inspiration. I rarely copy the designs i see in these references, I modify them so that mine looks better :)

So tell me, give me your comments- do you like them? ( do pardon me for my poor photography skills, i am only using a normal digital camera with no knowledge of using super lights and super lens ...... so can't expect too much right??)



Verde dew drops -These sophisticated earrings are perfect for a glamorous evening look.Handmade using Dew color Square beads, Japanese Beads and Aquarmarine teardrop crystal.
Oceania Blue Dropz - These delicate earrings have a romantic, vintage feel that makes them the perfect finishing touch to a simple outfit. Handmade using Swaroski Almond Ocean Blue Teardropz crystal, Swaroski pearls, Swaroski Blue AB and Jetblack crystals. ( This photo is not giving justice to the actual piece, the actual piece shimmers a blue look within the crystal itself.)Rose Rose I love you - These gleaming glass earrings have an opulent feel that makes them the perfect match for a vintage-style outfit. Handmade using a Rose charm, Japanese Seed beads and red cubic beads with Bali Sterling sliver headpins.

Within a droplet

What beautiful things you can see.... within a droplet



End Note :
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Nice lunch @ MA Maison

I was invited for a casual lunch with my supplier last week and we hit out to the Ma Maison at Central. There was quite some lunch crowd so I had time to take some pics while waiting for our seats.
In the menu, there are only like 8-10 set lunch/ ala carte options to choose. It might be due to overwhelming lunch crowd at they only served these set lunch options to cater to the huge demands.

My curry Taksudon.
Escargot with lots of butter melted in the process of cooking.
Sterloin steak
Hamburger
I realized that i wasn't the only one bogged by the constant career dilemma. While we all seek different things in life, what we want is just a fulfilling job that pays well :) For the time being, we just make do with what we currently have and try to make the best out of the situation.

I just hope my dream job opportunity will be knocking soon.

The new additions - tutti and paradiso :)

Just 2 more additions to my collection - Paradiso Mamma Mia and Tutti Campeggio.
The Qee that comes with Tutti...

I'm over the moon....

I've given the paradiso to regina as a birthday gift. Happy Birthday my beloved sister, glad you liked the bag.

Bangkok and Hua Hin Getaway Part 3

We went around sighseeing at this temple built in a cave which is abt 45 mins drive from Hua Hin city. The way down was steep and each step was quite a distance apart. Going down was an easy task but the way up made us sweat and puff when we reached the top. The temple was beutiful, with different sections containing statues of different buddha made by King Rama IV and V.

As usual, we built some joss sticks and even drew some divine lots to see if our luck will be good in the near future. What I can reveal that mine was a good lot :)

This is supposed to be a Giant Buddha leg print which will bring you good fortune if you place some coins on each toe.
We went to the National Museum next.... and the scenary was beautiful.

We had to take a cable car up to the mountain top. And lots of walking and climbing up the stairs are required.

Lots of ancient buildings that were great for photo-taking.


We went to another outdoor chinese Guan Yin temple and this one is really breath-taking. The Guan Yin statue was really beautiful and is magnificent.

This Guan Yin temple is overlooking the sea, which i think the villagers built this so that Guan Yin can protect those fisherman while they are at sea.

Another nice building that we didnt go .... cos we dont have any more strength left to climb up this long flight of stairs... it is such a long way up. We went to look for Let's sea - a nice resort that I saw in a spa magazine... the one that inspired this whole Hua Hin trip... and it was really nice... just that the location was ulu and there are no amenities around this resort... this one caters to those who really just want to relax and rest in a nice place.

Went we finally reach our hotel after a long day, we were given a real surprise. The hotel sent ina surprise birthday cake for dan... and how did they know about it???? They detected his DOB thru his passport when while we were checking-in..... and they made a point to show that they care. Great way to really please a customer i should say...Just some last photos of the resort that we eventually stayed in - sofitel central.

End Note : To my dear -Life may be full of ups and downs, but being with you makes the ride worthwhile.