All American Boys Chorus

Drum Slices III - Rythm Ride

KL Sing Song 2008

Simply "Charm"ing

Azman Hilmi

Tang Hong Lee

Ode to Art....

George has always like Lui Cheng Tak, I am lukewarm about his works. Then again, falling for a painting is all so personal and always to each his own. Over the last couple of years I have learnt to appreciate original paintings, it being “the one and only one’ work of the soul in existence…somehow the admiration for the beauty of art in its original form is unexplainable.

I have earlier blogged of my appreciation for the works of Ibrahim Hussein and Yusoff Ghani, I will still at this point need to admire it from afar.

We have been looking around for paintings to own, I have somehow known that we will have a Lui Cheng Tak at home and yes we do now. Cheng Tak to me is pensive, serious with the ability to lock the details of the past in an antic and nostalgic manner.

We also have a piece of Lim Ah Cheng, and of course it has to be one from his "horse" series. Very elegant and strong abstract strokes, I find his paintings mature beyond the age of the artist himself.

Close to a decade ago, I bought a watercolor of Alex Ong. Delicate, pleasant, relaxing...



Azman Hilmi, we have 3 pieces from his Underworld Destination Series. Azman Hilmi will equate colors, vibrant, abstract – when I first show his works it seems to tell me that there is always a different way of looking at life and it can be great, complicated but great!



Our latest additions would be the 2 pieces of Tang Hong Lee’s work. I adore his My Village series. It simply shouts happy!

The accompanying photos of the artists' works are NOT pieces from our private collection.

Along the way we also learnt that buying paintings can be addictive, therefore we made a pact to stop visiting galleries, at least for a while...


Definitely many more that I would love to own – Phan Thu Trang, a young Vietnamese artist would top the list. Of course there are Jehan Chan and many many others.

Rush Hour

You are the ice cream truck stuck in traffic, the challenge is to get out before the ice cream melt!

I find this game by Think Fun challenging, both for children and adults, do check it out. CAUTION - It may deflate your ego if your 4 year old can solve it and not you!

They come in 2 version, Jr for 6 - 8 years old and another for 8 - Adults.

The Sarod

I had the opportunity to witness Amjad Ali Khan’s brilliant performance, together with his sons (Amaan and Ayaan) at the Dewan Philharmonic PETRONAS on Monday night.

Amjad Ali Khan is synonymous to Sarod as is Ravi Shankar to the Sitar. Renowned as the master of Sarod, Amjad Ali Khan portrays music as spiritual, sounds are what connect us to God, he said.

I was "wowed" by the Tabla and the player, Sandeep Das; Sarod may not be as versatile as the Sitar (in my personal opinion) and on its own, but accompanied by the Tabla the renditions are transformed into beautiful music which is almost magical and hypnotic.

It was amazing how Amjab Ali Khan’s expressions thru the Sarod captivates the audience thru an inspirational experience, truly experiential as it is unique at that point in time, and can never again be rendered in the exact same manner.

I then wished we had the “OSIM” chairs at the Dewan Philharmonic!

Pramoedya Ananta Toer

....Dihargai Dunia Dipenjara Negeri Sendiri. Ia bagaikan potret seorang nabi, yang dihargai oleh bangsa lain tetapi dibenci di negerinya sendiri. Pramoedya Ananta Toer, seorang pengarang yang pantas menjadi calon pemenang Nobel. Ia telah menghasilkan belasan buku baik kumpulan cerpen maupun novel. Kenyang dengan berbagai pengalaman berupa perampasan hak dan kebebasan. Ia banyak menghabiskan hidupnya di balik terali penjara, baik pada zaman revolusi kemerdekaan, zaman pemerintahan Soekarno, maupun era pemerintahan Soeharto. Di zaman revolusi kemerdekaan ia dipenjara di Bukit Duri Jakarta (1947-1949), dijebloskan lagi ke penjara di zaman pemerintahan Soekarno karena buku Hoakiau di Indonesia, yang menentang peraturan yang mendiskriminasi keturunan Tionghoa.... tokohindonesia

Read this vivid and touching novel set in 3 days 3 nights, Keluarga Gerilya, as part of STPM syllabus in 1989.

Snowflower and the Secret Fan

By Lisa See, intricately revealing...of how a perfect bound feet of 7cm will find you the richest husband..of how traditions and believes determine the destiny of your fate...

...Lily is haunted by memories - of who she once was, and of a person long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now as she recounts the tales of snowflower and ask the Gods for forgiveness...

Amazing Literature

The Arrow and The Song

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow..a peom we chose for our wedding invite.

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

By Mark Haddon, an absolutely delightful book written in the prespective of an autistic teenage boy...

An all time favorite

Adventures Of Isabel

Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn't care;
The bear was hungry, the bear was ravenous,
The bear's big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do, Isabel, now I'll eat you!
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry.
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.

Once in a night as black as pitch
Isabel met a wicked old witch.
The witch's face was cross and wrinkled,
The witch's gums with teeth were sprinkled.
Ho, ho, Isabel! the old witch crowed,
I'll turn you into an ugly toad!
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,
Isabel didn't scream or scurry,
She showed no rage and she showed no rancor,
But she turned the witch into milk and drank her.

Isabel met a hideous giant,
Isabel continued self reliant.
The giant was hairy, the giant was horrid,
He had one eye in the middle of his forhead.
Good morning, Isabel, the giant said,
I'll grind your bones to make my bread.
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She nibled the zwieback that she always fed off,
And when it was gone, she cut the giant's head off.

Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor's talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor's satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concocter,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

Ogden Nash

Timbuktu

The fad of humanising animals...simply delightful!

Khalil Gibran - The Prophet, on marriage

Then Almitra spoke again and said,
'And what of Marriage, master?'
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.