The Marans

I have moved out to other blog

2009-08-04T13:51:00.004+08:00

will let you know once i am done with the new blog. watch out!

here's my new blog: http://themarans.wordpress.com/
enjoy it!

kathy
xoxo

my oldest buddy

2008-11-27T23:17:00.002+08:00

Actually today (Thursday) is Pete's birthday but he prefer staying at home since its weekdays after some regular hard work day. So we will celebrate the late birthday dinner with him tomorrow as my darling Selvi will take my kids and my domestic worker Thida out to the zoo.

After work, took MRT to City Hall where i waited for my buddy Klaus, who arrived here from Germany. Excited to see him again after my last dinner with him 2 years back. He used to be my art director of APA whom i worked with for 3 years.

We had talked and talked by writing on a ton of papers. And had a nice dinner @ Swissotel the Stamford's Out of the Pan. At 9ish striked out, i have to rush out to pick my boy from my mom's @ Braddell MRT. So missed him soo much...

Arrived at Braddell MRT control where Owen waited for me, i waved at him to come over to me... and gave him a huge hug and a wet kiss. hehe... We talked abt the other things on way back to home. Returned the rental dvds - Enchanted and Game Plan to DVD machine which stands by entrance of AMK hub.

my dish - Black pepper beef rolled in whole-wheat wrapper...

Klaus tried to take all of it - Crepe with vanilla, rum and raisin.

Owen put up a big smile behind the giant chrissy tree at AMK hub.

For Regina

2008-09-22T22:36:00.001+08:00

Another batch of hand-made stuffs for Regina. She will be giving her lovely grandson who lives in Australia next month.

What i made the stuffs: bolster case (she asked for the one that i took sample bolester case in yellow from her to make a copy one), baby towel, burp cloth and bunny felted with grandson's name.

Another crafty ones!

2008-09-20T22:55:00.000+08:00

Look at what i have done with my new fabrics. The quilted passport cover i just made today. And also done with other passport covers came with initial names for my friend Barbara -- she wants to gift her friends. They wrapped up in lovely glassine envelopes, labelled with my shop labels. Off to wrap into the tissue paper, awaiting for Barb to pick up.

Replaced Bunny???

2008-08-05T10:52:00.005+08:00

Ashley's old bunny with lovely pink floral that she "complained" that the other side is ruined felt. So i made another "big sister" bunny which fabric is well-known designer Amy Butler -- Tree Peony in Sky on one side and other side came with Natural Calico cotton. It took me less than a hour to finish it off. Phew!

finally they are here!

2008-04-13T14:09:00.010+08:00

finally i am glad that i made few passport covers and two of them have been sold out to a friend. last night i spent a couple of times to design my simple banner for my shop but have not listed my crafty items what i made yet... need to write good details (of cos very short and simple that is enough).
another project - i was inspired by betz white and her very creative stuffs. one of them - bunny that i have been tried out - it did not completed after some lazy weeks... i took some time to finish off this morning and put outside the laundry window to allow the hot sun to kill the "germ" stuffs from the bunny for some hours before my little girl can play and hug it.

BAD saturday!!!

2008-04-12T21:02:00.002+08:00

on the lazy saturday, i dropped my kids at the church for the catechism class as usual. randy was waiting for me there and drove me to his place where his wife regina waited for me... oh my god, randy showed me the bad crash at the back of his lovely car. he said the caused due to bad raining that the other driver crashed by accident. then i took the second shot of his licence plate for 4-D... hehe...

milky floral passport cover

2008-04-08T22:37:00.002+08:00

the passport with the cover, made of heavy natural linen with pink floral part and "E" i made today... it is being sold to a friend. isn't it cute!!!

shop spree for linens

2008-04-05T21:24:00.001+08:00

finally i dragged my sis and mom to chinatown for the yummy lunch and shop for some fantastic fabrics there... and bought few yards of linens in different colors. am sooo excited to make some crafty out of this fabrics...

some, some more crafty!!!

2008-04-01T22:43:00.001+08:00

made few key chains and sakura flower.

Welcome my new "hubby" - BROTHER sewing machine!

2008-03-29T21:30:00.001+08:00

lets welcome my new hubby BROTHER PETE - sewing machine. i must say - my mom is excellent seamstress since i was young. she used to make bikini, panties, pencil cases, reversible bags and even patchworked my blankets. so far we still have our patchwork blankets from her. later i will ask mom to give me a few tips on this issue as she is now busy taking care of little Darren (son of my cousin).

firstly headed to Bishan's BEST that i was thought to get the new sewing machine but saw all the items branded SAKURA which cost more than few hundreds, not worth to buy one as myself not very skilled "tailor". took MRT back to Ang Mo Kio's COURTS and found a new hubby... yah i used it more than few hours before giving Pete a break... :p

i used the small cotton fabric to test my "new" hubby Pete and it worked fun... and first time made the small key-chain with felted "B" (as for my friend Barbara) .

spa... spa... spa...

2008-03-23T16:21:00.004+08:00

today met my colleague Levi at bugis mrt before headed to Wayan Retreat Balinese Spa... very nice place with ideal interior design. first foto of balinese spa entrance door which you will see the stone steps with floods of water and flowers... 2nd one is front desk. the last one to lead you to spa place...

felt on Good Friday!

2008-03-23T00:12:00.004+08:00

on good friday, i killed my time by making several felt stuffs within 1.5 days...

my colleague coleen is going to give birth this coming may... i created the felt key-chain for her. the solid pink flower on top. and at the back, sewn with pink name "COLEEN"... finished off and put into a lovely simply paper bag with a little ribbon to sign off.

another felt key-chain for friend - violet flower with "transparent" beads on top. sewn up with "regina" at back.
i need a pincushion for myself as i always search up and down when i leave the pins and needles unattendedly, i saw some idea from "verybigjen" on flickr. i must say "verybigjen" is a queen pincushion. this one is more tough task for me... but its worth of my little effort!
another crafty stuff - semi-felt-cum-cotton cloth bunny. i got a tutorial from betz white on eblog - she is great at various task. i jus want to taste her idea with different idea of me to create one for my little girl. i added "ashley" and heart on pink felt and other side is 100% cotton which came as scrap that i bought off from www.etsy.com. its half way as i don't have sewing machine at home as i may get a little help from a friend or at my mom's. yah, i will upload the final foto of this bunny when i am done! :0

final touch-up for the BEN-10

2008-03-20T16:13:00.001+08:00

my little owen never stop bugging me for that item - i got it done quickly.... and name it as orangish owen at the back. mmmm am much happy to see the "Ben 10" in exact way as it is. yah owen is thrilled to have it on his bag...

Floss Bobbins in ORDER!

2008-03-13T13:39:00.003+08:00

i have been having the colorful threads for years... that i used for the various usage on cross stitches, felt stuffs... etc. the threads are in messy condition until i found some useful floss bobbis on ebay and bidded on 2 sets which i jus rec'd. of cos happily organised them into my container...

Recycled Endpapers???

2008-03-01T10:28:00.003+08:00

i have been gathered all the nice endpapers from my work that they don't need the endpapers (samples) once the books published. all the endpapers piled up into a little mountain and i brought them home and recycled them into ideal envelopes... somehow i use them for christmas or other purposes can be used...

Final done!!!

2008-03-01T10:01:00.002+08:00

am glad that the felt "Anush & Kumar" sewn up well and went with leaves and flowers. sent out to framing shop and had it matching frame. their wedding is coming next week - 8th march, sat. i will give them in person with our "red packet" as traditional way.

Yu Sheng

2008-02-18T10:44:00.002+08:00

our dept decided to have our own yu-sheng order - yummy....

felt ideas!

2008-02-09T22:24:00.000+08:00

at home, owen often talked abt his big fan cartoon -- Ben 10 non-stop. it made me sick of this and my ears got "ear-ached". it gave me another idea that i can make "BEN 10" out of felt material to make him feel good.

finally i did it and it looked fabulous. yes, owen is thrilled to have it on his school-bag. but its not completed yet. need to joint with the grosgrain ribbon and key-ring.

we have rec'd the wedding invitation card from pete's cousin's daughter anusha who is getting married to her to-be-hubby kumar who is living in washington, usa. planning to have a nice felt with some embroidery in frame so they can hang in their home nest back in usa after their marriage. will show you on my coming blog once it finishes.

i find that felt materials not cheap anywhere. i bought 2 colors - natural green and prefect pink - each metre costs SGD18.00 from spotlight. the rest i bought from ebay usa. cos the color in singapore not good color or none of them is not nature color that i want. only outside have a various nice colors.

cookies cookies cookies

2008-02-08T14:14:00.000+08:00

jus 2 days before the chinese new year, we decide to make some cookies for the fun that i have not baked the cookies for the ages despite i did with some cakes and cupcakes from time to time.

finally we made some hearty cookies with cashew-nuts on the top.

little kids made some fun on making cookies...

before baking cooking...

another idea for book-mark

2008-02-08T11:34:00.000+08:00

last night, i spent 2 hours to create my own book-mark which beared my lovely family on it - was taken in gold coast's sea world in nov '07. it made me feeling soo nice... natural brown with bright blue on family name. or colorful image with embossed name... still have not decide on one yet!

DIY key-chains

2008-02-08T10:14:00.000+08:00

finally made another felt crafty stuffs - key-chain / handbag charm.... i have made both-sided on each item:

wool flower was re-cycled from ash's old top which out-grew and had been keep since now. the colorful beads was bought from holland village's bead factory.

the hot pink scotty dog is my little fave... isn't it cute?

my little ash tried to get another crafty idea to have scotty dog as " scotty key-chain"... hand-made by herself...

killing boring time!!!

2008-02-02T23:05:00.000+08:00

on first sat of february, my kids' catechism classes began... at holy spirit church in thomson area. i often feel boring very quickly, i took a nice snack at opposite - dino - very nice foods from cakes to home-cooked foods to makan. i brought my 'fave' book "CUT! -- hollywood murders, accidents, and other tragedies" by john-michael howson, with me to read while having a lime juice and roll cake.

with book-mark by berkeley books

Amy Butler - French Paisley / Patchwork Bundle - Rainbow

2008-01-30T10:12:00.005+08:00

i bought some nice fabrics from www.etsy.com where the sellers are self-creative makers sell a lot of fancy stuffs... i plan to make some out of them when i can. for my little girl, want to make something like bunny that i saw online that one made it sooo cute. why not i try myself???

this 100% cotton fabric is out of print and as you can see, it's pretty magnificent. the colorway is called Lime Peel and this remaining piece measures 71" x 44".
a bundle of fabrics perfect for patchwork, quilting, appliqué, and other small projects. 100% unwashed cotton. and bag of green colored scraps.

Many of these fabrics are designer.
Amy Butler
Joel Dewberry
Heather Bailey
Anna Maria Horner

crafty stuffs and CNY lanterns....

2008-01-26T21:09:00.000+08:00

on busy saturday, i jus thought of browse around the holland village and for some thing makes me more thrills...

dragged my boy owen with me, leaving my little girl ash with maid at home, to holland village by bus 165 from AMK. owen complained abt the long drive there that made me smile wide - no more kiddie fights :p

reached holland shopping mall, my first heading to bead factory where i have been fancied long time ago i bought a few sets before. it made me drooled... bought a 3-stranded necklace, boxes of colorful beads and tear-drop crystals... damn cheapest than other shops. and make some more trips to various shops within that mall before took bus back to AMK central, bought some crafty for my friend.
ahhhhh, finally reached home and rested my worn-out legs and asked for a nice cup of MILO, made by my maid wati. i asked ash where the stuffs my friend bob dropped by earlier (in my absence) and rec'd the stuffs. OH MY GOD!!! bob folded wrongly. anyway, i un-do and re-folded correctly and made the final lantern.... within a hour.

and see the other lanterns i made other time...

Hedgehog Pino

2008-01-25T13:36:00.000+08:00

cute! cute! here's the hedgehog pineapple... was made by a colleague's friend. isnt it clever craft??? of cos it is!

Makan at Regina's new place...

2008-01-23T13:41:00.000+08:00

invited to regina's place for makan... she bought new home last year and put a lot of efforts to decor nicely... everything is nice and crafty touch-ups. fantastic foods cooked by regina. probably some by her mom mary i know many years ago at work.

a strong faith!!!!

regina and her mom mary

me and yhi hua

Apologises from little one...

2008-01-22T13:17:00.000+08:00

my little boy owen was wrong what he had done and often "bullied" his big sis ashley. i gave him a good leash. next day he expressed his regret by offering me a small bunch of wild flower. it touched my heart. isn't it cute?

Another frame for Pete!

2008-01-19T16:47:00.000+08:00

finally i created another one for pete as a remembrance with Hi! Theatre peers that he performed with many years before his marriage and had visited some countries.

it took me 3 hours (included lunch time) to draft out and ironed out the prefect layout - 1 metre length and contained more fotos of him and his old friends. am soo glad to hear that pete loved it soo much than i expected. my effort is worth than nothing...

Fabulous Frame!!!

2008-01-15T12:53:00.000+08:00

i have been wanted one for my home esp huge blank wall to fill in. i spent my time on how to get the prefect frame for my aussie fotos... and drafted out roughly on the "mahjong" paper and had it trimmed in actual size. marched down to framing shop to follow my instruction. it took less than a week to have it done. very excited to collect it up as its my first creation on frame. :p

reached home, can't wait to add the lovely fotos of myself and family. it looks prefect!!! great for home!!! yah yah yah!

crab crab crab...

2008-01-10T21:58:00.000+08:00

yummy... yummy.... my colleague sook fan treated me and angie to crab dinner.... after work. it located at Mellben Seafood, blk 232 ang mo kio ave 3 (st 22).

i headed home to change my top to dark color so won't get dirt by chilli crab cracks... and rushed back to Mellben Seafood - thanks to angie and sook fan who stood to queue up to get a seat. can't believe that there was a long long queue.

ordered some meals - chilli crab and butter crab, breads, fried veg and tofu and fish fingers. the best tummy i filled in... :p

little Christmassy

2007-12-19T13:58:00.000+08:00

nice gift from my colleague eileen lying next to my little foto frame which hold my kids, owen and ashley, on top of my CPU at work...

Hobart, Tasmania - 10th nov '07

2007-11-10T20:40:00.000+08:00

next morning, cold gave us a deep frozen and keep warm with sock on. packed up and drove to salamanca market, hobart from karen's home for 3 hours...

arrived at the market and i scream as i could : S C R E A M all the way... :p all the crafty stuffs sooo nice unlike the ones back in my country. browsed around the largest market and bought some items at my budget. walked to the nearby ferry - a nice wide view. and had a nice lunch there... yummy yummy at well-known Maures restaurant. what bugged us with a flock of seagulls which waited for our big fish!!!!

nasty sea-gulls won't us have a nice lunch...

walking back to the car park, heading for the villas...

booked the villa at "Bay View Villas" for a night on same day... taking a short break before drove off to the most beautiful view at the mt. wellington. damn lovely to be there...

at the back of the bay view villa...

mount wellington -- very lovely place to feel and view nicely...

back to bay view villas, walked around the nearby places for the early dinner...

Launceston, Tasmania - 9th nov 2007

2007-11-09T12:45:00.000+08:00

check out at 4ish in morning, and check in the flight on aussie virgin blue to launceston, tasmania... wow the tassie island looked fantastic than i expected. took us there about 3 hours' flight from brisbane to lauceston and finally met up with my long-time buddy karen and her boyfriend of 12 years, eddie at the airport.

drove off to their tassie home. nice feeling to be on cool and fresh-air place that i was away for some years back. rest for a hour, before drove us to lauceston's basin chairlift about 2 mins' drive. can't believe that the scenery of landscape looks sooooo charm... met new "friends" (peacocks :p ) and a lot of "wild" flowers that we don't have much in singapore.

First trip to Brisbane - 8th nov 2008

2007-11-08T12:20:00.000+08:00

finally a day came on 8th nov 2008, thursday. arrived at changi airport at 8-ish in the morning, peter, sis-in-law selvi and little owen saw us off... can see owen was going to miss me as a mother a lot. and finally rec'd the biggest hugs and kisses from pete and owen.

checked in and boarded in our SIA plane and ash smiled widely as its her first trip to down under place. and little one can't live without her reading book and cuddle toy where she goes... at refreshment time, had a warm vegetarian dhall wrap, snack bar, cheese and crackers. and lunch - potato salad with pork mortadella sausage, Gaeng Khew Wan Kai (thai style green curry of chicken with seasonal vegetables and steamed rice), cheese and crackers.

after 7 hours flight, arrived at brisbane airport where my buddy jules picked us and had a quick dinner there - the food is not very great one i ever had. and took a cab to our "cheapest" hotel - formula one which cost AUD70+ per night. but not bad staying there as it drives from airport about ten mins away. cos next day we need to catch another plane to tasmania at 5am! what a restless night!

me lying on comfy bed, shot by ash

little outing with ash!

2007-09-23T12:14:00.000+08:00

sorry i was away from my eblog for a couple of months. i can't recall where we went to this time... had a nice shot of my ash at AMK mrt during our outing.

birthday wishes from germany!

2007-09-18T09:08:00.000+08:00

the otto-wolf family never failed remembering my birthday since my marriage then... at work today, rec'd the wishes of HAPPY BIRTHDAY email from max, kerstin and their kids, attached with their lovely photos here.

"mysterious" parcel from belgium!

2007-09-17T22:03:00.000+08:00

soooo sweet of ann and kristof sending me the "mysterious" parcel... all the way from belgium. arrived at my office at 5ish evening. i got my colleague coleen to drive me home with that not-sooo-small-cum-not-sooo-big parcel, in order not to mess up with crowded bus. otherwise, i could not hold parcel well before it will drop off me. thanks to her.

there's 3 CDs that kristof whipped up all the "best" belgian songs and some kris-style classics... aren't they cool??? i bet they are. the rest is belgian jules destrooper caramelized butter biscuits, cote d'or chocolate butter and cote d'or four season mignonnette flavoured with coffee, milk chocolate, milk chocolate with ground halzenuts and extra high quality plain chocolate. and cute birthday card which came with printed out of their photo he pasted on.

arrived at my desk...

on my way home... from the front passenger seat in coleen's car...

kristof created his own classic-style CD with nature foto... as well as birthday card.

well-known belgian cookies from jules destrooper

New York Post

2007-09-16T19:21:00.001+08:00

had a quickie dinner at new york restaurant with ash while peter and owen were taking their nap at home (cos he had a little fever that we can't take him along). feeling sorry that he was not with us, otherwise he insisted on coming with us despite his sick. jus want to treat ash to new york dinner as i know she jus wants all is candy floss which is free.

mmmm yummy... had simple foods - fiery buffalo wings, root beer float and penne alferdo with a half chicken (my fave one!)

new york post menu

looking over the menu...

penne alferdo with half chicken... yummy...
yah you should try it when you can. TRUST ME!!!

maran schedule at last!!!

2007-09-16T14:58:00.000+08:00

at last i booked tickets to gold coast and tasmania online from www.zuji.com.sg - thanks to all the help i got from yhi hua.

there would be 7 weeks more to go... after the confirmation of SQ and virgin blue tickets from their office and i "cooked" up the new schedule (attached here where you can see).

that one i planned out for my friends in OZ that they will know when and time to pick us from the airports respectively.

Peter Pest???

2007-09-16T01:26:00.000+08:00

on the way to amk central to get some stuffs for my crafty hobby as well as posted some ebay items to the buyers. was amused at sight of the white van, labelled with "peter pest" cos its my hubby name is peter. i smiled widely and wondered if he works for the pest? if he does, i will faint at pest smell...

Welcome the little Luke!!!

2007-09-13T12:53:00.000+08:00

the little luke broke his doting mom liping's water bag at 8am, 28th august. at last, delivered to this world at 12:49pm, weighted at 3.72kg, length at 53cm at birth. let's congratulate the proud parents...

proud father mike looked on his darling luke... at mt. alvernia hotel.

shopping with mom

2007-09-10T10:18:00.000+08:00

what a worn-out day... after hard work day, heading to my mom's for dinner. nice to feel home again although i no longer stayed there since i got married 16 years ago. and rec'd the nice mobile strap with flower clay from sis janet (her buddy was vacation from hawaii).

then went out with her to toa payoh hub and bought mom samsung mp3 player. she's thrilled to use it... came with free cool pink case.

after long shopping, we went home separately and finally came home and a quickie shower before jumping in my nest... sooo nice to feel great at home again with my fave candle-lit gave me a fab feel during bed time. good nite!

crafty again

2007-09-09T23:20:00.000+08:00

at finally, my mom made the sofa cushion covers, took extra cloth from the IKEA long curtains which cut off at the bottom and had enough to cover up. the re-filled cushions were given from pete's current company.

before

after

bought the colorful bead necklace from holland village's bead factory on sale! i like that style but did not like as its tooo much for me so i cut some off and mixed with turquiose stones, retailed at SGD5.00 from my home area.

had enough of tough time... almost finished beading the long necklace and got my pete to hold up while he asked me to switch on air con in our room, but the nylon string got away from my damn-clumpy hands. it end up giving all the beads "run and jumped wildly" everywhere. my little ash picked every bead and stored back in my bead box. determined to be finishing the necklace again which took me more than one hour at same time as chatting with friend on MSN.

before

after

isn't it pretty???

bad luck!!!

2007-09-08T20:15:00.000+08:00

sob... sob... broke my loved jade-pendant that originally craved by the native maori (a member of the aboriginal people of new zealand) that pete bought for me during his performance period. broken thrice and glued back thrice. yeah, it broke my heart. was bought at NZ$120.

ruined jade-pendant

ebay day!!!

2007-09-07T13:08:00.001+08:00

damn... soo bulky items to pack for each buyer. but great to make some money from selling the un-wanted items at home than dump them away, agree? and also re-used the recycled ebvelopes and also use the IKEA brown "recycled" wrapping paper (a roll at SGD1.90, can last me for a year)

my first beading ring!!!

2007-08-19T01:09:00.000+08:00

today went to beelan's stall @ the forum and to get the sterling ring and beading wire from her. she taught me one try and i do the rest. originally, i bought the maroon bracelet that i don't like to wear as just want the beads only. i transformed it into my beading ring...

formerly the bead bracelet...

and cut off the string and stored in box safety before heading to the forum...

and at finally made the completely ring after 2 hours

all the items my friend beelan and her friend made and you can refer to beelan's website @ http:///www.zebralifestyle.com and you can order at your request...

Welcome to this WORLD!!!

2007-07-30T13:32:00.000+08:00

finally i managed to find time in making this lovely felt-hanging for my colleague sook fan and her hubby alphone before she jus gave birth to a cute baby girl... on 18th july 2007.

a day-old princess is having a rest at hospital... coooo... coooo...

Invitation card for my buddy!

2007-07-20T10:55:00.002+08:00

i'm making my buddy jules' boyfriend daniel's birthday invitation cards. firstly i headed to orchard area where the shop sells some fancy papers which weighed ard 160gm per sheet which is great for cards or anything like book-marks... etc.

drafted some at home and sent to jules for her "approval" before i printed out and trimed them. finally i did and expressed them to her work place. glad to hear that they loved it sooooooo much.

Grüße aus Deutschland (Greetings from Germany)

2007-07-04T23:50:00.001+08:00

few days back, i emailed max for the correct address to update my address book and rec'd the reply from him with the "recent" fotos...

this friend of me, max -- long-long-time friend whom i know from APA (german company, published travel guide books) i worked for many years ago. yah we keep in touch from fax to letter to email non-stop. he's damn busy as a family man. sooo cute kids of his - LUISA, 7, nearly finishes her first year of school and KONSTANTIN, 5 still in the "Kindergarten".

they often went holiday in EU when they can...

skiing in switzerland in feb '07.

max, his wife kerstin, and his kids luisa and konstantin, took a shot a few weeks ago.

alike-alike?

2007-06-18T13:11:00.001+08:00

thanks to my cousin kat who talked about this in her blog so i "tested" it for FUN FUN FUN! :)

Hospital day with Sean

2007-06-09T13:39:00.003+08:00

That day i was not told about Sean being hospitalized until i usually sms-ed him for lunch where we work nearby... but was told that he is hospitalized now. OH MY GOD what is going on... explained that he crashed with other car at Upper Serangoon road... on that day, my little Owen and i decided to visit sean at AMK hospital and yah he looks much better after spent his time there for 3 weeks... my nasty joke teased him if he crashed due to his peeping at other gals while riding on...

sean smiled with my little 2-toothless owen

dinner with roger

2007-06-07T13:48:00.000+08:00

finally met up with roger (back from his UK for vacation time) at outside AMK hub's subway after work ( i was 5 mins late). he found AMK more interesting... walked up to the 3rd floor of food court and grabbed the seats which awaiting us for 20 mins before joss and mike joined us.

amazed that they used the same model cells, except me ... blah... blah... blah... three beat one! boooo.... :p

three vs one???

rog and joss

mike

extreme makeover...

2007-05-16T13:23:00.000+08:00

finally i touch my home up at last with lovely stuffs...

grilled pete sooo deep that we bought the curtain pole from spotlight and put up at my master room window... the floral curtains from IKEA made by my mom.

bought a pair of holland wooden-shoes from tanglin mall's flea-market.

the navy clothes from IKEA were for kitchen purposes but changed my mind that used for the semi-curtain at my hallway... NICE and PERFECT!!!

at kitchen side... stored with some useful books and others... elephant in painting was bought from bangkok, thailand last dec. the glassed-jug looks so nice that i used the wrapping paper to keep in.

the clayed-pot painted by my buddy tania's mother... was given on her visiting to my home many years ago (time before ash's time)

"M" in wooden made by pete - stands for MARANS.

another made "A" and "O" stand for ASHLEY and OWEN, sitting between the 3-D bears framed up from my cousin lily, on the large piping that lead to air con.

mother's day

2007-05-13T21:08:00.000+08:00

after movie SPIDER-MAN 3, met up with other cousin jen and given a bunch of lovely flowers - a double-flowered cultivated variety of clove red flowers with other "wild" ones with her compliments. arent they nice? while i get the glassed vase ready for flowers... found a green worm in one of flowers.

greenish worm

close-up carnations

finally in vase...

brought more spice to my home... mmm

spidey movie

2007-05-13T13:18:00.000+08:00

thanks to berkeley books for the free 4-ticket to movie for mother's day that can accompany us - 2 adults and 2 kids -- that's perfect plan. knowing that my kids are thrilled to watch spidey show. booked the tickets at bishan's 81 junction.

free tickets to any movie

that boy cant wait to wear his spidey jacket before heading to movie

killing his tiny time by play boxing with his "rival" while waiting for the show time

that "poster" took shot by owen

crocs crocs crocs

2007-05-06T20:36:00.000+08:00

at the amk hub, i bought a pair of the most-comfy crocs sandals - costed at SGD64.00...

joshua party

2007-05-05T16:01:00.000+08:00

finally joshua's birthday came up today... he's growing up as a little guy... lovely his parents jay and barb home-made the birthday spidey-cake... mmm soo nice. i gave them 5-stars and the two thumb-ups cos they were not experience with art stuffs... KEEP IT UP!

spidey cake home-made by jay and barb

that's birthday boy joshua in spidey costume...

joshua talked to my boy owen holding spidey toy...

that's joshua's big sister ally, ushered out little friends...

nice to see old friends kathleen and joy around...

take a shot of us on own -- myself and regina

hee hee justine put "fake" smile, isn't he????

long waiting waiting

2007-05-05T12:52:00.000+08:00

went down to bugis area to collect the newly-issued passport on behalf of pete as he's working today which is his new job since one week ago... am glad to know that he's much happily working now. rushed up to 2nd floor as i know its very hellish crowd as its lazy saturday. ALAMAK! its few hundred more turns... my kids made fussy over this bored waiting. hehehe!

look at my number "3096"

now its "2838"... yawn... ZZzz...

Passage to Maran home...

2007-05-04T13:21:00.001+08:00

Hi, here's very-virgin-view of my newly renovated master and master bathrooms...

~before and after~

common bathroom
nice to have a newly bathroom with new tiles...
~~~~~~
master bathroom
this lovely cabinet hand-made by Pete and sprayed with solid white before hanging in my master toilet -- happily decorated with my fave stuffs lined up where i can use often before going out or work...

that frog is having cool shower -- was gifted from a old classmate Lisa

~~~~~~
dinning room
~~~~~~
main balcony
main balcony at night...
~~~~~~
make-over indo-style sofa
thanks to my buddy Violet who gave it a makeover....
~~~~~~
new shoe cabinet at main entrance next to balcony
~~~~~~
cozy living room
day-bed that i bought from "recycled" IKEA and adopted the cushions from my former sofa which dumped away. IKEA white and blue covers tailored by my dear mom.
~~~~~~
my collections
collected the insight guides books during my time with APA

love a lamp shade a lot -- from IKEA

my earring collections hangs along the edge of candle glass holder.

labour day rose day...

2007-05-01T14:04:00.000+08:00

what a day! off to my mom's place -- she was not feeling well since few days... and need a real BIG break away from my home as my kids always fought non-stop every min every hour! i decide to take one kid away with me to see my mom.

ash on bus 159 , heading to my mom's place

freaked out at ash who tried to take a shot of me...

what a bunch of lovely roses that given to me by my little owen that he knelt down to hand me this bunch... what a little man!!!

over-used spidey stuffs

2007-04-30T18:06:00.001+08:00

What a shame!!! My little Owen used it non-stop since we bought him from Spotlight.

Look at this damaged gloves... Poor thing!

my tributes to late steve irwin...

2007-04-29T20:00:00.001+08:00

Today, my daughter Ashley, 10, cleared her very-very-messy stuffs in her room and found a piece of note that she copied earlier last week... that's her biggest fave fan -- STEVE IRWIN! so sad, and such a loss... i like the fact that people included the khaki clothing. i think Steve once said, they were only couple who could cross dress, and no one would know it. it was about Steve Irwin -- her biggest fan that she never forgets... and wanted to be a zookeeper.

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin (feb 22, 1962 - sept 4, 2006) , nicknamed "the crocodile hunter", was an australian wildlife expert and television personality. He achieved world-wide fame from the television program the Crocodile Hunter , an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series co-hosted with his wife Terri Irwin. together with her and long time friend William Rollo , he also co-owned and operated australia zoo , founded by his parents and funded by William Rollo in Beerwah, Queensland.

Born: 22 Feb 1962, Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Died: 4 Sept 2006 (age 44), Batt Reef, Queensland, Australia
Occupation: Naturalist, zoologist, conservationist, television personality
Spouse: Terri Irwin
Children: Bindi Sue Irwin and Robert (Bob) Clarence Irwin
Website: CrocodileHunter.com.au

Ashley wrote:

As a matter of fact, the barbed spine of a stingray was responsible for causing the death of a famous television personally, Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter". He was the man who gained popularity around the world for his bravery in leaping onto the backs of huge crocodiles and grabbing deadly snakes by their tails.

Irwin, 44, had been filming a documentary called "Ocean's Deadliest" on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. he and a cameraman were snorkeling in the shallow water when the fearless animal-lover swam over the top of a stingray. it then stuck out its barb and pierced Irwin in the chest.

Irwin was videotaped pulling the barb from his chest moments before losing consciousness. Irwin's manager and producer, John Stainton said, "Steve probably got a bit too close to the ray, and with the cameraman in front, the ray must have felt sort of cornered."

Steve Irwin Tribute 9th September 2006 Australia Zoo

Photo by Kathryn Lucas

hans' art

2007-04-29T11:35:00.001+08:00

This morning, Ashley and Owen had big breakfast at AMK's mac before heading to Hans' Art... they love having mac stuffs...

Owen in bad mood to place an order... we were still waiting for him.

Ash loves to butter on pancakes with a ton of butter and "honey"...

that Owen needs hush-hush place to draw professionally...
yep, of cos very proud of my boy as always.

her Hans' Art teacher telling her how to do that and there...

and finally she touched her master piece up...

disabled and doing just fine

2007-04-28T23:25:00.001+08:00

we got visit from the lees to my place. we talked and talked non-stop... until little mag (regina's daughter) rang ash up about the newspaper revealed abt the angs :) that made ash sooo excited and could not wait to read about... pressed me harder and harder to buy newspaper on that day night. fortunately the lees have straits times at home and forwarded the scan to us via email we rec'd at 11pm. ashley and owen already tucked in bed quickly.

anyway i have attached the image here:

~ the straits time newspaper clip ~
HOLDING HIS OWN: Mr Jaymes Ang, 41, thumbing through a book with his children, Alysha (left), nine, and Joshua, six. though Mr Ang has a stable job and earns a comfortable income together with his wife, he still worries about job security sometimes.

Jaymes Ang, who is hearing-impaired, loves his job but worries that automation and globalisation may make him redundatant.

They are good-looking children with peaches-and-cream complexions and doe-like eyes. Joshua is six. His sister Alysha is nine.

Their mother, kindergarten teacher Barbara D'cotta, is eurasian; their father, technical supervisor Jaymes Ang, is hearing-impaired and communicates using sign language.

He hopes his children will go to university and land good jobs. He has bought education insurance policies for each child and sets aside money each month for their "study fund".

The 41-year-old has a good stable job but confessed that he worries sometimes.

"Life is unpredictable," he said. "you never know what's going to happen. It's going to be difficult for me to get another job if i lose this one because not only am i getting older, but i am also hearing-impaired."

Mr Ang is one of the longest-serving employees at Nihon Etching, a company which was set up in 1990 and specialising in surface texturing of industrial moulds and other products. He landed the job after completing his o levels at mount vernon secondary school. Today, nearly 18 years later, he supervises a team of about 15 workers including three who are also hearing-impaired.

"I guess i'm very lucky. Our company's headquarters in japan hires many hearing-impaired people. I like the work and my bosses are very encouraging. I also think i am being paid a fair wage," he said, although he declined to reveal his salary.

His wife - who has a graduate diploma in special education from australia as well as a montessori diploma - used to teach in a secondary school but opted to teach in a kindergarten for better hours after the two children arrived.

Their combined wages allow the family to live fairly comfortably in a four-room (mistakely - shd be 5-room instead) HDB flat in sengkang and afford a car and maid.

Mr Ang said his disability has not put him at any disadvantage in the company although he has had the occasional case of insubordination.

"I just have to be firm and let them know i mean business. On the whole, i would say that the workers all get along very well. We help each other out."

While he has never entertained thoughts of leaving, he does worry about losing his job.

"I've met many clients whose factories have closed down. You also hear of companies relocating to vietnam, china and indonesia because wages are much cheaper in these places. The world is changing, so life is unpredictable," he said.

"My priorities now are my family. we try to save as much as possible. Before the children arrived, my wife and i like to travel to places like europe and australia. But now, it's places like malaysia and thailand.

"We are saving now to take them to australia but we want to wait until joshua is a little taller. At least then, he can go on rides in amusement parks.

Should the worst happen, he is prepared to let the car and maid go.

Things could be better for a disabled person in singapore, he said.

"For example, i don't get any tax reliefs. In malaysia, i get discounted train tickets or free or discounted entry to many places when i show my deaf card, but not here," he said.

The congenial man wants to carry on working for as long as he can.

"If i can't work any more, i will open a food stall. People always need to eat right?

He casts a cheeky look at his children and says: "Hopefully, by then, those two would have grown up. then, They can look after us."

gotta a visit from my cousin, Katie

2007-04-28T18:00:00.001+08:00

my cousin, katie came over to my place this afternoon to view my new bathroom. she even took some pictures of my bathroom and the sofa bed at the living room. she's going to blog this on her blog. so check this out at her blog, katsigner.

this is my cousin, katie on my lovely bed.
she is going to kill me on this 'cos this picture of hers is ugly.

little spider-boy

2007-04-28T10:11:00.001+08:00

this very morning, owen can't wait to wear the spidey stuffs that last night (friday) he pressed his dad to buy from spotlight - worth SGD20.00.

owen tried to transform himself into spidey and
take on the NOWHERE green goblin in this stuff.

i took this shot from my sofa while lying...

casino

2007-03-05T13:38:00.001+08:00

my fave digital watch brand - CASIO. i used to have the old model one but often took by my little ashley... she loved it a lot as i do. i let her have me so i bought another digital watch branded CASIO as well from AMK Hub. felt great of being its own boss-lady.

CASIO digital watch DURO 200

little christmas @ the angs'

2006-12-26T00:23:00.000+08:00

we invited to the angs' (barb and jay) christmas party every year without fail... the happy kids always shared every little gossips among them what is going on... and screamed at the top about and laughed about... what a nice day!!!

the chrismtas foods prepared by the lady-in-chief barb :p

the three little women always stay together whatever they meet again...

owen wided his smile for the ready-shot!

guitar-boy

2006-12-24T18:53:00.001+08:00

aiyo... this little man loves to wear his fave red shirt all the time with t-shirt inside, and loves to play the toy guitar -- yah making a lot of noise even nap time... tsk tsk!!!

playful with his toy guitar at home

holidaying @KL, Malaysia

2005-09-07T10:11:00.001+08:00

our holidaying trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during my early 36th birthday. it's soo sweet memory. arrived in KL by double-decked coach which my kids enjoyed much during the long long way...

pete with maran kids, ashley and owen at Sunway.

my kids having fun at the Sunway Lagoon.

back to our hotel, Bayview Hotel's swimming pool. the active kids can't wait to jump into cool pool after all the hot days.

ashley with flower on her earlobe :)

lovely owen tried to copy-cat ashley's way...

family portrait

1973-04-16T13:27:00.000+07:30

this is photo of my family. i am eldest daughter with little siblings, janet and sam. was taken on 16th april 1973.

this is my dad, mom, myself, little sis and brother.