Emila's Illustrated Calendar 2010

When I first started blogging in April of last year, among the earliest blogs that I linked to was Emila's Illustrated Blog which I came across in the Blog Malaysia directory. Apart from being a talented artist/illustrator, Emila is also a very good photographer.

Last month, Emila invited her readers to suggest suitable quotes that could be inserted in her upcoming calendar for 2010. She was looking for 12 quotations that would accompany her drawings for each month of the year and the selected entry would win a copy of the calendar itself. I suggested a quote from Khalil Gibran for the month of July (my birthday month) and as luck would have it, my entry was chosen.

Last week, Emila delivered the cute calendar to me, complete with a special indicator for the 6th of July. Thanks Emila, for this unique present.

The calendar is available to the general public at only RM12.90 from her online shop at this link -> Emila's Littleshop. While at her shop, you may also wish to browse other unique items on offer.

Meme : Save Yvonne's Sight

If there is a wonder of technology that can be put to good use, it is the spread of information on good charitable causes. The link of blogosphere friends has led me to the story of one spirited young lady named Yvonne Foong, who is living and fighting with neurofibromatosis. She is carrying out her own fund-raising effort to help pay for the cost of her treatment.

I first spotted this meme on Kak Teh's blog. With the speed of light, I now see other bloggers on my blogroll (mamasita, Pat and Dr Sam) participating too. It was Andrea who tagged me on this one.

Yvonne Foong, 22, has neurofibromatosis type II, which has severely affected her sight and hearing due to tumours in the brain and spine. She is scheduled for an operation between 1 and 4 December 2009. The cost of surgery is USD44,000 or RM154,770, and the cost of staying in hospital for two weeks is USD915 or RM3,219.

She has raised about RM54k (latest figure on her website as of today) of this and is hoping to raise the rest by republishing her book I'm Not Sick; I'm Just a Bit Unwell in English and Chinese. The books are now available in Malaysian bookshops and from her web store. She is also selling T-shirts at bazaars and via her web store. You can read about her surgery and donate to her fund here.

You can also help by sending on this meme.

If you do, please follow these meme rules:

1. Create a blog entry titled "Meme: Save Yvonne's Sight"

2. List three things you love to see. Add in the picture of Yvonne's book cover. The URL is http://www.yvonnefoong.com/images/banner/my-story.jpg

3. End with the line, "Yvonne Foong is in danger of losing her eyesight thanks to neurofibromatosis (NF). Please find out how you can help her by visiting her blog at http://www.yvonnefoong.com/.

4. Tag 5 blog friends. Be sure to copy the rules, OK?

5. If you have a Facebook account, please check out Ellen's new invention, a "feme" pronounced FEEM, a meme designed for Facebook here. And if you want to blog about NF, that would be great too!

Three things I love to see :

1. A big plate of juicy lambchops...

2. A tall cool glass of air bandung soda...

3. Two, no make that three, slices of delicious blueberry cheesecake...

Oops! I can't be serious about the three things I've listed above... it must be the fasting that's influencing my choice.

I am not tagging anybody, so if any of my readers would like to participate, please feel free to copy the meme and spread the good word.

Yvonne Foong is in danger of losing her eyesight thanks to neurofibromatosis (NF). Please find out how you can help her by visiting her website that I've linked above.

Life is short but wonderful. Do something good. I have already placed an order for a copy of her book.

Setahun jagung

This blog is one year old today.

I started off my first post in this blog with something I received in a forwarded email. The article, Paradox of Our Time, was purportedly by the American comedian George Carlin. Before posting, I googled about Carlin and from his official website, found that he denied writing such crap.

A year has now gone by... George Carlin passed away on 22 June 2008. And I've met more friends in blogosphere. Some blogger friends became Facebook friends and in turn, I hope we would have the chance to meet in real-life someday.

Thank you to all who have taken the time to drop a comment or two.

Take the path less ordinary

In my Regular Reads blogroll is a blog managed by a group of dedicated individuals who call themselves Outskirt Outreach. This group promotes nature conservation and organizes treks into our beautiful rainforest, especially within the Kinta Valley. They also help out the Orang Asli communities by various means such as collecting used children's clothes from urban donors for distribution to the Orang Asli families.

Their latest post makes a mention of a certain `old' guy whom they have described as a `prolific' blogger. The post can be read -> here.

Err... Casey my friend, I need to correct you here. Putting up a blog post every three or four days hardly qualifies as prolific... heheheh. Thanks for the mention, anyway. I certainly wish that I'll be able to join you guys on a jungle expedition one day.

If any of my KL-based readers are hopping over to Double-O's blog, do check out their latest Kuala Lumpur Integrated Rail Map. It has all the train lines (LRT, Monorail, KTM, Kommuter and ERL) neatly and colourfully laid out. Reminds me of the London Underground Subway. Cool.

Hitting the century mark

This is my 100th post! For today, I thought I'd just spend some time looking back at how this blog has come along. A nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon...

I'm borrowing some ideas from blogger-friend Versedanggerik in this write-up. Boleh kan Verse?

Actually, my first foray in blogging started much earlier, some time around 2001. But it was short-lived... in fact, it had a single opening post (me ranting about my job, the typical overwork and underpaid stuff). The weblog didn't survive because the laptop I was using had to be returned when I left the company. Blogging at home was out of the question because broadband connection for the general public was non-existent back then. Accessing the Internet on a dial-up connection is a real test of patience.

This particular blog came to existence in April this year. The first post was made on 8 April 2008. Seven months down the line, we reach the 100th mark. That works out to an average of just over 14 posts per month. Kira okay la tu...

While it has never been about quantity, I was nonetheless concerned about actually having worthwhile things to write about and share with other citizens of blogosphere. So far, the ideas have been coming in quite regularly... it's always the effort of typing it all out on the laptop that's holding things back. No doubt, some of my posts are just fillers or what I call `interludes' but generally, what I've written are from my own personal experience.

Anyway, here are some highlights :

First commenter - Saudara Mutalib Saifudin on 1st May 2008.
First blogroll link-back - The fiesty Fie The Elf.
First blogging award received - The talented Emila Yusof.
First Facebook friend also on Blogger - Nurie, living life in Riyadh.
First award citation - On 08.09.08 by Patricia, who lives in an English Cottage.
First fellow blogger I met in person - Versedanggerik, in Kuantan on 14 August 2008.

My most sincere apologies to other regular friends and occasional visitors whom I've failed to mention. There are so many of you... I am so honoured by the visits, comments and link-backs.

I reproduce here, part of what I posted previously as a response to the nomination from Pat :

I created this blog primarily as an avenue to sharpen my writing and story-telling skills. It's a very modest journal on personal experiences mostly. It also gives me the chance to meet other writers in blogosphere. Along the way, I get to be friends with readers, commenters and other fellow bloggers... and this is a good thing. Thanks to all of you for dropping by and having something to say about what I write. Most appreciated. I truly hope that we'll be able to meet in real life, one day.

I'll end this post with something that I hope would make you smile today. Remember last week when it was announced that a fatwa was going to be issued about yoga? Well... this one is about a fatwa too.

HARAM MENIKAHI GADIS SATU KAMPUNG

BERITA GEMPAR!!!!! HARAP-HARAP TENANGKAN PERASAAN SEBELUM MEMBACA LAPORAN INI, BAGI YANG TELAH TERLANJUR... APA NAK BUAT!!!!

Haram menikahi gadis satu kampung. JAKIM telah mengeluarkan fatwa baru. Setelah diadakan perbincangan dan diskusi di antara para pemimpin, JAKIM dan ahli ulama' memberikan fatwa pada tanggal 3 Oktober tahun 2008 :

"HARAM HUKUMNYA BAGI SEORANG MUSLIM LAKI-LAKI UNTUK MENIKAH DENGAN GADIS SEKAMPUNG"

Fatwa JAKIM ini telah menimbulkan perdebatan dan bantahan yang sangat sengit antara yang pro dan kontra. Bahkan banyak pihak yang menyatakan bahawa JAKIM telah mengambil keputusan yang tidak munasabah dan terburu-buru. Wartawan Berita Harian telah meminta pegawai kanan JAKIM untuk memberi ulasan yang mendalam sebab-sebab JAKIM mengeluarkan fatwa sedemikian. Inilah isi wawancara tersebut:

Wartawan: Bagaimana JAKIM boleh mengeluarkan fatwa haram untuk menikahi gadis sekampung?

Pegawai Kanan : Bagaimana tidak haram, sedangkan menikahi empat orang wanita sahaja sudah berat, apalagi satu kampung... ... ... .!!!

Hehehehehe... jgn marah ah... nanti kena jual, saya gurau je ... :-)

Have a good week everybody!

A nomination from The English Cottage

It has been more than a week now since I last posted. I had thought the slower pace of the fasting month would allow me time to post more stories in this blog but surprisingly, it has been a very busy week. I traveled up and down to Kuala Lumpur twice in the last 10 days. Last weekend we had our breaking of fast at a sister-in-law's home in Kota Tinggi. Plus the working week was filled with meetings and site visits.

I did not have much time to update or even blog-hop. So I was pleasantly surprised when blogger-friend Patricia of The English Cottage nominated me for an award. You can read what Pat wrote about this blog in her post -> here.

I'm flattered, Pat. But thanks anyway. Here are some orchid flowers for you.

I created this blog primarily as an avenue to sharpen my writing and story-telling skills. It's a very modest journal on personal experiences mostly. It also gives me the chance to meet other writers in blogosphere. Along the way, I get to be friends with readers, commenters and other fellow bloggers... and this is a good thing. Thanks to all of you for dropping by and having something to say about what I write. Most appreciated. I truly hope that we'll be able to meet in real life, one day.

Sorry about the break in updates this last week. Will hope to squeeze some time from the busy schedule and be telling more stories soon.

Update 26.10.2021 : The links to Pat's blog have been removed. The blog itself is still there but Pat mostly posts on Instagram and Facebook now.