Thursday, March 24, 2016

el acantilado

"Cuando Dios te lleva al borde del acantilado, confía en él plenamente y déjate llevar. Sólo 1 de 2 cosas va a suceder, o él te sostiene cuando tu te caes, o te va a enseñar a volar! "

***
When God brings you to the edge of a cliff, trust in Him completely and let go. Only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He holds you when you fall, or He is going to teach you to fly!



Tuesday, March 22, 2016

el precipicio

"El destino es un precipicio en lo cual caemos sólo si lo miramos por demasiado tiempo". 
Lucian Blaga

Fate is an abyss in which we will fall only if we look at it for too long.
-Lucian Blaga-

We were learning about this word while sharing about our favorite place. One of us spoke about jumping from a cliff which sparked a discussion the difference between "el precipicio" (slightly cantilevered cliff) and "acantilado" (vertical cliff). It was an interesting discovery and discussion. We learn something new everyday.

I decided to document the vocabulary "el precipicio" into my little sketchbook. While doing so, out of curiousity, I discovered this profound quote by a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright and Novelist -- Lucian Blaga. which I admittedly spent some time thinking about it. In this case, I believe the poet is trying to tell the reader that one should not easily give up on fate. We all have the power to change our fate. The end starts when we start to give up. 

It seems that tonight is a night of reflection. A time to reflect on how we fair in life, and how we march on as we go along. 


Sunday, March 20, 2016

The Lazy Painter's kind of Saturday - Pancake day

I have been craving for pancakes for quite sometime eversince I am pregnant. Some days when I was day dreaming, food images just formed in my head and one fine day, I thought about pancakes with ice-cream and jam. I went to the groceries and bought a box of Betty Crocker Original Complete Pancake Mix (1.04kg) but ended up storing it in my food cabinet because being the lazy painter, i have the tendency to be lazy these days, especially during this pregnancy period. So it sat inside of my storage for a few weeks. Every time i prepare breakfast, lunch or dinner, I would be looking at the pancake mix, wondering when I would pick it up and try making some pancakes. I have been procrastinating for sometime for two reason : firstly, I have never make pancakes by myself before. The last time i had homemade pancakes was probably when i was 7-8 years old when I was still living in Kuching. Secondly, I am afraid of pancakes failure which lead to wastage of ingredient, (which more often than not made me feel guilty because ingredients nowadays are not cheap). 

So last Saturday, I woke up with a sudden interest and determination that I would be experimenting making pancakes. Afterall, the pancake mix claim that making pancakes is as easy as just by adding water into the pancake mix. 


There is even a pancake recipe made easy for all behind the packaging. I felt quite confident looking at it :D Yes, today I shall make pancakes! For a start, I thought it would be great just trying out making 6-7 pancakes which would be perfect just for the two of us. I scooped out 1 cup of the pancake mix and added 3/4 cup of cold fresh milk (instead of water) and start stirring the pancake mix with fork until smooth. I didn't know why I replaced water with milk but that was probably I was confused reading too many recipes few days before. After heating the pan with a little butter (instead of oil), I scooped some batter onto the hot pan. The pancakes were cooking! As per the instruction, when the bubble break on surface and edges just began to dry, I turned the pancakes and cooked about 1 minute / until brown. Guess what ? The pancakes turned out to be successful. The milk gave it a taste of soft tinge of saltiness and the texture was good!!!  

We had the classic toppings : butter and honey. Being a typical Malaysian, we had our pancakes with a good cup of hot Milo. Pandamopi enjoyed the pancakes and being the cook, I enjoyed watching him enjoyed eating the pancakes :D

For many years I had been dreaming of making pancakes breakfast but could not do so due to the circumstances in our rental policies. Now that I am able to do so, I felt very blissful and decided to record this in my little sketchbook. Here you go :)

Monday, March 7, 2016

home sweet home



The afternoon air is still, and the living room was a little dark as the windows and doors were kept close. My parents were out for some chores, brother went working and pandamopi was dozing off upstairs. As I was sitting at the sofa alone, starring at the walls hung with our family portraits taken at different time of our life and little miniatures collections displayed at the fixed wall cabinet, I can’t help but gasped over how time has passed without us really realizing. I wanted to do something to capture the moment and to capture the feeling of that very moment – a sense of happiness yet melancholy. Happy because I have been growing up happily in this house, with many moments including getting married in this house almost 2 years ago. Melancholy because I felt heavy hearted as I realized I have not been able to spend more time as much as I wanted to ever since I left home for study and then working. Coming home now becomes a luxury when for others, it is just a normal thing to do daily.

As I stared at the walls (which I didn’t pay much attention to before) and sketched, I noticed and observed the details of every things that is in place at that moment. Many of the things remained the same place and location, while I am the one busy travelling around, back and forth for work and holidays. These good old things remained here when I came back, giving me a sense of familiarity each time I am home. The composition of how the photographs are hung, speakers, TV, CD rack, video players, miniatures, location of sofa, the fan tucked in one corner, foot massager in front of a large blue sofa… the colours and how these things are placed makes a unique combination of what is familiar to us living in that home. It is our home, a simple home with no fancy interior design, yet filled with warmth.

I continued to wash my sketch with watercolour brushes, as if painting every emotion that I have within me on this little sketchbook that accompanies me wherever I go. I want to freeze this moment and reminisce it each time I miss home, no matter where I am in future. As I was almost completing my sketch, my eyes were wet. The car engine grew louder and then came to a halt. Someone opened the door and there was rays of light coming out from the door. Mom came in and came close to me and saw my sketch.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“Just a sketch, mom,” I answered and kept my sketchbook in my Barefoot sling bag and we head to the kitchen to prepare some snack for tea time.

***

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Isabella’s first pair // Primer par de Isabella



Last Saturday, Pablo & Diana gifted us some wonderful gifts for our newborn-to-be : 2 cotton jumper and 1 pair of shoes. Diana bought the shoes for Isabella all the way from Bangkok. The first time I saw it, I felt very sweet. I could almost imagine how sweet she would look with her donning the red pair. I could not resist drawing it, to keep a record in my little sketchbook, have it framed in her room (one day when we got our own place) and tell her stories on how much love she got from amazing people all around the world.

***

I went to see my gynae today to get my 20th week detail scan results and also a follow up check-up. I felt very excited once again upon seeing her through the ultrasound scan. Today her tiny feet are measuring 3.77 cm. One day these feet will grow into healthy feet that will bring her to amazing journeys and adventure in life. We would one day see her walk her first step, and then to many more steps ahead, till one day she is independent to travel on her own.

Version en español

El Sábado pasado, Pablo y Diana nos dotados algunos regalos maravillosos a nuestra bebé -a-ser : 2 puente de bebé algodón y un par de zapatos. Diana compró los zapatos para Isabella todo el camino desde Bangkok. La primera vez que lo vi, me sentí muy dulce. Casi me podía imaginar lo dulce que se vería con ella ponerse el par rojo.

No pude resistir dibujarlo, para mantener un registro en mi cuaderno pequeñito, haga que sea enmarcado en su habitación (un día cuando llegamos a nuestro propio lugar) y contar sus historias sobre la cantidad de amor que recibió de personas increíbles en todo el mundo.


*** 

Fue a ver mi gynae hoy para conseguir mis resultados de la exploración semana 20 de detalle y también un chequeo de seguimiento. Me sentí muy emocionado una vez más a verla a través de la ecografía.

Hoy sus diminutos pies están midiendo 3,77 cm. Un día, estos pies se convertirán en los pies saludables que le traerán a los viajes y aventuras increíbles en la vida. Nos gustarías ver algún dia a caminar su primer paso, y luego a muchos más pasos por delante, hasta que un día ella es independiente de viajar por su cuenta.