This Day Six Years Ago...

On 17th October six years, ago, my eldest daughter was born at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital, Ampang, Selangor. She weighs 3.36kgs and was born at 4.06pm. We named her Elizabeth Ashleigh. On 17th October 2006 @ 4.06pm, she turned six.

Her Godmother/Aunt/My Sister bought her a cake (above) with the Powder Puff Girls figures on it. She was so happy she jumped up and down when she saw it (below).

Making a birthday wish...

and (below) some of the stuff she got for her BIG day.

A pretty sandal for her pretty little feet from Gran.

A bracelet with the letters *A*S*H on it from me...

A mathematical book from Aunt Babe...

and some other stuffs which her sisters helped her unwrapped.

...she also had her cake and ate it too. And the smile says it all.

Happy 6th Birthday, Elizabeth Ashleigh!

I pray you'll be my eyes

And watch her where she goes

And help her to be wise

Help me to let go

Every mother's prayer

Every child knows

Lead her to a place

Guide her with your grace

To a place where she'll be safe

I pray she finds your light

And holds it in her heart

As darkness falls each night

Remind her where you are

Every mother's prayer

Every child knows

Need to find a place

Guide her with your grace

Give her faith so she'll be safe

Lead her to a place

Guide her with your grace

To a place where she'll be safe

On The Road Again...A Pictorial

Notice that the brake light of this vehicle is not functioning. Don't that just irks you?

There were quite a few big vehicles on the road this morning. Don't they have desginated time to use public roads? Note the fuel tanker and the bulldozer partially hidden in front of the Toyota.

Hey man! Give me space! Why must drivers (man-drivers) be so near at traffic stops? Haven't you heard of private space? The same goes for cars too, you know....

This car was so old and noisy we just had to take pictures of it. Are you still allowed on the road?

No, it is not cloudy nor is it gonna rain. Rather it is the haze caused by open-burning practised by the Indonesians and/or farmers in the interiors of the state. **cough, cough**

Whenever I see this sign, I think to myself..."You wish..." Though just a billboard, this ad has some political air to it, don't you think?

End of the road? Not really. This is Rodway Road... where the rich live (of course) as well as being the road I take to go to work. Wish it could be as lonely as this all the time...

A Photo Journey by Ashey G.

My eldest has a free hand of my digi-cam this afternoon. Somehow, unlike before, I let her clicked away as we menouver ourselves through the afternoon-lunch traffic. Here's Ashey G.'s journal of our journey home from kinddy today...

(left) At one of our many traffic junctions, this Peugeut 206 driven by a lady (of course!) blocked our way. I honked my annoyance and she just glanced at me casually. So I told Ash to take this picture...

This is the third traffic junction we encountered on our way back; being the biggest traffic junction as it serves the main road to/fro the inner city, the volume of vehicles going by this road is tremendous!

From the traffic junction, we would turn right into this strecth of road. I LOVE this strecth because of the trees that lined the road for at least 3 miles; it gives shade and a warm feeling driving through the road. More importantly, during festivals, the council will put lights amongst its branches, making it look like a wonderland at nights. BEAUTIFUL!

Along that strecth of road too we would pass by this junction; a road that leads to the house where we used to live just a year ago. This junction is also another way of reaching our present home should the road ahead is jammed with traffic.

This is the overhead bridge that joins a school with the housing area around it. Unfortunately, like all Malaysians, this bridge is hardly used because parents seems to like to take risks and cross the road. From the picture too you can see that parents park their car by the road side, causing a congestion along this strecth. Do we blame the authorities for building schools at such limited space or the parents for being too lazy to park at designated places?

So by the time I get home, I would feel all knotted up.... because of other drivers, the long winding road, the traffic jams, the traffic stops and hunger.

One Half of Me (01)

I am a Bidayuh, and I am proud of it. Having said that, please do not ask me which Bidayuh village I am from because I cannot answer you. Why? Though I am 100% Bidayuh, my parents are from different tribes of Bidayuh – Dad is from the district of Bau (Singghai- Daun) while Mom is from Serian (Tebakang). Additionally, they speak a different dialect and being raised by a home-maker, I grew up speaking Mom’s dialect, which is Bukar sadong, and totally different from Dad’s dialect. So yeah. I do not have a village per se because I was born in Kuching and Kuching is officially a city, NOT a village.









along the Serian-Tebedu road, you will notice such scenes as this (this is near Kgp Kakai)



Serian is a small town about 40miles from Kuching. Every other weekend, my family and I would drive there to spend the weekend with my parents; Mom and dad decided to settle in Tebakang when Dad retired. They are officially landowners now, not civil servants.







the Serian lake at dusk











Serian is famous for its durians (Dad has a durian orchard) so the Serian District Council erected a monument to this ‘King of Fruits’ at the roundabaout approaching the town.




my daughter knows that we are reaching Tayong's (granny's) house when we reach the roundabaout and the gigantic durian...




When back in the village, the whole family would attend Sunday mass at St Teresa’s Parish church. After mass, we would converge at a local coffee shop for kolo mee, laksa and porridge before heading home.

Some places of interest at Serian includes the Ranchang waterfall. I have not been there since the 1980s so I really do not know how it looks like today, or even how to get there. But the waterfall is nicely done by the council.








the bridge from the water's view









picture taken from the suspension bridge











In Serian town, they have only one fast food restaurant – the KFC. My nephew Abe works there and some nights, we get to eat fried chicken for free!

















The Serian market is another place which one should visit. I am not a market-person but when I go to the market there, I am assured of finding many an-interesting things. For Hubby, the pork market is a not-to-be-missed because that’s his favourite food.






Hubby is such a regular than Uncle Khong gives him discounts on his purchases...



Another interesting fact is that Serian is only 15mins drive from the border town of Tebedu and the Malaysian/Indonesian border. I must say the road there by-pass Mom’s village but we get the occassional Indonesian vehicles stopping by once a while.












the road going to Tebedua and the border is an up-hill journey. Dad alwasy say,"To go to Tebedu, just head towards the limestone hills." (as seen on the picture)



So that's the Bukar-Sadong side of me. The next time, I will enlighten all on the Singghai side of me... if I have enough info to share all.