Winner of Starbucks Vouchers! and a ride through I-City

This was what was given for you to guess...

As no correct guesses were coming in, I gave clues…perhaps look at it from different angles…

Clue…it’s not found indoors….clue…it’s part of a large animal…can you see it, can you see it?

Four persons made correct guesses (Tony Khong, Pattie Boo, Mahesh and Eason Tang) so I put their names on pieces of paper and asked my 79-year old mum to draw a name out. Eventhough she had no idea what I was on about, my cute mum was all let's-do-this! and told me (!) to shake all the names properly, closed her eyes ever-so-seriously and drew the name:
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wait...
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coming....
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hold your heart...
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PATTIE BOO!

BOO-YAH!!

I will contact you to discuss how to get the RM60 worth of Starbucks vouchers to you! Congratulations!

This dinosaur photo was taken at I-City, Shah Alam, Malaysia. A few of us had gone there for a trip more than a year ago (maybe 2!). Here are some more photos of that trip.


SHHHH...."If I take this one home, I'd never have to hang ornaments on it..."

Be sure your sins will find you out....

No idea what Boago is doing here....maybe it was nearing Good Friday...

Esther: "So preeeeeeeeety! I want!" (ummm....the butterfly? or Esther?)

Someday....



Oooo...who took this awesome photo? (can't be me)









When guys pose..."We're cool man, we're cool...." (HEY! There's Fadil! and Malkey!)
When girls pose...."Oh, we're so HOT!"

New Look

Finally, I have a picture of my very own for my blog header. The earlier, gorgeous one -

was taken from Google, if I remember correctly (obviously taken by professionals). This new one up there is a photo we took while on holiday in New Zealand, in April of this year (we're not professionals but the picture is beautiful anyway).

In case you wondered why this blogspot name is tree-shades, well, I wanted a name that had something to do with trees (the actual name for the blog is Walk with Me, but we couldn't get that header in earlier on, no matter what we tried).

(New Zealand 2011)


You did wonder why my blogspot had such a strange name, didn't you?

Didn't you? (cue sound of a cow mooing in the far distance beyond the hills...)

However, whichever name Tammy my daughter, tried to register my blog with, like "Under the Shade of a Tree", "Sitting Under a Tree" etc, it was somehow taken up...so I had to settle for tree-shades (planted a hyphen right in the middle so nobody could possibly have a similar name). And , that, dear folks, is how this odd name came about.

See? I knew you'd find that interesting....(above mentioned cow in the far distance beyond the hills just mooooved away)

I loooove trees...we just kinda blend together. Can you see?

(NZ 2011)


I think it has a lot to do with the fact that my growing up years were spent
- climbing trees
- building tree houses
- picking pink water jambu, bananas, papayas, mangosteens and rambutans from trees in our backyard or in the neighbourhood.

The house we grew up in was a humongous government house, with a very large garden in front, and another at the back.
And a lot of our time (I have two sisters and three brothers)...

(Freeman Road, Kuala Lumpur, maybe 1967)


....was spent outdoors
- using nets to catch butterflies from the hedges around our house
- scooping up tadpoles and colourful guppies from the drains
- trapping birds with a propped up cardboard box, long string trailing up to our hand, awaiting our victim
- collecting grasshoppers in glass jars with holes pierced through the lid
- playing 'rounders' with a broken wooden beam
- catching and making spiders 'fight' each other on top of matchboxes...

(what? you didn't do all that when you were young?)


So I think being among trees calms me. See how calm I am (in the middle) leaning against a tree?

Oh, wait...that's not a tree. That's my husband.
Ok, but you get my point...
- strong
- stalwart
- dependable
(yes, yes, our anniversary is coming and yes, yes, I'll be happy with just chocolateS, dear. Muak! and don't think I don't know you are reading all my blog posts. And do read this one carefully. I did not say I wanted a tree..) Why do I get the feeling I'm barking up the wrong tree? Tsk.

Really, I love trees so much that if you ever discover an unnamed tree, name it after me! Maybe Pithecellobium Valerenia.


(NZ, 2011)

I came across a beautiful quote on trees:

We can learn a lot from trees: they're always grounded but never stop reaching heavenward. - Everett Mamor

Why wouldn't they? It's natural instinct for Creation (including you and me) to reach heavenward towards the Creator. I can't imagine otherwise!

And I found beautiful trees posing with my daughters.
I mean, my beautiful daughters posing with trees.
My beautiful daughters posing with beautiful trees.
Ok, it's correct now.

(Joni, Singapore 2010)


(Tammy, NZ 2011)





Ummm...
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Got a caption for my Hero up there? I mean, in there? sighhhhhh....

I might share my much-anticipated chocolates (Cadburybarwithhazelnutsoralmondsplease thankyou) with you.
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Nehhhhhhh. Not likely.

Birthday!

Short note: Just to let you know that there was a problem with blogspot for a couple of weeks and that I could not receive comments sent in. Before I could figure out what to do, the problem fixed itself. But the comments got lost in the process. Hope everything is ok now.

So yah, where was I? Talking about birthdays. I am not much into them. But my kids (I think Joni started it) thought they should make my 50th a big do.

In case you're thinking that was last week, it wasn't. I am only now blogging about the party cos I thought I should save the memory before it goes.

They even had a theme for it. Like a Grammy Awards Night. I was told little.

I received a call - "Mum, quick! Silver or gold?" So I said, "Gold".
(I thought they were talking decorations - turns out I had just chosen the colour we were all supposed to wear! Or we were to wear something to do with stars - some interpreted that as the ones in the sky)

Partners-in-crime, Tammy my youngest, and Joni my eldest..


I was asked for a guest list. Which went longer and longer like my twice-a-month grocery list so it had to be cut down. My only specification was: NO PRESENTS. But - what I really wanted instead was for my friends to do a song, dance or skit. Anything that would make the night memorable! And what a night it was!

Here'ss what welcomed us into the multi-purpose hall (we were staying in an apartment at that time)..

The stage was an area cordoned off with black tape - a brilliant idea!

On the walls were several hand-painted mock frames with photos of ahem birthday girl through the years...


Even the floor tiles were decorated with golden stars where names of celebrities were written..


Ummm....that's my son, Darren (D.O.N.'T ask)..


Here's where guests signed in as they arrived....that's my brilliant Korean ex-student, Isabelle
(I will blog about her one day).


Umm...the birthday girl. ahem. Yes, that's golden glitter in her hair.


I loved that the whole affair was casual so we could all let our hair down....


The M.C. for the night was Darren. Honestly, sometimes I think my children were just born to be on stage...


He wrote a song for me (altogether now: awwwww..).
But for some reason I can only remember one line that went something like "though you sometimes get on my nerves..." (altogether take back that awwwwww).


And let our hair down we did. Here are some of the older f*rts having fun:


Jessie and Sharmini


My husband Paul, and Eng Hoe our longtime friend - we've known each other since ...oh...the Jurassic Era...(Eng Hoe has the kind of smile that looks like it will just crack his face in two)

Paul, Eng Hoe and Franklin



This guy, who came as The Joker, sang a song with Tammy, my youngest...(that's Josh, can you guess?!)


This group plonked me down on a chair and made me watch their medley of golden years songs...

This was their starting pose (that's me, bracing myself -you'd close your eyes too, knowing the kind of things these guys could come up with...)


"You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you...."

It gets worse....
It really does.....




My friends from New Zealand, Tony and Maria, doing a number...


Here are Koreans singing a Korean song! (the one on the right is my ex-boss and the one on the left was my student, a Jackie Chan look-alike. He's actually been stopped on the street for an autograph...)


See?

He's a terribly shy person so I was exceptionally touched that he actually belted out a Korean pop song for me!!



Even my Japanese student sang, "Sukiyaki" in Japanese. She insisted I back her up!


"The charms of Sukiyaki
The arms of Sukiyaki
Are all I long for
Since I left for Nagasaki
Why did I roam
Far away from home
But I know that she will wait for me..."

Those are the lyrics. Reeeeally!!

An item performed by some very talented guys that involved beatboxing and thigh-slapping.
(By the way, all except one of these guys are still single and available)...



Nya from Nigeria (in all her golden head-to-toe glory) did a dance while Fudge from Zimbabwe
sang.


At some point of the night, I decided to kick off my shoes..



And let 'em have it! (actually, st*pid shoes were mad ill-fitting)


Val: My ex-boyfriend told me one day that I couldn't sing.
That's why he's my EX-boyfriend.

There were games where props were given and participants had to let their imagination go wild..

I think this was a house-fly?


Heard of a ham sandwich? I think this was a samwich.



Food, except for some pizza, was all home-made by the Lims...

Look at that glorious grin by Sin Yee when she sees food.

My Indonesian friend Gaby with another glorious grin (her favourite slogan? "what's yummy goes to tummy")..


Chief cook, Sarah Lim (you're the sweetest!)..

ummm.....is that the pizza you bought, in your hand?!

Home-made carrot cheese cake by the Lims (there were three in all - and yes, were is the correct tense cos they were missing by the end of the night)


An assortment of guests..

My Chinese son, Kevin (this one I 'adopted' whether he wanted to be or not). And my Botswanian son, Boago (this one adopted me as his mother whether I wanted to be or not)..



Yes, it was truly a Grammy night to remember.

Can't wait for my 60th :)




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