Ribbon Embroidery Class...

“No life is a waste," the Blue Man said. "The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we're alone.” - Mitch Albom

Today I got a chance to meet up with blogger friends for Ribbon Embroidery class at Maklang's Royal Domain apartment, which is next to my Putramas apartment. What a coincidence! Salwa and Ainaa joined me as early as 9.00 a.m. and we completed learning basic stitches way after 1 p.m. Time flies when we were having so much fun!

(My first attempt on ribbon embroidery)

(Salwa's pretty tulips - still work in progress)'

Thank you Maklang for being so patience with us.

Hot Chocolate...

"Happiness needs sadness. Success needs failure. Benevolence needs evil. Love needs hatred. Victory needs defeat. Pleasure needs pain..."

A snippet from a forwarded e-mail:

Life is like hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us.

God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups.

The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of what they have.

Major repairs...

“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone…”- Dorothy Parker

(View from the back of the chalet)

On the way back to our kebun Sg. Rambai, we stopped at Excel Training Centre at Broga to check on the team-building program attended by half of my staff. By the look of things, they were having so much fun. We didn’t stay too long and later took the Seremban-Melaka old road, stopped to eat the famous cendol Leman Dawi and reached our kebun late afternoon.

The whole afternoon, we tried our skills in carpentering and managed to assemble a few planks into make-shift steps for the chalet. The original steps had rotted and fallen apart long time ago. Next day, he bush-cut around the chalet. I excused myself from doing heavy work because of my back-ache and managed to clear some dried leaves. The chalet needs a new paint and some repairs. We'll think about all this after we return from our 4x4 trip to Phuket and Songkhla this coming CNY holiday....

A few pics taken around the chalet.

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(View from the side window)

(The water tank)

(A wishing well?)

The Majestic Taj Mahal - A Love Story...

"If you want to travel quickly, go alone; if you want to travel far, go together..."

(The Taj Mahal)

A love story

An eternal love story, so magical
Against the blue sky, white marble sparkles
The reflecting pool, so mesmerizing
A symbol of love, forever endearing…

Christmas in Kashmir and New Year in India...

"All our bags are packed, and we are ready to go..."

(A lone shikara on the Dhal Lake in Sri Nagar)

Kashmir 2008 - Paradise on Earth...

(25 – 29 December 2008)

We will be spending the holidays from Christmas to New Year  few days on the boathouse in Srinagar. Cradled in the lap of majestic Himalayas, Kashmir is the most beautiful place on earth. One of the Mughal emperors, is said to have exclaimed: “If there is paradise anywhere on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here... “

(The Taj Mahal)

Our Indian Holiday...

(30 December 2008 - 02 January 2009)

The economic down turn had severely damaged the tourism sector, the catastrophic Mumbai incident made matters worst. Since the Mumbai attacks, several countries have cautioned their nationals against visiting India, while others have asked to review holiday plans. There were no guarantees against repeat attacks. But this had not dampened our enthusiasm to visit India and Kashmir…

We were assured by our tour agent that our security is their utmost concern, especially at tourist attractions in Jaipur, Agra and Delhi and we were also informed of the current plight for independence and the unstable political condition in Kashmir. And we will be celebrating the New Year in the golden triangle of Jaipur, Agra and Delhi.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Overseas Travelogue: munmus.blogspot.com

Next Trip: Australia 2009: Caravan Trip...