My Little Garden

The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is have a peep at my plants! I love to see flower buds blooming :) I have also bought a few gardening tools - pruning scissors, a spade and a bottle of fertiliser!

Then I will switch on the lights at the aquarium and the guppies will greet me excitedly... anticipating their breakfast. Thoo and I discovered that the guppies seem to gather near our faces when we stare at them. Its quite amusing. I never knew fishes did that.

Here are some pictures.

Hitam the heroic dog

It greatly saddened me today to read that Hitam, the heroic dog that had saved so many other dogs from Pulau Selat Kering (the abandoned island) had died. He was found to have pneumonia and many undigested chicken bones in his stomach.

Hitam made headlines when rescuers discovered that he had swam from the fisherman village to the abandoned island to regurgitate food for the starving dogs. And he did this countless times. Although he didn't have much to eat (the fishermen were said to have fed him rotten fish and chicken bones) he still did this. What a great big heart he had. So he frequently went on rescue expeditions to the abandoned island with Sabrina and her team.

When Sabrina (of Furry Friends Farm) informed the fishermen that Hitam and Kuning (his heroic partner) needed medical check-ups, the fishermen weren't even thankful but shockingly, threatened her and insisted that she return the dogs in 24 hours.

When she returned him to the fisherman village after the medical check-up, Hitam was in perfect health. However, not long after, she received an sms saying that Hitam had died. Such was the outrage of the animal rescuers that they requested for an autopsy. Even though Hitam had been faithfully working as a guard dog at the fisherman village, they returned Hitam's faithfulness with rotten food that eventually killed him.

It deeply saddens me to hear of how dogs are treated in Malaysia. They are hardly ever considered man's best friend but treated like scum instead. Last year, the press even exposed how stray dogs were lined up and brutally killed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall. And the fine for animal cruelty in Malaysia is a mere RM200 (Approx. USD 57).

I hope more Malaysians will have a heart for animals. People are not the only ones with feelings.

Update: Hitam's Obituary in the Malay Mail on the 25th November 2009. Click here.

Home Sweet Home

I just love pretty things! I've been doing some deco around my apartment... here are some pictures :)

Here's a painted glass deco I bought from the 'Burning Bush' bookshop in church last week. I love how the colours are so vibrant when light passes through it.

Father's garden is the name of my cell group and our theme verse is from Isaiah 58:11. I just love the doggie tail hooks from Ikea so when the blue and pink colours came out I quickly snapped them up. I also love Precious Moments figurines and the one below was a gift from my friends during my bridal shower.

I enjoy glass painting and below is an example of something I painted a long time ago. I've been so busy lately and haven't painted for some time. Should do one soon before my paint dries up. My mum gave me that duck and I really like the bow on it's neck.

Wall Decal

After much anticipation, my custom made wall decal finally arrived from the US! I found out about wall decal in the internet a few weeks ago, and really wanted one in my house. After searching through the internet, I came across Single Stone Studios and after giving them my choice of text, they promptly designed the wall decal for me. I really love how it looks in my house, I might add more later :)

The birds are a separate set and I realised both text and birds matched so I put them together. I chose part of the scripture from the bible 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart' to remind hubby and myself that God can always be trusted. Here are some pictures.

Staying Fit & Healthy

I've been trying to put more effort into staying fit and healthy. So HH and I are keeping Sunday evenings free for Kiara Park. There are 2 options at Kiara Park - (1) The challenging uphill and downhill mountain walk (2) The relaxing flatland walk where can see fishes and tortoises as you walk. Monkeys can be seen on both options. Not surprisingly, I like option 2.

Last week, we had a staff outing at Option 1, and after the gruelling jungle trek we headed to Shogun Japanese Buffet for a sumptious lunch. That was followed by bowling. The next day my whole body was aching. I really need more exercise.

Anyway, here are some pictures :)

Tsunami

2 natural disasters happened on 30 September 2009. A tsunami in Samoa that left nearly 200 people dead, and an earthquake measuring 7.9 at Padang, Indonesia that left over 100 people dead. Very tragic indeed.

The tremors were even felt in Malaysia and Singapore. I felt quite nervous on that day, and was reminded of the tsunami that happened in 2004 where 270,000 people died.

Tsunamis have always fascinated me. When I was about 10 years old, I read a National Geographic book about Tsunamis. At that time, no tsunami had occured in my lifetime (yet). All I saw were drawings of how a tsunami would look like and how it would strike. The rest was left to my imagination. It was all an amazing legend to me.... until.... it happened in 2004.

I couldn't believe it. I was awestruck, completely stunned, shocked beyond words. I sat staring at the tv in disbelief watching the same footage over and over again, for days in a row. A tsunami had happened in my lifetime, and it took a quarter of a million lives.

Even now, I still watch tsunami videos on youtube, because to me, its the 'king' of all natural disasters. Its a natural disaster of indescribable proportions.

I also found out that many animals (who were free to run) had escaped the tsunami alive, because their natural instincts had led them to higher ground before disaster struck.

It is extremely sad to hear of people who lost their family members in the tsunamis. As I watched tv, I could feel the complete brokenness of a mother who told of how she lost 4 children in the Samoan tsunami. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims. May they find hope and peace in our God.