Another year older.

Like the fireworks that went off in a bang as we usher in the New Year, that's how my year ended. With a bang.My cat died  on the 28th December all because I did not take him to the vet when he was showing  signs like losing his appetite. I  don't want to go into detail about his death because it will make me feel guilty. Guilty for not taking him to the vet and thinking that a cat has 9 life.

Nothing last forever may sounds cliché but that's the truth.All good things will end and we must be prepared to the fact that the world is not permanent so they say.

Lovers go their separate ways and loved ones will die and leaves us without a warning. Ce'st la vie!

Looking back at 2018, I cringed. My father passed away on the 15th April due to pneumonia. The same guilt for me. Although I did not live with him, I did see that he wasn't himself and was losing weight. I should have taken him to the hospital even when my stepmom and my brother said he was fine. He wasn't fine at all and when we finally took him to the emergency ward, the doctor practically scolded me for not bringing him in much earlier. My father was malnourished, said the doctor. I was in a dazed and I managed to spent two weeks looking after him till his last breath. The guilt is still on my shoulder.

Now another pang of sadness and guilt stays with me. I cried tears of guilt each time I think of my father and cat.

As I am typing this, I am in Kuala Lumpur, staying with my brother. It felt good to be away from Ipoh at this point in time. I am enjoying my own company.Being alone means no arguments with others. Being alone means I get to indulge in rituals and talk with God.Just me and my Creator.

So tonight nearly everyone will be having a good time to bid farewell to 2018.Me,I  have stopped having a ball on the eve of the new year since way back. Good riddance to 2018, thank you for the pain.

Yours truly 

A Christmas Story

Christmas will always remind me of Scrooge, a character in the Charles Dicken book. Scrooge was a miser and his favourite word was Scumbag! I read the literature book when I was in Primary school and it still stays inside my subconscious mind.  To me the message from the Scrooge story was that we have

to share with the less fortunate especially  during Xmas . After all Xmas is a time of giving .

Penny with one of the orphanage. 

I have never done a charity work during the festive season like Xmas. It is a good gesture I think because we get to see life from a different view.

The group from GrooveFitness

So today we had a chance of sharing the love with the Satu Malaysia Rumah Anak Yatim. There were roughly 30 children, boys and girls together and of all ages. The youngest is one year old and he was left outside the orphanage by an unknown. Sad to think that a child is unwanted.

The idea of giving Xmas presents to the orphans was by Agnes Lee and she collaborated with the owner of groove fitness, Adeline Low. So nearly everyone she knows gave presents to her. Someone donated the Mcdonald for their party. Adeline then decided to teach the children to make dumplings for the Winter Solstice since the date coincides.

Besides doing the dumplings, the children were given presents as mentioned above,  they played musical chair and of course  zumba dancing.

This beautiful event was the brainchild of Agnes Lee together with Adeline. Most of them from GrooveFitness donated presents, food and others joined to make the occasion more lively. 

While making the dumplings 

Yours truly dancing with the group. 

My wonderful zumba teacher, Adeline Low, with the girls and me. 

I think this is so cute

The children trying to make the dumplings for winter Solstice 

Adeline surrounded by the children while she teached them how to roll the dumplings.

I am truly proud of the charitable activities by my friends from GrooveFitness. I don't see many fitness nor dance group taking the initiative and effort to make the world a better place by sharing the love with the underprivileged. Perhaps there are but it was never brought to my attention.

 On my part, I helped by making myself useful like introducing the event through my blog. I came home happy and delighted to share today's story with all of you. 

Two countries collides in Art

It took me a while to search for the venue although I used the waze. The Grayhaus Soho was actually right smack in the city of Ipoh yet I could not locate it at first.

Malaysian Artist in action

Well, the search was worth it because my sister and I get to be at a historical event for Perak. For the first time,  the Malaysian watercolour society(MWS)   and Grayhaus Living Arts Gallery collaborated to promote Perak. Yes, Perak tourism is also involved in this auspicious event. It involves 30 artists from both countries and the scroll will be 30foot in length . According to Chua,  the MWS president, the paintings would be exhibited at the gallery on Jalan Sultan Idris. It is part of a promotion for tourism. 

One of the many paintings

Among the artists involved were Malaysia's award winning artists Calvin Chua and international award recipients from China, Hu Xiao Xing and Prof Tu Wei Neng.

  The paintings  are not all contemporary art. There are fine art,  straight forward ones which are amazingly beautiful.One don't need to think and figure out the paintings or artist. Still to all artists, painting is spiritual to them and they bond with people through their work of art. As for me, painting is a kind of meditation. Art lovers should go have a look at the Gallery. 

My sister looking at the painting 

Above are some of the paintings. 

Being an art lover I was transported to a different world when I get engrossed with the paintings. 

Malaysian Artist Khor Seow Hooi with his art. 

I am still attracted to this painting. 

The 30 artists from both counterparts took two hours to finish their paintings of Ipoh town. 

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How do you describe Alice?

The first time I visited an art gallery was when I was a young adult in London. I was in awe!Art has always been my cup of tea and fast forward to now,I have been to art shows or art exhibitions but it doesn't have any impact on me.

We wore mask

Today was different. I attended the first interesting art exhibition in Ipoh. It's a Solo 

art exhibition called Dream Within A Dream by Alice Ng.

Alice in black with Agnes 

Her exhibition is not 'mainstream '.Indie perhaps but not stereotype at all. She exhibits her masterpieces in a laidback manner, no protocols, no rules and everyone that came were probably intrigue and felt like they belong.To make a person feels belong is never easy let alone with a crowd of young and old people who are passionate about art in whatever form.

The introduction of Alice's Solo Exhibition by her friend.

We were each given a mask to put on and it was Peter's idea.Well Peter is a close friend of Alice and he said that everyone wears a mask in their daily life,they are not real to the world so let's all put on the mask!  There was live music played by their close friend Kenny and guests  were free to danced or sing for that matter.My sister and my friend danced as Kenny played the old song 'Country Road.' It was cool. I love how everything seems to blend together

The 'show' started with an introduction by a couple whom my husband referred to as 'John and Yoko '.They know Alice for more than 25 years so they are the best people to describe Alice..They gave a beautiful speech describing Alice the artist.It was an emotional and beautiful speech that made me shed tears.Then Alice spoke about her journey on the road less travelled, how tough it was for her and her struggle with life as an artist .She knows that it is not easy to generate income through her paintings at the moment  but she's doing something that she loves.Thats the beauty of her journey.

After that it was music and food all the way with guests mingling and getting to know one another.I met my old friends and those that belongs to my group on Facebook.

I  cannot describe the art work because my perception may be different from yours . Therefore I will share the paintings with you. Alice is truly talented and her art is contemporary.

Mein Ding Gallery is now in Ipoh

Are there any art gallery in Ipoh? Well there's  a new art studio and gallery called Mein Ding '  which means 'My

Thing'  in German. A few weeks ago Mein Ding  opened its door to Ipoh much to the delight of art lovers. Owned by Peter and Alice, this gallery cum studio is different from the normal art gallery. It's the 2nd art gallery for Peter. His first is in Hungary. This gallery in Ipoh caters to all. Besides the  painting for sale they also have historical items, memorabilia, autographs, furnitures and other  beautiful knick knacks.

The studio also offers an art therapy class by Alice. Simply called Artist at Work, she has introduced a new concept whereby students can dabble with their own painting as a form of releasing tension and stress.

There are no rules in art. Like music art is a way of expression! Everybody has their own ways and what is beautiful may seems different to another person. So one must not be inhibited to try.

As I walked around the gallery I saw a framework of the Beatles. What attracted me to it is because it is an old collection. Being a die hard fan of  the Beatles I bought it. It's now hanging on the wall of my bedroom.

Peter and Alice are artists and they have their own painting  too. Basically both of  them are passionate about art. Their idea is to bring like minded people together and slowly build a community.

Mein Ding is really  different because it is not glamorous like other galleries. Like the owners Mein Ding is simple but what they have are items which I believe are rare. It is situated at Pusat Perdagangan Canning.

What differs them from other places that I have been is the fact they allow you to sit on the furniture that's for sale. I truly feel that you should see it for yourself. My writing does not do justice to the real place. Oh there's a Harley Davidson motor bike in the gallery too!

Yours truly with Peter and my purchase.

That's Alice in white with my sister. 

Kuala Kangsar

I may have written about the Royal town of Perak but that was about the old palace I think.

There are many angles to look at this small town just like when you take pictures.It depends on which angle you are looking at.Ok so this post is about the outskirts of Kuala Kangsar.The sleepy town of Karai.

It was long forgotten till recently when the citizens suddenly realized how precious the Victoria bridge is since it was the first rail bridge built by the British.Situated in Karai,Victoria bridge is a historical landmark that should be preserves for the future generation.Tourist,be it local or expat loves it.

So yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Karai and see it from a different angle.My friend Agnes invited me to join her for a video shooting on Eco tourism for Perak tourism led by  the Tourism company called lokalocal and  KKTDA.I got to know  Siti, a friendly and outgoing lady who is the patron from KKTDA Perak and Khen from lokalocal.

Agnes trying to tie the ice cream.

Raja Akashah demonstrate how to make a Tengkolok.

Us planting seedlings of cili plant.

The ikan pekasam 

Yours truly having a go at batik painting.

We experienced making local Malaysian ice cream,tree planting at the village called Jerang and then they took us to  Kem Lang Buana and Pulau Raya. We had the chance to see how the Malay Tengkolok was made, how the ikan pekasam was made and also batik painting.It was an interesting experience but the highlight of it all was the boat ride to  Pulau Rayya and a swim in the mystical Perak river.

I truly had the time of my life going back to Mothernature,I actually forgot my problems and stressful city life .We were under the hot sun but we don't care.The river was cool and the sound of birds and insects were soothing.Perak river is not pristine as before,it was fast flowing and murky but that's because of human interference.The river which used to be clear was not like that anymore but it's still awesome to sit inside the river.

Agnes and me on the boat

Siti,Agnes and yours truly in the Perak River.

On our way back from the island.

I have no words to describe how interesting our day was.As a nature lover I thank Siti and Agnes for including me in their trial event of Eco tourism Kuala Kangsar.

I said trial event because on the 4th,Nov,2018 about 14 tourists from all over the world will be doing what we did in their one day package to Kuala Kangsar.That is putting the town on the world map.Kudos to Siti for her creative ideas to woo people to experience Eco tourism in the Royal town.

Oh I forgot to include that lunch of kampung food was also served plus tea break before we depart.A day well spent.
Those interested can contact Khen from lokalocal.com

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Dance little darlings..

This is not a new story but just a story that I wish to share.It is not about me but more about my fitness tutor who did an act of selfless  devotion.(not selfish) I didn't interview her actually, this writing is from what I see and heard from the group.

Adeline Low with  the orphan

Some of you may know that I have been with Groove Fitness for more than a year.The place belongs to Adeline Low who is very passionate about Zumba and other exercises.You can call her a fitness freak ,she won't mind.There are other instructors too whom I love dearly like I do with Adeline.Angie is one of my favorite.

Adeline is a special lady because she cares about many things and doing charity is one of them.So a month ago she did a charity event for an orphanage which I can't remember the name and managed to collect about 16k.Thats simply awesome isn't it.

Groove Fitness treated the orphans to  MAPS theme park.The park is rather costly so by bringing the kids there meant a lot to those kids.Members from Groove Fitness also joined and they sponsored and help with the Charity.

So they performed at MAPS center stage and the kids also danced their heart away.Although I did not attend the event ,I was so proud of Adeline and her gang.They managed to collect and the proceeds went to the orphanage.On top of that they cheered the kids with their dance performance and the kids gets to enjoy the rides and all at MAPS.

What I am trying to say here is the fact that one can actually help the under privileged through dancing.Many may not know that these fitness group not only dance but they have a big heart.Adeline is one of the best fitness teacher that I am lucky to have.The charity dance for the orphanage was  her brainchild.

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