Nature Walk

This is my second layout for the Another-freaking-scrappy-challenge. This is based on the sketch provided. I chose this photo of my daughter taken at the Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur, after her Cross-country race in 2011. We were strolling the grounds of the Bird park and decided to stop by this bridge to wait for her dad to catch-up with us.

Location: Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur
Supplies: Pp - Websters; Kaisercaft, Moof paper
Flowers - Prima, Kaisercraft, Handmade
Basic Grey Chipboard
Kaisercraft Tag
Momoyo Lace
Momoyo Brads
Butterflies - Prima chipboard & Kaisercraft
Washi Tape
Anna Griffin sentiment
Crepe paper
Carla Craft Punch

The sketch

Since I use Cream, Green and butterflies, I also decided to enter this layout for Colourful Creations Plus Challenge.

TFL.

Love and Hugs: Lili Sulastri

Moyang (Great-grandmother)

MOYANG is the Malay term for Great-grandmother or great-grandfather. My mother-in-law is so much blessed because she can call herself a wife, a mother, a grandmother and her latest title great-grandmother. To-date she has 5 great-grandchildren and at 75 (approximately - need to reconfirm) she is a grand dame. Oops! I must not omit my father-in-law. He, too, is priviledged to earn the title of husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
My grand niece and grand nephew are really lucky children because they have a great-grandma. I know great-grandmas as a dying breed because many women are getting married at a late age. I think the trend is reversing now where more and more girls are marrying earl, so it will be a bonus for their mothers to earn the title Grandma; let alone Great-grandma.
This photo was taken in 2010 at my sister-in-laws house at Bukit Beruntung. We went to her house for a Aidil-Fitri gathering. The great-grandson, Aniq, is from her second grand-daughter, Nurul while the great-grand-daughter, Miasarah, is from her eldest grandson, Fakhrulzaman.
This layout is created for a challenge at Another-freaking-scrappy-challenge (I discovered while browsing one of the blogs I followed). The requirement is to scrap a Generation. I have used up most of my Generation photos for other challenges and when I found this photo in my pile of photos, I decided to work on this layout immediately. Here's the layout:

Location : Bukit Beruntung, Selangor
Supplies: Prima Moulin Rouge Collection
Bo Bunny sentiment
Momoyo & American Thickers Alphas
Flowers - Kaisercraft, Prima
Washi Tape
Momoyo Lace Border sticker
Blings
Washi Tape
Momoyo Brads
Collage Press Tag
Doily Paper

Close-up of the sentiment

TFL.

Love and Hugs Lili Sulastri

Cool & Relax

When this photo was taken, we were waiting for our food. We stopped at Banafee Village, Johor Bharu, for lunch, after our sightseeing around JB. As it turned out, the Restaurant was hosting lunch for the Miss International Tourism 2011 delegates. I was extremely excited because that was my first encounter of the close kind with Miss Beautiful. My husband was relaxed and cool about the whole thing, though.
I create this layout for the Boysrulescrapbookkits December 7, 2012 sketch.

Location: Banafee Village Restaurant, Johor Bharu
Supplies : PP - Paper Boutique, Pink Paislee (Naughty or Nice), Basic Grey,
Coredinations Cardstock
Momoyo Buttons
Alphas - American Thickers
Kaisercraft Rub-ons
Paper boutique Sentiment
Carla Craft Border Punch

Flags were trimmed from bits and pieces of remnants and rub-ons were added

The border was punched using Carla Craft Border punch

The Sketch used for this layout

 TFL.

Love & Hugs, Lili Sulastri

My Way

It's nice to be on vacation with no plans of going anywhere. At least I am accomplishing three things:
(1) reducing the mountain high ironing I had to do
(2) reorganize the house and obtain some kind of order - still wishing for some extra money so that I can build a new kitchen cabinet. I know God is hearing and may my wish will be granted. Amen.
(3) scrap a day (too bad I may have to minus this saturday and Sunday as we are going back to my in-laws and have the last bits of the rambutans and durians, if at all available). Most of all, my mum-in-law is missing Zahra' so much. After all, Zahra' has been in Melaka for three weeks and not seen her other grandma for more than five weeks.
I don't mind not going anywhere for the moment as I have lots of things to do around the house. Besides, both hubby and Zahra' has to accomplish their year-end projects, respectively. Hubby to complete the construction for hand-over before year-end and Zahra' for Horse Management Training.

This is another challenge at Lets Scrap. This is challenge #151 by Lets Scrap DT, Cathy de van Bruinhorst. In her own words: "So my challenge to you is to make up a layout, using a Let’s Scrap sketch and use a song title for your page title."


Location : Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque, Johor Bharu
Pp: Kaisercraft Be Merry Collection (Glee) / Vernest Lange's Border paper / Paper Boutique
Washi Tape
Kaisercraft Rub-ons and chipboard
Kaisercraft Tag
Momoyo Alpha
American thickers Alpha
Momoyo Brads

Here's the sketch I used for this layout, 3-24-10

 

This is Zahra's way of climbing up the slope wherever she can. Not a very safe way, actually, and she always like to challenge my disapproval. The Song title "MY WAY" by Frank Sinatra is really appropriate for her actions and I purposely use a larger "A' to emphasize her stance. The journalling read "This is Zahra's fun way of dashing up the slope. She'll find any unused drain with a smooth surface to run up instead of using the steps".

 

TFL.

 

Love, Lili Sulastri



 

 

 



A Little Help From Dad

Finally I am able to use this sketch from boysrulescrapbookkits to create this layout. I had been procrastinating for far too long and when I notice the due date has been extended, I decided not delay much longer.
since my focus is using up my stash, for this layout I used a lot of mix and match products from different manufacturers. I decided to use shades of brown and yellow to complement the 'strips' of yellow colours from the panels and the green titles and tag to complement the green leaves. I also hope these colours will help to enhance the photo which is more greyish.

Location: Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque, Johor Bharu
Supplies: Basic Grey Wisteria, Coredinations Cardstock, Vernest Lange's border pp's, Bazzil Cardstock,
Bo Bunny Cardstock Stickers, Basic Grey Alphas, Anna Griffin Flora Collection,
Buttons from Daiso, Momoyo Ribbon 

I've substituted the letters E with No. 3, L with No. 7 and M with W.

My daughter just like to have 'fun' so she enlisted dad to help carry her backpack. The poor dad obliged and I chose to capture this moment to remind her of how helpful her dad is.
TFL.

Love, Lili Sulastri

Wish

This young man has been requesting to have a layout created of him via my daughter. On second thoughts, he also requested to have a picture of his 'dream girl' to be in it, too. Well, Ariep really is highly infatuated over this young lady; unfortunately, there is no positive response from Maisarah. In order not to hurt his feelings, I spent half-an-hour at the office today, while waiting for hubby to arive, putting this layout together. Initially, I wanted to partcipate in any challenges, but after scanning through and couldn't find a suitable one, I chose to create this layout for the fun of it.
As I was going to fetch my daughter from camp and knowing Ariep would be there, I told Zahra' to give this layout to him as a memento. Hoping he likes it.

Location: Ariep in the bus on the way back to school while Maisarah was at KKB
Supplies: Pp - Basic Grey and Echo Park
Flowers - Petaloo, Prima  and from stash
Prima Bling
Prima Chipboard Alpha
Home deco Lace
Bazzil Cardstock

 

Growing Stronger My Flower Child

It is so lovely to have an extra holiday for the week. Today is First Muharram, the first day of the Islamic New Calendar Year. After getting my housework done, and feeding my two 'kids' - I have the time to create a layout. I love the sketch by Judy Rakes at Lets Scrap. I like the hexagons but as I have to manually cut them, that process took a little bit longer.
I just love these photos of Zahra' (courtesy of her friends) and I like the way she wore her headkerchief. I must admit, I have to learn to wear the scarf this way from her.

The reason why I chose this title is to reflect her strength to face through her ordeal after learning some truths from her friends. In one day, she grow stronger and learnt to deal with her blows and I really admire her strength. Despite all this, she harbour no grudge against the very friend who hurt her. Behind closed doors and in my arms, she did shed some tears of frustration and she was my baby all over again. All I can say is this is part of growing up and she must be very strong to face whatever may come.

Here's the sketch:

 

 Here's the  layout:

Location : Damai Adni, Jalan Mesra, Off Jalan Ampang
Supplies: PP - Echo Park, from stash
Bazzil Cardstocks
Kaiser Flowers
Momoyo Brads
Thickers Alpha
Anna Griffin Flora Collection Tags
Basic Grey Chipboard Sticker
Micia Ink & Memento Dew Drop Ink
Kaiser Stamp
Home Deco Self-adhesive Ribbon

TFL: Lili
 

Beach Bum

I was going through my photo collections when I came across these photos of  Zahra' taken at Port Dickson beach on August 6th. 1995. The sea is her favourite and she is attracted to the sea like ants to sugar. On another note, these photos are also reminiscent of Manual cameras where you have no idea how your shots are going to turn out - well, until you pick them from the photo shop. Even though the shots are not so good, to see Zahra' walk up to the waters' edge and finally sit on the sand is enough to show she can never stay away from the sea water. Todate, she has not grown out of it either.
At Lets Scrap this sketch seem to fit the story of my little beach bum. I decided to extremely minimal on this layout.

Location: Port Dickson
Supplies: Kaisercraft Extreme Footplant & Cutback
Momoyo Stickers
American Traditional Design Rubons title and Sentiment
Home Deco Adhesive Lace

TFL. Lili

Together Our Life Is An Adventure

This layout is created for the Boysrulescrapbookkits Sketch challenge. I decided to give the sketch a twist and, yes, I overdid it. Hmm.....since I like this sketch very much, I may do another layout using this sketch.
The photo is of Muhammad at Ipoh Railway Station. We were trying out the ETS while it was on promotion. The tiny photo of myself and our daughter was an added interest to the overall layout to show that together as as family we can create an adventure.  following is the sketch:

Here's the layout:

Location : Ipoh Railway Station
Supplies : Pp - BasicGrey Sweetpea Jack Collection; Kaisercraft; Paper Boutique
Momoyo Stickers
Paper Boutique Alphas and Sentiments
Momoyo Flower
WeReMemoryKeepers Chipboard
Sunlit border Punch

Close-up - using Sunlit heart punch, I punch-out the tiny photo that would otherwise not been used at all. By adding this tiny photo, I double-it up as an embellishment as well as a family insert.

TFL. Hugs, Lili

When Truth Hurts

This layout is for Colorfulcreations Guest DT Sketch challenge.  Following is the sketch:

 

 

Zahra' was feeling very down and hurt after hearing some revealations from her friends. The news were revealed at the most inappropriate time - the eve of her birthday. In order to distract her mind, we decided to treat her to an early birthday lunch at Warisan Restaurant. It was a success but the pain she is feeling is too much for her to bear. She's such a strong young girl and I admire her grit.

Well, sometimes it is nice to have an alibi who helped to keep me updated what's going on in the scrapping world. Thank you to my lovely sister, Asmah, who e-mailed me this sketch and I used up my lunch time to create this layout with whatever materials I had on hand. I simply gave the finishing touches at home.

 

Location : Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur
Supplies : PP - Basic Grey Indian Summer "Woodrose"
Bazzil cardstock
Coorugated paper
Momoyo Stickers
YK Lace sticker
KCK Tag
Prima Vine
Flowers - Kaisercraft and from PIT Kit
Momoyo Brads
Momoyo Alpha stickers

TFL: LILI

Take 4 Scene 28

Another layout for http://letsscrap.ning.com/ shetch challenge. This layout is for Zahra's KKB Excursion album. 

These photos show the creativity of the girls while waiting for their bus after their excursion came to an end. The bus was supposed to arrive just after noon. Luck would have it that the bus had to detour to the worshop to have one of its tires changed. The teachers gave the students a free time and they used the time well but creating lots of fun activities. Here's a scene where my daughter and her friends were acting out a shooting scene. The series of photos were just right for me to create the following layout base on the sketch below:

letsscrap 10-31-12

 



Location : Kuala Kubu Baru
Supplies: PP - Nikki Sivils My Sweet Cherry Pie "Cherry Blast"
Flowers - Momoyo, Kaisercraft
Prima Felt Alphas
YP Lace stickers
momoyo Lace Border Sticker
Brads - Petaloo., Momoyo
Bling from stash
Paper Boutique Border
KCK Tags
Kaiser Rubons Sentiments

 

TFL. Lili

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 



 

 

Together Again

This is my first layout for Boys Rule Blog and I am creating this layout from this sketch:

 

 I love this photo of the boys playing together with their Teacher looking or giving them encouragement.

Location: Kuala Kubu Baru
Supplies: Coredination Cardstock
PP - Kaisercraft, Simple Stories, Paper Boutique
Flowers - Kaisercraft
Embellies - WeReMemoryKeepers whteout / Paper Boutique
Washi Tape
Stars from stash
Home Deco Lace

 

TFL. Lili

Shy

I had difficulty choosing between these two photos of my daughter, so I decided to use both of them for this layout. This layout was created base on colorfulcreations GDT October 28, sketch.
These photos were taken last year at Port dickson when we were  on way back to Meleka. We decided to stop at Port Dickson for a while to see what's on offer at the Night Market. The reason my daughter covered her face was because she was shy of the one pimple that broke out under her lips. She was trying her best to hide it.
Here's the sketch for this layout:

And here is the layout:

Location: Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan
Supplies: Pp - Basic Grey Sweet Pea Collection, Carmella Sky / Pink Paislee Notting Hill
Bazzil Cardstock
Flowers - Prima and Kaiser
Momoyo Sticker
Paper boutique Alphas
Cameo Brooch from PIT Kit
Acetate Swirl from PIT Kit
Momoyo Brads
Micia Ink

I tried some distressing here for both the papers (Banners and tag) and Kaiser flowers.
TFL. Lili

You Are Beautiful

Okay! it's D-Day now. Hopefully I made it. This layout is for PageMap blog pebbles-tricks-treats-sketch-contest.html challenge. Here's the sketch:

The model for this layout is Zahra's friend, Maisarah. She is truly very, very photogenic. More layouts of Maisarah will follow suit.

Model: Siti Maisarah
Supplies: Pp - Paper Boutique
Cardstock - Nicole
Stamps - Kodomo
Ink - Versafine (Deep Lagoon & Olympia Green) & Memento Dew Drop (Rhubarb Stalk)
Blings & wooden Leaf from Stash
Kaiser Flowers
Momoyo Brads
Kaiser Tags

TFL.

 

Gutsy Girl

Good evening. Such a warm evening at the time of writing. One thing I do hope for is that my laundry is all dried. Just waiting to be taken in, folded, ironed and arranged where they should belong.
I decided to revisit my layouts that were not completed for whatever reasons and this is one layout that I started way back in 2011 and totally forgotten after the stitching was done. Rummaging through my stash, I came upon the perfect title for this layout. So I got excited to complete it, finally.
Occassionally, the family would take a drive to Kuala Selangor and try to stop at Bukit Melawati to admire the scenes from uphill. There are also remnants of what used to be the fort and probably the old palace and the most distinct historical evidence is the stone slab were one of the princess was beheaded. I like to come to this hill because this place has a lot of photographic interest - historically as well as naturally. One of the highlights up here is feeding the monkeys. One just has to get used to having these primates come up close 'begging' for food. They're a friendly lot and once you can can overcome your fear over them, you may have them climb all over you and enjoy them. This is what happened to Zahra'. As soon as she conquered her fears, she had so much fun playing with them. She spent most of her money on food to feed them. I told her, next time we visit, we'll bring our own food for them.



Location : Bukit Melawati, Kuala Selangor
Supplies: Kaisercraft Construction papers
GCD - Melody Rose Alpha Stickers
Kaiser Flowers
Foam Stickers
Delfino Brads
Momoyo Brads
DMC Floss
DCWV Sticker
Lace

TFL. Hugs, Lili

Moments To Enjoy

I just like this photo of Mohd Ghazi, taken by one of Zahra's friends. He seemed to be so lost in his own world while slowly sipping the drink. From this photo alone I can make a few hypothesis about this young man at this moment of time. For this layout, I decided to imagine him thinking about Moments to Enjoy.

This layout was created based on colorfulcreations Guest Designer, Camila Ekman, sketch.

Here's my take on the challenge. I gave the sketch a twist by creating my layout horizontally, instead.


Model - Mohd Ghazi
Supplies - PP: Kaisercraft Class of '87 / The Paper Loft / Paper Boutique
Sentiments - Paper Boutique / Kaisercraft Class of '87
Home Deco Lace
Mark's Sticker

 

This layout is part of the Kuala Kubu Baru album I am creating for Zahra'. Thank you to Zahra' and her friends for all the beautiful photos. TFL.

Hugs, Lili

Nature Blessings

This layout is for colorfulcreations "Say it With words" challenge. The word for the month is Blessing. I always love Nature and these photos taken at Kuala Kubu Baru reflect the calm and serene nature of the area. Kuala Kubu Baru is one place my family will stop and take a short break whenever we went to visit my in-laws. I always love the quaint and quiet little town that still preserve it's Natural Heritage.

Location - Kuala Kubu Baru
Supplies: Pp - Kaisercraft Country Grove / Rhonna Farrer
Nicole Cardstock
Momoyo Alphas
Momoyo Stickers
Petaloo Flower
Home & Deco Lace

 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my daughter's friend(s) for taking these photos. These were taken suring their Class's  day trip to Kuala Kubu Baru.

Fatimah, Bai Y.Z.

Fatimah Bai Yin Zhi, a Mongolian Chinese from China, is a good friend of my daughter, Zahra'. They've known one another since 2011 and they are now studying Tahfiz together. Fatimah has been studying in Malaysia for five years now and the first three years she stayed at a hostel. Fatimah is 3 years older than Zahra' and she is like a sister to her.
These photos were taken by Zahra's friends, at Kuala Kubu Baru during their Class Excursion to Darul Quran, Jakim on September 28, 2012. Fatimah and her friends seem to be enjoying themselves very much.
I created this layout using Lets Scrap Sketch 101012 by Valerie.
Footnote: I just noticed this layout was featured at Let's Scrap. I am soo happy. Thank you to the team. October 13, 2012

Supplies: Embossed Cardstock
PP: MyMind's Eye, Paper Boutique
Petaloo flowers
Alphas - Paper Boutique, American Thickers
Kaiser 'Class of 87' Stamp
Kaiser Rub-ons
Home & Living Lace
Simple Stories Tag
Sharpie Pen
Momoyo Twine
Delfino Brads

I stamped these ribbons and then cut them up to create the banner





Vintage Ride - Lets Scrap Load Challenge #1 & #2

I didn't get to finish this layout in time for Lets Scrap Challenge last week. I was sidetracked by Audit issues as well as getting my reconciliation to completion. Then I was off to my husband's hometown for the funeral of my brother-in-law, Abdul Hakim. He passed away on Thursday, September 4, 2012, approximately around 7:15 am at Slim River Hospital. Even though my layout was complete, the final touches weren't. Today I got to complete it and it's sad to let it pass without sharing to my online friends. So glad there's the Load Challenge at Lets Scrap. This layout is based on this sketch:

And here's the layout:

Location: Danga Bay, Johor Bharu, 26 December 2011
Supplies used: Pp - Echo Park Everyday Eclectic
Cardstock - Nicole
Brads - Delfino and Momoyo
Sentiments - Simple Stories Destination Travel Notes;
WeRMemoyKeepers White Out Chipboard;
Paper Boutique
Home & Decor Adhesive Lace
Paper Boutique Alphas

Zahra' was extremely excited to discover these 'vintage' vehicles and she rode in everyone of them. But the highlight of the event was at night so we promised to take her again to the Fun Park. These photos were taken at Danga Bay, Johor bharu where there have a large Theme Park there. We were on a 3 day vacation there last year and it was positively a road down memory lane for me.
For this layout, I bought 3 new pattern papers (Echo Park and Simple Stories), and Momoyo Brads. The rest were from my stash.


Bravo - You Made It

It's been a while since I played with Lets Scrap sketches. This particular sketch by Valerie Salmon looks very simple and easy to do. Being a last minute entrant and minimalist, I decided to select pattern papers with lots of motifs so as to minimise on embellishments. I also choose large letters to cover as much space as I could. As I always buy two of each release from my dear friend, Kelly at http://www.amothersart.com/, for this layout I decided to flip one of the papers so as to give balance to the overall layout.
I am continuing with Zahra's Cross-country of January 14th 2012 event to complete her album.
This is the layout based on the sketch below:


Winners for the Lower Secondary

Supplies used (again from stash) :

Pp: Kaiserkraft Country Grove (Harvest) 

Paper Boutique

Alphas - Momoyo Puffy Stickers

Flowers - Kaisercraft

Brads - Momoyo

Lace - Home & Living

9-12-12 Valerie Salmon Sketch

Taking A Break

This layout is created for Colourful Creations - For Girls Only: Anything Goes Challenge. The only requirement is to have pictures of girls only.
This particular photo was taken on Jan 14, 2012 at Taman Tasek Perdana when my daughter participated in the Cross-Country race for her school. We were waiting for the third batch of students (Upper Secondary School) to complete their race before the prize giving ceremony. When this photo was taken (courtesy of Muhammad) the third batch of students were just released for their race. For Lower Secondary students, Zahra' won Third placing and was eventually selected to participate in the Selangor State Cross-Country race at UIA. She didn't get a good placing but the exposure was a good experience for her and her friends.



From left: Husna Zulaikha, Siti nur Zahra', Sofea Adelina, Madam Azwana and myself.

Supplies used for this layout were from my collection of stash:

Pp: KandCompany, Melody Rose

Tag: WeReMemoryKeepers

Alphas: Momoyo Stickers

Flowers: Kaiser

Brads: Delfino

Ribbon: House and Living (Korean)

Pen: Art Liner

Swirl: Momoyo Sticker

Blings: Momoyo

 

Flower Child - Scrapfit Warm-Up #31 Challenge

Finally, I am back to my creating board. This layout is for scrapfit challenge. The challenge is in Missy's words : This Warm-Up may or may not be a challenge for some of you. I know we fall into our comfort zones a lot and it's hard to break free. This challenge is all about patterned paper. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? Well, your challenge is to use patterned paper as your background...NO CARDSTOCK backgrounds! There are really busy patterned papers out there and then there are some not-so-busy ones...you can use whatever you choose...just no cardstock. Using cardstock elsewhere is perfectly fine.

For this layout, I used up items from my overgrown stash. Really need to purge before buying new ones.
Pp: Collage Press Citrus Collection,
Creative8,
Kaisercraft Love notes
Momoyo Buttons
Kaiser Flowers
Petaloo Flowers
Delfino Brads
Karl Craft border Punch
Momoyo StickerMomoyo Alphas
 

The choice of title is a reflection of Zahra's name which in Arabic means flowers. Since the background pattern papaer is very busy, I decided to be minimal for this layout. Thank you for looking.

#FATMUMSLIMSEPT Photo A Day Challenge

A late entry, I know. Since I do not want to clutter this blog,I've decided to showcase my photos in another blog: http://myphotostrack.blogspot.com/. Happy viewing and I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

 

A little more detail about the prompts:
1. You, now: A photo of you at present. So a self-portrait. A photo of your reflection. Or a photo of a photo.
2. Father: It’s Father’s Day in Australia. Take a photo of your dad. A Dad. A father figure. Etc.
3. Far Away: Take a photo of something far away, as in distance or time-wise.
4. In my mailbox/postbox: Take a photo of something out of your mailbox, or inside your mailbox.
5. Bright: Take a photo of something bright. Or someone super smart. Or something just bright!
6. Every day: Take a photo of something from your every day, or something that happens every day.
7. Natural: Take a photo of something natural {in colour or else}.
8. At night: Take a photo at night.
9. Something you do most weekends: Do you sleep? Eat? Play? Party? Snap it.
10. Hero: Who do you look up to? Share.
11. Black + White: Shoot in black and white today.
12. Together: Snap a photo of something together, or something that belongs together.
13. Table: Take a photo of a table, or something on a table.
14. Favourite: Take a photo of something that you adore!
15. First thing you see: What’s the first thing you see when you wake? Get to work? Or go somewhere? Snap it. Share it.
16. Strange: Shoot something strange/unsual in your day.
17. In my fridge: Give us a glimpse into the state of your fridge.
18. Price: Snap a price, on an ad, a tag or somewhere else.
19. Underneath: Snap a photo of something underneath. Simple.
20. Man-made: The opposite to natural, kinda. Take a photo of something man-made.
21. Sometimes: What’s something that happens sometimes in your life? Shoot it.
22. Up: Look up. Snap. Share.
23. Before bedtime: What’s the last thing you do before bedtime? Or in the hour before bedtime? Shoot it.
24. 3 things: Take a photo of three things {objects or otherwise}.
25. Frame: Take a photo of something within a frame.
26. Near: Take a photo of something near.
27. Love/Hate: Take a photo of something you love/hate. It would be done by take two photos and combining them in one using an app {like picframe}, or sharing two photos.
28. A good thing: Take a photo of a good thing {something you saw, something love etc}.
29. Errand: Take a photo of a errand you’ve done, or need to do, or something else did.
30. You, then: Take a photo of you from the past {think childhood or even last month!}.



Father - A Tribute to Lt Kdr (B) Zainal Abidin Hashim

Today is Father's Day in Australia, or so I gathered from Chantelle's write-up. Her second theme for the month of September at fatmumslim is FATHER (2. Father: It’s Father’s Day in Australia. Take a photo of your dad. A Dad. A father figure. Etc.). Since my father has met his Creator on November 16, 2011, there will be no new photos of him. What I have are past photos that will always be looked at down memory lane. I decided to write a tribute for him instead based on what I remember of him. Once I am able to gather more info, I shall update my contents. 
For now, here is a tribute to the man we all loved, respect and admire. A man who brought us all up with a firm and strict discipline and sometimes with a no nonsense attitude. He is also a man full of love and bear no grudges against those who had taken advantage of him, walk all over him or being unfair to him. Revenge was never in his vocabulary even though we know how hurt he had been.

Dad was born on July 8, 1935 at Kesang, Melaka to Hashim bin Muharram and Aminah bte Mohd Baki. He was the seventh child of 14 brothers and sisters and lovingly addressed as Pak Andak by his nieces and nephews or Abang Enal by his cousins and younger siblings. He had a stepmother whom we never met but we did meet his only sister, Maznah, from that marriage.
Dad joined the Royal Malaysian Navy located at Woodlands, Singapore, when he was 16 as an Apperentice Welder, when RMN was then under the British command. Not sure how he managed to enrol himself in when the minimum intake age was 17. He worked his way up the ranks from Chief Petite Officer to Chief Officer - a rank he held on for years without much hope of moving up. Yet he was a patient man and his patience paid off when he was moved up one step at a time until he retired at age 45 as a Lieutenant Commander. His job was mobile. He used to be stationed at Mindeff, Jalan Gurney, Kuala Lumpur from 1967 to 1969, back to Woodlands again before he was stationed at Butterworth. Then he moved back to Woodlands  and when I was in Secondary 4, dad moved to Kuching, Sarawak. We did not follow him to Kuching, though. After 2 years in Kuching, he went back To Mindeff, before he was sent to Lumut Naval Base to help set up a training school there. In between he went to Portsmouth, England in 1964 to further his studies, in  1978 to Manadon for a degree in Engineering. He even had a short stint at Nirimba, Australia prior to joining the Naval Base in Lumut. He then returned to Mindeff when he opted for retirement. Below is his record (in his own handwriting) of his career achievements and courses he attended.

 

Other than snippets of information I gathered from him or mum in the course of his career, I don't really know anything else. I was young and never really asked much questions. Some things are private and confidential and he maintained that. He definitely was proud of his job and he was always connected to the KD Hang Tuah fighter ship. One thing I do know is that he never failed to deliver command, discipline and timeliness in all areas of his life and he even instilled that in all of his children.

 

FAVOURITE ROUTINE

Dad's favourite routine with all his grandchildren was to carry them, from first grandchild, Muhammad Azwan, right down to the youngest grandchild, Afza, round the house to introduce them to the crisp morning air, hear the birds chirping and to admire nature. He loved all his grandchildren to pieces, in fact, more than his own children. Around him, these grandchildren are untouchable.

I created this layout for dad because he kept missing Afza so much. He loved to look at this photo of them together.

 

HOBBIES

Dad has many hobbies and all of them were related to DIY. He loves cars and one of  his first cars was a Mini Cooper. At least I still remember that car when we used to stay at Wadi Hana, Johor Bharu. For small repairs to his cars, he did them himself and that was how he developed the skill in repairing cars (an extension to his apperentice in repairing the naval ships). I remembered his other cars include Ford Anglia, Ford Cortina, Mazda and finally Ford Cortina 2000E. At least these were cars I remembered riding in.

( PHOTO TO BE ADDED LATER)

 

Dad is a green finger. He loves to plant fruit trees like mango, guava and some other decorative plants. He loves maintaining them, too.

(PHOTO TO BE ADDED LATER)

 

 

We are now very much into recycling and making so much propaganda out of it. Dad is a firm believer in upcycling. As the example below showed, this pretty but simple vase started its life as a Trumpet. When it was broken, the owner just threw it away but dad took it and with a bit of welding, turned it into a vase holding mum's handmade Hibiscus out of nylon strings.

(PHOTO TO BE ADDED LATER) 

 

The swings below were lovingly crafted by dad from a piece of plank and a block of wood, respectively. These swings had gone through many fights among the grandchildren, a place to relax in the evenings, and a place where much discussions took place.

 

 

Last but not least, dad loves Music. He played the guitar and when he was younger and he formed a small band, I think while in the Navy. Not much about this was known but then his children did play an instrument or two. Only we did not graduate from our Musical 'career'.

(PHOTOS TO BE ADDED LATER)

 

Dad loves reading and his favourite read is among others on Cars. Reading is one trait 100% adopted by all his children.

 

DAD'S LIFE IN PHOTOS

 

This is a photo of dad when he was 6-months old. He was on the lap of his Indonesian nanny, Sa'erah. The lovely lady on at the top of the stairs was dad's mom, Aminah and the young man is Bakar whom I always address as Pak Cik Bakar. The smiling gentleman is dad's father, Hashim and the little girl on his lap was dad's deceased sister, Zahara. If I am not mistaken, the girl in the center is dad's third sister, Zainun.

This is the most famous family photo and I think almost every family member has this photo in their collection. Dad , at 3 years of age, standing close to his father. The other gentleman, looking like a martyr, was dad's grandfather, Mohd Baki whom I lovingly call Aki. Not sure who the others in the photos are. Notice the car? During dad's time, to own a car is a sign of wealth. So, too, having stairs with those engraved tiles.

 

 

In summary, dad will always be remembered by his wife, Sity Khatijah, his children, grandchildren and his familes and friends. For as long as I live, I shall present Al-fatihah to him daily. Amen.