Gajah d'Nami

I thought I was seeing things when I spotted a row Jalur Gemilang swinging proudly in Namisum. Someone's doing our country proud, that's for sure. And I was even more proud to be there to witness it.

Namisum or Nami Island (Winter Sonata...that epic Korean love soap, ring a bell? Yup the drama was filmed in Namisum) is a tiny half-moon shaped island located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province - about 60 km east of Seoul. It was formed in 1944 with the flooding of the land cause by the construction of the Cheongpyeong Dam. The island was named after General Nami, who died at an early age the age after being falsely accused of treason during the reign of King Sejo, the seventh king of the Joseon Dynasty.

In conjunction with our Merdeka Celebration, works of a Malaysian artist Yusof Gajah was proudly displayed on the island. I googled Yusof Gajah and this was my findings.

“ I have this fantasy and imagination where I can see a lot of things. So when I get bored , I can come up with varieties. The elephant I paint is not the real elephant but is done in relation to humans. “  ~ Yusof Gajah

Yusof Gajah is know in the art circle and to friends as “Yusof Gajah” and for a good reason, too. The elephant is a constant inspiration in his artistic career. Yusof is also Malaysian’s foremost naïve artist . He was born in 1954 in Negeri Sembilan as Mohd Yusof Bin Ismail. He was educated in Singapore, and received his art training at the Sekolah Seni Rupa Indonesia and the Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia in Yogjakarta.

Ohhhh....orang se negeri rupanya.......

Nissa's jump@Gajah d'Nami

Walk With a Cause

It was my first walk this year. My busy schedule did not permit me to participate in the KL Marathon held earlier. Plus I didn't have much confidence that these knees would hold up to the stress from the run.

So the closest adrenaline rush to a marathon was this charity run by Avon Malaysia.

When I signed up for the "Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer" Run sometime last July, I thought I was gonna be walking all by myself. Promoted the event on FB but there didn't seem to be many takers. It being held on a Sunday, I guess people had plans already made. Anyway much to my delight, that 1 later multipled to 5; my sister and her two daughters had signed up too and I managed to drag Nissa to come along.

This auntie all set...all charged to go. Like 2 weeks before the run, I walked almost every morning. Some days I did 4km, some days I only managed 3....

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Nissa and Aliah doing jump warm ups

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The Kinrara Gang - my sis and her two girls (and they were very competitive one lorrr...nak finish top 50 and they did of coz)

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Crowd starting to build up (and while waiting to the celebs and VIPs we had to tolerate 3 rounds of zumba!! Katanya for warming up...yeah, but like THREE rounds??? In such a limited space to be shaking, shaking away?? Helloooo...organizers, pls be practical next time yar)

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Can't wait to start dah ni....

Let's walk everyone!

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Ehhh ehhh....check out who was in the crowd too ;)

Mommy and Nissa@2km mark

Nearing the 2.5km turn

Some were on roller blades

Pink sash...the BC survivors

Enter the Stress Free Zone...laugh, smile, no worries...just be happy

At the finish line...yesss...WE did it!! It was all fun last Sunday. The mood was not at all competitive; lots of smiling faces....cheering and picture taking for social media updates.

Wordless Wednessday

Sent via Kay's Berry

Someone's New Toy

Friday nite and I'm just chilling at home. Just got back from doing some laps in the pool. It looked like it was gonna pour earlier. Guess the winds must have blown the rain clouds away from Shah Alam. Just a slight drizzle and then the skies cleared for the swim.

Someone just got his new toy in the mail today. "New" to him but it's not at all new to the market. I'm checking out its functions and to see if it's as good as what others had claim it to be. So far so good....okay larr....after all it's FREE!


Sent from my iPad

Gossips Filler

If you want to know the latest and juiciest office gossips where do you head to? There are many "ports" actually; but in our establishment, it's the receptionists who would have all the spicy details.

I don't fancy hanging out at the reception area actually. Jadi, I ni boleh dikirakan tersangatlah outdated dengan cerita-cerita panasss. News dah basi and I baru nak "terkejut" - lebih kurang macam tu lah ketinggalan keretapinya yours truly. 

Recently, there was this hot and wild cerita about one of the top guys in our organization. Semua orang dah bercerita. And like always I baru nak terhidu cerita. 

So happened tadi ada a bit of free time to go hangout at the reception. Wahhh....it was like CNN breaking news; all sensational news out in one go. Dalam satu nafas sikit punya banyak updates! And ramai pulak news feeders nya tu...

"Puan tau...this this this..." said the girls. Yang I ni angguk je lah. Head or tail of the story memang tak tau and memang tak tau boleh percaya its authenticity or not. Plus tak mau involve dengan benda-benda yang boleh menyebabkan fitnah or aib kepada those claimed to be involved.

Tapi kan dah lumrah manusia, dok terfikir jugak apa yang the girls bagitau tadi. Umppppp.......no wonder lah...... Tapi malas nak fikir lah.

Whatever lah Labuuuuu.....nanyi lagu "nobadi nobadi butchu" lagi best kot ;)

Anyway, chillax-lah kan folks...dan nak weekend dah ni.

Do That "Royal" Jump

It was almost late afternoon when we arrived at Changdeokgung Palace. And everyone was already tired of almost a whole day of walking.

Brochures about the palace can be found at the entrance

But there was still a bit more of the palace to visit.

Interesting architecture that folds history within

And when we finally called the day, the father and dotter duo decided to do a couple of stretching acts - the "royale jumps" at Changdeokgung Palace.

Daddy's jump

and dotter's fly act

when both were tired.....

Wordless Wednesday

Toil the Art, anyone?

Incredible K-Drama!!

Many of my colleagues are fans of Korean dramas. They are very abreast of latest K-dramas and would always be the first ones to buy latest CD release from video outlets at the next door mall. Then they will do their marathon watching followed by their next day live review at breakfast. It simply amazes me that they knew the casts' names by hard and match these names to other dramas these casts have acted in.

 Jewel in the Palace - my first K-drama

At times their discussion sounded like a competition of who-could-throw-the-most-K-drama-cast-names. It was facinating watching them at discussion actually. At times, the discussions sounded so silly and I told myself that this will never be my favourite pass time.

Changdeokgung Palace - filming location for Jewel of The Palace drama. It is now designated as UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage.

Main entrance to the Palace

It was merely curiosity actually when I stumbled upon a site which aired Korean Dramas online. And I saja gatal-gatal clicked on the “watch” button.

Didn't they say curiosity could kill the cat? Yes, that was how it all started.

My first K-drama was Jewel in the Palace  (Dae Jang Geum) - a historical fiction drama that centers on the unusual life of Jang Geum, the first and only female Royal Physician in Korean history during the reign of King Jungjong during 16th century Korea.

Intricate designs on the roof of the palace main gate

My verdict after the laborious effort of watching all that 54 episodes – it was simply an awesome drama!! I thought it might go stale halfway through, but the conflicts and turmoil kept it interesting. The plot was EXTREMELY intricate, people kept appearing in different places, people were connected to people you didn't think they were, things kept changing, lots of plots to frame, kill and destroy - some were thwarted and others were not. The stakes got higher and higher, and when there's trouble and there's a way out and something else would terribly go wrong. The drama moves with such fluid motion, all pieces being revealed in time with a good balance of love and sorrow.

 I became “addicted” in no time; sacrificed my sleep watching episode after episode online, and it was worth it!

One of the buildings found in the palace complex

I must say this was one of the best dramas I have ever watched (and the other was that Japanese series Oshin). It has managed to draw out many emotions and kept me on the edge of my seat with what was going to happen next. Every character's pain, sorrow or anger even of the bad guys was so intriguing.

Beauty blended in perfect harmony

Palace history started back in 1405

Unique architecture attracts visitors from all over

In one of the pavilions where the King received his visitors

My verdict - witty, clever, amusing, brilliant and always surprising; Jewel in the Palace was simply amazing!!