your road to stardom!

thank YOU advertlets for giving mommy ta66y a chance

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so...

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last 2 audition dates:
saturday, 30 june 2007
sunday, 1 july 2007

numbero to call:
03-78061229

best part...

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plus ONE year hosting/modeling contract!
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airtime...
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fun @ work

task:

i was asked to become a model for a free haircut at a salon
which will be featured on the 1st issue of our local
online shopping magazine/web portal,
goshop on 070707!

thanks fara for approaching me!

little did i know i was in for a major transformation!

appointment:

200607 @
haircut hairspa salon,
lintas plaza, kota kinabalu, sabah.


hair consultant:
julia chu


service:
1 - got my long locks cut off!
2 - given hair treatment
before getting a perm
3 - hair then permed
to create body waves
4 - treatment was sprayed
on my hair again
before the highlights
5 - highlights were then created
with a lightener
6 - got another treatment
before the application
of base colour
7 - light brown was chosen
as the base colour
8 - went under the hair steamer
9 - got a final trim
10 - done! blown dry & styled!






duration:
10am - 5pm
* i've never sat for such long hours in a salon!
it's true what they say about beauty,
NO PAIN, NO GAIN!

actual cost of my transformation:
RM440

a very big thank you to julia
for her time & generous heart!

editorial team:
editor - fara
deputy editor - marissa
intern - serena

fara (right) & marissa (left)

marissa in action

photo session

super cute serena & mommy ta66y :o)
serena, our lucky intern got a free scalp scan,
a scalp peel & finally a hair trim!

review:
i absolutely love it!
lil han didn't recognise me when i got home that day.
he went behind hubs, pointed at me & said,
"what's that?"

random subjects

i'd fun with this one, so don't forget to
peg me at mommyta66y.blogpot.com!

my favourite subject, GOD's gift to us.

our neighbour's pretty bougainvillea.

oh how i love wooden beads or anything made of wood for that matter :o)

sirung (dusun for hat), is made of finely weaved bamboo strips.
the above is priced at RM100.

a closeup of the intricate pattern & design of a sirung.

daddy's protégé

pretty nails 101

mommy loves pretty looking nails

but she doesn't always get to do them
except for the usual nail care regiment.

mommy usually puts us to bed,
making sure that we're tucked in comfortably
& sound asleep before she tiptoes out
to watch a lil telly, read her mags or
indulge in her favourite pastime, doing her nails i.e.
sounds simple doesn't it!
nah, not most of the time cos
she ends up falling asleep with us boys!

so what's a mommy to do
when she really wants to pretty up her nails
& not wait till after bedtime?
when you can't stop 'em, let 'em join you!

i've got a tin where i keep all my nail tools.
i let them have what's not sharp
& show them how to use it.
both boys now know the function of
a nail file, buffer & shiner.
when they're both busy
shining or buffing their nails playfully,
i get to do mine in peace. ahhh!

what about nail stickers?
i love 'em to bits & nail art too ~ hehe!
i'd go for the really small ones
cos my nails are small & short,
fingers & toes alike.

i got myself new nail stickers one very fine day
after not having bought them for so long!
i still have some old ones but the new ones are far cuter ^_^
i suppose a mommy wouldn't think much of
nail stickers with young kids at home.
when it comes to my boys & nail stickers,
they're naturally curious especially lil han.
it's definitely something new to him
as oppose to his big bro who has his own
fair share of stickers over the years.

i gave han one of my old ones
which i helped him stick onto his tiny nail
so that he won't bug me further
during one of my infrequent DIY manicure sessions,
another landed on the floor
(caution: a few stickers will get wasted with kids around)
& the third one got stuck to hubs' nail
who was sitting next to me watching telly.
with his eyes glued to the sports channel,
he didn't bother with it then.
thus the laugh of that day was that
the sticker on hubs' nail lasted till evening
cos he'd forgotten all about it :o)

angry clouds over kota kinabalu

i love the drama of my angry clouds.
The shots were taken from the signal hill observatory platform
at about 2pm, showing signs of a heavy downpour.
goodness me! i sound like the weatherperson :o)

an enjoys being up here as he can see
kota kinabalu (small) city from a bird's eye view.
hubs drove us here after lunch before sending me back to work.
with the cool, crisp air & wind blowing in our faces,
it's definitely a refreshing place to be.

breathtaking sight despite the gloomy weather

i'd like to come here another time
when the skies are clear & the horizon, more apparent.

dark, heavy clouds building up & hovering over the islands & city

pesta kaamatan 30-31 may 2007

kotobian tadau tagazo do kaamatan!

what better ways to celebrate the harvest festival in the truest of spirit
other than to join in the traffic jam heading to KDCA
& finding an appropriate place to park
in an almost impossible jampacked roadside.

that was us, on 30 may, a family of 4,
crowding the place even more & for our first time,
witnessing the merriment of the various ethnic groups in sabah,
adorned with jewellery on their beautiful costumes, with songs & dances,
giving thanks to the rice gods for a bountiful harvest.

young & old passed this billboard before the KDCA entrance (below).

we were greeted by the lively kulintangan traditional music,
accompanied by the gong players in the background.

i'd to wiggle my way in to have the above picture taken.

an seizing the moment
to try his hands at the kulintangan
when the musicians left for a break.

han didn't want to miss out on the fun!
the festivities were contagious & getting to eveyone!

2 lucky boys got their picture taken with 3 beautiful maidens
from kota belud dressed in one of their traditional bajau costumes.

differences versus similarities

it's amusing watching my 2 boys interact with each other. both have their own unique pepsonalities plus i get to see their differences & similarities through playtime, mealtime & bedtime. so here goes...

although 3 years apart, big bro an & lil han enjoy the same things. they both love anything automotive/machinery, thus sharing similar toys, books & tv programmes. sometimes we do get 2 of the same toys for them (based on the advise of many) but different colours, it works for only a short period of time. why? the big bro would reason that he needs 2 lorry containers for his so-called fear factor stunt & begins to imitate joe rogan himself & the lil one would occasionally walk away with whatever big bro is playing with & claims that it's his toy. boy oh boy!

it's the same situation for books. i'd say it's normally han who grabs whatever his big bro is reading & wants it for himself there & then regardless of the numerous books he can choose from the shelves or baskets.

not enough books for 2?

i've got loads to say about their mealtime cos the appetite of these 2 brothers vary a great deal. big bro an is picky with food. it was worst when he was younger. his disfavour toward food gets in my hair. i suppose i lost most of my patience with him in this area. his common remarks would be 'yucks!' or 'smelly!' whenever he's oppose to eating whatever that's being offered to him. he's also gifted at regurgitating his food at any given time. we, at home, call it induced vomiting.

hubs loves to cook & is good at it. if not for him & his patience, an wouldn't be opened to try other food. hubs would try all sorts of dishes to provide variety & to generate an's interest in food. every once in a while, he'd become daddy's assistant in the kitchen, helping out with the preparation for cooking or baking. despite the kitchen being a mess, an would proudly eat whatever he has made with daddy even if the cake is a lil on the hard, rubbery side. kudos to hubs for his ingenuity!

an's favourite food includes pizza, cheese, KFC, mcD, fried rice, sausages & roti boom/bom. at one time he only wanted to eat roti boom/bom for lunch! hubs had the biggest headache that week :o)

as for the bigger eater han, no problema! he eats rice, veggies, meat, fruits, etc! he's a rice person ~ must have rice, must eat rice! hooray for hubs! one of his boys turned out to be just like him! han definitely has a bigger appetite than his big bro despite his small frame/size. on the plus side, he certainly doesn't share his big bro's taste for food. if we go to a fast food restaurant for an's sake as a treat, we'll make sure han has his bowl of porridge/rice when he gets home.

roti boom/bom is super yummy
with its rich fillings of
margarine & kaya (coconut-egg jam)
plus the additional egg.
now you know where an gets his tastebud from :o)
* guilty me *

ah! bedtime! both love soft music to be played before they hit the sack after a long play day. an loves stories to be read or told to him, whereas han prefers to be sung to. if hubs is around, he'll do both. he'll tell an a story or 2 first while the lil fella waits for daddy to finish up & sing to him. if daddy is away, mommy will just lie in between them & scratch both backs until they fall asleep. i'll be too worn out then to either tell stories or sing songs & my boys would understand :o)

eye in the sky

on the faithful day of 17 may,

an old friend sms-ed me, asking me to go out
for a rare, engaging sight of the rainbow encircling the sun.

i left the workplace during lunch hour with friends.
it was a hot, humid day & the midday sun was glaring mercilessly at us.
the batteries in my loyal cam were flat
but thank goodness for agnes & her new cam
which was in her handbag with charged batteries.
great thing i'd my sunnies on or else
i wouldn't be able to see much thru the monitor
especially from pointing the cam directly at the sun.
i believe i did look kinda silly at that time!

i adjusted the exposure to -2.0
cos the sun was just too darn bright.
my eyes were squinting even from behind my sunnies.
who was i kidding! it was the midday sun in all its glory!
but my eye in the sky shots were
well worth the blinding light in my eyes.

i've always loved rainbows!
it's after all God's covenant made to noah,
thus the name chosen for our first-born :o)

z o o m i n g han

i was lying on the bed waiting for
lil han to settle down before his bedtime.
he was in the mood to z o o m around
like an airplane, so i let him.

i love this shot in particular.
besides extending both his arms
backward like the wings of an airplane,
he was also seriously
z o o m i n g with his lips!
boys & their sound effects go together
like bread & butter!

i must say there was

much drool lost in the act
of becoming an imaginary airplane :o)

famous 5

yup, birthday boy an is definitely famous for many of his antics. those around him would know! i've been reading up on the emotional expression of a 5 year old child & he has definitely grown into one! i won't elaborate on it since this is a writeup on his birthday which we celebrated on 10 may 2007 :o)

it was a daddy & son day. hubs had previously missed 3 of his birthdays due to work & couldn't make it back in time. so this year, daddy made it up to an & cancelled one of his biz trips just to be with his much delighted birthday boy.

mommy of course ordered the cake & wanted it to be thomas the tank engine. the lady who's known to make yummy cakes didn't know who thomas was but tried her best in producing a cake with the tank engine. i did give her my cake design, colours & all. the kind lady altered one or two colours, her reason being too much colouring isn't good which i okay-ed. the cake however, to everyone's amusement, came out looking candid! she told me she was going to do a big thomas & it ended with a small thomas + 3 malaysian flags (very patriotic of her), 2 small bunches of flowers & the biggest laugh was over the 2 awkward looking ultraman figurines :o)

2 questions came from the birthday boy:

"mommy, why thomas look different?"
"mommy, why is the ultraman on my cake?"

the chocolate cake was no doubt mouth-watering!
i know i ate a lot!

mommy also ordered pizzas for an as per his request which was the same request as his 4th birthday. sigh! when an likes a certain something, it'll be the SAME thing he'll ask for over & over again (such as fried rice, roti boom/bom & the obvious, PIZZA!).

what has an taught me for another year?
to practice more PATIENCE!
i'm seriously running out of it :o)

fun with photoshop

besides photographing my boys & everything else,
i also enjoy photo editing heaps!
my favourite software is photoshop & has been for eons
unless i'm convinced otherwise which i think NOT!

i like this picture of an & lil bro han slightly in the background
with a thumb in his mouth.

the original picture was coloured & i found many elements
that were bland, so i coverted it to grayscale,
then selected duotone to add more shades to it.
i love sepia toned photos as much as
the traditional black & white ones!

filter -> render -> lighting effects -> lens flare

it was fun playing with the lighting effects & lens flare
for it felt like i'd conducted my photo shoot within
the comfort of my palm & loyal, dutiful mouse :o)

filter -> sketch -> water paper

the water paper effect is simple yet artsy.
the turnout of this picture reminds me of a postcard.
i think i'll use this effect in future for creating
my own personalised postcards & greeting cards!

filter -> stylize -> glowing edges

i was pleasantly surprised when this picture
looks more like chalk drawing despite its glowing edges!