Arts, Life..My Kind of Idea

Siti Aishah

Ismail Rakib

Kam Wai

Chong Keow

These are some of the paintings by MFPA and produced as Eidulfitri Cards and calendar. See and appreciate their hardwork.

If you are interested to buy the products or wished to visit them, contact :

Mouth & Foot Painting Artists Sdn. Bhd. (MFPA)
Lot 327, 2nd Floor, Ampang Park Shopping Centre, Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Telephone : +603-21618860, +603-21618502
Fax : +603-21621504

After almost seven months, my thyroid is almost at the normal level, but still swollen. I'm a bit worried, because this time..it took a longer time to reduce the swollen. Another new experience is the feeling of a chunk of food stuck in my throat. My thyroid must be pushing my trachea.

I dislike the two main option of getting rid of the swollen, which might or will effected my hormones and etc. The doctor proposed to me a radiation treatment or going under the knife. Both have pros and cons. I'm not ready to be medicated for my whole life after surgery and not even ready to have health problems after radiation treatment.

So, I've decide to try alternative medication. I went to visit a chiropractic specialist in USJ, Selangor whom we have known for few years. We've tried their Chinese body massage (by his wife for ladies), acupuncture and reflexology. I'm satisfied with the result especially the acupuncture technique (for different sickness, not thyroid).

As for my thyroid, he massaged my back bone, neck and arms. A little twist here and there..with lots of 'cracking' sound of my bones, especially the neck. For some, that's the best part. And alternatively, he proposed to me Chinese medicinal herbs. Without hesitation, I followed his advise.

Please scroll down and see what I've boiled just to cure the swollen of my thyroid....

This is the packet of herbs (that I can't even recognised any of the plants except for pine cones). These herbs need to be boiled with six cup of water. Boiled them with small fire, the darker the colour, the better!



But wait...the most special ingredients are.......


Yes, SEAHORSES. They are expensive, MYR 12.00 for a pair of each species. Stigmatopora argus (Spotted Pipefish) is the elongated body. They are lovely sea creatures...don't you agree?

"Seahorse populations are thought to have been endangered in recent years by overfishing and habitat destruction. The seahorse is used in traditional Chinese herbology, and as many as 20 million seahorses may be caught each year and sold for this purpose. Medicinal seahorses are not readily bred in captivity as they are susceptible to disease and have somewhat different energetics than aquarium seahorses." - Wikipedia

(Yikes...!!)

After boiling them altogether, this is the water I need to drink....


Black, smelly medicinal herbs drink. This is about 600ml. I've drank it but only less than half-cup per day. It tasted horrible and indescribable! You might even throw-up as the water almost entering your throat. The trick, of course stop breathing and swallow as fast as possible. Gargle immediately and chew strong flavour sweets!

Last but least, the boiled seahorse and dried again. I've planned to keep it as you don't buy seahorses for fun, or have them as a pet. They are sensitive sea creatures and beautiful to see.

So, anyone care for a Chinese medicinal herbs?

I would like to share with you the email I've received from a friend. My gratitude to those whom started sending this images. This is cool and creative. Maybe we can use these ideas to enhance our life!!

The two images below is a public toilet in Houston, USA. Superb looking toilet from the outside.....


And superb looking from the INSIDE!!..I don't feel secure when doing my 'business' in this toilet eventhough people from the outside can't see you....but it's still an awesome design....classy and simple.



And this is even scarier...you are about to enter the toilet and you see this kind of flooring..definitely you'll get a good laugh!



How about this one...you are smoking at the lounge, and you felt like somebody is watching you from the ceiling....yup, a reminder to the smokers!! So why not quit smoking?

My hubby likes to participate in the tournament (at any bowling alleys). He's trying his luck and made friends with other bowlers too. I encourage him as well because I can see he's a good bowler. He wasn't lucky enough in the previous tournaments (but still won, at least he got free games). His best winning was in 9 pin Double; their team got second place.

And I cannot believe his luck last Tuesday...he took part in 3 games 9Pin tournament opened only for the bowling members. It was so nerved wrecking because he really wanted to win. He did well in the first 2 games, but dropped at the 3rd game. I convinced him to cool down and relaxed (he's a little tensed at that moment).

And he's back on board.....I've made a guessed by stating that he might be in the top 10..but as the result came out...taaadaaaaa......He's.......#1!!....it's the best moment and he got extra money for this week :D

As for my hubby, it boost his confidence and can't wait to participate in more, and more tournament.

To my hubby : Good luck....and I'll always be watching you closely...behind the lane :D

Hello Visitors and Followers...

Thank you for dropping by to my blog...I was unable to update, previously known as Art, Landscape Ideas...Get Ideas for the past few weeks and still....no new post at the moment due to certain circumstances. I was a bit busy with my errands and felt that 24 hours was zooming faster than ever...

Other than that, you might have seen something different to my blog'g title. Yes, I've decided to change a bit of this blog's title for 'easy management' ;). But the contents will be the same, so as the URL..I am hoping that you will continue to support and visit my blog. As for me, I'll try my best in keeping myself motivated to update all of my blogs :)

Thanks again and enjoy your day!!

Hello..Just want to inform the world that I am developing 2 new BLOGS; http://plantsandnature.blogspot.com and http://womenatbusiness.blogspot.com/ ... Hoping that you will check them out. So, Art, Landscape Ideas might be a little 'slow' on the progress..But will try my best to keep this blog moving ahead too.

Got this email and images from my husband..And I think this is one fine artist!! So check him out...His works are BRILLIANT!!..All you need is one cheap material for drawing, a lot of time and patience, reference for drawing and..A LOT OF DUST AND DIRT...

SO.....Maybe you might want to try this! ..He even got a website!

"What do you do when you find a dirty car?"

(a) Write WASH ME?
(b) Do a pretty drawing?

THIS is SCOTT WADE. Check out what he does with the dirty cars by carefully and artfully removing portions of the dirt. According to his web site, he lives real close to a dirt road in San Marcos , Texas ....

I've received an email from a good friend of mine..And the email contained one of my interest. Yes, finally I have new architectural post to post in this blog. Simply love the images..they are mind boggling and how genius and creative the Architects and Engineers were!

I've never seen these images, that's the reason I'm posting them. Wondering if any of you have seen these buildings...LIVE!

Cubic Houses, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Ferdinand Cheval Palace, France

Crooked House, Sopot, Poland

Public Library, Kansas City, U.S

Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada

Basket Building, Ohio, U.S

Forest Spiral, Darmstadt, Germany

Wooden Gagster House, Archangelsk, Russia

The UFO House, Sanjhih, Taiwan

Wonderworks, Florida, U.S

Torre Galtea Figueres, Spain

This is my experiment of drawing a pet..yes, this cat used to be in my family 8-9 years ago..and he has no name :(

My brother picked him from a wet market probably when he was a 'teenager'..the fur was orange and white. He's clean, beautiful but skinny though lived in the wet market. And got along very well with us. We enjoyed playing with him as he's very active and playful..kept on running around inside and out of the house..bites our feet and hands..

Until one day, when we had moved to a new apartment..I sensed that he felt uneasy about moving out to a new home and he acted a bit 'crazy'..kept on sniffed and looked in and out. I saw few dominant stray male cats around the area and might get him into trouble.

Few nights was OK for him. I let him slept in my room. However he started wanting to go out at night (perhaps looking for the opposite gender?)..Let him go for 'hunting' for 2 or 3 days consecutively and he did came home..Then came the day when he never returned home after a nite-out. We searched for him for a few days, but he was never came home..That moment, I've wished that if he'd lost, he'll find a good new owner..but never ever crushed by cars or dead bitten by stray dogs/cats..

..He had lived with us for less than a year..but the joy and fun that he gave was the best of all..

TEXTAREA_ID


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Back to 3-4 weeks ago..i was so excited to met one of my favourite used-to-be Malaysian badminton player..Surprised to meet him at the bowling alley; NO..he's not playing bowling to represent Malaysia, instead (or maybe) he's one of the cafe owner's friend at the bowling alley (not sure if he's shares the business). After seeing him there a few times, I'm very sure he is MR. FOO KOK KEONG (FKK) and convinced my husband he is FKK..the very famous FKK..

One fortunate night, he was at the cashier at the cafe's counter and coincidentally i was going to buy something. With all my guts and confidence..i asked him...

"Are you MR. FOO KOK KEONG?"..he replied.."NO, I'm ONG EWE HOCK"..."Hahahahahhaha."..that's me, laughed out loud for being embarrassed and mistaken by the name!!..it took about 2 minutes to realise and recall ONG EWE HOCK (OEH)..yup..got the wrong name! But knew he was once the 2ND Top Shuttler of the world in the 1990's..Well, he's not really interested to talk, so i just smiled (i have few questions to ask!!). Off i go with my drink, waffles and 'BIG JOKER SMILES' towards my husband..

Mr. OEH looks cute..below is he's photo..in fact I've drawn his portrait back in 1994, but I've drawn awfully awful and did not post it in this blog earlier (never wanted to publish this drawing..actually)



He's quite small in size..probably 170cm tall..but still physically fit, and still have the same hairstyle! Mr. Foo Kok Keong is the guy below..


Both of them were Malaysian best single players at their time. They make the Malaysian proud for their spirit and determination to be a winner..Back in the 90's, Malaysian players emerged to be one of the best in world top ranking..CONSISTENTLY; nowadays..it's a bit difficult, and I'm not the right person to give comments (i played badminton for fun and exercise!!)..Mr. OEH is consistently seen at the bowling alley every night i go for bowling, so i might asked him questions if he's at the cashier!! Don't care if he remembered me as "someone who got his name wrong"!...BEWARE ;)...I'm on a mission!


The above photo was somewhere in Malaysia (National Stadium, K.L..i guess) in 90's when Malaysia won the Thomas Cup..Only recall Cheah Soon Kit's name (1st from left), as for the others, their faces still fresh in my mind...

I was reading a local newspaper this morning..read an interesting subject about the environment, specifically about WASTE MANAGEMENT. So, i thought it would be a good subject to post in my blog..

I've some interesting facts from the paper...and it's really unbelievable. I never knew about this and those who knew..you're such a good earthlings! This info is about the waste decomposition rate of certain items..

The fact that Kuala Lumpur produces 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of domestic and industrial waste per day is expected. More and more people living in the city. The garbage rots in the landfills and produces a toxic goey substance called leachate.

Leachate is the liquid that drains or 'leaches' from a landfill; it varies widely in composition regarding the age of the landfill and the type of waste that it contains. It can usually contain both dissolved and suspended material - source; Wikipedia


If you look closely, leachate is the orangy colour appeared at the edge of the water.

For every 3,500 tonnes of rubbish, 525,000 litres of leachate produced. The leachate move either above and below the ground, into reservoirs and rivers. And of course they will contaminate our natural resources.

As we all knew, waste management starts at home..yes..i, myself tried to reduce my household's garbage and trying very hard on the 3R concept (reduce, reuse, recycle), but..not 100% working for me at the moment (luckily just the 3 of us in the house, it helps a lot!). Though we have the awareness, but our (i mean Malaysian) civic conscious is still low, thus..littering still occurred. Changing of attitude definitely is the problem. But does education will work? Hopefully more and more people support this effort and you don't need a certificate or degree to do that.

WASTE DECOMPOSITION RATE
------------------------------------
1) STYROFOAM - NOT COMPOSED!!
2) PLASTIC BOTTLE - 1 MILLION YEARS!!
3) DISPOSABLE DIAPER - 500 TO 600 YEARS!!
4) ALUMINIUM TIN - 200 TO 500 YEARS!!
5) STEEL - 80 TO 100 YEARS!
6) LEATHER SHOES - 40 TO 50 YEARS!
7) WOOD - 10 TO 15 YEARS
8) STOCKING - 1 YEAR
9) CLOTHES - 5 MONTHS
10)NEWSPAPER - 1 MONTH
11)BANANA PEEL - 3 TO 4 WEEKS

(After reading these, i was wondering are there any new solutions of replacing 'items' that takes million of years to decompose..which also should be convenience and easy to the users as well?)

These are some of the common approaches to reduce waste :
i) Segregate waste in order to reduce waste disposal at the landfill (not just separating glass, metal, plastic, etc but also draining out liquids form waste before placing into bins)

ii) Implement the 3R Concept (reduce, reuse, recycle)

iii) Buy goods that use less packaging ad reduce consumption of goods and services

iv) Use containers and jars to replace polystyrene containers when take-away (or 'tapau' as Malaysian knows) your food

v) Place a plastic into your bins before throwing waste

....So why don't the government ban the usage of polystyrene food containers? They are the most hazardous and famously used in Malaysia. Even worse, we knew its hazardous but we still and keep on using them. Weird facts!


I blame myself as well..I've never implemented the method of taking your own food containers when 'tapau' my foods at the restaurants. It's not that convenience and very awkward especially in Malaysian culture. Culture...yes, that's the word. So, if the Malaysian culture is too difficult to change, i think i should change my own culture, one change does count! So, for a starter..maybe i might bring my own food containers when buying rice gravies at the restaurants nearby my house!

Have you heard of PAYPERPOST? This is a trusted way of making money online that i've heard from an internet guru, Gobala Krishnan. He's very successful and already a MILLIONAIRE! So, if you want to learn more about this, just go to www.payperpost.com and register yourself as a Blogger (if you have blog/s...of course!)..i can't tell you more, you'll understand better once you browse through their web. It's a great opportunity for all bloggers

"You can add a sign up page to your blog, be it a blog post, in the side bar or anywhere else. When you sign up a blogger, you get paid just like the referral program. $15 once the new Postie gets paid for their first opportunity post. And if you sign up an Advertiser, you'll get $25 when they make their first deposit!" - payperpost.com





You may sign-up in the form attached above..By the way, you can sign-up as an Advertiser too...

This is another alternative of making some money from the net..my good blogging friend, Pheaktol exposed about 'twtad' in his web..and it is so easy..

First...
All you need is to register on http://twitter.com/(it's hot right now), so that you can twit twit about anything and tell the whole world!...then you'll be able to register on http://twtad.com/

"You enjoy tweeting with your friends, but wouldn't it be great to make a little extra cash on the side while you post on Twitter? twtAd has the solution: we give you links to post on your Twitter account, and you earn money each time someone clicks on your link!" - Twtad.com

After completing all those easy procedures...start exploring the web..it doesn't take long to understand their system of making money. Any ads you've selected will be posted in your twitter. That's it, Try it...i try for fun and experiment, so why don't you?..hey, this is no sweat

This is the last part of my 'Birds Series'..

This is Black-naped Monarch (cool name!)..They have wonderful azure-blue feathers (the males) and resident of the lowlands of Borneo, commonly in the shrubs and forests, up to 4265 feet. The birds tend to be found in the medium or lower canopy but the nests can be close to the ground.

A tiny bird with about 6 inches or 15 centimetres in size, it is long-tailed and slender. Feed on insects including crickets, butterflies and moths, mostly by gleaning from foliages and also by snatching from mid-air.



While these birds below are the image of birds i've drawn in the 1st part of the series. They are Hornbill and Short-tailed Magpie respectively. Don't you think the Hornbill is majestic? They are one of the kind, such a unique bird. The Short-tailed Magpie is also beautiful with vibrant feathers..

This is my drawing of a Crimson Sunbird..it has bright red colour on top, can be seen all over South-east Asia (S.E.A). You can see this bird most likely in the forest edges and cultivation area. They feed on nectar and such a petite, beautiful bird..I've also included the real image of it so that you can see the vibrant colours of the bird..Love the colour on its forehead!



The photographic image of this bird was taken from a calendar (2009) produced by Sabah Tourism Board. You may also go to for more information on Sabah.

Still have difficulty in searching human subject, so...i have selected birds as my subjects for the next few posts (though i'm not a birds' fan)...these birds can be found in Sabah, Malaysia and S.E.A.

Drawing animals are not too hard compared to drawing human faces. Both drawings only took me around 30-45 mins to complete.. (i think i need to improve my rendering of the background..it looks plain and empty!)


This is a Rhinoceros Hornbill. ..can be found from lowlands to an altitude of 1300m, a very majestic bird especially their casque with reddish orange colour with a yellow tip..Their bill is yellow. The Hornbill is a major inspiration in designing the Bornean art and costumes. They have black and white abdomen and a wide black band crossing the tail. So, if you're travelling to Sabah, make sure to see the real Hornbill...They are beautiful!!


This is a cute bird called Short-tailed Magpie..It dwells in thick vegetation in the mid and upper-storey of the forests and only making short flights. They feed on bees, beetles and dragonflies. They're shy and difficult to approach..Their beaks are red colour while the abdomen is light green and 'wearing' black mask on the eyes. The wings are in red and have black with little of white on the tail.

These drawings are my 1st time of drawing birds..So, i'll be drawing on more birds for the next posts. I think it's great as i'm also learning few things about the tropical birds and broaden my skills..Hope you'll find it nice and informative too!

I'm still searching for good subjects to draw..And this blog is already 2 mths-old!...I really appreciate and thankful to the visitors and readers..Hopefully the number of visitors will keep on climbing. Feeling guilty as there are no new drawings at the moment :) so i'm making this post as a compilation 'cos i know some of us dislike to browse the ARCHIVES...

All the drawings has been published in this blog...Some of my best and favourite collection for the past 15 years++...Hope you'll enjoy..

This year....2009







Last year....2008




IN THE 1990'S










And of course, my 1st ever drawing....in the year of 1991, a drawing of Vanilla Ice a.k.a Robert Van Winkle


But still, my drawings usually depends on my mood..if its good, then i think i really wanted to draw at that moment..

Ok..as i promised, this is another step by step of drawing (my style!)..this time around..It's a tiger resting in the jungle..It's a simple one with a bit of body parts..(i'm interested in drawing the facial)

First of course, draw the guidelines which includes circle for the face+head and a
line for the body. You may also want to draw some surrounding elements found in the picture of the tiger. Try to play with lines so that it looks proportion and logical.


Next, what i did was putting few lines to indicate areas for eyes, nose and mouth. Then you can visualised the face by adding ears. Sometimes, i'd like to draw secondary elements before the overall face. At this point, i started to draw the stripes. The stripes wasn't 100% exactly as on the picture. So not to worry..

Later, i draw the nose, eyes and did some rendering..(to make me feel that this drawing is going to be nice)..


I will focused on the facial expression and tried to render as good as possible..Also rendering the stripes! This photo of a tiger doesn't have much shadow to play with, so i did only mild rendering.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO ERASE YOUR GUIDELINES BEFORE STARTING YOUR "HEAVY" RENDERING!


This is the tiger's face..the image is a bit blurry (sorry!)..I will continue my rendering until i'm satisfied..

To me, the face wasn't intense enough and i didn't draw the best i could..and again, sorry for the blurry images!!

Finally, the end product..The body is a little short than it should..so if you analyse my drawing, the proportion is not good due to shorter body length. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes!!


Hope you'll learned something in this guide..Why don't you try to draw...and GOOD LUCK!!

Now...i'm going stop on the LOVE issues for a while..This is an experiment, using ACRYLIC as medium on a common 'bigger-than-A1' canvas..At first, i have no idea on what to draw. I'd like to draw something graphic. And after searching for some images on the net, i've truly interested to draw and paint fishes..with my own point of view..Drawing the fishes was not difficult as i've some guidance..but to make it some kind of graphic was a task.

Thought of hanging paintings in the living room. Did visited few shops and found out that those paintings are so EXPENSIVE!!..not worth our money :) or can say, not willing to pay for something that beyond our budget!!..After some thinking and consideration, i've decided to try to do it on my own. So, need to buy some materials.

Before i bought them, i did my own research on painting using acrylic..Luckily i've managed to get help from the Net. Looking for artshops wasn't difficult too..There are 2 shops providing all things i needed at Taman Melawati. I've selected acrylic brands which were not too expensive; Maries (made in China ) and Alpha (S.Korean made). They are not bad and good enough for amateur, like me! Only few colours were selected. As a painter, you need to visualised the painting from ZERO to HERO (so you don't have to waste your money buying colours you won't need)..So i've imagined my fishes swimming in the blue water and create ripples..and it took me about 1 mth to visualise the overall painting!!


I've used lots of blue and titanium white..i've only used the dark colours a few drops. The brushes, as you can see..i've chose variety sizes, from the smallest to the 'just nice' big..cheapest to the 'ok-ok' price..


The smaller brushes are important especially when colouring the details and smaller parts. It also created nice motions and strokes to my painting. The colouring (believe it!) took me about 3 mths to complete! I was enjoying my experiment so much that there were...MAYBE 5 layers of white + blue colours. The fishes were also more than 2 layers! I've finally stopped after getting tired and sick of touching-up..

Another important element is your decision on the final touch. Glossy? Au Naturel?..i wanted the glossy effect so i've used LIQUITEX GLOSS VARNISH..i was completely confused at this moment and disliked the 'not-so' glossy effect after putting a layer of the medium. Yes, i've layered it probably 4 times!!..i've stopped cos it didn't make any diference and afraid the painting going to be horrible.


So..finally, i think it's time to hang the painting..i am so proud of myself, worth my effort. My first ever trial was a success!..tried to create some textures using acrylics, and it wasn't bad..Here's the painting, 4 'weird-coloured' Koi happily creating lot of ripples..what do you think? Until today, i didn't make any effort to paint anything... :)..but i do want to paint again..