eek ... it's Halloween!

Hello friends,

Halloween arrives early at Our Beautiful World :). Milagros is our host this week and her word prompt is;

'HALLOWEEN'

Halloween is not commonly celebrated here where I live. Though in recent years, many of the younger Malaysians are influenced by the Japanese/Korean anime and cosplay culture. Thus, naturally embracing Halloween ... another reason to play dress up and party, isn't it?.

Wonder if there was an Edward & Bella's costume.

The word prompt this week, made me realized that I have too many vampire books & journals. One year, I was charmed by these beautiful, ghoulish souls [ahem, thank you Edward Cullen!]. Soon my art work became influenced by the movie Twilight!. I made endless Twilight-related mini albums. And I did quite an extensive research on the history of the fallen ones, about the real-life vampyric societies all over the world today and THAT freaked my bf out. Hehe.

Beautiful myth.

Then, I started buying books about ANGELS. I have more angel books than the vampire ones. I read about guardian angels and Archangels [I love Archangel Michael], benevolent spirit guides and soon enough my mood lifted up. He can't complain now, can he?.

I went to a haunted house in Denver, once. I was just starting my Fall semester, then. It was amazingly cold and FREAKY!!. Loved all the tricks, chainsaw and all. We were like a bunch of crazy girls, screaming our hearts out. Lucky that Blair Witch Project only came out a year later!.  

One of many dark books I own.

In any case, I prefer the sweet, funny version of Halloween. Trick-or-treating. Carving Jack-O-Lanterns. Smiling at witch-on-a-broom-getting-stuck-on-a-tree decor :). 

How do you celebrate Halloween?. Are you taking out kids (and pets) for trick or treating this year?. Lets hope it's not too cold out. And, do share the fun with us!. Link up with Our Beautiful World this week. I'd love to hear what Halloween means to you. Have a great Weekend!. Hugs.

{Notes: All photos are taken with Samsung Galaxy SAdvance phone and edited in PhotoScape. Used Out-Of-Focus and antique photo effects}.

this is LOVE..

A few years ago, I was in Minneapolis. On the very last day there, I visited the farmers market at Guthrie Theater. Gorgeous weather. Gorgeous city. There were music, flowers, farm animals, happy people and happy pets alike. One of the things I like to remember about that day is 'the boy who pat the dog' moment. I saw the sweetest act of LOVE ... first there was a cute dog, sleeping on the stairs. Then, came a boy walking past me and went up patting the dog [which I doubt, was his]. Too cute!.

Perfect for this week's prompt at Our Beautiful World. 

Our friend, Linda is our guest this week and she has chosen a word for us to play;

'LOVE'

I sure LOVE to live here, and coming to this market every week. Do you have a favorite market to get your fresh produce?. Or do you grow your own?. I sure LOVE to grow my own food, learning to do so lately. Here's what else I saw that day;

musicians at the entrance

sweet fiddling

lovely flowers

fresh vegetables

gorgeous baskets

and farm animals!

Up on the observation deck at Guthrie Theater, the view was stunning everywhere I looked. I just had to share :).

the market down below

St. Anthony Falls to the left

the Heritage Stone Bridge up ahead.

I hope you are excited to join us this week. Such lovely prompt!. 'LOVE'. Come play with us for a spell. Just link up your story at Our Beautiful World. See you soon!. HUGS.

my plants, lately ..

 

tall guy now :)

graduating little spinach into pots.

out of 30-something seedlings, only 8 made it this far.

growing a ginger plant, from store-bought ginger root.

sadly, these are what left of my cactus & succulent.

I am really excited that I could save a few spinach after all. I'm happy to report that my urban gardening is proving to be successful. I'm growing chilies now!. Next, would be tomatoes. BIG job for me. Any advice?. Oh, and I'm growing hibiscus from cuttings. We'll see how it turns out. I wish I could just PAINT all the veggies I want, and they just grow!.

Happy Weekend!. Hugs. 

a little 'chill' around here

Dear friends,
It's finally warm again here in the city. That means, I can save my poor plants after all. I'm all hopeful :). 

This week, I am the hostess at Our Beautiful World. 

The prompt I'd picked for us is;

' CHILL '

Every time I go to the flea market, I'll make a bee line to my favorite restaurant that sells some nice icy desserts. We have many versions of shaved ice, some times too colorful for words!:). 

This one is called Cendol.

Cendol is a popular dessert in Southeast Asia especially Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. Made of shaved ice or ice cubes, creamy coconut milk, palm sugar syrup (gula melaka), pandan leaves flavored 'noodles' or jelly and red bean toppings. You can enjoy Cendol at the end of a meal, with a meal or on its own.

A refreshing dessert on a hot afternoon.

Sometimes, the 'toppings' are (ironically) hidden underneath all the ice, which is fun digging through the 'snow'. My mom never made this at home, but my grandma had once taught me how to make it from scratch (except, for the store-bought palm sugar cubes). We even shred our own coconut to make fresh coconut milk, siting on a wooden bench shredder like one of these. How neat, that I also found a shredding coconut demo by Su-Mei Yu :).

My grandma made me stir the bubbling hot green pudding-like cendol on the stove. Wait, maybe I volunteered!. We filled a pot (full of holes at the bottom) with cendol dough, stirred while pressing it through the holes.

It was fun watching the green strands dropped into awaiting bowl of cold water. However, the stirring-on-the-stove-part was tricky as fencing for a petite, ten year old me :). If you have access to oriental market that sells Asian ingredients, you may try make some Cendol using this recipe. Good luck!.

No matter where you are in the world, share with us what 'Chill' means to you. Maybe 'chilling' out in the sun, or just enjoying the 'chilly' weather. We love to hear your stories!. Just link up your photos at Our Beautiful World this week :). See you soon!. Hugs.

Hello, October!

Dearest friends,
We at Our Beautiful World, are welcoming October this week. 
Our prompt is;

'OCTOBER'

I like to share some photos I took in October, many years back. A visit to the Kuala Lumpur's Orchid Garden. The garden is located opposite of my favorite Botanical Garden. And in the vicinity of Butterfly Park and the Bird Park too!.

Through a fern garden, on the way to the orchid beds.

The most glorious staghorn fern, don't you think?

This park houses more than 5000 orchid species from around the world, of which some 800 of the Malaysian species!. [How I wished they had all bloomed at the same time!]

I am not an orchid enthusiast, but anyone can easily love these beauties. Some of them have a soft fragrance and some are not.

The orchids are grown in pots with coals, some on wooden stakes on the ground and many living off other plants (epiphyte).

I am a simple person, and I adore the simpler orchid varieties such as these;

There was a sign. I should've taken a note of its name.

I wish that I am a better gardener. It's a pity if I should kill them :). You can find many small shops selling flowering orchid seedlings in the park, for RM5 (USD 1.50) a piece.

In my childhood home, my family never grow orchids but other tropical flowers. Maybe they're delicate or require much work?.

I called this, a fruit punch/cocktail orchids :).

I adore tiny orchids too, like this yellow variety;

Let see how my garden grows, if I could save those spinach and cactus from dying ... then maybe I should give orchids a try :). Hope you'd enjoyed some October orchids. 

You are welcome to share your October stories with us too. Just link a photo up @ Our Beautiful World!. Till next week, Hugs.