Saturday, March 28, 2009

Earth Hour 2009 @ home

The management of the apartment I live in decided to encourage the residents to join in Earth Hour. We were to convene in the playground area, the 'heart' of our apartment block, sit around in the dark and munch on snacks as a community.

The committee president asked me to give a 'talk' to the children in the neighbourhood, which was pretty exciting. I ended up speaking to them about the whats, whys and hows of the event.

One of the apartment blocks in darkness.


I talked to the kids about how we use energy to power our homes and schools. I told them how electricity is made, and what the burning of fossil fuels means to the environment and the people, animals and plants that live on earth. I think I did okay, and the kids were so cute. I think some of them actually listened. LOL.

Kids munching away on tid bits by candlelight.


Of course, I came prepared and was armed with 'bait'. I kept a steady flow of 'keropok' (prawn crackers) coming, so they sat there munching, as I yammered away. I think I managed to single-handedly spoil the dinners of children from at least five different families. A great achievement, wouldn't you say?

Then, one of my neighbours brought along a few of her international students from Help University. I ended up leading an impromptu discussion on Earth Hour with them also.

My son was the least interested in what I had to say. He kept at least a 5-metre distance from me at all times - a clear sign that he's had enough of mummy's 'lecturing' at home perhaps. Oh well.

He was upset when it was all over though. He thought the 'party' was a lot of fun, and he said he wanted to hear me talk some more. He was probably just tired and cranky. I took him home, gave him a bath and put him to bed.

All in all, a very productive Earth Hour for me :)

Friday, March 27, 2009

What? Interview me???

I received a wonderfully surprising e-mail today, a writer for Personal Money magazine says she'd like to interview me about writing for extra cash *Shock* I'll update the blog if it happens!

Also, I collected another feedback for my website. It was kindly contributed by Ms Henni Lee, owner of Gifts from Heaven. Check out what she had to say here. Thanks Henni!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Feeling better

I'm happy to report that I'm feeling a bit better today. For a start, I got paid for a few jobs, that's bound to cheer any freelance writer up, no matter how depressed he or she has resolved to be.

I also heard from Berg publishers this week, and have managed to respond to their queries on the essay I wrote for their upcoming encyclopedia. I can't believe that I'm getting published by Berg... somebody pinch me. I hope all goes well.

My writing has suffered a bit and my progress impeded by the stress I was 'absorbing'. But, things seem to be looking up a bit for this week, and I'm thankful for that. My husband has been so supportive and my son as adorable as ever. I have a lot to be thankful for.

I was quite recently asked to rewrite the main pages on a4trip.com. I submitted my write up to a4trip's founder, Pin, yesterday. In true Pin fashion, he replied within 24 hours, saying, "We like it very much, and it is updated on the website."

This Pin fellow is too much! He's supposed to be cycling across Europe! How the heck does he manage to... well... 'manage' things like that! Hats off to you my man! LOL.

If you go to the 'About' page on the a4trip website, you can read what I wrote about Pin's childhood. I hope I haven't butchered his memories. Well, at least he hasn't complained, eh Pin? Have fun and stay safe you!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Henni's journey @ Venusbuzz.com

Some time ago, I came across an interesting Malaysian online store that sells baby gear, called Gifts from Heaven. After reading their 'our story' page, I felt compelled to contact the owner, Henni, who is a civil engineer turned stay-at-home mum and online business owner. Here's my article on Venusbuzz, which was based on our interview.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang

The husband and I regularly take on translation jobs (English to Malay and vice versa), and today, our progress was slightly impeded by the popular Malaysian slogan 'Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang', particularly that last word. Well, happy to say that we've figured it out. It's 'Excellence, Glory, Renown'... for those of you who already knew this... go ahead and laugh your heads off :P

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happiness for this freelance writer is...

... people telling her that they liked what she wrote. I'm sure every writer out there can relate. Recently, Ms Debbra Lee, founder/owner of Fit For 2, was kind enough to write in and tell me what she thought of the article I wrote about her and her studio in the March 09 issue of Mother & Baby magazine.

She said, "Wow! That is the best article ever! Thank you! I really feel like you listened and even though we have not met - you seem to know the real me!" Awwww, she truly made my day :) It's kind gestures like this that keeps me going. Be sure to check out her studio!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Divine Inspiration @ Essenze magazine

I received two copies of Essenze last Monday. I'm happy to see that the magazine is growing from strength to strength despite the economic crisis. My article in this issue is on the Divine Inspiration exhibition at the IAMM. Nice layout, and of course the images are amazing.

Essenze Vol 13-08/09

Born to blog & Fitness for two in the last Mother & Baby Malaysia :(

It's with a great sense of loss and sadness that I bid farewell to Mother & Baby magazine Malaysia. You may have read in one of my earlier posts that they're closing down due to the economic downturn. I've had the pleasure of writing for them since April 2008. Nearly a year has passed, but it went by virtually unnoticed by yours truly, because writing about motherhood has been such a blast. Thankfully, I still have Venus as a channel for me to reach out to other women/mothers.

I present to you, my last two articles for Mother and Baby (sob...sob...). The first is entitled 'Born to Blog', which addresses the online phenomena of blogs for kids. The second is called 'Fitness for two', an article on the 'fantabulous' fitness studio in Bangsar called Fit For 2. It's based on my interview with owner Debbra Lee. Goodbye M&B, I'll miss writing for you so very much!!!

Getting a bun in the oven @ Venusbuzz.com

I wrote a series of articles for Venus on how to 'Get a Bun in the Oven'. It looks at how some foods are said to boost fertility, including some strange traditional remedies, and how one's lifestyle can affect conception. Check them out here:
Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Monday, March 9, 2009

Bye Bye Mother & Baby

I have very sad news. It looks like this will be the final month my articles will be appearing in Mother & Baby magazine. MediaCorp Publishing is closing their Malaysian arm at the end of this month, as reported by Marketing-Interactive.com.

The editor informs me that the decision was brought on by the current economic recession, and it's not just M&B that's folding. MediaCorp Publishing Malaysia also runs local versions of Style and FHM magazines, among other titles.

The report above states that some of MediaCorp Publishing's editorial staff will likely be absorbed by Measat, who are taking up Style and FHM. The non-editorial staffers, however, will sadly be out of a job once the company shuts down. I wish them all the very best of luck in these difficult times.

It seems, it's not just local mags that are suffering. Recent reports indicate that Reader's Digest is fearing for the future, as it faces a bankruptcy filing. Brandrepublic.com reports that in January, the New York-based company announced it was slashing around 8% of its 3,500-strong workforce in a move designed to strengthen its finances as the recession took hold.

According to its website, Reader's Digest was first published in 1922, has offices in 45 countries and publishes 92 magazines. It operates 65 websites and sells 68 million books, music or video products every year. I hope they pull through, I love that mag!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

This week @ Venusbuzz.com

Here are a few articles my articles that appeared on Venus recently, first up, 'Not to be blamed':


Up next, an article about child immunisation:


... and here's a few more...

Preventable disaster

Spice up your life

Big bear scare

Fight for sight

Welcome 2019: Time to Grow

Happy New Year everyone! I'm so so excited for 2019 and everything that it'll bring. I'm starting the year with gratefulness for...