Breathtaking Beijing & Phnom Penh

The A4trip guys continue to amaze me with their efficiency... the article I sent in this morning was edited and online by mid afternoon! Jere's my article on Breathtaking Beijing, plus a little something I put together on the Giant Panda :)

Also, here's something I put together on Phnom Penh and the Douc monkey.

A4trip's travel guide are available online for just USD2.95.

Travel to Yogyakarta with a4trip

Here's an article on Yogyakarta that I wrote for A4trip.com:

You can buy the a4trip Yogyakarta travel guidebook here:

Travel to Siem Reap with a4trip

Here's an article on Siem Reap that I wrote for A4trip.com:

You can buy the a4trip Siem Reap travel guidebook here:

Digitise Your Heritage & The Daily Grind @ Mother & Baby magazine

Is it the middle of the year already? Goodness me! The July issue of Mother & Baby is out, and two of my articles are in it. This month's cover story "Digitise your heritage," has an interesting back story. It was inspired by a trip to a magazine shop. While there, I caught a glimpse of a tech magazine that had an article about the gadgets and software you can use to, well, digitise stuff.

Next thing I knew, I had a lightbulb moment and voila, out came an article on the importance of: converting your family photos and videos into digital format, and creating a digitised record of precious heirlooms and important documents. Also, I think the bit about making records and back-ups was surely inspired (at least in part) by my museum profession.

My second article, The Daily Grind, was also inspired by personal experience. You see, my son's been grinding his teeth at night for a few months now. Cause for concern? I sought out the answer and whipped it out in writing.

So, when we picked up the magazine today, to my absolute and utter disbelief, my husband actually browsed through the magazine and ended up reading several pages! He then exclaimed in succession: "I must read more when we get home! So many good articles!", "Look! I didn't know they had recipes!" and "There's also a voucher for a slimming treatment!"

As my mouth's gape grew steadily wider, I hoped passers-by didn't notice the half-chewed food dribbling down my chin. I mean, you have to understand... my beloved hubby is a typical 'guy'. He only reads newspapers, tech magazines, Empire and comics!

When I was pregnant with our son, he would come up with all kinds of excuses not to read parenting or pregnancy books and magazines. Looks like Mother & Baby has converted him! So get yours today! Hey, it’s hubby endorsed!

Mother and Baby magazine - June 2008

Have e-book will travel!

I was asked to write a short article on a travel destination recently, by a website called A4trip.com. They offer travel guidebooks online - convenience at your fingertips! The team liked what I came up with and promptly handed me another assignment. Happy days! If you're into travel, do check out their website, blog and e-books!

Inspiration... some of my favourite quotes

"a writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper" - e.b. white

"writing is long periods of thinking and short periods of writing" - ernest hemingway

"you have to write a lot of bad words before you can write some good ones" - holly black

"we all know that writing comes out of a man or a woman sitting alone in a room with the telephone off the hook, a cup of coffee and in the good old days, a cigarette" - doris lessing

"never abandon imagination" - tony diterlizzi

"i believe that writers should write about what they don't know, not about what they do know... which stops them discovering the incredible joys of invention" - peter carey

"flattery is just as dangerous or destructive as criticism" - heath ledger

"it is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them and not deserve them" - mark twain

"a cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience" - naomi wolf

"we do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better" - j.k. rowling

"you must write for children, as you write for adults, only better" - maxim gorky

"The drudgery of being a professional writer comes in trying to make good days out of bad days and in squeezing out the words when they won't just flow" - benjamin cavell

-->

"everything will be okay in the end. if it's not okay, it's not the end" ~ anon

"you don't have to make something that people call art. Living is an artistic activity, there is an art to getting through the day" - viggo mortensen

"every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up" - pablo picasso

"good children's literature appeals not only to the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child" - anonymous

"i'll have 10 grams of rice, 1/10 of a hectagram od shrimp vindaloo, a decagram od chada aloo masala, 1000 centigrams of tandoori salmon, 4 samosas the surface area of 19 cubic centimeters, 5 decileters of mango lassi, and a sada rava dosai that is exactly 10 centimeters long" - mrs bass in the penultimate peril by lemony snicket

"the world will look up and shout 'save us' and I'll whisper... no" - rorschach, watchmen

"it is impossible to discourage the real writers, they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write" - sinclair lewis

"there is no one way to make it as a writer and the only thing that successful writers have in common is that they always persevere" - dawn copeman

"only after the last tree has been cut down… the last river has been poisoned… the last fish caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten" - indian cree prophecy

To Sir with Love, According to Tradition & Help! I'm a Guilt-ridden Mum! @ Mother & Baby magazine

This is exciting! Three articles in Mother and Baby this month (gives self a small pat on the back)! As June rolls in, so does Father's Day, which is why my first article, entitled To Sir with Love, is dedicated to all loving dads, father figures and especially my dear husband Rezad! My second article, According to Tradition, talks about traditional Malay postnatal care. Wish I knew this stuff back when I just had Amir! Finally, my third article is a very personal essay entitled Help! I'm a Guilt-ridden Mum! I really enjoyed writing these, so I hope you will like reading them.

Mother and Baby magazine June 2008

Museum Safari @ SuperKidz magazine

The latest issue of SuperKidz magazine features my article, entitled 'Museum Safari,' that introduces children to artefacts and the 'animals' that could be hiding in them.
SuperKidz May-June2008

Mother's Day in Reflection & History in the Making @ Mother & Baby magazine

It's the month of May darlings... guess what's just around the corner?


In honour of the love, dedication and selflessness of mums, I retrace the origins and explore the heart of Mother's Day.

In keeping with the historical theme, my second article "History in the making" talks about the importance of teaching our children about this rather maligned subject.


I really feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this magazine. The editor's been great and so supportive. My friends, who've never read M&B before, all agree that its got great content. They also like its fresh and modern look, that they rarely associate with local parenting magazines.

On a personal note, this issue taught me a valuable lesson - to be able to forgive yourself for making mistakes and to look at them in a positive light. This is often easier said than done of course, especially for a fastidious Virgo like me, but God (and my poor husband) knows I'm trying! Full marks to you if you spot the boo-boo I made in one of my articles.

The quiz I wrote for Facebook :)

Some fun news to share! The quiz I wrote, entitled "What Do Guys Like About You", which was picked up by a publisher on Helium, is now up on Facebook! Check it out! Click on the image below for a larger version and look under 'author' on the right hand side.

I never realised it before, but writing quizzes like this can be challenging, but fun. It's a form of creative writing that I've never truly considered. If you want to take the quiz, here's a link to the application: What Do Guys Like About You. You have to be logged on to Facebook to access it. Also, there's a slight drawback, you'll have to send the application to 8 friends before you can see the results. In any case, I enjoyed reading people's comments on the quiz, which ranged from "This is rubbish" to "It's true! That's so me!". This experience has given me a new appreciation for writers of multi-choice quizzes!

The Kris: Heritage of Humanity @ Essenze magazine

Looks like my article was made a cover story in Essenze (Vol 10-2008)! Can't complain! This time, my article talks about the significance of the kris in traditional ceremony and personal adornment. I must confess that my knowledge on kris is limited and that arms are not my cup of tea, but, I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing this article, as the kris is an icon of Malay culture.

I love the picture on the first page of the article. Its a black and white photo of Tuanku Abdul Rahman kissing a kris during his installation as Malaysia's first Yang di-Pertuan Agong. My article was spread out over 3-pages and I find the design very elegant. The designer did a terrific job!

Essenze Vol 10-2008