OBW 125 ~ White

For this prompt at OBW - White, I decided to showcase a very simple but common image, the White clouds. Well, after going through weeks of hazy period, I realize how wonderful it is to see blue skies and white clouds. Never again will I take things for granted. These are just simple things in life, but when it slipped from our sight, we know how valuable they are.

 

I was walking back to office when I looked up at the sky. It was amazing to see the white clouds against the blue skies once again.

Thank you for looking.

OBW 123 ~ Stone

When I look at the title I wasn't sure whether it was rock or stone here mean the same thing. Anyway, these were photos taken during our Korean trip where we visited the Jeju Floklore & Natural History Museum. Sharing photos of the various Volcanic Rocks/Stones for OBW.

These are the various Volcanic rocks that had been carved near the entrance of the
Museum

The Water Carrier
This stone carving of the Water Carrier is a symbol of
strength for the woman folks

Another Basaltic Rock on display

Volcanic Rock. Notice the various cavities?

This sculpture of the 'Grandfather' is another
symbol of prosperity and health. 

OBW 121 - Travel

It's been a while since I participate in the OBW challenge. Hello, I am back again.
These photos are for obw-121-travel:

and the theme for this challenge is Travel.

My family just love to travel. The journey can either be from State to State in Malaysia or out of the country. This particular photo was taken when we traveled to Bangkok in December 2014. We took the train instead of taking the flight. Off course, it was very nostalgic for me because it brought back memories of my first trip to Bangkok by train with my University friends back in 1981.

Walking towards the Train Station, at Butterworth

At the platform. This was the train we took. A second class with berth.

Passing through villages and some unknown territory (for me, at least

Week 100 - Lunch

Week 100 is about Lunch at our--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com. I couldn't help but share our Korean trip photos that I have not shared before. These photos were of our first lunch at Jeju Island. We were served seafood steamboat and this really help to keep us warm from the chilling weather. 

The various seafood thrown into the steamboat pot

The Restaurant by the sea

Entrance to the Restaurant

The various side dishes served. The most famous is off course Kimchi

The Group enjoying Lunch

Snapshots of FUN around Jeju Island and Seoul

Week 99 - FUN

These photos were taken during our Korean Trip recently, ie from 10th April 2015 to 16th April 2015. It was a memorable trip especially for my daughter, Zahra', because her dream to fly in an airplane and to visit Korea came true. Following are snapshots of her having FUN @ our--beautiful--world at Jeju Island and Seoul

Standing beside the Landmark of Sunrise Peak, Jeju Island

Preparing the climb the sunrise Peak

Eating Fresh Oranges by the roadside - one of Jeju Island's main product 

Being Queen of the hour at Safari

A Ballerina at Trick Eye Museum, Seoul

Angel of Love at Trick Eye Museum, Seoul

Standing among the thousands of Love Locks at Seoul Tower

Happy to be hugging dad under the Cherry Blossom, Seoul

Week 88 - Go Head Make My Day

The theme for this week's challenge at Our--beautiful--world is "Go Head Make My Day" and I chose a series of photos of my daughter, Zahra' with her win. Her award as Best Female Athlete 2015 for her school really made my day.
I can never stop smiling whenever I look at the medals and trophy that Zahra' won during her recent Sports Day. She has done remarkably well in sports - something she never showed much interests in when she was in Primary school. At the time she has hundreds of excuses to not participate. But the tide of events changed when she was in Primary 4 and participating in her first Cross-country race where she didn't win any placing at all. She didn't finish the race.
The following year, she won 15th place and that helped to carry points for her school house - which was green, or Hunain, at the time. She showed her mark when she was in Primary 6 by winning 3rd place. That was her starting point. She began to show her prowess in track events when she moved up to Secondary school. By then, she was pulled out of the Green House and moved to Yellow House. She created quite a stir in the track events she participated in especially the 200 m race and the 400x4 race. She never fail to bring home 2 or more medals which could either be Silver or Bronze.
This year, she broke her own record. For the first time she was selected to participate in the 800 m race and she won the gold Medal with a timing of 3 mins 26 secs.

Zahra' in her House Attire for the house Battle Cry. Fortunately for her team,
The Khandak house won the Battle Cry. Notice her shoes? The shoes was
part of the Reebok voucher I won for a Marks & Spencer photo shoot.

She won the 800 m race with a breeze leaving the 2nd winner
approximately 100 m behind her

I was not prepared when she ran for the 400x2 race because she told me that she only ran for the 800 m race. Sitting at the Grand Stand, I was enjoying myself looking at the other runs when I suddenly spotted her running at break neck speed. The most obvious identification was her headscarf that was flying away. I quickly ran to the field to get a snapshot of her with the Baton. Couldn't gtr a nice shot but to me this is the best I could get.

The 400x2 m race that she was asked to participate to to replace the runner who
took ill suddenly - I guess due to hot weather

She helped the team won Gold medal with the finishing time of 6 mins 30 secs., thus making it the second gold medal for her.
I didn't get to see her participate in High Jump where she won Silver Medal and Badminton for which she clinched the Bronze Medal. Her achievements not only is her personal success but also the success for her House, Khandak, thus making her house the Defending Champion two years in a row.
For her achievements, she was awarded the Best Female Athlete for 2015 and this was the first time the school awarded such Awards to the Best Sportsman and Sportswoman. Her dream of winning a Trophy in Sports was a dream come true.

Zahra' with the trophy that entitled her the Best Female Athlete 2015 Award

The Defending Champion with the overall marks of 780 points

Zahra' with her proud dad

Black & White

B&W photos are back in fashion. Sometimes I like to play around with my Samsung phone for B&W photos. this particular photo was taken using my mobile for comparison to my Canon camera. The Twin Towers is a very much photographed building and I never miss taking photos of this building from any angle I see fit.

For Week 87 at Our--beautiful--world the theme is Black & White. B&W photos is fast becoming my favourite shots.

Tangled

This Canon Ball plant is quite an attraction in itself. The fruits and the stems seem to tangle with one another for space. The first time I saw these tree was when I was at the Penang Botanical Gardens some 12 years ago. Then in January this year, I spotted this tree at the Kepong Botanical Garden when my daughter had her Cross-country race. I guess the new fruits and the aerial roots seem to be uncertain as to where they should go for space and growth. This photo is for Our--beautiful--world Week 86 theme, Tangled.

Week 84 ~ Light At The end of The Tunnel

Sometimes beauty at best happened when I am in the car while husband is driving. I can only sigh with regret because the roads we took are not photographer-friendly at all, meaning we cannot make sudden stops by the roadside. Most often, I'll end up taking photos from the window the moving vehicle. With some sheer bit of luck, the photos do turn out well.
Here's one taken from a tunnel on our way to Kedah. All I can say is there is light at the end of the tunnel.

This photo is for Our Beautiful World challenge for Week 84.

Week 83 - Colourful

It's been a while since I took part in the challenge at Our Beautiful World. I was going through my blog which I have not gone through for days on end and I realise how much I have missed. Here's my take for this challenge. Saying hello to everyone at Our Beautiful World.
It's Colourful at Our Beautiful World. The photo shows the colourful cover of the boat that we rode through Chao Phraya during our recent trip to Bangkok.

COLORFUL

Boat Ride through Chao Phraya

Trip to Bangkok - December 25 to December 29, 2014

My husband had planned this trip since June 2014 and my daughter and I only knew about it in November 2014. It was tough for me to get organized because I was at my last leg of getting the data transferred to the new company, Enquest, who bought 12 of Exxon's fields. At the same time we were having the Teambuilding to Tambun (will upload photos later) and the FM's Annual clean-up day in the pipeline. To add more salt to the wound, we had to clear the Holding area which is to be given up to make more office space and to also clear our work area as Management felt that it was about time to upgrade our work area. Well after 14 years, this is truly a welcome change. I suppose when I return to work, I shall have a brand new work area.
Yes, all this work and packing for the trip did take a toll on my health and I was sick for 3 days. Unfortunately, I was not given any sick leave by the doctor because it has been 'tradition' for me to be having fever at night and by morning I am up and running again. No doctors will believe I have fever to warrant a real Medical Leave.
We drove to Sg. Petani and overnight at my sister's house on 24th Dec and on 25th Dec, Amir (my brother-in-law) drove us to Prai Station to take our train. Yes, we decided to take the train to Bangkok instead of flight because we were late in our flight booking. Then again, the train ride was a real experience in itself and nostalgic for me.
I shall be doing a write-up of our trip in my other blog. These are just pictures.
Here are some selected photos of the trip - before, during and after. Enjoy.

Somewhere in Penang. We stopped here to fill petrol before going to my sister's house in Sg. Petani

In the Ferry to Butterworth

Our Coach to Bangkok - a 2nd class coach with Berth from Prai station

Taken from the train. somewhere in Southern Thailand. Signs of the area being flooded.

Zahra' and another passenger

A flatland of Padi Fields.

The track taken before we reach Bangkok Station

The Marble statue at the roundabout to the old Palace

Tourist bus. The colorful Graffiti attracted my attention very much

Zahra' at the Esplanade opposite the Old Palace

The view of the Esplanade 

The towering Minaret from the Old Palace. Taken from the esplanade

The Long-nose boat that we took to ride the Chao Phraya canal

At least these buildings are better looking along the canal

One of the rows of houses dotting the canal

Lovely Graffitti

The few remaining Market Floaters we encountered along the way

Wat Arun - Zahra' managed to climbed the third stage and
unfortunately she encountered muscle
cramp later

One way of earning money - Street dancer opposite the
Old Palace

One of the building inside the Old Palace enclave

The Street that leads to the entrance to the Palace. We didn't make it
because at 500 Bhat for an hour, it was not worth it

Zahra' and horses are best buddies. She can never
resist the temptation to stroke any horses she
encountered. This particular horse
really gave her the tender loving look

Our breakfast at one of the Muslim restaurant near the Inn we stayed

View from Phra Atit pier where we took our boat ride to our
destinations

One of the attraction at Asiatique. Zahra' so much wanted to
visit this place at night but the condition of her
legs prevented us from doing so.

The Old Mosque opposite Asiatique where we prayed the Zohor prayer with
the students. Their Zohor prayer was around 12:30 pm (about 1:30 pm Malaysian time)

One of the most beautiful Riverside stop. This is the only beautiful Pier
I had seen

Memorial Bridge

MBK - one of our last shopping stops. 

Zahra' and my husband really needed the
foot massage as both were having leg cramps. I just join in
and I must say I wasn't totally satisfied
with the foot massage.  I just have to
sweet talk hubby to give me a full Reflexology.
He does better and he knows where to
find the problem areas to fix. BTW, my husband has
a Certificate in Reflexology

Our last Pier to embark on our last boat trip back to the Inn
before we check out

Our train to Hatyai.