Dedication to Hobbies

Was on holiday the past 2 days...proper holiday and not being sick, I went on a hobby rampage...hehe.. Hubby's away in US so I had the whole day to myself doing things I love... It was such a rare treat!

So I decided to treat myself to an afternoon of doing nothing but my hobbies. First I tried 3D nail art. I bought 2 sets of UV nail gels and acrylic powder things for manicures and a UV lamp to cure my nails 2 years ago. Finally, I took them out of their boxes and tried them out. Hubby and I had a conversation about the things I can do the other day. I can do just about everything but I get bored after I learn how to do them sort of like 'a jack of all trade but master of none' that's what I am. And he is one of those who learns a skill and then masters it. I said I get bored of it after I learn how to do it so I never master anything. Anyways, with that thought in mind, I decided to try my hand at 3D nail art since I can do manicures reasonably well. With the kitchen door open and chilly wind coming in to disperse the smell of the acrylic powder, this is the result.

Not wanting to try it on my nails after my manicure, I tried it on one of my nail polish bottles. First, it's sculpting the flower and leaves then when that hardened under my UV lamp, I put gel colour on it. And because I got the UV lamp off Ebay..hehe..it was cheap, only about 50% of the gel hardened. sigh! no idea how I'm going to use that bottle of nail polish without getting sticky gel on my fingers from now on. Good thing I have 2 bottles of that colour! lol

So with my creative gear kicking in, next was drawing and painting.  Again, I have this art set from 2 years ago.

 

I envy people who can draw and paint! And encouraged by websites claiming it's a learned skill, I looked for flowers to copy. I wanted to do roses but that was beyond me after I saw the pics on the website. So I chose easy tulips to draw...hehe...

On the right is my attempt using colour pencils. The left is water colours.  I'm actually quite proud of my water colour attempt...hehe..I thought the colour tone is quite good...hehe... here's a close up.

I think I'm going to look back at this years from now and think I'm so glad to have tried that and to keep that painting online. I don't think I'll do another one soon. All my creative juices have run out! lol...

Bits and Pieces

Having nothing new to blog about, I have decided to blog about my new ways to keep warm in this house. It is a bit cold in the house...Peng described it as the North Pole...cos this is an old house and it doesn't have double glazed windows or doors to keep us warm and the radiator havsa  mind of its own and we haven't figured out how to work it properly yet... hehe...soooo to keep warm, I bought myself a pair of house uggs from Primark at a whooping £5...hehe... they are really nice and warm and fluffy! the colour looks gorgeous too! Although I look like I have Yeti feet! Oh, and I made a hat....no idea why since I don even wear hats cos they make my already big head look even bigger! hehe...It was fun while it lasted though...

I haven't been feeling very well lately cos of my stomach..sigh.. that put me in a really really bad mood for days...and so when I finally started feeling better, I had a manicure done on myself...I haven't done my nails since I started working...as a result my hands look really horrible and peeling and my cuticles are horrendous...to my eyes anyway... it's amazing how a manicure can improve  a person's mood! In fact, i am so ambitious now, I'm going to try out acrylic nail art soon... hehe will post pics when I finally get round to it!

It doesn't look much but it is  definitely much better looking than before. Must make a resolution to do my nails at least once a month!  Am now waiting for my pack of 12 nail brushes to arrive! Can't wait!

Romeo x Juliet Anime

I love Romeo and Juliet. I love reading the play and watching the 1968 movie version of the play. I thought the 1968 version captured the mood of the play really well...but now I have changed my mind. I recently found this Japanese anime version of Romeo and Juliet and this is now my favourite. I watched it and sat through episodes of it that left me in tears and I am not one to admit I cry at movies. I haven't been this moved by a movie since Ciy of Angels and Titanic and I have watched both many many times and have not yet managed to stop crying whenever I watch either of these 2 movies. If you have time, watch it if you can stand japanese anime. you won't be wasting your time watching this. This is an interesting and different translation of the classic Romeo and Juliet story but it sticks to the theme of the tragic love story very very well. It is also quite funny when names from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet comes up in different chracters and ways...hehe... I still can't believe I am this moved and this touched by a Japanese anime!!! Watch it if you will- Romeo X Juliet. Oh! turn off the silly chat  box though. You get some pretty silly chat going on and it's annoying and distracting!

Special Education

hmmm.. being the dragon lady I am, most people probably don't know that one of my areas of interest is in Special Education. I don't have patience with people in general...hehe...as most of you probably already know...but I have a soft spot for kids with learning disabilities. And if I were ever going to study again, I'd probably do something in special education....

anyways, what I want to say is, I'm happy because apparently in Sabah, there is a bigger awareness of the need to cater to students and people with disablilties! 1Borneo Hypermall is equipped to cater to patrons with diabalitiles, Karamunsing is starting to, and there are a number of school across Sabah that are supposed to have Special Education classes. I think that is really great! It's a start!

I am very happy about this. Special Education and students with learning disabilites are probably still very much a taboo for many families to talk about in public. And this is because students with learning disabilities are very much misunderstood. And there is very limited support for parents who have children with learning disabilities.

BUT this is going to change! I am not an optimistic person but I know that this is going to change in Sabah! haha...assuming more teachers are trained to deal with students with disabilities...hmm...maybe I should win the lottery and build such a centre! hmm...

hmmm... just out of curiosity, how many of you think I didn't write this post???