Time

is flying so fast. I found a couple strands of white hair on top of my head and wondering whether it is already time for them to be there.

June is almost here isn't it? No matter how much I keep myself busy, there are still lots of things waiting to be done. Some of them already months old.

I was cleaning up the memory card by deleting unwanted photos one by one. Looking at these pictures of last year's ATCs and drawing makes me MISS drawing SO MUCH. I have not even produce a single ATC or drawing this year.

I really miss drawing.

SO SO MUCH.

Two Hats

Spending some time with 7 years old Fatimah one evening, I made a quick sketch of her. She asked for some lipstick and butterfly earings. Doodle on top left, made by Fatimah.

In reality and to myself, I am two different persons. One is Mangosteenskin. And one is Not Mangosteenskin.

Recently, the "Not Mangosteenskin" was listed for an exam to qualify oneself for Post Graduate Teaching Course. I applied for Visual Art! I had mixed feelings when I found out that my name is on the list! Art is a subject that has never been in my profile before thus I can't imagine myself teaching art in school!

Read: I didn't make it to the exam. There's a stronger force pulling me away from that direction. But I guess when one attempt failed, there will still be one thousand other ways to follow our heart. I will continue being a Mangosteenskin, and find me here... please, anytime.

I would be busy being a "Not Mangosteenskin "this week. Hopefully I can wear my Mangosteenskin hat soon so I can work on some handmade rubberstamps.

Oren Sarsi

I drive an auto car and sometimes I drive with a bare-right-foot. Whataver it is, I'm so happy that I'm on the road now! I don't listen to music in the car, but I sing when I'm alone! And I sing loud!

It really ease my work as I don't have to commute by public transport or waste my time waiting to be sent or fetched anymore. Since last week I had been in and out of office because I'm trying to sell shoes!! Safety shoes, to be precise. If you are wondering, our company also supply safety and personal protective equipment. Hope that explains!

I'm grateful that I can draw, because by drawing a picture, I can save a lot of time to describe an item verbally. There was this request for quotation with no diagram or sample. The spect mentioned "tricoat" but since I'm unsure how a tricoat look, I called the lady from the procurement department to ask her if vest is what they mean. She said, "jacket". Ok, this can be confusing you know. To avoid quoting the wrong item, I made a sketch and showed it to them. This was the respond I received, "Yes, that's the one". Hohoho...luckily I didn't quote for jacket!Isn't this called "vest"? I scanned the sketch and labeled it with Microsoft Paint, and email it to our contact supplier right away. Today, a picture has made my job, that easy.

Ok..ok, these things might happen everywhere but have you ever heard of toothpaste being called "Colgate", no matter their brands are, and canned food other than sardin also called Sardin! I remember when I was 5, my grandmother told me and my brother to go to the shop and buy "Sardin Bilis". Hahahaha. Both are fishes but sardin is Sardin, and Bilis is Bilis! *(Bilis=Anchovy)

Another one, have you ever heard of "Oren Sarsi"? Hehe, this one probably endemic to Sabah.

Enjoy this conversation (at coffeeshop):

Father: Apa ko mau minum? (What do you want to drink?)

Kid: Oren (Oren=Orange..but she...ehem! he/she means any colored drink)

Father: Oren apa? (What kind of Orange?)

Kid: Pause.

Father: Oren merah (red orange?), atau oren biasa (or ordinary orange?)

Kid: Oren Sarsi (Sarsi Orange).

Kuang...kuang...kuang...

Hm...What do you think? Same thing happened to "jacket"?

Bukan Kotak Pandora

I've seen this box displayed at the shop since last christmas. Aku rasa kotak ini cute dan menggoda.

No particular reasons. I just like boxes.

Sebenarnya aku x suka sangat idea membeli sesuatu semata2 untuk dijadikan koleksi. Kerana ia akan menjadi suatu pembaziran. Kerana aku fikir juga aku x akan hidup selama2nya untuk menjadi pemilik barang-barang tersebut. Jadi, pada hari aku membeli kotak ni aku dalam dilema.

----jangan beli----

-------beli---------

Kalau harga makanan naik lebih baik gunakan duit itu untuk beli makanan, atau lebih baik sedekah pada orang susah daripada membeli----sebuah kotak kayu!

Tapi akhirnya aku beli juga. Sebab aku fikir jiwa manusia ini perlu disuap dengan makanan2 yang boleh menggembirakannya. Kalau hati senang, kita akan tersenyum. Senyum yang ikhlas dari hati. Kita akan senyum pada orang2 yang kita sayang dan orang2 di sekeliling. Dan kita akan menyenangkan hati mereka. Jadi orang pertama yang aku gembirakan hatinya melalui kata putus yang aku buat itu adalah tuan punya kedai itulah.

Suatu hari, bila tiba masa---mungkin aku akan hadiahkan kepada seseorang. Mungkin seorang anak kecil yang jatuh hati kepada kotak ini. Atau kepada seorang kawan sebagai tanda ingatan.

Aku Bukan Batman (tapi)

Inspiration always comes at night...especially when I'm about to sleep.

I challenge anybody who can come up with the most beautifully translated version of this poem in english.

Marilah try...untuk suka-suka.

Helooo...freebies, anyone?

Well, we are still waiting for the lucky 9th commentor, so all comments can be published. Not easy for an unfamous blog, huh. Hehe, but it's okay. No rush. Nothing to lose for waiting. I don't want to promote this offer, just waiting for any lucky visitor to fill the place.

I am preparing myself to produce Monday Artday ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5) artwork at the moment. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card, there are generally handmade and used for trading with fellow artist through the mail. This is fun, no need to spend much time for a drawing. Like this one, I made it last night, while watching TV. But not ready for trading yet. I experiment with different scanner setting few times but still difficult to get the original quality image. Without tweaking, I think the original still looks better. Below is the comparison between image produced with scanner and camera. Give me your opinion, or advice, please. But I always prefer to use camera than scanner. Glad to have apron in my drawing at last! I loooove aprons. If I can have many of them, I would be happy changing aprons everyday! I love sewing aprons and the chef hat...still learning how to sew that one. I even dream of selling mangosteenskin-branded aprons one day!

p/s: She does look a bit fat (maybe 5-10% fatter) in the camera photo, right? Or is it just my eyes?

Bollywood

Hari ini aku kembali ke kedai yang tutup masa Good Friday itu hari. Kedai itu kosong. Dan berkunci. Aku dan Lily terpaksa tawaf tiga kali. Kali ketiga, ada seorang amoi sedang duduk di meja bertentangan pintu. Rancak bercakap di talipon. "Chong cheng chong cheng...cancer...hai you...", dan seterusnya. Kami masuk. Hampir 15minit layan diri. Aku pura2 ambil satu set glossy paper dan masuk dalam beg. Amoi itu masih x perasan.

Aku sudah nekad. Biarlah amoi itu bercakap puas2. Berapa lama pun aku sanggup tunggu. Aku cuma mahu tanya sedikit hal. Aku tidak mahu pulang dan berfikir2 hal itu lagi.

"Sekalang tiada stok, kalau mau cuba cari di Bollywood lah, Kalamunsing sana".

"Bollywood?".

"Iyaa..cali saja kedai komputer Bollywood. Kami cuma diaolang punya dealer. Diaolang kami punya supplier". Amoi pakai eyeshadow coklat kelabu.

***karamunsing**

"Li, tiadapun kedai nama Bollywood. Mari kita tanya orang".

"Cari dulu. Kalau masih x jumpa baru kita tanya orang".

"Ko rasa tadi tu dia maksudkan Bollywood ka, Boulevard?".

"Yakan, kedai komputer Boulevard memang ada!", gigi Lily yang besar2 itu sudah mula kenampakan. Kebetulan, kedai Boulervard itu betul2 di depan mata. Hahahaha. Nasib baik kami x sempat tanya orang,

di mana Bollywood?.

***Announcement***

The 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th person to comment this entry will get mangosteenskin's initial freebies!! So kamon men, komen!!

I will not publish all unmoderated comments until I get the lucky 9th commentor.

Fresh prints of "Heavy", Rescued Sistahs & Lotus Leap