Daily Creativeness 5: Cheeky Brooches

Wow, the new year is something else, I sure hope this is just a bad month. My grandmother was discharged from hospital on Monday after being admitted twice in the last two weeks. We honestly thought we may lose her, but my goodness she's a fighter!

We did though lose our accountant, who was quite a lively soul, each time we visited her she would talk and talk and talk. But now she's gone and a sudden death too, she died way too young as she was just 52! RIP Jolene!

My one friend was also stressed out as her father had surgery during the same week I was spending time in the hospital looking after my grandmother. Luckily her father is okay but to hear that her brother may not, is quite a blow and I really hope that he is well!

2009 just has to get better, I know this is the year of greatness after all there's a new President in the world arena that just may make sense of things ~ here's hoping and believing!

I also did some work since coming home this weekend as sitting in the hospital for over a week is just no fun at all! I listed the items below on my Etsy shop so check them out :)

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Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween, originally uploaded by Shazzbazz draws the Line!.

Mum gave me a "marshmallow hamburger monster" for Halloween, instead of eating it I took it for a walk ~ yep I don't have a pet!

I love how the photos turned out :0

Naughty Boys!, originally uploaded by Shazzbazz draws the Line!.

They were talking about my "marshmallow hamburger monster"!!!

I Know, I'm Sorry :)

It's been a long time since I posted I do apologize about four months!!!  Hi-ya!  Well as you can imagine lots has happened as well as the meaning of my blog which I will get into later.  So I last left off at "Moving Sucks" and let me tell ya it most certainly did!

The shipping company came in and packed up everything nicely for me, it's here in Canada, but I'm living in a small room in my parent's place so until I get my own space again can I unpack my stuff, for the moment I'm still living out of my backpack!

It was hard to hand over my keys as it meant much more than that.  I was lucky enough to find new tenants who wanted to buy most of all my stuff giving me some extra cash as well as saving me from the heartache and stress of selling each piece.  But I will miss my apartment however I'm looking forward to my next space as I'm determined that I will no longer rent, but instead own my home!!!  Damn I had better get a job!

Well as you can guess I'm now back in Canada with the folks but they themselves took a big leap this year along with my brother as they met me in Korea like I mentioned in an earlier post.  

It was fantastic to introduce my Korean life to my family who embraced more than I had anticipated which was awesome.  My friends were worried to meet them as they were nervous as the cultural barrier of how to speak or act around elders was really evident but once my friends met my family they realized how down to earth my family really is.  It was awesome!!!

We only stayed in Seoul, if there was more time I would have liked to take them to Daegu and introduce them to my first school and Mrs Cho who has helped me so much in Korea.  After all 대구 was my Korean hometown ~LOL!

Well even though it was great to be with my family it most certainly helped with the harsh reality that I was LEAVING Korea and all my wonderful friends.  It made it a lot easier as I'm still teary eyed knowing that I can't just call up Nado, or go to Hongdae in some club or gallery and meet up with Valthino, Sanae, Joo-young or other friends to party all night.  Or have a girly chit chat in Itaewon with Maryon or be involved in some art show thing with Mary!  I love them all and will miss Korea for it's people and the wonderful memories however I will be back for a visit as I left a piece of me there!!!

So that was that however another part was just beginning as my family and I were off to Thailand together.  I realized that it was the first time that all four of us were together on the same flight, the last time was when we first went to Canada for a holiday when I was 16!

WE had a wonderful time, mind you I think everything caught up with me the first night in Bangkok I was really ill, I've never thrown up in a restaurant, but I think I was under a lot of stress and now I can relax, but my body really went South!  Luckily the next day I was fine and ready to kick some ass as Bangkok's tour guide to the Palace and beyond ~ he he he!

We stayed in bangkok for three nights then flew down to Krabi where we stayed in a small resort that was absolutely the best ever!!!  Sure there were bugs but hey that's what you expect when in the jungle!

We had such a fantastic time going on a picnic with our longtail boats whizzing pass so many islands then picking our own private beach to eat baguettes and drink beer ~ that's the life!  The resort was so friendly and comfortable it was fun to eat dinner with everyone at one large table as well as go sea kayaking with everyone, however my parents opted out instead they took the dogs for a stroll along the empty beach that our resort was nicely located on.  The best place that I stayed in.

Andrew left to go back to work, but the three of us went onto to Siem Reap which I have been trying to go to, and I'm so happy that I got to go with my folks.

We visited Angkor Wat which was amazing, my parents weren't so sure what I was talking about but once we were there they were in total awe!  We had a great time with our driver who was the same age as me but his naiivety was quite cute.  He drove us around for the three days we were there, at only $30 a day I thought it was higher than what was advertised however it was a steal for what he provided for us in the end and what that money represents to his family.

The next day we were off to Vietnam by bus however we had to stop over for a night in Phnom Phen then the next we took another bus to Ho Cho Minh City.

We didn't stay too long in HCMC in fact as soon as we got off the bus we walked straight into a travel agent and booked the first flight to Hanoi.  We got to our hotel quite late, but weren't too pleased being on the top floor of the tall skinny hotel that has no elevators, so carrying all the luggage wasn't the most fun to do in Hanoi!  The next day not only did we find a better place to stay in but we also booked a two day tour in Halong bay.  It's about a three hour drive from Hanoi but Halong bay was worth everything.  However I was most disappointed with the pollution as the junk boats dunk all of their garbage into the sea!!!  :(  We took off to Cat Ba Island, but I wasn't too happy with the place, it was certainly quieter than the other places we had seen in Vietnam, but some of the worst food!!!  We didn't have good food until our last night in Vietnam but that was in HCMC as our flights to Hong Kong was from that point.

*Will write more tomorrow! I promise :)

Maui, Calgary, Fort McMurray and back to Seoul!

It’s official my brother is married! Man, what a gorgeous wedding too in Maui, both he and Joanna looked extremely happy which was the main thing.

Receiving a high five from dad!

Self portrait

I miss my brother dearly, even though we fought like cats and dogs when we were young but the best thing and what I miss the most is that we could argue but he's always there for me and I'm always there for him with total respect.

We started of as four and now we are five :)

I love this photo!

Saying goodbye is the part of my vacations that I hate the most and I know I'm not the only one. But I'm glad that I got to stay with my brother for a couple of days in Fort McMurray :)

And the last leg of my trip home was a night in Waikiki I managed to squeeze in some time on the beach however it was about 7am!

Hyderabadi Biryani Preparation Video

My mum used to make chicken or lamb biryani on special occasions. It's the one dish that I really, really miss and I’m sure I'm not the only one in my family who does, as she hasn't made it for a while. I remember one time she made huge vats of it for an Anglo-Indian Dance in Northolt that took the whole night before but it’s one of my fondest memories as our neighbors were over with bottles of red wine flowing and the jokes cracking with odd Indian but not Indian accents, as we were cooking these huge pots out in the back garden in our tent. Everyone took turns stirring the brew it really felt like witches of Southall making their potions. All of us kids were running in an out in the dark garden and into the wonderful spicy scented tent. I personally have never made this dish and I’m about to try, as tomorrow is my housewarming party. I’ll also be making some fish fry and I think a vegetable curry. Wish me luck and why not try it for yourself!

My Nanny

I was reading a blog by Desiree who is currently in India she wrote about Ooty, it reminded me of the stories I’ve heard not just from Nayan who is living there but also from my nanny (grandmother). As a young girl she would spend her summer months in Ooty in her uncle’s home, gathering together on the veranda singing songs with the neighbors. Her brothers would play cricket in the daytime with all the other boys. Her stories of India sound like a novel so romantic and dreamy I wish I could visit that time and experience the warmth. I did visit India a few years ago and even though things have radically changed since my family left however the warmth and hospitality of the people I met was still there.

I stayed with my uncle who is a catholic priest and at the time a head master for a boy’s college, which is also where he lived. It was interesting staying there to walk around the campus and everyone staring or wanting to get to know you. His guard was an old man who had a serious limp and most of his teeth missing but what a character, actually everyone there had an interesting personality with wide smiles. My uncle asked me what I wanted to take home as our family has a long history of trips between India and the UK with suitcases full of things for everyone from cotton vests for the men to panties for the ladies. I remember when my grandmother would open her suitcase and the smell would rush out I looked forward to that as I thought I was that bit closer to India unfortunately as I got older I realized that it was only moth balls that I was smelling and not India!

I asked my uncle for mango pickle as that was the biggest thing that all my relatives looked forward to when someone came back from India, it was a commodity in our family if someone had more than the other then all hell broke out. My uncle laughed at my request and understood he summoned his secretary whose wife comes from a small village outside of Secunderabad, which is famous for the pickle. Actually my mum told me that I couldn’t come home unless I had the stuff even though I was living in Hong Kong at the time and my mum in Canada!

The day before I was to fly my uncle gave me the pickle and my goodness I had half a backpack of the delicious and precious stuff that I was eager to open and eat with some boiled basmati rice. His secretary’s wife and her mother made the pickle and didn’t want anything in return I couldn’t believe how lucky I was and how giving they were. The funniest part was flying with it as I was a little worried about the security. I was stopped at the x-ray not because of the pickle but it was the small umbrella that I had which they almost confiscated but they were curious why someone like me has pickle then I said I was Anglo-Indian and all was understood with a smile.

I guess what I wanted to say is that I miss my nan I have thought about writing a novel or something as her stories are too important to be lost. However I think it’s too late, her memory is now her disability she hasn’t forgotten who people are yet, but talking to her is difficult as you’re questioned the same questions over and over. It’s horrid what old age is really like.