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Dec 15, 2011

Just A Little Update.

Hi everyone. :)

You must have noticed the lack of updates these past few weeks. The truth is, I haven't been feeling like myself lately. Some of you may already have known what have happened, some may not.

My father had passed away on the 23rd of November, at 9:40 a.m.

It is so strange writing down these words. Looking at it now, it feels as if I somehow misplaced him somewhere and I just forgot. Using the word "deceased" makes it sound too clinical and/or impersonal (like it happened to someone else). I refuse to use it because deep down he still exist to me.

It's the memories that make it real.

The open window in his room. The clothes he used to wear. The bottles he used to drink from. That faint hospital smell. His favourite ring. His wheelchair. The memories come and flood me, and when it happens... I become flustered. I forget what I was doing or what I needed to do. I guess if I have to describe the feeling... it's like there's a giant hole. A giant hole where my dad had been.

These past two years, my father had been the center of everything I was. I don't feel right if I have to leave my dad for too long. He had dementia, and you could never tell what might happen. He had other health problems too. There was this one time, I had came home late. When my brother and I reached home, it was dark and my dad was lying on the floor because he fell down. I looked for a new job after that. I was so scared. I felt like I had to do right by my father because I wasn't there when my mother passed away. I still can't get over that. It's not a sacrifice nor is it a responsibility. It was... just something I needed to do.

I hope my father passed away peacefully. I was at the hospital with him, holding his hand, because my siblings and I believed that he'd be that bit stronger if we held him. I held him because I don't want him to feel alone in a ward full of strangers. Maybe it's the romantic side of me that believes I am transferring my strength to him too. He suffered through heart attacks, stroke and some other complications and fought his last battle that day. When he went, at least he was surrounded by his family, the people who loved him.

Who still loves him.

Maybe that guilt of not taking care of him better (or that feeling of having have failed him as a daughter) will never go away. Just like it was with my mother. Maybe I could've done more or done something else. The "what ifs" and "I could haves" are always on my mind. It will probably be there for a long, long time. I know its unhealthy to dwell on these things, but I remember the good things, too.

The way he used to grin or the kisses he gave me. The little pats as he walked past me. The little jokes he used to tell. The indulgences he gives me. The strange gifts he used to bring home. The values and beliefs he taught. And the wishes he had of his children; to be happy and to be a human being. These memories are bittersweet.

I may still wake up in the middle of the night, thinking he's calling for me. I may still feel that pang, when I enter his room. But its okay. I will miss him so much like I miss my mother, but I hope, wherever he is now, he's with my mother, maybe squabbling as old couple often do, but happy.

Rest in peace, dad. I love you.


The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.
- George Elliot

Nov 4, 2011

SUPER BUMPER DEEPAVALI SPECIAL!

Hello everyone! This took longer than I expected. You might have to wait a bit longer for the pictures to load because there's 17, yeah count 'em, seventeen pics for this post. XD The coloring is very basic though, but I had fun doing it.

This is the first SUPER-BUMPER-DEEPAVALI-SPECIAL episode!
Are you ready?



On Deepavali, I didn't go to any open house. Instead, I spent the time with friends. :D

I woke up and wished Ganaesh a Happy Deepavali and got ready for the first item of the day - Hiking! My colleagues, Haziq and Rosina, picked me up at home and the three of us went to Taman Tun Fuad in Bukit Padang.

Tracy Dukes mentions this place in her blog. Do check it out as she has better pics of the place than I do. (I forgot to bring my camera hahaha)

Haziq and Ros have been here before and they became my guide. Though Ros was more a mountain goat than guide, she has the stamina of one! We started climbing at 9.30 a.m. (which is actually a bad idea unless you're wearing sunblock lotion XD) The day was hot, bright and clear. In short, a wonderful day.




Note: Its supposed to be "Mysterious rocks". Somebody (or something) left the pile of rocks beside a path we took. It was perfectly balanced. It's mysterious because we don't know what it is for.





P.S: No, they're not dating XD

And despite the heat and the complaining about the stairs (yeah, it was too many XD) I'd still go and climb that hill again. Provided I have friends going up there. I'd hate to think what will happen to me if I go at it alone.

After the climb, I had another 'appointment' with another group of friends. Specifically, I was going to meet "La Familia", my high school mates. :D So, Haziq was quite concerned that my clothes was dirty and me going to meet my friends looking like I just climbed a hill (which I did). This was what happened:





Yeah... My clean pair of pants was torn. TWICE. AT TWO DIFFERENT PLACES. So, I had to change to the other, dirtier, one.

*sigh* I'm gaining weight again...

(BTW, for new readers, an alllyooo moment refers to this.)

I changed pants in the car. The both of them didn't even notice it until I told them. lol! I used a towel to change. They dropped me off at Karamunsing Complex  because that's where we all decided to meet up, specifically at Karamunsing's KK Box.

Talking about my towel.....


(For the curious, this is the song I'm singing.)


And then suddenly, out of nowhere!



Hahaha! They really are annoyed with that towel.

I had that towel just in case I tumble down the hill and get myself dirty.If I did, I would need the towel to take a bath. I didn't fall but I did sweat like crazy. Its fine but the karaoke place was so cold, I couldn't stand it. Same thing at the Yoyo cafe, it was raining, I couldn't stand the cold. (Yes, despite the fact that I'm fat) I had no jacket, so I had to make do with the towel to keep myself warm. :D Don't worry, I don't usually go out with my towel as a shawl.

Anyway, that day Ez, Fion, Vane, Jes, Rina and Dy came. We karaoke-ed our lungs out (okay, I karaoke-ed MY lungs out) and then we went to Lintas's Yoyo Cafe for a heart to heart talk and general updating on what's been happening in our lives. It was something very meaningful and personal, the details of which I cannot disclose here. But, it made me realize and re-affirm the fact that I have wonderful, wonderful friends.We finally stopped talking at 7 pm. and Ez sent me home after that. I look forward to our next meet up. Heee!



So there you go, a whole day of activity. Which is rare for me.

Before I go, I'd just like to wish everyone a (belated) Happy Deepavali and a happy holiday (there's one coming up: Raya Korban/Haji).

I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Come, Join the Creative Revolution!


It's time.
It's time, my friends.
It's time, to unleash our creativity.

Have you ever heard of the 11 Eleven Project?

It's a worldwide creativity explosion which starts on that there date up there. You can write, take photos, make movies, or make music. You might need a theme, yes? Well this here, down here, are the 11 suggested topics to talk about. The best part? Its up to your interpretation.


Go register yourselves there in the site. Let's make our mark.

Get ready, friends! The countdown is on! I'm doing... something! I have no idea what I'm doing just yet, but I'm doing something! Come, let's do something together! :3

Oct 28, 2011

My Word, My Card!

Remember this post? Well, guess what? I colored them!

As promised here's the finished product. (lol)

These two are just the backgrounds on either sides of the card.

Front!
Back!
Now, its Ganaesh's turn to put in the words and information (because I suck at typography and all that stuff heh).

Oh, here's an idea I had, but I'm still not very satisfied with it still. Here, have a look.

Haha, it's the first time I used CorelDraw to draw that speech bubble.

The information here is not correct. I still haven't done my Facebook page, and that's not my Twitter username. :3
Whatcha think? :3

Anyway, I don't want this namecard to be just a name card. I plan to use it as a gift card and "thank you" card. After that it can continue its life as a bookmark. And maybe, just maybe, travel all over the world (something that I can't afford to do just yet). That's why I want it to be very fun and alive.

I don't know if I've achieved that with this design, but I do love how it's turned out at this stage.

Now, fingers crossed and let's wait for Ganaesh to work his magic on this. X3

Oct 25, 2011

On... the... EDGE!!!



I can't wait for the semester to finish. 

I can't wait to resume ALL the sketches, the half-done inking, the coloring, the sewing projects, the craft projects, the blogs I wanted to upload, the pictures I want to take...

I want...I want...I WANT TO DO THINGS!!! I am TIRED of marking papers! Doing reports! Translations!!! 

I want to CREATE!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! 

*a-huh a-huh*

So, yah. :3


Oct 20, 2011

WRITERS WANTED! By: Bulu Munya








Hi, today Bulu (yes, the cat on the banner has a name :3) decided to help a friend. Bulu and Wally went to school together. Hahaha
But seriously, Wally is a mascot/logo for Borneo Geographic and a species of frogs called Wallace's Flying Frog. 
Borneo Geographic is now looking for writers for their new magazine. :3 If you're interested or would like to know more, you can do so by emailing Collin D'Owill at collinmunya@yahoo.com or pokepoke him at his FB.
Hurry! The offer lasts till tomorrow (21st October 2011) stands until December! XD

(This was done using pen on paper and Bulu did the coloring XD)

Oct 12, 2011

Munya Munya Challenge!

This is my challenge...

I challenge you to look at the picture below and DON'T SING THE THEME SONG!


If you didn't, then it can only mean one of two things: you're NOT a child of the 80s, or you don't know the song.
     
/singing to self/
jemjemismynameooooojem~~nyanyanyanoutrageouscontagious~~ooo~~

Synergy, its SHOWTIME!

Oct 11, 2011

My Name Is Rain. CHErain.

I'm still getting used to Blogger's new layout. Its very... stylish. There's this one part in the new layout that gets me excited: the stats page. It says here I have.... holy crap, 435 pageviews last month! XD But... macam tipu saja ni.

Also it says I have the most pageviews from north America! What the... spam-bots?!

True or not, I am very happy over this. :D Especially for my frequent readers/fans. XD *perasan popular*

I haven't been updating as frequently as I want to because, like the fail-whale that I am, I managed to get my Internet barred. (Yes, I paid the bills... and yes, I'm now waiting for the unbarring.) What I am using now is the weefee (wi-fi) in the ICT office where I work. Its full of men... with computers...

...anyway, I may have mentioned/nagged previously about getting my own namecard. It's been bugging me a lot lately, because I can't figure out what it should look like. Not the lecturer's namecard, I'll just make something simple for that. But the drawing side of me.. now THAT would take something more different. And this is what I came up with.

This is the back of the card...

...and this is the front of the card!

What do you think? I haven't had time to colour any of them yet. Thus, the reason for all the black and white drawings lately. The finals will be on October 31st, so us lecturers need to get ready for that. And by 'get ready', I mean whipping preparing the students.

Have a lovely week everyone, and thanks for dropping by! :)

Oct 10, 2011

The Loooooong Sigh.



I was playing around with panels, and... this is Ganaesh when he does something he isn't supposed to. :3 *patpats Ganaesh* :D

... and I somehow managed to rub off the dots for the "I"s. Now it reads "alllyoooo" instead of "aiiiiiyooooo"! *facepalm*

Sep 15, 2011

Scaredy Cat, and A Night of Superstitions


A few months back I had one of those sleepless night everyone has. When I couldn't sleep, I would read. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. So that particular night was very quiet. Any sound will carry into my room. Around midnight, I heard the dunsai.

If you're a Kadazan, the dunsai is not a sound you're likely to forget once you heard it. Its so eerie that it sends shivers up and down your back and its only played with 3 gongs, using only one note. *shivers* Its the sound that tells you that somewhere out there, someone has passed away.

Then I heard dogs barking. Very near to my house. Seems like the dogs bark from far up the street and come down my street. I remember that dogs can see the spirit world. There's even one saying that if you put tahi mata anjing on your eyes, you can see that world, too. And the sound of the dogs barking was like there was someone walking down the street.

By this time I was trying to calm myself. The worst was yet to come; the banging on the door! Not only did it sound like somebody was banging the door with their fist, it sounded like they used both fists too! It felt like they were banging on my front door!

Suffice to say it was a looong night for me. The sounds didn't stop after that. It just kept on going and going. It was a weird and scary night for me, aitelyu! D: Thankfully there was Gtalk, and Ganaesh and Patrick told me that I'll be fine.

P.S: What's tahi mata in English, anyway?

Arrrr, Come Ride On Me Bus!

One thing about Kota Kinabalu is the fact that the bus system is efficient. Though the quality is terrible, there's ALWAYS a bus. It's easier to go into KK than it is to travel out of KK.

I, myself, don't have a car. So the bus is my only viable option to travel to and from work (excluding my brother's kindness of sending me to work). Now, going in and out of KK is easy, it's heading into the kampung (village) areas that's tricky. For that, we need the pirate van.

A pirate van is a privately-owned van that may or may not be under a union. It's something like a teksi sapu. These pirate vans will wait at a designated place for passengers. Once the bus is full, it will move. The waiting time could be from as short as 5 minutes to as long as 2 hours, depending on the time of day. As it's a van, it is really small and sometimes the driver will let 4 people sit on a 3-seater. Woe to those big-bodied people. This is the occasion where I feel extra-wide :(

It's worse in the evening, because by then all the mosquitoes come out and feast on the passengers. And I hate mosquitoes with a passion (because of a certain dengue incident). D:

Sep 14, 2011

Rainbows, Unicorns, Mad Photoshop Skills!

So I bought some new pens to replace the ones I've lost. Unfortunately, I forgot that 0.4-size pens do not translate well once scanned. Whoops! XO This means that I have to post the pic in its original size, or you won't be able to read it!

Today's post is a comic :3 (Because I feel that I haven't done ANY recently).



UPDATE! I decided to colour it! It's about time, don't you think? :3 Whatcha guys think?


Photoshop is difficult for me! One day I hope I can use it to its full advantage! *fingers crossed* :D

Ganaesh's New Girl: Anna!


This is Ganaesh. He usually look like this. Quite a serious looking chap, isn't he? 

Well there aren't that many things that can rattle his serious demeanour. Which is why I take much enjoyment in making him tick :3. Besides yours truly, he gets excited about all things anime, movies, games (a regular ota-geek) and of course... gadgets!




Namely, his phone. As you can see, he loves his N8 and its quite adorable to see him fondling that thing. The things he does with that phone... XD

Anyway! A few months back, the phone got sick or something. Had to spend quite some time in the Nokia service centre. And even after that, they told him that it would never be the same, the poor thing. It's quite a pity because the phone can do some pretty impressive stuff. All seemed bleak when some good news came.

One word: Anna.



Now, Anna is the name of his current obsession. LOL! More specifically, a new firmware update for his phone. I hear it's fast and spiffy. Can't wait to see it for myself. :)

I hope your phone is fine now, by.

P.S: Belle is the second firmware update. That's coming soon. Ho boy.

Aug 17, 2011

Giving Twitter some love

Haven't been updating since my dad got admitted in the hospital. But now that he's out (though not yet about) I can give some love to my sadly neglected
  • blog
  • sketchbook
  • ink pens (which reminds me, I need some new one. A few is missing and one dried up)
  • boyfriend (heh)
Now, I'm slowly going through my sketchbooks and trying to finish what I've started a few months ago. I've done a few and one of them is an idea for a twitter back ground. :) I made two! They're all colored and very lulz looking too!
Side note: I know not many people use Twitter now but what the hey. And by not using Twitter, I meant not using the actual site. I, myself, am using Destroy Twitter.
Anyway the inspiration of these backgrounds is this:
Lookee its fail whale!

  Are you ready? Yeah?
Here's the first one...
Wheeee!
Just like fail whale, some bird is picking me up. Does that mean that Twitter is down? Nooooo. It just means I'm up ;) So if you visit my Twitter page, you'll see this PLUS some lulz words provided by my..Ganaesh. Hehehe
Okay the the second pic is kinda my favourite between the two. I give you....
Cherane: Rider of the Fail Whale!
Bwahahahaha! *wipe laughter tears away*
I can't help it. Every time I see this pic it makes me laugh.
Well that's it from me this time. I hope you enjoyed it.
:D

May 15, 2011

Jom Conteng!

Hello everynyan! Have you ever heard of Fadhli Hamdan before? No? Well he’s a guy who loves to conteng (doodle). In fact his blog is called ContengConteng. :D


His wonderful style, drawn on sticky notes reminds you of Doug Savage of Savage Chicken fame, and his cat-related stories may remind you of the Simon’s Cat comic strips. He draws about his memories of childhood, where he went to school, everyday happenings, and I guess anything that might strike his fancy. After a 10-year hiatus, he continued to doodle and even managed to produce 2 books! I am jealous. :p

Now, his website is officially a year old (Happy Birthday!) and he’s hosting a competition. Now, I don’t know if I’ll win, but…in his own words: Tak salah mencuba. And here I am trying. :)

Note: The rest of the entry will be in Malay. IF there’re any spelling mistakes or grammatical mistakes..Sorry :D



Selalunya, entri blog saya dalam Bahasa Inggeris, sebab bila saya berbahasa Melayu, bunyinya macam buku teks darjah 2. Demi minat terhadap suatu peraduan dari blog conteng2, saya akan menggunakan bahasa kebangsaan. Harap pembaca sekalian bersabar. (Sebenarnya bahasa bukanlah salah satu keperluan dalam peraduan tersebut, tapi saya saja nak guna juga. :3 )

Hah, entri hari ni adalah respons kepada capaian dia bertajuk Aku Ingat Lagi: Keputusan Hari UPSR. Anda ingat lagi masa UPSR anda? Masa tu pelajar Muslim akan mengambil PAFA, jadi jumlah mata pelajaran bagi mereka ialah 5, tetapi bagi pelajar-pelajar yang lain, hanya empat jumlahnya: Bahasa Melayu (Karangan), Bahasa Melayu (Pemahaman), Bahasa Inggeris, dan Matematik. Rasanya budak-budak sekarang mesti cemburu dekat kita kan?

Saya bersekolah di SK Tanjung Aru 1, sebuah sekolah kecil berhampiran pantai dan lapangan terbang. Kelas saya 6 Ikhlas (rasanya); nama kelas masa tu baru di tukar kepada ‘Nilai-nilai murni’. Asalnya nama-nama warna saja. Saya seorang pelajar yang biasa, taklah terlalu bijak, banyak kawan, kuat bermain dan sedikit pelik. Kadang-kala bila memakai pakaian sukan, Makcik Kantin akan salah sangka saya ni lelaki dan memanggil saya “Boy”. Ni pasal saya ada dua orang abang yang suka berlatih memotong rambut... menggunakan rambut saya. -_-''

Tahun keputusan UPSR saya ialah 1996. Hari tersebut dah tak ingat. Yang saya ingat, kami semua dikumpulkan dalam satu perhimpunan kecil di bawah matahari. Bukan sahaja keputusan kami diumumkan, malah sekolah menengah yang kami akan ditempatkan. Guru kelas kami, En. Aminuddin ditugaskan untuk membaca keputusan setiap pelajar.

Saya ingat lagi betapa gemuruhnya saya. Pada masa ini, saya teringatkan betapa tegasnya guru dan ibu bapa kami mendorong kami semua untuk belajar. Saya mula berasa takut jika saya gagal dalam UPSR. Tapi yang paling menakutkan ialah “hukuman” yang akan ayah berikan kepada saya jika saya gagal. Ayah seorang yang tegas. Biasalah, dia seorang anggota polis. Tuhan sajalah tahu betapa gugupnya saya.

Satu persatu nama dan keputusan disebut. Ada kawan yang mula marah dan menangis. Ada yang gembira dan ketawa. Pelajar yang mendapat 4A atau 5A dijemput untuk datang ke depan dan membuat satu barisan. Adakah saya salah seorang daripada mereka?

Akhirnya nama saya di sebut. Rasanya seperti semuanya berlaku dalam ‘slow motion’.

“Cherane Christopher. Keputusan… 2A...” Matilah aku!!!! Ayah mesti akan halau saya keluar dari rumah!
“...dan 2A!” Terpaku sekejap.
2A dan... 2A?
Kebolehan mengira saya tiba-tiba hilang. 2 campur 2 bukankah 4?
ASTAGA! 4A KAN? SAYA DAPAT 4A!! Kaki terasa seperti agar-agar. Tapi hati riang! En Aminuddin saja nak bagi saya panik.
“Sekolah kamu St Francis Convent.” Entahlah apakebendanya ni masa tu. (Kemudian saya dapat tahu, rupanya sekolah menengah perempuan.)



Saya bergerak ke depan, bersebelahan dengan rakan-rakan yang lain. Kemudian, saya menelefon ayah dengan telefon awam. Nak tahu apa ayah kata? “Ok la tu.” "Teruja" sangat dia. -_-''

P.S:  Kami di suruh berkumpul di hadapan pasal sekolah telah menjemput wartawan dari akhbar tempatan buat liputan. Ni gambarnya! :D





Apakah 3 perkara yang paling anda suka dengan blog ContengConteng?
  1. Siri yang menarik
  2. Lukisan yang bersahaja
  3. Cerita tersangat nostalgia

Apakah 3 perkara yang anda rasa boleh diperbaiki?
  1. Kekerapan blog
  2. Lagi banyak cerita kucing
  3. Lagi banyak pertandingan

Apakah 3 barangan (merchandise) yang anda ingin blog ContengConteng hasilkan? (Contoh: Mug, T-shirt, Kad Ucapan)
  1. Plushie
  2. Sticker
  3. Key chain