On Nearly Drowning...

I love the beach, the sound of crashing waves, the smell of the salt water, the balmy breeze and the therapeutic feel of sand under my feet. But as much as I love the sea, I have a phobia for going into the deeper waters after encountering a near-drowning experience when I was 12 years-old, 40 years ago.

I was wading in the water together with my cousins, knee-deep one second, waist-deep the next and before I knew it, I was swept away and tumbled like a rag doll in the merciless waves. No matter how hard I swam, I was pulled farther and farther out to sea. The rest is a painful blur.... I remember the burning sting of salt in my eyes and nose....the bursting pain in my chest...a sense of helplessness going down, down, down .....the crippling fear.....thinking, so this is it, this is how it ends... praying hard......then....a strange sense of calm... surrender...

Suddenly, a head bobbed in front of me. It was cousin Li. I grabbed and clung desperately onto him. I don't remember what happened next. Everything seemed so hazy. But I do recall Li yelling furiously at me when we somehow reached the shore. He raved maniacally on and on about how I nearly drowned him when he was grabbed from behind and dragged under. I remember bursting into tears, trembling - not from his fury or the cold but from the shock of what had just happened. Miraculously, cousin Li who was only a year older than I and hardly a strong swimmer, had unwittingly saved my life.

Beached-themed cookies

Drowning is surely, a painful and horrifying way to go.

Have you ever almost drowned?

Pet Therapy

My son, Josh, is always saying that when he gets a place of his own, the first thing he would do is to adopt a dog. Dogs and cats are not allowed in the condo where we are currently staying. Besides, our mere 1208 sq ft unit is too crammed already with the four of us and a guinea pig. It would be impossible to accommodate a larger pet.

An old pic of Josh with my cousin's Japanese Spitz

Growing up, our dogs and cats were my best friends and they gave me the therapy I needed to survive those adolescent years and teen angst.

Sharing these heart-warming pics of kids with their pets from an e-mail forward I received. These are just 10 out of the 25 pics from the site .  More here.

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." Ben Williams

Red, White and Blue

Can you imagine it's July already?!! Where did the time go?

I was looking at my bone shaped cookie cutter and a vision of weiner dogs just flashed in my head. And with the 4th of July just a couple of days away, I was inspired to make these patriotic doggies.

HAPPY JULY 4TH, PALLIES!

Flapper Bears

I made these Gatsby-inspired bears after watching the movie last night. I've watched the 1974 version when I was a teen (yep, I'm that old!) though I never really appreciated it then. But this time, OMG! I was totally enamoured! I love the glitzy style, the flapper costumes and .... well, everything of that era. I would love to travel back in time to the 20s and attend one of those extravagant parties, wearing a fabulous art deco headpiece.

Don't you just love the roaring 20s?

Shoe Bakery

While surfing the net for cookie ideas, I stumbled upon these pictures that screamed to be shared!  I thought they were shoe cakes at first. Turned out, they are wearable cake shoes created by designer Chris Campbell from Florida. Campbell's shop, perfectly  named Shoe Bakery , sells these mouthwatering looking heels and ballet pumps. And nope, they are not edible!

Love those Red Velvet ones.

More pics @ http://www.shoebakery.com/

FIFA World Cup 2014

Every 4 years, Malaysians are stricken with a fever, a condition not life-threatening but debilitating with effects that include

•  a zombie-like state with a single purpose in life
•  sleep-deprivation
•  blurred vision
•  hoarse voice
•  weight-gain and an increased risk of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT)
•  excessive use of profanities that is otherwise uncharacteristic of the victim
•  mood swings that are accompanied with tears of joy/disappointment/anger

The pandemic hits any and most countries not called USA where the population is somewhat immune, probably due to the lack of interest for the cause that they have a different name for anyway. There is no cure for this condition, no drugs or antidote and the only treatment is to allow the malady to run its normal course for approximately one month. This condition is called World Cup Fever and it infects people who fanatically follow the world's most popular sport, football a.k.a soccer.

I do not care for football but the World Cup is after all, the world's largest sporting event. Rivalries can be pretty epic and there couldn't be a more electrifying moment than a frenzied shout of Goooooooooalllll when the team you are betting on nets the ball. Besides, it's great bonding time with the hubs and my boys, even if it means watching the matches on TV during the wee hours of the morning due to the difference in time zones. And if nothing else, some of the players are smokin' hot and worth losing sleep over!
Here's my attempt at cookiefying the world's hottest three. Can you identify them?

Happy Father's Day!

American VS British English

I used to think that a cookie was a small biscuit until I started blogging! And yes, over here, we call an eraser a rubber!  Haha! So you can imagine the confusion and amusement cousin Monica caused when she asked the fellow student sitting beside her for a rubber on her first day at the university she attended in America! The dude was gobsmacked! It took her a while before she realized that rubber is condom in the US. The poor girl was mortified!

Sharing this image I saw on Pinterest.

BTW,  what do you think of these Precious Moments inspired biscuits/cookies I made this week?

School Break

After all that whining about the gloomy and miserable weather we've been getting, yesterday's was glorious with lots of sunshine, blue skies and temps in the 90s. Phew! I thought the rain was never gonna stop! Sunny means hot and hot means quick drying time for royal icing and minimal colour bleeds. I am doing the happy dance!  So I seized the chance to bake more cookies before Mother Nature changes her mind.

Here's to blue skies and sunshine!

School is out for our mid-term break and this blog is taking a mini vacation.

Teddy Bear Cookies

Just a couple of months back, I was begging for rain when we were hit by the longest drought ever. The monsoon season finally came and it has been raining every single day since. The wet and gloomy weather is kinda depressing and though I know the sun will shine again, I couldn't help but wonder what if the rain keeps falling and never goes away? I am thinking of the song by Bonnie Raitte from the movie "Home On The Range".

Rain is pourin' down like the
Heavens are hurtin'.
Seems like it's been dark since
The devil knows when.
How do you go on, never knowin'
For certain,
Will the sun ever shine again?

Feels like it's been years since
It started to thunder.
Clouds are campin' out in the valley
And glen.
How do you go on, when you can't help
But wonder.
Will the sun ever shine again?

What if the rain keeps fallin'?
What if the sky stays gray?
What if the winds keep squallin',
And never go away?

Maybe soon the storm will be
Tired of blowin'.
Maybe soon it all will be over, amen.
How do you go on, if there's no way
Of knowin'?
Will the sun ever shine?
Wish I could say.
Send me a sign-
One little ray.
Lord, if you're list'nin', how long
Until then?
Will the sun ever shine again?


Baking these bears cheered me up instantly.

Yes, Lord - send me a sign, one little ray. And if you're listening, how long until then? Will the sun ever shine again?

Teachers' Day

Malaysian schools celebrate Teachers' Day on the 16th of May every year. It is not an official school holiday; celebrations are usually held earlier if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

I come from a family of teachers and my dad was a Math and History teacher. Most of my aunts and uncles were in the teaching profession  and both my sisters are teachers!
I strongly believe that teaching is a vocation, not just a job and some people are just not meant to be teachers. I can still remember a couple of nasty teachers I had in secondary school who still petrify me whenever I bump into them. The worst of them all was Miss H, our Math teacher and disciplinary mistress. She slapped my face hard when I didn't submit my Math homework! And she was always yelling at us throughout her class. She once threw the chalk duster at us when one of us yawned during her class! I can still recall her wearing very high stilettos and we would tremble at the sound of her footsteps when she walked towards our classroom for Math lessons!
The school I attended was a convent school and tyrants like her were lauded. I am quite sure the nuns delighted in seeing us tormented!
The last I heard, she was transferred to another school, infamous for its unruly students and large number of dropouts. Unfortunately for her, her tyranny didn't quite go down well with them. They punctured her car tyres and a couple of them even tried to beat her up. Karma, I say!

Wise Owls

I made these owlies as tokens of appreciation for my boys' teachers. I have Callye to thank for the inspiration. Would you have guessed that a fish cookie cutter was used to make these!!!??

FYBF (Flog Yo Blog Friday)

Wanna connect with some awesome bloggy buddies from down under?  I have just discovered this fun Aussie blog hop created by Brenda Gaddi who is also the founder of Digital Parents.

FlogYoBlogFriday or FYBF is an initiative of Digital Parents and hosted by our Linky Love Goddess Grace. It's one of the longest running blog linkies in Australia. It's a wonderful opportunity to get to know bloggers in the Aussie community whilst promoting your awesome posts. Think about this - if you are a night owl like me, you can still blog wayyyy into the night with your sisters from the southern hemisphere while our sisters from the north are in slumberland!



Let's get flogging and add your post to the linky here.

Happy Mother's Day, BTW!

Mother's Love

Mother's Day is nearly upon us and my head is swimming in images I want to cookify. I wanted to make something special for my 90 year-old mom. Mom's fave animal has always been the giraffe and I thought these cookies of a mother giraffe nuzzling her calf are just perfect for her. I used Mom's fave color, rose, for the background and a swirl rose to adorn the mama giraffe's head. My mom's name is Rosa - rose in Latin.

Mother's Love

And I made these daisy bouquets for my buddies