Kak Ngah Wedding Card & TQ card

Theme: Garden

Colour: Deep Green/Hijau Lumut

Status : in progress

Starting with an illustration of Magnolia Flower as subject matter. 

going to use  2 colours which is deep green & black to match the wedding colour theme.

Artwork ready for printing:)

Say NO to Polystyrene

I've been avoiding using polystyrene for quite a while... To be a Malaysian sometimes it was something unavoidable, especially when ask a favors from friend to 'tapow". I'll make sure I have container in my car or rather lunch out.  

REASONS WHY POLYSTYRENE FOAM IS BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH.

1. Toxic chemicals leach out of these products into the food that they contain. These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems.

2. These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity.

3. The product does not biodegrade. It crumbles into fragments that have no expiration date.

3. A certain percentage of product will be dumped in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely as litter and breaking up into pieces that choke and clog animal digestive systems in waterways.

4. The product takes up more space in landfills than does paper and eventually will re-enter the environment when landfills are breached by water or mechanical forces.

5. Foam recycling is a public relations stunt, promoted by the chemical industries that manufacture it. This is done in highly centralized, distant facilities using complex chemical processes and expends far more energy than is ever saved by recycling the material.

Packaging, Brochure & Bookmark

One thing that I like working with entrepreneur  is the fact I am be able to push and tune myself with exploration of varies design style but the sad part was the budget is always a challenge. At the end of the day some of the job just hanging like that...

Final Execution of Jonker Walk

Jonker Walk

One of job that I proud of. The whole total branding for client from Malacca that will open up a cafe corner at  Wing B, Contact Pier Domestic, KLIA called JonkerWalk Kopitiam.

I was really excited about the whole process. I already can imagine the direction of the design when the owner told me the name of the cafe is JonkerWalk Kopitiam.

I love Jonker Street... The street where I used to spent my weekends brought along my kid to experience the culture. Jonker Walk is well known as a street with a row of antiques stores & cafes. The whole scenario is so rich in culture from the past, with combination of architecture and foods. 

The option of logo proposal was submitted with logo application on interior, uniform etc. I proposed the use of vibrant colour illustration and photography as supporting visual. By looking at every corner of the cafe I hope the customer can found bit and pieces of elements adapted from the street. With budget constraint and deadline this piece of art & design is something that I am quite happy and really proud of.

Some visual from early proposal

Client picked the window logo, it was rationalised based on window to welcoming visitors to the cafe, as a vital and precious architecture element found at Jonker Walk. Script font was chosen to give a feeling of casualness and friendly ambience. Used of golden and brown color is to reflect olden look, strolling down memorylane. 

Further enhancement made on window proposal but the result was essential.

Some of other window proposal based on original architecture at Jonker Walk.

Final logo agreed by client... yeayyyyy

Proposal for interior design (Kunang-Kunang)

Trip to Jonker Street Malacca - 2 days 1 night.

We went on Friday so we could capture the Pasar Malam and night scene. We also need to do a food photo shoot, images to be featured on Table Menu Design, Pillar etc. We stayed at Baba Nyonya House, favourite boutique hotel and the place was right inbetwen Jalan Tan Cheng Lock and Jonker Walk. I photographed the scene with help of my two designers K & Helmy. It was so fruitful awesome trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/little_syam/sets/72157610200372703/

Some of other proposals: 

Table Top Illustration Advetorial in KLIA Shopping Magazine

Standee Menu                                Order Chit

Tile Reproduction

The Making of...

Subject: Whatever you give a woman

I found this quite true:)

Quote of the day: 

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. 
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. 
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. 
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. 
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. 
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. 

So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.'

Steam Siakap Fish with Lime Juice

Anyone can cook this recipes like a pro:)

Ingredients

Siakap Fish (Barramundi/Asian Seabass)

Celery

Tomato

Cili Padi

Red Chilli

Yellow Onion

For marinate

Garlic

Onion

Salt & Sugar

Oyster Sauce

Black Pepper

Lime Juice

Cooking Methods

Crush garlic, onion & black pepper. Add in oyster sauce & lime juice.

Rub all the ingredients onto fish, add in salt and a bit of sugar.

Add in all the veges on top (celery, tomato, cili padi, red chilli & yellow onion)

Steam for 15-20 mins...ready to serve.... yummy

discover neem

Neem (Azadirachta indica) is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Pakistan, growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Other vernacular names include Neem (Hindi, Urdu and Bengali), Nimm (Punjabi), Arya Veppu (Malayalam), Azad Dirakht (Persian), Nimba (Sanskrit and Marathi), DogonYaro (in some Nigerian languages), Margosa, Neeb (Arabic), Nimtree, Vepu, Vempu, Vepa (Telugu), Bevu (Kannada), Kohomba (Sinhala), Vempu (Tamil), Tamar (Burmese), xoan Ấn Độ (Vietnamese), and Indian Lilac (English). In East Africa it is also known as Muarubaini (Swahili), which means the tree of the 40, as it is said to treat 40 different diseases.

Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 15-20 m (about 50-65 feet), rarely to 35-40 m (115-131 feet). It is evergreen, but in severe drought it may shed most or nearly all of its leaves. The branches are wide spread. The fairly dense crown is roundish or oval and may reach the diameter of 15-20 m in old, free-standing specimens.

Uses

In India, the tree is variously known as "Divine Tree," "Heal All," "Nature's Drugstore," "Village Pharmacy" and "Panacea for all diseases." Products made from neem have proven medicinal properties, being anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fertility, and sedative. It is considered a major component in Ayurvedic medicine and is particularly prescribed for skin disease.

• All parts of the tree (seeds, leaves, flowers and bark) are used for preparing many different medical preparations.
  
• Part of the Neem tree can be used as a spermicide
  
• Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics (soap, shampoo, balms and creams, for example Margo soap), and is useful for skin care such as acne treatment, and keeping skin elasticity. Neem oil has been found to be an effective mosquito repellent.
  
• Neem derivatives neutralise nearly 500 pests worldwide, including insects, mites, ticks, and nematodes, by affecting their behaviour and physiology. Neem does not normally kill pests right away, rather it repels them and affects their growth. As neem products are cheap and non-toxic to higher animals and most beneficial insects, it is well-suited for pest control in rural areas.
  
• Besides its use in traditional Indian medicine the neem tree is of great importance for its anti-desertification properties and possibly as a good carbon dioxide sink.
  
• Practitioners of traditional Indian medicine recommend that patients suffering from chicken pox sleep on neem leaves.
  
• Neem gum is used as a bulking agent and for the preparation of special purpose food (for diabetics).
  
• Aqueous extracts of neem leaves have demonstrated significant antidiabetic potential.
  
• Traditionally, teeth cleaning was conducted by the chewing of slender neem branches. Neem twigs are still collected and sold in markets for this use, and in India one often sees youngsters in the streets chewing on neem twigs.
  
• A decoction prepared from neem roots is ingested to relieve fever in traditional Indian medicine.
  
• Neem leaf paste is applied to the skin to treat acne.
  
• Neem blossoms are used in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to prepare Ugadi pachhadi. Actually, "bevina hoovina gojju" (a type of curry prepared with neem blossoms) is common in Karnataka throughout the year. Dried blossoms are used when fresh blossoms are not available.
  
• A mixture of neem flowers and bella (jaggery or unrefined brown sugar) is prepared and offered to friends and relatives, symbolic of sweet and bitter events in the upcoming new year.
  
• Extract of neem leaves is thought to be helpful as malaria prophylaxis despite the fact that no comprehensive clinical studies are yet available. In several cases, private initiatives in Senegal were successful in preventing malaria. However, major NGOs such as USAID are not supposed to use neem tree extracts unless the medical benefit has been proved with clinical studies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem

groceries shopping

What can be found in my groceries shopping basket???
location : Tesco Ampang

1) Alarm Clock - to make me alert - time management
2) Weight Scale - weight management.. I've been putting so much weight. 63.8kg..need to reduce it down. Used to be 47kg...I gained 17 kg. Need to slash down 10 kg this year. One of this year resolution...kononnya.. Nothing impossible rite...??? We'll see.
3) Neem Tooth Paste by Himalaya - I've been abondaned Colgate for 2 months now.. Since using this product, I did not get ulser anymore...excellence product
4) Low Fat Yogurt
5) Low Fat Milk
6) Weet Bix - all the fibre I need
7) Siakap Fish.. for lunch, I am going to cook Siakap Stim with Lime juice today...:)
8) Muffin Flour, Arissa has been nagging me to bake for quite sometimes...

happy monday...

Arissa & Syamil first day at school for year 2010. How time flies... Took leave today. I still have 21 days leave to take... I will have to finish it in January...

Sent them to school..Syamil was in standard 5, SK Cocharane, Arissa 6 years old still at the same Smart Reader Kid at Pandan Prima.

What I wanna do today???... I will start and commited to write a blog for 2010. I really need to put down all my ideas , my hope, my words and my thought. It's been a while since I wrote a diary... I am not so use in expresssing my self anymore, but since I am inspired while watching Julie & Julia, so I really need to do this. Doesn't matter if my words is upside down...doesn't matter if people will laugh at it, but I need a kick off somehow, somewhere... It was like a piano lesson, where you need to just play it infront of public... that how I am going to sharpen this skill.

movies of the day

Watched 3 DVDs today title Coco Avante Channel, Julie & Julia & Precious.

COCO AVANTE CHANNEL

verdict
Never change yourself or your uniqueness because the rule set by society. Do thing against the grain, be a trend setter not a follower.

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JULIE & JULIA

verdict
Concentrate on what you are best at... small but constant... realise your own desire.

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PRECIOUS

verdict
Never ever let people rule your life...realise your potential and moves on. Don't let the pass hold you... life is a journey not destination