"Hey travel, I’m ready when you are." I came across this while reading and yes, I’m ready and have been for the last couple of months. What about you?
RainBows
A place to share beautiful memories, just like the colors of a rainbow and also thoughts in general.
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Saturday, October 15, 2022
Ready when you are!!
Everyday I see many planes flying in the sky from my balcony and
the travel bug began to bite!! My tickets which had been cancelled by the airline
because of the Covid-19 virus pandemic were re-activated and together with my
daughter, we flew off to the Pearl of the Orient, or Penang as the locals know
it. It’s also known as a food paradise!
We partook of the signature dishes in different establishments and
I’d like to share some of the dishes we had.
From clockwise: row 1 - Spring rolls with vegetable filling (poh-piah);
steamed rice rolls (chee cheong fun) in sweet sauce topped with fried onions;
oyster omelette (oh-chien);
Row 2- Deep fried savory snacks (loh bak) with sweet and spicy
dippings;
Row 3 – local black coffee and noodles fried with cockles, prawns
and duck egg (char kway teow); Ice kachang topped with ice-cream (local dessert
with cream corn, cendul, kidney beans, black herbal jelly sweetened with palm
sugar and some thick coconut milk).
The top favorites are the Char Kway Teow and Cendul. People actually
come to Penang for these two dishes which originated from here. The queues to
get these two dishes are usually long as people don’t mind waiting. They are
very yummy and the cockles are big and fresh! It’s the cockles that make the
dish so tasty!
Penang is also home to the Peranakans who descended from mixed
marriages between the Mainland Chinese immigrants and local Malay women. The off-spring
are known as Baba (male) and Nonya (female).
The Nonyas are excellent cooks and skilled in embroidery. In the
olden times, these are mandatory skills for marriage. More on the nonyas in my
next post! Stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Books Available on Pre-Order
I’m happy to announce that the last book “Successful Magic” in my series “Love in the Shadows of Salem” is now available on pre-order in amazon.
Here’s the link.
Just in case you haven’t heard about
this series, there are 5 books altogether. It’s the story of Gwen, who was ignominiously
thrown out of her college, found herself without a home, thanks to her father’s
crime, and dumped by her fiancé. Get to meet her and to know her within the
pages of these books, as she discovers her true nature, befriended by
werewolves and falls in love with a vampire. You’ll love the irrepressible Gwen
and the chaos created as she discovers her magical powers in raising the dead.
Coming up is a new series entitled Destinies
Entwined. The prequel “Welcome Home” is available on amazon and
Bryn, after a long sojourn in the human world finally goes home to her own world
where Joseph has been waiting for her, always at hand to protect her as he had
vowed, centuries ago.
Destinies Entwined is also a 5-book series which showcase Bryn’s story. Book One entitled “The Daywalker” is now available on pre-order on amazon.
My
mother, a vicious killer vampire presumed dead is alive and still killing.
My mission? To bring her in, alive.
“Who are
you?” I asked, staring at him. I could only see his body from the waist up, but
I saw enough to know every inch of his body was lined in muscle.
“Are you enjoying what you see?” he remarked.
I was. But I was not going to let him know that. As far as I was
concerned, he could be my next meal. I did not tend to play with my meals...but
he might be the exception to that.
Loneliness and death are the
constant for Bryn, daughter of vampires. She sets out on her perilous journey
to bring in her killer mother, accompanied by the handsome daywalker assigned
to assist her. Their attraction to each other is very strong
Will it develop into something
more or will their separate destinies doom it from the start? When secrets are
uncovered and truths revealed…
*****
Writing has always been my passion and more
books are in the pipeline. I will inform you when they are on pre-order.
If you would like to read all my books for
FREE, I suggest you sign up to be on my ARC street team. The VIP members in
this team get to read all my new books before they are launched, for FREE and
the only thing I ask in return is an honest review when the books are live on
amazon. Here’s the invitation to join my team. Just click on the link below.
Reviews mean a great deal to an author as
it enables more readers to learn more about her books and to read them.
Thank you for reading my books.
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Yay! Heartstrings will tug your heart!
My new 5-book series entitled Heartstrings is now available on amazon!! I'm chuffed!
Take a peek into the lives of the Manvin
family and share their ups and downs. Each member has his/her own demons to
deal with and the passions simmering below the surface will have you fired up
too.
Stan is back to helm the family business empire
after his father’s demise but it’s not what he wants. His return unravels the
family in subtle ways. His first love Amy whom he left without a word is now
married to his younger brother.
Amy cannot forget Stan and Steve has noted the
effect Stan still has on his wife.
Julie the youngest Manvin who dislikes Amy because she has “taken
away” her brothers’ attention has her own secrets that are taking a toll on her
mental health.
Mama Leah the matriarch currently holding
the family together but for how long? How will things work out for the Manvins? Will the family business survive? Will Steve and Amy go their separate ways? What of Julie?
Do grab a copy and while away your weekend
with the Manvins in Heartstrings.
Copy and paste the links into your browser to get the books.
The Annual Tomb Sweeping Day or Qingming Festival
This festival is usually observed ten days before and after the actual date of Qingming which is in early April. It is obligatory for family members to visit the graves of their close relatives to pay their respects and to receive blessings from the departed. On this day, the cemeteries will be crowded with people, who have come to sweep the tomb and offer prayers, food and other paper offerings. However for the last two years, few have observed this because of the Covid-19 virus pandemic. This year, people have started to do tomb sweeping once more.
Food and paper offerings such as joss paper
(currency in the after world), paper clothes, shoes, gadgets such as smart
phones and tablets, etc. are brought to the site of the tomb. Before the
goodies are laid out, the tomb is swept and cleared of any detritus or weeds.
Pieces of colored paper are put on the
grave site (I don’t remember what the significance is). I remember as a young
child, I was told to place a small stone on each of the colored paper so that
it is not blown away by the wind.
When the grave site is spruced up, the
offerings are laid out. Then family members will pray, using joss sticks (incense
sticks). Prayers invite the departed to partake of the feast before them and
then supplications are made, asking for blessings for the family, keeping the
family safe, etc.
Coins are tossed to determine if the departed
has finished his meal. A head and a tail would indicate that he has. Then the
offerings can be burnt so that he will receive them in his world.
My grandfather’s tomb is on a
hill and it commands a great view. The higher a grave is, the better the
fengshui. My grandmother’s tomb is close by his. She was the first of his five wives to join
him after his death. As you can see, the tombs are big and elaborate. My
brothers went to pay their respects and took these photos. The graves are very
well maintained.