The next time you see a mom of young children, send her a smile and ask her how she's doing. She could be a stay-at-home-mom who hasn't had time for herself yet feels alone and wishes someone could offer some help with her kids. She could be a working mom who struggles to put a straight face while pleasing her boss and wonders how her sick child is doing at daycare. She could be anything, but she certainly could use a smile. And a hug.

There have been far too many times that I get lost in a conversation with myself, mostly with the heart, of the things that I'm incapable of. Like juggling work with being a stay-at-home-mom. It's obviously not easy doing work or managing a venture while having to attend to a young child without a nanny or a helper. But what's worse is feeling and knowing that you're the most distracted mom and you aren't even sure if you're doing your best. And the uneasiness when you have a job outside to attend and you aren't sure if anybody can babysit your child. Or you're too afraid to ask. Or you feel guilty while you're out doing your thing and you leave your child for a bit. Sometimes I feel like ma

Before I became a mother myself, I had a romanticized view of motherhood. I read about how it's the most beautiful thing on earth, and then imagined it as rainbows and butterflies. I knew of course there would be difficult sleepless nights, but I believed they'd be nothing against the beauty of it all. The beauty I read about in magazines and the captions underneath photographs of mothers staring at their babies' eyes intently with a smile. And then motherhood happened. And the realization that impromptu late night dates with my husband for some ice-cream down the street weren't that possible anymore. That a visit to the grocery store would be filled with anxiety and rushed moments before an

Before Orked, my husband and I used to backpack, road trip and travel on a shoestring pretty often. So it's no surprise that our road trip now is giving beautiful reminders of our past travels and the reality that we're now parents. Here's how I'd sum up what travelling with a toddler is like. It's carrying heavy luggages up the stairs from a basement of a budget inn realizing you're late for your check-out after having to wait for a little someone to finish a session at the loo, so you try to speed things up only to find out that a stuffed toy by the name of DJ Suki needs to walk up those flight of stairs together with slow rhythmic counts. That, and heaps of adventures. . P/S - I'm pretty

I have always been a tad too crazy about road trips ever since I can remember. Ever since I was a student, to be exact. In fact, it was during our South Australian road trip back in 2006 that I first discovered my love for photography and began combining it with my poems, leading to the birth of "Photo Poetry". It was a road trip that started my PhotoPoetry blog. My favourite part of road trips would definitely be stopping by the road side of a really scenic route to scream in excitement with the howling (and extremely freezing) wind. I did just that yesterday and it felt amazing. We also stayed at a supposedly haunted inn last night (which we of course just found out today), and I'm not too

Being at my husband's graduation ceremony yesterday was a blessing in so many ways. While I was impossibly proud and had all sorts of beautiful emotions engulfing me as I watched him walk up that stage, I was also reminded of an important lesson I often forget. Witnessing the amazing achievements of everyone at the hall simply reminded me of how hard work and patience truly pay off. Have patience, take our time and embrace the journey. We'll get there eventually.

There's something about graduations that leave you overwhelmed with emotions. This one's on top of the list for me. I got teary-eyed as I watched my husband walk down the stage yesterday, flashbacks of his hard work from the past two years sweeping me by. He has been an amazing husband and father, and that's a lot on its own. But he topped that up juggling between work and studies to provide the best for us. I remember our first trip to the UK together when he was just starting his program. He was very determined. The journey then on hasn't been easy. Juggling all that while helping me parent a baby obviously wasn't an easy feat. But he stayed determined. I saw how he grew more passionate to