Goodbye 2014

Today 31st Dec 2014 is the last day of year 2014. 365 days has gone in what seems to be in a blink of an eye. But in that blink of an eye, so many things have happened. Maybe not literally to me or my family but to Malaysian. There were too many sad incidents involving fellow Malaysian this year. The missing MH370 which is still missing, MH17 brutally shot down and this month, the final month of 2014 we are faced with the worst flood ever in the east coast with over 200,000 people evacuated from their homes. Even their places of shelter are in danger. And with recent event, the crash of Air Asia QZ8501 that shocked the whole world, it close this year with so many sad events. With that, I sincerely give my condolences to all the people involved or affected by these recent unfortunate events. I can only imagine what they are going through but only Allah knows how they actually are.

As for me, overall it was a good year. Got back my old job at my old company and started work right after Wildan reached 2 years old as planned. Even though I would prefer not to go back to work, financially...I need to. I have too. Also visited my dad in Kuala Terengganu back in August for Wildan to bond and play with him. It was a normal year for us. Nothing abnormal or special thing this year except for maybe we got the keys to our new house. Alhamdulillah everyone in our family is in good health. Wildan seems to be doing well as well. He is learning to use more vocabs now. Just yesterday he was trying to tell me what he did at his day care and I laughed at how cute he was trying to say the words he was thinking of. I spend half the time trying to figure them out. LOL

Next year, we have a lot of travel plans and I for one is really looking forward to it. Hope we will have a better year in 2015, for us, our family and friends and for Malaysian who have been affected by the recent unfortunate events. Hope all of you will be strong and rise again. Hope and pray that we can bravely overcome any challenges that may come towards us in 2015. InsyaAllah.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE!!

Our Little Sunshine is Not So Little Anymore

Today, our little sunshine is 31 months old. He is not so little anymore but we still thinks he is. Now I understands why my mom wanted me to stay small when I was about Wildan's age. :) I can't believe he will be 3 years old in merely 5 months. uhuk..

I brought him to his regular paeds to take his last dose of Hep A vaccine and the paeds said he has positive growth. His height and weight is climbing up the chart. He is currently 13.5kg and about 90cm tall. Yeay!! Alhamdulillah...his health is also better. No more flu as of today and he sure is one active boy. I am happy to know that his growth is according to his growth chart (reference from babycentre LINK). He is still obsessed with his toy cars and now he is really into robots. He loves building robots and cars using his lego at home. He can also identifies few animals but sometimes he does get them mixed up..hahaha..and still pelat. His pelat is so cute!! He counts anyway he please. tee..two...teee....ahahahah...slowly...but insyaAllah...he is getting there.

One thing I myself is amazed by him is his level of obedience and willingness to help. He is very helpful and sometimes very independent. Now sometimes he wants to wash his own dishes and often he will clean up and put away his toys before he goes to bed. I think because we made it a routine so now he knows most of the time what he should do before going to sleep. Just last night he asked me to arrange his toy cars with him. He said "Ami...emah (kemas)"..(Mummy...clean up) while pointing at his cars on the carpet. Last two days we did out laundry at a DIY laundry shop and he was so eager to help. From putting in the clothes inside the washing machine, to inserting the coins then moving the clothes into a dryer and later to take them out. He even insisted to carry the laundry basket with his clothes on his own without help. Even when my hubby wanted to take it to put it in the car he want to do it himself. Other people at the laundry shop was looking and smiling at him. Mummy so proud of you Wildan. Hope you grow up a reliable, obedient and helpful boy as like you are now. :)

New House Project

We have been wanting to buy a house for sometime now but never found a suitable affordable one. I used to say, the ridiculous house price now, we can only afford to buy the toilet :P Finally, last year, we manage to buy one. However, it is in Seremban. Since we don't have to put any money upfront except for our booking fee and I like the layout, we decided to buy it. Our first intention was to sell it back once it is complete.

We finally got our keys on 22nd Nov 2014, which is way early than expected. We thought it will only be completed by June 2015 but it turns out our house is Phase 1, so it was completed earliest. Which means....we are now paying full repayment amount on the house. *faint*. Alhamdulillah....still makan nasi...tak makan pasir. hehehehe..tp mungkin makan pasir or ikat perut kumpul duit nak buat renovation. We went to inspect the house once we got the keys and there are still minor defects need to be repaired. Once we saw the house, our mind changed. Well to be exact, we can't decide our minds. Whether to sell or to stay there. Our workplace is way to far from the house location but we love the house. For us, it is totally worth the money. It is spacious to us. Am already imagining the design and layout of the house especially the kitchen. hahaha..I love my friend's Diyana's house. She was so lucky she got a corner lot house at a very good price. I was also kicking myself for not taking the end lot house. *dush!!* We should have. hmmm...

So now, we decide to continue with minor renovation slowly...since our money also comes in slowly. Once everything is settled, then we will decide again. To stay or to sell. hmmmm....I can totally imagine us staying in the house. Wildan can run freely in the living hall as it is spacious. The only factor that made us think about it is, the distance to work. I don't want to spend less time with Wildan and spend more time to work. Now, it only takes me about 5 minutes to reach Wildan's day care and another 10-15 minutes to reach home from there. Unless, I find another work near the new house. So many options...so many factors..yet...only 2 brains. hahaha...

We have't done anything yet to the house. It is still togel and we are waiting for the defect repair to be done. Hopefully we can put aside some money by Jan 2015 to start with our new house project. :)

That's all for today. Ciao!

Fire Safety & Prevention Awareness

Last Tuesday, someone from fire prevention organization came to the office to give a talk on Fire Prevention Safety Awareness. They came once before and it was enlightening. And this is kind of a refresher course for me and indeed it was a very good session with a lot of info.

The most interesting fact he shared was the fact that we know there is a risk of fire in our home but we are never prepared for it if it happens. The main cause of a fire in a house in due to short circuit and then human negligence. Nowadays we have a lot of electrical items in our house and the risk is even higher but most often not until it happens to us then only we take action to prevent. However, fire is not a small thing. It is a dangerous thing that can take lives. We took prevention from thieves by installing grills and locks and some even take extra precaution by installing CCTV and alarm. But how many of us have a smoke detector at home? A good fire detector cost so much less than a CCTV or a grill and each home should at least have one.

The presenter presented a few videos and newspaper cutting about previous fire cases. One was horrifying video of a couple who was trapped in their burning car and they screamed for help for 3 minutes before they totally went silent. The video was taken by a passerby just a view 15 feet from the burning car. You don't actually see the victims but hearing them is enough to make your hair stands. People around tried to help by trying to put off the fire but they failed. Even cars nowadays can easily burn because of all the wiring with the electronic functions in our car. As you can see, there are more and more cases of cars went in flame after an accident or even as when the driving is driving the car. The second story that is stuck in my head is a mother died saving her 3 children from a fire from her house. That was too much to handle I literally cried in the session.

By actual fact, to prevent fire from happening 100% is very hard. There is always 1% chance for it to happen. Why? Because of all the wiring we have around our building...our home. We can prevent fire by being careful with anything that can cause fire in our home such as gas and matches. But short circuit can happen without us knowing it. If the fire starts and we are aware of it when it is still small, we still have the chance to put it out if we have a fire extinguisher. Again I ask, how many of us has a fire extinguisher at home? And how do you detect a smoke if the small fire occurs while you are fast asleep in a deep sleep? You won't realize it. In a demo video he showed us, a small fire that started from a short circuit from a small Christmas tree decor at the edge of a living room manage to burn up the living room in 48 seconds. 48 seconds people!! I would really encourage you guys to at least install a smoke detector in your home. At least you will know when there is fire starting in your house.

Before this I thought smoke detector needs wiring but I was wrong. Yeah...am ignorance too. There is also model that uses battery. And the battery will only need replacement once a year. There is a few range of smoke detector in the market. Starting from RM80 to RM150. Just make sure you choose the one with alarm sound more than 90dB..otherwise the sound won't be loud enough for you to hear when you are sleeping peacefully in your room. Also make sure the brand or type you choose is not super sensitive as it will go off even at the slightest smoke possible. You can either screw it to your syiling or use a good double sided tape (recommened 3M brand)

Sample of a smoke detector (Alarm Sound : >95dB)
RM149 and comes with battery

Smoke detector is used to alarm you when there is a fire starting but what do you use to put off the fire? Surely you can't use water because we have a lot of electrical wiring in our home. Unless it was due to burning cloth or paper. But if it is due to short circuit, NEVER use water. So, maybe the easiest way is to run out of the house once your smoke alarm goes off. But would you want your whole house to burn down with all your belongings? I don't think so. And please don't try to save your belongings while there's fire in your house. Maybe your handbag yes. No I don't mean you handbag collection. I mean the handbag where you put all your important documents like identification cards and others. Again, you can choose to run out of the house, call the fire department and while waiting, maybe your house has burned down. OR..you can also opt to have a fire extinguisher at home. I think many of us knows how does it looks like because surely we have seen one in a shopping mall or at the office. If your office doesn't have one, then you should question the management. However, you can't use that type at home. Actually yes you can use but it would be too heavy for someone to lift it up. A women wouldn't be able to handle that weight unless she is a big strong women. I know It would be harder for me. So for me, 1kg fire extinguisher is enough for a home.

There is two types of fire extinguisher in our market. One is Malaysian standard (MS) which we normally sees in the shopping mall or office building called ABC Power and one is Bristish standard (BS). The only difference is British standard has anti explosion system (ABS). The British standard is suitable to be put in a car as it has heat resistance since the temperature inside our car can go up on a hot day. For the MS, you will need to service every year but for BS service only once every 10 years. You can find the MS fire extinguisher at any of major hardware store for about RM89.00++ and yearly service will cost you about RM50. While BS fire extinguisher will cost you RM228 but it is much safer with AES and you won't need to service it for the next 10 years. So if you calculate, in long term BS is better and save your money plus no hassle of every year sending it for servicing.

Left : Osafe BS Fire Extinguisher
Right : ABC Powder MS Fire Extinguisher

I would recommend everyone to at least have one smoke detector and one fire extinguisher at home especially when you have kids in the house. Because it happened before, when the adult panicked, sometimes they tend to forget the child. :'(

Other tips that may come handy:

1. Keep an extra set of keys to all the locks on your house in each livable bedroom.
2. Make sure everyone in your house know where the keys are
3. Make sure everyone knows how to use the fire extinguisher
4. Batteries can cause fire. Keep all your batteries safely

If you are interested purchase the Osafe Fire Prevention product, you can contact them directly.

OSAFE FIRE INSPECTION SDN BHD
No 5-G, Jalan Kenari 12, Bandar Puchong Jaya
47170 Puchong, Selangor
Tel : 03-80717119/7266
Fax : 03-80717288
Email : serviceteam@osafefi.com
Website : www.osafefi.com

They also have a branch in Johor, you can visit their website for more info.

Bought this set for RM368.00

My Son Is Growing Too Fast!

My last post on Wildan was in April 2014. It has been awhile. Means..his diary is not up to date. I really want to write a letter to him in this blog but I think I would be crying more than I write so I could never even started. A friend did one for her 2 sons...but she is kind of a funny person...even that...as am reading her post..even it is funny, I still have tears when I think of Wildan. Thinking of me leaving him...even now...makes tears come to my eye. sigh....

I guess the last post was in April when he had mumps and I am super happy that it is over. I really..really hope he will not go through that again. I was lucky I was a stay at home mom at the time. Otherwise, am not sure how to handle the situation as it lasted for almost two weeks. :(

So, now I have changed my title from a SAHM back to a WM (working mom) again. It was a hard decision but a it had to happened. Why? Because..unfortunately...money doesn't come bergolek2 for nothing. I still need to earn. I have used up all my savings to cover all the 10 months expenses while I was being a SAHM. Although I wish I could use that money to travel..Wildan was way more important. Alhamdulillah...his condition improved a lot. He had no flu or cough while I was taking care of him. After spending 5 days in a hospital twice, that was it for me. No more feeding him medicines..no more nebulizer and no more oxigen. That's it. Otherwise, he might just have to depend on the meds for years to come. Wildan was born premature and his lungs wasn't that strong to begin with..so he had the risk of infection. Some kid may be okay when they get flu, but for Wildan...it can create bacteria in his lungs.

He will be 2 years 7 months on 29th December and to me he is growing too fast. As a paranoid mom, am always concern about his growth. Be it physical or mental wise. I was afraid when he can't identify his body parts when other kids can at his age..and when he hasn't started talking yet. But now...all those worries has slowly began to go away. He is a talkative boy...even though a bit pelat and he can happily identify his body parts now. He is still a good boy with occasional tantrum but for a boy his age...I am very proud of his obedient level. He knows he has to put away and clean up his toys before he goes to bed. He knows not to touch dirty things and will always report to me when he saw something dirty. One time he even took tissues to wipe it. LOL If you ask me how do I train him...maybe I'll share that in my next post.

Me and My Boy from Heaven (Wildan)

I am truly grateful that I found a good day care. Although it is a bit far from home but it is on the way to work. So am okay with it. It is not perfect, but Wildan seems happy and his health was not affected that much. He still has occasional flu when other kids have it but not to the extend where he needs to be admitted or any nebulizer treatment. The day care belongs to a friend of mine. When I was searching for a day care to send Wildan to before I started working, I got to know she just opened a day care. So I went to check out and decided to send Wildan there. The fees are reasonable. Even though they may have hick ups here and there, am still okay since Wildan is ok and they are improving their service from time to time. If anyone is looking for a day care in Selayang area, you can ask them. Little Muslim Childcare Centre, Selayang Paragon. They accept baby as young as 2 months old and can handle EBM.

Am actually thinking of sending Wildan to a pre-school next year but it seems that we will have a lot in our plate next year. Our house just completed and we just got the keys, so we will need to put away money to do some minor renovation. :) InsyaAllah...

Hope I will be writing again soon. :)

Work cum Family Trip to Bangkok August 2014

Gosh!! I forgot to publish this!! (*_*). I can't even remember when was my last post to this blog.

I had the opportunity to bring the family to Bangkok as I was attending a training there. Went to Bangkok for 5 nights, 18th - 23rd August 2014. Since I will be in training during the day most of our sightseeing/shopping activities were done at night except for the arrival day and the last day.

Day 1 : Monday (Arrival Day)

We arrived at around 9.30am on 18th August 2014. Alhamdulillah...we had a smooth flight. We already had a driver waiting for us with my name clearly spelled. hahaha....the perks of going to a 5 star training. Most of the things are arranged. The cost is about THB1610 (that's about RM162.61) on way per car. It took about 45 minutes to reach out hotel Urbana Sathorn at Sathorn South Road. And we were lucky to be able to check in early. By 11.30am we got to go into our room and freshened up. 

Around 1.00pm we went out to lunch at a small stall at the junction of Sathon 12 road. It is actually not hard to find halal food if you ask Mr Google first before you travel. heheheh...

Picture of the shop - opposite 7E (Source : http://zlynn17.blogspot.com)
It opens from Monday to Saturday, 7am-5pm.

The food was nice and cheap. I had fried rice and my husband ate something that looks like padprik but a bit different. :)

Our original plan was to visit the Grand Palace Temple but since Wildan is still small, hubby decides to go somewhere else. So then we continue our journey to Pratunam Market. There is a whole bunch of things you can find there. Most of it are clothings and handbags. You can bargain here...but most shop are with fixed price. I was told to find Durian chips and glad that I found it. I don't really eat durian (yeah...yeah...I know what you are going to say) but the chips doesn't really have that punging taste. It was quite nice. :) We also tried to find some souvenir like fridge magnets and keychain...but apparently there was not much choice there. So we didn't buy anything else. Nearby is a wholesale mall called Platinum Mall. If you live in KL, Platinum Mall is much like GM or Kenanga Mall. Lots off nice cheap clothes sold there. It is even cheaper if you buy in bulk. I think it is business people heaven. Or, if your aim is to come and shop for clothes, come with empty luggage and pack it will all the cheap clothes and things you can buy from here. Unfortunately, I came with a packed luggage :P Our next stop was Hard Rock Cafe because a friend of mine had asked me to buy HR fridge magnet for her. I was a bit annoyed with the taxi driver and more annoyed at myself. I could have save the transport cost by just taking the skytrain. The taxi driver didn't use meter and charge us THB100 but I think with the distance it couldn't have been more than THB50. After burning some more money in Hard Rock Shop..bought things that I didn't plan to buy..we went back to the hotel. This time we took the train as it was peek hours and most the taxi didn't want to use meter and charged high. We didn't know much about the route so this is also a lesson learn. The CS told us to stop at Surasak which actually was about 1.7km walk to our hotel. Soon after that I got to know there is a nearer stop which is only 500m away from our hotel. It took us about 45 minutes to walk to our hotel from Surasak Station. *faint*

For dinner we went to Anis Bistro as Mr Google told me is a recommended place to eat halal food in Sathorn Road area. We had a hurdle with the taxi driver as he didn't actually know where it is. Be reminded that taxi driver in Bangkok can turn into a vampire at night. They charge you a mighty high price especially if you are a tourist. He dropped us at nowhere. By saying nowhere..I mean we literally don't know where we were except the fact that I have printed a map to the place. So I have some idea where we were. We asked around and these two muslims restaurant owner were kind enough to send us there. It was just about 300m away from where we were dropped off. The food was great!! We even had the sticky rice with manggo slice. YUMS!! After that we took tuktuk back to our hotel and end the night. If you plan to go to Anis Bistro, write down the address and show the taxi or tuk tuk driver as they might not know where it is.

(Source : Anis Bistro Sathorn FB)
Address : St. Louis Soi 15-17, South Sathorn Road, Yan Nawa District, Bangkok 10120, Thailand

Day 2 : Tuesday 
My training starts today. Training schedule is between 8.30am to 5.00pm. So we didn't go anywhere during the day for the next 3 days. My hubby only brought Wildan out for a stroll in his stroller in the morning after his bath and breakfast and he sleeps most of the time every day for the next 4 days. He tried to bring Wildan for a swim but he was asleep in the evening and the only time he succeed, it was too cold for Wildan. The distance between the training location and my hotel is about 10-15 minutes walk. I didn't stay in the hotel where the training is held because it was super expensive. :P So, I clean up once I reached my hotel after training and get ready to go out.

That day we went to Asiatique The Riverfront market. One of the guys from my training group mentioned of the place and we decide to go there that night. At first we wanted to go to Chinatown but were advised not to go as there was nothing much for us there. Being a muslim and with a baby, Asiatique is a much more better place to go. And it was. It was a new market build in 2011 and is very hip and happening. It has clean and comfortable layout. Easier and more comfortable if you are travelling with a baby or toddler. You can find lots of things here. There are more options of souvenirs items here and price isn't bad either. I would advice you to scout around first before buying anything at a particular shop because you may find another shop that may offer the same thing at a cheaper price. It happened to me...:( We bought some t-shirts, kids dress and Thailand souvenirs there. That night we had beef kebab at Champion Kebab. That is the only halal food stall that we spot there. The taste was not bad. I give them 6/10. It is located near Warehouse 1 in the market.

We manage to get a one hour foot massage + neck and shoulder massage while Wildan is sleeping and it cost us THB300. That is the cheapest there. Outside this place, I saw some place charge you at THB250 an hour. However, just when our massage is about to end Wildan woke up and saw the guy patting his babah's back and thought the guy was hitting him. He threw the worst tantrum ever! So we had to go back. Lucky we had finish our tour and bought the things we aim for.

We took taxi to Asiatique and it cost us about THB120. Going back it was THB200. You can actually take the skytrain to Saphan Taksin BTS Station and take a free boat ride form Sathorn pier nearby the station. Unfortunately we didn't know at first so we took taxi.

Day 3 : Wednesday
We didn't really do much that day. We went to MBK Mall. Took the Skytrain from Chong Nonsi to National Stadium. The train station is only about 7mins walk from our hotel. And National Stadium station links directly with MBK mall. Just like our monorail here in KL linked to Berjaya Times Square and few other malls. It was kind of late when we arrived. So we had dinner at Yana Restaurant. It is the only halal restaurant in MBK Mall located on level 5 opposites it's food court. The food was nice and some of the waiter do speak Malay. So it was even easier for us. Unfortunately I didn't take any photo of the food. When you are hungry you tend to forget about blogging and what not and quickly dig in to what you are served. :P

Yana Restaurant is definitely a recommended restaurant. The price is considered affordable cafe/restaurant standard price. Environment was good, clean and pleasant. It offers both Thai and western/international menu.

(Both Pic Source : http://zlynn17.blogspot.com/)
Yana Restaurant, Level 5, MBK Centre,Pathumwan, Bangkok,Thailand. Tel/fax: +662 611 4589

We wanted to walk around the night market around the area outside of MBK Mall. We saw a lot of small stalls owner setting up their stalls. Unfortunately it was raining so we decided to call the night off and go back to our hotel. Hubby and me were soaking wet when we reach the hotel. We run/walk under the rain from the train station to our hotel. Only Wildan was spared as he was securely comfortable in his stroller protected by an umbrella.

Day 4 : Thursday
I have booked a cruise dinner for that night. It is not a five star cruise but we wanted to experience it. The scenary was great. We took the Loy Nava Dinner Cruise package. The package included hotel pick up and return. So it was easy and comfortable. There are not many halal dinner cruise so you will need to ask for info on that. I will give you a list of halal dinner cruise I found online. The driver came to pick us up at 7.00pm and we were back at our hotel by 10.45pm.

Pictures taken on and from the cruise

Day 5 : Friday
My course ends today and it ended early at around 3.00pm. So we had the opportunity to travel around more that day. We went for late lunch/early dinner at a small cafe nearby Anis Bistro. The owners were the one that helped us when we trying to find Anis Bistro on Monday. They were kind so we decided to repay them by at least eating at their cafe. :)

Our next stop was Madame Tussauds Bangkok. It is located in Siam Discovery next to Siam Centre and Siam Paragon Mall. You can easily go there by taking the skytrain to Siam station. You can also take the bus but I think skytrain is the easiest. Skytrain is also connected to MRT, so you can check which station you need to change train to get to Siam station. It is very much advisable for you to buy your ticket online as the price is cheaper but you must purchase it at least 24 hours before your visit. The online ticket is not applicable for same day visit. If you buy the early bird ticket, it is much cheaper but you must enter before 12.00noon. It took us about 45 minutes to tour the place and it was kind of exciting too. :) I wish I can go to Madame Tussauds London one day.

Some of the celebrities wax figurine in Madame Tussauds Bangkok. Will Smith looked so real.

After Madame Tussauds we continued our journey to Chatuchak Night Market by taking the skytrain again to Mo Chit Station. Chatuchak Market is actually a weekend market with hundreds of shops selling various items. We were unable to go during the weekend because we have booked a floating market tour and we were flying back right after that so we decided to go to the night market instead. During this night market, not many of the shop inside the Chatuchak Market are open but there are a lot of small stall set up around its area. And still, you have many options to shop for. I think we would have gone crazy if all the shops were to open and 2-3 hours wouldn't be sufficient. My leg hurts just by walking down the night market itself. We were happy we got all the things we came to buy and we went back to our hotel after that. :) It is the best place to shop for cheap items in Bangkok.

There are almost everything can be found here at a bargaining local price (not a tourist price), and most vendors actually come from local factories, like antique wood carving, clay handicrafts, local souvenirs from every parts of Thailand, Buddhist amulets, wooden furniture, hand made decorated flowers, plant, ceramic wares, dolls, Thai Bejarong, Chinese wares, garden decorated plants, stones, trendy fashions, silk, hill-tribe outfits, fluffy dogs and more miscellaneous, etc.

You can see how large the market is by looking at this mapOpen on Saturdays and Sundays, 09:00 - 18:00, and Fridays (night market) 18:00 - 24:00.

Day 6 : Saturday (Departure Day)
As floating market is one of the Top 10 attraction in Thailand, I decided to book a tour. Since the tour only starts in the morning, we had to book one on Saturday, the final day we were in Bangkok. Our flight was at 7.25pm so we had plenty of time to finish the half day tour. I book the tour from the same agency I booked the dinner cruise. I find their price is fairly reasonable. We were picked up from our hotel at 7.00am that day so we checked out early. I have packed all our stuff the night before and woke Wildan early that morning. He was a bit cranky at first but was better once we arrived at the pier.

The package included a long boat ride to Dameon Saduak Floating Market, Elephant Village and a wood carving exhibition centre. We burn a lot all of our cash at the floating market. That was our last place to shop for what were left in our list which mostly was souvenirs for our family. We spend 1.5 hours there and later continue to Elephant Village. We took this opportunity to experience the Elephant ride. It was somewhat exciting and a little bit scary. hahahah...but we glad we did it. Each ride cost THB 600 and not included in the tour package price. You can even feed the elephants by buying a full basket of banana at THB100. They took our pic and framed it and you will need to buy it at THB200. Now I regret the fact that I didn't buy it. I even regretted the fact that I forgot I brought my polaroid cam with me. The tour guide was kind enough to offer to take pictures of us on the elephant but we used my hubby's handphone instead. sigh...being older and forgetful is shameful sometimes. :(

We got back to our hotel at around 1.30pm, took our bags and freshened up. We had lunch at the hotel cafe and then it was time for us to depart to the airport. The driver was there early to send us to the airport. We spend about 1.5 hours in the airport waiting for our flight since we arrived very early. Wildan had a good time waiting since the waiting area had a playground. We safely arrived at KLIA2 at 10.30pm..Alhamdulillah and reached home at almost 12.00 midnight.

This trip has been tiring since I have to attend a course but so much fun and delightful for me as I get to experience some of the best attraction there are in Bangkok. Hubby said we will have to go again for a full holiday arrangement. :) InsyaAllah next time.

Here are some tips if you are planning to travel to Bangkok.
1) Find a hotel nearest to a BTS or MRT station. 5 minutes walk is acceptable for us. It is the easiest way for you to travel around Bangkok. Taxi will be expensive at night especially if you are a tourist. They tend not to use meter at night. However, if you are using a wheelchair/stroller some station may not be OKU or child stroller friendly. If you are travelling with a stroller, make sure you are using a light easy to fold one.

2) If you are a Muslim, do research on Halal food places before you go. These are two sites I found that you can use as reference.

• http://zlynn17.blogspot.com/
• http://www.bestofhalal.net/bangkok/

3) If you want a free and easy holiday, you can book a separate tour at your own convenient time and arrange you own schedule. Site you can visit for tour booking.

• http://www.asia-discovery.com/BKKTour.htm - Loy Nava (Halal Cruise) and other tour available
• http://www.thairivercruise.com/ - Manohra Cruise (5 star Halal Cruise)

4) Bargaining  - generally you can bargain at most of the market. If you go to Damneon Saduak floating market, they will open with high price, just offer them the lowest possible price. You will be amazed at how low they can actually go to sell their goods. We were offered THB650 per child tshirt at first but only agreed to pay THB200 and the seller accepted. See what I mean?

5) Shopping - if you have time, walk around first before you start purchasing anything because you might find another shop selling the same things at a much cheaper price. Lesson learned for me. dduuuhhhhh!! In Dameon Saduak market itself, there is a shop that sell souvenirs at a fixed price. It is located at almost the end of the market (mezzanine floor). The souvenirs such as bags, coin purse, key chain are the cheapest around there. Even if you bargain at other shops there you won't get that price. Clothing there are a bit expensive compared to other shops around.

6) Cash - please bring extra money (our own currency) in case you need to change more because ATM may not be available nearby and if there is one, your ATM may not work there. Happened to me too. Sigh....

7) VAT Refund - If you shop at any major malls or merchant that charge you VAT, you can claim back the VAT at the airport. Minimum purchase per transaction per receipt per shop is THB2000 for you to be eligible for the refund. And this is important!! YOU WILL NEED TO ASK THE VAT REFUND FORM AT THE MERCHANT SHOP and ask them to endorse for you with the receipt. We didn't know this, so we can't claim our VAT refund. :( You can refer HERE for the guidelines.

Sample of VAT form

All in all, I recommend a minimum 3 nights stay in Bangkok for you to cover most of it's interesting places. If you want to go to Chatuchak Market (which is highly recommended) make sure you stay there during the weekend. :)

Hope this entry help to give you some insight if you are planning to go to Bangkok.

The Longest Week

This happened mid of last month on a Thursday when Wildan suddenly had fever. He hasn't been sick for quite awhile now. I was puzzled as to why. That night as I was taking his temperature, I saw his right neck/chin was a bit swollen and red. I was afraid he got bitten by something coz hubby caught a big lipan (can't remember what is it called in english. Just know it is poisonous). So, we brought him to the clinic.  The doctor said he had a throat infection but it turned out to be mumps. God!! I never wanna hear that word again!!

That night is the 1st night when I didn't sleep. Wildan was restless the whole night. It was because of the pain. As he can't talk....is it impossible to know what he wants. All we know is that he was in pain. Hubby said he had mumps a number of times when he was a kid (no wonder) as if it is a norm to him. He said it is very painful. From what I read...those who has mumps will have high temperature and headache. The mumps went to triple it size in two days. That night he cried and throw tantrum like never before. Until we finally decides to bring him for a drive around the block.

It lasted for a week. It was so sad looking at him trying to tell us he was in pain. I got to know that mumps will subside on its own within 5-7 days and that was exactly what happened. It was lucky enough I am a stay at home mom. Otherwise, I would have to skip work for this.

This entry is published later than expected. Wildan turned 22 month last month. He is such a wonderful boy and do what he is told to most of the time. He knows how to clean up his mess when told. To put back his shoes on the rack, to keep his toys and to put away trash. A little tantrum here and there is expected since he is a baby. Alhamdulillah so far his growth is where it is supposed to be except the fact that he loves to use baby talk rather than normal people talk. Huhu

Expectation for A Stay At Home Mom (SAHM)

It is sad when someone would think as a SAHM you can afford to lay in bed all day. Honestly I would love to do that. I would love a day to myself. To wine down. To be pampered. How is miss that! It is true what a friend of mine said. People have high expectation for a SAHM.

Does these people think we do nothing at home? I sometimes skip meal just to attend to my son. He is always looking for attention and wants me to play with him. That is why I rarely update my blog now. As I am writing this entry, my son has demand for me a few times. "Save to draft". Even going to the loo is inconvenient sometimes. Sometimes I don't even get to finish my "business" in the toilet. Even bathing has to be cut short to less than 5 minutes. I can't even remember when was the last time I got a decent eyebrow threading and waxing. If I get to do it...it is always in a rush. Time flies fast. In between waking up...preparing breakfast for my son, giving him a bath, then prepare his lunch...playtime with him and then putting him to sleep for afternoon nap....there isn't much time. Sometimes I get to clean a little...vacumn and mop the house. Even when he is taking his afternoon nap he would wake up wanting to be breastfeed. Some said that I am skinnier than before I had a child. Well try to eat at odd timing (read "whenever you can if you can") and sometimes you are unable to even finish the meal. Not the best diet right?

I have been a SAHM since October last year. Even though the best part is you get to take care of your own child, it is tiring and I had to sacrifice my job. When I sacrifice my job...means I sacrifice other things as well. And even I am not earning anything..I still pay my own bills. Where do I get the money from? My savings. Thank God for good bonus last year. Which is about to finish soon. Hmm...

Being a working mom is better since you would have a little time to yourself. Fix breakfast and lunch time at least and you get to eat unless for some reason you are involved in a huge project that makes you busy like hell. And people would say you are doing something and not just "sitting at home doing nothing". Still expectation is there. You help your spouse to make ends meat and at home you still have to take care of the household plus you won't get to see you child much. He spends 10 hours a day, 5 days a week with someone else. Honestly, I think most women nowadays are superwomen.

I may have to go back to work by June 2014 but the thought of letting someone else take care of Wildan is heartbreaking. As they say...you can't get everything. Sacrifice is always there.

To mothers out there. I salute you whether you are a SAHM, WAHM or WM..coz we always try our best! Kudos to us!

Back Up Your Data People!

A devastating thing has happened to me a few months back. My handphone micro SD card suddenly corrupted and I lost all the data inside!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart stopped when I realized I forgot to back up all the data contained in it. The most precious of all are Wildan's video and pictures!!! Arrrghhhh!! Mak nangis tak berlagu nyah!! uuuwaaaa!! Nasib baik ada sesetengah yg best2 ada kat instagram.

Tulah dia...beli handphone canggih tp tak make full use of all the apps yang ada. Belum sempat nak explore habis. Bila dah jadi baru mak tau apa itu Dropbox!! uwaaa!! Sesal dahulu pendapatan, sesal kemudian tiada gunanya. Hambik ko! Siap keluar pepatah lagi. I have even tried sending the micro SD card to a specialist knowing that it would cost be a thousand plus ringgit just to get back all those videos and photos. But sadly, they said it is totally corrupted. WHAT????

There is a company in German that can provide you a service to retrieve the data. Their technique is way advance and cost at least EUR400. Tapi...jauh!!!!!!! uuuwaaaa!! The one I send to in Kuala Lumpur is not using that technique. :(( I am so sad.

So, remember....BACK UP YOUR DATA!! do it at least once a month. Now I back up all Wildan's photos and videos in DropBox, PC and external HD.

If this happens to you and you want to try to retrieve the data, you may go to:

KUALA LUMPUR/SELANGOR
Adroit Data Recovery Centre
C 801, Metropolitan Square Commercial, Jalan PJU 8/1
Damansara Perdana,47820, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-77277801 / 03-77277802 Fax: 03-77268803 Website: http://www.adrc.com.my/

Kalau ko kaya...ko leh hantar pi Germany. Visit their website http://www.recoverfab.com
nape aku tak kaya????!!! uwaaa!!

Wildan's First Trip to the Beach (Bagan Lalang)

It looks like my post is always overdue. It is harder for me to update since I will need to wait for Wildan to be asleep before in can sit in front of my laptop. Otherwise, he will be my little loyal assistance typing my entry....and then you guys won't have a clue what the story is..neither will I. haha...updating from my phone is uncomfortable. :P

So, we had been wanting to bring Wildan to the beach and play with sands. We live in the city..so beach is not really near. The one closest to us is in Bagan Lalang, Sepang and we went last two weeks, during CNY weekend break. It is about 1.5 hours drive. However, as we went during a long weekend, the traffic was kind of bad so it took us longer to reach there.

Wildan has always been a neat boy. He will come running to me if he gets something on his hands or feet asking me to clean it. That's why we want him to learn to get dirty a bit. hehe...and to us..beach is the safest way to get dirty. As predicted, Wildan was having a weird time at first..trying to adjust the feeling on walking on the sands bare feet. At first he didn't even want to take off his sandles. He kept asking me to clean the sands that gets into his sandles. In fact, he was the only one who went into the water with his sandles on. He didn't even want to play with the sands at the beach. Yeah...to that extend. So, hubby slowly brought him into the water and put sands on his hands and feet for him to get use to the feel of it. It took him awhile but finally he was enjoying playing in the sands and didn't even bother the sands got into his pants. LOL

We need to go again because we didn't get to eat seafood at the beach that day. We forgot to reserve a table and by the time we finish playing at the beach, the restaurants are full.