Garment Steamer - Philips

Ironing. 

I've never had a good relationship with ironing. 

It feels like a heavy chore. 

I'd rather wash the bathroom rather than iron. 

Honest! 

The thought of having to assemble the ironing board. 

And putting it away once you're done. 

Or the fact that no matter how careful I slave over ironing hubby's work shirts, the results are never satisfactory. 

Huwaaaaaa ... 

I'd have a back ache and be sweating once I finished ironing. 

They have machines for washing laundry and the dryer, can't they have a machine where clothes would come out looking crisp and ironed? 

I can wish. 

When I was working, I made sure my wardrobe consisted of clothes which didn't require ironing. 

Super lazy me I tell you! 

So we set aside a budget to purchase this garment steamer from Philips. 

Image source: http://www.philips.com.my/

We bought a pink one.

  

Oh my goodness. 

I couldn't stop IRONING!!!! 

No ironing board required. 

You can just hang the shirt on the garment steamer and iron away!!!!

Very the late in adopting this garment steamer trend, probably. hahaha

Anyway, I have a 2-weeks' worth of ironed shirts for hubby that are ready to be worn PLUS a couple of addition shirts to be worn for events. 

Coolness!!!! 

Thank you PHILIPS Malaysia! 

I'm loving this garment steamer of mine! 

What's more, it's in pink ... very chic ;)


p/s: No, I'm not paid for writing this. I'm just super duper happy!!! 

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Assalamualaikum,

Alhamdulillah!!! 

Yippeeeeee! (Cue doing the zumba here ... hehehe)

We must have done something right somewhere with this humble blog.

After sooooo long, the status on Nuffnang was updated to Glitterati recently and the number of campaigns reflected on Nuffnang has been overwhelming! 

Wow! Super duper happy! 

The blog has been in existence for so long and we're finally being noticed, Alhamdulillah. 

No intentions to brag. 

Purely to share this with our fellow readers who are most probably in the same situation. 

THANK YOU for dropping by for a visit and your continuous support!

THANK YOU Nuffnang and the advertisers for this wonderful opportunity. 

Everything is awesome! (singing this as per The Lego Movie 2014) ;)

Homeschool as an Alternative

Image Source: http://www.lunafamily.my/

One of the main reasons we decided to homeschool our toddler (I guess it was because I managed to sell the idea to hubby too) was that I wanted our toddler to pursue her interests and be who she wants to be without being restricted by society's expectations.

It is also vital that she adheres to the followings of the Quran and Sunnah in addition to having strong moral values and possess a pleasant personality.

If only there was a homeschool option back in the day, it would have been a different story for me, personally.

Image source: www.addcovers.com

I managed to secure a spot in a boarding school at the age of 16 after scoring not-so-bad results in my PMR. 



What I wasn't prepared for (and wished somebody had warned me about) was the culture shock. 

The culture shock was overwhelming.

Ok, washing your own clothes, hanging them out to dry and folding them wasn't too bad. 

Or the disappointment of seeing your laundry drenched right after a heavy downpour as you couldn't get to it since you were in school earlier was salvageable. 

Or when you were just about to doze off for an afternoon siesta and you saw a pair of hairy arms at your window trying to grab anything off your study table for them to eat was a different experience. (The hairy arms belonged to the monkeys from the nearby forest who so happened to pay your hostel a visit).

Or when someone forgot to close the door to your hostel and the same monkey 'friends' invited themselves into the building whilst having a field day jumping on our beds, ripping open the cupboards to look for snacks or decided that talcum powder was food and started chewing the bottle whilst getting powder all over its face! 

Or when you and some friends just bought food from the food stalls where they hold 'pasar malam' week every Saturday evening and as you start walking back to your hostel, your monkey 'friends' start following you or chasing you if you start running.

Or when you decided to have a study group outdoors and brought along snacks to munch on, the same monkey 'friends' decided that they want to 'help' you out with your homework too. 

All the above sounds manageable, albeit a bit upsetting at first. 

What I wasn't prepared for was the following ...


PROHIBITED FROM TALKING TO OUR COLLEAGUES OF THE OPPOSITE SEX

We couldn't talk to boys AT ALL from our batch.

Avoid boys like a plague. 

You want to talk to a boy in class or in public? Sure, go ahead. 

They'd label you a loose girl.

Even if your discussion revolved around schoolwork or he just wanted to borrow a pen. 

I remember being woken up harshly at 1am, thought it was a dream until my roommate dragged me out of bed. 

Ok ok I'm up! As I walked groggily following her closely behind whilst I was trying to get my bearings right.

I saw my colleagues walking out of their rooms, quizzical expressions plastered on their faces as we walked together into a senior's room. 

Once inside, I could see all the seniors sitting on beds whereas we were huddled on the floor. 

They started lecturing us on why we shouldn't be talking to boys. 

NO TALKING TO BOYS. 

Image source: http://www.fienenpienwinkel.com/

An extremely important discussion at 1 o'clock in the morning.

If any of us were seen talking to boys, we'll be having these important sessions at 1 o'clock in the morning and we'd better be prepared to face their questions. 

One of my colleagues was being interrogated in front of all of us.

I was thinking to myself, how embarrassing this must be for her!

They threw questions at her: 

"Why did you speak to this boy?" 

"What business did you have with this boy?" 

"Make sure you do NOT speak to this boy or any other boys for that matter, understood?"

They raised their voices. 

They pointed fingers at her (I could sense their anger and they were so close to jabbing her in the face!). 

They clearly made their point to the rest of us.

Lesson to be learnt, amid quite a harsh one at that. 

It was probably more than one hour where we were held 'hostage'.

Throughout the entire duration, my peers and I didn't dare look up.

We had our eyes fixed on the floor.

I felt like I had committed a crime and was waiting for my sentence. 

Unfortunately, it was not the one and only time we were being called into our senior's room.

There were other sessions too and it was on petty things which I felt wasn't worth mulling over.

It was quite devastating. 

When our seniors left and we became seniors, we still couldn't talk to boys.

Our peers who enrolled into the school at the age of 13 considered themselves seniors. 

They were the ones who continued the tradition of waking up people at 1am and lecturing us, even if it wasn't OUR fault! 

No point talking to a school warden about it, you'd be targeted for being soft and face the risk of being an outcast. 

You just have to face it head-on.


NAME CALLING

One of the extra-curricular activities I enrolled myself into was Girl Scouts.

Camping is fun, right?

http://www.troop30294.org/

Bonfire, sing-a-longs (even if you're out of tune, no one would notice as they're out of tune too), marshmallows, playing the guitar, sharing ghost stories, cooking outdoors and having fun outdoor activities. 

What I didn't know was that we needed to join the Boy Scouts since we had the same teacher lead the scouts. 

Oh my gosh, that means we have to TALK to these boys, right? 

So when we went on camping trips held within the school vicinity (in a forest adjacent to our school) where we combined our activity with other uniformed units, that's when the name calling started. 

Every single time the Girl Scouts were called upon or it was our turn to perform or do any activity, boys from other uniformed units would call us a name. 

Each time they called us that name, they'd be snickering and laughing and looking at us. 

I was very curious so I asked one of the boys from the Boy Scouts. 

The nice and innocent looking boy who scores straight As in his subjects and even if you were seen talking to him, no one would bat an eyelid and no one would wake you up at 1am demanding an explanation from you on why you spoke to him. 

I guess he was an exception.

I found out from him that the name had actually meant 'pros*&%#$e'.

I was fuming with anger and I guessed he noticed as I got red in the face.

How dare they!

http://www.jacksonsd.org/

The only reason why the Girl Scouts were being called as such was due to us having combined sessions with the Boy Scouts.

It totally ripped my heart each time I think of this. 



BEING DIFFERENT

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No, you can't be different in this school. 

You have to be the same like all the others. 

Conform and say YES to everything. 

Which means that if you have an advantage over others, you'd probably be isolated by your peers and they'd start a rumour or influence other people to avoid you like the plague.

Sounds easy to me to just go with the flow as long as I'm not an outcast.

Except that teachers may take a liking at you and pull you into the limelight, to help you realise your potential.

Your peers would start calling you a teacher's pet, blue-eyed girl, etc.

I was constantly sneered at each time I opened my mouth to speak or if I aced ONE subject (which was the only ONE subject I was good at).

I was called by the teachers to join the school debating team and the school's publication team. 

The more my peers hated me. 

My homeroom teacher came to my class on my birthday during prep time (study time) and handed me a birthday card. 

My homeroom peers said they didn't receive any cards from him on THEIR birthday.

They spread the word and other people who weren't even within the same homeroom started to show their dislike towards me too. 

Like, seriously, I thought this only happened when you were 8 or 10 years old.

"Don't friend with her ok, she's a teacher's pet."

"Jangan kawan dia tau, budak tu nak menunjuk je. Macam bagus."


FEELING STUPID

Because it was a boarding school and to enrol into this school requires one to perform in their exams, everyone in this school is smart, with the exception of me, of course.

So when you don't perform in your subjects, you'd think that you're really really dumb in comparison to the others.

It doesn't help when the school publishes your exam results on the school's notice board for all to see.

I know it is meant to motivate you to work harder but it was a harsh blow to my self-esteem.

Throughout my entire two years, I honestly believed that I was a hopeless dumb student who just can't ace her subjects. :(

I strongly believed that I was a failure. 

I forced myself to study and memorise just to pass my exams.  

Image source: http://www.virtualians.net/

Because I was conditioned as such in those 2 years, I mostly kept to myself in the first year when I went to university. 

I always felt that I wasn't good enough in my studies and was probably wasting my time and my parents' money. 

Only after I've observed how different the university environment was (in a good way, of course), I started to be myself again and was making friends (diverse ethnicity) and getting involved with loads of projects and activities which required me to do a lot of networking. 

Working life was pretty awesome too. 

Image source: www.amazon.com

None of the things that happened to me in school happened to me again in university or at work. 

They embrace differences and uniqueness and you thrive in the environment by capitalising on your skills and capabilities.

OWH! 

By the way, those girls who prohibited us from talking to the boys in school? 

Most of them ended up marrying the boys.

*Face palm like a gazillion times! 

Walk in the Park

Lil' Tot and I woke up early one day to have breakfast outside. 

I had planned to bring her to the library that day and spend time reading. We were also due to return 3 books which we borrowed previously.

I was such a klutz as I overlooked the operation hours of the library, thinking it was open at 9am. 

It was only opened at 10am. 

As we parked the car at the community centre and glanced over at the library door only to find the "CLOSED" sign, I decided to bring lil' tot to the playground which was just outside the gates.

We had an hour to kill before the library opens so might as well get as much sun and air possible. 

We walked through a small entrance on the side. 

Was quite careful at it too as there were huge red ants crawling all over the floor.

I carried lil' tot safely to the other side as there was a small drain too and she can't walk over.

In the process, I caught a few ants which were climbing all over my shoes and pants.

Yikes! 

Quickly wiped them away and checked if any of them landed on lil' tot. 

Luckily there weren't.

Coast was clear so I let lil' tot play at the playground.

The playground (pictured above in the distance) is poorly maintained.

You may want to arm yourselves with wet wipes or check for any rubbish lying around and just make it as safe as possible for your child. 

I read on FB recently where an irresponsible person had taped a thumb tack onto a slide in order to harm any kids who happened to use the slide.

A mom found the thumb tack still intact as she was wiping down the slides to make it clean for her child.

Please do be careful, for your child's sake. 

Anyway, this playground is quite secure as it is situated right next to a guard post so there's always a security guard nearby.

I decided to bring lil' tot to walk around this huge piece of land since the playground wasn't so enticing for her. 

There were workout stations with illustrations on how to perform an exercise which our tot gladly tried out all. 

It's definitely a good work out.

We only walked ONE round along the path and both of us were already sweating. 

There were a lot of activities going on during our walk.

We saw squirrels running along the path, birds chirped in the trees, dried leaves on the ground which gave crunching sounds as we walked on them, we looked at flowers and heard students playing sports in the distance as there was a school just on the opposite side.

I also explained to our tot how important it was to keep the drains cleaned as she saw one man cleaning the drains within the community centre's vicinity.

We walked back to the car to collect the library books and headed to a bench at the entrance.

We cooled off a bit while waiting for the library to open its doors. 

As we walked into the library, I was grateful for the a/c they had switched on :D

Address: Next to Pusat Komuniti TTDI, Lot 31204, Jalan Athinahapan, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000, Kuala Lumpur

Sushi King Big Hero 6 Free Collectibles Promotion

Disney's Big Hero 6 hasn't even reached Malaysia yet. 

Our toddler and Mr Hubby are both highly anticipating the movie and excitedly counting down the days to watch it in the cinema.

There are collectibles being sold for the Big Hero 6 characters but quite pricey.

So hubby found out about the promotion Sushi King is currently running for Big Hero 6:

Big Hero 6 - Sushi King Promotion <click the link for more details>

Needless to say, we managed to acquire the collectible the following day at Sushi King and walked away from the restaurant with a happy tummy, a happy toddler and her happy Daddy. :)

* Cue Pharrell William's "Happy" song here ;)

"Class Dismissed"

Huffington Post recently wrote an article about the movie and had an interview with the director and co-producer. 

Check out the link below to watch the trailer: 

Class Dismissed

This is perfect for non-homeschool parents to understand what homeschooling is about and use this as an alternative for their kids' education, if they have the time to homeschool their kids. 

It just takes one to understand that there is an alternative to pursue education. 

I'm keen to watch this when it reaches our shores, hopefully. :)

I've learnt and understood that if your child is not performing well in school, it isn't their fault, despite them putting in a lot of effort to study.

They'd probably thrive in a different learning environment which doesn't require them to sit still in class for 5 - 6 hours a day in addition to the 2 hour tuition classes every other day.

It's probably an answer to kids who are being bullied in school or isolated. Homeschool allows them to move away from that. 

Some kids don't have the capacity to face their bullies head-on. 

True, it tends to build one's perseverance and teaches them to build their self-confidence in handling such conflicts, but at such a young age where they're still developing their maturity level, it does affect one's self-confidence and self-esteem. 

Parents are the best people to possess knowledge of their child's interests and passions and likes and dislikes. 

Most importantly, they know what their child's ambitions are or are on a discovery with their child to find out about their child's ambition. 

Homeschooling is a journey for both parent and child. 

Parents are the best educators a child could possibly have and they'll chart the most amazing and memorable journey together. :)

Water Piazza @ 1 Utama Shopping Centre

Homeschool doesn't necessarily mean that you'll need to stay home, sit at the study table and hit the books the whole day.

You're free to customise your learning based on your child's interests. 

Lil' tot and I decided to go to 1 Utama on a weekday as there was ample parking space and less crowded. 

We went to LG where the Food Street was and had our lunch at KFC. 

Seeing that there were no other kids around, our tot had a blast playing with the water guns by herself (there were 4 altogether) at the Water Piazza just outside of KFC. 

Since we weren't planning to stop by this area, she had on her socks, shoes and long pants. 

So I took off her shoes and socks and folded her pants so that she was free to move about.

I told her that it was OK for her to play with the water but she just needed to be careful so that she doesn't slip and fall. 

Luckily, she was careful enough so she didn't fall and I believe that the flooring was designed to deter kids from falling down. 

Moms and Dads, in the event you wish to bring your kids here, it's the perfect place for the kids to let off some steam after shopping.

Our tot didn't really get her clothes wet as she was really careful but if you have kids who would really love this activity and would definitely get their clothes drenched, suggest that you bring along a pair of fresh clothes and towel. :)

Address: 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama City Centre
Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Floor: LG (Food Street Level)

Location: Outside of KFC and McD

Sleepless Nights

Hubby recently went on a business trip so it was just our lil' tot and I at home. 

It gave me a peace of mind since we were staying in a guarded apartment complex so even if there were just the two of us home alone, we felt safe. 

The only thing that worried me was hubby's flight. 

Post MH370 and MH17, I must confess that I've developed a slight fear of traveling by air. 

I just can't help it. It does seem to haunt you, one way or the other. 

So when hubby said that he was traveling, I became worried. 

When hubby mentioned that he was using a different airline, I felt a bit relieved, but still worried. 

Apparently, his company had issued a memo immediately after the MH370 incident whereby the employees aren't allowed to use the MH flights until further notice. 

I only felt sorry for the national airline carrier.

After all, it still is the pride of Malaysia, no doubt. 

The first night of us being home alone after sending hubby off at the airport earlier in the evening, I was constantly checking the flight status online. 

That night, I couldn't sleep peacefully and probably dozed off at 5am. 

I performed my prayers and read the Quran just to calm myself down and seek solace in the Almighty. 

It was great news to me when hubby texted to say he had safely reached his destination. 

Throughout his trip and flights from one country to another, I kept making supplications to God to protect my husband and for him to return to us safely. 

It was agonising for me as I've had sleepless nights worrying about him. 

Alhamdulillah, I was able to wake up around 3am to perform my prayers and read the Quran on a daily basis. 

On the final night of us being home alone where hubby was due to take his flight home and arrive at approximately 10am the next morning, again, I couldn't sleep.

I checked his online flight status again and wished that I had access to the flight radar just to see the location of the plane.

But when our toddler and I saw his face again, it was a huge relief! 

We were soooo happy to have him in our arms again. 

Alhamdulillah! 

For the first time after so long, that night, I was able to sleep peacefully. 

Childhood

I Read a Book!!! :D

I can't remember the last time I finished reading an entire book.

I used to read a lot when I was still in school / college and occasionally when I had started working.  

After having a daughter, it all changed. I couldn't lift up a book and finish it. 

I would stop reading halfway and it will take ages until I resume my reading, by that time, I've entirely forgotten about the plot so I'd just chuck the book aside. 

But this time around, I decided to pick up one book from the library during our recent trip there with my toddler.

Image from www.bookaid.org

Within 2 days, I finished reading the entire book, all 598 pages of it!!!! 

Oh my goodness, I'm super duper proud of myself! 

I read the book in front of our toddler who emulated me by reading her book too, but of course, not long after, she was more interested in running around the house or climbing the sofa or jumping around. 

I read the book after she went to sleep or before she wakes up in the morning. 

It felt good, really, to be able to read a book. 

Now that I'm homeschooling my daughter, the more reason for me to pick up books again. 

There'll come an age where she can read on her own and we'd discuss the author or the storyline or the contents. 

That'd be fun! :)

Playing House

What we used: 
Soft toys
Pictures of different rooms which are commonly found in a home 

We had a free magazine lying around the house with tons of pictures of homes and rooms and furniture. 

Since the magazine is an old one, I decided to cut out pictures and play house with my toddler. 

We used our living room space as it was easier to move around and form a U-shape of all the pictures. 

We constructed our 'home' by identifying which room or furniture goes where. 

If she's not familiar with a particular picture ie car porch, I'd tell her where it should go since our own house has a basement parking so she may not be familiar with a car porch.

It started with me placing one of her soft toys at the pool. 

A couple of minutes later, all her soft toys decided to lounge by the pool :D Yes, she organised them as such: 

We had role plays where if a soft toy wishes to get out of the pool, it has to shower and wear clothes first. 

So we had a picture of a bathroom and wardrobe full of clothes. 

The soft toys went their separate ways after the pool, leaving only one still in the pool:
1 was asleep in the bedroom 
1 was reading a book
1 was playing with the guitar
1 was on the piano
1 was outside in the garden
2 were in the kitchen preparing food

When food was ready, our toddler said "Everybody! Want to eat?" 

So they all trotted to the dining area from wherever they were initially. 

Including the 1 toy which was in the pool. 

When she saw this, she said "Hey, you haven't showered yet!" 

So she brought this toy to bathe and put on fresh clothes first.

Not long after, she was pretty much engrossed with the activity that she was at it for 2 hours or so. 

I left her to it. 

She had even included Princess Elsa in the picture who joined the soft toys in the house not long after. 

Owh, we also had to keep the fan at minimum speed so as to avoid the papers from flying off in every direction! 

The Grumpy Cyclist @ TTDI

LATTE - RM 10

Last Saturday morning, I wanted to try out nasi lemak at Santai, TTDI. 

Heard that the nasi lemak was good and the breakfast crowd enjoys the nasi lemak with lauk sotong.

Unfortunately, when we drove by Santai, it was closed for the day :(

Oh well. 

So we went driving around TTDI to find a breakfast spot. 

That's when I spotted The Grumpy Cyclist and told hubby, "Ok there!"

Truth be told, we had to make another HUGE turn around the block since it was a one-way street, aih! 

Luckily for us, when we were about to reach the cafe, a car pulled out of the parking spot so hubby manoeuvred our car into the vacant lot. 

That's when I noticed "Oooh, there's an Indian Cuisine restaurant, owh there's a Chinese Muslim restaurant, aha there's a local Malay restaurant!"

Suddenly, there were tons of choices available for us! 

No no, we should focus and head on in to The Grumpy Cyclist since I've read about this cafe somewhere. 

At that time, all the tables inside the cafe were filled with patrons so we placed our order at the counter, paid for it and headed outside to wait for our food to arrive. 

I felt a bit uncomfortable outside since we were with our toddler and all three of us were huddled on one long bench with an ashtray placed neatly at the end of the same bench. 

I moved the ashtray elsewhere and noticed that the fan wasn't really helping with the heat that was starting to warm up pretty fast. 

I prayed to myself, please please please Lord, have a table available for us soon.

When a couple emerged from the cafe, hubby quickly dashed in to check for an empty table. 

We managed to secure one table (thank you Lord!) and hubby brought in the latte and tea which were already served to us. 

There was a consistent stream of patrons, to the extent that some of the patrons left the place since there were no tables available. 

Frisky Goat has a much better control of managing the crowd as people would be lining up outside the cafe and the servers would usher the crowd in once a table becomes available. 

BIG BREAKFAST (THE GRAN FRONDO) - RM 18

Hearty breakfast meal :)

My latte had that heavy caramel sweetness aftertaste which I didn't fancy but hubby seemed to like it so it's a matter of preference. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES - RM 12

Yummy fluffy pancakes, true to it's description as written on their menu board. 

The portion was huge and our lil' tot managed to finish off 2 slices whereas hubby and I shared a slice each. 

Shower, anyone? :D Yes, you're more than welcome to shower here too! 

I told hubby. 

I'm probably growing old already. 

I've outgrown this cafe hopping business. 

But for bicycle enthusiasts, you'd be welcome here. :)

Address: 36, Jalan Datuk Sulaiman, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur









Phone:019-229 1658

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The Grumpy Cyclist being featured in The Star back in April 2014.