Baby & Mom Expo in Mid Valley on 8th May 2011 and a special reunion.

Salam,

Yesterday we spent the about 5 hours in Mid Valley, Megamall. Our main intention was to meet up with some of our good friends in Hamilton, NZ. One of my friends, Hanna (the pregnant lady in the photo) has been staying in Malaysia since Dec. because her husband is now in UK doing his data collection. So, she came with her daughter and son. Another friend, K. Ija came with her husband. They left their kids at home since they don't want to bring their children at the busy mall especially on Sunday.

Our appointment was at 12 o'clock but we went so early because we knew that it would be very hard to find a parking space on Sunday. When we arrived at 10.20, there were already a lot of cars there. We didn't realize what was happening until we went up and saw the Baby & Mom Expo! hehe. So, the expo was actually the place where we hang out before we went down to meet our friends. We just visited some booths and checked out some interesting offers. I met Anie from Comel Lote Collection. I said hi and also bought a nice hat from her. She gave two free tiny bear key chains for my daughters. After that, we checked some interesting booths like booths that were promoting educational toys and books for children. We were even stopped by one of the salesman at the Grolier booth for 15 minutes when he asked us to listen to his explanations with no obligations on buying his products. we listened  to his explanation but we has to decline the sounds-too-good offers since we were just checking out and browsing for information. When it was 11.45 p.m., we left the expo and headed down.

Some photos at the expo

Things that we received for free and also some that we bought.

With Anie

We saw Hanna and her children by 12.15. We chatted and took some pictures before we decided to have lunch together at a cafe named Little Penang. My other friend and her husband didn't arrive yet during that time. She asked us to have lunch first. We chose some food like Assam Laksa, Prawn Noodle, Chicken and Rice set and Fried Rice. The kids were too excited to really sit and eat. They were more busy warming up with each other and by the time we finished eating, they were already running around the table. After we left the cafe, K.Ija and her husband Dr. Sazali arrived. They were so excited to see us because it has almost a year since we last saw each other. They suggested to go somewhere for a coffee. So, we walked and searched for a nice place to have coffee. We talked about so many things as there were so many stories to be exchanged. It was just a nice long chat of old friends. 1 hour later, we parted and bid farewell and promised to get together again in the future. 

P/S: I know it's already Tuesday. I just didn't have time to write about my Mothers Day weekend. So, what about yours?

Silence Mode at home.

Salam,

Early in the morning, both my of daughters followed their grandpa to attend the Open Day in KPJ, Nilai. Their grandma and auntie were already there. As Saturday normally is a shopping day for us, my hubby and I didn't go to KPJ to accompany our daughters. Instead we had a nice shopping date in Hypermarket Giant, KJ. It has been a long time since we can go out without our daughters on the tow. So, it was a nice change for us.

However now (it's 3 p.m. by the time I'm typing this entry), I'm feeling so weird and the silence mode is apparent in the house now. Usually, we can hear the noise from our daughters either playing, singing, shouting or bickering with each other. You can say that I've starter to miss my daughters even only after 6 hours. Have any of you had the same feeling?

Has Mother's Day become an over commercialised day?

Salam,

Have you ever realized that every year during Mother's Day, there'll be a lot of promotions going on. Many shopping malls, shops, online shops and others will give interesting offers, free gifts or special discounts. All of that is done by using the Mother's Day celebration as the pulling factor. I don't really anything against the practice BUT I just don't agree when some of them purposely use the celebration to charge more or they are selling the over-priced products and get away with it. After all, the ministry doesn't have enough man power to check everything. 

So, what do you as a mom (if you are a mom) expect from your kids on Mother's Day? Or if you aren't a mom yet, what have you plan or what have you bought for your beloved mom? As for me, I've never expected anything from my daughters. Normally they'll make a card in their school and they'll give the card to me. The best gift I would like to have is just their sincere love. Since this year is the third year  for me for not be able to wish "Happy Mother's Day" to my late mum, I just can wish my mum-in-law and pray for my late mum. Only Allah knows how I miss her and there's always an empty space in my heart where it used to be the place for my late mum.

What do you reckon about this issue? Do you think that some people have taken advantages on Mother's Day just to sell their products?

Apa salah belacan? (BM entry)

Salam,

Ini entri tangkap muat sbb sebenarnya dah mengantuk sgt ni. Sepatutnya dah lena diulit mimpi dah ni. Cuma nak juga berkongsi hal ni. Saya ni suka budu (memelah doh ore Kelate) dan juga sambal belacan. Masalahnya sekarang, saya tak tahu kenapa hidung dan kulit jadi semakin sensitif bila makan 2 benda yang sedap tu. Kalau budu bolehla tahan lagi. Kalau belacan, alamatnya satu hari bersin dan hidung berair. Ada tak orang2 lain yang pernah mengalami keadaan yang sama? Kenapa ye dulu2 saya boleh tahan dan tak mengalami  apa2 alahan bila makan belacan tapi sekarang tak tahan sbb hidung terasa gatal sangat2 dan kulit pun jadi gatal. (tapi tak de gatal ye lain ye :P ) Ada tak pakar2 yang boleh berkongsi pendapat anda kat sini? Mana Doktor Sirna (a.k.a Fadilah) ni?

Just won something nice from ParentThots for my e-mail about "How to encourage our children to read".

Salam,

I published this entry post in the beginning of April. Today, I got a message in the shout out box from Munira who told me that I won the prize. Now, let me take you back to the previous post and then I'm also going to share the e-mail that I sent to Parent Thots.
________________________________________________________________________________

Want to Win Disney School Skills workbooks?

Salam,

I came across this interesting announcement in FB on ParentThots page. It's a good opportunity to parents with young kids to try their luck. What you have to do is just send and e-mail to parenthots@thestar.com.my. What should you write in your e-mail? Well, they just want to know how do we teach our young kids how to read.
The best (most creative, inspiring, unique) email per month wins 1 set of Disney School Skills workbooks, thanks to Scholastic.

This promotion goes on from April 1 (no, this isn't an April Fool's joke) right up till Sept 30 as we have 6 sets of workbooks to give away.

Each set of workbooks is valued at RM159.20.

For more info, please click HERE

P/S: I've just sent my e-mail to them. What about you? What are you waiting for? 
 _______________________________________________________________________________
Click HERE if you want to see the announcement. But now I want to share what I wrote in my e-mail.

Make it conducive for kids to read

My husband and I both love reading. That's why encouraging our children is not a huge task for us at all since we both want to be the best role models to our children aged six and four. Basically, we have done everything we could to make sure that our children will see the habit of reading as something enjoyable.

So here are some of the methods that we've tried so far:

1- Bring our children to the nearest library every week.
We used to live in Hamilton, New Zealand, for 3 1/2 years. There are some local libraries available there for everybody. So, every week without fail, we would bring our children to Hillcrest Library to borrow some books, CDs and puzzles. They really love to spend their time there. Right now, we make sure that we will buy some books every month so we can have our own mini library soon!

2- Spend about 30 minutes per day to teach them phonemes.
The best way to teach is to make sure that it's going to be an interesting approach like using starfall.com as a tool or any kind of teaching tools. I used flashcards with my eldest daughter but with my second daughter, I have to let her choose what she likes to do as she has a shorter attention span compared to her sister.

3- Play “I spy with my little eyes" whenever we go out.
It's a must for us to play this game because it can also help me to redirect their attention while waiting in the car before we reach our destination. As both of them have recognised letters and even phonemes, I always ask them to spot some words or letters around them.

4- Prepare a nice corner or even a conducive room for our kids to learn.
Kids love to see something colourful and exciting. So, we have dedicated a special corner with a special bookcase, table and chairs for them to sit and read their favaourite books. They can use the place any time they like and they have regarded it as their special place to have fun!

5- Story time every night.
This is a must even when we are so tired and busy. At least we will spend about 10 minutes to tell a simple story or choose a page from their favourite story book. Sometimes we even create our own story when we want our imagination to run wild!

6- Make a book as MUST for their birthday present.
Every time other people ask what to buy for our kids' birthdays, we prefer that they buy more books rather than toys. Our kids love them too and they never get tired or bored with books compared to toys. They will only get excited about new toys for few weeks and then they will completely forget about the toys.

Well, those are among the things we have practised and done to instil the love in reading. Now, our job is easier as our kids never feel the pressure for them to learn how to read.


Alhamdulillah for this and it's actually a first time for me winning a contest that requires a creative input. My daughters are going to like the presents so much as they always love to have new workbooks.

Is there anything that sounds funny here? Please read and share your thoughts.

Salam,

I've noticed this signboard in Sg. Klah Hot Spring Park. I just can't help but to notice some mistakes in the sentence structures on the board. Today, I want to test all of you who are reading this post. If any of you can give the best answer on how to rectify the mistakes, somebody will get something from me.


So, what are you waiting for? Read the sentences on this notice board and leave your comment in the comment box. You leave as many answers as you like.

Good luck!

A Hotspring Retreat: Sg Klah Hotspring Recreational Park

Salam,

Early in the morning right after breakfast, we set up our journey to Sg. Klah Hotspring in Sungkai, Perak. The main intention for my hubby is to check out the place for his future project that he is planning to get a grant. For my daughters and I, we just want to have some fun and have a nice retreat by going back to nature.

Here were the things we saw when we arrived:

Here's the important information about this place:

Sungai Klah Hot Springs Park
36000 Sungkai
Perak
Malaysia
Operating hours: 8am – 10pm daily
Entrance Fees: RM10 for adults, RM8 for children (2-11 years)

The first thing that we had to do was to purchase the tickets from the main entrance. By the time we arrived, there were already a lot of people waiting in lines to purchase the their tickets. We were given these things (see the things on Fathini's and my wrists):

Once we were inside, we stop somewhere to pose a family photo before changing our clothes. Luckily I remembered to bring the tripod. If not, we would have had to ask somebody to help us. 

After we had changed our clothes, we went on to explore the park. On the way, we saw some interesting hot pools. Some people were sitting on the edge and dipped their feet inside. We also saw a therapeutic path beside one of the hot pools, a pool where people can boil eggs and other hot small hot pools. We were not interested to boil any eggs even when we could buy some eggs there. My hubby was busy taking photos of the hot pools and checking the temperatures as well. (for his study) 

Then, we proceeded to the cold pool as Fathini and Hafizah couldn't wait to dip their feet into water. When we arrived at one of the cold pool, our daughters were so excited. My hubby and I took turn in taking care of our daughters in the pool. When I went in the pool with Fathini & Hafizah, my hubby became the guard as there was no one else who could take care of our things. Hafizah was so brave that she asked her papa to accompany her to slide down from the big slide. Fathini was okay when I asked her to join me at the slide but halfway through, she changed her mind and she screamed on top of her lung when I coaxed her to try. We had to go down from the small and steep stairs when she changed her mind! huhu. We stayed there until Fathini and Hafizah had started to feel cold and hungry. We didn't bring any food with us since we've planned to continue our journey to my aunt's house in Ipoh. We could see that other families brought their own food since it was allowed and there's no cafe or restaurant in the park. All that we could find was snacks.

Before we left, we decided to try dipping our feet in one of the hot pools. Fathini tried to dip her feet for few seconds but we didn't allow Hafizah because we were afraid that she couldn't stand the heat. I could feel the burning sensation even after dipping my feet for 2 seconds. My hubby was able to dip his feet longer and he even posed for the camera. 

So, it was fun and relaxing to be able to enjoy the scenery and the retreat there. Next time (if there's next time), I reckon bringing your own food and bring more family members are the best thing we can do there. There's a place if you are interested to stay, Felda Residence offers good accommodation if you are willing to pay about RM600 per night. Well, it was definitely not in our list since that's too much for us.