March 26, 2013

f1 youngsters

march 2013: their first flight, their first f1 outing. what an exhausting month (also for me, that is. am pushing 8 yet nobody notices -_-).

don't ask me why they're not smiling. probably the bus interchange was abit too overwhelming for them. this was on Saturday btw. which was a good thing. i left SIC on Sunday half-deaf.



i guess it's true what they say about watching F1 live - without commentary you have no idea who's who after the first lap.
le highlight of the day: itu Hamilton drove into the wrong pitstop. lolz.
the McLaren twit was hilarious.

“Smiles in the garage after a well-worked double pit stop with an unexpected twist. Feel free to  pop in and say ‘Hi’ any time,  @LewisHamilton!”

image source: the Mirror UK

March 22, 2013

a step at going natural

i recently started using soap bars to bathe instead of the normal J&J Baby Bath Shower cream i usually share with Significant Other. i was spring cleaning my drawers when i came across a green tea soap bar i got free during a purchase from Tiny Tapir. i was not really much of a soap bar fan because you had to store it proper when not in use so that it doesn't get all soggy sitting in a puddle of water - think of all those soap bars they provide at those little restaurants, sedikit icky over there. i remember when Significant Other was using Clinique's soap bar for his facial wash, i felt like it diminished a little too quickly due to all those dampy wetness the bar had to sit through.

since the soap bar was nearing expiry, i decided to use it up instead of just chucking a good piece of chemical-free soap bar into the trash. it wasn't love at first sight, the smell of the green tea took a little bit of getting used to at first. but i find that i end up feeling squeaky clean, a feeling i don't get when i use shower cream. is that normal? haha.

i came across sabun susu beras at Petronas in Langkawi. people always say that milk is good for the skin (don't ask me about the beras though) so i gave that one a go. haha. i love the smell, but the bar finished much quicker than the green tea bar, which i'm still using til today. my aunt gave me another rice milk bar soap after i asked her why she had so many of it lying around her house, haha (i simply asked whether she was selling it, she gave me one to try for free).

at Cenang Mall there's this store called Earth Tree, where they sell natural body products from the States. they're a bit pricey though. i bought my lip butter from here. i also got myself a lavender bar soap for me to try which is still unopened as i try in vain to finish off my green tea soap bar lol.

while accompanying mil to get gamat products to bring back to kl, i came across some soap bars which didn't cost as much as the Earth Tree (being unbranded, perhaps?), so i bought two to try: charcoal soap (which some say make good odor eliminators) and jasmine rice soap. being the impatient person that i am, i've already opened the charcoal bar for alternate use. am not really a fan of its smell though.

jasmine rice soap and the charcoal soap bar
this is where i bought it from. lotsa gamat-based products sold here
my friend aida has been spamming her instagram account with photos of her handmade body products, i guess that's probably why my interest got piqued. i was interested in her lotion bar, mainly because it looked easy to make on your own, provided you know how to melt stuff. it looks good enough to be eaten! oh she even makes her own soap and shampoo bars (which i am itching to try hahahah), those require too much complication to make on your own for idiots like me. lip concoctions are of no interest to me mainly because i've tried practically everything and the results are still the same. anyway, she just recently opened her little shop - Mia Amani: Natural Handmade Bodycare, do drop by her website if you're kepochi like me =P. i think her soap bars are still curing so it'll be awhile before she puts those up for sale.

i bought one of her lotion bars to try, i tried googling the product up but it seems that soap bars where more popular for sale compared to lotion bars (probably because lotion bars were something anyone could make on their own provided they were rajin enough?).

so i placed my order for a lotion bar, and i got it in the mail two days ago. my first thought was, hmmm. it's not popping out of the container T_T. i emailed aida and she suggested popping it into the freezer for a few minutes, and it worked. haha. am not a fan of its container because the bar might get stuck in there again, but i guess that's the easiest way to store it on the go.

aida's lotion bar. looks like soap eh?
my first impression was that it looks exactly like a soap bar, except it doesn't work like a soap bar. i googled on how to use it and it says you only need to warm the bar with your hands to melt it and massage it in your skin. don't expect it to feel all lotion-ny like the commercial lotions out there, the texture needs to be gotten used to (like don't imagine it to miracly melt like butter in your hands ok lolz). what i did? i simply rubbed the whole bar directly onto my skin. hahahahaha. works for me. i still haven't figured out how much is enough so there i am, busy tonyohing away at my skin with the bar until i actually feel a sense of oiliness on my skin, kggal. my kids saw me going at it last night and they offered me their hands and legs too.

i wonder how long a bar should normally last. since it's my first bar i'm allowed to experiment with it to my liking. i used to be so kemut with cosmetics, using just a bit and hoarding it until they expire and i'm forced to chuck them in the bin. not this time.
did i mention that it smells nice too?

maybe one day if i'm really rajin enough i'd try to make my own lotion bar but goodness knows when that day will come. i already have a bottle of virgin coconut oil (vco) at home but i bought that with the intention of oral consumption. i read online that consumption of vco is good for the baby and for the mommy. but my friend Liz says vco tastes weird depending on what brand you bought, so i postponed trying it, hahahah. aida uses it to condition her hair also. i remember reading one of her old blog posts on how she tried making her own hair shampoo, and i actually did try it out. didn't like the feel of it though, i'm better off stealing my kids' shampoo instead, lol.

ok lah i'm starting to babble here. did you know you could also make soaps using breastmilk? menarik itu bunyi. there's a place somewhere in KL that can actually help you make them.

speaking of breastmilk, i haven't done any preparation for the coming baby, poor thing. come third baby you know it's impossible not to recycle most of the baby stuff you have lying around in the closet. another 8 weeks to go baby. i'm still not gonna post up belly pics of me because i realized recently that homaigod i look like a fat ugly penguin in photos.

a conversation with makcik nasi ayam in Langkawi (really good nasi ayam btw. they sell just outside the Bella Vista Hotel at Jalan Kuala Muda):

makcik: *takes a good look at me* baby nak makan nasi ayam ye? makcik tengok perut macam baby boy...
me: @_@

March 21, 2013

soho progress

they say you need to constantly give him a gentle nudge in order for things to move faster. i kinda agree.

i left the unit in his care for a week + now, so far there's still alot more things to be completed. i called him up earlier this week, he said he'd be done by end of the week. well, today's Thursday -__-

jangan lambat yang terlampau sudah. the curtain people have called, and i'm already starting to feel the strain of overwalking here and there.

the whole place is currently in a mess, i might say. most of the plug points are currently in progress, however he still has yet to start on the lighting. the only completed items on his to-do list are in the photos below.


that's the tiny bathroom. i guess i saved by getting the mirror and toiletries stand at Ikea, instead of getting it customized or at the place where i got that towel hanger. luckily the size just just nice too. we overestimated the toilet lights and i had to exchange it for a smaller size.


i have yet to test the water heater. did anyone do something to conceal that grey wire in the back? or just leave it as it is?


the controversial fan. hahaha. initially we bought KDK for the unit until we realized that the fan needed to be extended and with the way the base of KDK fans are designed, it wouldn't be a proper finish. so i got this classic Deka instead. my contractor was nice to let me view a unit which installed their fan with a 5-feet rod, which seemed a bit too low for me. in the group forums they kept recommending either 5-feet or 3-feet. i got a 3-feet rod for our unit, but couldn't help asking why not 4-feet. someone answered, '4 not good number lol!'. hahahah chis.

oh yeah, the first thing that was completed in the blink of an eye was this:


well, here's hoping he does manage to complete it this weekend. the curtain people have called wanting to install this weekend, quite impossible to do since the whole unit's a dusty mess.

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights
- add 4 light points ----- (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points

outside:
- install ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED - confirm dimmer (to be bought)
- install tv

curtains - awaiting installation

doorgrill

day third - family hols

17 Mar - since bil was in a rush to get off the island to catch up on his beauty sleep (1.5hour ferry ride + 4.5hour car drive), it was just us and sil to kill time before catching the last flight back to KL that night.

we bought a bunch of chocolates at HiG as usual. chocolates are super cheap here. super yummy. The Frey can beat Lindt any day.

we asked sil what she did she want to do to kill time, she replied she wanted to eat rojak buah and take photos (did she really? ok so maybe i made the latter part up) so we decided to bring her to Perdana Quay to walk walk abit before heading off to find rojak + laksa. Perdana Quay is where you can find The Loaf, btw. and Artisan's Pizza, which is really nice but really expensive. oh and i only found out myself that that's where they parked the Jalur Gemilang after Azhar Mansor's long voyage (not that i care really). did you know that it costs about rm3000 a month just to dock your boat at Perdana Quay? T___T

anyway, it was sweltering hot that Sunday. we rented a car for the family since obviously one car wasn't enough for the so-many-of-us. the first thing Significant Other did when he sat in the driver's seat was to ask where the button to adjust the side mirror was located *big sweat on forehead*.

the car that almost died on us
obviously these two were happy campers
see the boat behind her? it's named after her. maybe that's why she's into boats more than planes haha
there's a lighthouse nearby the Quay that we only noticed during the Duck tour that we went on last time (which was not worth our money imo). you couldn't clamber up to the top, but you could take photos at the foot of it. we saw a bunch of cars and people around it last time, lucky for us this time round it was abandoned so we were free to take photos as we please. it was such a lovely sunny day that practically all of our photos turned out superb, didn't matter who was behind the camera =P.

the lighthouse
Auntie Enn with the kids
and here's one for the family photo, 4 of us + 1
then afterwards we headed off to get rojak buah for sil. we stopped by Laksa Power by the roadside, located right beside the airport runway. there's a number of mobile stalls parked by the roadside that you could choose from but we always seem to stop by this particular stall for laksa. apa yang powernye, don't ask me.

here they sell laksa, rojak buah, rojak campur, cendol pulut, char koey teow, air kelapa, to name a few that we've tried before.

Laksa Power
sil waiting for her rojak buah
and this is also one of the places where you could watch planes land and take off. Significant Other never gets tired of photographing them. below's a photo (a photo??? many many many many photos kut!) he managed to take in between bites.

Asian Express taking off, bye bye
3 days of family holiday ain't enough i tell you.

March 19, 2013

gorgeous innai

photo source: Innai Red's FB page
gorgeous. simply gorgeous. where were you when i got married, beautiful? (the dress i mean, i have not idea who the model is. eeep).

before this the designs were really limited. if it wasn't lace, it would be kain songket. or whatever traditional outfit from whatever state you come from.

now? spoilt for choice. wish there were more multi-purpose designs though.
i wouldn't wear this to a wedding either; i might get throttled by the bride HAHAHAHA.

maybe i can convince my daughter to design her future wedding dress like this (mode berangan lolz).

okok i'm heading home to update more meaningful entries in my blog later. someone complained they were out of reading material.

babai.

March 13, 2013

the birthday watch

cantik, yes???


nama ToyWatch, patut toy lah kan? tak padan langsung dengan harga, bwahahaha.

the first ToyWatches i set my eyes on (when Significant Other bought a couple of them from the States for fil because i don't think they were around in Malaysia yet) reminded me of plasticky kiddo watches. hahahahahahah.

but this one? oooh i pun nak. gorgeous.


happy birthday brother-in-law. sorry turqouise wasn't available.
how old are you again? 24? 42?
don't forget if you don't like, i nak dibs tau. kekekekeke.

comes in many more yummy colors.

March 11, 2013

counting and princesses

Counting... ah ah ah (think Count Dracula from Sesame Street)

you know how when your kid doesn't want to listen to you so you give them an ultimatum and say 'i count to three, if you don't bla bla bla then bla bla bla... 1, 2, 3... ?'

kids learn fast. the other time the kids were fighting over something and i overheard Dayana tell her little sister something along the lines of, 'gimme adik! 1! 2! 3!'

T__________T

Dinara learns quite abit from Sesame Street reruns we play for her on the telly every day (she can also memorize dialogues from certain Disney movies, thanks to a gazillion times of nonstop neverending reruns which she never seems to get tired of). she's familiar with most of the nursery songs, and she knows how to count from watching Sesame Street (although i don't think she gets the actual meaning of the numbers yet).

anyway, with regards to the earlier story above, i was putting the kids to bed and we were deciding on what song to sing before saying goodnight. Dayana suggested to sing ABC, but Dinara was quick enough to interject by saying 'no! 1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6!'

T__________T hebat ok. kalah kakak dia mengira. bwahahahahampeh.


Daddy and the Princess

one of the kids' favorite storybooks would be 'I Want to be a Princess', a hardcover book i bought for them a long time ago. being the little girls that they are, they're overly obsessed over three things: princesses, barbies, and PINK. recently Dinara has started to actually read books instead of destroying them. so that particular book, she and her sister will share and drool over all the princess pictures and go 'yada yada mommy can i be a princess?' and sometimes get me to read it to them before bedtime.

and they would fight over the princess tiara i had bought for Dayana back when Dinara didn't know the existence of princess and barbies and iPods (so now it seems i need to get stuff for them in sets of two now in order to avoid petty fights such as this since they obviously do not mesh with the word 'SHARE').

yesterday Dinara sat beside me on the bed and pointed to pictures in the book, telling me what each of them were. like 'apple', or 'shoes', or 'i-keem'.

the last page shows the Princess and her Prince Charming, with a green frog overlooking the two in the background.


'rebet', Dinara tells me, pointing to the frog. she began to start hopping up and down on the bed.

'Dayiiiii', she exclaims, referring to her Daddy while pointing to Prince Charming.

'clever girl,' i tell her. 'now who's this?' i ask, pointing to the Princess.

'pwin-Chess!' she tells me triumphantly.

ooo yeah, Daddy and the Princess. mommy mana? chis.

(for the record, kalau Mommy dress up lawa2 baru anak mengaku Mommy princess, chis).

sekian cerita anak saya di petang yang mau hujan ini.

March 8, 2013

soho abandoned

i thought pushing management to get my defects done was a tedious task.
to actually get a contractor to commit to renovation is another not-so-easy task.
grrr grrr grrr grrr if i was 8months+ pregnant, i'd have delivered in my unit out of sheer frustration already.

things to be done:

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights (to be bought)
- add 4 light points ----- (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points

outside:
- install ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED - confirm dimmer (to be bought)
- install tv

curtains - measurements

doorgrill - 2 weeks' time

macam tak banyak je... now if only the contractor can move their butts and complete all this in speedy time...

March 5, 2013

sugarscarf alisa

*sold*


FS: Sugarscarf Plain Hijab Alisa W edgy Seamline
Color: Brown & Black
Price: rm37 each
Size: M

pls leave a comment if you're interested. unworn and in brand new condition.
thanks~!

March 3, 2013

creepy crawlies

one night at 10pm Dayana said she was hungry.

me: roti mau?
Dayana: ok

went downstairs to get a slice, went back upstairs and handed it to her.

took it from me, scrutinized it for a moment, then asked me, 'where's the jelly?'

me: T___T

shuffles back downstairs to slap butter onto the bread and hauled myself back upstairs.

took one look at it and told me, 'Mommy i'm not hungry anymore'.

me: ^}*#€¥€%#^*+¥€

conclusion: jangan layan cik kiah if she says she's hungry after 10pm.

we're a bit mad at Dayana at the moment. she had the audacity to throw her iPod touch at her sister. fortunately she missed her target, but the iPod screen ended up semi-shattered when it made contact with the floor grrrr. after 2 years of providing service to us, that iPod.

when i called her up to scold her about it, she actually had the cheek to ask me to buy her a new one @_@

it's not the first time she's done that, throwing her toys. i keep telling her a gazillion times not to throw her toys if not i'll throw them all out. there was one time her Daddy bought her a pink princess wand - with a big pink bauble that lights up when you press a button on it. one day i came home to find the wand in two pieces. when i asked her about it, you know what she said?

she told me a story about how she encountered a lipas downstairs and that she got so scared she threw her wand towards the lipas kononnye boleh bunuh the lipas and that's how the wand broke into two -_-

sigh, darn you lipasphobia.

i sprayed a lipas one night in the bathroom toilet and it somehow manically escaped into the kids' room (you know, how it scuttles around like a headless chicken before it dies?). the kids were in the room and they started screaming their heads off. i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. as long as they don't fly, i can be the brave lipas exterminator. else i pun nak cabut lari jugak.

i like to kid Significant Other, what happens if a lipas show up in the cockpit while you're flying?

he wasn't amused.

there was one time we were in the car at night and a gigantic praying mantis ended up in the car with us. since it was dark we didn't know what the hell we were dealing with haha. sebbaik tak eksiden.

update 9/3/13:

on my way downstairs in the middle of the night i saw a pair of thin antenna twitching at the staircase railing. you guessed it: encik lipas! a big one ok. huge! gross! *shudders just thinking about it*. i think i emptied half a bottle of ridsect to kill just one measly roach out of fright, it started flying the instant it got gassed. and i HATE the flying ones. nasib baik it didn't navigate its course towards me, i might've toppled down the stairs in fright @_@.

no mickey mouses here, although i did see a trap of some sort downstairs in the maids room. but i remember a few days ago my mil was complaining about squirrels literally pooping in the compound, so i guess we're catching that then? the housecat is as lazy as Garfield, minus the fatness.