Mother’s Day buffet

Posted in Good Things, Parenting, Family and Relationships by

Mr Husband brought the mother’s in his family for a buffet recently.

It was a high-tea spread at Grand Swiss-Belhotel Melaka. The promotion was good. Mothers eat free for each ‘1 paying adult’.

I loved the food options. There’s definitely something for everybody. The kids get balloons from the clown, and family members get to participate in the cake decorating competition. I loved my meal. My sister-in-law brought a birthday cake, and we celebrated my husband’s and his younger brother’s birthdays too.

Cake decorating by my niece with the help from her cousins

I used to celebrate Mother’s Day on my side of the family. Now that mom’s passed, the celebration carries on to my husband’s side of the family. Next month is Father’s Day. We would probably have a meal with papitos, and the father’s on my side of the family. We will see how it goes.

10K steps a day – walking the talk

Posted in All in a days work, Everyday Life by

It has been 14 days since the Sihat Itu Saya challenge started. I am in a group made up of 20 participants. On most days, I can contribute one star for the team with a minimum of 10K steps a day. Since my job is sedentary, my phone could only pick up fewer than 1K steps for the whole day. Sometimes it is as few as 500 steps. This means that I’ll need to do my own walking at home till I complete my target.

While on the walking pad, it had me thinking. Would 10K steps from physical activity be as beneficial as putting 10K on a focused brisk walking session?

Since my side quest of losing weight is ongoing, obviously, I’d want to indulge in activities that would keep my heart rate up. The plan was to ensure that I get a complete 10K on my walking pad regardless of how much I got while working. However, I realised that time is an important factor to consider. Will explain more on that later. So the plan now is just to top up my steps till 10K. The most I managed so far is up to 11K.

The top performers in my team were getting more than 20K per day. They jog, play badminton and are known to be very active physically. They are the biggest contributors to our ranks. Any steps above 10K are rewarded one star. However, it is the average step of each team that determines the ranking. Thus, getting ‘gold’ is possible, but for the top ranks, all team members need to be active. At the moment, we are still in the ranks of 130 to 150.

My Rico Rinaldi mini purse

Posted in Good Things, Online Store, Reviews by

I wanted to get this mini purse because it seemed convenient to bring something small in my workbag. Plus, the colours were cute, and the price was affordable. As usual, I would get extra for my sister and my younger sister-in-law. I browsed through my favourite shopping platform, SHOPEE, and selected a few colours. It comes in 8 different shades, and I chose Green, Moss Grey and Black. Mine was the MOSS GREY.

The TEO small wallet is priced at RM79 per unit, and it comes in this sturdy, unique maroon coloured box. Honestly, I was amused once the parcel came through. The TEO is truly mini and is meant for ladies who carry cards ONLY at one time. I tried to make my ringgit notes fit into the purse, and it came out funny on one side.

If I had waited a little bit longer, perhaps I would have purchased the Rimo small wallet instead. The Rimo has both a long and a small wallet. As for the latter, it has cash slots as well on top of the card slots. The small wallet seems to measure slightly bigger than TEO, with a price of RM 109 per unit. Since my Teo is still at its best, I’ll just keep an eye on Rico Rinaldi’s future collections.

Auditing your own marriage

Posted in Everyday Life, Parenting, Family and Relationships, Ponderings & Personal Development by

Once in a while, I come across a situation that makes me ponder the quality of my marriage. Effective communication has been an ongoing and recurring issue since we said our vows. It is a difficult habit to break as we walked into this with the usual;

  • He/she is independent and knows what to do
  • He/she would get why I am doing this
  • He/she does not need to know
  • He/she just wants some me time and to be left alone
  • He/she does not need my advice

The thing is, what might be OK before may not be OK now. However, since both parties are stubborn and not willing to sit down and go through the difficult conversation, the best bet is to just go through the days like normal. To be honest, I just do not have the energy to put myself first anymore. I am going to just do my best and entrust things to Allah’s will. I feel that patience is a virtue that I hope will be rewarded in the Hereafter.

Kings Green Hotel – a hotel near home offering a lifestyle membership

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

Initially, I booked a hotel in Putrajaya because we had a batch reunion at IOI. However, the venue was changed at the last minute because it felt wrong to be singing your heart out when a friend is in sorrow. Her son was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with a rare disease that caused multiple episodes of seizures and general body function. Since the new venue seemed a bit far off from what I am used to, I decided to cancel the booking. However, my daughter was already looking forward to a hotel stay that particular weekend, which is why I booked a place in Melaka itself, the Kings Green Hotel.

It is a 4-star boutique hotel situated in town. Check-in time was at 3 pm. Unfortunately, we were told that the next day, the water supply will be cut off by 10 AM due to some pipe work. I was a bit disappointed as that means that our little staycation will be cut short.

After lunch and a Super Mario movie at Aeon Mall, we drove our way to the hotel. I booked a Superior room that has 1 queen bed and 1 single bed. The rate was RM 154.62/night, including taxes and fees. This covers breakfast for 2. I paid an additional RM18 for my daughter’s breakfast. The usual amenities include Wi-Fi, a mini fridge, and beverages. Upon checking in, guests are required to pay a deposit of RM100. I thought it was quite a hefty amount for a deposit. To be honest, not many people carry that much cash around anymore. I transferred the money through their QR code, and I received my deposit back in cash on checking out.

The room was cosy, and most importantly, we saw so many dining promotions for the month of May.

Breakfast starts at 7 AM at the Hibiscus Cafe on the ground floor. The food selection, in my personal opinion, is alright. There’s a good balance between Western and Asian options. Especially with the price tag. If guests demand more, I think that would be out of touch. Having an omelette station and a coffee machine is good enough already. I really enjoyed my simple breakfast.

I saw that there is a pool, and I believe a gymnasium? I did not have enough time to check it out. It seems that the hotel offers a ‘lifestyle membership’ programme where members are eligible for some perks and vouchers. I read about it on their website. I suppose gym-goers would find it interesting, yes?

We enjoyed being in our cosy room a lot. The shower gel and shampoo have this pleasant scent that kind of reminds me of the ones they had at Limetree Hotel in Kuching. It was that nice. Overall, it was a great staycation in the city. We had dinner at Pak Putra Tandoori, which is less than 20 minutes drive away. Now I am browsing for other hotels in Melaka for our future staycation.