Category Archives: Everyday Life

A wedding weekend in Kuching

Posted in Good Things, Leisure & Travel by

It was my cousin’s wedding that weekend and he had extended his invitation at least 6 months before the date. I asked my husband if he wanted to come along but he said the Deepavali weekend was too short – so I went with my boyfriend. Kidding, I went with my sister and my dad.

I used Batik Airlines for this trip and I bought the ticket at least 2 months before the trip. It costs me a total of RM477.68 for the round tickets including all sorts of fees and charges. I had a 7kg hand carry allowance for the trip and that’s it. I did not buy extra cause I knew I wouldn’t have time to go shopping or anything.

Hence my carry-on bag was very light and minimal. I had to bring my laptop with me because I still have assignments pending submission. I deliberately bought this new backpack from Shopee. I believe it would be handy for someone taller cause, to be honest, it was quite bulky for a short lady like myself. It served its purpose but I am now left to contemplate whether I would like to use it for my upcoming MIRI trip.

I also bought the CUURA Travel pack. CUURA is a local brand and its skincare products are great. I bought the pack out of curiosity although I thought the price was quite steep. It was RM129.00 with a variety of petite products inside the plastic pouch. They could have gone for a more compact pouch although I understand that maybe they wanted other products to hop into the pouch during the travels. It is quite good as an introductory package as well for people who are CUURA-naive but if you intend to travel for more than 5 days, you would need backup. I was rationing mine. If they could market this for just under RM100, I think it would be great.

I only bought the essentials for my makeup as I knew no one would actually be that attentive towards me during the wedding. Plus, I intend to go light for my makeup on the plane. I bought two products from HYGR – a deodorant and a multipurpose lip balm in code Hibiscus. I thought it was a great local product to try and so with just the lip balm, I’ve got my eyeshadow, blusher and lipstick sorted. I brought with me Wawa Zainal’s mascara cause I loved its formula and then I packed together a mini Elianto perfume. I wore jeans with just enough tops for the stay including a set of Baju Kurung for the wedding reception. I did not bother with my shoes since the reception is in the masjid and we need to take off our shoes anyway once we are inside.

I stayed at my sister’s place the night before and my brother sent me to the airport the next morning. I had breakfast at KLIA1 minus the coffee because I fear I might pee too much. I had water instead. I checked in online the night before and since I did not want to risk it, I printed my electronic boarding pass as well. I could choose my seat when I checked in online but the only seat available for me was the 29F. LOL.

The flight from KLIA1 to Kuching International Airport took about 1 hour and 55 minutes. On arrival, I made the biggest rookie mistake. I took an unmetered taxi to Vivacity Shopping Mall which was less than 15 minutes away and was charged RM30 for the trip. My advice is to get a GRAB or a MAXIM. The MAXIM seems to be very responsive in Kuching. I used MAXIM for my trip from the mall to my hotel and later for my trip back to the airport.

TAKA PATISSERIE

Apart from lunch, my main objective going to Vivacity was to visit this bakery on the LG floor. I have seen it’s beautiful pastries on Instagram and I really wanted to try them. I have to say, the setup is so magnificent and the pastries were decently priced. The cakes were pretty and even normal pastries looked extravagant in the display cabinets. I ended up buying one of it’s speciality, the Sambal Laksa bun and a few others. I was tempted to get more but since I was planning to get coffee afterwards, I stopped myself from impulsive buying.

BING COFFEE, PADUNGAN

This is a very nostalgic cafe. I have been a fan of it since houseman-ship years. I really loved it’s chicken panini, cakes and coffee. I ordered the iced latte and the panini of course. I wanted to enjoy it in my hotel room which is just across the road. I like how the taste remains the same over the decades.

WEDDING

The wedding was held the next day at masjid Al-Abyad, Matang. We went there in my dad’s rented Pajero – man I hate the doors, it makes me claustrophobic because the only way for you to open the backseat door is for the front passenger to open theirs first. It was a seated wedding and I really loved the vibe of the wedding. I loved the food as well. It was also a very short and sweet ceremony. We arrived there by 1030am, ushered into the hall to our tables, he emcee made his opening speech at 11am, then the couple walked in, received some blessings, had their food, cut their cake and by the time it was 12pm, everything was done. Leaving just enough time for photos and the caterer to sort out the leftovers. We should do more itineraries like this. We were literally done by 1230pm.

When I reached the hotel, I actually managed to stop at Bing again to get coffee and cake. This time I settled on a caramel macchiato and a slice of carrot cake. It was delicious.

In my next entries, I will write about the hotel and what I ate whilst I was there.

Aircon servicing

Posted in Everyday Life by

It’s been a while since the air conditioning in one of my favourite rooms has been malfunctioning. The air is warm instead of cold. I enquired about a certain aircon servicing company the other day for a service on a Sunday – the one with good reviews – but they were closed. I respected that. Hence, I made another enquiry on a weekday and they accommodated the problem. However, the one I was in contact with – did ask if it was OK if they did it on a Friday afternoon instead of a Thursday. Since I did not want to make it an inconvenience for them. I obliged. On the notion that, “Kita mudahkan urusan orang, Allah mudahkan urusan kita”.

During the day itself, it was OK. The team was punctual and did their tasks swiftly. I even left them glowing reviews for their services. I had 4 airconditioners to be done – 3 for normal servicing and 1 with a major servicing. Might as well make their visit worthwhile.

A problem entailed afterwards. The air conditioner with the overhaul service had its lights blinking which is abnormal. It never does that before. I WA the contact person for aftersales enquiry and he/she kind of made a promise that he/she would personally come over the same day to have a look and get it sorted.

I WAITED AND WAITED AND WAITED WITH MANY AGITATIONS FOR THE WHOLE DAY BECAUSE I WAS UNSURE AT WHAT TIME THIS PERSON WILL TURN UP. I WAS ALSO IN THE MIDDLE OF DOING MY ASSIGNMENTS!

I sent this person a few WA messages afterwards to confirm whether he/she is coming. The person apologized and wanted to reschedule on Monday.

WHAT THE HELL, NO!! WHAT? NOW I HAVE TO ALWAYS SCHEDULE MY TIME AROUND YOURS IZZIT? YOU INGAT I FREE SANGAT KE?

Obviously, that was a monologue. I replied that I would be busy for the whole week (which I was because I was on call!) and that I would arrange another time. Perhaps out of guilt, this person then offered to have one of the staff to have a look at it after Maghrib’s prayers. That is to me, satu lagi kerja gila. Dah kenapa nak dtg rumah orang masa Maghrib.. kita bukan ada kenduri ke aper… I replied with a firm, NO.

And now I still have a malfunctioning air conditioner which is driving me nuts because it disrupts my ‘perfect life’ – my perfect home structure and all.

Raising a son – secondary school

Posted in Everyday Life by

When I was young, the only option I was presented and given was to enter a boarding school. My parents had faith in my intellectual ability to perform well in primary school and set me apart from other candidates to be considered for a place in one. Back then, I had no idea that the several extracurricular activities I participated in were part of the ‘points’ that would contribute towards the selection process. I honestly did it because I knew I could do it and it was fun. So there was me in a storytelling competition, choral speaking, ‘deklamasi sajak’ and traditional dance. Then there were the more ‘academic’ ones like spelling bee and maths quiz. I wasn’t good at sports though.

I sat for the UPSR. Had an IQ test done. Called for an interview. And then I was offered a place in Sekolah Tun Fatimah, a boarding school in Johor. I never set foot in any mainstream secondary school back then. Hence, it puzzles me as to why kids nowadays may need to attend their supposed secondary school first before knowing if they are selected for any other school of their choice. It disrupts leave taking plans for the parents and such.

I got to know of the term ‘feeder school’ lately. Primary schools feed their students to designated secondary schools. Therefore the first choice is always the said school whether the student like it or not. They can put in their preferred choices underneath the initial school. Obviously, schools with high academic performance with minimal social issues are popular and it could be tough trying to go in. Hence, for able students – most parents like myself would go for the obvious – choose boarding schools.

For our son, we applied for three different streams. The MRSM and Sekolah Khusus boarding schools as the first two and UKM Pintar.

Options for Sekolah Khusus

Admission to UKM Pintar is through a series of assessments and that is an ongoing process. I will write about that in a different post regardless of the outcome. As for the earlier two, it involves sending in an online application and then sitting for their respective exams. My son sat for Penilaian Kemasukan Sekolah Khusus (PKSK) a few weeks ago and soon there will be another assessment for the MRSM intake. There is another option for secondary schooling – home schooling. But I know I do not have the emotional capacity to undertake that one. I will leave that to the more capable parents.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for my son’s success. I hope he will be placed in a secondary educational centre that will give him good opportunities in the future.

Motherhood and creativity

Posted in Everyday Life, Parenting, Family and Relationships by

A fulfilling motherhood experience needs some form of creativity in place. Being creative does not mean sitting down with kids to do arts and crafts. That is only part of it. Creativity in motherhood means having the cognitive ability to solve a motherhood-related problem with solutions provided by their environment.

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rule The World

I am a firm believer of such especially if Mother-ing responsibilities fall on your shoulders more than your spouse. I am saying this motherhood has evolved so much over the years. It is not gender-specific anymore and we see more men taking on similar roles to nurture their children.

I feel that one of the most important aspects of creativity in Motherhood is providing the right nutrition for their children to grow up. Preparing a balanced yet interesting and tasty meal can be daunting for mothers who struggle to understand the food pyramid. In my clinical practice, I find that some mothers can formulate their own meal plans when we explain the core nutritional components that their children need. Very few need ‘spoon feeding’ into the exact meals they have to prepare.

Another aspect is in cultivating a child’s skill and building up their knowledge to get them ready to navigate the world.

A creative parental figure guides the child to solve their problems independently. Better still they could become the scaffolding support proposed by Vygotsky in his learning theories. I personally love Vygotsky’s theory as it makes sense to do such in raising children. Vygotsky’s theory of child development says that kids learn best through social interaction. They learn from being around people who know more than them, like parents, teachers, and friends.

Its main concepts include;

  1. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Kids have a range of things they can do on their own and things they can do with help. The zone in between is where they need a little support to learn and grow.
  2. Scaffolding: Adults can help kids by giving them hints, suggestions, and guidance. As kids get better at something, the support can be reduced over time.
  3. Language and Thought: Talking and interacting with others is important for kids’ thinking and learning. Language helps them understand and make sense of the world.
  4. Cultural Tools: Things like language, writing, and technology play a big role in how kids learn. They are tools that help kids solve problems and understand things better.

In a nutshell, Vygotsky’s theory shows that kids learn by being around others, getting help when needed, using language, and using cultural tools. It is a strong theory in childhood education and to me personally, in parenthood.

It’s good to prepare for motherhood. Even then, we don’t learn everything in one go. In fact, one can have up to 10 children but still struggle with it anyway. This brings on to my next observation of how mothers need to be open to lifelong learning. What you know about parenting 5 years ago may differ from what you need to know now. While it seemed OK to tie a misbehaving child to a tree 20 years ago but not socio-culturally relevant nowadays. In fact, it is deemed abusive in most communities nowadays.

Motherhood is simple if the plan is only to raise a child that is alive and breathing. It becomes more colourful and varied when you plan to prepare the kids for a world you envision them to live in, in the future.

Planning for a transition from primary to secondary school education

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I have no plans to have another baby because my kids are at an age where they have started school. I want to create an environment in the house that will cater to their studies and upcoming adolescent years. It is exhausting to go through their wardrobe and pick out clothes that no longer fit. Then packaged them nicely in the bag for donation or recycling. I want that part to happen less frequently so that I can focus on other things better – like having a personal space, becoming authentic, encouraging creativity, instilling human-ness etc.

Personally, I feel that is what parents should do in this world we are living in. Memanusiakan manusia. I know my son is capable of learning, memorizing and calculating the academic side of things. Furthermore, established schools are known to be successful in doing that due to the quality of syllabus and training of their tutors at school. I have no qualms about that. I should alongside that make sure that my son has positive values that are aligned into becoming first class citizens. To be kind, empathetic, respectful and religious in a non-threatening way. These traits need to come from home.

My son will start his secondary school education next year. Mr Husband and I have submitted our applications to a few MRSM-based and SBP schools. The school also encouraged their students to participate in UKM’s Sekolah Pintar online exams. This is our son’s 3rd year attempting the questions and he managed to secure an interview with them soon (UKM3). We have yet to be informed of the interview’s date but it requires the presence of parents as well. Perhaps they wanted to explore the student’s family background and get to know us better.

As a parent, I am happy for his achievements so far. Nevertheless, I am also nervous of what the future has in store for him.