A one night stay at Dorsett Putrajaya

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by Minci 先生

I love staycations. Especially when we landed on a bargain for a hotel room or an experience. Last weekend, it was my moms 60th birthday. After the feast I decided to check into DORSETT PUTRAJAYA hotel overnight based on its location near Masjid Besi and the Food Truck Area in Putrajaya.

Hotel parking was adequate. FREE of course. Reception was friendly. Room was spacious. Breakfast was a delight. I love how they give you mug options for your coffee. Cause mom’s ain’t gonna have enough of caffeine in those eeenny meeeenyyy white cuppas. Ee’s breakfast rate was RM25.

I booked a Deluxe Room with balcony for a night through Agoda.com and it was RM210.00 including service tax and fee. My room comes with a nice view, free WIFI, complimentary breakfast for 2, coffee. tea and 2 bottles of drinking water. There is an in room iron with board, hairdryer, bath robes with slippers and alhamdulilah a prayer mat. It’s those little touches that make your stay wonderful.

The bathroom had no bath tub but it was fine. The toiletries were cute. I had to try the shampoo and conditioner. It smelt like Lemongrass.

The hotel has an infinity swimming pool and gym on the top floor. The pool is open from 7AM to 7PM whilst the gym is open for 24 hours. The hotel was initially conjoined with a shopping mall but we noticed that only the main supermarket and a few eateries are open. I am not quite sure what happened to the rest of the business premises. The mall looked haunted. Such a waste of space and facilities. I really hope that Waterfront Hotel in Kuching would not suffer from a similar fate.

The scene outside at the balcony in the night was really really beautiful. I could stare at the mosque all night. We had dinner at the food truck area. The options were alright and they had a sitting area too for you to eat your meals. It’s like an open air foodcourt cuma yg berjualnya guna truck. We had western food – spaghetti aglio olio and carbonara with iced milk tea.

I would book a room here again if I had any business going on in Putrajaya. The location is calm. There is not much traffic for a weekend staycation. You could even get involved in healthy activities like walking or cycling.

Upon completion of my stay here, I received an automated email saying that I am now a member of Dorsett Loyalty Rewards programme. This entitles me to exclusive member benefits etc. Will explore on that later.

30Jul2019

The perfect path by Allah. You just need to find it. And pray that you find it.

Posted in Everyday Life, Ponderings & Personal Development by Minci 先生

I believe that there is always A Reason For Everything. That we are here for a bigger purpose. For a certain purpose. It’s Qada’ and Qadar. It’s the Circle of Life to some. These demonstrations of Power and Knowing All from Allah comes in simple ways and sometimes it comes by in a difficult scenario.

The Attire

Once, my mom gave me this beautiful green top from Indonesia, a colour that I may not choose for myself but willing to wear if its a gift from someone. Just a blouse waiting to match with a proper bottom and headscarf. It turns out that I already have the other 2 items randomly matched to other pieces of clothing in my wardrobe.I then realize that when this particular outfit was put together, it came out to be a perfect attire. Despite the scarf was something I bought a year ago and the pants, a choice I’ve had since my maternity days – when the time is right, these clothings served as the perfect choice for the blouse at that given moment.

While on its own with different dressing combinations, the headscarf may not appear outstanding. However with time and the correct moment, it changes its fate to become a must item for the new attire with the green top as they go so well with each other. So I trust that if now I feel useless, less successful as compared to my colleagues, with time I will blossom to the purpose I am meant to be. Until then, I should persevere, work hard , pray and trust Allah.

The Cesarean section

A pregnant lady had an immunocompromised condition. Under unclear circumstances, she was not the best high risk pregnant patient as she frequently defaulted appointments with her designated midwife . It comes to a point where she falsified some of her medical details in her antenatal book which unfortunately to the unknown, she appeared as another normal pregnant lady.

One day she went into early labor and went to the nearest clinic. The medical staff at this rural clinic had no idea she was a high risk patient and trusted the records completely on what was written in her book. They managed her accordingly and she was sent to the tertiary centre for further care. We have no idea what the intentions of this lady is but Allah was Kind and Most Merciful to the medical staff and also the baby. There was an indication for an emergency cesarean section and the baby came out safely.

It was only later that a close friend of hers disclosed to the nursing staff that she was immunocompromised which means medical staff needs to practice strict universal precaution on top implementing specific standard of care towards high risk patients. Of course investigations into the matter ensued but what intrigued me more was the fact that Allah knows best and that He made it possible to protect everyone including the newborn baby who was involved with the delivery.

Over Sea

My uncle who was stricken by renal cancer with metastases just passed away . He was in Sarawak. His brother, my father is 620 miles away in Selangor. If he had passed more than 3 years ago, I don’t think my parents would be able to fly back to Kuching and attend the funeral in such short notice.

However, they were able to do that today as they learnt the death of my uncle at 715PM and boarded the flight at 900PM using MAS Airlines. How was it possible? Because they had a son in law K, who works there, in MAS for the past 1 year . K’s story of how he ended there was not straight forward. Nor was the story of how he became my brother in law as he fought for his love (my sister) despite the many objections from both sides of the family. His life was full of trials and tribulations since he was very young. He is now stable and is serving well in MAS and to both of my parents. Because he works with MAS, he and his family were entitled to certain benefits and privileges. Amongst them, cheaper flight tickets.. and that was what my parents get to benefit from as well.

Allah has planned it so well to get the family to come together and love one another. Who would have thought that my brother in law would work with MAS one day as one of the ground staffs. But he did. For he worked hard. He prayed harder and asked from Allah good things. Best things in life. And the best plan of it all was that the timing of his death was on where the next day it is a public holiday. Hence my dad need not to worry about requesting leave from his superiors.

We need to sangka baik with Allah. For we know we are already given a head start to put one foot in heaven because we believe in HIM. We just need to prove that we are worth His Love and Trust, and that we could swing the other foot into heaven by doing good deeds in this life. Trust His plans. It is the most complete, the best path and personalized for each and everyone of us.

25Jul2019

doTERRA (Malaysia) – beneficial or placebo. Thinking of getting on the LRP?

Posted in doTERRA, Good Things, Reviews by Minci 先生

I have been using doTERRA Touch Peppermint quite a lot recently at work. My intrigued colleague who was sharing the work desk hence asked whether I think essential oils has a therapeutic effect or just a placebo.

I told him that I believe there is a biochemistry pathway as to how these oils work, only we haven’t got enough research or trials to measure its effectiveness. Which results in us, healthcare professionals not being able to endorse it as having medicinal properties to cure a certain ailment. And as we all know, testimonies are the lowest form of evidence in science although ironically, in modern society, it ranks the highest.

I am convinced of such pathways (existing benefits) because of two scenarios I’ve experienced in my life.

We puke when we smell something putrid. The sense of smell sends signals to the brain causing our body to react accordingly. The free smell of Famous Amos makes you salivate and want a cookie. And maybe the smell of some other substance will make you feel full and not hungry. Hence, diffusing oils makes sense to me.
When a patient has paraquat poisoning, we remove every single clothing from the patient and wash him/her with enough soap and water. We also protect ourselves by wearing appropriate barrier clothing. It is because the poison exerts its effects in such a way that if you have enough paraquat on your skin and is absorbed through the layers, it can shut down the whole bodily system. Therefore, topical application makes sense to me. I take note on the caution to dilute the oils when used in certain age groups and am keen to understand the layering method. I wish hard to find a class (locally) where I can learn about Aromatouch massage techniques.

I am very particular on which oils I take internally because for me Natural is not always safe. Unless they’re from credible sources. I mean, if you were lost in a jungle, are you confident to eat every single fruit/leaf there just because it’s natural? Tak kan.. so we should use the same approach for oils. Yes, I know that the plants of which we extract the oils from are not alien or less than strange but still, until thorough research is done, as a person trained in medicine and does not wish for my licenses to be revoked, I would really like to know its Therapeutic Index. We will get there one day, doTERRA! I believe in you!

So far, I feel safe ingesting the citrus groups. I have no qualms when it comes to putting a drop of lemon in my tea. Or grapefruit in my drinking water. What more wild orange in my hot chocolate. But I am a bit wary of oils I am not familiar with. So I take a step back, read a bit and make an informed choice. Perhaps later, I will gain confidence to try the others.

I AM ON THE LOYALTY REWARDS PROGRAMME (LRP)

Next month is my birthday and since I am a member on the Loyalty Rewards Programme (LRP), I cannot wait to redeem my free birthday oil. I hope it is a good one. 10 months into doTERRA, I do feel that it has brought on significant changes to my life. Despite the many perceptions that it is expensive,to me it is a long term investment for ones health. If you know how to manipulate your LRP and purchases, you can actually save a lot over the months and gradually years. Even if you spend less than RM250 per month, or RM50.. on the LRP programme, you can still gather the rewards.

Take a look at these oils from my personal collection.

Each oil here cost less than RM100, a few less than RM50. I can actually be on the LRP programme and 50PV worth of oils monthly to get at least 10% back in product points from my purchase, which I can collect and redeem within a year to get free oils. The maximum percent I can get back is 30% and that is worth a lot of oils.

1 PV = USD 1. So, if you convert in RM, that’ll be about RM 4? So, here comes the catch.

WHATS THE CATCH?

I must buy something every month. At least just above RM200 to grow my percentage. But if I do not have a budget for that month, I can keep the account active by buying something less than 50PV. Consequently, my points would not ‘mature’ but if say, I am already at a 20% priviledge, at least that is maintained and kept on hold. My previous PV points accrued are also maintained. I get to collect more points and go up my percentage once I begin to purchase at 50PV (minimum) again.
You can only max out to 30% of credit points. And to collect PV, your expenditures per month still need to be above 50PV. So be prepared to fork out at least RM250 per month cause shipping is a flat rate of RM15. Unless, you choose pickup option at the centre.
I will receive a package every month and thankfully the packaging has become more eco-friendly. So rumah tak semak dengan kotak.
If budget is a factor, I must be very patient as I buy these oils bit by bit every month just so I could use them. But fret not, if you have Speedy, ‘Greedy’ friends like Yours Truly, you can ask from me for samples. Knowing myself, memang akan bagi punya. Ha ha

I am currently curating my LRP order for August. I have just a few points under 100PV to finish off and I am thinking of getting a Jasmine DT roller for my point redemption items. It’s one of those expensive ones. LOL. I just wish doTERRA would have more diffusers. Especially the cute ones for kids bedroom. At a reasonable price! I would definitely buy one. Or two. Maybe 3. he he

If you need a one to one consult, send me an email at yasmin0508@gmail.com. I advocate in Melaka, Selangor and occasionally Kuching. If you live elsewhere, I can help you connect with a fellow advocate near your respective locations. Or if you’re like me, who may prefer to explore at your own pace and enroll yourself, do use my personal link. And later if you want to keep in touch and want me to guide you, you can also drop me an email.

InsyaAllah you will never go wrong with doTERRA.

19Jul2019

I had my Nothing Day today

Posted in Books, Everyday Life, Movie by Minci 先生

A Nothing Day. As inspired by Vivy Yusof.

It was a last minute break from work. A friend told me that no one was taking leave as per roster and since the seating arrangements for the medical officers can be a bit of a haywire nowadays, I decided to remove myself from the equation. My leave was granted.

So I started my morning by sending my toddler to daycare. Yes, go ahead, judge me. Then I spent my quiet morning in McDonalds having breakfast. A chicken porridge, an iced caramel latte and an apple pie. This McD outlet adopted the new system of ordering and I was a bit lost. Thankfully, there were not a lot of people yet. In a way, I managed to navigate my way through the system. Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy. I paid for my meal in cash and paid at the counter and since I chose a table number – all I had to do was wait for my order to be delivered to my table. At least, that was how the outlet manager taught me. It felt like a personalised tutorial. Lol. I did People Watching while having my breakfast.

After that, I made my way to the ASB bank. I registered myself on the portal using one of the kiosk in the bank. I updated my data and personal details, checked my balance and withdrew some money. For a big purchase.

Which is a new laptop. My current LENOVO laptop is fine. I just needed something smaller for portability so I could keep my writing momentum going. I have lost quite a few ideas along the years and I hope that the ones I have now can be developed, expanded, written down and polished to a quality I hope would be worth to be submitted as a manuscript. So I got myself an Acer Aspire 3. kira oklah.. crossing my fingers for the best.

This Acer is also easier to bring around when I share about doTERRA outside my home especially when I need to show digital files and stuff. Of course I have my material on my phone too but having a laptop makes sharing sessions appear more sleek and professional. I guess. Ha ha.

I fetched my son on time from school, made him lunch and surprise surprise Mr Husband came home for his lunch break too. I am thankful that he bought extra chicken for our meals. His favourite chicken, Uncle Jack.

Once Mr Husband goes off to work, Ee and I went to the cinema to watch Lion King. we both enjoyed it a lot. Then we stopped by the bookstore, Popular. Ee bought a comic book, I bought 4 books as well. God knows when I will finish my eternally growing reading list. Ha ha. I fancy the idea of reading a lot but the mental stamina to be focused dwindles with time. Perhaps, I should re-enact the idea of setting up my proper mini library soon.

Once we were done, we went to fetch Ninie from the daycare and spent the last hours of the evening in our Activity Area in the house ( which has become an unofficial storage space for the time being) reading books, playing with their toys and me drafting this entry for my blog.

I am very grateful for my Nothing Days. It wasn’t a pure Nothing Day as I still have my kids lingering with me but those few hours in the morning of me alone was bliss. If I had a few more hours I could have made that trip to the hair salon or a foot massage. Of course, I still get watsapp messages from work but it was still OK. Alhamdulilah. Do you have Nothing Days too? What do you do on those days? How was it? Share with me..

14Jul2019

All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

Posted in Everyday Life by Minci 先生

After 6 months of swimming classes, my son is finally able to swim from one end of the pool to another without using a float. His journey, and us as parents was not easy. His struggle was to keep practising. Our role was to make sure that he is consistent in going to his classes and persistent in moments when he does not want to swim.

I still believe in some of the traditional ways of raising your children. Which includes not giving in too much into his choices. Cause his choices can be bad for his future. I don’t spank or hit my kid but I raise and harden my voice, a lot. I don’t yell. I just give out verbal threats. Things like,

“if you don’t change into your swimming gear now, I will STILL bring you to your swimming class in those Pokemon pajamas ..”

and I would just stand there, stare him down whilst he cry his eyeballs out. It was hard not to give in but I had to make my stand. He caved in and packed his suit and like most kids, you just need to give them the early motivation, within minutes they already enjoy the class and wants to attend the next one.

But to be honest, the same cycle of ‘I don’t want to go‘ will start all over again.

I did try to explore the reasons of why he refuses to go to class. Some of his reasons include;

he doesn’t have any friends that he know during those sessions. I told him to make new friends. I also understand that he would feel a bit different there as there are very few Malays but I wanted him to know, mix and talk to other non-Malay Malaysians for exposure.
he was worried that he couldn’t catch up. I told him he does not need to get everything right and perfect in one go – all I wanted for him is to try and give his best.
it’s cold in the water. I told him that he needs to eat more then, so he would bulk up and stand the temperature of the water better. I make him drink at least 2 glasses of milk everyday, 3 glasses on a weekend. He is gaining weight and getting taller. Not so much of body fat. haha

I enrolled him in the unlimited class options for RM700 over 6 months. Prior to that huge monetary commitment, I signed him up to the trial class to see if it would suit him. That was 4 classes at RM120. I have not been able to send him there on a daily basis but we make do with the flexibility in terms of timing the sessions on weekends.

I told him that he can stop the classes once he masters the strokes and has advanced to the deeper end of the pool. But his learning journey will not stop there. Once this skill station is done, we are sending him to a language class. It will be up to him then which language he would like to learn.

Minci Moss

Building a life I love

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