Mama(n)datory

We pushed off to Sarawak Cultural Village on the very next morning after we've had our breakfast and a quick yoga session at the yoga studio (yes, Nanga Damai has a yoga studio with a breathtaking view! I love the fact that I'm able to still have a little bit of proper yoga practice during my trip, so thank you for booking this place, Mun)

Yoga studio in Nanga Damai. Image taken off it's website

We paid RM60~ for the entrance fee into Sarawak Cultural Village each. The fee is a little expensive to our agreement, for foreign tourists and even for us Malaysians. We were given a small (passport-like) book that has a map of the area and some information of each tribe in Sarawak.

Beautiful landscape overlooking mount Santubong in the beackground.

Bidayuh crossing

Entering the Iban longhouse

"Dulu bunuh orang, tengkoraknya dibawa balik, diraikan dan dipuja. Sekarang, bunuh orang terus masuk lokap!"

Sape done by the Penan tribe

Soothing sape music at the orang Ulu longhouse

Melanau Tallhouse

We ended our tour trough the Sarawak Cultural Village with a 40minutes cultural show in the amphitheater. All in all, it was definitely an amazing educational visit to get to know a little if not more about the backgrounds and history of Sarawak tribes and cultures. I used to always get confused with the tribes in Sarawak and Sabah back in high school so this is kind of a refresher on my poor knowledge of Malaysian history.

We decided to walk back to our homestay after spending the whole morning in the cultural village and a quick stop for lunch at the food court in Damai beach central. Somewhere in the midst of our journey, we stumbled upon a group of local boys enjoying their weekend off by the river. We decided to stop by for a little while to get some shade off the scorching hot sun and at the same time cringing ourselves watching the boys jumping off the cliff into a small lagoon-like in the middle of the river bathing pool - Pandalela's style. Salah terjun sikit memang flat jatuh atas batu!

Damai beach central right opposite the Cultural village where we had our lunch and dinner the previous night.

Walking towards Santubong National Park's entrance from the main road

We continued our journey towards our homestay but not forgetting to stop over at Santubong National Park for a little trekking adventure. Not that we're up to doing the difficult trails, nor that we're capable to do the advanced Santubong hiking; we decided to only do the shortest (15minutes) trail towards a small waterfall with a clear bathing pool. That'll do.

At the registration canteen.

Not in the best pair of shoes to go trekking. It wasn't even in our itinerary in the first place.

The clear bathing pool at the lowest part of the waterfall

We did not regret a single bit having to walk back to our homestay even in the middle of the sunny afternoon. We wouldn't even stumble upon these findings if we were to just take the car to and fro the cultural village and our homestay. Sometimes you just have to let loose a little and go off track from your plans to experience such things that you least expected. It was undeniably the most memorable and amazing experience we've had during our trip to Sarawak.Experiencing nature at its best.  No doubt.

When I think of Sarawak, I think of it's mix culture, kuih lapis, and laksa Sarawak. Oh and definitely midin. Midin's my top favorite.

Little did I know that there's more than that to Sarawak.

The museums, cat statues, the untouched nature, gula apong ice cream, mee kolok, beautiful mosques, the toll-free streets, the friendliness even those with full-on tattoo (I mean tbh yes, I'm always scared of people with big inks all over their skin, I just have the feeling that they're bad people. Sorry) etc.

Who would have thought, I fell in love with Sarawak unlike what (almost) everyone has been telling me "there's nothing much in Sarawak. You'll get bored of it pretty much soon."

Barely made it!

We barely made it for our 940am flight that Saturday morning. My friend, Mun accidentally overslept - what supposed to be a 7am pick-up was dragged to 8.15am, which led us to only arrive at the airport at almost 9 in the morning. Dropped our luggage at the counter and rushed straight towards the boarding gate (5minutes in, we were already being called to board). But still, sempat lah juga duduk kedai kopi opposite boarding gate tu for a shared cup of coffee and sandwiches. Suka hati.

Yes, squeezed in minutes for quick coffee and sandwich before boarding.

We were lucky that once we arrived in Kuching, we found out that there was Regatta being held in town. Not that we're a big fan of it, but we would not want to miss experiencing it either.

My first mee kolok. It was ok I guess. Not to my interest.

It was a scorching hot afternoon in Kuching. We stopped over at Kampung Gersik to have lunch whilst enjoying the dragon boat race. We also went to Mira Cake House for kek lapis and I was surprised to see the variety of layer cakes they have, like ati parek and even kek lapis belacan!

I'm not a big fan of layer cakes or even fruit cakes to begin with so I only tasted a few and did not buy any to bring home unlike Mun who immediately bought I don't know, 3 types of cakes?

It was then time to leave for Santubong. Yes, our main destination here in Sarawak is actually to escape the hustling city towards the nature in Santubong. And I kid you not, it was the best decision ever! Santubong is definitely a gem, a good change of environment to be in every once in a while.

Santubong - such a beauty!

We checked into Nanga Damai Homestay in Santubong located just minutes away from Damai beach. The room we stayed in was like a small cottage, with a small balcony overlooking the stream coming direct from the mountain. A perfect two-nights stay to be close to nature!

Nanga Damai Homestay

The stream next to our room

More on Santubong in the next post!

My second born - Sofia has some funky looking scales on the top of her head ever since she came out of me. Cradle cap it was, and still having it now at almost 2 years of age.

It never really went away since then. I thought it was partly due to her minor eczema when she was an infant, where she suffered burnt-like rashes and dry-peeling skin over her cheeks and chin (which I then initially assumed it was just milk rash). Eczema could possible be one of the cause and some says it could be a fungal condition related to dairy intolerance. I've mentioned it to the doctor a number of times, but she didn't seem to be worried and asked me to not bother about it too much. Apparently, toddlers with cradle cap is normal. 0_o

The top part of her head kind of look a little like this - dry flaky scalp Source : Google / Snotty-noses

Toddler cradle cap is a type of seborrhoeic dermatitis where the sebaceous glands in the skin makes greasy substance called as sebum, which helps make the skin waterproof. Kind of like wax spread on over shoes to make it waterproof (I watched this on Nifty Craft).

But the overproduced sebum traps the skin that constantly flakes. This is why it tends to look scaly. It looks similar to crusting patches of dry and flaky dandruff.

It usually goes away on its own over time although I am not sure when will it finally be gone from (only) the top part of her head. For the time being the measures I take in treating her flaky scalp is by  gaping her hairwash to  every 3 days, and making sure there's no shampoo residue left on her after each wash. I sometimes do gently peel off the flakes while stroking her to sleep. Itchy hands, excuse me.

Those having prolong cradle cap may go on to have other rashes such as eczema, and even dandruff because the sebaceous glands makes more sebum than is needed. There's no exact treatment to it I guess, because one can only remove the scaly flakes, but is not able to control to stop the glands from making excessive oil.

Or maybe a good diet may help?
I am going to google more on it and bring up the matter on my next visit to the doctor.

I made myself jog around the neighborhood last Sunday evening. It was just a little less than 1km to complete a full round (yes, my neighborhood is such a small community) so I pushed myself to try doing at least two rounds.

I managed to do only one and a half round (that's about 1.5km on my first jog ever this year) before hopping into the car with my husband and kids to the playground in the next housing area.

I did another (I assumed) 200m run at the playground before calling it quits. Not bad for a first jog, eh? Some quality time with the kids seemed to be more interesting there and then so I did just that.

I am currently itching to go for another run in this gloomy weather but I got to sit my kids at home, so yoga is the only option I have at the moment.

I can say that I am stretching better now. I am more balanced physically and mentally too, although still far from perfect. Kind of getting more and more addicted to yoga each day to be honest - a session in the morning and another session in the evening in between my daily chores and activities.

Practice. Practice. Practice.
Well, it surely gets better with constant practice, yes?

I now need to get myself a sport arm band soon so I could track my run and monitor my heart rate and whatnots. Garmin is just out of my budget right now, just apps on my phone will do.

Source : Google

True confessions..

• I used to think of yoga just as a stretching exercise along with a little meditation.
• I also thought that people who does yoga are flexible, and I am far (with a capital F.A.R) from it.

Not very yogic of me, I know.

Since I've bought some new workout gears the other day and have yet to use it (because I have been procrastinating to start any kinds of exercises), I finally decided to make a commitment to practice yoga daily (if permits) starting just a few days ago. Keyword : discipline. I feel like I need to do something good for my soul - which I don’t nurture as often as I’d like - so I decided to challenge myself to become a yogini and hoping I could really fit it into my life forever. In shaa Allah.

Source : Google/Home of Yoga New Farm

Many people think that they need to be flexible to begin yoga (so I thought too). As I've mentioned, I am far from flexible. I can barely straighten my legs up in the air nor to touch down my toes. I don't balance well too, both physically and mentally.

It was definitely hard and uncomfortable for the first few tries as I was also clueless about the whole yoga terms and poses. I even had difficulties to really clear off my mind to just focus on connecting my mental, physical and emotional being. Kids screaming around and going underneath me whilst I do my plank is of no great help either. I mean I know now I really should prepare a proper yoga space at home and find myself the perfect peaceful time to really get myself be in the zone. But whatever and however it is that I do yoga now will suffice for the moment. At least I've started doing and committing to it for a start.

Yoga is not a destination. It's a journey, a long one to be honest. I still find it hard at the beginning of each session and my body is still stiff as a log but once I started to feel the whole aura, the enthusiasm is there for me to not stop practicing it. I find that yoga actually helps me to connect my body and mind to the rhythm of my breath. It makes me feel good and more at peace (even while sweating buckets). I sure need a whole load of practice to master it!

Truthfully speaking, yoga has definitely changed my perception. So here's a promise to continue challenging myself to commit to this practice. I hope yoga will soon bring a great sense of peace to my life, along with the physical benefits of muscle strength, respiratory health, and improved flexibility - both body and mind.

Now on to the yoga mat!

It is day three.

Today's the peak, but I can safely say the blisters are on the average throughout her whole body.
Nothing too extreme, Alhamdulillah.

Taking care of a child who has chicken pox isn't difficult. Pity, yes, especially when she feels the itch and stings of the blisters.

Here's how/what I do to treat her pox.

The pox essentials

The antiviral - Zorax Suspension
Myth : You don't need medication, the pox will come out naturally on it's own. You're blocking in the virus if you consume this.
Truth : It helps to moderate the pox, helps to kill the virus within. Lessen the probability of the virus to pass on to someone else.

Soothing lotion - Calamine
Helps to reduce the itch and stings.

PCM and Ibuprofen (on standby)
PCM or Paracetamol if she develops fever, but thankfully she didn't. Ibuprofen to treat a higher grade fever.

Oral aid lotion
Drops to kill the blisters in her mouth.

Loads of H2o.

Diet. What diet?
There's no restriction to food (unlike what many people believed in - no seafood, no eggs, no chicken, no soy sauce etc). I let her eat whatever she feels like eating. My doctor told me the same too - tak ada pantang larang makanan. To each its own - if you develop any allergies, that's just your reaction againts it and not anybody else. (To be honest, I was the same during my confinement. I just eat what I want, moderately, even with the c-sec/epi stitches. Alhamdulillah I did ok and still am)

And shower regularly, just as normal days. You don't have to skip any, fearing it'll itch more or it'll worsen the blisters or it'll leave ugly scars. Let your child take her showers, care for your child's hygiene and it actually helps to sooth the itch.

Doa banyak-banyak anak cepat sembuh dan tak develop any other worse illness in the future. Doa ibu, doa mustajab yang dikabulkan Allah SWT. In shaa Allah.

Of course you may try other ways people normally do - minum air kelapa, mandi daun semambu (pokok semambu ada besar tinggi depan pagar rumah ni) dan lain-lain untuk pulihkan chicken pox atau cacar air ni. I just don't want to overdo it, I think what I'm doing is good enough since she seems to be doing fine with it.

Can't wait for her to be free from pox. We're going bowling!

I thought we are done with the chicken pox virus in the house. I thought wrong.

Mayesa has been telling me about her itchy and stingy tongue for the past couple of days, and I thought it was from the seafood dinner we had the other night. I thought wrong, again.

I cleaned up the room she slept in since there were a few black ants on the floor from her night-snacking in bed the other night. Whilst I was dressing her up yesterday, I saw a few red spots on her arms and body. Thought it was the ants. I thought wrong, once more.

This morning, I had a sudden curiosity to do a body check on her before she showers. Those red spots are now blisters, with few more popping up. Oh my god. I freaked out a little.

Just because she freaked out first when I told her "I think you're having chicken pox, just like papa did last two weeks". She was so upset that she cried out "but princess does not have chicken pox!".

Eeeh anak dara seorang ni kan. I just had to console her a little giving her a little pep talk about princesses do have illnesses too and how one should really take care of ones health etc, and luckily she immediately calmed down.

"Mayesa tak boleh keluar jalan lah macam tu? So boring mama."
"But now you can kind of be a 'princess', just stay in bed and mama even serve you food and drinks here, too."
"No mama, I'm a chicken now."

Source: Google/DeviantArt

She's currently in the second bedroom; resting with her iPad for some entertainment, and a bowl of honey stars by her side. She insisted to just stay in, hoping to not transfer the virus to her little sister. Such a loving doll, my firstborn.

"I'll make you porridge for lunch ok kakak?"
"Ok mama, tapi mama tak payah masak. I just want bubur McD mama, that one is good enough."

Mehh.
Ok.

With Halloween over few days ago, people are now looking forward to the next holiday - Thanksgiving and Christmas. But apart from the holiday season, lets not forget about the season we are currently in right now in Malaysia - monsoon/rainy season. Yes, we do have seasons too in Malaysia, didn't you know?

Rugi siapa yang tak suka makan ni. Nampak pucat, sebab gula dekat bawah.

This isn't my first time making sago gula melaka, but it's definitely the first time sago jadi cantik sebutir-sebutir macam ni.

Noob.

I've finally corrected my method untuk dapatkan kejadian biji sago tu cantik macam tu. Tips dia..bawah resepi ni:

Bahan-bahan (2-3 serving):
200g Biji sago
1 ketul Gula melaka
100ml Santan
Garam

Cara-cara:

• Sago

1. Rebus biji sago.
2. Dah agak jernih biji sago, tos kan. 

• Air gula

1. Larutkan gula melaka dengan sedikit air atas api kecil.

• Santan

1. Masak pati santan dengan sedikit garam atas api kecil.
2. Tambah sedikit air kalau terlalu pekat.

*Masa rebus biji sago tu, air kena banyak, dan kena sentiasa kacau supaya biji sago tak melekat.
*Biji sago dah jernih, toskan dan basuh (sambil tos/tapis tu) bawah air paip sampai hilang lendir-lendir sago tu. Confirm biji sago jadi butir cantik!

I just turned 32.

To be honest, I can't even remember how old I am that I had to actually do a little math to have it figured out. I even double confirmed my age with my husband, who's the same age as I am (now did you know we were actually classmates in primary 1, seated next to each other in class? o_0 I'll spill on this a little later)

Had a little celebration with my two daughters the night before, and another little celebration together with my husband (who's now free from pox, not yet the scars) and my parents-in-law.
That was it.
No big celebration, no hu-ha.

I got myself a bag..well actually husband got it for me ;)

I suppose when you get to this age, you wouldn't mind about not having any parties. An intimate small gathering with your loved ones is all you need. Hassle-free.

I am now 32. Two daughters came out of me; one from a C-section while the other a vbac. Turning 32 is taking quite a toll on me, truthfully speaking. I have crows feet at the corner of my eyes when I smile, eyebags are as expensive as Prada. My baby belly is probably going to be here forever if I really continue to not put any effort to make it go away, what more the stretch marks. Grey hairs are making their way to shine more on top of my head, and my boobs are out of shape thanks to almost 4 years of direct breastfeeding both daughters. And just about anything you may think of an old fart, that is how I am right now, no joke.

Not going to lie, I do feel a little down with the lost of my youth. I am indeed youth-less. I can't even put myself to dress nicely - everything I wear now is just jeans and loose t-shirts and sweaters. Frumpy.

But I'm not going to chow down the age-factor just like that. I realized ageing and motherhood can't and wont take everything out of me (motherhood is the best I swear!, minus the excessive tiredness at times).

Age with grace.

That's my goal right now.

I'm not here just to look good to please other people more than I please myself. I got to be comfortable in my own skin, however and whichever way I'd dress myself, it is to satisfy my own self.

Therefore I've finally made a promise to start taking a better care of myself. Health, mainly.

To start off, I've started taking health supplements to boost my overall being. Next up is to start exercising, which I always seem to avoid doing. Since my husband is a personal trainer (has been for the longest time), having a wife who barely does any workout ticked him off most of the time. LOL.

I've bought my gears. Since I'm always on my feet managing the kids and the household, just thinking about starting an exercise routine is like a torturous thing to do to my body. Buat rasa nak muntah, nak pengsan.

I promise I'll start soon.
And I promise I'll start on the healthy eating habit next too (which is the most difficult thing for me to do, omg)

Or perhaps I should just put those on 2018 new year's resolution list, instead of now, no?

I have amazing families, a loving husband and two daughters whom came out of me that are worth more than a gazillion wrinkles, stretch marks and even grey hairs. So why worry much? I'm going to just take one step at a time, at a slow pace if I really have to. I'll just embrace everything that I have now, and just be grateful with what Allah has bestowed upon me and enjoy life to the fullest.