Mama(n)datory: August 2018

Sofia got discharged from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Alhamdulillah she recovers pretty well, except that she's still with a slightly sensitive bowel. She's lost some weight, definitely but I'm glad and grateful that she's back to her normal cheeky self once again.

Today is our 61st Independence Day; another long weekend out of school for Mayesa. We are currently on a 5-hour train ride to Alor Star to attend a relative's wedding ceremony that's happening tomorrow night.

Been awhile since I last stepped foot in Alor Star - mom's kampung. The last time was..urmmm..I think it was 4 years ago for a short raya trip.

So let's see what Alor Star will be like this time.

Loqstaq kami maiiiii.

No comments

Here we are, in the ward of Ramsay Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya. I'm resting (and blogging when I should just use this time to get a nap) on the single sofabed while Sofia's napping on her hospital bed.

Ramsay's wasn't our first choice last night though. Our family doctor referred us to DEMC (now known as Avicena?) but as I was about to register I was told that they don't have anymore available wards that night. Ramsay's was our next choice since it's a bigger hospital so the probability of being rejected for admission is lesser. Alhamdulillah thankfully we got her a room here.

We just moved about an hour ago to this single-bedded room from a previous twin-bedded. Couldn't get one last night as we checked her in quite late at night at around 9.30 and was only given a sharing room by midnight.

Because we're using our Prudential Takaful insurance, they booked us on the next available single room for the very next day so here we are.

Sofia's diagnosed with a viral infection. Not a case of food poisoning, not even precisely rotavirus. She does not have diarrhea, nor fever; Only a bad case of purging - what goes in, comes back out.

She was rather lathergic that night, vomitting bile every 20 mins from an empty stomach, since her last fed at 4.30 in the evening. Dehydrated too, and she totally wasn't her cheeky naughty self. She didn't even bother meeting the doctor like she always do. It's like she surrendered herself. Just do what you got to do doctor - she couldn't even lift a finger nor open her eyes and mouth big. That weak.

She's getting a lot better now after 3 bottles of drips, and few bites and sips that she now managed to well swallowed in. Still sleeps a lot though, the aftermath of purging - exhaustion.

Hopefully she's back to her normal self soonest. Can't bear looking at her like this, it definitely breaks my heart into pieces.

Get well soon, my cheeky copia!

No comments

We took the trip in March, and here I am only documenting it now in late August.
Bear with this mama, as I try to remember some if not all details of the trip we had.

It was time for our annual family vacation. Most couldn't make it due to work and school commitments. Some were reluctant to join just because "What's in Bogor? Golf and more golf?"

Ahh you see, I don't quite mind if the parents chose this particular destination for their golfing game. Ok I lied, a little. I do slightly mind - it's a family vacation, you'd expect the destination slash activities would benefit the whole group to do it as one, and not the other way around. But oh well, even if they'd be gone for their game every morning every day we're there, they will be back just in time to join us for the rest of the day(s) so I am still up for it to be a possible family vacation. Positive. Enjoy every moment you can, with or without.

We board on the Malaysia Airlines' flight from KLIA towards Jakarta that very morning and roamed around J-Town for lunch at Sederhana, a quick stopover at Blok M mall to get some telekung for those back at home and hours spent at Pasar Mayestik to get unplanned materials for our raya outfits.

Kids busy browsing raya materials at one of the shops in Mayestik.

The journey took us about +- 2 hours from Jakarta to Bogor that late evening, and we arrived just about time for dinner so we made another stop at one of the Sundanese restaurant named Gili-Gili before continuing to our final stop of the day, the hotel.

We checked into Hotel Royal Padjajaran for our 3 nights stay in Bogor. It was a long day of travelling, so everyone zonked out soon after.

This trip was merely focused on the kids. So what's a kids holiday without a trip to see the animals? So we did just that on the very next day - to Kuntum Farmfield right after breakfast.

Mama scared of animals, mama don't want to be too near.

There's a video of our trip in Kuntum Farmfield, shot by Mayesa. In fact she shot snippets of the whole trip we had in Bogor, youtuber-style. View it on my instagram if you care.

We had nasi padang again for lunch, this time at another restaurant nearby to the hotel. Remaining daylight was spent at the hotel - kids dipping in the pool and at the playground. Easy kids vacation, ey?

Kids council meeting

I went out that evening with my sister-in-law to City Mall Bogor for a much needed visit to the salon. Mayesa tagged along, too. A trip to Indonesia wouldn't be complete without a visit to the salon, trust me. Johnny Andrean is our go-to that day where we both had cream bath, whilst Mayesa had her much anticipated manicure session. Sheeshhhh that girl is growing up too fast now.

We had dinner at another Sundanese restaurant, but it was not up to par as our previous night's dinner so I don't bother to remember the name of the restaurant. The dads went for a round of coffee that night at Upnormal Cafe that I declined to give it a go because it seemed like just another coffee joint like Starbucks with the usual coffees and cakes. I was wrong. So wrong, when I decided to join the next day, on our very last night in Bogor. I'll tell you why soon.

Next day in Bogor, we made another animal visit (haha!) to Taman Safari Bogor. Now this, this is a must visit to all. The entrance fee is a little pricey per pax, (even the mobile and the driver need to pay for entrance fee too) but this place is HUGE! The area is clean, the top-notch well-fed and well-kept animals roamed free, and different shows and attractions at each different parks. We didn't even managed to go through each area within that one day because we were so caught up with one attraction when we found one before moving on to the next. Not forgetting having to cater to the kids' needs too, hence the lack of time T_T

If I were to revisit Bogor, I'll definitely revisit Taman Safari again no doubt. Pictures that I have here don't do justice *sigh!*; I didn't take as many photos as my sister-in-law because I really was enjoying my time here with the clan.

On a train ride whilst waiting for the drizzles to stop

Definitely, definitely need a re-visit.

Kids zonked out on our journey back to the hotel after spending the whole day at the safari. Even the adults zonked out too. We made a quick stop for dinner at the previous Sundanese restaurant 'Gili-gili' before heading back to the hotel to rest.

So that night, I followed my brother to Cafe Upnormal to see what the hype is all about. Yes, it's a big coffee joint that looks like Starbucks. The thing that wowed me most was that, they serve their local delicacies more than just cakes and pastries. Different kind of bakmi, roti, susu - you name it, they most probably serve it. Now that's a rare one, to me at least. One would have not thought of going into a big coffee shop to have local delicacies, no? Is it just me? Oh well.

Oh I apologize. They don't even call it as cafe. It is named Warunk Upnormal.

Call me lame - I don't normally go to a hipster cafe, so I was in awe with this warunk.

On our very last day in Bogor, I was already getting sick of rice, even the hotel's breakfast. The kids went for a last round of dip in the pool that morning before I started packing to head back home. We crossed the road to a simple warung for bakmi (which we even had here for late noon munch the previous day) before walking up the streets to the shopping outlets for a little look-see. We didn't buy any, we only bought a slice of cake and two pieces of chocolate pops for the girls at a nearby chocolate shop. We don't travel to shop. I don't.

We checked out of the hotel and went back towards Jakarta. We made a quick final stop for lunch at D'Cost seafood before our flight back home. All in all, I didn't expect much from this family trip to Bogor. My parents got their rounds of golf, kids got to see the animals, us parents got a tiring but paid trip (haha!)..all of us had great fun, that matters most!

Looking forward to another trip to Indonesia this October, just the two of us to the amazing Yogyakarta!

No comments

I've been disciplined in practicing yoga every morning this month, but I'm off from yoga today.
I'm tired. My mind and body can't take it - I've not been sleeping well last two nights.

Mayesa caught stomach flu the other night, puking 3 times through the night and continued to the day. She's gotten better towards the evening, albeit a little tired still. So I let her stay in and not go to school today.

But just as she's gotten better, Sofia took her turn to puke late last night. I guess she caught it too, from her sister? I guess. She slept in my arms last night and I only managed to get some sleep around 5 in the morning so imagine how drowsy I am today.

Good thing we have leftover chicken porridge and beancurd from last night's dinner for today's lunch. Now we're just lounging around, with gadget each because I need me some peace. *guilty, but not guilty*

The house is a mess. I can't bring myself to get it cleaned up today. Not even doing laundry. Chores can wait. My babies need me more.

So, adios.
*Prays the girls will get better in time for our train journey up north this weekend*

No comments

Disclaimer : Photos are pixelated in the post, I have no idea why. Kindly click on the photo link to have a clearer view of the image.

We threw a superhero party for Mayesa's 5th birthday last May. She personally picked the theme just because she was so into Wonder Woman then. Not a die-hard stan, just a random temporary interest when the Gal Gadot's movie was released.

She initially picked Shimmer and Shine though, and I've bought few party decors fit for the theme. It's all in my craft bags and boxes in the back room downstairs, waiting to be used for the next upcoming party for Sofia - in December.

It wasn't a toughie to throw a superhero themed party, to be honest. Sources are out there in almost every party shop; aplenty. But being a crafty (well, not-so-crafty actually) mama, I commit myself to do some hands-on party thingamajig.

First task : Party invitation
I didn't create it from scratch, but used canva instead. The party vibe hasn't kicked in, so a simple quick one will do.

Next up : Print-outs

All templates were from Canva.

Welcome sign

Masks. Take a mask.

Fun kids corner. Printed the sign, and the cotton candy's sticker, using Canva's template.

Some cut-outs for balloons. I didn't take a photo of the balloons though; these were pasted onto each balloons so that the balloons are some-what superhero-themed. Cheapo diy!

Coloring sheets printed of Google

Mayesa personally chose to become Wonderwoman on her birthday, so I brought her to scout for her desired outfit, from One Utama to GM Klang, Sunway Pyramid, Subang Parade and finally back to One Utama. Fussy little girl, just like her mama. x. More to fickle-minded, actually.

She finally picked out a red Wonderwoman t-shirt, and Sofia picked out a blue Superman (there was no Supergirl t-shirt fits to her size) t-shirt. As for the bottom, she already owns a blue skirt so I told her that I'll sew some stars on it to have it look like Wonderwoman's whilst Sofia's, I had to buy a new red skirt since she hasn't got one.

Cut out an old white t-shirt into stars, and sew it all over her skirt.

The Final Outfit

Wonderwoman t-shirt from Parkson OU; d-i-y white stars sewn on her favorite blue skirt previously bought from H&M; gold headband used as a belt; Wonderwoman's headpiece from McDonald's Happy Meal; arm cuffs made out of kitchen roll's card tubes - covered with kitchen foil and red stars felt cut-outs; Mr. DIY's craft rope as lasso.

Superman t-shirt from Parkson Subang Parade; red skirt from H&M; headband from McDonald's Happy Meal; cape from an old red t-shirt cut-out.

Photo/Cake-cutting backdrop

I drew city skyscrapers on a chalk-board canvas, borrowed from my sister-in-law.

Cake, cookies, candies and desserts

Both cake and sugar cookies baked by my sister, Aishah. Not pictured : Kuihs sponsored by dad; Superhero lollies and cotton candies bought from a supplier in Kampung Subang - I've lost the number.

Food and Beverage

Ordered nasi kerabu from Kak Miza in USJ3 (not pictured, too. sigh). Drinks were just cordial and plain water.

The Party

The party was a success. I know I didn't prepared much, although mom thought otherwise - she said I've gone OTT just for a 5 year-old birthday party. Mehhh. Didn't invite many though due to budget constrain, but we had great fun nevertheless. Thank you to those who came to Mayesa's party and for the presents, too!