Mama(n)datory

The last time I went for a facial was 6 years ago which was then part of my bridal preps. I was not even a constant facial-goer prior to that, maybe urmmm once a year?

I've been longing to go for a session ever since I've delivered my second-born. Now that she's turning almost two and has finally weaned, I finally made myself go to one (and hopefully to make it a monthly routine now onwards).

Since I didn't know what is good or where is best to go, I decided to give it a try by buying vouchers through Fave (previously known as Groupon). Cheapo? I mean why not..for a trial session before I can decide for the best. Afterall, I do not want to waste by spending few hundreds just for a trial and not liking it at the end of the day, so Fave it is.


It's quite time-consuming browsing through Fave. Not that the site isn't user-friendly, it is. It's just that you could easily get sidetracked just by browsing through the available discounted products and services on the site. I was literally browsing through each and every offers available under the Beauty, Massage and Eat categories although my initial plan was just to browse for facials. Thank god I finally made myself to decide on one facial offer, and nothing else.

I bought my voucher for a facial at Aesthetics Skin And Body Care located in USJ 9, Subang Jaya.

I booked my appointment to be on the next day. So tak sabar kan?

I was well greeted by the staff even though I arrived early for my appointment. I was then ushered into the treatment room just minutes after by my beautician whom I couldn't recall what her name was, but she was so nice and friendly that made me feel totally calm in the treatment room (except during extraction of course which wasn't too bad either. To be honest, she totally know what she was doing and have seriously done a great job!)




Here's what I got for my treatment:
Double cleanse - milk & gel cleanse
Scrub
Extraction
Hydrating Mask
Face massage
Soothing Mask
Shoulder massage

It took almost 90 minutes to be done with. Although I went home with a little redness from the extraction, it subsided well just by night time. My face now looks brighter, fresh and definitely a lot cleaner now after the facial. I am planning to take up its package since it is affordable to my monthly budget and I know I got to make it as a routine to keep looking good as I age (& sebab bila dekat rumah tak menyempat nak pamper diri sendiri, so this is partly to get off my mommy-time for some me-time too). Whatmore that they do not hard-sell on any of their packages nor products, which is a plus point to any beauty parlour that I (and most of us) really look into.

I will definitely make the call for my next appointment soon.

I've spent my few days watching Harry Potter with my daughter, Mayesa the other week.
I am not a fan obviously since I've only watched the first(Sorcerer's Stone) and the third(Prisoner of Azkaban) movie. But now that I've watched the franchise's back-to-back, I can now see the relation between each chapter/characters. It's quite interesting, I admit.

So I finally went for my first solo trip last Sunday. Well it wasn't really a solo trip per se; I went with a friend instead.

We took one of the earliest ETS of the day to Ipoh. (I'm relating my story to the Harry Potter movie..the train..can't you see? i'm so lame, I know. My friend here is an avid die-hard fan of Harry Potter, too, please and thank you).

The train departed on time (regardless the 3 hours delay somewhere in Sungai Buloh, like seriously). We didn't care much about the delay though. It was a free and easy trip for us both so we just make use of the time to each other's company and started planning our lunch (supposedly breakfast) destination.

---I bought our train tickets over the counter. If you'd like to book yours online, you may do so on Bus Online Ticket or any other ticketing agent on the web. Convenient, hassle-free and with no extra charges---

Once we arrived in Ipoh, we took Uber  (in fact, we took Uber to each of our pitstop in Ipoh) and made our way here for lunch.

New Hollywood Restaurant, Taman Canning

We then checked into M Boutique Hotel on Jalan Hala Datuk 5 in town. Indeed it is a small, cozy, paying homage to the Straits Eclectic Architecture from a bygone era (as stated on it's homepage). Although I would very much prefer a brighter lighted hotel, it didn't disappoint either. It wasn't the best of location, but the interiors and the warmth and friendliness of the hotel staff totally made up for it. You may click on this link to book.

The beautiful lobby

We chose the second floor with the theme 'Majestic'

Excuse me but this is going to be a lengthy post if I don't stop blabbering so I might as well leave this post with a trail of pictures to sum up our 1 night trip to Ipoh.

Coffee in Oldtown for teatime

And free hotel breakfast in Oldtown the very next morning. (Oldtown is in the same premise as the hotel and the hotel sub it to them to handle guests' breakfast)

We decided to watch the movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle in Ipoh Parade after having a shared light dinner of chicken soup at Dataran Jam. It was a good enjoyable movie, for real (I'll write a review soon, if time permits). Planned to go to the massage parlour next but we went around to a few, and none had available two masseuse for us so we head back to the hotel, freshen up and fell asleep soon after.

Before taking the train back to KL Sentral the next day, we went to Pekan Lama to see what it has to offer other than the mural wall arts.

A cozy cool-looking Plan B in Jalan Panglima

Did not dare to buy this, though.

Nasi Ganja at Yong Suan, Jalan Yang Kalsom

We spent a longer time than planned in Pekan Lama but nevertheless we managed to squeeze a little bit of time to have Nasi Ganja at Yong Suan. Hands down it was so so good I secretly wished I could have another plate of it.

But luckily I didn't.

I was literally drugged out!

I slept almost throughout the whole train ride back to KL; still felt so sleepy soon after and slept early that night right to the next day!

Real drugged out for good - to really sum up the trip to Ipoh, I'd say.

The previous post is not who I really am, or at least not who I intend to be.

Of course I was just being hormonal (who doesn't, when you just weaned your child?). Overwhelmed with mixture of emotions while having to do chores and handling two active toddlers equals to a cranky old lady who could just burst into tears from mental and physical exhaustion.

Errrr, exaggerating much?
But that is the honest truth.

I didn't mean to scream at my kids. But when you're 24/7 together, you just wished for at least a quiet moment to yourself without a single disturbance. I couldn't even have ample shower moment, or even a pee break without either one(sometimes both) of the girls knocking on the door or screaming at each other rumbling over the same toys or something.

i know I should control myself, and not let my emotions take control. I am trying my best but there are just some days where you feel down and becomes a bad mom, unintentionally. We are all guilty of that, yes?

But at the end of the day, you'd still cuddle and kiss your precious little kids goodnight.

And when the morning comes, just pray that it's going to be a joyful smooth day.

*buckle your seatbelts mommas*

I've been a bad mom.

I get cranky on most days. I get pissed off easily; I either ignored my kids or I'd scream at them ever so often.

I've been a little too hormonal ever since I stopped nursing Sofia. This has got to stop. Husband's been advising me to go on my solo trip for a few days, to get my mind off things for a little. Yes, I've been browsing flights almost everyday, I've locked in a few routes, but I just couldn't get myself to proceed with the booking. Too many things on my mind that's holding me back.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid and thinking  too much.

Maybe all I need is a single relaxing day at the spa.

Maybe all I need is just talks over dinner  with some friends.

Maybe I don't even know what I need.

A cup of coffee sound good right now.

I remember having quite a rough time weaning Mayesa but I did weaned her at 22months.
Now that it has been a week, I can officially say Sofia's weaned - at 21 months!

 Continuation from my previous post, some may wonder why not 24 months? Sebaik-baiknya menyusu anak sampai umur 2 tahun.

To be honest, really, as much as I love to nurse them, I have had the urge to wean both of my babies even from after confinement period is over. Reason being, lack of rest/sleep/everything; just loads of indulging/stress/hairloss.

I am one of the lots who could only direct feed, but could never produce any when pumped. Irritating at most times, really, when you thought of just slacking for a moment but you instantly and constantly being pinned down to nurse.

One day I've decided I wanted to end it and I abruptly weaned Mayesa. Tak ada belas kasihan, I just immediately stopped giving her any. *Cue screaming and crying for hours* Very fortunate she was fine with it in just 2 days, although I initially thought it could take months for her to completely settled. Hence, she was fully weaned abruptly at 22 months.

Sofia on another note is used to being breastfed and formula-fed since she turned 3 months-old. Nevertheless, she was just as clingy and as latch-y as her big sister. I caught her napping one day all on her own. That was when I started to distract and lessen her need for nurse-to-sleep. She took it well and after a couple of days she decided to no longer nurse, forever. Oh, and she immediately sleeps through the night, too! Double joy!

I miss the beautiful bonding moment sometimes. Alhamdulillah I am still forever grateful I get to nurse both of my babies, even not up to 24 months. Willpower dan rezeki masing-masing, tak perlu nak dipersoal.