Emotional Wreck

Sigh. You know when you feel down and sad for no reason (or maybe there is a reason or two). And it doesn't help that you are an emotional wreck because of the damn pregnancy hormones! Or maybe you are just blaming it on the hormones because coincidentally you are pregnant while you are feeling like a wreck. Nothing feels right, nothing seems right, your heart is not at ease, nothing you do can cheer you up, nobody can cheer you up. I may have put up a happy, cheerful front but only God knows what I am feeling deep down inside this little heart of mine. Gosh I feel so fragile. I hope this is just a phase, a temporary phase.

Pancake Art

I am sure by now you would have heard about pancake art. Gosh they (Pinterest, websites, food blogs, youtube) made it look so easy! It made me think, that looks easy! I can so do them!

  

So I bought myself a box of pancake mix.

  

At that time I didn't have the squeeze bottle so I used my soy sauce bottle. I mean, they should work the same, right?

  

   

First attempt was a major fail. They look nowhere near those I see online. -_____-

  

I finally got myself a squeeze bottle (not in picture) and tried simpler images for the second time. Oh well, close enough...

The Day I Renewed My Passport

My passport expired somewhere in March so I had to renew it before we went for our holiday. I went to the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara at Jalan Duta (near Publika) on one Friday morning. Of course the place was packed full of people. Then I stumbled upon this notification on the wall.

OK I can go to the Kaunter Khas! Fine I have to pay the normal rate but at least I don't have to wait long in the queue.

At that time my baby bump wasn't very obvious and I was wearing a loose top so I was a bit hesitant at first that they might not believe that I am pregnant but heck, I proceeded and tried my luck anyway. I went to the Kaunter Khas to take a number and innocently said "Saya pregnant". The lady said "Oh mengandung ye. OK" And she gave me a number. I mean, not that I was lying or anything but if she wants to check my tummy to see if I was really pregnant, I don't mind showing her. Hehe. I was lucky to get number 2033 and because at that time no 2029 was being  called. I only have 4 numbers ahead of me.

 See, so many people! Now everyone can fly kan? Hehe.

The process was quick and smooth. When I was called, they took my IC, took my thumb print and took a picture there and then and I was given a receipt. I then waited for a few minutes to make the payment, also at a Kaunter Khas. After that, they told me to come back in an hour to collect my passport. I contemplated on going to Publika to kill time or go to the office and come back some other time to collect the passport but it would be a hassle. Finding a parking spot is difficult because there were just too many people. So I waited around, had a can of Milo and a roti krim and read a newspaper. 50 minutes later, I went up again and waited for my number to be called. Then they made an announcement saying that the system is down. -_____- This lasted for about 20 minutes and then they started calling the numbers again. I looked but my number wasn't called so I went to the counter and asked if my passport is ready for collection. To my surprise, it was ready and I can collect it. If I had not asked about it, I would be waiting there until God-knows-when. 

Moral of the story is always be on the lookout for notices and always be ringan mulut to ask. Unless you don't mind wasting time waiting there all day.

Fun Activities for Babycakes

When you go online, you get so many ideas for activities for kids which are easy to do, easy on the pocket (you can use stuffs laying around your house or in the kitchen) and most importantly, activities that promote fine motor skills and keep the kid occupied. I am always inspired and motivated and get ambitious when I come across posts or websites with such ideas. So when I have the materials and the time (and patience) to do it, I'll try to do it with Babycakes.

ACTIVITY No. 1:

I taped a toilet roll tube to a table and gave her some materials like cotton balls, mini clothes pegs, aluminium foil balls etc for her to put through the tube. I also made a dough out of flour and hair conditioner, which smelt amazing. However, the dough balls tend to crumble easily and gosh what a huge mess it created! So yes, I made Babycakes clean up the mess. >.< She loves using the mini broom and dust pan anyway everytime I sweep the house so while she still enjoys sweeping, why not take advantage of it, right?

  

ACTIVITY No. 2:

Take a kitchen colander and some pipe cleaners. Both items can be easily found at Daiso. Let your kid put the pipe cleaners through the small holes in the colander. This promotes fine motor skills. But mid-way through the activity, she became geli looking at the pipe cleaners poking through the holes. She said they're like caterpillars. Such Mummy's girl, this one. Semua benda nak geli. >.<

 

ACTIVITY No. 3:

Painting alphabets and numbers. I took an old cardboard, drew alphabets and numbers with a marker pen and made my own paint by mixing flour, water and food colouring. I gave her some cotton buds and asked her to trace the alphabets and numbers. 

  

Things can get messy at times but I tried to be  cool about it. It is, after all, a learning process for both Babycakes and I. It is also definitely better than letting her watch Frozen for the gazillionth time, right?

We chose Perth

Hello! Ahhh how fast time flies. My last post was about me sharing my excitement about our holidays and before I know it, it is almost one month ago when we went on our holiday. 

If you are friends with me on facebook and followed me on Instagram, you would have known that we went to Perth, Australia this time. Last year we went to Sydney and this year it was Perth. We really love the Land Down Under, huh? Well you may wonder, why Perth? I have been to Perth with my family back in the early 2000s and honestly I have forgotten how the city looks like.

The reason why we chose Perth, despite having been to Sydney just last year are:

• The flight is about 5 1/2 hours only;
• The flight tickets and accommodation aren't as expensive as going to Europe;
• We (I) don't need to take a lot of leave days as 5-7 days are enough;
• The exchange rate is not as expensive as the Euro Dollar or Japanese Yen;
• The weather when we went was lovely as it was autumn and nearing winter so you don't have to bring thick, wooly winter clothing. A light jacket will do;
• We would love to go to Goldcoast or even Hong Kong (been to both places with my family too but of course I don't mind going back again, with my own little family) but if we go to these cities, there are theme parks and Babycakes may be a bit too small to go on most of the rides while I won't be able to go on ANY rides because I'm pregnant so it will be a waste. Not that I will go on those crazy roller coaster rides but I would love to go on the tea cups or carousel with Babycakes but you know they have a strict ruling that doesn't allow pregnant women on rides. I will end up waiting while hubby and Babycakes enjoy the rides. No way!

Anyway, the holiday was a very relaxing holiday. I mean, that's what's holidays are supposed to be, right? We took our own sweet time, we don't rush doing things, we even rented a car for 2 days. We stayed at Mountway Holiday Apartments. You can read my review on TripAdvisor here.  
I'll write more about our trip in another post, Insyaallah.