Back to Jurassic at Bangsar Village

My two kids weren't really into dinosaurs (see my previous posts on the Prehistoric Trail at Pusat Sains Negara) but when I received Bangsar Village's newsletter on its Back To Jurassic event, I got excited so I dragged the family to Bangsar Village on Saturday evening. I imagined that there will be numerous dinosaur rides and there will be a Jurassic park like area.

 

However, I was a bit disappointed when I saw these.

 

There was barely any Jurassic feeling to it.

 

The kids were excited though.

 

OK so there were three huge dinosaurs- T-rex, Triceratops and another one (I don't know my dinos, sorry guys).

 

And then there were two little dinos in another area, a clear space, no decorations, no dinosaur bones, no fossils, no dinosaur eggs. Nothing. Not even trees and rocks.

  

Your little ones can ride the dinosaurs and the prices for each rides are stated as above. 

  

 There are also some dinosaurs items on sale, including toys and t-shirts.

 

So Babycakes wanted to ride the mini dinosaur, which came to a bit of my surprise because she doesn't like them but the mini dinosaurs are pretty cute so we bought a ticket, RM5 for her. The ride lasted for more than one minute, maybe around 2.5minutes. It went round and round the empty area and the eyes were blinking. She enjoyed the ride. 

   

Unfortunately Babypie couldn't ride it because he is still too small. Sorry sayang! 

Merajuk tak dapat naik. As if you dare to ride them anyway. Hehe.

After the mini dinosaur ride, Babycakes wanted to go on the big dinosaur ride. I asked her many times, are you sure you want to ride that big dinosaur? Won't you get scared? Are you sure you won't cry? She adamantly said yes so I obliged. One ride is RM10 but if you ride all three dinosaurs, the fee is RM20. Considering that she had already rode the mini dinosaur, I only allowed her to ride the big dinosaur once.

Again, to my surprise, she chose to ride the T-rex. She had to climb on the stairs and sit on the chair and wear a seatbelt for safety purposes. The dinosaur would move its head, mouth, blink its eyes and made sounds. As for its body, it hardly moved. It basically just leaned to the front a bit and to the back and that's it. And the RM10 ride takes about 40seconds. Yes, not even a damn minute! If you ask me, it's a rip-off. Of course Babycakes enjoyed the ride so much so she wanted to go on to the other two dinosaurs but I had to say no because she already rode on the mini dinosaur.

 

She threw a bit of a tantrum because I said no so I had to cool her down by buying a Boost Juice for her. I'd rather spend RM25 on healthy and yummy juices, if you ask me.

Thankfully I have a RM100 gift card which I won earlier so we bought two juices and we are all happy. If your kids are really into dinosaurs and you don't mind spending RM25 for a few minutes of entertainment for your kids, go ahead and checkout the so-called Jurassic Park at Bangsar Village. Trust me, your kids will surely want to ride all 3 big dinosaurs and the mini one too.

Stay Hydrated With Coconut Water

Since the days are so hot, my Babypie was down with fever, again. Sigh it is tiring taking care of a sick baby who becomes very clingy and literally hangs onto my boobs 24/7! I have to keep myself cool, I have to stay hydrated to make sure I make enough milk for him and I have to make sure my kids stay hydrated. I keep telling Babycakes to drink tons of water, to make sure she finishes her water everyday in school and to eat more fruits and vegetables. 

One of the ways to get your kids to drink is of course by giving them sweet sugary drinks but we all know how bad sweet and sugary drinks are for our health. So try to say NO to carbonated drinks, sweet cordials and artificial drinks. Instead, try getting them to drink coconut water. 

Luckily both Babypie and Babycakes love this coconut water. I love this drink too as it is very refreshing and is made of 100% pure coconut water. I wish I can get real, fresh coconut water easily but this is the next best thing and the closest and easiest way for me to drink coconut water. 

Currently Kedai Mesra Petronas are selling these for only RM1.90 per pack so every time I send Babycakes to her kindergarten, I would drop by Petronas and buy a few packets. Put them in your fridge and they are best served chilled. Besides, coconut water has amazing benefits. Here are some of the benefits of coconut water.

Health benefits of coconut water

• Coconut water is a very refreshing drink to beat tropical summer thirst. Its liquid is packed with simple sugars, electrolytes, and minerals to replenish dehydration conditions inside the human body.
  
• Research studies suggest that cytokinins (e.g., kinetin and trans-zeatin) in coconut water found to have significant anti-ageing, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-thrombotic (anti-clot formation) effects.
  
• Coconut water has been generally offered to patients with diarrhea in many tropic regions to replace the fluid loss from the gastrointestinal tract and to reduce the need for hospitalisation. The osmolarity of tender coconut water is slightly greater than that of WHO recommended ORS (Oral Rehydration Therapy) solution. Presence of other biological constituents like amino acids, enzymes, minerals, and fatty acids may account for this higher osmolarity. Nonetheless, unlike WHO-ORS, its water is very low in sodium and chlorides, but rich in sugars and amino acids. This well-balanced fluid composition, along with much-needed calories, would be an ideal drink instead of any other kind of soft drink beverages available in the markets to correct dehydration conditions.
  
• Coconut water is composed of many naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA-polymerases etc. In effect, these enzymes help in the digestion and metabolism.
  
• Despite being very light in consistency, its water proportionately has better composition of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc than some of the fruit juices like oranges. (Compare the mineral composition of oranges).
• Its liquid is also a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. These vitamins are essential in the sense that the human body requires them from external sources to replenish.
  
• Coconut water carries a very good amount of electrolyte potassium. 100 ml of water has 250 mg of potassium and 105 mg of sodium. Together, these electrolytes help replenish electrolyte deficiency in the body due to diarrhea (loose stools).
  
• Further, fresh coconut water has a small amount of vitamin-C (Ascorbic acid); It provides about 2.4 mg or 4% of RDA. Vitamin C is a water-soluble ant-oxidant.

Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/coconut-water.html

I hope everyone is keeping themselves hydrated, cool and healthy in this sweltering heat. Global warming is serious, you guys! Temperatures are rising, forest fires are blazing and ice caps are melting. What are we going to do with our beloved Mother Earth? Don't forget to recycle the packaging OK?

Rainbow Cupcakes with my Babycakes

Yesterday was the last day of a week long school holiday so I decided to make rainbow cupcakes with my Babycakes while Babypie was napping. It is so much easier to bake when Babypie is napping. I only have 3 eggs left in the fridge so I had to make sure the recipe calls for 3 or less eggs. I just installed an app on my phone called Yummly. The app is user-friendly and has tons of amazing recipes. I searched for rainbow cupcakes recipe and after reading the amazing reviews it received, I decided to use the recipe from allrecipes.uk

 

I then gathered my baking materials and tools and with Babycakes as my helper, we set out to bake. She helped me to pour the eggs and milk into the mixer, measure and sieve the flour-which is her favourite part because it reminded her of Frozen and she would start singing this verse while sifting the flour:

"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

Not a footprint to be seen

A kingdom of isolation,

And it looks like I'm the queen."

Rainbow cakes and cupcakes look pretty and are fun to eat with its bright colours but baking them is quite a chore, really. This is because you have to divide the batter into six and this means you need six bowls and six spoons! You can imagine the cleaning up after!

I try to make Babycakes involved in the baking process as much as I can so she helped to mix the colours. She was amazed at how the colour of the batter changes. I also made her choose which colours to mix first, which bowl and spoon to choose from so she feels very appreciated that she gets to make decisions. i also asked her about the colours of the rainbow and which colour comes first, second, third and so forth.

Then, I made her arrange the cupcake liners onto the baking tray and I started scooping out the batter into the cupcake liners. Obviously I didn't divide the batter evenly so there are a few cupcakes which doesn't have all the rainbow colours while there are about two cupcakes with only green colour. I used a small cupcake liner so that I have plenty and the size is just right for the kids.

The cupcakes went into the preheated oven and once they are done, I cooled them down on  a cooling rack. While the cupcakes were baking, we made play doh too because we have all ingredients on hand and we were playing with colours but I will share about that in another post.

 

 

The top of the cupcake doesn't look like a rainbow but this is how the cupcake looked like. As for the colour, you can adjust the brightness according to your liking by putting as much or as little food colouring as you like. To me, the brighter, the better! I didn't do any frosting for the cupcakes because they are already sweet and beautiful as it is. And fyi, the cleaning up process was another chore. Don't forget you have to wash six bowls, six spoons and the other utensils!

Prehistoric Trail at Pusat Sains Negara

Have you been to the Pusat Sains Negara (PSN)? It was recently renovated and given an uplift so now the dome is in multicolors and if you pass by the Bukit Kiara/Hartamas stretch, you won't miss it. I am not sure if the PSN has reopened to public but in case you didn't know, there is a Prehistoric Trail located outside PSN. 

Yesterday evening after picking up the kids, we decided to go for dinner but since it was still bright, we stopped by the Prehistoric Trail and took the kids to see the dinosaurs.

 There are dinosaurs' footprints all over the trail. It's like they just walked on earth!

There are a few stones with a lot of information about the various eras of the dinosaurs as well. Good education for the kids.We just watched the movie The Good Dinosaur with the kids so we explained to them a bit about dinosaurs.

Unfortunately, Babypie was a bit freaked out by them. Well they are not cute at all, unlike the ones in the movie so I do not blame him. Maybe he'll grow up to love them, we shall see. I am planning to take them to a dinosaur event in Bangsar Village soon but if he's freaked out at the sight of them, I am not sure if it's gonna be a good idea.

 

As for Babycakes, she's not really fond of them either but as usual she's ever so willing to pose and take tons of pictures.

The Prehistoric Trail is just a small compound in front of PSN and it takes a few minutes to cover the area, given that you take tons of pictures.

As much as it is a good place to gain knowledge and information about dinosaurs, I am sad to say that the place is not very well-kept. The grass are starting to grow and there are love grass (kemuncup) everywhere that we got them stuck on our pants! Babycakes' felt a bit uneasy walking on the grass too because the love grass kept brushing her calves making her itchy. Also, because it rained a bit yesterday, some parts of the grass were muddy so Babycakes dirtied her shoes as well. And just look at the picture of the footprint above. One footprint is filled with rainwater so that is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes right there. I hope the maintenance will do a better job at keeping the place clean and tidy, otherwise it would be a fun-filled time walking down the prehistoric trail. If you decide to walk down the Prehistoric Trail, I would advise you go in the evening when it is not hot. Also, it is better if your kids wear long pants and sports shoes for comfort.

How To Survive Public Toilet Inconveniences With Kleenex Wet Toilet Tissue

Public toilets in Malaysia are known for its notoriously unhygienic and dirty condition, sad to say. Even toilets in upscale shopping malls are not  very clean either. Not to blame the maintenance but the blame is purely put on the public, the toilet users themselves. How pathetic and sad is it that we see a lot of toilets have to put up reminders and warning signs about toilet etiquette, the do's and don'ts in a toilet when these things are basic things that we do and do not do at our toilets at home. Are Malaysians becoming more and more lack of civic consciousness? Is this attitude derived from the 'tidak apa' attitude? Sad, isn't it? However dirty and unhygienic the public toilets are, unfortunately, when nature calls, nature calls and there's no way of putting off the call, unless you have superpower bladders and gut! 

Kleenex® has recently commissioned an independent online survey which polled some 1,160 women and men in Malaysia.

Overall, the survey revealed that revealed that three out of five Malaysians are extremely hesitant to use public toilets, citing common reasons such as wet, dirty floors or toilet seats, clogged or unflushed toilets, and lack of water or clean water and toilet paper.

Specifically on personal cleaning, participants’ most common complaints were attributed to dirty water hoses (60%) and no water and toilet paper being provided at all (37%). The survey also found that many Malaysians modify their behaviour solely to avoid using public toilets.  For instance, four out of five who were surveyed mentioned that they consume less drinks to minimize visits to the public toilets while they are out and some feel compelled to carry their own supply of cleaning water wherever they go.

The survey results showed that a majority of Malaysians (67%) think that what they wear as well as the things they carry around make it inconvenient to clean themselves properly in public toilets. I have a 4.5 year old girl who is obviously not wearing diapers anymore so every time we go out and she needs to answer her nature calls, I dread a little because the thought of going to the public toilet with her really puts me off. Some public toilets in Malaysia are equipped with child-sized toilet bowl while the toilet bowl in Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang has a smaller toilet seat cover attached to the toilet seat. You can pull down the smaller toilet seat cover for your child to sit on. Even with the toilet seats, most of the time I encounter dirty toilet seats so I had to take out my own tissue because 99% of the time, tissues are not available too! Sigh what a chore going to toilets these days! Guess what, according to the survey, one in two respondents believe that using wet tissues is the most ideal solution as opposed to having to go through the inconveniences of dealing with situations when there is no water or toilet paper available.

With the ever growing problems and inconveniences of using public toilets in Malaysia, Kleenex has cleverly come up with the perfect solution, that is an all-new Wet Toilet Tissue. What is this wet toilet tissue, you may ask.

“Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues is the first of its kind in Malaysia, made with consumers’ out-of-home cleaning needs in mind.  Its compact packets are easy to carry around and easy to use – just wipe and flush,” said Mr Raman Tarun, Marketing Director, Kimberly-Clark Malaysia. “Sometimes we don’t realize how a tiny addition like this in our bag can make such a huge difference – it’s just like personal hygiene in a pocket.” *Safe to flush and hypoallergenic, the Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues are formulated with 9-step purified water for 99.9% assured clean  and gentle and delicate on the skin, leaving users feeling cleaner and fresher after use. 

Celebrity brand advocate Jihan Muse said, “Surviving a public toilet is like being in an epic tragicomedy – you should see me in my high-heeled sandals and long, flowing dress, trying to juggle shopping bags, negotiating the wet floor while holding my dress up and hoping I don’t drop anything!”I can so relate with you, Jihan! So you can imagine me with my child, shopping bag(s), my handbag and also her handbag and Mimi the cat (yes, my girl carries a handbag and her stuffed cat called Mimi when she goes out, she's a lovely and loving little diva, thank you very much).

 

Since going to public toilets are becoming a chore, don't you wish that you have this 'Public Toilet Survival Kit' with you at all times?

These things will definitely come in handy when going to a public toilet huh? Too bad the kit is bulky to be put in our handbags!

Thanks to Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues I am glad to say that I don't have to lug the kit with me all around. All I have to do is put a packet of this wet tissue into my handbag. The size is compact so it feels like bringing next to nothing. Now I don't need to worry about dealing with unhygienic and dirty public toilets anymore and cleaning myself and Babycakes are made easy with Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues.

Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues are available in three sizes – a pack of 10 sheets that can be placed in one’s pocket or handbag (RRP RM2.10), a value-saving pack of three (RRP RM5.80), or a 40-sheet pack (RRP RM7.40). All three sizes are now available in leading hypermarkets and supermarkets nationwide.

If you are interested to try and learn more about this awesome product, you can join Kleenex® and Jihan Muse today to Survive Public Toilets.

Request a free sample pack and participate in a simple quiz contest to win a year’s supply of Kleenex® Wet Toilet Tissues by registering at www.kleenexcleans.com.my.  Users are also encouraged to share their experience using this brand-new product on social media by using the hashtag, #KleenexSurvivalGuide.

For more information on Kleenex® in general, log on to the Kleenex® Malaysia Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Kleenex.Malaysia) or call the Kimberly-Clark Consumer Care-line at 1-800-82-1188 (toll-free) on weekdays from 9am to 5pm.

*Advisable to flush no more than 2 sheets at a time; not suitable for use in septic tank.