PINKYLEONA

We started the year 2019 with a huge sadness : my step dad died of cancer. My mom lost his life partner, someone to talk to, when all she needs at her age is simply, companionship. From there, my mom wasn't in the mood of celebrating anything, or even taking photos, until my little brother's wedding

Note : Be strong, mom!

And in March 2019, I turned 31, and I made promise to myself : I shall get myself one (1) luxury piece every year after 30 years old. Also, I started my journey to practicing zero waste, so I started buying a lot of naked (no-packaging) skincare and recyclable packaging for a start..

Fast forward comes May/June 2019, when its about one (1) whole year that my mom is taking care of Seff, and I thought its about time that Seff enters Taska/Childcare Centre/Playschool suitable for his age, because even after my step dad's passing, my mom is still taking care of Seff, means, she is probably restless.. Until now, we glad that our 2nd school suits Seff, and we got no complaint!

Around that same month, I love it when Dr. Amie, Dina and I finally met (it's very difficult to gather us three, since Dr Amie is residing in Sydney, Australia) and had a good amount of food, coffee and chat at Second Cup Coffee, Sunway Putra Mall (I had Chai Latte, always! >.<)

In July 2019, my little brother got married but it is really frustrating that I could not be there on the lifetime experiences, since we are 5-hours away (600km) from my hometown and was hospitalized because of Rotavirus (that affecting both Seff and I)

And 2019 marked our 2nd year of celebrating 2019 Eidulfitri with Seff, and we did a studio photoshoot at the same studio we had one last year (2018). Will definitely added this into our compulsory, yearly list! Both photos are now up on our wall, cannot wait for 2020!

Since my mom is started to feel alive again (her Iddah until May 2019), I straightaway arranged for Euseff's Aqiqah before he turned 2. The ceremony went exactly like how I wanted, with chiavary chairs, simple dais and yummy food for friends and family

Around the same time, I started as an acting director of the office, which make my schedule be as hectic as one could've ever imagined. We celebrated Husband's Birthday and Our 6th Year Wedding Anniversary as simple as possible, as long as we spent some quality time together

Finally comes December, which is Euseff's 2nd Birthday : TWO Wild. Again, it was a simple celebration, but as long as Seff has both his mom and dad with him, we know his life is complete. We love you so much, our precious son!

Until next year, 2020!

Anyway for husband's birthday, it all started with a hectic week, since I went to Cameron Highland for a work programme, so I drove back from Ipoh to KL at night, and reached home late so I guess I cannot make it on time to any mall(s) to buy cake. At R&R Tapah, I went into Starbucks, and few outlets until I found a slice of cake at Harold's Bread

That midnight, when the clock ticks 12AM, we sat and tasted the small slice of cake I brought back, my husband and I (Seff is well asleep by now)

I wanted to visit some special places for Husband's Birthday, but around October and November, I recalled there are rainy days that we postpone a visit to Genting Highlands, for a proper dining at Burger & Lobster. We shall make it one day, I know

To be honest, since I am an acting Director of the office, my schedule were tight and I am all over the place, so we decided to just do it whenever we can

When in The Gardens, Mid Valley, we always had pavlova at my favourite place - Alexis. To be honest, I love their pasta carbonara too, since theirs is very authentic -egg, not cream/milk.

So I labelled none is an expert in western cuisine, except Alexis hehehe

But I realized Ben's is here too, which I usually visited when in KLCC. So we decided to have Husband's Birthday Lunch here. My treats, cheap too hehehe.

Upon entering Ben's, I am suddenly impressed that they have a spacious, indoor playground at the back (near our sitting area) so I guess this is luck, we did choose a place Seff's enjoy exploring!

Seff and his food

How we did it for Seff :
1. Let him explore the playground, while ordered our food
2. Take a photo of him somewhere inside, until our food arrived
3. Eat our food, let Seff play for a while
4. Done with ours, let Seff eat his

Our food

Overall, I will return to this place due to this playground and my reviews are as follows:

Food : 3.5/5

Ambience : 5/5

Service : 4/5

Mind you, I am cerewet.. when it comes to food

I bought Husband new shoes for his birthday, and later the following weeks, we tried again, the Malacca River Cruise with Seff's usual cousins, since the last time, Seff was smaller and probably knows nothing at that time >.<

We had satay at the riverside too, and just enjoying time with my family

Hope you had a great day, Babah!

Until next post!

I am definitely itchyyy to share my favourite skincare for Seff since everyone knows he has such a flawless skin. These are the things I have, minus the MUSTELA Newborn Foam Shampoo that we bought two (2) times I think, because Seff has cradle cap earlier in his life. After 2 weeks, cradle cap gone and not returning (even without that shampoo)!

Note : The shampoo itself mentioned it was also meant for babies with cradle cap problem, FYI

Thus, no foam shampoo above, but for the Baby things Haul, i did write in HERE

Among the things I love putting on Seff are :

Note : 10 things will be too much, I think 5 for now will do, eyh? (If you miss me)




ONE : I WAS BORN IN KL

Always mistaken as Sabahan, my mom is from Johore and my late Dad is from Perak. Post marriage, they live in KL/Shah Alam. But I was born in KL, raised in Shah Alam, and all my schools are in Shah Alam -from Kindergarten, Primary School, Secondary School for a while (before being accepted to a boarding school outside Shah Alam). Did my A-Level at International Education Centre (INTEC) Shah Alam too haha.

TWO : I AM TALL

For a lady, I am considerably tall. Taller than Neelofa, taller than Dato' Siti Nurhaliza. I grew up in school always being at the back when lining up. Being said that, my blog readers, colleague at Division that saw me personally for the first time, always thought I was petite. Yeah, petite is their exact word.

Once, I made advertisement for my then-house that is up for lease. A woman came to see me, and her first greeting was, "I thought you're petite!". LOL. Sorry to disappoint everyone, I am even taller than my husband. Hehe



THREE : SAME BATCH, SAME SCHOOL WITH DS ALIFF SYUKRI

Because I was raised in Shah Alam, another fun fact about me would be : school mate with DS Aliff Syukri. We are in the same school, same batch, but he was in different class. Mind you, I was born in 1988 but I skipped Year 4 under the Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) programme, so from there I joined the students born in 1987 (DS Aliff Syukri's year of birth)

Once, he organized a gathering for our batch mates, but I did not attend the event



FOUR : I DON'T DO SPICY FOOD

It's hard to come up with this word (they either say no tolerance with spicy food), but I guess I am staying away from spicy food by choice. McD's Chicken Spicy McDeluxe is considered spicy to me, this item alone can cause my inner cheek went crazy (pijar)

During my University years, I skipped taking sambal nasi lemak sometimes, did not try Sup Power's sambal belacan, and Ayam Penyet Ria's sambal. I know they are all hot, but I guess I am in no position to review/compare. You guess right, all the trending korean fried chicken also never got into my stomach, haha but I did try samyang once. Buttttt, I took only 1/8~1/10 of the sauce packet, sauteed it and added in the ramen. Also very spicy to me..

Note : Saya lah insan yang lemah itu..

On the other hand, I grow up with milk and cheese! Secret Recipe's Mac and Cheese used to be my favourite back then. And chicken Cordon Bleu, yumsss!



FIVE : WAS INTERVIEWED FOR THE PEGAWAI TADBIR DAN DIPLOMATIK (PTD) POSITION

I am blogging since the year 2009, blogging was also a trend in ca. 2010~2012 (we have Hanis Zalikha, Fatin Liyana, and all), and I saved all my old posts as draft [because I was not really careful at posting (mainly share about everything a little too much), posted more short forms than formal sentences, etc] but they are all here.

Among the top post/most viewed entry was : The PTD Assessment Centre (PAC) where I shared about my own experiences. I guess I am lucky as well, I sit for the PTD entry exam once and straightaway passed, I went to the PAC for the first time, also passed.

Note : I was fit at the time, being skinnier, and in fact, I completed the 2.4km run as top 10 finisher!

And my blog post about the PAC has super high views, maybe mainly because all other candidates are also preparing for the assessment, not knowing what to expect. So they do the research

During my time, I was told most the candidates undergoing the Diploma Pengurusan Awam (DPA) will be offered Contract For Service, thus this turned me down, when I also received a permanent position as a Mechanical Engineer. And the rest is history..



During the PTD Assessment Centre (PAC) in 2012




Until next post, which one of these new facts surprises you?

Nicely spaced, not crowded


Seat given for us 3 : very generous!


Overall, I would really like to visit this hotel again, and will probably revisit in the future! This review is honest, and truthfully mine. Let's hope my good review won't make this hotel's price shoots up! >.<


Hotel Rating : 4.5/5

Due to cleanliness, nice hospitality and awesome location (Would be 5/5 if has KLCC view hehe)





Until next post!

For full publication, refer : https://www.kwsp.gov.my/documents/20126/131635/Panduan_Belanjawanku.pdf/76872674-983a-3860-19a3-c47d2d2d2ab6

Note : They are lucky I was EXTREMELY busy with work in especially October, thus the delay in writing this post.. Word highlighted RED are definitely a HIGHLIGHT and need serious attention.

First and foremost, the BELANJAWANKU 2019 is :

1. Developed from the "actual" expenditures in "Klang Valley". Unbelievable..

2. Was researched by Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SRWC), who are these guys..?

3. In Year 2019? Unacceptable..

Well, you THOUGHT WRONG, sir! Source : HERE

I was one of the audience, and disapproved this research, although living comfortably at the moment, but that is because we (income, combined, both an engineer) earn more.

I belong to the above group, and here are my basic needs, in comparison with the suggested budget estimates :

FOOD (RM1,300.00)

I need about RM 10 in the morning, RM 20 in the afternoon, RM 20 in the evening, capped tightly, if I were to capped my expenditures. Anything below that is considered nonsense, like, have you visited mamak and ordered only 1 Nasi Lemak Ayam, 1 + 1 roti canai, 2 hot beverages, and these alone are above RM10? That is my basis, RM10 maximum in the morning, if a family shall tightly do the budgeting.. RM 50/day x 30 days = RM 1500.00 (minimum). Thus, RM 1,300.00 a month is sick, man.. 

Note : Unless I was admitted to a Government Hospital, then of course, I'd take all the meals and my bills came up free, kan? (Stamped PERCUMA, because I am a Government servant.. zzz)

HOUSING (RM870.00)

For a young family starting living on their own to be given this rate (RM870), is doable, but limited to a certain properties type (a low cost flat/walk-up pangsapuri far away from work/studio unit and no one shall visit, yeah, of course..)

HEALTHCARE (RM100.00/family of 3)

I am sorry, I cannot comment more on this because my husband and I are paying RM 260 ~ RM 300 each for our healthcare insurances (total up to RM 550/couple), but this may work for only a life insurances, no medical card for sure, and they must be evil laughing all the way at the top there, yes?

TRANSPORT (RM1,030.00/couple)

Looks convincing at first, unless one knows, that married couple in Klang Valley usually are both parents working, so the transport cost must divide by 2. Afterall, the budget says it is for married couple, not single income earner, yes? Which total up to RM 515/pax.

I reckon the suitable car for this is a SAGA, probably RM300/month, but I know my fuel consumption. I needed 2 x refueling with my current car on weekly basis, estimated RM50/trip so I need RM 400/month minimum. So, If I were to downgrade my current car to a SAGA, I still need RM700.00 @ RM 1400/couple a month, not including car maintenance/servicing. 

Note : You SWRC are pure evil, you know.. And excuse me, what's that RM30 extra is for?

Okayyyy, I have researched a lottttt of Taska, starting with very common, JKM-registered one, non-Aircond one, and THEY charged : RM450.00/month for my child.

And we use around 10pcs diapers daily, oklah, downgrade to 8pcs daily lah, my son kencing banyak sangat kot, sooooo 8 x 30 = 240pcs a month, or needed basically 5 packs of diapers a month.

I am a nice person, I did google the cheapest diaper from Tesco Online, (which means, if I were to downgrade from our current diaper brand to the cheapest), I got Fred & Flo diapers (RM24/pack) x 5 = RM120.00. OK now I am nervous AF.. (Total bill RM570.00 already now..)

Now the priciest item, the Milk formula.. (Do not argue about the free supply of Breastmilk, when they involved breast pump, breastmilk storage bags and all, so nothing's free, right?)

The cheapest I could find is RM25.00 (Dutch Lady) for 900g, 2-3 feedings per day, and the pack is for 18 servings (which simplified to be = 9days maximum consumption, either you really catu the kid's milk or what). You'll need 4 packs = RM100.00/month. Oh, okay, Dutch Lady is cheap aaaaa I am impressed.

For the cheapest buy/brand available, one need RM670.00, for God's sake!

PERSONAL CARE (RM120.00/month)

Body wash = RM 35 (RM 20 for parents, RM 15 for kiddo, you wish, but OKAY)
Shampoo = RM 20, ada? (Idk, mine is RM50~70)

Detergent = RM 25

Husband's personal care, minimum needed 1 hair gel + deodorant lah = RM 50 (agak je ni..)

My personal care, say I tak make up, and hodoh AF, like I need only moisturizer with SPF + bedak silkygirl = RM 50, facial cleanser, toner, serum semua takda sebab nak hodoh, kan..?

We need = RM 205.00 frigging minimum! Excuse me, where the above I could cut to make it RM 120/month? *SOS*

Others, I don't even bother to calculate, but overall I can see that this BELANJAWANKU 2019 is UNREALISTIC, as others may also suggest. I may not know anyone from the SWRC team, but if you know anybody, please send my warmest regards, and please provide link for a survey, or anything. 

Just to make the SWRC no longer a joke to everybody!

Everything I calculated above is not my current expenses, rather a downgraded version of everything I needed, so, I cannot even imagined what one family has to go through if the suggested budget were to follow as a guide. They must be living hell.. Pity them young, married couple who needs the same amount of money, with an entry level pay..

If you have another opinions on this, please share!

Until next post!

Source : https://www.fisher-price.com/en-us/product/laugh-learn-servin-up-fun-food-truck-dym74

Also age appropriate, this is a better version of a playhouse, which combines steering wheel (food truck), kitchen, toy food and many other -which Seff really loves. Except, it is rather small in size, as per review. A 3-ft kiddo will always kneel/bend isn't it? Thus this will be put on hold

Note : Good as a role / pretend play, yes?

My current wish list are all inspired by the new releases, new sites launched and awesome deals I found available today.

Been wanting to do this for a very long time now (since early 2019) but did not manage to do it with the right people..

I thought that Il's wedding will be a good platform to do this, but oh well, kids, kids everywhere! And I had to leave the wedding earlier than everyone else

So I guess I can do one with my best friend Nad

She came to Seff's Aqiqah, but she came during peak hours and we just totally forgot about taking photo together..

So here we are, 10 years ago..



and this is us, 10 years after



Some said not much has changed, but look at my hair! Although I am loving tousled hair since I was in University years (yes, my taste is always the same), but did I have receding hairline? Okay we shall take more photos to compare..

Besides spectacles on Nad, I think we aged pretty well. Cannot wait for 2029!
(which probably will show more physical changes)

Until next post!

(I already asked my husband's opinion, and he approved this post)

We decided to enroll Euseff in playschool, being previously taken care by my mom, but I wanted him to be around other kids and socialize

As opposed to the article above, we choose Taska Cahaya Arfa, Telok Panglima Garang because of its location, and it is registered under Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM)

Supposed, it is good, right?

We decided to start small. If it is up to me, I surely choose a pricier ones first, so we wouldn't have to change school so often.

Upon meeting Puan Amalina, the owner, for the first time, I think she is okay (experienced in dealing concerned mother, perhaps?) until she said something like this,

"Saya call je kawan saya, "luluskan permohonan (JKM) saya", terus lulus", bragging, with pride

Chronyism is what came first to my mind, but I am quite a positive person, so I console myself thinking that, she might be handling my kid well, afterall she got friend from the JKM, she surely don't want shame

So we enrolled Euseff to Taska Cahaya Arfa

THE EALIER EXPERIENCES : INSECT BITES

Every day/weel, he came home to new insect bites, so we always asked what had bite him

The replies are always, "Datang taska memang dah ada menggaru/kena gigit" but we sure nothing happened at our clean, brand new house (got key in May 2019)

Experienced (in providing escape answers too), I believe?

But we keep sending Seff there, poor my baby. Everytime we left and picked him up, he cried. 

One time, Seff has been bitten I believe to be "charlie" but at first was mistaken to be hot water (due to kesan lecur) from my mom's opinion.

THE WORST BITE : (BELIEVED TO BE) CHARLIE ANT'S BITE

The worst case happened to him was (believed to be) a charlie's ant bite. I was devastated, even I myself have not been bitten by such a horrible kind, but my 1y6m baby got it.

Again, Puan Amalina says Euseff got the bite at home. But our home has no palm plantation in sight, whereas their compound is surrounded by palm trees.

EVERYONE'S OPINIONS

My SIL asked, "Syira masukkan Seff ke Taska Cahaya Arfa ke?". "Ya, kak, kenapa", I replied

"Kawan akak penah masukkan anak dia kejap, keluarkan sebab anak dia asyik sakit"

But I told my husband, we didn't experience whatever they experienced, so we cannot just generalize.

Few more people (their neighbor and my husband's colleague) also passed bad stories about the taska, but we just keep that in mind only.

THE CLIMAX : ONE BRUISE

One day, Seff returned home with a little bruise, so we asked if we could have a look at the CCTV, the reply is wow, so rude!

So we turned to authority, lodged a report just to be safe/future use if any, and complaint through the JKM.. (the heck, we have chosen JKM-registered TASKA for a peace of mind!)

We also notified that they did not give us any book (mind you, we are first time parents sending our kid to school) to notify/update on Seff's daily routine. Only after I personally took an Annual Leave, book to see Pn Amalina, and I asked her do they have annual (I did not know there exist daily sheets/in a book) updated on Seff since I am interested to know his progress. She replied,

"Buku kita ada, tapi parents selalunya malas nak isi.." eh pulak dah, me, monologue

"Tapi kami rajin, sebab anak kami sorang ni lah" and then she handed me the book, zzz

And so JKM already replied my complaint, with few key points (and let me further clarify with you all) :

 1. Menyedia dan menyenggara rekod-rekod di TASKA

Which means, they have trouble updating daily sheets of their anak-anak asuhan, but this is primarily the requirements to run this business, right?

Anyway, I personally witnessed (when I picked Seff up inside, not outside of their premise) and there are a lot of kids being placed in a small room, almost like chickens you see in poultry industry. Sad, but the absence of baby record book is probably due to the high number of kids there, who knows

2. Menjaga kebersihan dan keselamatan dalam dan luar premis taska

Thus the insect bites Seff got, ohh poor the other kids expecially babies. Luckily Seff is big enough to have pushed away few insects, I believe

3. Memasang dan menyelenggaran CCTV di TASKA

Why mentioned memasang, if they already have one? It could be more towards, they lied about the CCTV. Which could be penipuan in general. But anyway, when we lodged a police report, the officer asked if we want them to rush to the premise, as they also said that they might lie about the CCTV

We being nice as we are, refuse the kind offer because we only want to be safe/future reference in case Seff condition worsen. Even my CC quite mad about this story and she said, "Depa nak tunggu apa baru nak ambil serius?"

Anyway, we would like to express my deep gratitude that JKM did not take my complaint lightly, and we really hope that action is taken to the TASKA, and not just being nice on paper. Walk the talk, and please restore every mom's confidence in JKM, in general

Afterall, why bother choose JKM-registered one?

And lucky for Seff, the next school he is going now is okay, with significantly smaller number of children, book daily updated, signed and stamped (properly managed), no bites in sight (LOL), and he is seen happier at this new school (always smile, and wave teachers goodbye)

Mind sharing your worst experiences in TASKA?

Among the late one to arrive, my husband's housemates, which happens to be my friends/circles lah, because we all went to the same University (UNITEN)

And the rest of the photos..

The goodie/gift bag

Our homestay is nice and very comfortable too

Until next event, 

Euseff's 2nd Birthday!

tag : malay akikah, aqiqah 2019, boy aqiqah, aqiqah dais 2019, malay aqiqah