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Friday 29 May 2015

National Service versus Love

Remember my bursting passion to serve my national oil company?

It is back on, almost like a never-ending relationship. Blows hot and cold. Back at square one. Even if the offer is to start from the beginning, like a career comeback. If given a second chance, the next 25 years still seem like golden opportunity to contribute and grow together.

My pulse never left the industry, my network is still growing and news of people movement keeps finding its way to me despite the 6 years gap. Against the odds following the side step manoeuvre to start and grow a family. 

Signs? Only He knows. 

On the flip side, I really enjoy working from home and readily present for my family 100%. Once my gratitude sets in, fear (of lacking) is removed. Such is faith, simply.

In my 6 years of not being in typical full time employment, I have experienced freedom from corporate life, freedom from office politics, freedom to travel and so much more. Life is good, syukur alhamdulillah for His Blessings. He Crafts The Perfect Plan. 

Keeping the faith. May Allah swt remove the obstacles, constantly send me clear answers and shower His blessings upon this area of my life. Amin.

Snippets: Peace & Quiet

"Mummy, R was absent from school so it was all peace and quiet during my lunch. He was not there to step on my shoes to make it all dirty! He was not there to ask me to finish my spicy food. Yay!", The Little Girl happily exclaimed during our drive home.

Then, softly, she added, "I wonder if he is OK. I hope he is not sick."

R and The Little Girl remind me of one of those grouchy but contentedly married couples in their 80s. Romantic squabbling and endearing affection for one another when together and missing the other like crazy when apart.

May Allah swt Guide your heart in the right sense and increase your compassion for others, my baby. Amin!

An update as of 30 August 2015: R left The Big School to join another school. The Little Girl felt relieved because this means peace and quiet without dirty shoes by Monday lunch time. May R grow sensibly into a gentleman, Amin!



Holiday Plans 2015/6

We were informed by my MIL that our family holiday plans for 2016 have been made, and partially paid for. In sha Allah. 2016! It sounds like a long time to go, right? Lots of prayers required here.

Now that 2016 is planned for, we looked into shorter term plans for 2015 *chuckles*

Our August 2015 plans have also been confirmed and paid for. In sha Allah, we will hunt for organic farms and let the kids ride in a tractor. It is about time they learn about sustainable food source and the science behind it all (without the confines of a laboratory of a formal school!).

The summer holiday is relatively long so we have slotted in a beach holiday too; so let's pray for good weather. Hopefully the kids will be excited to put some effort into turtles conservation come September 2015. The Little Girl was very happy to add Peninsula Malaysia East Coast as one of the places to visit.

In sha Allah, December 2015 is going to be a "repeat" holiday like December 2014, and we hope to improvise on the "weaknesses" from 2014. Innovative parents, with unoriginal ideas of where to go, much. Last week, we asked The Little Girl where she would like to go this December 2015 and she chose a local theme park destination, bless her!

Key points:

1. Instead of a long drive, we will break the journey into shorter sprints with fun overnight stays in between cities. Port Dickson and Malacca both seem sensible as en route points to and fro Johor Bahru. We are keen to try out Grand Lexis at Port Dickson or YTL Malacca. 

2. Instead of 2 connecting rooms, we paid for a 2 bedroom suite. I will be the happiest mum if the washer/dryer at Doubletree Johor Bahru works so that we can pack our suitcases home without any wet clothes from the waterpark at LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort! I will also be sure to order a delicious bowl of laksa Johor before 11pm!

3. Instead of single entry one day park tickets, we bought a two day park and water play with option of multiple exit and re-entry. It is going to be a matter of time we opt for annual tickets for cost savings.

Wish us luck!

Do you also pre-plan annual holidays, my lovelies? Or are you an impromptu/last minute traveller? Please do share!

Frozen Meals

Impending sahur and sawm, frozen meals have been prepared with a few more portions of dishes to add. 

This is the time of the year I cook "insane" amount of beef rendang and chicken with honey sauce. 

The typical serving at sahur is one portion of beef rendang, rice, cucumber slices, carrot sticks, hard boiled egg, cashew nuts and dates. Followed by at least 2 big glasses of Evian and a cup of hot drink.



We refer to a printed manual in plastic laminate for those 3.30 am meal preparations. This is a wonderful precedent set by my MIL. She had once forgotten to press the cook button on the rice cooker! Luckily for us all, she bought loaves of bread as saviour during unfortunate moments, how clever! Having the sahur SOP has helped me autopilot quickly/assist The Other Half with taking over in the kitchen especially on nights when Bean wakes up for his feed.

Iftar is usually a small meal, to avoid indigestion. The norm is a cold overnight oatmeal with fruits and nuts, dates and hot drinks. Sometimes, The Other Half asks for banana-chocolate smoothie with chia seeds, or rose flavour jelly to soothe his parched throat.

How do you prepare sahur and Iftar, my lovelies? Please do share!


Thursday 28 May 2015

Snippets: New Route

This week, I decided to look for another route to The Big School.

Truthfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease and speed (barring freak road congestion owing to accidents and mishaps) via Sungai Besi and East-West Link. 

The Little Girl had this to say, "Good job, Mummy!"

Verbal development must be her magic milestone this year as she proceeded to compare our route options. She noted views and differences along each route, with special emphasis on time it takes for her to stay belted in her booster seat or time it takes for the songs to loop on her JMC Primary 2 CD.

Never a quiet drive.

And just like that she made my day.

LaundryMonster


This is precisely why I am NOT active on Facebook or possess any other social media account.

As The Other Half puts it, "Something has to give". He has a good point because Allah swt gave each of us 24 hours per day equally so when time is preciously limited, we need discipline to use it wisely, for whatever good cause close to our hearts.

Chin up! Iron on! It is just another week of LaundryMonster! 

 



Wednesday 27 May 2015

Snippets: Homework

It was 8 pm and I gently reminded The Little Girl of her bedtime. 

Her quick retort was that she did rather complete her Mandarin homework and sleep 15 minutes later. 

I wanted to see what she really was up to so I relented. How could she be so eager to write her Mandarin homework?!

15 minutes later, 3 rows of very scribbly characters for grandfather (ye ye) and grandmother (nai nai) were found outside the confines of the square checks she was meant to adhere to. 

Correction work tomorrow is going to be interesting as I anticipate her point of having completed her Mandarin homework, cakar ayam and all.

Being a "banana Chinese" myself, I know the difficulty and challenge in learning Mandarin. Perhaps this is why I feel even more for The Little  Girl!

Oh well, what does not kill us makes us stronger. 

Dui ma?

The Leak, Part 2 of 2

Here is an update since my last post about the leaking from our air-conditioner units at the hall, dining room and master bedroom. 

As the temperatures and humidity soared when the air-conditioner units were out of commission, my patience wore thinner.

Thankfully, the rain over a few evenings kept the temperature at night slightly lower than usual. We made do with a few ceiling fans and portable fans. It was bearable, at best. Bean slept in his shorts and tees without his cellular blanket on.

During the day, sweaty and stuffy best described us. We could not leave the windows open as it was humid, dusty and noisy. Often, I asked myself if this "unsustainable" lifestyle of having the air-conditioner on for 24/7 is reasonable. The answer was (is) obvious but where we live is not my call. So I put up with it and tried my best to shut my mental chatter up.

Mental chatter aside, we are now crossing our fingers and toes, hoping and praying that the leak is fixed for good. The contractor finally managed to slot us an appointment and did some serious blueprint search at the management office. 

What he found was shocking.

First shock: All 5 units share one master outlet pipe, and some "dummy" outlet pipes were found, unused of course.

Second shock: This master outlet pipe runs along the height of our wing for the entire block. That is at least 33 floors worth of air-conditioning outlet water to channel out? I pray so hard this will not get blocked perpetually. Who am I kidding, right?

Should we reroute our outlet and resort to activate our own private "currently dummy" pipes? That way, we will be saved the hassle of a blocked master outlet pipe, if and when that happens.

Too shocked, still. Please find me a chair, I need to sit down for a moment and think this through. Moment of needing pedoman from His Almighty...
Friday 22 May 2015

Snippets: Tricky Words

The Little Girl had so much fun doing this piece of work. I admire her tenacity and stamina for looking up those 26 new and "tricky" words. 



Photos, verbal explanations, Wikipedia entries, pages from her existing books all add up as new, possible resources to hunt for answers and challenge the way she thinks.

May Allah swt bless you, mon coeur, endlessly with this thirst for knowledge and uncovering some of His Unlimited Creations. Amin.
Thursday 21 May 2015

Liquid 3 Vegetables


I got slightly impatient and went ahead with combining 3 vegetables into a single juice. Going to restock my kale when I go to Hock Choon (JY Fruits and Vegetables corner shop) or Village Grocers, Bangsar Village.

So far so good! The kids find this the hardest to gulp down, expectedly. In fact,  the elder and vocal one championed the rights of minor persons at home by asking for "purple juice".

Aha. 

Hampshire Mummy is trying to be a good mummy and this resolution is, of course, passed.

Beet, purple carrot and dragon fruit coming up.

P/S: Each kid took 5ml of pure juice, and my 190 ml x 2 portions worked well for my detox. Consume sparingly and please seek your doctor's opinion before embarking on any detox or juicing regiment.
Monday 18 May 2015

Teething Bean

16 pearlies with 4 more under those sore, red, hot gums. We may have to give him some homemade, cold, fruit purée lollies in the afternoon to ease discomfort. Bonjela is on stand by...

He is nursing more than usual, sleeping in my arms, and occasionally heats up then breaking out a sweat. 

Thankfully, his appetite and demeanour are not affected. He can count up to 3 now *proud and happy mummy* and sing random alphabets from the ABC Song. The best part is, he can name most colours accurately.

3 words sentences are expanding too - "this is Mummy" and sometimes 4 words sentences "this is blue car". I love his baby voice!

His favourite toys are vehicles with wheels. F1 miniature cars to steam rollers, he loves them all. The little blue BMW car is his ultimate fun ride at home. He calls it Mummy's Car. When he is out with us at carparks he can pick out and name all the ones with the same badge *smacks own forehead* although we keep repeating that Mummy does not own all these cars! If only!!

Oh, Bean. 23 months and growing faster than the speed of light. May Allah swt keep you in His Watch always. Amin.

Snippets: Ambivalence

Upon arrival at The Big School, The Little Girl proclaimed, "I hate going to school, Mummy."

I said nothing, because I know her.

Upon dismissal at The Big School, the same young person proclaimed excitedly, "I LOVE school, Mummy!"

She went on to describe her wonderful day at school with teachers, classmates, lessons and the weather in detail. Enough to last the 45 minutes' drive home. 

She did not give me a chance to say anything! All she wanted was a listening mum, so I indulged her.

Now you see why I said nothing in the morning? *smug face*

Juicing


Photo of my carrot-grapefruit juice and "ancient" copy of recipe

There is another bottle of green juice for breakfast tomorrow, I can barely wait to down the parsley-celery instead of my usual coffee. Please do not ask me why I have been so bad to my body by feeding it coffee first thing in the morning! Sleepiness?! Of late, I cannot even swallow coffee first thing in the morning without nausea. Water, water, water please.

Next week, I move on to 3 fruits/vegetables. It is tastier with 3 so I am gleefully anticipating it. The Other Half  just hopes our juicer can survive this year,  as we are "heavy-duty" home users. 

In order to encourage Bean and The Little Girl, I plan to make them a "loyalty card" so every time they drink one of my home concoction, they will earn a stamp. The end reward after 10 juices is a slice of home-baked banana cake. It is going to be so easy for them to score because they love juices (alas, more than water!).

**Start of digression**

Time of the year for me to juice again, yes. Of course you may juice at any time of the year as you wish. It is just that I feel extra dehydrated just before fasting starts and listen to my body I must. 

I respond to that physical thirst with juicing as much as I can. Then feed my thirst for soulful renewal and rejuvenation by returning to the sacred pages of the Al-Quran.

May Allah swt grant us another Ramadhan. Amin.

**End of digression**

Are you juicing too, my lovelies? What is your favourite fruit/vegetable combination? Please do share!
Sunday 17 May 2015

Gratitude: Soil & Soul

Today, I am grateful for being in touch with soil at The House and renewed soul after spending some quality time with my family.

The soil:


Kemuning blossoms filled the air with sweet fragrance.



Organic four angle beans for fresh ulam with sambal.



Eyeing these sweet and crunchy beans.



May these grow into edible goodness.



Chilli.



Lemongrass.



Ginger.



Kunyit and birds chilli (with iron supplement, ha!)





Pruned and dwarf version of previously thorny tree.

The soul:


The joyful noise they bring!



Sweet and gentle reminder that they have one another to count on.




The tender moment when Bean reached out for some grandfatherly unconditional support and love.

Syukur alhamdulillah. Little reminders that what we have been blessed with, is indeed sufficient. 

Thank You.

Road Trip With Young Children

One of my dearest childhood friend came to visit us from Vancouver last month and one of the many thought-provoking questions she had asked, was this:

"What is it like going on a road trip with your children?"

The answer, my dear Ellie, is this - plan, prepare and pray. 

Proviso: There is no cut and dried rule as far as young persons are concerned. In fact, they add all the variable factors and differentiating circumstances we can think of. This is just a simple account of what works for my family.

1. Plan
We are the best of planners, Allah swt Decides. So, plan we do. 

We look up common free dates, hotel deals, flight schedules, road maps, places of interest for 2 and 5 year-old young persons. 

Rest points, safe playgrounds, clean toilets along PLUS or any highways overseas are noted.

We book and pay for the necessary hotel rooms/park entrance tickets, service the vehicle we are using, fuel up and load up our prepaid toll cards.

If taking flights, we book and pay for the tickets, download and keep the e-tickets into the same information folder (which in itself deserves a separate post). Same goes for train tickets. 

Visa is something we always double-check. Some countries do require at least an e-visa which can be completed online.

The checklist is quite long, as we usually also plan our laundry, dishwasher load and fridge contents to be a neat as possible. Then I do a minor spring clean BEFORE we leave so that we can come home to a clean, inviting home. 

Oh, emptying the trash is a big item on the plan, as are turning off most power sockets and unplugging electrical and electronic devices.

We even reload the supply of fresh diapers for Bean so that we will not have to face diapers shortage crisis upon return.

(Of course, we use a neatly typed-out checklist like most parents).

2. Prepare
We pack, prepare for the journey and just go ahead with the plan without stressing over the exact minutes and seconds. 

A holiday is a holiday. It starts from the minute we wake up for the day, not upon arrival at holiday destination. All of the journey is part of the holiday so we try to enjoy it as much as possible.

The obvious preparation for young travellers like ours include handy towels, wet wipes, spare change of clothes and shoes for everyone, "never-ending" supply of snacks and drinks, CD and book combo for sing-along, a fairy tale or two to read and watch. An iPad can do all that but we are parents who try to minimise their screen-time.

Never underestimate the usefulness of a waste-bag to contain all the trash young persons are capable of producing within 350km, or more. 

3. Pray
Nothing beats prayers, in our lives that is. Journey mercies, safety, deliverance from hardship and mishaps. The whole long-winded prayers and Amin for me, said in the heart/thought out in the brain. 

The Little Girl had vocally "led" some of those prayers and they were concise too. "Bismillah, we go to Penang happily. Amin!" Love those moments.

Our reality:

Over the years, we gained more experience and road trips have become less tedious. Less overwhelming. Less daunting. More joy. More simplicity. Travel lighter. 

We have since added Bean to the equation but the golden rules have not changed much. In fact, we have found more efficient and effective ways of traveling, cutting down on anxiety and add more beautiful memories into our lives as a young and growing family.

We are not perfect, but we are happy. Syukur alhamdulillah

Here's to more future road trips (I promise it gets easier as the little ones grow up!). I sincerely hope this answers your question, Ellie!

P/S: Long haul flights are different  experiences depending on the airline and route we choose. So far, we have only practised with MAS to Sydney, Australia and Emirates to Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom on multiple times with equally good outcome. 

The worst had to be British Airways UK local flights because The Little Girl had a meltdown during the 5pm flight; she was simply overwhelmed and tired. It is the time of the day I would avoid travelling if all plans were up to me.

We could have had a better experience with British Airways and MAS in the London return sector. That was probably a one-off incident.

InshaAllah, Vancouver, Canada is in our medium term plans. If it is His Will, it will happen according to His Time! We look forward to it, nonetheless. 


Friday 15 May 2015

The Leak: Part 1 of 2

Allah swt is really testing my patience of late. The subject is constant, and my "answers" and/or reaction have hopefully improved over the years. Sabr is part of iman and since He keeps testing me, He must really want me to pass!

Two of our air-conditioning units are leaking and since they are out of commission, the comfort level at The Flat has been ...

... severely lacking.

I guess I failed the test right there when I mentioned my discomfort.

The dripping has not stopped for a few nights now, sometimes waking Bean up at wee hours of the night. On a positive note, it sounds quite comforting, like pitter patter after the rain. Can you guess how desperate I am at trying to look for the beauty in this ordeal?

Our timber skirting has warped from water damage. The wallpaper is taking a beating too. I self-soothe by telling myself that this is just a small property damage that can be fixed. Be thankful we still have a home.

The timber flooring strips look wet from beneath despite being mopped up. My fear is rot. If indeed it rots, we will have to get replacement strips. Put in the effort, this is a trial of sabr.



The bucket has to be emptied so often so as not to pose a drowning risk to curious Bean. Be watchful over Bean, he is His Amanah.

On top of that, we are not able to open our windows to let in fresh, cool, clean air because there is none to be found in the city. When we did, briefly, we let in dust, noise and humidity. Much regret but be patient. Clean, clean and clean. 

The serviceman is coming tomorrow and hopefully he can fix this fix we are in, pun intended.

We know he cannot fix the underground pipes without hacking half of The Flat. We know one of the air-conditioning units  have to be rerouted, at best.

So often, I feel so frustrated at the architect and interior designer who had conceived The Flat. Did they not foresee these intricacies? Was it purely a commercial decision?

Until then, I am reconsidering a simple, traditional Malay kampung home at Janda Baik. Freehold. No encumbrances.  Small plot of garden. Time it takes for daily school run...reality check!

Hope the leaks will be fixed for good, in sha Allah. 

Note to self: Be thankful for the lessons derived.

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Starstruck

Today, I finally gathered my guts and introduced myself to one of the most admired (former) Judges of High Court of Malaya after pondering it over last night (yes to Salam, no to selfie strategy / please laugh at me for being slightly naive and over-thinking things). 

We were in a continued legal professional course along with a group of other practitioners from diverse Corporate Malaysia. Fun people, with creative ideas (myself included, teehee).

Oh, I am so glad I did because what followed was a friendly banter on whistle-blowing, corporate governance, growth of faith in Allah swt, life in general and etc. so many wise words from a person whose life is being well-devoted to Him. Ever so humble, in spite of being ever so experienced and globally respected for his stance on transparency, judiciary independence and good governance.
 
"Right is right even when you are the only one doing it."

Alhamdulillah for such this blessed encounter with an "old school" person with strong principles and values. Rare gem. May Allah swt bless (ex) Yang Arif forevermore.
Thursday 7 May 2015

Why 2 Rooms, Ma'am?

Quite a few people have asked me why a family the size of mine needs 2 rooms during holidays.

The sales team at Shangri-la Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa explained that we could easily fit in an extra bed for The Little Girl, and a cot for Bean.

I politely declined.

Then persistently requested for connecting rooms. It was good they did because we were very satisfied with this configuration.

This made putting The Little Girl to bed first a whole lot easier. She had her space for her quiet activities, reading or watching the telly without Bean disturbing or distracting her. 

The most obvious convenience is of course, having the additional bathroom during inconvenient times of both kids needing the throne at the same time. 

Synchronised clean up time would have been a nightmare in only one bathroom. For my family, that is.

Win-win situation. The hotel gets an additional room sale, my family is comfortable.

There is a back-story to the difference between 2 rooms and 2 connected rooms. 

We had once made an expensive boo boo at Avillion Port Dickson because the resort did not have connecting rooms at its garden wing and what was worse was that they failed to inform us beforehand. 

It was obviously too late to change hotels upon check-in. We were then made to pay extra for the usual water chalet we had stayed at on countless times prior to that visit. We had booked for 2 rooms with a special request for those rooms to be connecting rooms. They insisted 2 rooms and 2 connected rooms is NOT the same thing.

So I agreed with them. Technically and grammatically, they are right. I did not want to start a vacation with an argument with my host. 

What I do, is to try not to make the same mistake again.

For our next holiday this coming August, we have  paid for a 2-room family suite that comes with a spacious bathroom at Cameron Highlands Resort by YTL. I hope and pray by spacious they mean the four of us can perform bathroom gymnastics - one of us can fit into the bath tub, another one can use the shower cubicle, with another one brushing teeth at the sink with the last one still standing ready with a towel and not bruised from the many pairs of elbows around.

Wish me luck!

P/S: If you have any reliable direct contacts with organic farmers in Cameron Highlands (other than COP) please share them with me. Thank you in advance!


Wednesday 6 May 2015

Our Holiday Programme

We did "nothing" as usual this holiday.

By nothing, we mean:

1. Woke up to this view of traveller's palm. We did not want noise from the poolside, or the possible danger of falling from a balcony. We couldn't hear any noise from the roads just outside either except the one time a bridal entourage honked the entire resort down when they were coming to collect the bride.

2. Daily breakfast at Spice Market. The kids were fascinated by the Vacant/Occupied sign for the table. I was obsessed with the fresh fruit buffet spread, pain au chocolat and hot latte. During the peak period, the buffet hours were extended from 6.30 to 11am. Bliss! We did not experience any long wait or shortage of food, and that scores thumbs up from us.

3. Walked in this rain tree garden. Nothing but fresh air, chirping birds and endless chatter from my lot.

4. Lazed in the room (showered, read with and to the kids, rested, played with Bean, watched telly). We do not subscribe to Astro at home so kids were happy to indulge in some Disney programmes. The Little Girl especially enjoyed Ratatouille. I even managed to keep abreast with latest episodes of Sensory Couple and Queen's Flowers. Wifi was reliable until 30 April when the KL exodus arrived.

5. Lunch. We tried Heritage Hotel at Armenian Street for my Penang Asam Laksa one noon and it was surprisingly, authentically good! Straits Quay was far from exciting so we had a little impromptu picnic out on a bench by the marina. The best food was at Royal Thai seafood but sadly, flies were everywhere once food was served (reminded me of our Pullman Putrajaya and Avillion Port Dickson trips). The kids were beyond fascinated by the display of life seafood. They even had fun walking on the beach by the restaurant. We had thought of paying a visit to Penang Butterfly Farm but the thought of jostling with the crowd and wrestling with my two kids put us off completely. Maybe next year, in sha Allah.

6. Lazed in the room post-lunch. The Little Girl usually worked on her Kumon math, practised styling her own hair with the many hair clips and hair bands we had packed along, and read more story books. She even practised writing some of her spelling words in English and Malay. All this while Bean napped in my arms. I wished I could have gone to spa but Bean will only nap in my arms and be a toddler once...

7. Tea. Scones, savoury and sweet delights every single afternoon. Complimentary with our two rooms, so we were qualified for two sets but after the binge last year, we restrained ourselves and politely limited ourselves to just one tray.

8. Swim. Highlight of the day for the kids.  It never once occurred to them to leave the pool.

9. Sand play. Second highlight of the day for the kids. Our convention is to bury some treasures to dig up the following day but mysteriously the treasure disappeared daily! My guess is the overzealous maintenance crew must have raked the sand pit thoroughly every single day. Which makes this the safest sand pit we have ever come across.

10. Clean Up and Quiet Time. Clean up, yes. Quiet? No way! The kids were so energised and happy, alhamdulillah!

11. Dinner. We love the dinner buffet spread at Spice Market but with The Little Girl and Bean around, we hardly caused a dent, which led us to order from the resort's superb room service. 20 minutes meant 20 minutes. The only time we managed to eat something from the buffet spread was the time my PIL agreed to hold and/or walk Bean. Even they preferred room service after that tiresome dinner. My fondest memory of that dinner out of the room was Bean having learnt  the word "dark" from me as I described to him the gorgeous orange and purplish sunset, and night that followed. He repeated and applied it after that, especially to Grandad who could not be more impressed by the accuracy of his youngest grandson pointing out at the dark garden and exclaiming "dark" for all the world to hear.

12. Read and Quiet Time after washing up. Our evening routine started quite early for a good night rest. Except the one night I had an insatiable craving for Penang Char Koay Teow and 20 minutes later, a cart with my calorie-laden supper arrived. I slept like a baby after the out-of-character chow-down, 1000 calories happier.

13. Sleep. The Little Girl was good and slept by 9 pm on most nights but Bean was once up till 1 am just because he was so happy, energetic and curious of his new surroundings. He slept at 11 pm on average.

6D/5N of utter bliss, alhamdulillah!
Tuesday 5 May 2015

Lock&Lock


Pins and brooches.



Snap close et voilà. 

I would then slip my Lock&Lock "Tupperware" into my luggage/over-nighter. I have travelled with this as checked-in luggage without any troubles, and in sha Allah will not have troubles in future too.

In order to prevent creasing up of light chiffon scarves (too fragile to iron) and instant slip-on scarves with "awnings", I place them rolled into rectangular shaped Lock&Lock too. Very useful as they arrive creaseless and ready to wear.

When I am in the mood and have time to spare, a little sachet of potpourri is included into the "Tupperware" to keep those scarves smelling fresh. 

An original idea first handed-down to me by my dear MIL. I guess we are both OCD in our own ways. 

(I also keep The Other Half's battery operated shaver in a small rectangle Lock&Lock case. In case his shavings spill during transit, they are all held together in a case and not all over our luggage!)

How do you travel with your hijab pins, brooches and scarves? Please do share!

Friday 1 May 2015

May Day

Have a blessed holiday, my lovelies!

We have been at Pearl of the Orient with sand, sea and seafood for a week now and look healthily sun-kissed. 

The real mission we were here for has been successful, alhamdulillah! May The Little Girl and Bean always have this good reason to return to this beautiful island.

The tropical weather has been glorious. When it did rain, we are never short of rainy day activities as the resort is highly-experienced in catering to active minds and limbs of the little ones. Lego, Jenga, board games and even art supplies!

When the sun did shine, everything returned to its original state of being with chirping birds, fresh sea breeze, lush rain trees, endless supply of dry and clean beach towels and cheerful voices of children splashing about in the pool. Yes, Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa lives up to its ratings and reputation.

If this is heaven on earth, I must be so blessed to be here with my little family.

See you again soon!