Singapore trip (17-20 January 2013) - Day 1

As planned, I went to Singapore to accompany my mom for her conference with my baby Batrisyia.  The last time I was there was 1995. That was *gasp* 18 years ago. I'm sure the trip then was very different with this trip because 1) so much has change and 2) now that I am an adult, I have to arrange everything myself! We departed from KLIA at 10.50pm so we arrived around midnight. The journey back to our hotel, Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore took about 20 minutes or so. By meter, it was supposed to cost around SGD13 but it was doubled due to midnight charge. I did my reservation on booking.com and check-in process was smooth. We paid extra for harbour view and the view was spectacular. Since we arrived past mid-night, we went to bed as soon as we settled down.

Luckily I didn't pay for breakfast upfront because Friday morning, we woke up quite late. My mom did not even have time for breakfast. We went down at the coffee house but mom changed her mind and straight away took a cab to the conference. I was left alone with Batrisyia while having coffee and waiting for the SAEx bus to arrive. It was very convenient to go to the zoo. For SGD5 one way, the bus picked us up from the airport and straight to Singapore Zoo. While waiting Tricia and I made new friends. We met Valeria from Brazil with her son Thomas, 7. They were very nice. However, since Tricia was sleeping when we arrived at the zoo, I asked them to go ahead. Here are some pictures of Tricia and the animals.

That night I was tired from pushing Tricia around and it was also my first day of my period. So when we arrived back at the hotel, Tricia and I fell asleep immediately. My mom however got stuck in the rush hour traffic. She only arrived back at the hotel around 8pm. Scrap plan to go Night Safari. So we went to Marina Bay Sands instead. What I love about the hotel was the location. It was situated next to Raffles Mall and there was an MRT station downstairs, City Hall station. I surveyed the MRT map and decided to stop at Marina Bay station. When we went out, we saw that the 3 Marina Bay Sands buildings were quite a distance away so we had to walk. Little that I know that the correct station should be Bayfront. Haha.

Since it was quite late and finding halal food was not as easy as it was in Malaysia, we stopped at the first decent restaurant that we saw. The food was delicious. ^_^ Perut kenyang, suke hati. 

After that, we made a quick round around the mall area but nothing much interest us. Huhu. I think KL IS a shopping haven, it made this huge posh shopping area looked rather flat. It was not bad but it was okay only. This second night, Batrisyia had started to miss her father. Of course, at the zoo, she kept saying "papa, papa" when I was pushing her in the stroller but back at the hotel, she kept picking up my phone and the hotel's phone and calling out "papa?". So kesian to see her do that, I called my hubby, who that time had safely landed in Jakarta and after a few hours drive, had arrived in Bandung. After the call, I thought she could go to sleep easily but she was cranky and crying and I was tired and irritated that I didn't know what she wanted. Lucky mummy was around and she helped checked Tricia's pampers and oh, she needed a change. After everything was alright, we fell asleep easily.

Hubby's Jakarta/Bandung trip

Following hubby's depressing mood since we came back from Jerai, I asked him what his problem was really about. He said, he was just plain tired. During the day, he had to accommodate to Tricia's endless demands and he thought he needed a break from it all. Initially, he wanted to go to Bandung with me but his friends suggested that they go for a vacation together sans the wife so there I was with the prospect of being left behind. I don't like to leave him but I HATE to be left behind by him so I told hubby that he could go the weekend I was going to accompany my mom to Singapore for her conference. Hubby dislikes Singapore so he wasn't going to follow us. Lucky me, he was okay with it so he made his arrangement with his friends to go from Friday to Sunday (18-20th January 2013).

I, on the other hand, was supposed to just go for the weekend, i.e. Saturday - Sunday (19-20th January 2013) but as I said I hated to be left behind so I changed my flight with MAS at an extra cost of RM220 to Thursday night. At least it was the same flight as my mom's and I could help her with all the ground arrangements. Hubby initially wanted to go to Bandung but the tickets were extremely expensive. After doing some homework, comparing MAS and AirAsia, comparing destinations in Indonesia (because our currency was stronger there), they found out that it was very cheap to go to Jakarta by MAS. So they bought the tickets.

Thursday night, when we were on the way to the airport, hubby received a call from his friend saying there was news that Jakarta was flooded and was declared "darurat", which was quite severe. He went to ask at the counter whether their flight got cancelled but someone told him there was no flight cancellation at that moment. Although 70% of the city was under water, the airport was still fine thus planes could still safely land and take off. The only problem was to get out of the airport. Luckily, the driver whom they hired for the weekend said, he could pick them off from Jakarta and then take them to Bandung, which was what they did. The journey to Bandung on a good day was supposed to take about 2 hours or so. However, hubby and friends had to brave through 6-hours drive to Bandung that evening! So much for a relaxing trip.

I have nothing to share about Bandung or even Jakarta. My flight from Singapore was delayed by half an hour or so that Sunday night due to bad weather in KL. Hubby's flight however was delayed for 3 hours! Haha. Sounds like a tiring trip to me. But I'm sure he had a good break because he came back refreshed and ready to take new challenges from our little baby Batrisyia. LOL. As for me, I have nothing to search for in Bandung anyway and I don't feel like I need to go there so I'm fine that MY trip got cancelled. Maybe next time can get hubby to bring me to Bali or Krabi. I LOVEEE the beach. ;)

The Regency Jerai, Gurun, Kedah

Hubby is well-known for being a very spontaneous person. On the 4th of January this year, a Friday night, hubby asked me what was my plan for the weekend. So my list goes on to something like this: blood test (just for normal check up), Hepatitis B vaccination for myself and scaling. Then hubby said, let's go to Gunung Jerai instead. So all plans postponed and after brunch Saturday morning, off we went to Gunung Jerai.

The journey to Kedah was uneventful. Traffic was smooth (except for one accident along the way) and Tricia behaved herself, being a seasoned traveller that she is and slept almost all the way there. We arrived at our destination around 6pm. The journey upwards from the base was not that long, around 15 minutes or so but it was quite steep and the turns were quite sharp.

The first thing that caught my eyes were these hydrangeas. Reminded me so much of Mimi. It is her favourite flower in her favourite colour! They have lots of 'em here in different colours.

First thing first, we checked in. The lock was quite old-school. We were provided with a key to the sliding door (no access card). The room was small-ish but comfortable and nice. We had TV, make up table and closet. Shower had hot water. Underneath the sink there were many white decorative stones that Tricia likes to play with. Haha. Phone reception was not that good BUT wifi was very fast! I was very impressed. Managed to upload the whole album of my previous photoshoot on my facebook in a matter of seconds.

After a quick check-in, we headed out before it gets dark. There wasn't that many people around this time of the year as it was not a public or school holiday. So we SORT OF had the entire place to ourselves. Hehe. They have a playground and connecting pools. They also have spa facilities but we didn't try that.

The view from up here was outstanding. Hubby kept telling me that we could see the paddy fields, the sea and the hills from one place!

After that we had our dinner at their Puncak Kedah restaurant. Service wasn't fast even though they weren't that many people but waiters and waitresses were very pleasant. Food was okay but price was very reasonable. Not expensive considering this is the only place where we can get food.

The next morning, we woke up late so we missed our buffet breakfast. Checked out in the afternoon and had brunch before we headed back home. It was a nice quick getaway from the busy city and a nice place to enjoy the view of nature.

There was Anugerah Juara Lagu on TV that night so I thought, after a tiring trip up north, we could just curl up in front of the tv and watch people compete. Hubby looked unsettled and wanted to go out for a drink. Not wanting to leave him alone, I tagged along with Tricia. Little did I know, after we went for a carwash nearby, hubby drove us straight to Genting Highland. It was a Sunday night and I had to work the next day. Aishhh. I didn't even bring Tricia's milk. If only he would COMMUNICATE. I didn't know what have gotten into him that night but he became depressed until Tuesday. I suspect  he was just tired from the travel and taking care of Tricia during the day. Lucky he recovered by Wednesday. If not, I would taken him to see any uztaz. Mane la tau kene tegur ke ape. But all is well now. And we will definitely go again!

Photoshoot Pictures

Location: Taman Wetland, Putrajaya
Date/Time: 23rd December 2012 9.30am

As promised earlier, here are some of the pictures from our photoshoot last month.

Father - daughter relationship

Hubby has always been a hands-on dad since the day Tricia was born. But ever since we moved back to Bangi after Tricia's first birthday, their relationship has been closer/tighter. They spend more time together with each other than with me. They woke up late together and went to sleep late together too. Even though I may have verbally said I am jealous of their relationship, deep down I actually LOVE seeing how close they are. It reminds me of the relationship I had with my dad.

More updates on Tricia.

1) She is NOT afraid of the dark.

One night, she was playing with my containers in the kitchen. When we asked her to leave the kitchen, she refused and just stayed where she was. Then we turned off the kitchen light. She didn't move. After that, we turned off the stairs light and the whole house was dark. She still didn't move and kept playing with my containers! Gosh...

2) She LOVES to read.

Hubby told me in the morning, she will just read her book instead of waking her father up immediately. Somehow last night, when I turned off the lights in the living room to sleep, Tricia protested and carried her book to the kitchen (since we left the kitchen's light on) to read! Anak siapa lah nih? =p

3) She bites her straw and definitely not a light sleeper (just like her mummy)

This is self-explanatory. Haha. My hubby and I concluded that Tricia has his physical attributes (except for the eyes) and my characters. She has always been a deep sleeper. She sleeps through the night since she was 1 month old. I can change her diapers without waking her up when she doesn't want too. And she conquers the whole area when she sleeps. Whoever is in her way will get kicked.

4) Tricia can salam already.

Only last week hubby made this comment to someone. "Belum boleh salam. Tapi boleh hi-5". When I came home from work yesterday to pick her up, bibik Mar told her to salam me, which she did! Wow! You learn so fast, sayang.

Happy New Year, 2013!

I didn't feel like making it a big deal but when I read my past new year's posts, it was actually quite fun to look back. Hubby and I spent our new year's eve at the comfort of our home; playing Wii and watching TV with of course our beloved baby. 2012 has been kind. Here's a summary of the "happenings".

Work

I've been wanting to change my job so bad and I finally got it without having to leave my beloved company. It was a "bonus" to have friends as my teammates, guiding me through the new territory. And not long after I joined, we already got a new junior, which forced me to step up faster. So new year's reso #1: Catch up with work FASTER.

Baby

Batrisyia has been growing up so fast, I wish I could put a brake on it. People are making her a benchmark to track their children's growth and a lot of them got frustrated thinking their children are late bloomers. My advice to all moms out there... don't compare your child's growth to others. As long as you know it is normal, then let them be. Of course all moms want their child to be the best, to have the best... and as long as you are healthy and happy, I am a proud mummy, baby. New year's reso #2: Make time for and spend as much quality time as I can afford with my baby.

Travel

We started 2012 with me still being in confinement. It definitely didn't slow us down though. Went for holidays so many times that I lost count. Only went out of the country once in 2012 sending my brother off to study in Bristol, United Kingdom. Managed to slot in Vatican City, Rome and Capri Island in Italy. Plans for 2013? Still deciding. I'll be going to Singapore in January over the weekend since my mom has to attend a conference there. I'll be bringing Tricia but Hubby doesn't want to go. InsyaAllah going for my brother's graduation in July, which is going to be in fasting month but hubby doesn't want to go too. Thinking of slotting in Paris this time, on mom's request. Maybe going to KK with the Halim's family in June after CFA. New year's reso #3: not about travelling but pass my L2 CFA? Hahahahaha... My never ending story, man...

Money

Oh ya! We bought an apartment in Nilai... Starzvalley, right across Inti University. Still under construction at this very moment. Target completion time is end of this year 2013. So looking forward to that. It is an investment property anyway... so it's not like we are going to move. We have decided to delay our K5 purchase for possibly a year or so. Hubby refused to take our names out of the waiting list to ensure that his dream is still alive? Hehe. Also we max out on our ASB loans. One of the best decisions ever, the ASB loan. Dividend time (new year like now), we get to see our savings grow.

Health

Managed to keep my weight around my pre-pregnancy weight through out the year. Signed up at Fitness First very recently so that I can work out during lunch time. New year's reso #4: maintain a healthy body weight. I can put achieving a certain weight but I think maintaining a healthy weight is more important.

Did I achieve my last year's resolution. Not really but it wasn't that big a target. I wanted to use make up and wear high heels more often. But that's not REALLY what I wanted. I wanted to be confident with myself, my body again after my pregnancy. And happy to say, throughout the year, I don't feel too bad. So yeah, consider it achieved! On to the next missionS.

Bye bye 2012

So much happenings in 2012.

I finally managed to change my job. Same employer, different desk. So far so good... At least, currently I am happy where I am.

Biggest accomplishment apart from the new job IS: raising a baby =p

But I am going to dedicate my last post of 2012 to my 2nd cousin's son, Mohd Aiman Haqem, who passed away early this month. May Allah bless your soul and place you among his loved ones. He was 17.

Cheeky little girl

Went through my blog posts and realised I missed out on one little story. I'm sure all of you who follows my tweets or FB posts read about this already but since my blog also serves as my diary, I'm just going to post it here. When Tricia was about 10 months old, we went out to eat and while waiting for the food to arrive, Tricia was trying to take her father's car keys. She tried so hard to pull it from her father's grip but realised that it was a futile attempt. She sort of gave up trying i.e. stopped pulling. Out of a sudden, she pointed towards the opposite direction of the father's view. When her papa looked and let go of the keys, she quickly grabbed the key and got them! Such a cheeky, clever little girl!

13months and 3 weeks

At 79cm, Tricia is officially more than half of my height.

Christmas Holiday

I haven't seen one of my best friends in the longest time since we stay quite far apart from each other. So we made plans to bring our little ones to Aquaria on Christmas together. Knowing how packed the place would be on a public holiday, Haslin and I decided to buy our tickets online and thank God we did. The place WAS as expected really packed. I enjoyed watching feeding session for memerang sungai and the BIG Arapaima. I think I was more excited than Batrisyia. But that was it. The rest of the time was just rushing through the pack of people. Do excuse the low quality pictures as I forgot to bring my camera. Silly me.

Not wanting to join the crowd, we headed out of KLCC to Delicious in Jalan Tun Razak for lunch but not before stopping by Gucci and Hugo Boss outlet. Hubby's on a mission apparently. It was nice to catch up with Haslin and Irwan and their boy, Daanish. It has been a whole year since we seen each other! Kids being kids, they just would not sit still.

After lunch, instead of heading back home, we detoured to Pavillion. The parking was full so we parked across at Starhill Gallery. When we checked online, there should be a Gucci outlet there but after going round and round and found none, we went to Pavillion. Hubby still couldn't find what he was looking for in Gucci so ended up splurging in Hugo Boss instead.

We were not done yet. Went to Aeon Wangsa Maju to see my mom and my relatives from kampung Perlis, had yong tau foo and went to the kids department to buy Tricia an "umbrella" travelling stroller. We learnt our lesson from the UK trip that travelling without a stroller can cause backache. Now that Tricia is bigger and heavier, it is imperative that we HAVE a stroller for travelling. Current stroller is so bulky that it is not suitable for this purpose. Furthermore, I would be going to Singapore sans hubby in January so I really really need this. Again, excuse the picture and the background. Gambar tangkap muat je nih.

Free stay at Marriot Putrajaya

My mom is a member at Marriot Putrajaya. She took the membership because she LOVES to eat dim sum there and definitely making her membership worth it by going there to eat oh so frequently. But the membership also gives her one complimentary night at the hotel and a few more nights at huge discounts. Given how busy my mom's schedule is, WE got to stay at the hotel for free!

Last Friday, we slept in Nilai because I was just too lazy to drive back. We woke up just in time for lunch, where my MIL cooked delicious food, did a quick stop in Bangi to do laundry and pack, then went to check in at Marriot. When we arrived, Tricia was very tired so she was sleeping... but only about 10 minutes or so because as soon as she realised that we were in a hotel room, she sprang up to life and got very excited again. Anddd the exploring began; opening every drawer and cabinet, played with the mirror, hopped on and tested the softness of sofa, played with the TV remote control... She just wouldn't stop. Hubby ordered room service round 1.

Around 6pm, I insisted to bring Tricia down to the swimming pool. Tricia and I played at the kids pool for around half an hour while hubby sat by the pool side watching us. Then we went back up to shower and hubby went back down to the gym. Hubby came back and started to make use of the bath tub. I, on the other hand, was feeling extremely exhausted so after giving Tricia her milk, both of us fell asleep. Around 10pm, Tricia woke up and I could hear that hubby was ordering room service round 2. But I was just too tired to open my eyes. When the food arrived, hubby woke me up for dinner. When we were done, Tricia demanding to go out again as per her normal routine. So we went down to the carpark to get our phone charger and walked around in the lobby for awhile. When we were ready to sleep, Tricia was restless and gave me the "why are we sleeping so early" kind of look. I told her, "Sleep! Sleep! We need to wake up early tomorrow and don't make noise when I wake you up at 7am because you slept late." Reluctantly, she went to sleep.

Guess what time Tricia woke up the next morning. 6.40am! Hahahahahaha.... We packed up, had our breakfast and checked out around 9am. Then off we went to Taman Wetland Putrajaya for a family photoshoot. The pictures aren't ready yet so here's one for a sneak peak.

Grand Lexis Port Dickson

A day after Batrisyia's birthday celebration, we went to Grand Lexis, Port Dickson since I took Monday off. However, hubby and baby both were not feeling so well so we went quite late, arriving there around 6.30pm. When we arrived, Batrisyia was the most excited one exploring the room. She just won't stop moving around, opening every drawer and cabinet. Seeing how excited she was, I looked at hubby and said, maybe we can make this a tradition. Sleeping at a nice hotel on birthdays.

We didn't go into the pool that night. It was cold and was already late. Ordered room service and after awhile, Tricia started crying but this time we knew why. She wanted to go out, as usual. We drove out around 10pm to buy panadol for hubby. Quite reluctant to go out because we had to let go our nice parking spot but we didn't have a choice. We didn't drive out far though since hubby was not in the mood. Hang out at the coffee house for a bit to satisfy Tricia's demand. Went back to the room to sleep but Tricia could not sleep. She was crying and crying and vomitted and her father was also quite cranky. I took her in the changing room/pantry to calm her down. Took her to sleep on a separate bed so that everyone could have a peaceful sleep that night.

Naturally, everyone woke up quite late. We missed our breakfast. And not wanting to go back without trying the pool, we went in but it was still quite cold at 11am in the morning! Maybe because we had the covered pool so we didn't get direct sunlight to warm up the area. After a quick splash splash, we packed our stuff and had lunch at Manhattan Fish Market, Seremban 2.

Anyway, summary of Tricia's milestone at one year.

1) Teeth: first 2 teeth at 8 months. next 2 at 11 months. next 2 at 12 months.

Skills:

2) Words: 1) Papa 2) tehteh 3) Mama 4) NyamNyamNak 5) Bibik =_= 6) Ticha

3) First stand at 10 months. First step at 11 months.

4) At 11 months, picked up a box to stand on it to reach for higher places. (I was so amazed when I saw this)

5) Can drink using a straw at 12 months.

Fitness First

Early this month, I made an "impulse" decision. Had lunch with a colleague from foreign currency side at the Curve and she was talking about going to the gym during lunch time with our boss at Fitness First in Manulife. Soke Yee and I went to ask about the pricing immediately after our meal and straight away signed up. I was excited but Soke Yee initially was frustrated that it was quite expensive compared to what our colleague is paying but after doing some "research", she accepted the pricing. We got corporate rate, waived registration fee, platinum membership, can go all fitness first and towel included. Had to take 3 sessions with personal trainer for RM150 but if we go to the gym 8 times in the first month and 8 times in the second month, we will get a refund.

I know I blogged about this before. I said I don't want to pay a lot of money to lose weight especially when there are free options available. I used to go to the office's gym but all the treadmills are broken. And since we are moving "soon", they are not going to be replaced. Wanted to go to CY's condo's gym but we need to have a resident's card to use it. And since it has been so many months of waiting for the move (hoping that the new building will have a free gym), I got frustrated. My tummy is looking pregnant again and I desperately need to work out.

So far so good. I've been going there regularly. Have not lost weight yet but I gained 2kgs over the Christmas holiday. Like what the heck, man... So must work harder to lose weight. But so far, I definitely don't regret the decision. Must make my investment worth it!
My sessions so far:
Signed up 5/12
1) 12/12 The Curve - first session with PT
2) 14/12 One Mont Kiara - with Soke Yee
3) 15/12 Empire Shopping Gallery - swimming with Cyan and Lisa
4) 17/12 The Curve - second session with PT
5) 18/12 The Curve - third session with PT *body numb*
6) 21/12 The Curve - alone
    (put on 2kgs over 2 days on Christmas holiday =_=)
7) 27/12 The Curve - alone
8) 28/12 Menara Manulife - with Soke Yee