Raya, Holidays and Merdeka

"Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims, Happy Holidays to the non-Muslims and Selamat Hari Merdeka yang ke-54 to all Malaysians!"

The roads are so empty today! Me so happies. I guess everyone is either back to kampung for raya or gone out of town for vacation, except Dear Hubby who is back to work (hu-hu. you poor thing). Singapore observes only the first day of raya as public holiday.

By the way, for those who is neither back to kampung nor out of town for vacation (or even working!), I bet you have lots of time to kill. Here's something for you to try - Webify me! by Mozilla Firefox. It's supposed to be a unique web personalized just for you after you answer 20 questions. 

Here's mine, although I have no idea what all those items mean. The background sure looks grey and dull to me. And that silver liquor bottle - what? I'm a booze addict now?

Alcoholic mooncakes by Sze Chuan Court, Swissotel The Stamford

Calling all mooncake lovers (like myself!), Takashimaya Singapore is having mooncake fair till 12th September 2011. You might think what's so different with all those mooncakes on sale but they ARE different. You can find exotic varieties (think chestnut fillings, red dates fillings, Musang King durian fillings) as opposed to the common ones sold in K.L. Our favourites (more like Dear Hubby's favourite) are the alcoholic ones sold by Swissotel The Stamford. I personally find the Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle mooncake really good! Bitter sweet with a strong taste of rum.

The Lion King, Marina Bay Sands Singapore

I was in Singapore over the weekend for Lion King. It was quite a good performance, and they even incorporated some local jokes into it. Tickets can be quite expensive but you can get 30% discounts if you own the Marina Bay Sands Premier Advantage card. Application is FOC and the card application booth is just one floor down from the theater level, in front of Guardian pharmacy if I'm not mistaken. Food is strictly prohibited in the theater but bottled H2O is allowed, which can be purchased at $3. Beer and wine is going for $10 - $12 each. They also sells snacks like popcorn, chocolates and chips. I can't wait for the next one, Wicked, which will be showing from 8th December onwards.

Besides the show, this trip was all about makan-makan before my delivery in November. Obviously I'm taking advantage of eating for two and worry about my pregnancy weight later, until after delivery. Hopefully my gyne doesn't drop her jaw again when I step onto the weighing scale tomorrow.

Sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit. Nak jadi gunung pun boleh.

In search of the best children savings account in town, I have compiled a comparison chart between 8 different banks. I hope this helps parents out there who are still looking for one.

Kurma Bateel - Dates worth trying

I have always been a big fan of dates. Both dates. From the one that involves cute guys to the one that's edible. Before I got to know Bateel (no, that's not his name), I usually go for loose dates sold in supermarkets but it's kind of hard to find them unless it's near Ramadhan (fasting month for Muslims). When I was living in Jakarta and lead sort of, almost tai-tai-dom life which involves lots of malls strolling, I discovered Bateel, a gourmet dates store which sells varieties of premium dates. The store might not sell all types at once (listed here in their catalog) but here are some personal favorites that I can vouch for.

Agwa is probably the most expensive one sold in the store because it's called kurma Nabi. If you like semi-sweet ones, go for Khidri or Safawy. Silaj and Sifri have slightly sweeter tastes. If you like a more exotic taste, go for lemon or orange peel ones. I find that the taste of orange peel is a tad too strong since I prefer the original taste of dates. Khidri, when paired with caramelised nuts can be too sweet for those who doesn't have a sweet tooth. But Khidri with roasted almond is ... just perfect!

With the word premium tagged to the dates carry by Bateel, you can expect the price to be quite expensive. E.g. The Khidri with Caramelised Almond or Pecan is sold at RM23.40 per 100g. That's about 7 to 8 pieces of dates.

Although Bateel stores can be found in 15 countries, unfortunately there's only one available in Malaysia and two in Indonesia.

Bateel Malaysia 
The Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC)  
Lot G3, Ground Floor
Jalan Maarof, Bukit Bandaraya
Bangsar 59000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: + 603 2093 0478

http://www.bateelasia.com


Bateel Indonesia
Plaza Indonesia 
L1#115
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 28-30
Jakarta 10350
Tel: +62 21 3199 0765

Senayan City 
Lower Ground L-55
Jl. Asia Afrika Lot 19
Jakarta 10270
Tel: +62 21 7278 1293
http://www.bateelindonesia.com

And she turns 14 months today!

Ky is RM70k richer

I stumbled across something interesting just now and I HAVE to share it.

Taa-daa! KY, you're 70k richer.
Happies?

P.s:- the disclaimer is to potong your stim a bit. LOL.

Home prenatal massage

If you're pregnant and having problems with body ache, water retention or stretch marks, here's an affordable yet effective solution... call for a home urut (massage).

I always thought urut is for postnatal but someone told me that prenatal massage also helps to eliminate unwanted water retention in a pregnant body. All you need to do to make it more effective is to buy a good massage oil which does the job. Since it's quite difficult to find home prenatal massage in Malaysia, here's my recommendation for those who are totally clueless. 

Personally, I'm using Clarins Tonic Body Treatment Oil. It helps in toning and stretch marks prevention. Clarins has 3 types of body treatment oil but I only tried 2 of them; the Tonic Body Treatment Oil (RM181) for prenatal and Anti-Eau Body Treatment Oil for postnatal. The urut lady comes once a week and she charges RM75 for an hour of massage. Massage oil is included but I prefer to use my own. I've had 3 sessions with her and so far she's quite good. She also offers postnatal urut at RM100 per session (minimum 5 sessions) which includes urut, body herbal steam, hot stone and bengkung (tummy wrap).

Verdict: Good prenatal massage. I haven't tried her postnatal massage yet. 

For booking, call Madam Shirley (yes, she's chinese) at 012-350 0057 or 016-354 7897.

I also have another urut lady whom I use for postnatal massage previously but it's quite hard to secure appointments with her due to whatever reasons she has. She charges RM80 for prenatal massage (only for pregnancy 6th month onwards) and RM120 for postnatal massage (buy 6, free 1). There is no body herbal steam for postnatal treatment and she'll sell you the bengkung lilit (tummy wrapping cloth) at RM70 (FYI, you can get it much cheaper outside or online at RM30 - RM40). She uses ginger cream for the urut but she'll suggest for you to get the Clarins Anti-Eau Body Treatment Oil and Body Shaping Cream.

Verdict: Very good and effective postnatal massage but her schedules can be quite unpredictable. I bought 6 times of postnatal massage from her and supposed to get 1 free but she didn't turn up after that.

For booking, call Kak Siti at 019-330 9622.

Anyway, if you have the luxury to splurge like some real Datins (I've seen too many fake ones), go for Clarins Mothers-To-Be treatments.

Hubby, birthdays and ex(es)

A few days after Dear Hubby's birthday.....

Him : How come my ex-girlfriends didn't wish me happy birthday this year? They never fail to wish me every year.

Me : Which one? (half asleep)

Him : All of them!

Me : People move on in life. I don't wish my ex-boyfriendsss too (purposely emphasizing on the 'sss') unless I happened to remember their birthdays.... which I normally don't la.

Him : Maybe they're just afraid of you.

Me : Why??? What did I do?

Him : They're afraid you'll bitch about them in your blog.

Me : !!!

The 100th post - still ranting and raving

Yay! This is my 100th post! 

Yeah, yeah... I know it's no big deal but the fact that I'm still writing (and complaining) means I managed to maintain my sanity up till today. 24th week into my second pregnancy, I keep telling myself it's going to be over soon. 

I know some lucky mothers have no icky pregnancy side effects throughout the 40 weeks but unfortunately I'm not one of them. I have super oily nose that you can fry a small egg with the amount of oil collected from it at the end of the day, the worst morning sickness you can imagine for 13 weeks (toilet bowls became my new BFF during that time), water retention swells up my feet and legs which make walking somewhat of a marathon, and I gain weight faster than a sumo wrestler. 

In addition to all the pregnancy misery, the complimentary makeover at Clarins gave me a huge, ugly, inflamed zit on my nose the next day. Besides hurting like a biatch, it added to the size of my cherry tomato nose due to the pregnancy hormones. Now I look like a clown who walks like a penguin with a pair of baby elephant feet.

Tickers, please tick

Why tickers aren't working in my blog? I have removed both visitors counter and Lilypie tickers and re add them countless times. Now it's just Lilypie tickers that's still having problems. Argh. This is irritating.