What a hug means to you?

Lately, selalu terasa nak tulis somewhere about my son. He's growing up so fast MashaAllah. Can't believe he's 2 years old now. Semakin loving and cheeky day by day. Instagram is not my preferred medium for some personal reason and I don't like my current handwriting (dah lama sangat tak pegang pencil) hence, diary is not a good option too. So, I think blog is the best place for now (even though I deeply feel this will not stay long hahaha). But I still need to write it somewhere so I can refresh and recall my motherhood moments with him in the future. Orang sekarang pon tak baca blog dah, so this is just righttt for my personal reference.

Kids are amazing and full of surprises. So does my son, Fayyadh. 

When I thought he is too young to understand, 

he actually picks up things naturally, in his own sweet time. 

Most of the time, when Fayyadh cries, be it because he wanted to follow Ayah/ Atok to work, or he wanted something which I refused to give, or that "just cry" cry, cry-for-no-reason (I know most of you can relate this), I would offer him A HUG.

Our normal conversation be like:

Fayyadh: *Criessss out loud*

Me: Oooww, Fayyadh is crying, Fayyadh sad. Fayyadh nak ikut ayah, tapi ayah work. You want Mama to hug you? 

Fayyadh: *Nodded* Nak Mama hug...

and we hug...until he is emotionally stable. or until I successfully distract him with something else.

but there are also times when he simply rejects my offer. He would continue crying or running towards the door, ignoring me for few minutes, but I could guarantee (confident! kahkah) he will come back to me either to show me that he is still sad (expected me to pujuk or offer him a hug again) or come back to me with the sweetest face " Nak mama.." and hug me tightly (dalam hati mama, yassss *big grin* haha) 

Sometimes, I also suggest him to offer a hug to other people (bukan random people la of course). Bila weekend, cousins ada dekat rumah, biasa la every 5-10 minutes mesti ada adegan dan incident2 tangisan. 

Abang Eqal: *Criesss out loud*

Fayyadh: Abang Eqal....*awkwardly try untuk pujuk  abang* 

Me: Fayyadh, Abang Eqal is sad. You can ask Abang if he needs hug okay?

Fayyadh: Abang...Fayyadh hug okay? 

and all I could remember is..the offers never naturally come from him.  

until recently, for the first time ever, the offer came naturally from him. 

One night, when we were reading one of his favorite book before bedtime, Fayyadh surprised me by showing his lovely act of kindness. We have been reading that book for a few months now, so I didn't expect anything new. When we reached this one page, there was a sad fish with tears. Normally I didn't spend much time on that page because I liked the next page better (more fishes). So i would quickly flip the page as soon as I finished my sentence. But it was different this time.

When we reached that "sad fish" page, Fayyadh stopped me before I even began talking. 

Fayyadh: *pointing towards the fish* Mama, fish sad. Fish cry. HUG. HUG.

Me: *Slowly pickup* Ohh yaa, fish cries. what do you do when fish is sad? 

Fayyadh: Hug fish *he really pulled the book towards him, hugged and kissed the fish*

and I hold the page a little longer...

I still remember another sweet moment when Fayyadh offered me a HUG for the first time. I was on the prayer mat, just finished solat, while he was busy playing with his toys next to me. Biasanya kalau baca doa memang purposely baca kuat2 so dia dengar sekali. So time baca doa tu, biasa la ada ternangis2 sikit and he could sense it, maybe sebab tone cakap tu berubah kot kan. He immediately stopped playing and came to me. 

Fayyadh: *Wipe my tears* Mama cry? Mama sad?

Me: *Silent and look into his eyes*

Fayyadh: Fayyadh hug Mama okay? Okay? Boleh?

and we hugged...melting....

I was so touched and surprised by his act. I never expect him to understand and apply them in any situation without cue from me especially at his age. But he did anyway. And since then, I realized he becomes more aware of other's feeling and sadness, and he offers HUG more frequently now.

Normally he is a cheerful baby after school, excited sangat bila nampak Mama dekat gate. But yesterday:

Fayyadh: Mama, Fayyadh nak jalan jalan. 

Me: Fayyadh nak pergi mana?

Fayyadh: Playground.

Me: Ohh, Fayyadh nak main slides? Buai laju2 kan? Tapi sekarang hujan. Can we go next time bila Ayah ada?

Fayyadh: *slow tone* Hmm...Okay Mama.

Few seconds later...

Fayyadh: Mama, Fayyadh sad. Nak hug

Me: Ok sayang. Come mama hug... 

He now knows how to describe his sad feeling as well.. 

What a hug means to you? I personally think , a hug means the world to our child. For them, a hug means safe, secure, comfort, love and everything more than just a physical touch. Just like adult, they also have a bad and good day. They also have this indescribable feeling where they don't even know what they want, just like us (especially women haha). But most of the time, A HUG is just enough, to make them feel good again. 

Choosing a Stroller - Tips and Review

My son is turning 2 in a week! I am quite busy recently searching and browsing some tips and recommendations from articles/blogs, all related to toddler, parenting etc. It suddenly crossed my mind that maybee I should also share something on this topic, which might help some blur/clueless parents like me.

So my first sharing is about one of the most important baby gear (at least for me), STROLLER. I spent quite some time doing survey and study about this when I was pregnant 2 years back. and I would proudly say, it is really worth my time and effort because my son loves his stroller until today and we still use it almost every weekend.

Here are some tips of choosing a STROLLER for your baby.

1) Know your target.
First is ARE YOU GONNA USE IT? most most important. Some parents prefer babywearing so stroller is the last option. Some people are not going anywhere for a year, so why bother? haha Some parents are lovely and strong enough to carry their baby all the time.

If yes, like me, please proceed below:
How frequent you might use it and where (depends on lifestyle), you want to use it from baby until what age? for everyday use or travelling (by flight, by car)? who's gonna handle it most of the time? These are important so you can narrow down your options later.

My target is clear. As my husband is away most of the time, I might need to handle it alone, by myself with my baby. And I want to use it weekly (during weekend to be exact). Cita cita nak pakai sampai anak bongsu (tak tau berapa) so must be highly durable and only one stroller from birth until at least 3/4 years.

2) List down all the criteria and prioritize the criteria based on your target above. I will share all the criteria below with my priority from the top. No problem, thanks me later ok.

a) Weight and Dimension - Trust me every year you will see more and more lightweight stroller being introduced to the market. Why? Because 'light' is easy especially if you travel by flight (must be <7 kg). Dimension is important as well because some strollers are so bulky that it can't even fit a compact car like Myvi.

b) Brand and Price - Totally depends on your budget and target. You can easily get the simple umbrella folded stroller as cheap as RM100 but the price can also go as high as the sky. You get what you pay.

c) Duration of usage - Some strollers can be used as early as newborn  but some are more suitable for 6 months and above (see criteria d) below). On average most strollers can be used up until 20 kg.

d) Recline and Facing - Some strollers can recline flat (or nearly flat). This type can be used from newborn. Some strollers cannot fully recline but associated with travel system, can attach with carseat with additional adapter. Not many strollers offer both front and rear facing. Mostly are front facing. But I personally think rear-facing (facing parents) is not an important criteria because normally by the time (age) we bring our baby to public area, baby is big enough to prefer front facing.

e) Folding - I likeee this. One of the reason I choose my current stroller is because of this feature as well. One hand folding is way to go. I am bias but I totally reject stroller with complicated folding. One of my friends totally regret buying the complicated folding stroller. There was one time we traveled with her without her husband, so while she was carrying her baby, we helped her to fold her stroller but after soo many instructions given we still failed and gave up. Some strollers, you even need to detach the body frame and the seat to fold like whattt? Maybe because I need to handle it myself so it is such a hassle. No No.

f) Safety point - If you don't buy random brand and super cheap stroller I could guarantee the safety part mostly has been taken care of. Just double check to make sure. But there was one incident happened in front of me at the mall, a baby fell down with her stroller while going down the escalator. Luckily her father was quick enough to catch her.. Not because of the harness because the baby was still attached with her stroller but for some reason, suddenly, the seat was nearly detached from the body frame, like a swing hanging. I wish I know what stroller it was, unfortunately I didn't. But one clue I think it must be the type yang boleh attach detach the frame and seat.

g) Accessories - Canopy Peekaboo, air circulation and basket size. Not so important criteria but I really loveee my stroller air ventilation mesh. One of the great feature to look at so your baby can sleep comfortably. Canopy -I love my canopy too! Super big can cover my baby completely when he's sleeping. less distraction and stare from people. I never see any other strollers with the canopy as big as mine haha! Oh but mine doesn't come with the peekboo window, minus point but I don't care because the ventilation mesh is just enough to peek my baby. Basket - big basket means can put more shopping bag, your handbag, baby bag and etc. basically I love most of the features of my stroller. kahkah

Other criteria you can consider - Tyres (3 or 4), Adjustable footrest and handle, easy to wash the seat padding, suspension, color

With all the criteria and target above, I had 5 strollers in my survey list. I plan to use it regularly from newborn and I believe in hand-me-downs concept so nak guna sampai anak bongsu kononnya. And bajet tak banyak sangat sampai ribu riban, so my final survey budget is around RM1k to RM2k, which is the average range of good  to high quality stroller in Malaysia.

These are the final 5 strollers I had in my list and the reason why I didn't buy them.

1) Quinny Zap Extra 2- 8 kg, newborn until 15 kg
Pro- Front and Rear facing.
Cons - I don't like the folding system. Bye

2) Babyzen Yoyo - 5.8 kg, newborn until 15 kg
Pro - Lightweight, cabin size (very good for traveling), easy folding
Cons - Almost burst my budget, quite pricey. So many 1 to 1 copy of Yoyo-like in the market (different brands) which you can easily get as low as RM300. I even bought the cheap one for travel but my son doesn't like it. When I was traveling overseas early this year, I could say only 1 out of 10 use the original Babyzen Yoyo, another 9 use the Yoyo-like but not Yoyo haha.

3) Recaro Easylife - 5.7 kg
Pro - Lightweight, cabin size
Cons - I dont like the design. so plain. haha

4) Mountain Buggy Nano - 5.9kg, newborn until 20kg (this one share almost similar features like mine, almost ended up buying this one)
Pro - Lightweight but can use up until 20kg.
Cons - No ventilation mesh

5) Baby Jogger City Mini Zip YAY! I love love my stroller. 7.3 kg, newborn until 25 kg weyy!
WARNING! Bias review detected. kahkah
Pro - One hand folding woot woot! super easy I can handle it myself even with my another hand carrying my baby. A bit heavy compare to the other stroller but I like the compact folding. Never try to bring inside the plane, but I think if you keep it properly inside the bag, inshAllah boleh lepas because it doesn't look bulky at all. SPACIOUS! Anak boleh berguling2 atas tu haha can still fit my 4 years old niece comfortably. Ventilation mesh and big canopy - super love. Flat recline.
Cons - I love everything about it but let's just be real, nothing is perfect. I wish the padding is a bit thicker buttt i've found a solution for that, buy a stroller padding from Lazada. so no Cons for my Baby Jogger City Mini Zip.

The retail price (2016) was RM 1790 but I got a super nice deal during Baby Expo at RM 1390 + free bag.

See my baby sleeps on his stroller comfortably until now. 

Even my 4 years old niece doesn't look outgrown on it. 

If I was given a choice to buy another Stroller, I would definitely go with the new Baby Jogger haha. Been eyeing the Baby Jogger City Tour since released 2 years ago (just a few weeks after I bought my City Mini Zip *sigh*) 

p/s: This is solely based on personal opinion and experience. Most of the information was taken from my 2016 survey so might not be the most updated one.

Any questions? So happy to help! No  bias review. Promise. hihi

One and a half year later...

Suddenly, an email pop-up on my laptop screen. "Unknown has left a new comment on your post "Skytrex".  Oh wow now I remember I had a blog. I mean I still have, but being abandoned and left behind, because life is so much more than blogging kahkahkah. But when I received a comment on old posts like this, I feel something is incomplete, I miss writing and sharing. To be honest, even though I browse instagram, facebook, twitter many times a day, when it comes to travel review, parenting experience, and some other concerns, I still looking/ searching for a blog. Because it is more details and convenient.

I just realize my last abandoned post was longgg time ago during my 2nd trimester. and today, one and a half year later, I am a mother to 1 year old son. Ahh how times flies.

New Zealand Part I

No, don't guess. This was obviously taken at Queenstown. Sooo cantik like everyone should really at least 'know' this place. Alhamdulillah I was lucky enough to be there. 

I've always wanted to visit New Zealand. Tapi bila dengar pasal cost, gulp gulp delay niat murni tu. Almaklumlah duit gaji sekarang masuk keluar macam air tanpa segan silu. Oh I'm not the "last minute" or impromptu type of person when it comes to traveling. Biasa nya kalau jauh2 ni I planned it soo early ada yang more than 1 year earlier kihkihkih. 

Tapi berbekalkan concept 'installment', semua trip goes well in term of budgeting. Tak penah la rasa like totally broke I couldn't even breath. And I applied this 'installment' method to all trips especially yang mahal2 and jauh. So how this 'installment' method works in traveling?  

1) First thing first. Survey flight ticket awal. Not that you have to browse airlines website everyday, but at least get the rough ideas of the price trend/range so whenever you see great deals, boleh terus grab without hesitation. 

2) I normally grouped my travel budget into 5, transportation (air/ground)-accommodation-activities-pocket money

a) air transportation - flight tickets/ luggage/ visa/ in-flight meal

b) ground transporation - public transport/ rent/ fuel/ toll

c) accomodation 

d) activities - entrance fees/ adventure fees

e) pocket money - souvenir/ emergency money/ food 

3) So the reason I planned my trip early is to ensure I don't have to cram all costing into my 1 month salary. Takde la sesak gila takde duit time nak pergi tu. Normally on the very last month/ my last salary before the trip, just tinggal nak spare duit for "pocket money" only. The rest should be settled monthssss before. My tripmates pon seems comfortable with this method. 

4) Sample of 'installment' method and how it works in my NZ trip?

March 2015 - air transportation (Air Asia KUL/MEL - RM 750)

July 2015 - air transporation (Jetstar MEL/QZN - RM 1140)

September 2015 - accommodation (booked all hotels Te Anau/ Wanaka/ Tekapo/ Queenstown/ Glenorchy - RM 1120)

November 2015 - air/ ground transportation (flight baggage + meal/ apply visa/ pay for car rental - RM 914)

December 2015 - activity (booked bungy/ skyline gondola/ milford sound - RM 790)

February 2016 -  ground transportation (fuel) and pocket money (RM 300) + additional RM 1000 for souvenir and fun moneyyy 

So overall cost for my NZ trip for 11 days 10 nights is RM 5000 per person all in (excluding souvenir sebab totally depends on what you spend). See when you apply this 'installment' method takde la rasa terbeban sangat macam sedebuk duit nak keluar kan hihi. You have some space to breath, relaxx, pay, and repeat, breathh againn until your trip. I am purposely sharing the cost breakdown as my first NZ post because I really want people to know, it is not that mahal. and sooo doable :D :D So you can start dreaming of New Zealand now.....until my next post! which definitely gonna be moree excitinggg. 

Jiuzhaigou Costing

My husband promised to write for Day 5 & Day 6, (Yeay!) so I think I'm done for now hihi except for overall budget. 

How much we spent? Roughly around RM5000 overall for 2 persons which I think very affordable. Awal2 time planning rasa macam omg mahalnya entrance fee, mahalnya domestic flight etc. but after dah tengok view yang cantik sangat, like dream comes true punya level, sangat sangat worth it. In fact takde la mahal sangat pon. Here is the summary of all my expenses for 6 days 5 nights:

(2 person)

Transportation

Flight AirAsiaX                RM 1062

Flight Sichuan Airlines    RM 1052

Ground Transportation     RM 400

Accommodation

FlipFlop Hotel Chengdu

2 nights (Day 1&5)           RM 180

Caiyun Hotel JZH

3 nights (Day 2,3,4)          RM 368

Entrance Fees

JZH Park x 2 days

1 adult + 1 student             RM 700 (RM 207/adult/day, RM 135/student/day)

HuangLong x 1 day

1 adult 1 student                RM 360 

Meals + Pocket Money      RM 600 (RM 50/day/pax)

Visa                                 RM 180

Total = RM 4502 for 2 persons

RM 2251 per person

But there are a few ways you can do to reduce the cost more:

1) Buy the domestic ticket earlier. About 3months before the trip, it was around RM300-400 per person tapi orang tamak slalu rugi. Bajet nak tunggu lagi murah skali hahhh a month before check dah mahal

2) Take bus both ways from Chengdu to JZH (But I wouldn't really recommend this, 11 hours were more than enough plus you'll need an extra day)

3) Spend only 1 day in JZH park. You might miss a few attractions but if you plan wisely you can still get the best out of it. Tapi 2 hari memang just nice. Not too rush and tenang and dapat cover everything

4) Ask everyone to bring student cards. kahkahkah Pity my husband. Too old for a student card ;P

Anddd if you asked me about food, to be honest I didn't do research on that too much, we brought enough beriyani from brahim, instant porridge with serunding, snacks biscuit chocolates, tuna and nutella with wrap. Kenyang selamanya. hahaha Tapi we bought fresh peach, apples, bananas etc everyday. So life is good :D