World Vision: Open up your world ~ 你看见我的天空吗？

My sponsor kit has arrived!!

This is probably one of the great decisions I made this year - Sponsor A Child.

What does RM65/month mean to most of us today? Nothing... not even enough to pay for a 4pax family meal am I right? Or maybe a dress or your eye shadow palette? Hmm... 

As a parent, we surely understand the feeling of wanting the best for our children. We do not need a luxury lifestyle, but at least we make sure our children can live healthily without suffering from hunger, and also get appropriate education. 

Somehow poverty made this a struggle for many mothers and fathers. They barely make enough to get by each day. Imagine living in a family that suffers from hunger each day... Children who are suppose to go to school have to beg or work to support their families. I've seen it a lot through my travels... It saddened me so much.

Thus I have come to the decision to lend a helping hand through World Vision last week, at least I've deducted 1 out of the few thousands more children waiting to be sponsored. Latest update as of 26/05/2014 is 4249 children in the waiting list.

Why I chose Cambodia out of the SEA country list?

It was back in year 2009 when I visited Siem Reap. There were children everywhere earning a living for their families. Cambodia is so heavily contaminated with landmines as the aftermath Civil War in Cambodia. A high percentage of the population in Cambodia has been struck down by this mines and causing death and disabilities.

The National Level One Survey in Cambodia conducted in 2002 found that 20% (2776 out of 13908) of all villages in Cambodia are still contaminated by minefields and/or cluster bomb areas with reported adverse socio-economic impacts on the community. These adverse impacts included restrictions on access to agricultural land, pasture land, forests, and water resources, with 102,778, 105,707, 172,878 and 84,588 families being affected respectively. A 2004 Cambodia Socio Economic Survey (CSES) noted that households headed by someone with one or more reported disabilities have significantly less wealth than other households. Furthermore, it has been estimated that households headed by a person disabled by war or landmines live in poverty at levels almost three times higher than if the disability was due to other causes.            ....source: Wikipedia 

The photos speak... This is only Siem Reap (so-called town), what about the rural areas?? I cannot imagine...

I am very thankful to be brought up in a loving family. So since my mom has left us to heaven (in March) I am going to help her spread her love to the children in need. She will be pleased I am sure.

If you have extra money to spend each week for an extra cup of coffee, why not give it to the family in need? Your action will change one's life.

For more information on World Vision, check out their pages:

World Vision Malaysia - https://www.worldvision.com.my

World Vision - www.worldvision.org/

Read More

Best casinos to visit in Valencia

Author: Larry Fielding

As the third biggest city in Spain, it’s no surprise than Valencia has plenty to offer its tourists. With a great cultural and historic background, as well having a thriving vacation trade, the city has attractions to keep all visitors busy. But one aspect of Valencia’s social background which is often overlooked is the casino scene, even though the city offers some fantastic gaming halls. One of the more affluent and prestigious casinos in the area is the Casino Cirsa Valencia. Although it was built in the recent modern era, the casino keeps the vintage gaming vibe truly alive with its great array of slot machines and tables for patrons to play on. If you are a fan of occasionally gaming online at sites such as GamingClub.com/mobile-casino, then the Cirsa Valencia is the perfect choice for you, as the casino offers tables for gamers of all levels of poker and blackjack.

Located on the Mediterranean coastline, Valencia is the perfect destination to soak up some sunshine as well as enjoying a great gaming experience. So the fact that some of the casinos are open until the early hours of the morning means you can enjoy the sun in the daytime and the casino floor through the night. Although it is one of Valencia’s smaller gaming establishments, the Gran Casino Monte Picayo offers gamer to chance to play until the break of dawn. One of the more common games on the European continent is punto banco and you can get a great experience playing this at one of the tables here. The casino has little variety in terms of the games it offers, but you can still play the classic such as the slot machines and poker.

Similar to the Monte Picayo, the Casino Mediterraneo Torrevieja is a small, low-key establishment, but offers gamers an earlier opening time than both the Picayo and Cirsa. The casino opens to gamers at 4pm and closes at 3am, so there is plenty of time to enjoy its fantastic gambling facilities. However if you are looking for a casino with a bit more on offer, the aptly named Casino Valencia would be best suited for you. Although it is not as large as the Cirsa, there are still 83 slots and tables ranging from American roulette to punto blanco, it is a great option for more casual gaming.

Read More

Bali weekend getaway with family (April 2014)

Since mom has left us to heaven weeks ago, I decided to pull my dad along for a short trip. And we're now in Bali.

Back to Bali after 4 years. Welcomed by flower garland.

My girl is in her toddlerhood now. A 15mo cheeky pie~

What is better than a bottle of chilled black tea + fried pork skin at Ubud?

Babi guling Ibu Oka! The juicy suckling pig.

Avocado shake is always my first choice in Bali.

Super trio at Jimbaran Bay for seafood.

**More updates in future hopefully... Motherhood and working life has taken all of my time and it's a super bonus that I still manage to update a bit in my blog.

Read More

Withlocals.com - Find the ultimate experience in travelling!

Get Local: new website brings tourists in contact with locals!

Have you ever heard a tourist tell a story about his most memorable travel experience? It soon became clear to me, that the experience with the ‘most local’ touch has the upper hand. Apparently, in this age of many-to-many connections, booking a mass-organized tour is not the dream of a traveller anymore. People worldwide look for one-to-one connections. 

Locals can give a far more intense impression of a country than any guidebook or big tour operator. These days, there are more and more companies which are started in the spirit of ‘social sharing’ such as Airbnb or Couchsurfing. Recently, we found a new platform, called Withlocals. An organization which connects travelers and locals from all over the world, through food and experiences. Locals can offer tours, workshops and even home dinner experiences directly to tourists. 

Withlocals.com gives you the opportunity to explore a city in a whole new way. You can book home dining experiences, activities and tours in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Thailand. 

Win-win situation 

For the locals: They can earn some extra money in a creative and fun way by simply showing or teaching tourists their daily activities. Think about fruit carving in Bali, a lesson in Thailand’s National Sport Muaythai, or go for an authentic home dinner in Vietnam!

For the tourists: It is the ideal way to explore a culture up-close. You will discover non touristic places, of the beaten track! It seems like a cool project to try out ourselves sometime! Definitely worth to check out the site and see what kind of options there are to become a host or guest.

Photo courtesy of Withlocals.com

Read More

Valentine's Day 2014 - celebrating at home

Happy Valentine's Day baby!
We had home fine dining this year~

 

And of course with our little one.

Starter: Broccoli cheese soup

Appetizer: Cheese bake shrimp crackers

Appetizer: Bacon wrapped mushrooms

Main course: Linguine with shrimp scampi

Main course: Braised chicken drumstick with truffled mash

Main course: Seared garlic salmon

And paired up with Chandon Brut Classic

Cheers and love you! Happy Valentine's Day~

Read More

Homemade pancake for my girl

Yum

Decided to make some pancakes for Abigail since she's a fan of pastries.

Recipe: Ingredients:- 
1. 120g all purpose flour 
2. 1 big egg 
3. 2 tablespoon sugar 
4. 1 teaspoon baking powder 
5. A pinch of salt 

Instruction:- 
1. Mix the baking powder and sugar into all purpose flour. 
2. Beat the egg and pour into the mix. 
3. Mix all ingredients together until uniform. 
4. Heat the pan with some oil or butter. 
5. Use a ladle to scoop the pancake mix and pour onto the pan to form a round shape. 
6. Wait until bubbles are observed on the surface, then ready to flip over. 
7. Cook until both surface turn light golden brown, then remove from the pan. 
8. Ready to serve. 


 Abigail enjoying her pancake!

Read More

台湾宝岛亲子游 - 如何选择航空航线

所谓好的开始就是成功的一半，所以如果旅行的开端已经是个烦人的开端，那么你就可能不会想要再度去亲子游了。

我们的第一次台湾游是搭亚航，原因是帮全家人买机票时我还没有怀孕（订票时大概有一年多前），所以没有法子只好add on infant。结果头痛来了。。。

头痛#1：

从槟城到台湾没有直飞，所以必须从槟城飞到吉隆坡，然后再转机到台北。要知道亚航的转机不是拍拍屁股拿个handcarry行李就行的那种，而是把所有行李都从机舱搬下，然后再check-in的那种，而且航厦里的工作人员态度又差，单单搬动行李和跑进跑出arrival/departure就要累死了，还差点给check-in counter的人气死。大热天气还没上到飞往台湾的机舱都已经满身大汗了。*累*

头痛#2：

航厦一点都不baby-friendly，虽然说在大马找不到decent的diaper changing room是很普遍的，但是起码机场也应该花点心思maintain一下，那个房间简直就像垃圾房，而且男性的外劳janitor整天进进出出（扫地倒垃圾需要这么多人这么frequent吗？？），真的很反感。虽说有隔开一个小的哺乳房，但是却不能锁的！而且他们随时会推开那扇门，而且不止一次，一点安全感都没有！Diaper changing table也很脏，感觉上好像很多很多细菌那样，所以要记得自己铺上自己带来的垃圾袋或changing mat垫底，不然bb的头不知道会不会生疮。

头痛#3：

Infant没有special priority！要bassinet吗？单程座位一趟加RM110。

Baby food？你就想啦！

Diaper on demand？发梦时再问空姐拿。

Priority check-in/seating？上机都乱七八糟没秩序，休想地勤人员会热心帮忙你。

空姐也很不专业，即将起飞了还要我提醒她们还没给我baby seat belt！

要泡奶/弄热母奶也需自备热水，向空姐讨也有脸色给你看。*气*

头痛#4：

Stroller寄机舱？是的，你可以用到上机前最后一分钟，但是请看看以下照片亚航是如何handle stroller的。。卫生指数0，而且我的stroller到达台北时已经脏兮兮了，在经过4趟来回之后，污渍都洗不起了~ 而且想想看，这么样不卫生，真的会对皮肤敏感的bb造成麻烦的。。

所以奉劝你如果带stroller搭亚航，要记得带便宜的umbrella stroller，还有自备塑胶袋把stroller套起来。*无奈*

我的stroller！！

头痛#5：

Infant什么都要$$$$!!

来个数学题。。。

Baby的亚航机票：

槟城-吉隆坡 单程RM50，来回RM100

吉隆坡-台北 单程RM125，来回RM250

吉隆坡-台北Bassinet需要拿hot seat 单程RM110，来回RM220 

总数=RM570！！

而且我们还要分开坐，只有我一个人拿hot seat有什么意思，需要帮忙时旁边都没有人，所以我们决定不要bassinet了

总数=RM350

Baby的国泰航空机票：

槟城-香港（转机）-台北 单程RM218

高雄-香港（转机）-槟城 单程RM218

包括bassinet，baby meal，diaper，priority boarding（我们简直是VIP）

总数=RM436

而且是multiple city，去时台北，回时高雄，可以来个双城游。

亚航全程是这样过的（小叔偷拍的）。。。

将近5小时的手臂锻炼。。

国泰航空是这样过的。。。

看到差别了吗？登机大不同。。。

抱歉，亚航真的没几张照片可以po，登机时已经很累很匆忙，没mood也没空闲的手去抓相机了。11个人一起去也没一个真的有空也。。夸张吗？？就只有以下小叔拍的一千零一张咯。

亚航。登机于吉隆坡前往台北

这是两个月后我们夫妻俩自己带小妞再次飞台湾双城游的时候。只有我们两个大人带着bb也，但是远比之前的好至少10倍！一点也不手忙脚乱，而且还得到VIP对待。除了头等舱和商务座的客人，带着老人与小孩的乘客们都被放在第一位。

国泰航空。登机于槟城前往台北，转机于香港

香港转机中，两手空空放轻松

除了头等舱和商务舱的乘客，我们是最早登机的，还有‘礼物’送喔

高雄-香港-槟城转机中，online check-in时本来已经没有bassinet的座位了，带着bb走到柜台通知国泰航空地勤员，他们二话不说就马上把之前auto assign的座位换掉了，把可以安置bassinet的前排座位换给我俩！

你看后面有多少人在排着队呢？他们对老人与小孩（2岁以下婴儿）的对待真的超赞！

Check-in后，小妞正在享受她的机场欢乐时光 -- 看飞机起飞~

虽然在最后的45分钟转机时间突然要求换座位和bassinet，但是也可以做到喔，这就是professional！

后记：

亲子游就是应该舒舒服服开开心心的，所以必要时我们真的不介意花多些钱买好的服务，那叫物有所值。亚航那趟回程才叫噩梦，飞机延迟起飞了，结果到达吉隆坡时我们来不及再次check-in行李回槟城！抱着bb跑到上气不接下气到了柜台，他们说不受理了，因为domestic flight是AirAsia，delay的是AirAsia X！看清楚哦，是有个X字的。

地勤人员：“行李是上不了飞机的了，要登机请便，如果要投诉请到AirAsia X柜台，我们这里是AirAsia的柜台，你向我投诉没用的，谢谢。” 

这么一搞不知是我们被害惨了，还有其他几个乘客要接驳回槟城的也遭殃。。。真的是@%@&#^%^!!!!!

一堆行李在地上，怎办？？如果不上飞机就损失惨重了，机票和行李都回报销，如果上机，就必须想办法把损失和麻烦减到最低。结果我们尽量把可以handcarry的都搬走上飞机，2个人留下收拾残局，搭巴士回去！！差点搬行李搬到吐白泡。。。天啊~~~~

我抱着bb跑到登机门口时向他们理论，结果还被当值的马来男性地勤人员非常大声地喊道：“If you want to board the plane you shut up, if you do not want to board you get out now!!”

这是什么态度！！？你老爸的家吗？？如果不是因为飞机要起飞了我一定port他！

TMD真的是越想越气，所以第二趟我们决定搭国泰航空了，反正真的只贵少许。不！应该说bb的价钱还更便宜，而且服务态度一流，这才配叫做服务业。

以上的一字一句都属实，是我们的真实经历，不知道其他人有没有类似的经验，但是我们搭了几次的亚航都是不好的经历，所以从此以后除非没选择（航线或时间不适合）我们都不会考虑亚航。

下一篇。。台湾的哺乳室。。哺乳的妈妈们应该很期待喔~

桃园机场的哺乳室

Read More

Parenting: Phone apps for baby's first year

As more and more of our friends are promoted to parents, I am also kind of being promoted to become an advisor among the mommies. Midnight chats and SOS calls to help them through their bf journey and maternity rest is also a type of fun and I really enjoy lending a hand~ 

At this modern age where almost every mommy is going into the labour room with iPhone/Samsung in their hand, you should actually explore further on the available apps which can help you in baby's first year. Especially during your maternity rest, you will find yourself having memory shortage and very stressed out for having to remember the feeding and diaper changing frequency.

I was glad that I took some time to explore the related apps during my first week of maternity rest and discovered a few! After few days of trial, I decided to stick to this - My Baby & Me by Philips AVENT.

This apps enables you to track the following items and put into statistics and save the data. 

Then you can always check back your baby's last feeding/sleeping/diaper change. Very helpful for new mommies in scheduling the sessions even if you are alone with limited support during the second month of your maternity rest.

Besides this, you can also keep track of your baby's special moments by sequence. Keeping record of your baby's milestones is very heartwarming. You may share it with your friends and family later on.

Furthermore there are also tips and advice for first time mommies to refer to, from pregnancy to baby's 1+ year, e.g. pregnancy diet, returning to work, and establishing baby's routine, etc...

 

Another series of apps that I had started using since pregnancy are What To Expect | Pregnancy & Baby and What To Expect Baby Tracker. I found this What To Expect | Pregnancy & Baby apps very helpful throughout my pregnancy, and it cleared most of my doubts week by week. For new fathers who are lazy to flip through books on pregnancy, they will like this apps as it provides concise summary on weekly basis about baby's development and changes on the mother. Understand and provide good support to the new mommy is very important, it will create a good start of family bonding before childbirth.

As for What To Expect Baby Tracker apps, there are guidelines to month-by-month development of the baby, so you may read ahead what is predicted next in his/her milestone so that you'll not be too surprised on the changes.

Another interesting feature that is available in this apps is the Feeding. This is quite useful for new mommies in the first month to monitor the baby's feeding trend. You can even time your feeding by breast! Haha~

These are my personal experience and preference, you might find a lot more similar apps and maybe you will discover other apps which are even more powerful and user friendly.

So mommies, what are you still waiting for? Grab the apps and try out today. And don't forget to share if you find new tools too!


XOXO,
mommy Cheryl

Read More