Back From Trip - Part 2

This was our third time to Bandung. We stayed at Rumah Ebo (our second time there), a homestay in the Dago area. What we like about this homestay is that it's cozy, clean and cheap. They even give free breakfast, which is served at their lovely garden. Their location is awesome, too, as it's only 5 minutes walk to the famous Dago factory outlets, like Jetset, Grande, Episode and Blossom.

Husband and I are not really a fan of sightseeing. We prefer to shop. And that's why we enjoy going to Bandung so much. But, unlike most people who go there to shop at the factory outlets, we shop at their distros. For those who have never heard of distros:

"Distro is a shortform of the Indonesian word distribusi, or distribution. Generally distro differ from other youth fashion outlets by their links to the independent music industry, the age of those involved, and collective ownership styles." From TripAdvisor Bandung.

Another thing that we both like to do is eat! At Bandung, the foods are good AND cheap. It can't get any better than that. Just stay away from the stalls by the road sides unless you're in for some food poisoning.

I would have to say we feel safer walking around in Bandung compare to here in Malaysia. The people there mind their own business, we don't get stared or ogled, and we don't have to worry about getting snatched whenever a biker pass by. They may look like they can bite your head off, but once you talk to them, they're actually polite and helpful. However, the way they drive is insane! They're good in the sense that they don't crash into each other, but still, pretty crazy. We've never seen an accident the whole time we were there, not even one. In KL, you see accidents left and right everyday.

Back From Trip

Traveling for the first with a baby (an aggressive one at that) was definitely challenging. We were in Bandung for 4 days. The journey there was not so bad. The first hour of the flight was spent playing with a little bit of tantrum here and there, but for the next hour the baby was asleep until we touched down. We were lucky that there was an empty seat next to us because the extra space made the flight more comfortable. He didn't get any air pressure in his ears, thanks to breastfeeding during take off and being deep in slumber when landing.

The rest of the trip was a fast blur. It was raining almost every day, starting from noon till night so getting around was difficult. The baby refused to eat the banana, avocado and rice cereal that I brought along, so he ended up eating only Farley Rusk's. He didn't seem unsatisfied or hungry, though. So, yeah. Probably it was the change of surrounding. Anyway. When we went shopping, he was either ecstatic to see all the new faces (he can get a bit too friendly) or angry because he wanted to get down on the floor and crawl. Bedtime was not so bad. He's used to sleeping in his cot back home, so he had all the space to himself to roll around before falling asleep. Therefore sharing beds with his Ibu and Ayah on this trip was a bit frustrating for him due to the lack of space. But he complied, such a good boy.

The flight back to Malaysia was almost disastrous. Compare to the plane going to Bandung, this one was smaller. Leg space was so tight, and I'm only 155 cm tall short! The baby was screaming right before take off, fell asleep almost instantly during take off, woke up 30 minutes later and continued throwing tantrums for almost the rest of the flight. There was no empty seat this time around. A teenage boy sat next to us kept throwing irritated looks whenever the baby started screaming and stared whenever I was nursing. The husband was this close to poking the kid's eyes out. I had a nursing poncho on, but nursing an aggressive baby means having him grabbing everything from my hair to the poncho while lifting his legs up and twisting his body around. There were times when I happily took off the poncho and realized that I forgot to zip up my top, baring my brassiere for the whole world to see. So I don't know whether the teenage boy managed to catch a glimpse of that. It'll either make him very happy or very disturbed by the image.

I think the best tip for flying with a baby is to bring along some cute stickers. Yes, stickers. These stickers were our lifesavers! It kept the baby entertained for a good period of time. His other toys that I brought along was thrown on the floor every time I handed one to him.

He almost put a sticker on a man's head who was seating in front of us.

Though challenging and difficult, we couldn't be happier to have the baby along with us. At the end of the day, patience and a sense of humour made this whole trip possible.

Going Traveling

Nervous!

We'll be traveling with the baby for the first time this weekend to Indonesia. I can't stop freaking out about the whole concept of traveling with a baby. The packing. The change in routine. The flight. Oh dear God, the 2 hours flight! He can't even sit still for 10 minutes in the car, let alone 2 hours in a plane. Please oh pleasssee behave, okay sayang?

Sibuk je si bulat ni

Okay, who am I kidding? There's no way I'm going to fit all of the baby's and my stuffs in a luggage this size! I need a bigger luggage!!

This is so nerve-wrecking.

11 Months

See what he's eating? Look familiar?

Dear Son,

You just turned 11 months old a couple of days ago. You still can't walk, but it's okay. Take your time. You can stand on your own for a few seconds, call burung as "o-ong", take Ayah's comb and pretend to comb your hair, and say "mamam" when you see your food container. You love to talk a lot, too, in your own baby language. You look so charming when you smile and show off your 5 teeth. Watching you grow day by day has been such an amazing experience. Awak memang penceria hati Ibu dan Ayah.

Now, Ibu have to get cracking on your first birthday bash!

Artikel Penyusuan Ibu Di Tempat Kerja

KOSMO! Selasa 11 Mei 2010

Swasta Tidak Guna Peruntukan Ruang Ibu Menyusu Anak

Oleh Mazlina Abdul Majid (mazlina@kosmo.com.my)

SERI KEMBANGAN – Majikan di sektor swasta diselar kerana tidak memanfaatkan sepenuhnya peruntukan RM80,000 yang disediakan oleh kerajaan untuk membina ruang untuk penyusuan ibu di tempat kerja.

Timbalan Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin berkata, mereka juga dilihat kurang memberi sokongan dan tidak prihatin kepada kakitangan wanita yang berada dalam tahap kritikal untuk menyusukan bayi.

"Ramai majikan terutama sektor swasta tidak memberikan kerjasama dan menyokong usaha kerajaan dalam membantu merealisasikan polisi penyusuan susu ibu secara eksklusif selama enam bulan.

"Terdapat kes di mana ada majikan tidak membenarkan kakitangan untuk menyediakan susu mahu pun menyusukan anak," katanya selepas merasmikan Majlis Pra Pelancaran Persidangan Penyusuan Antarabangsa 2010 di sini semalam.

Persidangan yang akan diadakan pada 5 hingga 10 Oktober ini, bakal dihadiri 500 peserta dari Singapura, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Hong Kong dan Jepun.

Kebimbangan Rosnah sememangnya berasas kerana berdasarkan data National Health Morbidity Survey 2006, kadar penyusuan susu ibu eksklusif bagi bayi berusia enam bulan hanya mencapai 14.5 peratus.

Sementara itu, menurut Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO), risiko bayi mati akan bertambah sekiranya tidak menyusu susu ibu dalam tempoh tiga hingga empat bulan pertama.

Sehubungan itu, Rosnah mencadangkan agar setiap majikan bukan sahaja menyediakan ruang penyusuan tetapi pada masa sama lebih fleksibel kepada kakitangan wanitanya.

"Saya juga menggalakkan agar mereka menyediakan peti sejuk khas untuk menyimpan susu bayi," katanya.

Pada perkembangan perkaitan, Rosnah turut menggalakkan majikan untuk menyokong inisiatif kerajaan melanjutkan tempoh cuti bersalin dari 60 hari kepada 90 hari yang kini masih pada peringkat perbincangan.

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I was lucky that my ex-employer was very understanding about breastfeeding. Initially there was no room for me to express my milk at work. But after discussing this matter with them, they put up blinds in the library so I could use it as my pumping station (I was the only mother in that agency!). They even encouraged me to pump every 3 hours and made sure I did it before we leave the office for any meetings. And the best part? My ex-bosses are men.

Mother's Day

This year's Mother's Day celebration was definitely joyful. Saturday night was spent with my family at Italiannies, celebrating three mothers: my Mummy, my sister and yours truly. It has been a while since the all of us went out together, so it was definitely fun. Food overload, picture taking, silly jokes, gawking at the huge meatballs, and entertained by the nephew who was doing what looked like pole dancing by the stairs.



And on Sunday night, we celebrated with the in-laws at MeatWorks, combining Mother's Day and two birthdays: my Mak, myself, my Bapak and the sister-in-law's boyfriend. I heard a lot of promising reviews about this place but it actually turned out pretty mediocre. My sirloin was okay, nothing to shout about there really (or maybe I'm just biased because my all-time favourite place for steaks has got to be at Jake's Charbroil Steak). Our fruit juices were diluted to a point almost tasteless. The rest of the food, well, let's just say some of us went home with thankful bellies and some went home cursing (as quoted by one of us, "The meat does NOT work!"). But, good food or not, it was the company that matters.



Before we left, my mother-in-law and I were given Mother's Day gift from MeatWorks. Meat, anyone?



Happy belated Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! Hope you had a lovely time on your special day :)

Mom & Baby Expo 2010

So! How was the Mom & Baby Expo 2010? I think it was pretty good. I bought only a few essentials as I didn't want to go overboard, because I'll be going on a shopping spree trip in about two more weeks :D Must must MUST reserve the money. I was on the lookout for You Have A Baby's nursing bra, but I didn't see their booth in either of the halls. Did they take part in the expo? Fabulous Mom's and Autumnz's cuttings don't fit me too well.

I got 2 big boxes of Heinz Farley's Rusks, Heinz Rice Cereal, Heinz Organic Apple Mini Rice Cakes, Pureen wet wipes, Mom's Care newborn gift set, Carter's bib and a jumper. Total damage was RM 70. And what's an expo without freebies, right? I got a mini hand sanitizer, mosquito repellent and baby yogurt bath from Pureen, and a teddy bear and 3 jars of Strawberry & Rice Dessert Yogurt from Heinz. There's no way I'm feeding this to the baby. Firstly, it is jar food, secondly strawberries are most commonly responsible for allergic reactions, and thirdly the expiry date is just less than two weeks away. So for now I'm just going to display it on the kitchen cabinet before tossing it into the dumpster.

Oh look, I even brought my own shopping bag! *beams*

Disney's Desperate Housewives

I was going through my files when I found this.



LOLkthxbai.