random thoughts

Oh wow, so much for updating the progress.

Anyways, so much have happened since the last post. Some are quite depressing but, I guess ada la rezeki somewhere else nanti.

So now, as of today, I'm almost 33 weeks (?!). We have prepared almost 90% for the baby, the baby room is almost complete, pending some bedsheets for the mattress and some lighting. Ikea here we come!

Baby list:

Feeding:

1. Breast pump - Bought
2. Milk storage plastic/ bottle - Pending (Do i need to buy now anyway?)
3. Cooler bag for milk - Got it with the breast pump
4. Feeding bottles - Bought (TT Newborn starter pack)
5. Bottle brush - Got it in the TT newborn starter pack
6. Liquid wash for feeding bottles - Bought
7. Nippe cream - Bought
8. Nursing pillow - Shall utilise the pregnancy pillow I bought earlier
9. Breast pad - Bought
10. Warmer - Bought
11. Steriliser - Bought
12. Drying rack - Pending, didn't thought I would really need this (haha)

Bathing/ Baby needs

1. Bath tub - Pending
2. Hooded towels - Bought
3. Bathing shampoo/ gel/ body wash - Bought
4. Baby lotion - Bought
5. Baby oil - Pending
6. Wet wipes - Bought
7. Cotton buds - Bought
8. Nail grooming set - Bought
9. Washing detergent - Bought
10. Cornstarch/ powder - Utilise the ones at home
11. Nappy changing mat - Pending
12. Minyak yuyee/ telon - Bought
13. Baby cream - Bought

Clothing (baby and mommy)

1. Mittens and booties - Bought
2. Diapers for newborns - Bought
3. Swaddle/ receiving blanket - Bought
4. Baby binder (barut) - Bought
5. Clothes - Bought
6. Socks - Bought
7. Nursing bra - Bought

Travel system

1. Stroller - Pending
2. Car seat - Got it from Chor
3. Diaper bag - Bought
4. Baby carrier - don't fancy the idea of this just yet as I would like to have the baby fully utilise the stroller
5. Nursing cover - Pending, probably later in confinement

Bedding

1. Bedding set - Pending
2. Cot - Bought
3. Mattress - Bought
4. Changing table - Bought
5. Play pen - Pending, probably in later stage
6. Musical mobile - Pending
7. Pillows - Pending, probably later as we have our Cocoonababy which could last at least till the baby is 3 months old (haha!)

Most of the the items I got it way way early like in April because of the baby fair in Midvalley, scored quite a good deal too I must say.

I guess that's pretty much it for the list. It's kind of difficult to purchase some of it due to the time constraint, most of the time I would prefer for Adam to be around, and it's quite difficult since his working hours are quite unpredictable.

But so far so good I guess, haha I think lah.

Mummy and daddy can't wait to see you my loveeee.

Oh wow, it really has been a while. Honestly, I’ve forgotten all about having this blog actually. Sorry! Either I have no time to blog, or I have lost the motivation to blog or that there’s just nothing much to blog about. 
But 2016, this is definitely the most memorable year for Adam and I. You want to know why? Because currently I’m pregnant with our first child, Alhamdulillah, and as much as possible I want to document this sweet memories of the pregnancy experience that I’m currently going through. 
So I guess let’s start with the how do I find out story. 
27^th January 2016
It’s been almost 3 months since my last period (last period was in November 2015), I didn’t think about it that much because my period have been haywire ever since I got married, and the last period before that also came after 3 months. In December 2015 and January 2016, I’ve been experiencing a loss of appetite which comes to a big surprise since I love to eat, and that in January we went to Penang and I literally force myself to eat, which annoys Adam like hell because I couldn’t finish most of the food. 
But we didn’t think much about that and continued with our life; that is until on this day; I suddenly have the urge to check using UPT. Mind you, I was at the office at that time and I bought the UPT at the local shop, a cheap brand and took the test. Surprisingly, I can see a very faint line, I was quite confused so I showed the test to my colleague and she immediately congratulated me. I told her there must be something wrong and she urged me to check at the clinic straightaway. Oh btw, I took the pictures of the test and whatsapp it to Adam and told him not to be excited and too hopeful but maybe we should go to the clinic and check using ultrasound. 
So, after Maghrib, we finally went to the nearest clinic that actually provides US service and told the doctor of what I’ve experienced in the afternoon. She proceeded with the ultrasound, and I was alone at that time, Adam was waiting outside, and behold, I saw our baby inside me, and at that time he/she is already big! At that time, he/she was about 11W5D and the moment I saw that, I cried immediately. The assistant called Adam to enter the room and told him the news and he literally was beaming! Alhamdulillah, it’s definitely a miracle to have the baby inside my tummy without me knowing for almost 12 weeks. Alhamdulillah too as I did not have any morning sickness other than the loss of appetite.
After the scan, we immediately informed my mom, Adam’s family and my extended family of the good news. The feeling afterwards was quite overwhelming, totally unexpected yet we are definitely pleased and grateful of this gift. Alhamdulillah. 
Meet our not so little baby.

I can't wait to see you my love.

Due to limited time spent at each place,  we didn’t manage to cover all attractions obviously. So here, I’m just going to highlight the worthy places or attractions in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris. 

The most famous place here in Amsterdam is the Keukonhof; which is the place where when it is season, it will be full of colourful tulips! Unfortunately, when we went there, it was not in season. Bummer right? 

The next interesting place in Amsterdam is of course, the Red Light District. Please remember to NEVER take pictures or videos of those *ehem* exotic people behind the glass. I’ve heard so many rumours about what could happen if you were caught taking pictures or videos; they’ll call the cops or they would take your camera and smash it and etc. When we were there, some smart ass guy decided to take picture of them using his handphone, and true to the story, the girl behind the glass actually opened up the door and called, or more like yelled out for him to come to her. I guess he’s on the lucky side as the girl just request him to delete the picture. 

Amsterdam is also commonly known for their windmill; hence it is best to go Zaanse Schans. Zaanse Schans is located at the outskirt of Amsterdam, and there you can see some sort of village with few huge windmills. There, you can also learn how to make clog; they no longer do it traditionally, there are machines for that. We don’t walk around much there; therefore I’m not too sure if we can actually go inside the windmill. Personally, I don’t really fancy being there but if you have time to kill while in Amsterdam, you could definitely go there. 

Iamsterdam is one of the famous and popular icons in Amsterdam. They have two of that in Amsterdam; one is at the airport and another one is at Museumplein. It is better for you to take pictures at both the places, because sometimes the one in Musemplein tends to be full with people also trying to take pictures with it. We were quite lucky as we arrived early in the morning hence we had time to take pictures at the airport and when we went at night at the Museumplein, there was not much people around so we can take nice photos of it, perhaps there would be more people in the afternoon and evening. 

Although when we went there, it was not tulip season, however in Amsterdam itself, true flower lovers can actually go to their flower market or Bloemenmarkt. You have lots of stalls there; selling more or less the same thing but omg the flowers are gorgeous! I’d definitely buy some if it weren’t for my party pooper husband who said there’s no point in buying them. They are also selling flower seeds; am so tempted to buy those tulip seeds but I doubt it’ll even grow here. Hehe. 

Other places includes the Royal Plaza, Madame Tussauds museum (we didn’t go in here, it was kind of expensive and there’s a long que for it) and Albert Cuyp market; which we didn’t manage to go since the area was being renovated at that time. 

Personally if I were given the option to come here again, I would definitely say no, that is unless it is tulips season!

Adam is in charge for our accommodation throughout the whole trip, and basically he’s the banker too (thanks b!), so pretty much all our accommodation was booked by him, though I helped a little bit. 

Amsterdam. 

We stayed in Hotel Liberty, 15 minutes’ walk from Amsterdam Central. Overall, it is quite a strategic location as it is near the metro, the famous Amsterdam cruise are also around the area and conveniently it is quite close to the Red Light District. The hotel, we assumed for the bathroom to be inside the bedroom so imagined our surprise when we found out that it is actually located outside, but thank god it is clean. The stairs are very steep and narrow, so for those with big luggage you got to be careful when you ascend/descend the stairs. The host is a very polite lady, although as we need to check out quite early in the morning, we can’t contact her so we just placed the key inside the room. Wifi is available, although you have to connect through Facebook.

Barcelona

Here, we booked our accommodation using Airbnb. We particularly chose this location; El Gotic because it is THE place to be so it seems. And indeed it was, it was such a lively place, our house is located on the first floor and is just a 5 minutes’ walk from the nearest metro. It was easy to find food as there are a lot of cafes around it, and there are shops all around it actually. It is very near to the famous food market, Mercado de la Boqueria. There are McDonalds and shopping malls so it is actually such a convenient place to stay. The room itself is quite spacious; the toilets are downstairs, fortunately for us the owner is also having his holiday, so we don’t need to share the bathroom with anyone else. 

Madrid

Aaah, and this is definitely my most favourite hotel. We stayed in Hostel Atelier, but don’t be fooled with its surrounding; inside is definitely one comfortable room. It is quite near to the metro station (as always), and in front of the hotel you have lots of shops; food, to buy groceries and what not. It is clean, spacious with heater and proper tv and fast wifi! 

Paris

Our usual neighbourhood when we went to Paris will always be near to the Gare du Nord and Gare de Lest station. While last time, we booked through Airbnb, but for this time since we will be only 2 days here, we decided to stay at Est Hotel. One thing, it is veeeeeeery far from Gare du Nord, though thank god it’s just a straight road. Second thing, you have to pay for the wifi (and it’s not that fast anyway), and it is quite expensive actually. At that time they were renovating the hotel, so some parts of the hotel was a bit dark (no lights) and slightly cramped. Honestly I’d prefer somewhere else hahaha!

Few months prior to the trip, I started to check for flight tickets from Vueling, Easyjet and Ryan Air. I checked if it was possible to go by train or bus, and we checked the fares from one place to another. We noticed that from Barcelona to Paris is a bit expensive as compared to Paris from Madrid, and that is how we decide on the routes. 

Our finalized routes are KL – Amsterdam – Barcelona – Madrid – Paris – KL.

I’m very determined to get the cheapest rate for all the flights and this is when it gets crazy, I downloaded all the flight apps in my phone and check EVERY SINGLE DAY! Fortunately we managed to get all our flight tickets from Amsterdam to Barcelona and Madrid to Paris for less than 50 euros per person, which is quite a bargain I think. From Barcelona to Madrid, we decided to take the overnight train which costs us about 20 euros each, which I feel like a good deal as well as we got the Preferente seats (more like the business class of train).

The flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona was delayed for a few hours, for god knows why, where unfortunately we missed our trip to Parc Guell that day.  I was pretty upset but oh well, the trip goes on. Though I managed to negotiate with Parc Guell management to retime our visit, but Vueling was being a bit a bitch about the whole proof thingy so yup, we missed it all right. 

Easy Jet was alright, we went quite early to the airport and managed to check in on time and depart on time.

The only concern about all these low cost flights in Europe is that you need to buy the luggage, and it’s not cheap! The price is around 15 euros for 20 kg, and they are very strict with hand luggage, only one hand luggage per person and ladies, your handbag are considered as hand luggage. So what we do is, we put my handbag in Adam’s bag, and once we’re clear, then only we took out the bag. 

Meanwhile, from Barcelona to Madrid, we took the overnight train; it was quite alright, because the seat can be adjusted so we can sleep properly. The room leg is big. The luggage area is at the end of the carriage so it won’t bother your area so much.

All in all, I’m quite satisfied with the mode of transportation we used throughout

Hello there

It’s been so long since I last wrote something in here. 

So much has happened. And no, I’m not pregnant yet. 

Few months after MH370, the whole of Malaysia was shocked with the news of MH17 being shot down and crashed near Ukraine.