28 February 2018

Turning Thirty.


'Age doesn't matter, unless you are cheese'

'Live your life, and forget your age'

'Age is just a number'

Ever since I celebrated my twenty-two, I realized that I was no longer as excited to celebrate birthdays anymore, and it's really because I hate the idea of growing older - or growing up, depends how you want to see it.

Then, twenty-five came, and then before I knew it, I became twenty-eight and signed my life away to one man, for the rest of my living years.

Even before we reach or one-year of being sealed together, we got pregnant and I was twenty-nine.

Now, I celebrate being thirty because in about three months, my life is going to take another turn. I'm going to be giving my life to yet, another boy (for now) and I know for sure, I'm going to be a different Sarah Khoo.

I am already changing a little by little (mentally and emotionally) to prepare for his arrival. It's insane.

Growing up, I have this ideal idea of when would be the best time to do certain things - like getting married, have kids and earn beyond a certain amount et cetera. But we all know that reality is that MOST of the time, these things don't meet with the idealistic part of your idea.

I wanted to get married at 25, and have my first child by 27 and then every year after that or something.

But I got married at 28, pregnant at 29 and giving birth to a baby boy at 30.

So yes, if you ask me, the last few years have been nothing but exciting, and that could be a huge contribution to why I am starting to be more 'welcoming' of the three-zero - not that I have a choice also anyways.

Initially, I have wanted to throw myself a party at McDonalds (heh) and really it's because I have always wanted to have a birthday party at McDonalds since young okay. Who says adults cannot celebrate birthdays in McDonalds, right?

And I guess turning thirty would be the best time.

So, I started emailing the people at McDonalds but no one replied - and after a while, the 'passion' died down and I became lazy.

Then I came out with so many different party ideas that in the end, I decided that I am not going to do any of it. One of which (that got his vote even) was to have it at our humble small home - and I could just put up fairy lights in the garden outside and have barbecue sessions with close friends.

Then again, I canceled the idea and decided to spend it with just him and family.

This is me not being in the twenties anymore.

Heh.

It was the simplest way to usher in the three-zero, and I would not have it done it any other way if given another chance to change things.

Thank you guys for all your warm wishes on the social media and in person. Heard and appreciate all of them.

Here's what I'm going to leave you with:

'Never be afraid to trust 
an unknown future 
to a known God'

Till next time, bye now.

26 February 2018

Koay's Love Language #35 - #37


#35
We went to Kapitan for lunch and ordered their famous must-eat-tandoori chicken and claypot chicken briyani. This man obviously used his hands to enjoy his tandoori chicken and washed it off afterwards.

Me: Oh mannn. Look at your fingers! So orange leh. All that coloring. G! Maybe our son becomes bit orange-y today.
Him: *smiles widely* Sure kena jaundice d like that.
Me: *secretly thinking inside my head that he doesn't really know what causes jaundice & secretly judging him* HAHAHA.

#36
He was saying our every-night-before-sleep-prayer.

Him: Lord, we want to thank you for this baby that's inside Sarah's stomach..
Me: *opens my eyes widely with eyebrows raised*
Him: *continues praying with eyes closed* God, we ask that You would protect and give great health to our baby boy inside this stomach.. *continues to pray for other people*
Me: *opens eyes widely again*
Him: In Jesus name we pray, amen.

After the prayer ended..

Me: You know that the baby is not inside my stomach, right? *judging eyes*
Him: I know la. It's in the womb okay.
Me: Oh phew. I thought you didn't know. PFS student ma, you never know HAHAHA.

#37
Him: From now onwards, you cannot take any red meat already ya. Only eat chicken and fish everyday.
Me: GG like that. 

20 February 2018

Pregnancy Update: Week 24.


Finally hitting the final month of second trimester.

It is slowly creeping into the both of us that in about 3-months' time, we are going to be legit parents with a real physical baby in our care.

Whatever it is that we do in these three short months, we are making sure that we do it together (when we can) especially doing short date-nights here and there. Even if it means doing the littlest thing like sweeping the floor and him managing the 'store-room'. Our kind of in-house date nights. Hah.

It is highly likely because of the lack of baby items in our house that we have not felt the adrenaline rush yet. We haven't even move the baby cupboard into our room.

We've decided that we're going to hands-on everything after his Bali trip with the boys and our Malacca trip with the gang. Then, we gonna start doing baby-things.

I really don't know what to feel at this point.

CRAVINGS

This season's cravings are dangerous!

It's all the sweet things that I never even liked (so much) when I was not pregnant!

There was a week whereby I needed to have at least one ice-cream a day, and then I saw the weight increase and I told myself, nope. Control please.

So, now I only have ice cream once every few days, but on days I don't get to eat my ice cream, I opted for cakes instead. Or chocolates. OR ANYTHING SWEET.

I still do crave for Indian curry but it's not that bad anymore.

As for meal portions, I try not to add the amount of rice that I usually take, but there was this one time when the man gave me like a normal portion of rice that guys would usually have when they eat nasi kandar, and my normal self would immediately say to the man, "Boss, separuh cukup!".

BUT I DID NOT.

I was like taking it and I surprised myself by finishing the entire plate and didn't even feel like super full. I was feeling okay.

My appetite is definitely growing as tiny human grows so I guess that is normal.

I have gained about 8kg so far and I try not to let it go over 10kg - that's one of life goals now. Heh.


SLEEPING PATTERNS

I am a light-sleeper. I repeat, I am a very light-sleeper, so any kind of sound or movement will wake me up. Adrian is also a light sleeper so every time when I had to wake up to go to the loo, he wakes up too.

I feel a bit of pain on my lower womb and back bone when I sleep. When I turn from left to right or right to left, it's painful. When I sleep on my back, it becomes harder for me to breathe. So, I think I can safely say that in a night's sleep, I turn at least 10-times to try get a comfortable position but that never happens usually - unless I feel really worn out throughout the day, like for the past few nights. Heh.

I don't wake up so often anymore to the toilet because when it comes to night, I don't drink too much water. My bed is quite low so getting up is also a struggle. Hah. So, less toilet breaks while sleeping is good for me.

SKIN & HAIR

Surprisingly, the dry skin on my chin seems to be disappearing and I don't really have visits from pimples anymore. That or my stress level really very low heh.

My hair feels normal. Nothing unusually good or bad.

ENERGY

I don't feel as tired as I was before, which was surprising to be honest. I was preparing myself to feel as tired but turns out, I didn't need to take as much breaks as I did earlier.

I walked a lot this time, but also noticed that I am slowing down on that as the lower womb hurts every time I get up and walk, or move even. Dr Soon mentioned that this is all expected as the baby grows heavier.

EMOTIONS

I am less cranky now?

I don't know to be honest. You have to ask Koay on that, but I would like to think that I feel emotionally better now. Hah.

I do get sad or teary-feeling faster than normal - especially when I thought about the fact that some insurance company doesn't want to cover us due to a previous miscarriage. Boo-hoo. I did shed some tears thinking about it, but in the end, I was reassured to trust in God. He's my insurance. Heh.

I think Adrian managed to get one from Prudential - if I'm not mistaken.

Oh wells.

STORAGE UPGRADE

This is not really pregnancy related but I recently changed my 5-years old iPhone 5s to a brand new iPhone 8 with 256gb storage!

This only means that in 3-months time, my phone is gonna be filled with photos and videos of tiny human. Hah. Hopefully I won't be too obsessed with this human.

BABY MOVEMENT

Oh my oh my.

This was one of the weirdest thing ever, at first.

Now, I look forward to his kicks and turnarounds in there. Every time after I have a good hard laugh, he would move hard.

Sometimes, it gets really uncomfortable because he would be kicking or pushing ( I wouldn't know) my bladder area and I find myself going to the toilet every 2-minutes with no more pee whatsoever. It's insane.

1 month ago, you wouldn't be able to see his movement by looking at the bump. Now, you totally can. It's so strong and constant.

His favorite time to move and kick is when we are all asleep, after midnight.

I was telling Koay the other day that confirm this one is your baby because even in my sleep, he will move me, just like you. Cannot give me some peace. Heh.

I guess with all that's being said, I am ready for this one to come already to be honest and now I don't mean like now now cos he's way too small to see the world outside of belly.

But I am mentally prepared to love (unconditionally) another person till I meet my Maker. My prayer now is that my love and commitment to husband shall never decrease when our son comes, that I must always love my husband more than my son (and other children to come). This one I know very susah eh, because I'm already starting to be a bit obsessed with this child, and he's not even out of me yet.

Imagine when he's out, I'm never letting him out of my sight. Hah. Kidding.

A full pregnancy term is 40 weeks, and I'm at my 25 weeks now. So, that means about 15 more weeks to go. I am for sure going to be in the ALERT mode when 30 weeks come.

SO SCARY TO CARRY A LIVING THING INSIDE ME.

Okay, till then, bye now. 

13 February 2018

3D2N Glamping at Sunway Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh.

Ahh, this is such a delayed post.

Can I blame it on the pregnancy because you know, how carrying another tiny human inside is really tiring, heh.

I have been feeling a little too lazy to blog or do anything related to the computer because it gets really uncomfortable sitting for a period of time, so when I have free time, I chose to do things that allow me to lie down instead. Hah.

Excuses right.

Anyways, here's a little something (not too much info so sorry) on a glamping trip with the clan. It was my dad who found this glamping thing at the Sunway Lost World of Tambun, so credits to him please.

He was also the one who planned the entire trip from beginning to the end.

Glamping comes from the two words - GLAM and CAMPING.

Camping the not so original way. Heh.

Still camping alright, except this one you don't have to set up your own tents or cook your own food. Win. AND YOU GET FIVE BILLION STARS' EXPERIENCE.


I cannot remember how much it costs us on this trip, but apparently this price is the revised-new-year-price so it's slightly higher than what we originally paid - not too much of difference I feel.

The price shown is for a night only okay. I repeat, A NIGHT ONLY. If you want 2 nights, then just multiply 2 (if I'm not wrong).


So, if there are 4 of you in a family (2 adults and 2 children), you can just take the 4-pax package at a total price of RM788.

But if there are 4 of you and all four of you are adults (no children), then you will have to take the 2-pax package, which is RM588 and add it with the Add-on package.

RM588 + RM140 + RM140 = RM868 (RM217 per adult)


Now before you say that it's expensive, let's see what is included in that price and maybe, just maybe you will feel that it's super worth going for.

You will get to enjoy buffet breakfast at Garden Terrace and limitless entrance to the Lost World theme park for 2-days (if you are staying for just a night). Well, you will be staying in the theme park itself so means you have 24-hours access inside. Heh.

The entrance ticket also means you get to enjoy their hot springs at night (which is okay-okay only if you ask me). I didn't get into the water because scared the water too hot for tiny human to handle, but apparently, it's really just warm.

And there were so many people that time - we went in December right after Christmas Day so that explains the crowd.

So, if you ask me if it's worth paying that amount to enjoy the things that you get to enjoy, my answer is definitely yes. You should give this a try. The glamping itself is really a very nice experience.

My family and I already made plans to do this glamping thing a yearly thing. Hah.

So, upon arrival at the Lost World Hotel (check-in is 3pm onwards by the way), a buggy will be arranged to transport you and your gang into the glamping area, which is located within the Sunway Lost World of Tambun's theme park. So, you are actually staying inside the theme park, like a boss - very close to where they keep the tigers and hippopotamus and the hyenas - just saying.

BUT SURPRISINGLY NO FUNNY SMELL WHATSOEVER. Another win.


The glamping area is huge and spacious and it's right next to a lake. It's very cooling even in the mid of noon because the place is surrounded by trees and nature stuff.

I know, the next thing you going to ask me is, if there were lots of blood-sucking-mosquitoes around since it's so quiet and out in the nature.

Well, not that I know of to be honest, and that's because the moment we got there, most of us quickly put on the mosquito-repellent patch on our clothes.

So, it's either there were no mozzies around or the repellent patch thing really worked.


There are only 8 tents available at this place so, maximum humans that can populate that entire area is up to 32 adults.

One tent can cater to 4 people and no, they don't have smaller tents, just in case you decided to go there for like a romantic getaway and only want 2 people in a tent.

But yes, a tent of 4 can still only cater to 2 people only. The price also different. Show you all later.


All tents come with a king sized bed and two single beds, WiFi to every tent (win again), basic amenities, towel and drinking water. 

No air-con inside please, but apparently you can request (and pay) for it if you want. 

We didn't need any of that because it gets pretty cold at night. Yes, there are 2 standing fans in the tents already so you really don't need the air-con. I mean after-all, you are here for the "camping" experience, right?


They also provide for you locks so when you are out, you can zip the door and lock it. Also, the glamping area is accessible to public when the theme park is open - so you may want to use the locks for security purpose.

We didn't lock our tents because we felt that it was pretty safe and we didn't bring anything valuable so we were not so paranoid, and nothing was stolen as far as we know of.

So, no need to worry so much? Just use the locks.


For your lunch and dinner, you can opt to eat outside of the theme park and travel to nearby place for food, or you can choose to eat inside the theme park.

We stayed in because ain't nobody got time to go out. Heh.

There are a few places that you can dine at inside the theme park:

Lost World Ipoh Street
Onsen Noodle House
Kukuntalu Hawkers
Dulang Tea House

My favorite would be the Kukuntalu Hawkers because other food stuffs at Lost World Ipoh Street is so horrible! Except for the curry mee. Seriously. I cannot even.


We spent the first night walking around the theme park and taking things at a slower pace because we had just arrived so it was pretty tiring.

Then, when we wlked to our glamping site, all tiredness disappeared! Because it was so prettty!

I don't even know how to explain it to you guys. The photos are just like 7 out of 10. You have to see it with your own eyes.

It was so dreamy and the only kind that you can see in Pinterest.




The one thing that we thought was a minus-point was the location of the toilets. It is not very near to the tents, which can be a good thing but in my case, it was not a very good thing.

With a tiny human growing inside, toilet is my constant go-to, even middle of the night. So, with it being quite a distance away, it was such a struggle to get up and pee. I was tempted in so many ways to just hold it but that would destroy my kidney so nope.

Toilet - 1, Sarah - 0


The view from the toilet. Our tents are on the left side where the fairy lights are at.


There is also a huge-hut-like place in the middle of the glamping site where you can boil your hot water or purchase can drinks et cetera. 

They have someone guarding the place throughout the night till morning so no worries. Pretty safe. 


The daily breakfast at Garden Terrace was pretty amazing if I may say that. I was shocked to see that they have quite variety of stations with food items like cereal bar, Indian corner (serving Puri set and capati), noodle station, eggs station, eastern station and western station.

And they tasted pretty good to be honest.


On our last night here, we decided to take the BBQ Set package. I forgot how much we paid for it per person, but now, the price is RM100 for every 2 pax.

All the food items you see are included. They will also prepare the BBQ pit for you and bring it to you wherever you would want to have it. Drinks also they provide.

For our case, we opt to do it right in front of our tents.

And the portion that was given was superb. We ate to our hearts' content please. Got leftover some more.

There were lambs, fish, chicken, sausages, fried rice, sweet potatoes, salad, nata de coco jelly et cetera. Worth the money okay.



So, conclusion is that if you get to try the glamping experience in Malaysia with a price like this, I don't see why you don't want to give it a try.

I can see why a lot of people are concerned about the hot weather here and the fact that mosquitoes are easily everywhere, but in all seriousness, this place is worth the money and your time - just get the repellent patch and if you're so afraid of the heat, you can opt to have the air-con with extra surcharge.

So, I would highly recommend this glamping thing at the Lost World of Tambun.

Try it and let me know if you will ever go back again for round two!

Click HERE to find out more on it or to contact the, directly if you want to do a group booking - they may give you discounts and stuff!

Till then, bye now. 

25 January 2018

Pre-Babymoon Talk.

One more comfortable sleep to reunite with the mister. This is by far the longest time we've been away from each other and it sucks big time.

I am not a fan of long-distance relationship kind of person and it's not like this is LDR also (heh), but it's similar to it - in my reference. 

I give you people (those who are dealing with LDR right now) a standing ovation because I have no idea how you guys can do it. Maybe your love is stronger. Hah. 

My love language is time - and that is why I feel that I can never do LDR. You need to spend time with me to love me please - and being away physically is just too hard. 

Anyways, I am so looking forward to seeing snow and experience (again) the joy and pain of being in a very cold place. 

I only have a 7-kg hand carry so it's going to be a struggle for me to pack tonight. There will be so many things that I' not going to bring which is going to be bleh. 

What I am not looking forward to is the 5-hours that I have to spend in the airport before the flight to Jeju-do. Praying that sleeping on a carpeted floor won't be too bad or even better, there will be a row of empty chairs for me to lie on. Heh. 

Backbones, please hold it together till we get to the island,, okay. 

Super thankful for this babymoon getaway before the tiny boss comes! 

Thank you Mister Koay - can this please not be my birthday present? HAHA!

Till next time, bye now. 

17 January 2018

Pregnancy Update: Week 16 - Week 20.


APPETITE

On my office desk, I have a bag of M&Ms, sour Skittles, garlic and onion flavored broad beans and a few Hershey's from OZ land.

So, if you would like to take a guess, you may be able to guess that the appetite is one that is unpredictable. Sometimes, I crave for sweet things and sometimes, I just need some salty foods and then there are other times where I need the sour part to kick in. It's random all-day err-day.

There is this particular thing that I have been craving for the longest time, and the funny thing is that the normal-me don't even like this yet the pregnant-me wants it so badly.

COFFEE.

Can you believe it?

I don't even like coffee but now I look for decaf coffee everytime someone suggests to hang out at a cafe - then when I get there, I usually just bite my tongue and not get it because I will ended up feeling bad.

So far, it's been very manageable but I got a feeling that I may (very soon) make my way to Coffee Bean and get their Decaf Mocha Frapp. Heh. 

WHAT IS SLEEP?

I have been getting shorter and shorter sleep at night thanks to endless weird-just-super-bizarre dreams that makes absolutely zero sense yet very entertaining and also the frequent visit to the toilet.

That is why I take in less liquid at night but that can't do because my body gets thirsty fast whole day so I just kept drinking them water.

During no-work-days like Mondays, I always grab the opportunity to take my afternoon naps (whenever Daryl sleeps actually) so I would not feel so tired by nine pm.

The surprising thing that I found is that I sleep better whenever Koay sleeps next to me - I think it's just the manja-hormones in me during this season. Heh.

I used to complain (so much) that he moved too much on the bed. Hah. Love you noob.

DRESS ME UP & MAKE ME BEAUTIFUL

I remember feeling extremely sad that my old clothes could not fit me no more and then I remembered again, that my belly is supposed to grow bigger each day. Still, that sad feeling lingered a while - must be the unpredictable hormones la.

I was supposed to clear my wardrobe and keep the clothes that fit no more and put in those that can but I kept delaying till last night, heh.

Now, I have more dresses in there to fit the belly and bum-bum and not to mention these humongous boobs. Heh.

It's quite difficult to feel beautiful every morning to be honest. As beautiful as this pregnancy has been, physically it does a lot to the emotions. What helps A LOT is that my husband constantly assures me that I look great and he really love seeing that growing bump. I bet that's not the only thing he likes growing hah!

I love this crazy man.

So yeah, it is a minor struggle trying to figure out what to wear every morning - confirm a lot of repetition of clothes because nice maternity clothes are just way too expensive.

I don't even own a pair of maternity shorts because those that I got from online shopping just cannot fit the bum-bum - really waste of money. And there is no H&M Maternity in Penang so I shall wait till when I go KL - hopefully soon enough.

PRENATAL CLASSES

We have finally registered and paid the money - RM159 per couple at Adventist Hospital. There will be 4 classes and I will be almost 8 months pregnant when the class starts.

This is actually more for him since I really don't need them after helping my sister with her two kids - worlds biggest bullies. Hah.

Love them to bits man.

CONDITION OF ZE HAIR

I am super in love with Hairstory's hair-wash service! Their massages are the best kind and since I am not allowed to have any body massages, head and shoulder feels like heaven please.

I loved how the Senior Stylist (now my favorite-to-go-to-man) Lucas does with my hair. He keeps it very natural and wavy and light and fluffy. Ahhh, best.

He decided to sponsor the package that I have yet to buy (ahh my procrastination has gotten very bad). Pay RM200 and get to wash for ten times (valid for 2 years).

2018 starting really well for me heh.

I am still losing quite a bit of hair everyday but my hair seems to be softer and easier to manage. My sister said it is most likely due to the pregnancy as well so yay.

SUPPLEMENTS

Everyday I take a total of 4 tablets - Calcium, Obimin, Neurogain and Folic Acid. I think I may do a separate post on these supplements and how much I have been spending my moolahs on them every month heh.

Super thankful that I now do not have any trouble swallowing them pills.

VERY THANKFUL.

SKINCARE

There are no more random pimples on my face (phew!) but the lower part of my chin has been showing really dry skin and some redness, especially when I wake up in the morning.

I don't usually apply anything on my face, not even moisturizer but for that area, it's a daily thing now.

Oh and my legs are like fish-skin legs! So dry and so pfft.

I have been ignoring them for quite some time because it's just legs ma right. Okaylah, I think I should start paying more attention to it. Soon la heh.

EMOTIONS STUFF

According to Didi, it's the craziest! Hah.

On some days, I am so moody in office she also don't dare to come near to me and on other days, I;m just the happiest.

I think my mood swings are very unpredictable.

I can be really okay in the morning and by the time noon comes, that's it.

And don't you dare say to me about controlling them moods, because I will stare you to death - hah kidding. But seriously, I don't even realize it so how do I control it huh.

MONTHLY CHECK-UP

I have been very consistently visiting Adventist Hospital and Klinik Kesihatan near our house because initially, we just thought that it may be a good idea for us to deliver the baby at GH - because it is so expensive to deliver in private hospital via C-section (if we had to).

But now, come to think of it, we may just do it at Adventist Hospital because I just have more confidence with Dr. Soon to be honest.

But we're still keeping our options open although leaning more on Adventist. Hah.

So, I guess that's all for now on this baby update.


Till next time, people. 

02 January 2018

Goodbye Last Year, Hello This Year!


2017 is by far the most happening year for me.

Also, it is a year where I didn't blog 'that much'. It's not like I have forgotten about it, definitely not. If anything, blogging keeps me sane - sort of.

It helps me to relax.

So, that's why my only resolution this year is to blog and document as many events as I can here.

But seriously, who am I kidding?

With so many things that's going to happen, this cannot be my only resolution, and since I will have too many resolutions and probably not going to fulfill all of them, I might as well not have any resolutions this year. Heh.

Kong ka liau.

Anyways, 2017 has been a real ride for both Adrian and myself. I cannot say much on behalf of him since I still have got so much to learn about this spontaneous man everyday. We've only been married for a year plus so yeah.

God has been good throughout my life, and 2017 is not an exception.

We may have lost a baby earlier last year, but we have gained a deeper intimacy with each other and a small part of understanding what it meant when we vowed 'through good times and bad'. I have never allowed myself to weep and be completely fragile and weak in front of another human until we lost Little Dot and found myself vulnerable in the arms of the man that I truly love.

Of course, not long after that, we found out that we are expecting again - oh the emotional ride it had taken us just within that few months heh.

You would think that being pregnant few months after losing one would help emotionally, but I tell you that's not true. In fact, I find myself being a little more emotional (could be the hormones) thinking about Little Dot while carrying this one inside.

It does not make it any easier, but it is certainly not the kind of sadness where it paralyses you okay. It's the kind that empowers you even more, makes you a stronger being.

I also left my 4-years job with a great company and joined the church. With that being said, I also did not travel to as many places as I would like to, but that's okay. Koay would disagree because we did visit Australia for about 2-weeks. Heh. Oh how I miss Melbourne, Sydney and Brissy already.

Maybe this year, we can visit Perth and Tasmania - ahem ahem. Hah. And maybe Japan.

What a life-changing year right.

Now that 2017 has been great and is in the past now, I look forward to what this year is going to bring. So far, being pregnant has been comfortable (except for the ongoing flu) and I would not have it other way.

We have less than 6 months before tiny human comes and our life changes again. We appreciate every date-night we can get now although that's a bit difficult now since he has been on a very intensive floorball training to prepare for the upcoming Floorball World Championship thingy.

That also means less than a month till I get to travel to Jeju - babymoon yas!

This is also going to be the year I no longer get to celebrate being in the twenties - boo. Age is just a number anyways heh.

OH OH AND WE CAN FINALLY SAY GOODBYE TO DIGI FOR GOOOOD! Adrian's contract with them ends on 31 December 2017 so I cannot wait till we can change to Maxis and we can happily surf the net in the comfort of our own home. Yasss.

I guess I'm going to be signing off now since Daryl is taking his first nap of the day, I think I shall to.

I hope everyone's 2018 is going to be kicking-backside kind.

Till then, bye now.