6D5N Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

It's been too long since I remembered going on a trip and no need to spend money wan. Hah. So, can you imagine my excitement when I got to go on a work trip to Cambodia with my colleagues? I was excited and slightly nervous - because I didn't want to risk the pregnancy. 

But you know what? 

I was so well taken care of by Pansy and Gladys throughout the entire time - they will not let me carry my luggage and kept asking to carry my backpack. I am so thankful really. 

I packed rather lightly for this trip because well, what else am I going to wear other than maternity dresses? Hah. 

The hardest part leaving for this trip was having to be away from Adrian, Alex and Sofia for so many days. The last time I was away from them for so long was when I had Covid-19 and that was no fun. 

But right, the moment I was at the airport and I was boarding the plane, I was no longer home-sick in that moment. Heh. I have missed what it felt like to be flying again. Hah. Truth be told that I have always wanted to be an air-stewardess growing up so I can fly and travel around the world. But I was too short and I have motion-sickness - so goodbye to that dream job. Heh. 

My home-sickness kicked in again when I checked into the hotel because in my mind, I wanted to enjoy all that with them. 

Anyways, that is one of the hardest parts of being a working-mom and I knew that I had to resist falling into that mom-guilt because it was not going to help me be a better mother. Forever thankful that my family is always at their 100% to look after my kids. Of course not forgetting my better half - holding the fort and taking the role of both mom and dad for a week. They obviously had lots of fun because Adrian is the fun(er) parent. Hah. 

This trip was really meaningful because we got to meet with some of our members for the first time. We are no longer talking with them through phone calls and emails. Now we got to put faces to their names and it was such a needed bonding time with each of them. 

We also got to hear their stories and ministries and their hearts for the people of Cambodia, and boy let me tell you this. I get goosebumps at every meet-up because of their stories and the things that they have accomplished for God. 

I am so thankful that I got to be a part of supporting all that they do by taking care of their insurance needs - be it physical, mental or financial. Thankful that Michael Lyon started Talent Trust 31 years ago to take care of missionaries worldwide. 

We are currently covering 60,000+ missionaries worldwide (in 180+ countries) and getting to meet with just a handful of them was enough. It was really good! 

Anyways, I have been to Phnom Penh once during our backpacking trip in 2015, and I remembered it to be meh and super dusty. This trip proves that it is still dusty and it was not that meh anymore. We stayed at a different area of Phnom Penh so perhaps that was why the last time was more meh that this time. 

Our members brought us to really nice restaurants and we had such a great time feasting and bonding. We didn't explore the city because we didn't want to take any risk of exposing ourselves to Covid-19 so when we are not meeting with our members, we rested in our hotel rooms. 

Overall, it was such a good trip. We really do need more trips to go meet our members when we can, because it makes such huge differences! I love it! 

Here are some photos from the trip, so enjoy :)

Khema Restaurant, Phnom Penh

Pizza 4P's, Phnom Penh

The Shop, Phnom Penh

Till next travel, bye now. 

Shangri-La Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

 Who doesn't like to go for hotel staycations? And who doesn't love it when they receive wedding invites - especially the kind where you get to hop on a plane and attend wan? Hah.

I love both! 

I was literally jumping up and down like a kid when I found out that Clement and Yuh Ting's wedding was going to be at Shangri-La hotel in Sabah! Well, I thought it was going to be at Shangri-La Rasa Ria, but it was actually at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru! Still very best please. 

This hotel is like siblings hotel to Rasa Sayang in Penang, and although we aren't a big fan of Shangri-La Rasa Sayang in Penang, it was still exciting to get to try other Shangri-La hotels. 

We love the facilities and breakfast spread here! Their spread is huge and really, if you try to eat a lil bit of everything in one morning, you actually don't have to eat lunch anymore. JUST SO MUCH FOOD SERIOUSLY. 

Then, their swimming pool - fulamak! Huge and nice and has the best sea view! The compound of the entire resort is just mind-blowing humongous. They have an area for golf and huge garden area! We love hanging out in this resort so much that we didn't leave the place for the whole 3 days we were here! Best. 

We stayed at the Kinabalu Wing Seaview Deluxe Room, and the view from our balcony is just so pretty and crazy beautiful. We got the sea view and garden view! And we got special rates for it because of the wedding - which by the way, is the most beautiful outdoor wedding we have ever attended - hands down!

A short video clip of how the room looks like :) 

Till next staycation, bye now :) 

Sarina Boutique Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

 with Pansy & Gladys
on 24-29 July 2022

When I was told of this work trip by Pansy, I was of course excited because get to sit on an airplane and travel, then reality hits and I was reminded that I am currently carrying a child inside me and there are risks to be considered. 

We (Adrian and I) discussed and since I am on my second trimester during the trip, we agreed that I should go ahead with it. 

And I am so glad we did because it was a wonderful trip - which I will talk more on next separate post. 

We stayed only at one hotel in Phnom Penh because ain't nobody got the time and energy to move hotels. Heh. Gladys found this hotel at the Sen Sok region and we decided to o ahead and book it! 

It was a lot nicer in person than in photos that we see online. I love the exterior and the feel and vibe of this hotel. The rooms are basic, the food is okay-okay (then again, food in Cambodia tends to be a lot sweeter even for savory kind of foods) and the location is perfect (for me). 

I also love the pool because it's surrounded by tall (and short) trees and it has that super cozy vibe, but too bad we didn't swim or dip in there. Heh. 

If I go back to Phnom Penh one day, Sarina Boutique Hotel will definitely be in consideration. I would highly recommend it. 

Till our next travel, bye now. 

We are halfway there!

Wow - I realized that it has been rather quiet over here. Heh. 

These few months has been insane (in a good way of course) and with another human growing inside me, I actually do not have the time, and energy and motivation to sit down in front of the screen to pen down random events and thoughts. 

But today is something - because we are halfway there! 

Little Bean is 20 weeks old, and unlike the last two pregnancies, this one is a bit shy and we are still in the dark of its gender. I get asked a lot (like a lot) on what do I feel it is going to be. 

And I really have no neutral answer to it. I may be biased with what Adrian wants - which is a boy. And his reason is simple and sweet. 

"So that Sofia can be my only daughter - so precious"

Of course with that said, if Little Bean is a girl, Adrian's heart is going to explode because that means he get to love and spoil another baby girl of his. 

I really don't have any preference on the gender of this baby. If it's a girl, then Alex will be our only boy and if it's a boy, Sofia will be our only girl. It's a win-win for any gender really. 

Our primary goal is for Little Bean to grow well and grow completely inside me and for smooth, quick and easy natural birth - with zero complications including jaundice. Alex and Sofia never had jaundice when they were born and the common food factor is really the same craving for nasi lemak and all things curry. Hah. 

I can go eat banana leaf rice all day err day if I could - but Adrian would puke at the thought of it. 

With 20 more weeks to go, we are glad that the nausea is gone and I have managed to somehow learn to live with the constant tiredness. I am also stating to feel some aches on my back and some occasional pain on my left knee. I think it was from a previous injury which I don't remember how or what happened also. 

I am double dosing on my Isotonix Calcium intake (morning and night), my Isotonix Vitamin C and Isotonix Vitamin D with K2 (to make sure my calcium absorption is maximized). Of course I take my Isotonix Digestive everyday. I don't want acid reflux or constipation to come visit so precaution is better than cure. Heh. 

My clothes choices are very limited now because my previous tops and shorts are all kept in the box and I shall see them next year. I was very tempted to get more maternity dresses on Shein, but proud of myself for not succumbing to the temptations. 

I shall be a good girl, and just endure wearing the same clothes for the next 20 weeks.

I do need breastfeeding-friendly clothes for the post-birth but we shall get there when we are near there la. But if you have some and you don't plan to wear it anymore, feel free to message me haha. #shameless

One more thing that I noticed was different from other pregnancies was the fact that I drink a lot of water now. My lips would get dried up quickly and I will usually just drink iced water. yes, iced water. Don't be shocked please. I cannot drink warm water wan sorry okay. Only iced water my whole life. Hah. That also means I go to the toilet really often. 

Okay, funny (embarrassing) story time. 

There was once when we were out and my bladder was quite full and Little Bean was probably also leaning on it and there were no toilets nearby. I know with full confidence that I could hold them in because it didn't feel that full, and I didn't have that urgency. 

Then came a sneeze - out of nowhere! 

Next thing I know, a gush of pee came down my legs to my ankles. In that second, I thought my water broke. The very next second, I realized that it was actually pee. Like the kind where it is not supposed to even exit my hooha and down my legs. 

I quickly grab a wet tissue and confidently wiped them away. I was among people so I pretended nothing happened and went into Adrian's car like that. HAHAHA. I of course felt disgusted the whole time but what else can I do! 

I only confessed to Adrian after we got home and after I showered. 

So yeah, the sneezing and peeing at the same time has started. That incident taught me to go to toilet often and not try be a hero and tahan it in. It is not going to work. Hah. 

Lesson well learnt on this one for sure. 

So, other than all that, we are doing great. We are currently consulting Dr See at Gleneagles Hospital and we also go for check-ups at my favorite Klinik Kesihatan Ibu & Anak. I have not decided if this time we would go to GH for the delivery or Gleneagles but it is nice to know that we've got choices so we shall see. 

I am also 90% sure that I will not be taking epidural this time because the pain will help me to push (like in Sofia's case) but there is a 10% so we really shall see. 

Happy 20 weeks old, Little Bean and mamy! We got this! 

Till next time, bye now. 

Hello Baby Koay #3!

 I realized that this is a really long overdue post. 

As excited as we were when we first found out about this pregnancy, I was not enjoying the celebration as much and that was really because of the horrible first trimester morning sickness. I didn't get them this badly as compared to when I was preggo with Alex and Sofia - so this time was new and full of surprises. Heh. 

I don't want to talk much about it because it can (and will) quickly turned into a massive noisy endless complaints. I've had that many moments of just sulking in that because of how terrible it was. 

Not until I saw Little Bean's heartbeat on the monitor, and the guilt just overwhelms me. I promised (since that day) that I would not complain to that extent anymore. 

It was so bad that I vowed to never have a fourth baby okay. I am guilty of saying that loud. But it's because I really could not bear going through those roller-coaster physical things again. But I am sorry, and I am taking that back, because who knows, maybe we will still have a fourth kid. Hah. I can imagine Adrian's facial expression as he is reading this. He is settled with 3 (I think) but let's leave this topic to next time. Hah. 

But morning sickness story aside, I am now in a much better place (physically) with morning sickness only showing up once or twice a week, so I am thankful and I am ready to pen this down here. 

To answer many of you, yes we were planning to expand our family and we were very intentional to make that happen by this year, however we decided to take a pause because suddenly, there were many international travel plans that pop out, and we didn't want to risk going through miscarriage again by being pregnant and doing long haul travels. 

But guess what?

We didn't know it then, but his Michael-Phelps-sperm had already met with my egg even before we decided to take a pause. It never crossed our minds that we could actually be pregnant, but then again, we were actively trying so no surprises there la please. 

My period was late for 2 weeks but it didn't raise any suspicions because they were late for 2 weeks many months before so to avoid spending more money in those overpriced-pregnancy test kits, I decided to just wait it out and I was really sure that it was not pregnancy la please. 

We went travelling that week to the East Coast Region of the Peninsular (Kelantan, Terengganu & Pahang) and I was always tired (with slight nausea) but we thought that could be because of the long-distance travelling on the road (motion sickness) and having to handle the kids and things like that. So we didn't put much thoughts into it. 

The nausea and tiredness got worse after we got home and that night, I decided not to wait any longer and took out our last cheap test kit and peed on it. Three seconds after my pee touched the place where the pee is supposed to go, the two lines appeared and appeared very clear and I knew then that I was confirmed to be pregnant! But I wanted (needed) to be 2 test kits sure hah. 

So, I took out the last expensive Clearblue test kit out and peed on it. Yes, within that same hour that night. It didn't take more than a minute for the cross lines to show up. That was how clear and pregnant my pee was showing. 

I remembered smiling from ear to ear, and thinking in my head o how to tell the father of my children - whether to make a big gesture or just plain and simple 'I'm pregnant'. 

I went with the latter but his reaction was nothing I expected! 

I passed him the stick and he thought I was playing a prank on him. Even after I explained to him that it was real, he still had that doubt. I HAD TO GO TO THE RUBBISH BIN AND SHOW HIM THE FIRST TEST KIT THAT WAS POSITIVE. This man I tell you. 

He then smiled and gave me a long tight hug. We told our sisters the same night because I could not hold it in any longer please. It was such a big happy news that I felt came at the right time. 

Of course, then the whole morning sickness continued but it made sense to why I was feeling all those things. Just thankful it was not Covid again. Heh. 

So yeah, that was how we found out about Little Bean, and no we do not know the gender yet (or maybe we do heh). I guess we will just have to wait for the gender reveal party to find out. Hah. 

 And this shall be my first letter to Little Bean.. 

Hello you little baby. We were not expecting you although we wanted you already. Make sense? Anyways, you became the reason I had to let go of some travel plans that were already in the planning, and although it seems like such a sacrifice, it really is not. When I know that you were already growing in me, letting go of those my hearts also desire was easy and was a no-brainer. 

You were hard to love at first, but watching your little heart beating on that screen changed me. Maybe it was the hormones too, but it felt as though that was my first time seeing a heartbeat on that monitor, although I've already gone through that with your brother and sister.

Make no mistakes and never doubt me okay because even with Alex and Sofia with me now, I realized that my heart can actually grow bigger to create that space to love you infinitely. It's really a wow thing. So yes, I love you now and I will love you till my last breath. See you in December okay. Don't come out too early and also don't come out too late please. Heh. 

Grow well, you. 

Love you now and will love you till my last breath <3

Yeng Keng Cafe at Chulia Street, Penang.

Yeng Keng Hotel - this boutique hotel has 19 rooms and is located in the heart of Georgetown. Sadly, there is no beach nearby (obviously) but not everyone fancies the beach during staycations anyway. 

We were looking for a decent place to celebrate dad's birthday, and the birthday boy himself suggested for some Hainanese cuisine at Yeng Keng Cafe (located next to the hotel). 

I have to say that I was impressed with the environment (wall color etc) although the furnitures were slightly older-feeling. Overall, I love being in the cafe as it gives that some kind of nostalgic feel. It's super old-school but in a good way. 

They are apparently famous for their Hainanese Chicken Chop so of course we had to order that, and some other typical Hainanese foods. We are not Hainanese people so our reviews are purely based on our hokkien tongue okay. Heh.

Hainanese Chicken Chop 

He says: Good. Classic.

She says: Huge portion - def can share between 2 people. I like the "kochabi" it has to a Hainanese chicken chop feel. I would order this again. 

Chicken Pie 

He says: Not so good. 

She says: I have tasted better chicken pie (usually homemade really best kind!)

Hailam Mee

He says: Okay-okay lah. 

She says: Tasted like the usual Hokkien Char (without beehoon) so yummy but nothing extraordinary. 

Inche Kabin 

He says: Ho chiak! 

She says: This is good although certain parts can be quite dry. 

Overall, I loved dining at Yeng Keng Cafe. I love the vibes in there, and definitely will be making another trip there when I crave for a good Chicken Chop. 

Till next makan, bye now.