Seoul, March 2018

Potentially, a long post. Realistically, I should be glad if I have the itinerary up here!

17032018 - Okay! 2 sections are up! Next are the very long winded travel stories and photos. Well, maybe, photos.
18032018 - Yay! Some 1/4 of the travel stories are up! We'll see how much progress I can make in time to come.

WHY KOREA?

Because I don't want to go Japan again. I wanted to go somewhere we haven't been but not too far away because the youngest is still too dependent on me for a lot of things and very long distance means I get very little sleep. Korea was chosen because it is near enough and there is enough info about it online (especially halal food). We have very little interest in K-pop though. Which means we cannot speak the language (all my Kpop loving friends seem to be able to speak the language). I can't even say excuse me and sorry in Korean - essential skills because my clumsy self keeps knocking into people.

GROUND PACKAGE

We are not the best planners. We tend to bumble around during our holidays.

To avoid that, we took up a ground package (we settle our own flight; they'll deal with the itinerary and stuff we need to do in the country we are visiting). This was a good idea on paper.

Unfortunately, the company and us are not on the same wavelength.   The ground package is for the first 4 days. We wanted just 2 or 3 days, more of a familiarisation exercise but they strongly encouraged us to take up a 5d4n package. (Fifth day, no more tours. We are supposed to check out of the hotel.)

The main problem with the company is the accommodation. They discouraged us from taking up our own Airbnb accommodation and said that their place is at a strategic location. Nope. It's near Anguk station which is not an interchange. A 10-minute walk from the station.

The room - for our family of 5, we get a family room. Sounds large and spacious. But the space is about 20-22 sqm with 2 queen-sized beds. For a family of 5, being constrained in such a tiny space can make one feel a wee bit stressed. No cupboards for me to unpack our luggage. Very little space to move around. When we go on a holiday, we want to relax and not be imprisoned so we got out of there the very next morning after we managed to score a pretty airbnb apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer, kitchenette et al.

Washer and dryer. When we go on a holiday, we never bring clothes for the entire duration of the holiday. Siao ah? Like that, for a winter holiday, I need to bring five 29" luggage, izit? Washer and dryer are necessities so that we can bring enough for just 2 or 3 days. The tour company told me that there was washing and drying facility available at the hotel. What I didn't know was that there was only that one washer and one dryer in the entire hotel. The hotel staff wash all their sheets and towels using that one washer and dryer. Like that, when do guests get to use the washer and dryer?

Anyway, enough ranting about that company. Will not recommend it to anyone but our guide who freelances with them was pretty good. If you want a 1-day familiarisation exercise with her, she can do that. Send me a message and I'll hook you up with her.

ITINERARY

Day 1

• Itaewon (but still too late for Friday prayers)
• Lunch: Eid (Itaewon)
• Insadong
• Dinner: Bought those onigiri rice triangles from 7-11 + heated up a pack of microwaveable rendang rice

Itaewon is where you can find Seoul Central Mosque. Naturally, where there is a mosque, there will be halal food. Yay!

Our first day being a Friday, we wanted to go to the mosque to do our Friday prayers there. Unfortunately, because our guide was a bit late picking us up from the airport, we got to the mosque after Friday prayers were over. Not such a big issue because we are musafir so we did our jamak takdim zuhur + asar after which we had our first halal Korean meal at  Eid.

The Seoul Central Mosque is on top of a hill. It's a very picturesque  area but getting to it requires a huge amount of legwork. Steep inclines et al. Maybe that's why we see lots of fit pioneer generation Koreans going on hiking expeditions.

After that, our guide took us to Insadong which is some 10 minutes from our 'hotel'.You can give Insadong a miss, really. Lots of pretty souvenirs but on the pricey side. Namdaemun has cheaper stuff. Maybe I was feeling the blues from the shock of seeing our hotel room but Insadong didn't do anything for me. There are 2 places there where you can have your halal meals though. One is an Indian restaurant and the other is a vegetarian restaurant. Our guide highly recommends the latter but it was already 6+pm and it was getting bitingly cold. I was anxious to get back to the 'hotel' to do laundry. Housewife issues.

Back in the hotel, I literally felt like crying. I was trying to unpack and could not find any space to unpack our luggage. The kids have so much homework and I plan for them to spend 1 hour every night doing homework. But where to do homework? No space! I went to the reception to ask for bath towels and toiletries. No, they only gave face towels and I have to buy the toiletries from them.

TheHusband started looking for airbnb apartment and found 1 in Itaewon. That heavy feeling in my heart went away and I slept well that night despite the springs I could feel poking my back.

(For the first day, we were supposed to go Insadong only but as the guide was late, the company added Namsan Tower (which we did the next day) and Itaewon.)


Day 2

• Got out of the hotel and moved to our new Airbnb apartment in Itaewon.
• Lunch: Muree (Itaewon)
• Namsan Tower
• Gyeongbokgung Palace
• Kim Sejong Museum
• Gwanghamun Square
• Chonggyecheon Stream
• Dinner: Self-prepared dinner

Our guide was very kind. She understood the problems her guests were facing and helped us move from our hotel to our new apartment.

Our new apartment requires us to climb 70 uneven steps to get to it but it is worth the climb. You suffer a bit for 2 minutes but the end result is amazing comfort and a place to call home for the next 3 nights. It is also less than 5 minutes away from the Seoul Central Mosque and therefore, all manners of halal restaurants! Yay!

After we dropped off our luggage at the apartment, we had an early lunch at Murree Musim Food. When we order any Korean food, it will come with some side dishes - seaweed, fishcakes, ikan bilis, kimchi. TheHusband feels that Murree has the yummiest side dishes. For me, I'm happy with the seaweed.

After lunch, we went back to the apartment as the host wanted to orientate us. We did our zuhur + asar in the apartment and then started our tour.

Gyeongbokgung Palace was an ig-worthy palace. But, I must state that I am not that much into photo taking so all these pretty places are a bit lost on me. Take note that most of the palace is refurbished. If you like photo taking, it's a good idea to dress up in a hanbok and take photos there. Very perfect location.

After that, we walked over to King Sejong museum. Learnt a bit about King Sejong and the things he did to improve the Korean way of life.

All these happened around Gwanghamun Square where there is always at least, one protest going on. Here, you have 5 people holding a placard and that's it, your life is finished. But, in Korea, the police will be there to maintain the piece as you go about doing your human rights stuff. An eye opener for us and especially the girls who are not used to such things.

Ended the day by walking over to another picture-worthy place - the Chonggyecheon Stream.


Day 3

• Petite France (Don't go also, never mind. I love The Little Prince but this place seems a a bit.. confused and a tourist trap. Actually, everything also tourist trap. But some are worthy of your money while others are, errrr... nope.)
• Nami Island
• Lunch: Asian Family Restaurant
• Musollah: Above Asian Family Restaurant
• Dinner: King Kebab @ Itaewon. Huge portions. Share your meal if you are a small eater.

Day 4

• Ihwa Mural Village
• Noryangin Market. Planned to have lunch there! Thank goodness our guide could speak Korean and knew what was happening. Tourist trap!
• Gwangjang market
• Lunch: At a stall at Gwangjang market. (Brought our own rice)
• Han River
• Dinner: Makan Restaurant (Itaewon)

Day 5

• Moved house (Bye bye, Robin's Nest!)
• Lunch: Busan Jib
• Myeongdong (Daiso!! OMG)
• Musollah: Kampungku
• Light dinner at Kampungku
• Street food at Myeongdong

Day 6

• Lotte World
• Lunch: Tuna Mayo onigiri rice cakes from 7-11
• Musollah: 3rd floor, Lotte World
• More Lotte World (but, really, Tokyo Disneyland has spoiled it for us. We cannot enjoy another theme park)
• Dinner: Yang Good. Masya Allah. 

Day 7

• Day started late because it was raining
• Namdaemun Market
• Lunch: Kampungku
• Musollah: Kampungku
• Dinner: Street food at Myeongdong (yes, again)

Day 8

• Lunch: Makan Restaurant
• Itaewon to catch solat jumaat
• Quick 1h stop at Namdaemun
• Airport (Don't buy anything at the airport. Make sure you've bought all your sovenirs from everywhere else! Default price at airport is in USD and multiplied manifolds! I thought I could get snacks as souvenirs from the airport but not at those prices!)

COST

(People often ask about this so this section should help.)

Flight: We took Cathay with a 3h transit at HK. For 2 adults + 3 children, it was around SGD2.4k. Had we taken SQ, it would have been SGD4k.

Food: Meals at restaurants cost about 10000 won per person. So each time we ate at a restaurant, it was about 40k - 50k won. (Our exchange rate was about 1000 won = SGD1.2. So, that's about SGD50-60 per meal. Ihsan eats very little so he does not get his own dish. At all the restaurants we go, a jug of water and cups are provided with every meal. So we never spent a single cent on drinks, except at Kampungku where I ordered teh tarik (and then couldn't sleep until 2am).

Airbnb: About SGD150/night.

Ground package for 9 - 13 March (inclusive of accommodation for the first 4 nights but we stayed one night because, like I said, NO!): RM5200 (On hindsight, don't need to spend this money. Save it to buy more seaweed snacks, face masks, socks etc.)

Lotte World ticket from Klook for 5: SGD154.93

Travel insurance: SGD70
-----

Weighty Issues

Those whose BMI are not in the normal range may roll their eyes at my post but the path to weight gain is the tiny bit of weight that comes, stays and never leaves.

November 2014, I went to KK and had my weight taken. I was 46kg. Given my height of about 154cm, that puts my BMI at 19.4. Really comfortable BMI.

Then, a few things happened:

1. Implanon (Possible side effect: weight gain)
2. Breastfeeding (Possible side effect: weight loss)
3. Ageing (possible side effect: low metabolism and therefore weight gain)

By the end of 2016, my breastfeeding career was coming to an end. My weight then was 48kg.

The end of 2016 also saw us moving house. Possible side effect: weight gain because I no longer had to walk for 40 minutes (20 minutes each way) in the hot midday sun to fetch the girls from school.

So these 4 factors - implanon, end of breastfeeding, ageing and moving house - have all conspired together to send my weight to a hefty 53kg. 52-point-something some days. 51-point-something once or twice a month. 53kg was the biggest number i saw in recent times.

My BMI is now 22.4. Just 0.6 more points and I'll be in the overweight category.

I know I must do something about this. Reducing food intake no longer has an effect.

I. MUST. EXERCISE.

I've always hated PE lessons in school. I don't like to perspire. I have coordination issues. Clumsy to the core. I don't have the stamina to run much further than 10m (honed by my propensity to procrastinate everything, ending up almost always having to run after the bus) . But I can brisk walk for 40 minutes in the hot midday sun (as evidenced by the pain of having to fetch the girls from school). I can also do some simple yoga stretching exercises. I used to be pretty good at inclined flexed arm hang.

My 40th birthday gift to myself is the gift of health. (I've written about this before, havent I? Sounds so familiar.)

I hope to be able to run the standard 2.4km distance without stopping. I've never done this before in my entire life. But my friend, A, whose fitness level was worse than mine and could barely pass the 2.4km run in JC, is now a fitness buff who is not only amazingly slim but also can run 10km without stopping. If she can do it, surely I can too.

But first, I have a bigger evil to fight. Procrastination.

Okay nehmind. We write our goals first. We cast it in stone. Then we do. Do, we shall. (Oi! Do it today ah. Not tomorrow!)

Not really terrible twos

Why do people say terrible twos?

I think the threes are worse! They are so demanding, cannot be distracted easily, stronger, louder, more stubborn..

Be patient, I tell myself. This, too, shall pass.

September 24 Updates

Oh hello blog!

I wonder how long blogspot will be up and running. Multiply died long ago and at the rate people are turning to social media, how long a life is left in sites like this? Hopefully, long enough for all the kids to go through all the entries.

Of course, all those old entries where promises were made ("I'll upload photos real soon!") will never see the promises kept. Heh.

Things around the house have been more or less the same. As "same" as it could be considering that the kids are growing (some rapidly, some slooooowly) and the adults are ageing (slowly and gracefully, we hope).

Alhamdulillah for everything that has happened to us. Good things, bad things, normal, everyday things. There's a lot to be grateful for.

Now, for the specifics.

1. H is moving towards PSLE year. I suddenly realise how close it is when this year's PSLE LC came and left. The next time there's an LC exam, it'll be H's turn. Gulp! I am most concerned about Science (ask me about it offline if you want to know) and oral exam.

She's not much of a talker and although she's more comfortable with English, it doesn't mean she wants to talk much. There's also Malay Oral. OMG. That is one big worry but I have faith in the Cikgu to help her as much as possible. I speak Malay most of the time these days especially when I want to scold the little people. And the girls speak Malay to the little boy. It's stilted, the way they speak but at least they are speaking Malay to at least one person in their lives.

2. Social Media Recluse. It's kind of strange the way I feel towards social media these days. I have dunno-how-many friends on fb and ig but I just want to read their posts and updates but I dont want to respond in any way. Why ah? Except for a handful of people. (I'm talking about you lah, mrs armf - you always see my name on your posts. And maybe 1 or 2 more persons.) I think this is a phase. It's strange. Weird. Becoming more introverted as I reach adulthood? Perhaps. Rewind a bit - reach adulthood eh? Mid life crisis lah ni.

3. I've been plagued by a series of small-scale illness lately. Alhamdulillah for them. All to destroy my mountains of sins. The girls have been most helpful when I need a rest due to a fever, headache etc. F can always be counted on to give the little boy a shower and H can put on his diapers and clothes. Next thing they need to learn is how to fry eggs. I can then go on a holiday with TheHusband sans kids! Woooohoooo!

Yeah right.

For now, they can be left on their own for up to 2h. This morning, TheHusband and I went marketing without them. TheHusband prepared their breakfast. Then, they were given tasks (vacuum the floor, make the beds, put things away, shower etc). After all these are done, they can watch TV (specific channels only). When we came back, they were watching TV and not quarreling over which TV channel to watch

Kids are strange. They quarrel and fight in our presence but when we are absent, they can live peacefully together.

(Yes. My kids - all 3 of them - quarrel and fight all the time. Allegiances form and reform on a regular basis.)

Stopping for now. Hoping to write more regularly.

July 17 Updates

Wah.

It's been 3 months since I last visited this place.

It's 7.30am in the morning. The Boy is still asleep. Yay!

So I'm here.

1. My heart issues - feels okay now. Alhamdulillah.

2. We had our first raya in the new house. As everything was still new, there's not much massive cleaning to do. And as long as I move towards minimalism, there will not be much of a headache every festive season.

3. We actually had an open house/housewarming. We have never had one. Not for the previous house, no parties on children's birthdays, just no.

We kept the guest list small-ish. Close relatives and friends who have not been to our house. But we didn't call it housewarming lest people come bearing gifts. (How to be minimalist when you have 3 tea sets?) So, just a random raya open house.

Alhamdulillah, everything went well. Catered food, of course. If I were to cook, everybody will get a plate of scrambled eggs. Or perhaps, everyone will have to make their own.

Things which could be improved - if we ever decide to do this again:
1. Spread out the location of the fruit and kuih2 raya.
2. Import more stools and chairs from my sister & parents' place. Hur hur.

The weather was also good. It wasn't raining and it wasn't too hot so some guests could enjoy the balcony.

Really bersyukur.

4. Good weather was important because.. just 2 days earlier, the ceiling leaked!

Horrors! There was a heavy thunderstorm. Suddenly Farah slipped on the way to her room. There was a strange puddle of water below a beam. Turns out, it was a leaky ceiling. Called the Town Council (residents of topmost floor - leaky ceiling, call Town Council, not HDB) and they sent someone to check immediately. The man said that the roof recently had reroofing works done which came with a 10-year warranty. He'd get the contractor to do the necessary checks. Just yesterday, I saw people climbing the ladder leading to the roof. Hopefully, no more leaks!

Boy is awake. Goodbye!

Stories of The Heart

My late mother-in-law told me once of how she occasionally got heart palpitations which was then followed by some bad news.

My heart has been doing some major exercises. It started a month or 2 ago. I dismissed it at first but became a bit more concerned when I felt some pain in the heart. It felt like the kind of pain you experience when you take in too much air while eating. Sitting up straight and taking deep breaths would help. But not that night. It lasted a few long minutes.

The doctor I visited ordered an ECG test and alhamdulillah, the results looked great. (Polyclinics - can get the test done on the same day) There was absolutely nothing wrong with my heart. The doctor suggested that I see a cardiologist just to be sure but I declined. Since the ECG looked good, surely there was nothing physically wrong with the heart.

The heart is now at it again. Perhaps I am developing anxiety attacks in this late, late age. But that is a better option than the palpitating heart being a harbinger of bad news.

-----

Somewhat related (because, in the remembrance of Allah, hearts find peace), I love verses 27-30 of Surah Al Fajr:

"Wahai jiwa yang tenang! Kembalilah kepada Tuhanmu dengan hati yang redha dan diredhaiNya. Maka masuklah ke dalam golongan hamba-hambaku. Dan masuklah ke dalam syurgaKu."

May we be among those who are mentioned here. Amin.

So Easy to Buy

Hello.

My name is Nad****.

I am a member of Ezbuy Prime.

____

Homaigoats.

It all started when we moved to our new place. I wanted to buy a bed for Ihsan but the beds that I like were the expensive ones from ibenma. I've heard of taobao but never got round to buying anything from there as I no understand how to read Chinese.

Then I heard of Ezbuy. Seasoned Taobao buyers are not fans of ezbuy.sg for many easons. I am a fan of it for one reason - English. (BUT, the English is only in the basic description of the item. Everything else is in Chinese. Google Translate is a very useful tool.)

After buying Ihsan's bed from it (cheap but I won't recommend it), I got lured into the whole seductive world of ezbuy. I've been an avid online shopper since my maternity leave days with Huda. I managed to rein it in after a few years, buying mostly necessities online instead of everything. Then came ezbuy...

Realising how cheap most stuff on taobao/ezbuy are, I paid a small fortune to become a prime member. The main benefit of being a prime member is that shipping from China to Singapore costs $2.99 per checkout. After piling my cart high with a dining table and 6 dining chairs, $2.99 is how much I need to pay to send the 7 pieces of furniture to Singapore. For home delivery, I topped up another $8. (For the record, I won't recommend that dining table either.)

In the early days of becoming a member, I went on full-crazy mode. I've learnt that big furniture was iffy but everything else was okay-go. I was adding so much stuff to my cart. Then, close my eyes, click purchase. Close my eyes some more, transfer money from my bank to the ezbuy account. Then twiddle my thumbs and wait for things to arrive.

With some 8 months left to my Prime membership, I have run out of things to buy (partly because of my minimalist measures). So, I asked family members if they had anything to buy. Oh yes, they did! But now, remorse has set in. I feel quite bad for being the enabler in other people's expenditure. They do need the stuff, I comforted myself. My parents wanted to buy those wrought iron flower pot racks for their corridor. About $15 for this is a good price to pay. https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000004247218.html Of course, we have no idea what the quality will be. The racks haven't arrived yet. They also bought this to hang over the parapet: https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000001863970.html

Then, my mother casually asked if ezbuy sells swing chairs. Of course they do! That was another motivation for moving house - to move to a place big enough for a swing chair. Unfortunately, I didn't get it in the end. (That's another story) Since I was so interested in a swing chair, I had spent long hours poring through ezbuy for one. They have plenty. My mother liked the first one I showed her. The price is less than half what you'd pay in Singapore. https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000000943469.html
My sister then decided to get the same thing. Long live my prime membership!

The rest of this post will be for recommended, tried and tested products that I've bought from ezbuy/taobao. I will add on to this list from time to time. It will stop on 9 January next year when my prime membership expires. Not too sure what to feel about that. Ha.

1. Magf**mers

A year or 2 ago, I bought M**formers from Amazon. A 30-piece set costs about USD30. That is a lot of money in SGD. I yearn for more but I could not get myself to spend that much money despite knowing that the toy can keep children occupied for more than just 2 minutes.

Here comes ezbuy.

A, errrrmm, exact replica of this toy is sold here: https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000004468686.html You can buy piece by piece or in a set. 30 squares, 40 triangles, 2000 pentagons. You name it, they'll sell it to you.

Needless to say, price is great. About 20 cents each for squares, triangles and circles. 40 cents or so for pentagons and hexagons.

Vibrant colours. So easy to put together. Can make 2D or 3D figures. Doesn't hurt when you step on them (I'm looking at you, Lego)

2. Sensor-operated dustbin

R2-D2 here lovingly opens up his lid when I put my hands above it. TheHusband likes his bins rectangular but I'm happy with this feller and his curves.

 It can be charged using a USB charger. I've only charged it twice since I received it sometime in December. (I got a prime trial membership first before embracing the year-long membership)

I cannot remember the exact price I paid. It was about $25 maybe? From https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000000172360.html


3. Rocking chair

Instead of a swing chair, I got myself a rocking chair. Main reason - I was afraid the swing chair would be too big and overwhelming in our tiny balcony.

This chair is comfortable. But it's always hogged by the kids in the daytime. They sit and read in this, often fighting over it.

Another reason for not getting the swing chair: I would need to move it into the house from the balcony when it rains. The swing chair would be too cumbersome to move about.

Got it for about $40 from https://ezbuy.sg/product/20000004291753.html

---That's it for today, 30 March. Will add more when I have more time.

Pressure Cooker

My lovely friends, D & J, presented us with an electric pressure cooker recently. Taiyo Pressure Cooker, PC66D. I have never used a pressure cooker before. My mother had a stove-top pressure cooker when I was a little girl. What I remember most about the pressure cooker was that the cleaning was #&*! Scum that collected on the sides was impossible to clean off!

Anyway. This pressure cooker is an *electric* pressure cooker which means that I don't have to remember to turn off the fire or figure out how much time I need to cook anything. Just press a button and (voila!) food will be cooked. 

Unfortunately, the instructions were not clear enough. 

The first time I cooked beef ribs, it turned out perfect! (Thankful for that because I was cooking it for guests.) Second time, chicken soup. It turned out like chicken soup but steam poured out of the lid continuously. Third time, semur daging, ie, some beef dish. Turned out too dry and steam was seen too. 

I sent an SOS to my friend who gave me the pressure cooker who in turn told me to go to Metro Causeway Point. There is a dedicated Taiyo counter manned by a Taiyo staff who can answer all my queries. She's there on weekends but avoid 4/5pm thereabouts because that's her break time.

3 things that I didn't do correctly were:

1. The seal position of the exhaust valve must be turned to the right. It doesn't matter if it feels loose. Just turn it to the right and leave it there. If you try to turn it further down, you can't. Unless you use extra force in which case you can turn it around and around forever. 

This is the seal position of the exhaust valve. The manual states that there is a sealing small icon but that's not true. There's no such icon. You can see the release/exhaust icon but no sealing icon.

2. Make sure the lid is in the locked position.

This is the locked position. 

3. You must cook it in one continuous process. You cannot set it at 15 minutes, then open the lid, add potatoes, set it to another 15 minutes, continue cooking. (I did that with my semur daging.) Nope. The Taiyo lady said that if I wanted to do that, I must cook it the traditional way, in a pot on the stove.

--------------------------

I hope this info I'm sharing will be useful for all noob cooks who are using the pressure cooker for the first time in their cooking lives. (Especially this one because when I googled for more info on this particular pressure cooker, nothing came up.) If the thought of cleaning the cooker puts you off buying one, fret no more. The inner nonstick pot of the pressure cooker makes cleaning a breeze. If you are as forgetful as I am, you no longer have to worry about burning the house down because you forgot to turn off the stove. (A real problem for me. A $2 kitchen timer has saved me many, many times. Turn the heat on, set the timer. When the timer beeps, you know that it is for something in the kitchen. Go to the kitchen and check for things that need to be turned off.)

--------------------------

Now, there is beef rendang in the pressure cooker. If it turns out nice, hooray! If not, I will share my fails here. :D

If successful, imagine how easy hari raya cooking will be when the rendang pot no longer hogs one of the burners on the stove! 

--------------------------

Beef rendang is cooked! Not as dry as the semur daging. Hooray! 

The Boy

Since the hives are keeping me awake (see previous post) and I need to keep my fingers busy so as not to scratch them, I shall update this blog on TheBoy.

TheBoy now is 2 years, 6 months old.

1.
Fully weaned off. Hooray for it but feeling somewhat nostalgic also. He has also stopped waking up at night for milk but still wakes up for other reasons - mostly to get me to sleep beside him. Which I do because I value peace and quiet in the middle of the night. Most nights, I start off sleeping in my own bed but sometime in the middle of the night, I find myself in TheBoy's bed.

2.
It's not that I want to toilet train him at this age. I'm not exactly the most diligent momma in this area. I avoid toilet training for as long as possible because I really, really, really am not a fan of most public toilets.

When showering him sometimes, he would squat down to pee. Each time, he commented, "Macam R--- Z---, kan?" Just like his cousin who is 9 months older than him. Back story: 2 weeks ago, he was showering in the toilet when his cousin needed to use the toilet urgently. (You don't deny a toddler his toilet.) So he saw his cousin pee and ever since that, he mentions his cousin whenever he pees.

The half-hearted toilet-training started. A couple of times, he peed in the toilet. (2 accidents so far though.) Yesterday, he pooped in the toilet too. Not having to clean buttocks smeared in squashed poop is really something.

However, we are not going to go full-on diaperless mode just yet. This toilet training is still in its infancy. I'm doing it for a few hours each day. When we go out, it will still be diapers.

 3.
TheBoy has been watching Sesame Street daily. Yup. The Big Bad TV. It started off as something to distract him before he goes to school each day. When his eyes are glued on the TV, I feed him an early lunch. Everything in the bowl disappears when he's watching Big Bird and friends. But the season ended and there was no more Sesame Street at 10.30am on Okto. Thank God for Youtube! On days when he goes to school, he watches it at 10.15am. On non-schooldays, viewing starts from 11.30am.

Has he learnt much from Sesame Street? I doubt so. He knows that my favourite character is Count. His is Elmo. I also found some old scenes involving Mr Johnson/Fat Blue with Grover the incompetent waiter. I love those scenes! I showed some of them to TheGirls who enjoyed it as much.

What I like most about Sesame Street is how real the characters are. I like that there is Oscar who's always grouchy. Telly, who's always anxious. I find him a touch annoying but if we want our children to be accepting of others, they have to know that these characters and feelings exist. I do not like shows in which everyone is happy and sunshine-y all the time. Like that purple dinosaur show. Yucks. I do have quite a bit of Oscar in me, actually.

Unfortunately, there are not many full episodes on youtube. Why? In fact, it's quite difficult looking for full episodes of sesame street on the internet. I will soon finish watching all the available good quality full episodes available on youtube. After that, what? Sigh.

4.
Hives on arms are less itchy now. The ones on thighs and calves still itch though. Hoping for some peppermint oil to numb the itch so that I can sleep now. Like Big Bird says, toodle-loo!

(Maybe that's a subliminal message to all little kids watching to go to the loo. Maybe that's why Ihsan's toilet training is seemingly effortless.)

Hives

Woke up at 1am in the morning, scratching like a monkey. It's the hives again. Little raised bumps, some red, some not. Some merge together to form bigger raised bumps. All itchy as &^$#!

Urgh.

I've been getting them for a few hours a day since mid December. Given up trying to rule out possible causes.

I've seen a doctor for it where I was given Cetrizine, a supposedly non-drowsy antihistamine. Nope. Not for me. I had it twice so far. On both occassions, I could barely get up the next morning. One of the mornings, TheHusband woke me up telling me it was 6.20. Nothing registered; I went back to sleep. (Cannot leh. I am housewife. Housewife must be awake to prepare household for a new day.) But the effect was good. Within an hour or so, the hives stopped . 

I have an allergy patch test coming up in May. Hopefully, that will reveal the exact cause of the hives. 

For now, I can only hope to stop myself from scratching the hives too much whenever they appear. Trimmed my fingernails short. Applied peppermint oil. But I still wake up the next morning with scratches here and there. Sigh.