300,000 free seats from Air Asia

Quick log on to www.airasia.com to grab free seats to your favorite destinations as this award winning budget airline is offering 300,000 free seats for its domestic and international routes.

The booking period is from 29 January to 3rd February 2008 for traveling dates from 26 February - 15 May 2008.

If I were not pregnant, I would have grabbed some free seats to Macau and Siem Reap (Angkor wat) because I have been longing to visit these 2 places.
Click this link for free seat status to check which destinations still have the free seats: http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/page.jsp?reference=300kfs

Here are some tips to help you to get the free seats:

1. Sign up with Air Asia website to get newsletter to your email address. This is very important so that you get the news ahead of other people.
   
2. Log in to Airasia website a.s.a.p no delay whatsoever after you hear any news about free seat from any sources, especially from Air asia newsletter because usually, it comes a day earlier than the advertisement in the newspaper. So, if you log in right away, you'll gain 1 day ahead of anyone reading the newspaper.
3. If the website is very busy, try to log in during odd hours when people in Malaysia are asleep. You can ask a favor from your friend or family who lives in different time zone (like in UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand) to help you to get the ticket but don't forget to pay them back, ok?... ;D If you do live in time zone of GMT+1/2 or GMT+10/12, you'll get bigger chances to get the free seats.
4. Get ready with your passport and credit card details to speed up the process.
5. Keep on trying and don't give up easily. Try to modify your journey and be flexible if you can't get the destination you want to the nearest destination then continue your journey by land. For example, if you want to get KL-Yogyakarta route but there is no more free seat available, try to get KL-Solo route because from Solo to Yogyakarta it takes only an hour by car. Or if you want to go to Singapore but you can't get the free seat, try to opt for Johor, then take a taxi/train to Singapore. Or if you want to go to Jakarta but no more free seat available, you can try to get KL-Bandung first, then go to Jakarta by bus. It's only an hour journey.

Ok, that's all from me. Good luck, people!!

The apple of my ice

My 3 year old son came back from school telling me the story about what he did at school today. He told me that he has learned to play a computer game that had a hamster in it. So I asked him what happened with the hamster. He said, "The green hamster eats a green apple with the ice.", then I told him, "How can the hamster eat the green apple with the eyes? The eyes cannot bite and chew."
I saw him staring at me and said again, "No, mommy! The green hamster eats a green apple with the ice. The ice."
I still thought that he mentioned "the eyes" and insisted that the eyes cannot bite and chew the apple and explained to him that the hamster must have eaten the apple with the mouth.
I saw him thinking hard. I thought he was digesting the information I told him.
Then he said again, "Then there is ice on the apple."
I said to him, "Oh..there is some ice on the green apple. Does the ice melt on the apple?"
He said, "No! The hamster eats the green apple with the ice."
I thought he returned to his first statement and trying to convince me that the hamster can eat the apple with its eyes.
I saw him getting a bit frustrated when I still didn't get what he meant.
So he stood up and walked to the fridge and took out some ice cubes.
He returned to my side and showed me the ice cubes and said, "Mommy, this ice is on the green apple and the hamster eats the apple with the ice."
Then I understood what he was saying actually. "Oh..I see!!! I'm sorry! I thought you were saying the eyes...not the ice. I'm sorry for being so slow to understand you. Alright?"
I saw him smiling so widely. He knew I finally understood his sentence... :D
D'oh mommy is sooo slow...:D

Another time when I held my son's hand to cross the road, I told him to watch out for the cars as there were too many cars on the road.
Then he answered me like this, "but mommy, there are 3 cars on the road. Not 2 cars." Wha..ha..ha.. I burst into laughter.
Apparently, he has mistakenly understood the word 'too' in 'too many cars' with the word 'two (2)' because of the same pronunciation.

Food Poisoning

Last Saturday, I went to have breakfast with my husband at one of many hawker food joins in Ipoh. This was not my usual thing to do but because I have woken up so early in the morning and I felt a terrible hunger that would make me vomit if I didn't eat quickly, I begged my husband to take me with him.

I ordered a bowl of wan tan noodle and a piece of roti chanai for a quick and easy meal while my husband ordered a bowl of prawn noodle with 3 giant prawns in it. I didn't dare to order that one as it is not advisable for a pregnant woman to consume shelled fish during early pregnancy.

After I finished my food, I felt so bloated and wanted to vomit. I thought it was because I ate too much and I was sure that there must have been quite a generous amount of MSG in my food.
On the way back, I told my husband that I could feel the MSG and it made me sick. I felt dizzy and nausea.
My husband asked me to lay down. I laid down and closed my eyes for about an hour.

When I woke up, I felt a terrible feeling in my stomach. I went to toilet to pass bowel motion but instead of passing bowel motion, I vomited so much. Gosh! I felt so weak and dizzy. Once I could handle the nausea, I passed watery bowel motion. I freaked out! My food must have been contaminated with some bacteria or virus that made me suffering like that. I could not walk out of the toilet because I was shivering and so weak. I called my husband and asked him to carry me to the bed so that I could lay down and informed him what had happened.

I was so worried about my pregnancy and about the baby in the womb. Luckily, after about an hour of resting, I felt a lot better and was able to eat again. This time I made sure what I ate was clean and came out right away from the stove.

To make sure everything was fine, I went to see my Gynecologist on Monday to check on the womb. On the same day, I received a sad news from one of my pregnant friends that she just lost her baby due to typhoid. Oh no! It scared the living daylights of me! I panicked! I couldn't wait to get the result from my Gyne. I did the ultrasound scan again to make sure the baby's heart beat in normal rate and was not infected by any virus or bacteria. My Gyne told me that I had food poisoning last Saturday. He asked me to be careful when choosing my food and asked me to avoid hawker food as much as possible. The fetus looked alright and the heartbeat could still be seen. Oh thank you God!!

I promised my self to be extra careful with the food I eat and stop visiting hawker food joins for the time being. Nothing worries me more than loosing the precious gift due to my negligence and ignorance.

Oh by the way, my doctor informed me about the possible harmful effects of herbs, chinese drugs, native medicine, bottled extract of chicken, and alcohol, during pregnancy. I have also been advised not to take them throughout my pregnancy, delivery, and post natal period (confinement period). This is very important to remember especially during Chinese New Year feast that's coming in 2 weeks.

Another good news

This good news is for those who love travelling.

1. Malaysia Airlines has an online offer for Kuala Lumpur - Yogyakarta (Indonesia). It only costs RM99 one way or RM198 before any taxes and surcharges. This airlines also has many online offers to other destinations. Go check out the website at www.malaysiaairlines.com!
2. Air Asia now serves Kuala Lumpur - Yogyakarta route as well and the ticket price is very competitive.
   
3. Air Asia ticket price from Kuala Lumpur - Singapore starts at RM29.99 one way (I managed to get a free ticket when Air Asia gave away 30,000 seats to celebrate the liberation of KL-Singapore route...:D)
4. To fly cheap from Australia to Kuala Lumpur, you can fly with Air Asia X (Long distance Air Asia) or Jetstar. Air Asia X serves Brisbane (Gold Coast) - Kuala Lumpur route while Jetstar serves Sydney - Kuala Lumpur route.
   
5. You can now take train (KTMB) from Ipoh - Singapore vv directly. The journey will take about 8 hours. For more info, check out KTMB website at www.ktmb.com.my (use IE to open the website properly).

There you have it! It does not cost you a lot to fulfill your dream of touring the world when you know where to get a good bargain. I'll help you as much as I can... :)

Sharing a good news

Some people believe that informing a good news about your pregnancy before it reaches 13 weeks old to other people is a taboo because the first tri-semester of pregnancy is the most crucial time. The pregnancy may get a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) anytime because of many reasons such as chromosomal defect, imperfect brain development, drugs, cervical incompetence, ectopic pregnancy, or severe accident. According to my pregnancy guide book (New Zealand Pregnancy Book. This is a great book, by the way.), it is estimated that as many as 30% of pregnancies are lost, although many of these occur even before a woman is able to confirm pregnancy or in another word, before the woman know that she is pregnant.

Personally, to me, it is very very hard to conceal a pregnancy because getting pregnant is something wonderful that does not come easy to me.
For my first pregnancy, I had to wait for 5 years to get it, despite all the mocking and cursing I got. I even found out late about it because I was so sure all along that I could not get pregnant so easily. So, the moment I knew I got pregnant, I could not wait to tell the world about it. I knew I would feel extremely disappointed if it got aborted. I did not even dare to think about it; but thanks to God, everything went well and so smoothly.
My big belly suddenly became a public property. Every where I went, people stopped me and asked me how many months pregnant I was while touching my growing belly. From the youngest one at around 5 years old to the oldest one at around 90 years old, they honestly showed that they cared for me and that they too were very happy for me. These people didn't even care if I was only a stranger in the country.
It was the greatest adventure I have ever had so far. Really! Nothing could beat the happiness I felt for the whole duration of pregnancy. It was so wonderful to be the centre of attention and to get all the priorities in life so why would I hide it?

What happens if you are asked to do the X-ray? You've definitely got to inform about your pregnancy no matter how early it is.
It is also important to inform a GP that you are pregnant before the GP prescribes any medications to you.

When I found out I got pregnant for the second time, again, I found it hard to keep it a secret because this pregnancy is an answer to my prayer. I informed God that I am ready and my body is ready too to conceive my second child and God listened to me.
Just as my first pregnancy, I found out a bit late. But this time I could feel the same symptoms as the previous pregnancy so I've already suspected it.
And now, I'm telling the world about it because I want the world to be happy with me and pray for my pregnancy so that I will have the same smooth ride or better for the whole duration of pregnancy as the previous pregnancy until the day, I am able to give my 2nd child, the same greatest gift of love I've given to the big brother, my breast milk.

So, if you see that this blog is not updated too often, that is because I can not sit too long in front of computer. Just as the previous pregnancy, I always feel tired all the time so I need to have a lot of rest. Just say a little prayer for me and the baby inside my womb so that every thing will be alright. Thank you people!

First day at school

Yesterday was a very important day for both my son and me because yesterday was his first day at school. Though it's only a pre-school, both of us were overwhelmed by the fact that my son has just reached another important milestone in his life. I got more excited than any one else including my son. It doesn't sink in his brain yet that when he goes to school, his world is not just mommy, daddy, and his nanny. He needs to learn to interact with his new friends and his teachers. He needs to learn to be independent. It is important that he develops his social skill as well.

On Sunday, we went for shopping to buy more pants and cloths for my boy because he doesn't have his uniform yet. I prepared him as much as I could so that he wouldn't be too overwhelmed by the situation and the new things at school. I trained my son to sleep early at night and wake up very early in the morning because usually, he sleeps at midnight and would wake up at 10am. A week before his first day at school, I trained him to learn to sit down and feed himself. Normally, he wouldn't stand to sit down for more than 5 minutes and it took about at least an hour to feed him. He needs to be able to sit down and feed himself because I was afraid that my son would walk around while his friends enjoy their meal. My son is learning very slowly about this. I don't get much support from others who stay with us because every one wants to teach my son his/her own way and my son knows that there will always be someone that is willing to feed him. D'oh I am really frustrated about this but I can't be too hard on him or he will be frustrated too and he will refuse to eat.

So the 1st day at school came.

My husband and I couldn't sleep because we were afraid of waking up too late and I could feel that I was very nervous about my son's reaction on his first day at school. I heard from so many people that usually first day at school is a crying day because the kids will not want to be separated from the parents.
I tried to calm myself down and prepared my son to go to school. My son still didn't realize why he had to wake up and get ready so early that day. He thought we were going to church. He was very excited and got ready with no fuss at all.

When I saw him ready to go to school with his small water bottle on his shoulder and his small bag that he dragged here and there, I could not hide my emotion. Oh my boy has grown up so fast. Seems only yesterday I gave birth to him and now he is ready to go to school. I hugged him tightly and kissed him. If only I could paint, I would have painted this moment. I did take many photographs but I don't think the photos really show the emotion I experienced that day.

The first day at school was not only for my son but it was also for me and my husband. We were not too sure what to do the moment we arrived at my son's school.
As for my son, he got so excited to see so many kinds of educational toys around and no one seemed to say "No" to him when he played with all the toys. He jumped from one section to another taking different kinds of toy but one thing that attracted his attention so much was the computer set. He was so happy to see the computer he is very familiar with. He played with the computer and quickly forgot about his mommy and daddy. When every one saw him quite ok with the new situation, the teacher assured us that he would be fine. So, off we went. My son didn't even hear us saying good bye to him. He was so busy playing and discovering his new toys.

Then when we came back to pick him up again after school finished, he run very fast while screaming and crying so loudly the moment he saw us walking towards his classroom. From the teachers we found out that he cried for hours when he realized mommy and daddy were not around anymore. He hugged my husband so tightly and screaming that he didn't want to go back to school anymore. Oh poor my little boy! He got so trauma with the new situation.

For the whole day yesterday, I kept on talking and talking to him, trying to calm him down and convinced him that mommy would not leave him anymore.

Today, I was so afraid that my son refused to go to school at all, but he forgot about the incident yesterday. He woke up early and got ready quickly. He still thought that he was going to church (again)... :)
But then, when the car made a right turn to his school, his trauma came back. He screamed and cried so loudly that he did not want to go to school.
I hugged him and gave him assurance that mommy would always be with him. Mommy would not leave him alone this time.
So, I had to carry him out of the car and comforted him while walking down to his classroom. Then, the moment he saw the toys and the crayons and the computer, he wanted to go down and dragged me around the classroom. He showed me where he played and he showed me what the computer did.
Again, I was so overwhelmed. I could not hide my emotion but I didn't want him to see me crying because then he would think I was sad when in fact I cried because I felt very proud to be his mother. I could not believe I managed to help him to reach this milestone.

On the second day, slowly my son got used to the situation and the surrounding. I slowly retreated to the back of the school joining a group of parents who were waiting for their children.
When the classroom door was closed, I could hear so many children crying, including my son. He forced to open the door and stormed towards me with so much fear in his face. When he saw me, he hugged me tightly and said, "I want mommy! I want my mommy! I only want my mommy!"
I saw many other younger kids crying looking for their mommies. 1 teacher had to comfort 4 crying kids. Oh what a stressful situation!
I tried my best to comfort my son and assure him that I would never leave him alone. But it was not easy to gain his trust back. So, I had to sit down inside the classroom until his teacher took the children out for an outdoor activity.

Most children love the outdoor activity. They stopped crying at once and got busy playing with the sand. My son was so busy playing with the sand he completely forgot about me. For another 2 hours, for the first time, I saw him following his teacher's instruction and not even bother to look for mommy.
Then it was time to go back home, but my son did not want to go back home! After more talking and persuading from me, he said good bye to his teacher and promised to come back again tomorrow. Wow! I could not believe my ears...:D
For the whole day today, he was so proud that he did not cry anymore at school and I use this opportunity to lift up his spirit more so that he won't be afraid to go to school again tomorrow and hopefully, by next week, I don't have to stay at school anymore so that he can learn to be more independent.

Oh what a great experience as a parent!!


1st day at school. Still trying to explore the classroom and the surrounding.






Showing daddy the new toy.






That is my favorite thing, the computer!

Going green

If this is not your first visit to my blog, you should have noticed that I'm giving a facelift to my blog. This year, The Coffeeliqueur way is going green in support of any efforts to green the earth, especially the recycling project. This is the main reason of choosing green as the theme color of this year. Other reasons include a fresher appearance to my blog and also a soothing/calming mind for my readers after they visit my blog. This blog is a kind of mental therapy for me and for every one who reads this blog. Since I am a peaceful person, I hope not to post any controversial stories here. I want to keep the happy blog status just like what one of this blog visitor commented.

Enjoy your visit at The Coffeeliqueur way! I hope you become a regular visitor of this blog. Don't forget to leave your comment or just to say 'hi' when you visit this blog. Let me know if you link to me so that I can link to you back. Let's support the efforts to green the earth for us now and for our future generations!Oh by the way, this blog is not about a cup of coffee and liqueur or a cup of coffeeliqueur on the rock. There no alcohol involved whatsoever...so it's safe to read this blog together with the whole family... :)