Living in the crowded city of Kuala Lumpur, we sometimes find it difficult to set some time to go on a vacation. The reality is, we can’t a afford to set aside 1-2 weeks of vacation every 2-3 months HAHA. So, what do we do?

Staycation.

1-2 (or 3) nights anywhere in Malaysia. In fact, we have even simply stayed within Kuala Lumpur and simply enjoyed the nearby attractions. Last December we went to Avani Resort Sepang.

Recently however, we went to Lost World of Tambun, Ipoh, Perak. It was my previous company’s event, and a great opportunity to bring the kids out for some fun. We stalked the website, and our initial expectation was that there were many different parks there.

Ipoh is the capital city of Perak. It’s not as big and as busy as KL but it’s still vibrant with activities and culture. This would be our first time having these kind of staycation as opposed to our usual beach destinations. It’s always either beach or big cities for us.

They had several parks such as water park, petting zoo, amusement park, adventure park and few others.

However, once we got there, it turns out that all of these parks are integrated into one, including the hot springs and spa. I thought it’s such a wonderful idea, because that means, there’s always something for everyone!

Sara riding a donkey at the Petting Zoo.

Recently I made, what I believe, is a responsible choice to try out cloth diapering. I’ve been wanting to cloth diaper even while I was still pregnant, but the thought of doing laundry, and, all this information are.. overwhelming. Flats? prefolds? Pockets, AIO, AI2. (WHAT?) Then, there are inserts, hemp, microfiber, bamboo, stay dri, natural, organic.. ARGH!!!

The first switch I made was switching to cloth nursing pads. Previously I was using disposables nursing pads and they are so expensive! It’s about RM30/week. So, my husband suggested the washable ones and I cringed everytime he suggested it, thinking about the extra laundry + overwhelming new baby. Then, I found a good deal, 8 pairs for RM32, I didn’t think twice and grabbed them. It turned out to be extremely comfortable (no wonder I was so cranky before, my breasts were uncomfortable! haha) and the laundry wasn’t that much at all!

Now, fast foward. When Sara was barely 5 months, I got brave and bought some pocket CDs (that’s cloth diapers) from Teddy Genius. Since they were on clearence, no harm.

My logic: I can do washable nursing pads. That means I can do CD, too.

I initially got three. And now I’ve increased my stash to, to, well, a few of various brands. Now, I’ve been CD-ing (let’s keep up with the lingo, folks!) for a month and I have to say that it’s a wonderful experience, I enjoy it and I’m definitely ready to CD full time.

There are four reasons why I PERSONALLY  love cloth diapering; cost efficient, environment, comfort and health.

1. ENVIRONMENT

I am, by no means a hardcore green person. I do try when I can, to recycle. (I don’t know if Malaysia has pickup services for recyclables). However, the amount of disposables we’re throwing away is crazy! During Sara’s first 3 months of life, we have thrown away about 1000 disposable diapers into the landfill. That is an awful lot of diapers, it’s INSANE! Now, imagine that average babies are on diapers for 2.5 to 3 years. That’s almost 8,000 diapers for just ONE baby!

To give you the visual, it’s probably equivalent to a full rack at the store.

According to Real Diaper Association, it takes approximately 250-300 years for a diaper to decompose! Whoaaaa

When you think about the mountains of landfill, it’s kinda irresponsible of us humans to do that to our own environment for the sake of “convenience” of taking care of our offsprings. Don’t you think? There are people who genuinely believe human shouldn’t procreate for environment’s sake.

Sure, disposables come in handy during overseas trip and such, but on day-to-day basis, it makes sense to use cloth. Here’s some light on our landfill situation. Now that my perspective has changed, I will consider switching to cloth pads too, once I get my period back. 

Last Sunday, I attended Skytrex with Bloggers event organized by Salam Media. Skytrex is a forest challenge where you have to complete a series of challenges high above the ground. So, since all participants are adults, Salam Media opted for the most challenging one, consisting of 34 challenges and up to 22mtrs high.

We arrived at Taman Bukit Cerakah at 1.45pm. It was a beautiful sunny day, clear sky, Alhamdulillah. After waiting for everyone, we took a bus to get to the skytrex. There is a shuttle bus exclusively for skytrex. Azlan, the person in charge for Skytrex brought us there. After going to the loo, signed the release form, and get everything else sorted out, we went ahead to get our harnesses on.

There were several staffs there to help everyone get  into their harnesses. I really appreciate that they paid careful attention and ensuring that everybody’s harnesses are worn correctly and secure. Next, it was the safety briefing. We weren’t allowed to do anything else except paying attention, as when you are 22mtrs high, safety is indeed, number one priority.

Mini course to practice before the real deal.

*Warning: Lots of photos ahead*

This year’s Eid-ul-Fitr was a new one for me. A new celebration. Typically, my family and I would drive 8 hours long to my grandma’s in Kelantan. However this year, I am not following my family. Instead, I celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with my husband, Eddie, just the two of us, in Shah Alam.

Last year, we celebrated Eid 3956 miles away from each other. I was in Melbourne, my family was in Mekka, while my husband was in Penang at his grandparents’. This year, Alhamdulillah, I get to celebrate Eid with my husband. We didn’t follow my family because I couldn’t stand being on the road without puking and the flight tickets were sold out.

The eve of Raya, Eddie treated me to a nice last iftar at Chilli’s, Paradigm Mall. Thanks hun, it was really nice.