The other day I was feeling bored out of my mind, I felt like screaming! It was 8-ish o'clock on a Saturday night - I want to go out! I want to do something. Anything!


But my husband was tied up with work so he told me to make a list of 50 things that I like to do instead. Bleurgh. I felt like screaming even more than before!


Writing a list of things was the last thing I wanted to do, but I did it anyway (when he was out of my sight) because... it's not like I know what else to do. And okay, it was actually quite fun. It seemed kind of hard to come up with such a long list at first but once I started writing, it just came out pouring.




The things you like to do don't necessarily need to be your hobbies; just little things that make you happy like a nice chat over the phone with your bestie, trying new recipes, watching your favorite TV shows, enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate with your partner at your favorite cafe, experimenting with makeup, sing along to your favorite song, etc etc.


So the next time you're feeling bored, list down the 50 things that you like to do. You'd be surprised to find so many things that you actually like to do and haven't been doing in awhile!

Labels: Random Stuff

There are two things I would bring when I go grocery shopping (besides my purse, that is).


My shopping list


And reusable shopping bags!



Well I don't usually bring all of them. I have four - I keep one at home, one in my bag and another two in the car. These stylish eco-chic bags are made from hard-working fabric that can hold up to 20-23kg each and big enough to hold the contents of 2-3 grocery plastic bags! And they are very very lightweight. They fold up small and hardly take place inside your bag!


Usually one or two reusable bags is enough for my grocery shopping, depending on the items I wanna buy (kalau ada bahan basah dan kering, I use two reusable bags to separate them).




This is me carrying a Flower Grey Baggu bag. I have about 20 grocery items in it and there's still some space to put more stuff. Isn't that awesome? I don't have to carry like 6 plastic bags because everything is in one bag!


I also have another Baggu Bag in Chevron Persimmon, and two Envirosax bags from the kids series: Marshmallow and Rusty. They are the cutest!




Nobody knows I have chilies, ikan bilis, daun kesum (or "daun kalsom" as my husband calls it), udang kering, onions, oats and whatnot inside that pretty bag, unless if they take a peek inside! But most importantly, I'm doing my part in saving the environment by using eco-friendly reusable bags. Did you know that the average family uses 1000 plastic bags every year? And how many families are there in Malaysia alone? Exactly. I'm sure you all know that plastic bags are not biodegradable, that it takes 1000 years to decompose just ONE plastic bag, and that they break down into tiny toxic pieces that pollute soil and water and harm the wildlife.


The thing I like the most about these reusable bags is that they are so practical, you can use them for just about anything, not just for groceries! They come in handy when you go traveling, especially with a baby or small kids because you can use these bags to stuff their things that don't fit in your luggage like toys, blankets, feeding accessories, etc.




Inside the pink Marshmallow Envirosax bag is an Avent sterilizer (yes I bring sterilizer when I travel!), 6 baby bottles and a small can of formula milk. I can't remember what I put inside the Chevron Persimmon Baggu bag tho, but they are all Ayra's stuff. The reusable bags can also be used to put your dirty laundry - no need to use the hotel's laundry (plastic) bags anymore!


These bags are available at TheLilCaliph.com and they have 3 types of eco-friendly reusable bags that comes in every color of the rainbow:



1) Baggu - Comes in 3 sizes (small: RM29, medium: RM36, big: RM49)





2) Envirosax: RM24.90 (limited US edition: RM29.90)





3) Flip And Tumble: RM36



Exclusive for ThePinkStilettos' readers: Get 15% discount and free shipping when you purchase above RM120 on any reusable bags from TheLilCaliph.com! Just enter promo code: PinkStilettos-15 at checkout.

Labels: Advertorials, Bags

Ever since Gossip Girl and Blair Waldorf, I have been secretly developing an interest for girly hair accessories especially hairbands. Bows, flowers, feathers, beads - they are all so pretty! I find myself drooling over them and wished I could keep a collection but never did because I figured it's better to spend the money on accessories that I actually wear, like necklaces or bracelets or rings. So usually I would pretend I didn't see them and just walked away. >_<


But today I went to a few shops, saw some pretty hair accessories and did what I've always wanted to do - I bought some without thinking much!




Satin flower hairband and chiffon flower hair clips from Forever21. Satin bow hairband from Accessorize.


Obviously they are not for me but if I can't wear them, my little girl can! She's not a baby anymore so she can start wearing those pretty hair accessories even though they're not for kids (except for Accessorize - they have really cute accessories for little girls which made me go crazy!). And surprisingly they fit her head just fine.




Now I have a reason to buy! :)

Labels: Fashion

It really irks me (even my husband) to read sentences that have been drastically short-formed until there are no vowels left in the sentence. Doesn't matter whether in emails, SMSes, blogs, whatever.


For example:

"Kt mn awk bl tu? Sy try cr tp x jmp"
(Kat mana awak beli tu? Saya try cari tapi tak jumpa)


Most of the time I won't bother reading the whole thing because the typer didn't bother to type the whole thing. One or two short-formed words in a sentence is okay. Or the common ones like "yg" (yang), "kpd" (kepada), "dgn" (dengan), etc. Tapi kalau sampai almost semua sekali nak short form, baik tak payah type langsung. Rimas nak baca!


Kalau "Assalamualaikum" panjang sangat, type Salam sudah...
Ni jadi Aslm la, aslmkm la, askum la. Entah apa-apa. Baik type "Hi" jer.

Labels: Random Stuff

No, not this bawang.








But this Bawang!



When I first came across this shampoo, I thought it was made of onions and thought to myself, so not only there's onion-smelling body odor, now there's actually a shampoo that makes the hair smelling like onions too! Eeek! Who would want to put onions on their hair anyway?


But I was curious. I took one of the boxes and read the labels and found out that the shampoo is actually made of traditional Chinese herbs to treat hair loss problem. No onions. I guess the Bawang name is a Chinese word or something.


I decided to give it a try (after the 3rd visit) since my TBS Ginger shampoo was about to finish. Can't tell much since I've only used it twice (you could see the result after two weeks). As for the scent, it's not in the "wangi" category, but it's not so bad either. It smells like ginseng, which I am okay with as I was used to drink ginseng before. But to some people (like my husband), the smell may be a bit weird.


Would love to hear your reviews if you or anyone you know have tried this shampoo.

Labels: Beauty/Skincare

This is us, wearing our new white short sleeve cardigans which I bought quite recently.








At first I thought, "Looks like Ayra is not going to wear her bag today" because she only has two pink bags. But the moment I put on her dress, she went inside my closet where I keep all my bags and took out that black Axxezz bag (it's actually my evening bag - I forgot I have it) which was buried underneath my bigger bags. I don't know if it was just a coincident that the bag she chose matches her outfit, but I was impressed. The bag is small enough for her to carry so I thought, oh well why not!

Labels: Fashion

And after a hard day's work...

Labels: Mommyhood and Baby

I gotta admit, shopping for Ayra's clothes and shoes is so much fun than shopping for my stuff - in-store or online. It's so easy to find something that caught my eye because everything is so cute and girly (and most of the time pink). Masuk satu kedai (or website) pon cukup la, rasa macam semua benda nak beli.


There's that pretty printed dresses and cute little shoes and that pink floral top and gorgeous dungarees and those cute embroidered jeans. Even the socks are adorable! It's so hard to resist.


These shoes from Target are too cute.




And so are the dresses. The prices are great too. I mean of course, it's Target.
But who cares? I want!




They don't ship internationally tho. Bah!

Labels: Fashion, Sales and Shopping

The only reading I do these days is online (no, not eBooks) - besides reading children books to my little girl. I'd be lucky if I can get 5 minutes to read my book without her jumping around, trying to snatch it from me. The only suitable time for me to read is at night when she's asleep... but there was a problem: it's dark. (I like to read books in my bed because that's the only way I can totally immerse myself).


So that is why I opt to "read" online instead. The laptop is well-lit, there's no problem reading in the dark.


But oh how I missed reading books. I used to lock myself in my room and spent a lot of time curling up in my bed with my nose stuck in a book (sometimes with a bag of chocolate chip cookies). I can spend hours just doing that, oblivious to my surroundings. Sometimes I would read the same books over and over and over again, until I had the chance to go to the bookstore to stock up some new books. I didn't have a problem finishing a book in just one day then (if it's a really good book. And then I would go like, "alaa dah habis!").


Now it seems like it would take ages to finish reading just one book. But I thought, hey at least I read! So I picked up some books at Times the other day (3 books for Ayra, only 1 for me). I wanted to make it a habit to read at least 2-3 pages a day. Can you believe I haven't done any book-readings for months? Anyway I decided to start on something light and chick-lit, and found one. It was a book that a blog reader of mine recommended to me awhile ago (thank Rachel!).




The "darkness" problem was still an issue... but not for long! My sweet husband bought this Energizer reading light for me because he knows how much I love reading. It looks pretty much like a street light, no? A cute flexible street light.





It's a white LED light and it's bright enough for me. Now I can read in the dark while my baby's asleep!

Labels: Books

I was actually dreading to announce my second pregnancy. No particular reason; I wanted to wait until I was really showing and go like, "Hey everyone, surprise, I'm pregnant!" and show a picture of my baby bump. It was my sister's idea actually. But I don't want people to think I'm just really fat instead of pregnant! ;p

Another reason is because I wasn't really sure if I was 100% pregnant because I don't have any pregnancy sickness. When I first found out I was pregnant (which was in my 4th week or so), I was worried whether I would be able to handle myself and a toddler and everything. Last time during my 1st pregnancy, I started to get pregnancy sickness at week 8 and it lasted until around week 14, and I could barely do anything. I was worried the same thing would happen again - mabuk, muntah-muntah, etc - because now I have a toddler to take care of. I mean, how can you take care of a kid when you yourself are feeling sick, right?

So week 8 came, but nothing happened. Then came week 10. Then week 12. Still nothing.

Labels: Pregnancy

I never cooked anything for breakfast before. My husband and I have Herbalife shake (almost) every morning and it makes my life easier as I don't have to wake up extra early just to prepare breakfast because it only takes 2 minutes to make the shakes.


But last night I realized we were running out of Herbalife Formula 1 (only a few scoops left), so I decided to spoil ourselves and make crepes for breakfast instead. So this morning despite having a little headache, I woke up extra early and went to the kitchen. I had a slice of wholemeal bread before I started cooking even though I was really starving (and wanted more), but I wanted the crepes to be ready before my husband wakes up.


Everything was okay until I started to prepare the fillings for the crepes. I just used a blender to whip the cream because using a cake mixer is so much of a hassle (I was in a hurry, remember?) and then all of a sudden my head was spinning, I was shaking, my vision was a blurry and I was too weak, I could pass out anytime. I stopped and quickly lie down on my bed. 5 minutes later, I went back to the kitchen to continue whipping the cream but I was still so dizzy and weak. I had to stop every once in a while and lie down that the whole process of crepe-making took almost 2 hours! I bet it was because of my empty stomach because this has never happened before.


Anyways, here's a basic crepe recipe I found on the internet. Don't worry, it's really easy and won't take 2 hours to make!




120g flour (sifted)
240ml milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
A pinch of salt
Vegetable oil


In a large bowl, mix the salt and the flour. Make a well (atau dalam BM, buat perigi. LOL) and pour the eggs, like this.




Give it a good stir. While stirring, slowly pour in the milk. Then add the melted butter and stir again. The batter should be thin and slightly runny.


Heat the frying pan. Using a paper towel, wipe the pan evenly with vegetable oil.
Pour in the batter using a small ladle and quickly move the pan around so that it covers the whole surface evenly. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, then flip on the other side and cook for another minute. I managed to get 6 1/2 crepes by the way, just enough to feed 2 1/2 people (the half is Ayra, in case you're wondering)!


The fillings for the crepe can be anything! Sweet or savory. You can eat it with your favorite jam, honey, maple syrup, chocolate spread, cream, slices of banana, kiwi, peaches, strawberries, topped with icing sugar, nuts, ice-cream, whipped cream, whatever your heart desires. The sky is the limit.


I made Chocolate Banana crepe for breakfast today. Just spread some Nutella, susun slices of bananas in the middle, fold the crepe, and add a scoop of ice-cream on top if you want.






And serve. Yum!

Labels: Food and Recipes

Ladies (in hijabs), how many times have you excitedly walked into a fashion boutique or browsed a shopping website only to find yourself sighing in disappointment, "I wish this top is a long sleeve"?


I have. Many many many times, that sometimes I just feel like coming up with my own line of clothing with everything long sleeve! Now I don't really fancy the idea of wearing a long sleeve t-shirt underneath a short sleeve/sleeveless top because a) it would make my already-big-arms look even bigger, and b) I find it very uncomfortable and leceh to wear two layers of clothes especially in our hot climate. Jackets or cardigans are fine, but not everything goes well with them.


These are some of my online findings from Forever 21 that I wish were long sleeves.





Wouldn't it be great if there's sleeve length option as well? You know, like how there are long, regular and petite length options for pants and jeans.


Imagine saying to the sales assistant, "I'd like to have this in long sleeves please!".

Labels: Fashion

There's a reason why I have been pretty slow with blog updates these past couple of months.






I blame the hormones.

Labels: Pregnancy

During my confinement period, my mom used to cook veggie soup and steamed pomfret with lots of ginger and black pepper, served with rice and pickled ginger for me. Unlike most people, I didn't get tired of it at all even tho I had to eat the same menu twice a day for 40 days! Imagine hari-hari makan berselera giler masa dalam pantang. It was so delicious (I am a big fan of fish) that I remember looking forward for my lunch and dinner every day.


Then recently, I find myself craving for the same steamed pomfret and decided to make one for lunch (and dinner). I got this recipe from my mom but I added some mushroom and cili padi. It's so easy to make - just rub and sprinkle everything! And not to mention, healthy too.



1 white pomfret (bawal putih)
3 slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
Black pepper
Cili padi
Oyster sauce
Light soy sauce
Carrots, shredded
Button mushroom, chopped (I use the brown ones)
A little bit of water


Clean the fish and make two diagonal cuts on each side.


Rub oyster sauce all over the fish. As for the ginger and garlic, you can either shred them finely and sprinkle on both sides of the fish (as per picture above), or you can mashed them and rub them all over the fish. I prefer the latter one tho because the flavors seemed to sink into the fish.


Then sprinkle the black pepper, cili padi, shredded carrots and button mushroom on both sides of the fish. Pour light soy sauce and some water (just a little).


Steam the fish for about 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately!


p/s: Ok, I have a confession. Saya tak reti siang ikan (I ask the man from the supermarket to do it for me)!

Labels: Food and Recipes

Remember Ayra's 1st birthday party last December?





Since it was the first time we were hosting a party (and since it was kinda last minute), we decided to celebrate it at MegaKidz Mid Valley bcoz it's a children playland where all kids would love to play and they have birthday party packages as well. Senang, tak payah susah-susah pikir!




MegaKidz is located on the 3rd floor of Mid Valley Megamall and it is pretty huge! They have the largest U.S interactive Aviation Play System in Asia that your kids will never get tired of (in fact, dorang tak nak balik kot once dah start main), and also other fun stuff like air bouncer and kiddy ride-on corner. The normal rates per entry on weekdays is RM19, and RM25 on weekends and public holidays.







There's also mascot appearance! I think this mascot is a cross between Barney and Dibo the Gift Dragon. The kids love it (altho Ayra was a little bit shy at first)!




If that's not enough, you can even add more fun and excitement to your party by choosing other options like having a magical clown, puppet show, magician, face painter, balloon sculptor, etc at additional cost.


Kids can still continue playing at the playland (kalau still tak puas) after the 2-hour party sampai MegaKidz tutup!


If you're interested to plan for your kid's birthday at MegaKidz or need more information, you can contact them at 03-22829300 or email at marketing@megakidz.com.my.

Labels: Advertorials, Events/Activities