Motherhood: The Most Gruelling Amazing Race Ever.

Blame it on celebrities who make motherhood looks so effortless. It's amazing how they are able to bounce back right after a pregnancy with superb amount of energy, a hot body to go with, and multi million dollar acting contract deals awaiting them. You see them bringing out their tots, decked in designer outfits, lazying on the beach and looking so amazing in a tiny bikini with hardly any post pregnancy signs. Are they just blessed with good genes or tonnes of money to spend to get them looking so yummy-licious?

In the less dreamy and real world of motherhood, I was dumbfounded by the reality of being a soon -to-be new mummy. Where is my pregnancy glow, my shiny locks, my hot mama look that I had expected and pictured way before my pregnancy? Guess all those are not as effortless as they seemed.

Sure I do not have tons to splash on weekly manicure and spas, makeup artist and stylish but I am damn sure I could look like a million bucks if I wanted to since I am fashionably vain to begin with and I could do  all that myself to achieve the glamorous look. But alas, I did not expect to suffer so much from all the symptoms that pregnancy brings and suddenly my chic form fitting dresses, high heels, shiny mane, manicured nails and perfect makeup are ALL replaced with flats, Au natural no makeup face, loose dresses, lackluster hair and plain nails. How could Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton managed to still look so well groomed and hot while preggers?

                                                                                                                             Mirror.co.uk

Below are some of the pregnancy symptoms which I suffered that hugely impacted my quality of life and zapped whatever else energy I have left, totally destroying any mood of trying to look great while pregnant: 

1) Severe nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum) from the start of week 5 right up till the 5th month of pregnancy. I vomited up to 20 times a day, sometimes nearly every hour till I ended up in the hospital for severe dehydration and have to be given drips. Nausea and vomiting only improved at the mid of the 5th month. I was nausea and vomit free for a month, only to have it all come back at the end of my 6th month. This had led to extreme tiredness. 

2) Increased exhaustion and tiredness as my body is working hard to nourish and support a growing baby inside me. Increased sleepiness which makes me sleep more than 10 hours sometimes and needing naps in mid afternoon or evening. Each naps could last up to 3 hours. 

3) Heart palpitations which makes me dizzy at some days where I feel as though I'm going to faint any moment. 

4) Expanding belly that swells up to accommodate growing baby can be uncomfortable and painful. Sore, painful and tender breast. 

5) Back aches and swollen ankles, couple with a belly that is becoming heavier - making it difficult and painful to walk for long period of time. An injured hamstring on my left leg from dancing well before my pregnancy also worsen the pain on most days. 

6) Painful leg cramps in the middle of the night causing me to scream in pain. 

7) Frequent peeing in the middle of the night, needing to wake up several times from my sleep. 

8) Contractions or Braxton Hicks which becomes stronger as I approach the final trimester. 

9) Baby kicking harder and more regular , causing me to lose sleep at night as I am awaken from all the hard kicking. 

10) No appetite for food, and indigestion of food making my body feel uncomfortable. Vomiting after eating too full when I didn't really had much to eat in the first place. Blood in vomit from over-vomiting, bleeding  nose and constipation that last for few days in a row. 

I really don't know how I made it through right up to the 7th month. I have 12 more weeks remaining till my baby arrives. Honestly, on one hand I really just want to get it over with as I have never been through something as tough as pregnancy before, and on the other hand I am afraid of the whole delivery process when the time draws nearer. 

I do not wish to hear another mother who have gone through this telling me it will all be worth it once the baby come and that you will completely forget it all once you held your beautiful baby in your arms. Which is exactly why I do not wish to forget any details of my pregnancy, since it's such a huge milestone. I often heard mothers reassuring me labor is nothing, and that they have forgotten the whole process. I want to be able to remember the whole pregnancy process and tell whoever who cares to ask about it. These would be the stories of my life. I wouldn't want to forget and tell the next mom -to- be that pregnancy was a breeze and judge her when she gets afraid. I want to be able to tell it like it is, which is why I document it all here in my blog. Hope some readers will find this informative and not scary or deterring them from trying to have a baby. 

For now, I am preparing myself mentally and physically for the impending labor and to face it positively. 

Lia Cafe, Jimbaran Bay, Bali Indonesia

Me and my newly pronounced husband spent our Honeymoon in Bali, Indonesia. Since our wedding burnt a hole in our pockets, an Europe trip was out of the question. So, we settled for the mystical island of Bali, Indonesia.

Here, I would strongly recommend Lia Cafe at Jimbaran Bay as one of the main highlight of our trip.

Getting a cab driver or tour personnel to drive you to Lia Cafe proves to be a tedious task. Many drivers would not take you here and insist that they do not know where this cafe is located. Even after you furnish them with the address, they would conveniently 'not know' where this place is. Instead, they would suggest to bring you to the many other seafood restaurant at Jimbaran Bay itself. Since this cafe is highly spoke of by fellow bloggers, I insisted the driver took us there. And when he arrived at Jimbaray Bay, he just dropped us off at the entrance of the beach and told us 'Good Luck' in looking for the restaurant. The find was proven fruitful as we didn't have much difficulty in locating the restaurant.

All you have to do is walk by the beach itself and locate the cafe with blue signage and blue table cloth.

Ideally, you should reach there by 6pm if you intend to catch the sunset. Otherwise, the night atmosphere is breathtaking too, with darkness lit up by romantic candles and the sound of crashing waves and cold sea breeze.

Many tourist are spotted in the neighbouring restaurants as the drivers get a commission cut to drive the tourist there. Lia cafe does not give a cut to the drivers and therefore they are able to provide you with fresh seafood, great taste at a very reasonable price compared to the other more famous restaurants. The prices in other restaurants are at least two to three times higher.

We ordered one crab, vegetables, fried calamari, big prawns, coconut and Bintang beer. The seafood was delicious, fresh, tasty and cheap. We had this satisfying meal for around RM 100. We must say, this is by far the best deal we had in Bali, Indonesia.

Address:

Lia Cafe

Jln Pemalisan Agung, Jimbaran Bay

Contact: 081 2390 7411

              081 2398 1408

Village Park Nasi Lemak

Village Park Nasi Lemak, has been THE much talked about nasi lemak in PJ. They are mostly famous for their Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken. For the uninitiated, Nasi Lemak which loosely translates as 'Oily Rice' in Malay, is arguably Malaysians' favourite breakfast meal. But, it is not laden with oil as the name suggest. The only reason it is called lemak is because the rice is cooked with santan and that means it is high in cholesterol from the coconut santan.

Come here any day of the week, and be prepared to wait at least half an hour for your plate of fragrant nasi lemak. I decided to hop on one Sunday evening at 4pm, believing it is an off peak hour. How wrong was I. Sure, the crowd was less jam packed as compared to mornings but there were long queue nonetheless.

Pictures of our PMs adorned the walls, showing one happy minister who loves his nasi lemak. Village Park Nasi Lemak was also presented with the Bloggers' Choice Award from Time Out Magazine as the winner for best nasi lemak category.

I ordered the nasi lemak ayam goreng (RM 6.50) and a glass of orange juice (RM 4.50). I waited for around 25 minutes before the nasi lemak arrived. The serving of sambal was stingy, and I asked for a top-up that took ages to come.

The rice had a strong santan smell and was delicious. The fried chicken was crispy on the outside, and tender inside. Sambal was not spicy but sweet instead. So this will depends on your preference for sweet sambal versus spicy sambal.

The orange juice was horrible. It is filled with three quarter water and ice. The taste was almost tasteless and certainly does not worth RM 4.50. This is probably one of the best nasi lemak you can get in PJ. Wouldn't say its the best though.

Address:

Village Park Nasi Lemak

No 5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama (Uptown),

47400 Petaling Jaya

Contact: 03-77107860

Millie Crepe cake @ Nadeje Patisserie

I had my first millie crepe cake at Food Foundry, Section 17, PJ. It really was something different and special. After the first taste, I was told by my friends that a much tastier version is available at Nadeje Patisserie, Melaka. All the way to Melaka for a slice of cake? How far would you go to have your cake and eat it?

I chance upon the opportunity to try out the Millie Crepe cake when I was down in Melaka for work one day. Haha, the only perks of having a travelling job...to hunt and taste the delicious food hidden around the region.

I ordered the original millie crepe cake and the green tea mille crepe. There are many other flavours of mille crepe cake at Nadeje, but I would say if you want to taste the freshness of the cake, you must try the original flavour.

I must say, the taste is fresher at Nadeje as compared to Food Foundry. The cream is fluffier, rich, sweet and texture is soft and fresh.



The Green tea millie crepe cake did not disappoint as well. The green tea had a slight bitter taste, but it was bitter in a good way. It was infused with the taste of green tea. However, I still prefer just the original millie crepe cake flavour as compared to the many other flavours.

The tea time would not be complete without the perfect cup of cappuccino...in this case, the illy cappuccino which has been brewed to perfection. Without adding sugar, you can expect a cup which is neither too sweet nor bitter. Top that up with bites of the millie crepe cake and you are in heaven!

A must try if you are in Melaka or heading South. They have two outlets in Melaka.

Address:

Nadeje S/B

G-23 & 25, Jalan PM4,

Plaza Mahkota, 75000 Melaka.

Contact: 06-2838750

Nadeje Cafe

Lot No. UB051, 052 & 053,

Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall,

Jalan Merdeka, 75000 Bandar Hilir

Melaka.

Contact: 06-2843469

Meng Kee Char Siew, Glenmarie

The famous Meng Kee Char Siew which originates from Jalan Alor, KL has a branch in Glenmarie, Shah Alam. The outlet in Glenmarie has slightly better ventilation and is cleaner. This char siew must be really good as it is listed under food interest in the Garmin GPS system. LOL. 

Upon arriving at lunchtime, the place is packed with people having their lunchtime treat of barbecued pork. It is normal to share table with other patrons if you want to get a chance to savour this famous char siew.

The char siew's skin looks shiny and it is barbecued to perfection. Crispy on the outside, and soft inside. Once it is savoured, the soft tender pork seems to melt in the mouth. I would definitely come back for more once my pork cravings hit me again!

Address:

20, Jalan Pekedai U1/36,

Hicom Glenmarie Industrial Park,

Glenmarie, Shah Alam.

Contact no: 019-3793629

New Boston Seafood, Klang

I have heard so much about this seafood place in Klang. After much buzz about their famous la-la (clam), me and my fiance made a trip down to Klang to savour the much talked about seafood. We arrived at 5.55pm and the shop was yet to open. So we decided to head over to the shop opposite for some ba kut teh, while keeping an eye on New Boston Seafood Restaurant.

The shop opened at 6pm. 10 minutes past 6pm, there were already people flooding the restaurant. We quickly gulped down our ba kut teh and head back to New Boston. News has it that the waiting time can go up to an hour if you arrive late.

The scene at New Boston at 6.20pm. Already there are about 20 tables waiting for their food. The girl in the picture above looks like she waited so long that her tummy start to rumble.

We were joined by our friend, Kenneth who recommended this place to us. After 40 minutes of wait, the first dish finally arrived. Stir fry yam mak vegetables with garlic.

Second dish: Mantis prawn with corn sauce. Another popular choice is mantis prawn fried with nestum.

The mantis prawn is super crunchy and had a sweet savoury taste of corn, garnished with curry leaves. 

Then, the siong tong la-la (steam clam in superior soup) came. It is garnished with fried garlic and the soup is infused with Chinese wine taste. The taste is quite strong and if you like the aroma of the wine, this is definitely good! The ginger also help to disperse the raw smell of the clams and adds a slightly spicy taste to the clam.

The final dish came, which is the fried Hokkien mee, a popular choice here. The Hokkien mee was so-so. Many famous Hokkien mee shops can easily top this.

The chef recommendation here are: Prawn mantis, la- la clams and Hokkien mee.

Arrive before 7pm if you don't want to end up waiting for an hour for your food. Overall, it was a very satisfying meal and this place really does cook great seafood. Definitely would drop by again the next time I crave seafood, in particular..the la-la clams.

The total bill came up to RM 52.50 which is really affordable for good seafood.

Good food at affordable price, two thumbs up!

Address:

Jalan Kapar Klang, (same row as Lembaga Tabung Haji). 

Opens at 6.00pm till 2.00am.  

Ba Kut Teh @ Restaurant Chow Kiat, Klang

I have always loved going to Klang. Because it brought many found memories about my road trips down to Klang for work. I used to travel down to different parts of Klang about 20 days in a month for my job. I used to dislike coming here as I felt the place was quite hectic and everytime my parents brought me there for an early meal of ba kut teh, I would drag myself half awake complaining about how far the place was. And I would always go home with a stomach ache as the ba kut teh was too oily for my stomach's liking.

Fast forward to the future, every time I come down here I would find an opportunity to eat ba kut teh with my friends if they happened to be around the area. Best of all, my stomach was no longer sensitive towards the oily ba kut teh.

Yesterday, I popped over to Restaurant Chow Kiat in Klang for another round of ba kut teh. It was served in a bowl instead of the claypot style. More authentic styles of ba kut teh in Klang does not come in claypot.

The pork was not very tender, and had a slight rubbery feel to it when chewed. Soup is oily and sticky. True Klang style. The soup is re-fillable but sometimes, they are quite stingy. They will either ignore your request and show a frowning face, or they will scope only half a bowl of soup for you. Many places in Klang practices this. I guess the logic is not to let you savour too much of the soup so that you won't have too much of it and will be back for more soon.

The bill came up to RM 12.00 for a bowl of ba kut teh for one person. It is really pricey and on the high side.

Address:

Restaurant Chow Kiat

Jalan Kapar Klang- Opposite Lembaga Tabung Haji.