Will My Daughter Look Up to Me For Life's Lessons?

I'm amazed to see women who always know what to do when it comes to taking care of their beauty, and believe me it's not easy, particularly when you don't have the skills to do it. Were they taught by their mothers, they learned from their peers or they just knew how to do it? How do they keep good skin? How do they do nice make up? How do they keep their legs nice and shaved all the time? 

When I was in college, I had a friend who always took an orange daily and her skin was flawless. There were also some friends who applied bedak sejuk every night, making you believe that you had seen ghosts in your lifetime. Some like to use strictly tissue to wipe their faces, no wet towel allowed. I don't have any tips, go with the flow but the results also have been very discouraging. 

I have no advice/tips on how to keep good skin or any other beauty advice to transfer the knowledge to my daughter; this worries me-lah. Should I combine all the tips that I know people do and tell her? Or I should let her figure it out herself? My daughter is so vain, I don't think she could take it if a zit pops up on her sweet little face. Haha! And she keeps asking me to drink a lot of plain water..to keep the dots (zits) away.

As a mother, I think my daughter will look up to me for life's advice. And I think mothers nowadays are lacking in domestic skills. If you disagree, you can do this simple test.

• List down the name of dishes that you cook really well. By really well I mean, at least 2 people have tasted it and gave great reviews.
• Do you know how to wash silk, linen, crepe, etc? 
• What are the secrets to keep your white shirts white?
• How to deal with ripped dress? 
• Do you know how to make rendang by your self without any help?
• How to keep your skin soft? 
• Do you know how to iron a work shirt?
• How to shave your legs and not having those after-shave itch?

If you know all the answers, you can tell me also because I don't think I'm skilled enough as a mother. I could imagine one day my daughter would call me to ask about something and I would be lost for words. Where could I learn all the tips and tricks? Read? Any titles that offer tips about life, recommend it to me okay.

I want my daughter to lean on me for answers on life's questions. Ma, how to do that? how to do this? But I figured as I'm approaching 4-0, there are many things that I still don't know myself. My late mother used to hand wash our gebor (blanket) white and crisp, I have my respect for her so much in that area. When she scrapped the pots and pans, everything turned out shiny like new. When I felt down a bike and hurt my knee, she made her own medicine using tumeric and cooking oil to ease the pain. She never brought me to hospitals/clinics when I felt sick, home remedies were always her choice.

Maybe I don't try my best yet or maybe my life right now doesn't need me to be domestically intelligent. Got to find more information, I've got to. 

Baby Blues

I'm turning 37, I have an adorable little girl and a happy marriage but this one question does not seem to exit my mind; do I want another baby? My husband and I have made the decision not to add another member to the family but I couldn't help but wonder, how would my other child looks like, how would we be with two kids, etc etc. I reckon, this  feeling would never leave me until I'm turning 50. 

How I hope I felt settled after the decision was made. It's not easy to deal with this decision. On the one hand, it's easy for us to have one kid, full attention, excellent commitment. On the other hand, we have so much to give but why do we settle for only one. It feels kind of selfish to only have one. Somehow, I can relate to my husband's worry. He doesn't want me to suffer another miscarriage and we are not that young to be taking care of a baby with our current job commitments. I also have my own worry, I couldn't stomach the idea of repeating the whole process of taking care of a baby all over again. Does this mean I'm done? Then, if I was done, why do I have this feeling like I am not settled? 

Perhaps this feeling is normal, every normal woman experiences it. Taking care of a baby is not a walk in the park, it's not all rosy. I don't think my kid is a difficult baby at all but I still went through that period where you have to guess what she wanted. I took everything in stride but I don't think it's something that I want to repeat. 

Looking at people who have a lot of kids, I couldn't help but wonder how do they do it? Do they give full attention to each and every kid or they just let things work out. I cheat my way through i.e. sending my laundry to the launderette,  buying dinner sometimes. How to deal with a family of five for example? I suppose my husband also have the same concern, he comes from a family of three, the parents and him. I on the other hand, come from a big family of 12 siblings. I think he's comfortable with only Tia, but me... why do i feel this way? 

At this point in time I'm gonna hold on tight to this quote "God will not give you something if you are not ready for it."... and i hope my feeling will settle sometimes soon. 

Burt's Bees Color Keeper: A Wasted Purchase!

One thing I learned from my purchase of Burt's Bees shampoo is, DO NOT completely trust a salesperson, no matter how reputable the brand is. At this time and age where information is readily available everywhere, it's so stupid not to do your own research. Two months ago I went into Burt's Bees shop in Sunway Pyramid and asked for a shampoo recommendation. My request was so simple, anybody could understand it. I wanted a shampoo for dandruff because recently I have a slight problem with my scalp and I wanted to get of the dandruff before it worsen. The salesperson, who was obviously gay, recommended me this shampoo. So far, gays are reliable when it comes to beauty products but I don't know what's wrong with this one! "Akak cuba yang ini, shampoo ini memang sesuai untuk kelemumur." I was skeptic because the shampoo is for colored hair. I wanted something for dandruff. "Tak kak... shampoo ni ada green tea memang akan menyelesaikan masalah rambut ada kelemumur" I didn't want to argue with a gay, most of the time they know better. Seriously! Maybe that guy was not gay.. and now I'm confused. When I reached home, I called the shop once again to confirm. "Ye kak, memang shampoo itu bagus untuk masalah dandruff" And, I was convinced and I broke the cap seals. 

After 4 times using it, I am now in regret mode. The shampoo stripped off the natural moist of the hair leaving my hair supersonic dry, I can't even comb it right. On the second try, I  put on more conditioner and the result was the same. The smell of the shampoo is really nice but it ruins my hair. This shampoo only created a mess of tangles. And more irritatingly, I found no information saying that this shampoo is good for dandruff. It was a totally useless purchase, both shampoo and conditioner cost me RM100++. 

Now, what I'm gonna do with this shampoo? Maybe I could clean my toilet using the shampoo but what about the conditioner.  To the gay who recommended me this shampoo: Do not sell your products just because you overstocked them, you might lose one customer or two over this stupid recommendation. I still remember your face and will not step into the shop when you are around, you b***h!

5 Things I Can't Live Without

I must have a cup of coffee to kick start my day. My choice is black Nescafe Classic. Some coffee lovers look down on instant coffee drinker like myself but in my defense.. there's no Starbucks around to get my cup of Caramel Macchiato!  (A cup of that now would be super awesome. Haha!) The truth is, I live and die for Nescafe classic.  I love my coffee just like I love my man. Dark is definitely my choice! :)

Who can say 'no' to cupcakes?? Definitely not me, lah. Every weekend I would beg my husband to stop by Wondermilk in Uptown for my dose of cupcakes. The best cupcake I've ever tasted is from Slice of Heaven. Awesome caramel creme on top. Aaaahhh... craving for it right now. 

It's so hard to find a lipstick to match my lips. I've found this Lip Glass by M.A.C, Viva Glam VI. Very subtle yet very gorgeous, I'm telling you. Definitely a must-have. I have two, one at home, one in my handbag. No other lipstick fulfills my need. Many have come after Viva but no one stays. This one is mine until I die. Hope M.A.C is not planning to shut down operation. 

This camera is so important in my life. I carry it around in my handbag at all times. My husband loves it too because we can snap photos anytime we like and the quality is closed to DSLR. My husband likes to do food reviews and the pictures turn out to look so succulent. I wouldn't trade this for anything though one day I might have enough money to buy a better one. Promise.

This blusher named Margin by M.A.C makes me look better everyday. The color is so natural, you feel energized when you apply it on your cheeks. I only keep this blusher in my make up bag and the rests I don't really care about. 


What are the 5 things you can't live without?

Ugly

Went to Johor last week and found this book, Beyond Ugly by Constance Briscoe. Read the first book entitled Ugly by the same author a few years back and it moved me. I felt compelled to pick the book though it's twice the price of any regular titles. The book is about a person who has to battle her own insecurities caused by her own family members particularly her mother. She's told that she's ugly since the day she could remember. Throughout her adulthood, she looked for ways to tackle her ugliness issue though she's never ugly to begin with. She went under the knife several times to 'correct' her flaws but the hardest thing to repair was the damage that's done to her inner self and strength. 

People are mean. When I was in school, I was told that my nostrils' shape was triangle and that I have a round nose. Everyday I would look in the mirror and tried to figure out how to make my nose sharper. We don't have any Caucasian genes in the family, how to get a nose that can open a bottle cap? My late mum told me I had too much bulu roma. It's kinda funny because she asked me a few times to shave the hair. I was lost for words but at the same time I wondered what would happen if I shaved it all clean. I was lucky to have a zitless teenager decade but when I entered my 20s, pimples decided to set up a village and staged a circus on my face. The thing which I couldn't comprehend is when people think I don't have my own mirror. If you don't like seeing pimples on my face, you think I do? Idiot. 

I'm lucky to have a very understanding man in my life. Since the day I met him, never once he highlights any of my flaws. Never at all. Not on the days that I have bloated tummy or on the days when my pimples wanted to play Burlesque. He would never say anything that would hurt me. When I asked him of my most outstanding feature, he said my cheekbones. I was surprised by the reply because all these while I thought it was my nose that's pretty obvious. Then I realized that my mom had those cheekbones too, which made her looked so pretty when she smiled. And my nose, he thinks that it is a cute one (don't puke please :P) We are entitled to feel good about ourselves and nobody is entitled to make us feel bad about our body. 

Lesson to learn -- If you don't have anything good to say, please don't say anything at all, you'll make the world a better place. Trust me. 

Do i need raisins in bulk?

I'm amazed by people who can remember things. Did they consume raisins in bulk when they were young or their mothers gave them different kind of milk? My ability in that area is weak. Sometimes I couldnt complete my sentence because some of my thoughts disappeared in the middle of me constructing that sentence. It's pretty wierd but since i dont work in broadcasting or anything that involves public speaking, it's not a big issue to me. It all started about 2-3 years ago, i found it hard to complete my own sentences. Writing is fine, oral is quite challenging. I don't think it's that serious now but since there's history of Alzheimer in my family, it's a bit worrying. What should i do to NOT get Alzheimer? I have a plan actually, physically and spiritually. First I have to make sure that I read a lot, write a lot, think a lot, basically exercising my brain cells. Then, I have to make sure that I consume food that's good for the brain like raisins, nuts, etc, avoiding fish heads (pretty hard), organs, and the rests of the food that destroys memory. Third, do i need to keep a diary like the wife in The Notebook? Hmmm... don't have time for that. Skip. Then, i have to make sure that I pray a lot and ask Allah for good health until my time's up. What else could I do eh? I have to admit that i'm a bit afraid to grow old because of this. I don't want my husband or tia to see my suffer from any diseases especially Alzheimer. Anybody has other tips to prevent Alzheimer? Share please.

My Face Needs Water, Lots of It

I always have problems with plants in my office and in my house. I forget to water them and they always ended up in the garbage bin. The same goes to my face and body except that I couldn't throw it away and buy a new one. If I could, I would. 

Drinking plain water is like a punishment to me, I want to escape every time. Bought water tumbler and nothing's changed. Bought bottled water and I finished a couple in a month. Why is it so difficult to drink water? It's supposed to be natural. The Chinese are taught at a very young age to drink a lot of plain water or plain tea. You can see them carrying around big water tumblers filled with tea or yellowish liquid. I dread drinking plain water. Therefore, look at my skin. 

So what's the solution? People have been telling me about this product from Korea. I think I'm gonna give it a shot. If you have been using it, share your experience with me. 

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