When In Mexico : Birthday Piñata!

 Previously, I was not really fond of celebrating birthdays for my kids.. usually it was just a small family event with a cake and a birthday song. However, living in Mexico changes the way I look at birthdays!  Every birthday MUST have a piñata, it is as compulsory as the cake and the birthday person. Luckily the price is not too expensive, a decent one cost about RM10-RM100 depending on the size and shape. Once I even thought to open my own piñata shop when I am back in Malaysia.. 

Adni's 4th birthday in 2018

Adni's birthday in 2019

Alea's birthday in 2020

When In Mexico : Typical school days routine

[Nov 2019, Polanco]

My typical morning routine consist of waking up for my morning prayer, heating the kettle and preparing lunchboxes for my kids. Although the kindergarten provides food for my kid, she did not fancy Mexican food and too shy to try new things.. so while preparing for her older sister, I prepared hers too. Usually a lunch box consist of fruits, biscuits/small choc bar and main dish - either pasta, rice or nasi himpit. Then the older kid is ready, and I escorted her downstairs to the lobby so the school transport will send her to school. Well, since the winter is coming, chill breeze greets us when we get outside so best to get ready with that jumper or sweater.

Then I wake the smaller kids, gently cause the last thing you want in a busy school day routine is a kid's tantrum! Many times especially when daddy is not around, I need to prepare the breakfast with a small toddler hugging my knee..or some days I laid her blanket on the kitchen floor so she can just watch me preparing the food.It is so cold outside, around 12 deg C hence the kids usually did not have a morning bath.. just a brief wash of the face and body and brushing the teeth.. that's it. The kindergarten usual uniform is the school shirt and pants, but my kid always hate them.. she usually looked forward for Friday, which is a non uniform day so she can wear her favorite princess dress. Then, only I get dressed to send them off to school.

In front of our house foyer 

Previously I took the Spanish class which was held 3 times per week, I was on my third semester already (Basico Tres).. when it was the Spanish class day, I would walk for 20 minutes from the kindergarten at Calle Julio Verne 18 to the language center. I went to the CEPE (Center of Foreign Students) which is a part of a renowned university of Mexico, the UNAM. It is actually a small center on Calle Hipolito Taine where the foreigners enrolled for variety of Spanish classes including the general ones, spoken Spanish classes, and even cooking classes in Spanish. Usually per semester we will have about 15 classmates from all over countries, mostly ladies who followed their husbands to Mexico for work. The language center is also near a shopping mall, Liverpool hence it is a plus point for me, yeay! Each class usually took about 2.5 hours, then I will rush home for a quick lunch and prayer before I fetch the kids from school at 3pm.

Jacarandas during spring on the park

During the days when I do not have any classes, I will go back home with the school transport or walk back when I feel like I need a break and enjoy the fresh morning air. It was a lovely walk through the Lincoln Park, then the lines of cafes, fancily called Polanquito (small Polanco) before I reach the Avenida Masaryk. Sometimes I got my coffee fix from one of the cafes- usually Joselo or Starbucks or NY Coffee (my, their cappuccino is the bomb!)..and someeetimes a sweet treat from a small artisan panaderia, Da Silva and walk through the parks, row of expensive houses or the tiny shops until we reach home. Once or twice a week I would stop by at Soriana Supermarket to get my grocery needs. I really love the supermarket as it is very near to my house and it opens 24 hours daily
! Also most of supermarkets here has their own in house bakery hence I'd like to get the freshest bread or doughnuts in the morning for my quick breakfast...but if I have free time I would search for the best panaderia (bakery) for the best breads or croissant in town!

Antara shopping mall always have pretty decorations

The kids come home from school at around 3pm, usually I finished all the house chores and food preparation before that. After the kids come home, it is either free play, visit to the playground or the tiny park downstairs or swimming class, or piano class for them. There are many teachers that offer classes at the comfort of our own home hence it is perfect for a family with small kids like ours. We were lucky to have an English speaking piano teacher, Hector who is great at teaching beginners and small kids, and we also adore Julio, the swimming teacher that does not speak English but we do communicate well with my broken Spanish haha.

My kid and her piano teacher

Then the kids washed, had dinner while waiting for daddy to come home from work and share their daily activities. Every Friday night, we go to the Malaysian Embassy for religious classes and Malaysian class.. this is actually a weekly activity for Malaysians to meet ups with scrumptious Malaysian themed potluck! My mouth watered already by thinking of the heavenly food cooked by the embassy ladies...

Going places : Quick tour of central Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX)

 Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX) means capital of Mexico.. a very colorful city which always being misunderstood by outsiders. Thanks to its high altitude, the weather is always cool and chilly all year long. You may notice the changes of four seasons but never too extremely hot or cold.. it is just nice and perfect for a daily stroll or bicycle ride. If you are a first timer, this is a list of must go places in central CDMX:

                                                    Aquario Inbursa - similar to Aquaria 

1) Polanco : Avenida Masaryk, Lincoln Park, Museo Sumayya, Aquario Bursa

Stroll around the posh Avenida Masaryk street lined with designer boutiques and artesanal stuff. Have a coffee or visit the morning market (every Saturdays) at Lincoln park. Walk a bit to check out the Antara shopping mall (it has a public play ground infront of Hamleys), Museo Sumayya and Museo Jumex. Bring your kids to enjoy the fish at Aquario Bursa.

2) Chapultepec : Park, Zoologico, Chapultepec Castle

Check out the huge Chapultepec Park for a picnic, a jog or even a boat ride. There is a train inside the park for you to enjoy the scenery and a merry go round to entertain the kids. A lot of local merchandise and food are sold here. Don't forget to visit the free public zoo.Also visit the Chapultepec Castle up on the hill to learn about Mexico history and enjoy the view.

Outside Palais de Bella Artes

Inside!

Pretty wall at Calle de Condesa (near Calle de Madero)

Calle de Madero is always alive !

3) Centro historico: Zocalo, Palais de Bella Artes, Calle de Madero, Avenida Reforma, Ciudadela

Get on the Avenida Reforma towards Zocalo by car or the various tourist buses to enjoy the historic and modern buildings assimilate together. Stop near Palais de Bella Artes (Palace of Beautiful Arts) and enjoy the many historic buildings around it. Walk through Calle de Madero (Wood Road?) to find small shops selling beautiful handcrafts and rows of coffee shops... at the end of this road you will find the famous Zocalo - a place where they declare independence and a center of various celebration. This place resembles Dataran Merdeka and its colorful, historic buildings around it. A MUST SEE. And its free! If you're looking to buy souvenirs, go to none other than Ciudadela, you can find all sorts of souvenirs here.

4) Condesa & Roma Norte

These two are photo worthy places which are lines with lots of hipster coffee shops and bars.

Some traveling tips :

1)Best public transport to stroll the cities will be the hop on hop off buses and metro line buses. 

2)Rent the public bicycles to enjoy the historical buildings and amazing views. 

3)The metro subway train connects most important places in the city but beware of pick pockets.

4)Wear your most comfortable shoes and clothes - usually shirts, jackets, jeans and sneakers are sufficient

5)Always check the weather forecast! The weather changes are sometimes quite extreme in CDMX.

6)Always alert with your surroundings - either from unwanted bad attention (thief, pickpocket) or the earthquake alert (sismo). Be in a green zone (safe zone) when you stroll around this humongous city. Best to keep yourself at the touristy places and avoid the shabby and small alleys

7) Learn few basic Spanish language ;) it may be extremely beneficial for you.

When in Mexico : Just arrived and reality check

 When I first step on the soil of Mexico in April 2018, precisely in the capital, Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX) my first impression is ' Wow, nice weather!' thanks to its high altitude location.And since we just completed a grueling 30+ hours flight journey with one transit (KUL-LHR-MEX) and 3 kids in tow including a 45 days old baby, we just skip the amusement later and focused to cure our jetlag..

Luckily the company provides a decent apartment in the heart of Polanco, a nice neighbourhood in CDMX... wikipedia describes Polanco as this :

Polanco is an affluent neighborhood in the Miguel Hidalgo borough of Mexico City. Polanco is an upscale community, famed for its luxury shopping on Avenida Presidente Masaryk, one of the most expensive streets in the Americas, as well as for the numerous prominent cultural institutions located within the neighborhood, such as the Museo Soumaya and the Colección Jumex. Polanco is often called the "Beverly Hills of Mexico", having one of the country's densest concentrations of luxury shopping, with the most Michelin star restaurants, high-net-worth individuals, upscale hotels, and diplomatic missions and embassies. Additionally, it is one of the most desirable real estate markets in Latin America.

Well, I must admit the neighborhood is pretty cool and most locals and expats living here are loaded with money (us excluded). I like the fact that there is a 24 hours supermarket located at ground floor of our apartment, a posh branded boutique mall beside our building and many green parks around us.. also I like the fact that most people walk or ride bicycles everywhere. They have an efficient public transports like buses and metro,but if you're a first timer and outsiders please be more aware of your belongings as you can be easily spotted - not by your looks though because our skin complexion might be quite similar with Mexican, but the fact that you cant speak their language and also if you wear tudung like me.

After few days, the reality hit me. As this is my first time actually living abroad, i just realized that visiting foreign countries is NOT the same as actually living in a foreign country.. I immediately realize the challenges - language barriers, security and safety issues, lack of halal food and muslim community, not many Malaysians around, different culture and high living cost..the list goes on and on. Additional challenge for me to adapt with my just habis pantang baby! Overall it took me 4 months to battle my emotional issues.. I settled down when my kids are safe in school, even the baby went to school when she was 5 months old, and this mommy joined the bandwagon of newly enrolled students! Yay! 

I enrolled for Spanish class mainly to talk to my kids' teachers and also for other domestic chores as well like buying groceries and ordering food. This was when I felt like human again, enjoying my me time before the chaos begin again when I fetched the kids from school at around 3pm. Good thing is the language centre, CEPE was also in the neighborhood, about 20 mins walking or 10 mins on bike.

As time goes by, more Malaysians were coming hence we made more friends, some even turned family. Our weekends were filled with jalan2 inside and outside the city.. or small gatherings among ourselves... i will furnish the jalan2 part more later...

After 2 years, we started to feel at ease with our routine here.. but of course never a day passed without me thinking about Malaysia, my families, the food and my job that I left temporarily... 

to be continued😎

When in Mexico: Hola!

Well, people from Malaysia will usually NOT choose Mexico as their travel destination. Why? I guess due to its location which is very very far from our country (some of us might say, alang2 pegi sana baik pegi US terus..) and also due to limited promotion and knowledge transfer from both countries... I mean, yes we heard the name of the country before, and we usually imagine cowboys, natives (Pocahontas? Merida?) narcs and drugs cartels.. nothing fancy or exciting though.

I was thinking the same as well.. even I never would want to go to US because it is too far.. with small kids on tow, I would rather let my husband went alone for his few business trips.Until the day that we were all forced to move to Mexico.. well the nicer term was my husband was transferred to Mexico fork work and all of us moved there.

It was a memorable and rather fancy experience for me. Reminiscing 1.5 years back, we fled to the new, mysterious country after 45 days I delivered my third baby.. alot of people prayed for our smooth journey, and alhamdulillah, after a total 24 hours flight time (2 legs,1 transit) later, we arrived to Mexico City. Since that day, our life changed.. the routine, the people, the culture, the food.. everything were new and strange. And exciting. I remembered we were confused,excited,happy,scared and sad at the same time.. no words can describe the feeling of settling in a new place, until you experience it yourself. I've been to many countries before for vacations, mostly to touristy places.. but this, i tell you is hell different from what I ever expect or experience.

I will write in detail about tips on adapting to new surroundings.. until then.

Choose the best supplement for your body

Assalamualaykum and hi,

Maybe you might be wondering why the sudden hike of eagerness  I had for supplements. Well, it is not actually so sudden. And it is not obviously a peer pressure as well (since now supplements are a booming thing and everyone seems to be a supplier).

I am the type that always watch my food intake since I could not get myself (yet) to exercise as often as I want to, blame the 8-5 working hours and a maidless,single-mom-by-location status I carry now. Although I inherited my Dad's genetic who hardly gain weight regardless what or how much we eat, and I  never over eat (thanks to the limited belly storage I have), those advantages do not permit me to stuff everything or anything inside my body. I was grateful to have the silent conversations in my head everytime I crave for anything too sweet or too oily or too salty, and its just once in a while that I override those conversations and had those guilty pleasure food instead and worry immediately after that . I worked in a shopping mall for record, and this was not easy :)

However don't get me wrong. I enjoy good food a lot especially when my husband is around. I would read in the internet, and newspapers/magazines and marked the recommended food joints so we can hunt for it later. So rest assured, I am as normal as you. Its just that when I had a meal that is not balanced (which is most often are veges/fruits), my mind will wonder on how to recover the missing component of a balanced diet. Hence I come out with a priority list of what to consume whenever I had one imbalanced meal for the day :

1) Get myself some fruits/veges/nuts as snacks. Always have these as regulars in your food stock basket.
2) Get myself some health supplements!!

For me, we should never be stingy to get the best food for our consumption, as our body is our most important asset in life.Even if one slice of papaya costs you RM2 (because you bought it in a classy shopping mall), it is the best investment for your health if you're unable to find other cheaper option for that particular day. Of course, it is best if you can go down to the fruit market and get your fresh supply of fruits and veges.
Same concept can be applied to supplements. I know supplements industry is booming right now, and we can even see people producing their own brand/product since the demand is very high. However, my philosophy in buying good is always go for good quality products that is endorsed by the authorized personnel.

I have tried few supplement brands before this, and what I can say is people stick to the best brand personally for their own selves. For more proactive ones, they start to recommend and promote the products that worked wonders to to their family, friends and even strangers so it can do the same wonders to them too. And actually product loyalty brings more benefit to you as you can focus your research to one brand and you can actually save your money since loyal members usually enjoys more benefit then the other customers.

So choose wisely. Happy exploring :)

City vacation : klcc

Macam dah takde tempat lain nak bercuti..situlah tempat kerja, situlah nak bercuti. Haha amna tak mandi terus teruja main kat full length window..then off to aquaria.is it just me.. I think aquaria somehow had lost its magic.