I'm a full-time mummy

I have been sharing some of my favorite angpow pieces on an angpow collectors group in Facebook and some members have been telling me to continue sharing my memorable stories and so I thought, why not write it down, that way, our kiddos can read about it when they grow up next time, eh?

For those of you who are not familiar or never heard of the words 'Angpow' (also known as 'ang pau', 'ang pao', 'angpau'), here is a quick definition:

Angpow = Red Packet (filled with cash inside) given during festivals

So for today's angpow story, it comes from this piece of lovely angpow:

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had cravings for fast food and during that time, Wendy's first opened an outlet at Jaya One and hubby brought me there to try out the new restaurant. I ordered the chicken burger and fell in love with the meal! I had it so many times, averaging about 3 times a week, and ALWAYS ordering the same meal EVERYTIME. Hubby got so jelak but went along to accompany me hahaha...

As the months go by, we noticed the burgers are getting smaller, the condiments shrinking, the price increasing... so we changed to McDonalds, Carls Jnr and even Burger King. Anything to satisfy my fast food craving.

Until today I do miss eating Wendy's burger set but decided not to whenever I think of the price and portion wise.

Luckily first child is not a girl, else I think will be named as Wendy lol!!!

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

As a busy mum with 4 kiddos between 11 months old to 8.5 years old, I have started cutting down on doing product reviews to focus on our childcare and family life, home cooking, teaching kiddos, helping with hubby's administration site of the business and sharing informational articles on my FB fan page so of lately, I am only accepting and prioritizing products that can fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or educational stuff, family products, something along those genre)!

Today's post however is my first milestone in my years of doing product reviews! This ladies and gentlemen, is my first ever hotel review whoaa...

About the hotel:

"The Straits Hotel & Suites conveniently located in the heart of Historical City of Malacca and UNESCO World Heritage site. It is just 2 mins’ walk adjacent to shopping belt of Melaka where guest will enjoy easy access to shopping, entertainment, and dining destinations.

This new Melaka Hotel offers 352 spacious of deluxe guest rooms and luxurious suites which feature contemporary design facilities to meet today’s modern lifestyle. Each deluxe and suites are fitted with large windows offering ample natural lighting with balcony and offers spectacular view of the ocean and town views, and distinctively equipped with complimentary WIFI access and in room safe."

I received the invitation to review the hotel a few months earlier but we were only able to make our visit in early October 2017 as we have to wait for our older 2 kiddos to finish off their major extracurricular programme for the year as well as co-ordinate with our niece and nephew whom we brought along with our family to enjoy the hotel stay as well.

It has been a couple of years since our family has last visited Melaka and it was a first trip to Melaka for our nephew and niece. We arrived at Melaka in time for lunch which we had in the town followed by a visit to the Taming Sari Tower as well as the Melaka Maritime Museum which is a replica of the Flor de la Mar, a Portuguese ship said to have been carrying loot plundered from Malacca when it sank off the coast of Malacca on its way back to Portugal. Weather was hot on the day we arrived, a change from the past few rainy days as I was told by one of the Taming Sari tower staff. We then proceeded to Waze our way to the hotel which surprisingly was near to where we were.

We reached the hotel around 4.30pm. The hotel was just a few minutes' walk adjacent to the shopping belt of Melaka. Lots of eatery area nearby, 24-hour convenience stores can be seen as well. In fact, on the first night at the hotel, we walked about 100m behind the hotel to one of the many restaurants nearby - our favourite is Nyonya Makko which we always try to go to every time we come to Melaka.

Reception staff were courteous and helpful to explain the terms and conditions of the hotel stay. We were given our room access cards and quickly made our way to our respective rooms. The access cards allow the guests to go to their respective floors only. You can also go to level 23 (where the infinity swimming pool, sky bar and lounge are located) and level 3 (restaurant)

Pictures below are some of the rooms and facilities highlighted for your pleasure viewing. Our king-sized bed shown in picture below is clean and neat, mattress and pillows are comfy, I like the floor actually. A bit of a nice positive change compared to other hotels I've stayed in which are mostly carpeted. I am not really fond of carpeted floors in hotels as I feel they are not so clean and also hot as well as we encountered some negative experiences where we found broken glass pieces in some hotels at Port Dickson a while back. Anyway, I love the floors in our hotel rooms. Smooth, clean, cooling and easy on the eyes.

Bathrooms - one of our rooms have bath tub while the rest have shower heads. Toilets are clean and dry. Towels and toiletries are neatly arranged in the bathrooms. There is dustbin, hair dryer and an electrical socket in case you need to use. I did feedback to the hotel management on my concerns of the toilet curtains being outside the bathroom - maybe instead of using the curtain blinds, the bathroom wall to be frosted or covered up for privacy?

The closets are right outside the bathroom, there's cloth slippers for hotel guests to use. We didn't use the hotel safe though it is provided in the room. One cool thing to note is our Suite comes with a large bathroom with bathtub and standing rain shower, sofa set and dining area. There is a dining table with 4 dining chairs, a TV, comfy sofa and TV table. There is an electric kettle, cups and mini fridge provided. I love the deep sink as well, easy to wash your hands and stuff without water splashing everywhere.

The view from the balcony is wonderful as well. Pictures below are taken from the Infinity pool located in level 23. What a beautiful sight to savour the panoramic view of the City of Malacca and The Straits of Malacca! Love love love it! I also love that the swimming pool area is sheltered, you can swim to your hearts content while being shaded and you can feast your eyes to the wonderful view all around the pool!

On our 2nd night in the hotel, we were invited to sample the hotel's current set dinner promotion:

Actual pictures taken of our dishes from the dinner promotion set. Delicious! Portions are nice considering we have 2 adults, 2 pre-teens and 4 younger children below 9 years old! I'm not a vegetable fan but oh my, the kangkung dish is really good! My husband continuously complimented the dishes in the set.

To sum up my review, this is a wonderful hotel to go to if you are planning to stay in Melaka.

Near to shopping malls and local attractions, awesome facilities and amenities, courteous and friendly staff.

Really must consider!

You may find more info at https://www.straitshotelsuites.com/melaka/

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a complimentary hotel stay and a dinner promotion in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

As a busy mum with 4 kiddos between 10 months old to 8.5 years old, I have started cutting down on doing product reviews to focus on our childcare and family life, home cooking, teaching kiddos, helping with hubby's administration site of the business and sharing informational articles on my FB fan page so I am only accepting and prioritizing products that can fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or educational stuff, family products, something along those genre)! Today's post is my review on Little Innoscents range of products.

About the company/products:

"Little Innoscents was founded in 2007, after Director Antonette Golikidis fell pregnant with her first child Alex. Antonette searched endlessly for baby products that were chemical free and found herself disappointed to find such a limited number of products, which were often difficult to find, too expensive, or offered misleading greenwash marketing techniques to persuade you to buy something that wasn’t all what it said it to be.

Then Little Innoscents was born, naturally. Antonette began making the products in her kitchen at home and spent 10 months perfecting the ingredients. She formulated an intensive soothing cream, massage lotion, massage oil, body powder, hair and body wash, vapour rub balm and organic soap. The range can also help relieve a wide range of childhood health and skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis."

I received the following products for my review. I didn't get to try out the entire range of the products though so I'm sharing those that I've tried out so far in my family.

A quick feedback on the packaging of the products - the tubes all comes sealed and the labelling info are printed on the tubes itself, so the info on the tubes is water-proof which is longer lasting compared to other products we used where the label stickers came off after the water soaked through the outer part of the tubes.

I would like to highlight the following 6 items which my kiddos and I are using so far (clockwise from top left):

• Intensive Soothing Cream - This is a nourishing organic topical application ideal for a range of stressful skin conditions. The moment I know the Intensive Soothing Cream is REALLY GOOD STUFF is when I have tried many other creams and lotions to sooth my sudden outbursts of hives (still unsure of the cause) and only this one gave me instant relief. I don't have the urge to scratch the itch. I am relieved to have this cream on hand, really. The moment the hives started appearing around my inner thighs and below knees area, I quickly applied the cream and I totally don't have any feeling of the itch at all. The brochure stated that this cream is perfect for nappy rash and the treatment of redness and itchiness caused by eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis. Totally recommend this!

• Moisture Rich Lotion - With a gorgeous floral scent of Ylang Ylang and Lavender, this rich and moisturising lotion is ideal for dry or sensitive skin by maintaining and replenishing the skin’s much needed hydration levels and protects delicate newborn baby skin. I use this lotion on our 10-months old boy after he took his bath. I applied the lotion all over his body and his skin stays moist and baby soft! From time to time, I also applied some of this lotion onto my legs haha...

• Paw Paw Balm - This balm is filled with nourishing beeswax, shea butter and calendula and most importantly Australian organic paw paw to heal and hydrate the skin. I love this balm and used it with extra care (precious you know!) when the soles of my feet start cracking due to dehydration and hot weather. It keeps my feet supple and heals the cracks fast.

• Hair Fudge - The Little Innoscents Hair Fudge is very good product for me to keep my stringy hairs at bay. I love that it gave my hair a strong hold and yet doesn't have those gels frozen look at all. It is also easy to wash hair without any yucky residue left.

• Hair & Body Wash - Cleanses deeply and refreshes from top to toe. I like that we can use it for hair and body as well. The minty smell is from the essential oils of spearmint, lavender and orange.
  

• Cherry Coconut Conditioner - I used the conditioner after using the hair & body wash. The ingredients serve to soften and soothe the hair.
  

The cool thing about Little Innoscents products is they are formulated to suit baby’s sensitive skin but at the same time, adults can also use them, especially if they are suffering from dry, itchy or eczema skin. And it is also safe to be used on pregnant mothers! Practically the whole range of their products can be used on babies except Sun Lotion which is recommended after 6 months old and Milky White Toothpaste after 3 months old (which I have yet to try it on our 10-months old boy as he is still toothless at the moment)

I haven't got the chance to use the Sun Lotion and Winter Blues Balm, but will definitely bring them along for our coming Chiangmai holiday in November later.

In summary, a wonderful range of products that the whole family can use,

and I'm thankful that we have been given the privilege to try them out!

You may purchase them online or in retail stores at:

https://www.madrenatura.com.my/where-to-buy

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the products in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.