How to Get Permanent Residency (PR) in Malaysia: Part 1

Few days ago, my husband and I submitted the required documents to get my Permanent Residency (PR) in Malaysia. By right, I was eligible to apply or submit the documents to get my PR here last June (the beginning of my 6th year in Malaysia). However, since I just delivered Brennan in late May and was busy with baby and other stuff, my husband and I only managed to complete the required documents few weeks ago and submitted them to the Immigration Office here earlier this week.

The list of the required documents to prepare for PR application in Malaysia is long; hence, it does take time to complete all the documents needed.

FORMS AND DOCUMENTS TO SUBMIT AND SUBMISSION STEPS:

I. Go to the nearby Immigration Office to get the application form and list of the required documents from the Counter that handles Visa and Permit.

When you go to the Immigration Office to apply PR, make sure you:

• Bring your valid passport and Malaysian spouse's IC for verification as the officer in charge would likely check whether you are eligible to apply for PR or not before handing you the forms and list below

• Go to the Immigration Office with your Malaysian spouse

• Apply for PR only after you stay in Malaysia under your long-term/spouse visa for at least 5 years (you can apply PR on your 6th year here)

Sample document of the form and list of required documents.

II. Fill and furnish all the required documents (stated above), elaborated as follows:

1. Borang Permit Masuk (Entry Permit Form) IM.4 - Pindaan 1/93

2. Applicant's passport photos
Specific requirement of the photos: Blue background
Number of photos: Three (3)

3. Malaysian spouse's passport photo 
Specific requirement of the photos: Blue background
Number of photos: One (1)


4. Wedding or family picture (i.e. husband, wife and children) 
Number of pictures: One (1)

I submitted both (4R) wedding and family pictures, just in case.

5. Surat Akuan Perkahwinan Form

To complete the Surat Akuan form, other than filling in the information in the paper, we need to get a stamp and signature of a local Commissioner of Oaths (Peguam Bela dan Peguam Cara). Also, we are required to have a name and contact details of one Malaysian who is willing to act as the applicant's guarantor (he/she can be our Malaysian spouse's direct family member). 

Required documents for Commissioner of Oath's verification: The filled Surat Akuan form, applicant's passport and Malaysian spouse' IC, applicant and spouse's passport photos.
Required working days: Almost immediate
Fee: RM 12 cash 
Result: Authorization stamp and signature from Commissioner of Oaths in the Surat Akuan form

6. Marriage certificate in Malaysia 
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

7. Surat Pengesahan Perkahwinan dari Jabatan Agama Islam di Malaysia
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy
**Applicable for Muslim applicants only

8. Overseas marriage certificate (for couples who got married overseas)
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

I submitted our Singapore's ROM certificate and its photocopy since my husband and I registered our marriage in Singapore.

9. Death or divorce certificate of previous marriage, if any

10.  Applicant's Passport and Travel Documents 
Required documents: Current and old passport books, original books and the photocopy of each page that has immigration stamps (post marriage)

11. Malaysian spouse's passport book (for marriage registration that was done overseas)
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy of each page with stamps

My husband thought that he was only required to photocopy the first page of his passport but boy, he was wrong. The officer demanded us to submit the photocopy of my husband's whole passport book as well so he had to scramble finding a shop near the Immigration office that has photocopy machine to get this part done.

12. Malaysian spouse's IC/MyKad
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

13. Malaysian spouse's birth certificate 
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

14. Malaysian sponsors/guarantors' IC/MyKad 
Required documents: Photocopy of IC and contact details of two Malaysians who are willing to act as the applicant's guarantors (they can be our Malaysian spouse's direct family members).

15. Applicant's children's birth certificates
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

16. Applicant's children's MyKad/MyKid
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy

17. Applicant's children's Passport Books
Required documents: Both original (for verification purpose) and photocopy 

18. Proof of residence address
Required documents: Recent electricity or water bills, etc (original bill or photocopy is welcomed)

19. Receipt of the paid Security Bond
If the original receipt is missing, applicant is required to show the Surat Akuan Sumpah, which I am not sure which one or how to get one.

20. List of dates of applicant's and Malaysian spouse's overseas travels

This part is probably the most painful, arduous and tedious task to do in completing the documents for PR application. Both applicant and his or her Malaysian spouse are supposed to write down all the dates of their overseas trips (post marriage), dates of returning to Malaysia and the reason of each overseas trip in the provided forms. 

Our challenge in doing this was that not all airports' immigration officers stamped the 'in and out' dates on the same page of our passport books so we had quite a bit of headaches and frustration matching our outgoing and incoming dates stamped on our passport books. Also, since we are only given one page to jot down all these dates, make sure you make few copies the empty form before you write anything on the paper because chances are one page is not enough to list your overseas travel dates (especially if you an avid traveler or busy businessman who travels overseas frequently) and you might make many mistakes in writing down the details. In case of the latter, it's better to have extra copies of the empty form so you can re-write the list of dates on a new form if necessary

III. Submit the completed forms and required documents to the local Immigration Office

Once you've fulfilled all the requirements mentioned above, go to the Immigration Office as soon as you can. Don't forget to get a queuing number first before submitting the PR documents at the Visa and Permit Counter. 

After the officer checked our PR documents and declared my PR documents submission was successful, she mentioned that the next step is just to wait for the interview invitation letter from the Police Station in the coming 1-5 years. If I pass this first round of interview, the next round of interview will be with the Immigration officers. Meanwhile, I ought to renew my spouse visa as usual until I get the interview invitation letter. Also, if there are updates on my Passport number or home address, I am required to make the Immigration Office aware of these changes too.

That's all for now - and like I said, all I have to do now is just wait. I hope I don't have to wait until Naomi enters her Primary School and Brennan goes to Kindergarten before I get my PR here.

** Please note that this information is based on my personal experience and subject to change in accordance with any amendments to the rules and regulations from the Malaysian Immigration Department.

Baby's First Solids

Brennan is now about 6.5 months old and this week is his second week eating homemade solid foods. On top of his breast milk feeds, I have lately added 2-3x feeds of homemade baby porridge into his diet. Cooking baby's porridge is now the first thing I do in my daily grind before I do any other house chores.

When it comes to making homemade's baby first foods, I am kind of old school in coming up with the daily menus and preparation methods. I follow the style that I did when I fed Baby Naomi her first homemade solids foods. Since I think everything went well with that method (Naomi grew to be a very chubby, slightly overweight baby and she's generally not a fussy/picky eater), I thought of doing the same for Brennan's first solids. For his solids, everyday Brennan eats soft (strained) rice porridge with different kind of meat and a variety of vegetables. I don't have baby food processor or blender so I press Brennan's warm rice porridge through a strainer before serving it to him. Asian baby is very Asian because his Mommy feeds him with rice porridge every day. LOL.

Baby mam mam.

The very first baby rice porridge that I introduced to Brennan was added with mild tasting vegetables like carrot and pumpkin. At this stage, I avoid offering food that may trigger allergies to my son such as eggs, seafood or acidic (citrus) fruits. Also, I will not introduce any seasoning like salt or sugar to his diets until he is 1 year old.

Brennan only managed to finish 1-2 tbsp of rice porridge when I first introduced solids to him. However, by the second week of eating solids, little man did better at finishing his food and now he can finish almost a small bowl of porridge for each feed.

Here are some examples of Brennan's 6 months old's homemade porridge menus and recipes. Note that I am not a nutritionist or doctor. The following is just few examples of first homemade food that I give to my baby. If you are unsure about your baby's first solids, please consult your child's pediatrician or doctor.

WEEK 1:

Carrot and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 5cm of carrot (remove the skin and thinly slice), 3-4 small slices of chicken breast meat, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour all ingredients in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the carrot slices soften, water reduced and rice breaks down completely.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Baby's first porridge: Carrot and Chicken Rice Porridge.

Pumpkin and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 1 slice of small pumpkin (remove the skin and seeds, cut into cubes), 3-4 small slices of chicken breast meat, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour all ingredients in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the pumpkin cubes are soft and rice breaks down completely.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Don't feed baby when he is sleepy.

Spinach and Beef Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 1 handful of spinach leaves, 3-4 small slices of beef, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour beef and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the spinach leaves into the pot and let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Tasting his first greens and beef porridge.

WEEK 2

Carrot, Pumpkin and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 5cm of carrot (remove the skin and thinly slice), 1 slice of small pumpkin (remove the skin and seeds, cut into cubes), 3-4 small slices of chicken breast meat, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour all ingredients in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the vegetable cubes are soft and rice breaks down completely.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Carrot, Spinach and Beef Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 5cm of carrot (remove the skin and slice thinly), 1 handful of spinach leaves, 3-4 small slices of beef, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour carrot slices, beef and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the carrot slices soften and rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the spinach leaves into the pot then let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Sweet Potato, Spinach and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 1/2 small sweet potato (remove the skin and cut small), 1 handful of spinach leaves, 3-4 small slices of chicken breast meat, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour chicken, sweet potato cuts and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the spinach leaves into the pot then let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Loving this new combo.

WEEK 3

Sweet Potato, Broccoli and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 1/2 small sweet potato (remove the skin and cut small), 1/2 cup of broccoli florets, 3-4 small slices of chicken breast meat, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour sweet potato, chicken, and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the broccoli into the pot then let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Broccoli and Beef Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup of rice, 5cm of carrot (remove the skin and slice thinly), 1/2 small sweet potato (remove the skin and cut small), 1/2 cup of broccoli florets, 3-4 small slices of beef, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour sweet potato, carrot, beef and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the broccoli into the pot and let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

Washing down food with water in a sippy cup.

Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Carrot, Spinach and Chicken Rice Porridge

Ingredients: 

1/3 cup of rice, 5cm of carrot (remove the skin and slice thinly), 1/2 small sweet potato (remove the skin and cut small), 1 slice of small pumpkin (skinless and cut into small cubes), 1 handful of spinach leaves, 3-4 small slices of chicken, 2 cups of filtered water

Methods: 

1. Wash all the ingredients
2. Pour sweet potato, carrot, pumpkin, chicken and rice in a pot or a rice cooker. Cook until the orange vegetables soften and rice breaks down completely. About 5-10 mins before the porridge is done, add the spinach leaves into the pot then let the porridge simmer.
3. Let the porridge to cool down. Remove meat. Blitz the porridge in a food blender or press through a strainer before serving it to baby.
** The above is enough to feed baby 3 times, depending on how often and how much the baby eats in a day.

If you notice, I gradually introduce different type of vegetables and combine different vegetables into Brennan's food. I rotate the veggies and meat I stated above for my baby's menu depending on my available veggies at home. In the beginning, Brennan hated the aroma or flavor of beef in his porridge and only ate a bit of beef porridge. However, his nurse from Klinik Kesihatan advised me to keep on introducing different kind of food to him (including the food that he less fancies) so his taste buds are accustomed to a variety of food and it's easier to spot allergies when he's young. After 2-3 times of tries, he now enjoys his beef porridge just fine. Oh yeah, this guy really loves sweet potatoes. I reckon when he grows up, he'd keep on asking me to feed him with Bubur Chacha. #delusionalmomisdelusional

Look, Mom! I can stand up.

At 6 months old ++, Brennan is still toothless and not considered a fat baby. He doesn't have those Michelin Man's rolls that I once dreamed of. He's very active for his age and his physical developmental milestones so far are as fast as a bullet. Now my little man rolls about effortlessly, abbles a lot and is able to sit without support, commando crawl and even stand up while holding his baby cot or playpen rails. As such, the Klinik Kesihatan's nurse suggested me to add 1 tea spoon of vegetable oil or olive oil onto his porridge (not 1 serving but for the entire porridge of the day) because active babies need more calories.

I plan to introduce more types of vegetables like potato, butternut squash, french beans or maybe zucchini as well as fish to Brennan in the coming week when I get to go to the wet market again. Further, I have yet to give Brennan fruit purees again because this dude is still coughing. Some people say that banana can cause phlegm so I refrain myself in giving him some mashed banana, which Brennan loves, until his cough gets better.

Some tips in starting baby's first solid foods:

• Pick a time when baby is not cranky or sleepy or too hungry when feeding him/her solids.
• Choose one food to introduce first and feed the same food to baby for a few days before starting new food.
• If rashes, vomiting or diarrhea occurs after introducing a certain food, stop offering it to baby immediately.
• Start small and don't force the baby to finish his or her portion of solid foods. I normally stop feeding my baby his porridge when he doesn't want to sit still on his high chair, refuses swallowing his food, starts rubbing his eyes or whimpers. 
• Try and try again. If beef or spinach was a bust, try giving it again to baby in a couple of days and repeat the same menu as necessary. Don't throw in the towel yet.
• Certain vegetables may cause baby's gassy tummy. I won't be introducing cabbage to Brennan as yet because many people (especially my parents) strongly believe that cabbage can cause baby's gassy tummy.
• Give baby some water after eating porridge. Mine refuses drinking water from his bottle so I make him drink his water from sippy cup after eating.

We've discussed my baby's inputs (re: food), now how about his outputs? Brennan began pooping 2x-3x a day since he started his solids and his stool is not as watery as when he was a fully breastfed baby.

That's all for today's updates.

Don't you agree that solids introduction to baby is such a big deal and joyful moment?

Things My Kid Says #7

My cheeky daughter has started the holiday camp at her new Kindergarten last Monday. I am happy to report that she loves her new school. No more teary face and refusals when we tell her to go to school.

After I pick her up from school, she says "Mommy, happy school." In the morning when we ask her to wake up and go to school, she wakes up relatively fast and get ready for school without struggle. In the car on the way to school, she reminds me. "Mommy, I want to go to happy school."

I hope she will still love her new school like this after the holiday camp is over because when the next term starts, it's going to be 'Study and study, less play.'

😀

Cheeky girl is cheeky.

Cockroach

This morning, we went out for breakfast because it's Saturday. Saturday and Sunday = eating out day. OTW home after breakfast, Naomi who sat in the front seat turned her head to me who was sitting in the back seat with Brennan while my husband was driving the car.

: Mommy. I want cockroach.
: HAH?
: Cockroach.
: *Could not fathom daughter's siao request and was speechless with mouth half opened*
: *Guessing Naomi wanted to watch Oggy and the Cockroaches on Youtube but didn't say anything yet*

After a minute or two, my husband had his AHA! moment again.

💡💡💡

: OOOOOOH! You want KOKO KRUNCH (that I packed in a small container and kept it in her bag)!!!!
: Koko Krunch. Mommy, I want Koko Krunch.

: CHEH! *Then passed the Koko Crunch to Naomi before bursting into laughter.*


Why my kid keeps on saying the wrong thing? LOL.

Baby Updates and The Pursuit of Good Night Sleep

In case you miss Baby Brennan because the last air time I gave to him in this blog was back in September, here's a little update on this fella and his latest baby photo spam.

Brennan is going to be 6 months old in less than two weeks. Hard to believe indeed but yes, I nearly made it halfway through his first year - all by myself!

*pat-my-own-back*

Happy baby is happy.

This month, Brennan has completed two of his 5-month vaccinations - one from the government clinic and another from his private doctor.

His smile is brighter than the morning sun. LOL.

At 5.5 months old, Baby Brennan is very sensitive to loud noises and constantly puts things into his mouth. He can even take his socks off his feet with his mouth. He drools (hence my hair loss), smiles and babbles a lot but has yet to show me his raspberries blowing skill.

Brennan's muscles are stronger now. He likes to lift his bottoms into the air and roll about from one end to another end to grab something that entices him. Also, getting Brennan dressed or cleaned after a poopnami is like a wrestling match now because he always rolls over and won't lie still on his back when I try to change his diaper. Lately, he tries to master his sitting up without support ability but he still looks like the leaning Tower of Pisa when he does this.

Nowadays, Brennan can recognize people very well. Already he is a clingy baby since his infancy and he has now successfully grown into an even clingier baby than ever. He cries whenever other people but his Dad and me carry him. He even gets very anxious when he is surrounded by a lot of people. Often times, his stranger anxiety amazes and stresses me at the same time. People say, all this happened because I seldom bring him out. I beg to differ, Sirs and Madams. My husband and I bring him out every time we go out because nobody can take care of him given his clingy personality. As such this baby follows us wherever we go. The only possible reason why he is incredibly clingy to me now is because I am his only care taker and the adults that Brennan sees the most on daily basis are his Dad and me.

My forever clingy baby.

I still breastfeed Brennan and thus far he is not dependent to spring cot to help him fall asleep and doesn't use pacifier at all. I tried to give him formula milk in a bid to make him sleep a longer stretch at night. However, this attempt's success was short lived. A couple weeks ago, Brennan was so into formula milk and could down 2oz of formula milk top up two to three times a day - owing to a growth spurt I suppose. This week, he totally refuses formula milk and only wants breast milk so I am back to my full time cow duty.

These three days, I have started introducing Brennan a bit of his first solids because I think he's ready. I've given him a bit of banana puree, steamed apple puree and infant rice cereal mixed with formula milk.

That excited face when he sees food.

He loves his infant cereal and sometimes gets very angry when there's no more cereal left on his bowl. Sorry boy, one table spoon of runny cereal a day for now, OK.

"Mommy, I demand more food!"

According to Baby Center, usually babies sleep through the night by 6 months but I guess this is not the case for my baby. Instead of showing progress on his night sleep stretch, Brennan has shown regression in this area.

Brennan and his gentle face.

His prolonged broken sleep is wearing me out and had caused me headaches and lack of focus during the day. His night sleeping schedule this week was so terrible I felt like I was taking care of a newborn all over again. Brennan woke up 2-3x at night for feeding and it took him 20-30 mins to make him fall back asleep again before the next feeding.

My cutie patootie #2.

Speaking of sleep deprivation, Brennan suddenly developed cough on Thursday evening. I thought his cough was not serious or just a fluke, because nobody in the house is coughing at the moment. Thus, I didn't really think about it much nor give him any medication. By night, his cough transformed into phlegmy cough and his breathing was noisy. As usual, I got very concerned and asked my husband whether we should bring him to see a doctor but my husband rolled his eyes on this suggestion. As a result, I had to wake up every two hours on Thursday night and Friday's wee hours to tend a crying and coughing baby.

So hard to measure his temperature now.

Yesterday (Friday), I felt like I was being bullied by my toothless baby. His cough has not subsided and every time I fed him the cough syrup that his Doctor prescribed him a month ago, he vomited. He cried non-stop and demanded to be carried while walking around or standing up ALL DAY LONG. He whimpered every time I sat down. Brennan literally made my left arm and shoulder feel like jelly. He had trouble falling asleep and his naps could not last more than 20 minutes. By 4pm, Brennan developed a fever. After I gave him paracetamol, he felt slightly better but was still overall a fussy and noisy baby. In the evening, my unspoken fear came true. Brennan began to have runny nose on top of his cough and fever.

Because of this combo, Brennan felt even more uncomfortable at night and cried inconsolably for hours no matter how we consoled him. His cough syrup didn't work. His flu medicine was not a much help either. His sensitive skin may develop rashes after we apply Baby Vicks so we avoided applying it on his chest. I got so exhausted and dreadful before bed time because I knew it was going to be another long night for me. 

My head kept on thinking how to save my night sleep by giving Brennan a good night sleep. All of sudden, I was reminded of the Essential Oil that my friend once let me try. She uses this Essential Oil regularly and swears by the efficacy of this Oil when her children fall sick especially stuffy nose.

I planned to get one from Lazada but could only get the item few days later if I were to buy from Lazada. I turned the house's WiFi router on (we switch off our house's WiFi at 11.30pm) and began chatted Naomi's friend's Mommy who sells Young Living products on Facebook Messenger. Fortunately, she has not slept yet although it was almost midnight and told me that she has the RC Essential Oil in stock. 

In summary.

She sensed my distress and asked me to come over to her house to get the Essential Oil so I could use it immediately for Brennan. Out of desperation, around midnight I shamelessly drove to her house which is just less than 5 mins away from mine. 

I'd do anything for a good night sleep. LOL.

Once I got home, I quickly diffused few drops of this Essential Oil to my diffuser as my last resort to ease Brennan's flu. I applied a drop of oil on the areas behind my ears because I also wanted a good night sleep please, especially after all the physical and mental stress since morning.

My new thumb-sized friend.

In the end, Brennan did sleep better. He slept soundly past midnight and woke up for his feed at around 5am.

So, here's the burning question that many may wonder. 

Q: Does the Essential Oil I bought really work like magic?

A: I don't know. Maybe. 

To be honest, all this while I was highly skeptical about Essential oils in general and always thought the claims about Essential Oils could cures some diseases are no more than placebo effect. I believed they are excellent for aromatherapy that aims to promote relaxation, uplift one's mood or de-stress but I was not thoroughly sold on their healing properties. 

What I did last night was out of desperation although I felt that, to some extent, the Essential Oil I purchased did work in making all of us sleep better. I must admit that I am now intrigued to try more Essential Oils especially those that can improve my sleep quality or reduce headaches.

All in all, I don't know which camp you belong to when it comes to using Essential Oils but I am slowly buying the efficacy of Essential Oils. My advice is do a bit of reading or even ask for friends' genuine advice before using Essential Oils especially if you are someone who is not really into alternative medicine like me and mind you, Essential Oils ain't cheap.

**This post is not sponsored - just sharing my personal thoughts on Essential Oils that I just discovered.

Things My Kid Says #6

It's been a while since I updated this blog. I thought the last time I updated this blog was a couple weeks ago but apparently it was a month ago. Oops!

The reasons why I went MIA again in this blog was because I was occupied with quite a bit of things in October namely hacked BBM and Facebook accounts, Naomi's HFMD, personal mini project that I am still developing and can't remember what else. Basically I could not find any interesting topic to blog last month.

Anyway, a quick update on the Kindergarten hunts for Naomi... I have FINALLY found the one that I like and registered Naomi to join this Kindergarten last week. It's near our house, going to be run by a new management and I was confident with their program too. Naomi will start going to this Kindergarten at the end of this month for their holiday camp and in January 2017, she will be joining their 5 y/o class because Naomi's born in 2012. Seemingly Kindergartens in Malaysia use this 'School Year - Born Year' formula to place their students in their respective classes.

Fave line now: Xixixi.

1. Old MacDonald

Last night, Naomi was in a good mood and sang a lot of nursery songs before bed time. Then she suddenly sang a very familiar children song about a farmer and a various animals he keeps in his farm.

: *singing* Old MacDonald had a farm...

[What we, parents, heard instead: "阿弥陀佛 (Ē mí tuó Fó/Amitabha) in de car.."]

: HAHAHAHA! Naomi! Why there's Ē mí tuó Fó in your song lyric???

: Ya loh. I heard she said "Ē mí tuó Fó in the car.." but in Old MacDonald Had A Farm tune! #ROFL.

: Naomi, it's Old - Mac - Do - nald... *singing* Old MacDonald had a farm.. E-I-E-I-O....
: *could not follow her parents' topic and continued singing *
             Ow mek to nal had a fam E-I-E-I-O... Ow mek to nal had a fam E-I-E-I-O... 
             Moo moo here, moo moo there.

2. Mole

This Friday evening, Naomi sat on Daddy's lap.

: *pointing at a tiny black dot on Daddy's chest* Ewww.. Papa! 蚂蚁 (read: ant)!!!
: No. Not 蚂蚁. It's a mole.

The end.

Things My Kid Says #5

Naomi is 4 years old now and next January she has to go to kindergarten to study. I still have yet to settle on the right kindie for her although I've checked a few kindergartens nearby earlier this year.

I never thought that finding an ideal kindergarten for my child would be this difficult. Or maybe I am just being too picky in choosing a kindie for Naomi that meets my criteria such as a nice and clean facility plus comfortable environment, daily health check routines, good education philosophy (not too academic-oriented is preferred), decent numbers of students (not too crowded) and not too far from our home. Also, I guess I must like the teachers too.

So yeah, my serious kindie hunt for Naomi is still on-going now and I hope I could decide on one before October ends.

Speaking of the 4 y/o Naomi, here's a couple of her priceless goofy things that she said recently. I'd like to preserve the hilarity here to look back on and laugh... Just because kids say the darndest things, especially when they are around Naomi's age.

1. Y is for Yo-yo

Naomi is able to recognize A-Z, colors and numbers from 1- 20 something very well now. She can easily associates A for apple, B for book, etc. without any problem. We use flashcards, early learning ABC books, nursery songs, alphabet poster and puzzles to educate her with ABC letter names and sounds.

Y is yo-yo.

Naomi's flashcards are compliments of Auntie Bear.

Last night, my husband opened his newly delivered parcel from Toys R' Us's online store. The big child aka Naomi's Dad apparently bought himself a Duncan yo-yo.

: *Took out a transparent orange yo-yo from the plastic*
: Wowww! Y Y!
: *ROFL* Y Y?
: Papa! I want Y Y!
: Naomi, this is called yo-yo, not Y Y!

: *Holding her Dad's brand new yo-yo*
: Hey, Naomi, what is this?
: Y.
: It's yo-yo. Not Y.
: Yo-yo.

It's amusing to see how Naomi automatically associates yo-yo to letter Y.

2. Noisy Vacuum Cleaner

One evening, I was cleaning the floor with a vacuum cleaner when Naomi watched TV in the living room.

: *Turned on the vacuum cleaner* Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
: Aaargh!!! Mommy, STOP!
: Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Huh?
: STOP!

Oopsie! Sorry for the noise, but my pristine living room is more important than your TV show, dear.