Now I normally don’t write contest announcements…

LOLOL.

I think all my readers know I’m a big fan of Sony Xperia and their Z phones.  This was my first photo after getting my Xperia Z3 hahaha saying hi to the world!

The Sony Xperia Z is an awesome product that doesn’t get nearly enough hype in my opinion.  I’ve been using it since the Z1 and today I have the Z3 and I still love it.

I’ve also had a great experience with the Sony Xperia team and even if we stopped collaborating I’d still continue using my Sony yo.

That said, I must announce that Sony is looking for…

THE NEW FACE OF XPERIA.

Sony is looking for unique individuals in South East Asia who have the ability to capture the extraordinary in the every day.

(Do I have what it takes since I capture my kids every day and they’re pretty extraordinary lolol.)

The faces of Xperia should be able to look further, for special moments just beneath the surface, remarkable beauty beyond sight and important sounds lost to the chatter around us.

There are seven unique Xperia propositions and each individual must embody the spirit, energy and attitude of the brand through one of the seven:

•          Waterproof: I can survive underwater

Definitely.

•          Low Light: I can see in the dark

(this photo was taken in an almost totally dark room.  The only light was coming from the bathroom with the door open about an inch.)

•          2 Day Battery: I can stay awake for days

The face of someone who can stay up for two days.

•          Digital Noise Cancelling: I can silence crowds

She can with a shout of her own. Does that count?

•          Hi-Res Audio: I can hear things you can’t

She can hear me creeping out of the room FML.

•          Remote Play: I can run through walls

Try me.

•          Smartwear: I can shape tomorrow

They who shape our future. 🙂

The Faces of Xperia have lots to look forward to!  Winners get:

• The opportunity to participate in future Xperia marketing programs
• A Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone and Sony Xperia Z4 tablet
• Return airfare from the winner’s nearest capital city to Manila for a photography shoot
• Hotel accommodation for the duration of the shoot

Contest ends 14 June so do hurry!!! Contest info and application

Got a gold bar dropped off at my house the other day. #nobigdeal

Hahaha obviously it’s not a real gold bar!  But what do you think is inside?  Very unexpected one.

A gold toothbrush!  (not for brushing gold teeth)

It’s the new Colgate 360 Gold Charcoal toothbrush!

Gold because it’s the “Gold Standard in Whole Mouth Cleaning”

Thank you Colgate for giving me the pink version hahaha how you knowwww.

What’s special about it (besides it being gold) is that its bristles are 100% antibacterial  which will inhibit bacterial growth on your toothbrush for up to 90 days.  And by then it’s time to change to a new toothbrush so you don’t have to worry about nasty dirty germs brewing on your toothbrush and going into your mouth.

The black parts on the other hand are charcoal bristles which can clean and remove stains on your teeth.

Photo for illustration purposes only but it’s my current toothbrush now! (I forgot to change my old one since beginning of the year :X)

Using it is super gentle on my teeth and gums!  I’m the type of person who presses unnecessarily hard when brushing (-_-) so I found Colgate 360 Gold Charcoal to be very nice and soft.  Its bristles are also 17 times slimmer than the average toothbrush which makes it easier to clean at the gumline.

If you want to convert your golden experience with the Colgate 360 Gold Charcoal toothbrush into real gold, just play the game and join the contest at the Colgate website below.

Click here to play!

You know what one of my favorite snacks was when I was a kid?

You know what one of my favorite snacks is now I’m an adult?

Hahahaha. You get the picture.

Did you know that Pocky in Malaysia used to be called Rocky?

I didn’t! In fact I thought Rocky was a rip-off from Pocky and I steadfastly refused to buy lolol.  Cos must support original la! (I think this was the transition period where some Rocky-labelled boxes were still around)

For those in the dark (in which case I thoroughly sympathize with your childhood), Pocky is a Japanese snack that comes in boxes like this and are biscuit sticks covered in different flavors! This one is chocolate.

The sticks come packed up in aluminium wrapper like this and the biscuit ends of it is on top so you don’t get your hands dirty.

Comes in a huge array of flavors!  I have green tea, strawberry and double choco here (which is essentially a Pocky stick where the biscuit is totally covered in chocolate)

Guess which flavor is my favorite?

OMG so cliched! Hahahaha.

Normally I don’t like strawberry flavored foods all that much but the Strawberry Pocky is yummy! Sweet but not too sweet (like Baby Bear’s porridge wtf) and the slight tinge of sour strawberry in it contrasts very nicely with the plain biscuit *connoisseur

Last time in school, we used to poke Pocky sticks behind our ears and pretend they were pencils hahahaha.

Chocolate Pocky on the other hand, is Fighter’s favorite! Um as though not obvious enough by this pic. Lol.

It was actually one of the first snacks I introduced to Fighter too.  Easy for him to hold by himself and eat and not that unhealthy as far as snacks go hehehe.

Did you know that the name Pocky comes from the sound of the crispy biscuit breaking off?

Fighter be like, “I give it five stars!”

Now this critter fighting me for it. -_- Lololol.

Pocky is available in chocolate, double choco, strawberry, green tea matcha flavor, milk, and banana flavors.  More new flavors will be released soon!

Me and Fighter at McDonald’s today.  Bought him a Happy Meal, of which fries I ate most of. O_O Oh god I’m turning into my dad hahahaha I used to get so mad whenever he ate my fries when I was a kid, and now here I am doing the same thing to Fighter. #noshame

We went to McDonald’s because I heard they were launching something called the Happy Meal Book Program.

Order a Happy Meal now and this is the ‘toy’ that comes with it.  It’s not a toy at all, but a mini book!

The one we received is about *jeng jeng jeng* elephants!  All books are part of the Watch Me Grow series by DK Publishing.

The book format follows a baby elephant from birth until it grows into an adult with all sorts of information about elephants written in a kid-friendly way.

I like it! Most age-appropriate books that I’ve found for Fighter so far are about groups of things – like numbers, animals, things that fly, shapes, etc so I always kind of doubted if Fighter really understood say, what a hamster or shark was.  But since Watch Me Grow focuses on just one animal it’s good for him to learn more in depth about one particular animal.

Fighter approves!

I also approve of this Happy Meal Program!

I love books and reading!  It’s a love that Fat Her instilled in me and Ooib.  I don’t think there was any point in my life where I’m not actively in the middle of a book (except for some stressful times in college lol where it was textbooks instead) and I would love to  pass on that love of books to Fighter and Penny.

I try to buy Fighter books now instead of toys.  He gets bored of toys very quickly anyway but so far he does regularly pull out his books from the shelf and bring them to me to read or to point out stuff to him. 😀  So the Watch Me Grow series will be a nice addition to our collection!

I’d always harbored a secret wish to start my own bookstore – with different or rarer books than those you’d find in MPH or whatever – or a cafe filled with books where people could just drink coffee and read. 🙂 But not very feasible because…. Malaysians don’t read. 🙁

In London or in Japan on the subway, I saw tons of people holding paperbacks or newspapers to read on their commute.  But in Malaysia where got?  There’s no reading culture here – the most you see people looking at their phones or sleeping on the train wtf.

Worse, according to a UN report, the literacy rate of Malaysians is at 93.2%, behind developed countries like Japan, Britain, the United States, Australia and Germany, which have literacy rates of 99%.

So I’m very glad that McD is doing this initiative!  Besides the Watch Me Grow Happy Meal series, there will also be activities like a story-telling competition, Book Time with Ronald McDonald and meeting with aspiring local authors.  More details and schedules can be found here.

It’s hard being a parent.  In addition to the everyday tasks that come with having kids – making sure they’re fed, clothed and relatively clean at the barest minimum, you’ve also gotta grapple with the big stuff… like how to make sure your child grows up well and healthy. That’s a huge responsibility! And all that in addition to the other stuff you need to do as a normal adult.

So we parents know how tough it can be.  And we don’t need unnecessary stress that makes our jobs harder. >:(

Here’s a bunch of things parents DON’T need, off the top of my head:

1.  People judging our parenting

Be it the stranger in the mall who shakes their head at you while your two year old throws himself down on the floor screaming, or the put-together mom with the well dressed kids eyeballing you as you give your kid the iPad at the table.  Or even the well meaning but critical relative telling you to bundle your baby up although she’s sweating like a pig.

We don’t need your judgment because we are doing the best we can.  There’s no one right way to parenting, and every child is different.  Every momma is different too.

And how would you know what happened right before the tantrum took place? Or why that mother isn’t picking up her screaming baby?  Maybe she’s tried everything but the baby just won’t stop crying.  Maybe she’s sprained her back.  You would not know the full story from outside so it would not be your place to judge.

All parents are already doing their best and they know their kids the best.  Having people throw judgment at us is just an unnecessary irritation we don’t need.

2. Parent’s guilt

Don’t say other people judging parents, moms and dads often judge themselves the harshest.  Our children are precious so naturally we want to do our best for them.  And of course we should!  But when it comes to the small stuff, don’t sweat it.  So what if we don’t create the nicest bento, go out for a nice lunch with girlfriends without them, or forget to let them wear socks with their sneakers?  THAT IS OKAY.

Your kids will not grow up into monsters because you gave them Mcdonalds for lunch instead of a home-grown, home cooked nutritious meal.  Or if you let them go out of the house with unbrushed hair.  Or if you want to have a nice meal with your spouse once in a while at a place that doesn’t have a kids menu.

In the long run, all this doesn’t matter.  What’s important is that your kids know you love them and are there for them.  And that they have a happy mom rather than a stressed out miserable one.

3.  Someone banging the door just when you’ve put the baby to sleep

Do I need to elaborate. T_T  Worst is if you’ve just spent the last forty minutes rocking baby until you can’t feel your arms anymore, shushing like a steam engine, and you’ve finally managed to ninja your baby into her crib without waking her.  You’re just about to sneak out of the room when your hand slips off the doorknob… and the door slams shut.

GG. Hahahaha.

4. Inflexible bosses

I haven’t had personal experience in this, thankfully but I have mommy friends with unreasonable bosses who mark them down for leaving the office at 5.30 pm on the dot  to go pick up kids from daycare.  Even though they’ve finished their work.  Just because they look “lazy.” Whaaaat.

5.  Baby falling sick

This is the mother of all.  When a child is sick there is no rest for the parents.  Anxious trips to the doctor, force feeding of medicine or insertion of suppositories, staying up all night sponging or checking temperature every five minutes, wiping off vomit, going crazy with worry that the illness will escalate, when it comes to crap parents don’t need, kids falling sick is second only to…

6. You falling sick

When kids are sick you wish you could take on the sickness and suffer instead of your kids.  The irony is that when we’re sick, we still worry because who’s going to manage the kids if you’re down with fever or a headache?

I used to avoid pills and medicines at all cost… until I became a mom.  I’d just suffer in bed and wait out fevers and headaches (more serious sicknesses or infections no choice la have to take meds).  But now with Fighter and Penny, no choice.  If I feel a headache or fever coming, the most sensible thing to do is to swallow a Panadol and get on with life.  Sure, I can ask nanny to take over but I don’t want to if possible.  Fighter won’t understand why I’m cooped up in bed instead of hanging out with him and I’d rather much prefer being downstairs with the two of them than having to quarantine myself in my room.

Lololol.

For the other nuisances, there’s no magic pill to make them go away, but for physical headaches or just feeling under the weather, all it takes is a Panadol Actifast (which btw absorbs twice as fast as regular paracetamol and is gentle on the stomach, leaving the body naturally in 24 hours), whatever it takes to get the pain out so you can c0ntinue to live life well. 🙂 #LifeReplacesPain #PanadolActifast