February 2020 – HEALTH FREAK MOMMY

Best Toilet Papers Ever – Seazons Rock Toilet Tissues

Talking about toilet papers, my friends were in disbelief when I told them recently that I buy an average of one bag of 10 toilet rolls every single week. Sometimes I buy even more when I see discounts at my favorite mart. But what turns me off when I shop for toilet rolls is lugging the bags of toilet rolls from the car park of our condo back to our unit on the 5th floor. As I don’t only buy toilet rolls but other stuff as well, the toilet rolls would always be stacked up on the top of the trolley and this aunty here will be struggling to push her trolley up the ramp to the lift area. Sometimes the bags of toilet rolls would fall off the trolley while going up the ramp and sometimes the flimsy plastic carrier on the bag would tear off whilst I carry it! Nightmare for this aunty as I am usually alone and would have to stop right smack in the middle of the basement picking up the bag of toilet papers and then tuck the bag under my armpit! That is why I sometimes opt to buy toilet rolls online as the toilet papers would be delivered right to my door step. The only downside is that I have to pay delivery charges to the online store. I’m sure some of you echo my sentiments too.

I am very finicky when it comes to buying toilet papers. These are my criteria when choosing toilet papers:

1. the toilet papers must be made from 100% virgin pulp.
2. there must be minimal to no dust from the papers when I tear them.
3. the toilet papers must be OBA (optical brightening agent)-free.
4. the toilet papers must be compact and not filled with air.
5. have a smaller core, thus more toilet papers.
6. The plastic bag holding the toilet rolls must be completely sealed on both the top and bottom.

Have you ever noticed that most brands of toilet papers in the market are packaged in a plastic bag that is not completely sealed, leaving a small opening at the top and bottom of the bag? Think creepy crawlies entering the bag and contaminating the papers with their droppings and then the contaminated papers are used to wipe your down under or even your mouth. Ewwww!

I choose high-quality toilet papers over cheaper sub-standard ones as high-quality toilet paper is gentle on your sensitive regions, easy on your sewage, and it cleans up messes without leaving any bits behind.

Recently I came across Seazons’ Rock, a new brand of toilet tissues while browsing for toilet papers online. Rock toilet tissues meet all my six criteria above for toilet papers. I ordered a pack of 18 toilet rolls to try as it came with free shipping. When I received my order, I was pleasantly surprised that the two bags of toilet rolls were really heavy, which means that I am buying more papers and not air. After trying the toilet papers, I am completely sold! The toilet papers are soft yet the rolls are so compact and hard that they feel rock solid, thus the name Rock.

Retailed at RM56.90 for a bundle of 18 rolls, each roll contains 1000 sheet of double-ply papers. Although the price is a tad higher than other brands, we get more papers in each roll. Each bundle of 18 rolls is equivalent to approximately 55 rolls of regular toilet papers from other cheaper brands.

Rock toilet tissues are:
Made with 100% virgin pulp
Fragrance Free
Hypoallergenic
Anti-bacterial
Sulfate Free
Eco-friendly
OBA-free
2-ply with strong fibers
Hygienic as they are packaged in a completely sealed plastic bag.
Extremely compact and have smaller cores
Proudly made in Selangor, Malaysia
Each bundle of 18 rolls weighs a whopping 4.9kg!

This short video shows how rock-hard and compact Rocky toilet rolls are compared to other brands of toilet papers:

As Rock toilet rolls have a smaller core, this means more sheets in each roll and fewer replenishment. If the toilet roll holder in your bathroom is too big for the small core, worry not. Each bundle of 18 rolls toilet papers comes with two free heavy-duty magic hooks. Simply stick the magic hook onto your bathroom tile, get a piece of ribbon or rope to tie the roll and hang the toilet roll onto the hook. The magic hook sticks to most surfaces sturdily but if your wall is not tiled, you may not want to stick the hook onto the wall as the paint may peel off when you remove the hook.

Toilet Roll Holder Design Contest
Seazons is currently running a toilet roll holder design contest and the first three winners get to win shopping cash vouchers!

Period Of Contest
This Contest will commence from midnight 00:00:00, 1st March 2020 and will end on 17:00:00, 31st May 2020.

Entry Submission & Eligibility Criteria
To enter this Contest, participants are required to purchase Rock Toilet Roll and retain original receipt as proof of purchase. Participants can purchase and enter the contest unlimited times. However, each receipt will only be entitled to 1 entry.

Participation / Entry Method
Participants may enter the contest via the method as explained below:
Step 1: Purchase Rock Toilet Roll
Step 2: Fill up contest form available at Contest Page and submit together your most creative design for the Rock Toilet Roll Holder.

Winner Selection, Contest Prizes and Winners Announcement

Prizes are as below:
1st Prize – RM2,000.00 Cash Voucher*
2nd Prize – RM1,000.00 Cash Voucher*
3rd Prize – RM500.00 Cash Voucher*
100 x Consolation Prizes – 1 packet of Seazons Rock Toilet Roll (9 rolls x 1000 sheets) each

*shopping vouchers at a leading supermarket or hypermart

Discount Voucher for Health Freak Mommy readers!
Specially for Health Freak Mommy readers, you can utilize the following voucher code https://seazonstissue.com/voucher/SEAZB8EU/ to get a RM5 discount off your order of Rock toilet tissues when you purchase from DaEZmart, Lazada and Shoopee.

Just key in the code during checkout and the amount will be deducted from the total amount.

Shipping is FREE for delivery within West Malaysia.

By lasting a while longer than other toilet papers, Rock toilet tissues will also help you save money on your monthly household expenses. Rock toilet tissues truly rocks! Get a pack to try today.

No. of times viewed = 61

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

I had to cut short my must-have me-time predawn exercise this morning to bring Sherilyn to school at 6:45 a.m. The bus would leave the school before 7 a.m. for the stadium. She’s representing her school again this year in several athletics events – 400m, 4x400m, javelin and short putt. The inter-school athletics competition is on-going the entire week and she has to skip lessons the entire week. AGAIN! She’s been skipping lessons the past one month to do daily athletics practice, cheerleading and CNY dance practice. After this inter-school athletics meet, she’ll be taking part in an inter-state cultural dance competition! And just today she told me that her teacher appointed her as the school’s camera crew and asked me for money to buy a shirt. All crew members have to don on the shirt when they are on duty. I wonder how she’s going to catch up on her studies but her hunger for taking part in competitions is too ferocious for anyone to stop her.

This middle child of mine is a sucker for competitions since young. At pre-school and primary school, she would take part in all the singing, dancing and drawing competitions. In high school now, she’s participating in more competitions – athletics, drama, dancing, taekwondo and all that jazz. Hopefully she’ll score sufficient points to clinch a scholarship in college.

After dropping Sherilyn off in school, I went to the park to continue with my brisk-walking for another half an hour.

I think I’m going to be one of these aunties here 10 years down the road, partaking in daily morning tai chi, qigong and line dance groups. 😬👯‍♀️

No. of times viewed = 18

Friday, 21 February 2020

Today’s appointment with Dr Susan @ HKL is cancelled AGAIN 😔

I somehow had a hunch that the appointment would be cancelled again. I guess it would take at least another week or two before I get a new date. I told the nurse that Cass will be sitting for her exam next week, thus will only be able to see the doctor the week after next. The nurse told me today that Cass would have to be present at the next appointment.

Since I don’t have to camp at this dreaded cold place (I hate to be at hospitals, especially HKL), I had a quick brunch with the hubs at Les Deux Garcons (LDG) Patisserie.

Yesterday I went hunting for ‘healthy’ cereals for Cass. I’ve stopped buying cereals for so long that Cass suddenly had a craving for Honey Stars and Coco Crunch and these are snacks that I would avoid buying as they’re loaded with sugar and possibly made from GMO corns. With our finicky girls, I have to either bring them to the supermarket to choose it themselves or if they’re all in school, I normally snap a picture of the items that they want and let them pick their choice at night and I make another trip to the supermarket to buy the item the next day.

These are the organic cereals that I’d shortlisted in my preliminary round with photos taken yesterday and bought today. The girls picked Vitabella but when I saw from the box that the expiration date is just a month away, I bought Honey Pops instead. I wanted to get Lion Hearts, which is cereals made from an assortment of beans but the fussy girls said NO.

I never had this privilege growing up. My brothers and I ate whatever my parents bought, where luxurious food items were hardly bought. Even ham and cheese were such luxuries during our time. Whether we liked it or hated it, we never had a choice. My papa was a Nazi dad and my brothers and I never dared to challenge his words nor his choice for us. How he has mellowed down over the years and is now a complete opposite with his grand kids! I think most kids of that era grew up in draconian rules too, eh?

No. of times viewed = 24

Thursday, 20 February 2020

I was so happy and in disbelief yesterday when the nurse from the Urology Unit of HKL called me to ask me to come the next day (today). The last time Dr Susan saw Cass was in August 2019. We were given a date to see her again in October 2019 but Dr Susan was, as expected, busy with patients and traveling all over Malaysia to treat patients at general hospitals. She sees hundreds of patients on a daily basis and performs surgeries too. From October, our appointment was postponed to November, then December, then January 2020 and then I gave up pestering the nurse for a date. Due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus outbreak, I’m trying my best to avoid going to hospitals, especially HKL as this hospital as well as Hospital Sg Buloh are the two government appointed hospitals in the Klang Valley to handle the Covid-19 cases.

I was told that it’s OK not to bring Cass to the hospital as I was only going to see Dr Susan to sign a Consent Letter (for Cass to do a repeat MRI) and to discuss other matters pertaining to Cass. But this morning, the nurse called me to inform me that the appointment is cancelled as Dr Susan is caught up in another meeting! Again, after a half-year wait! 😔 Well, understandably as this is a government hospital, the queue is never-ending and I don’t have to pay. So, don’t complain. The nurse told me to be on standby to see Dr Susan tomorrow and she’ll call me to reconfirm tomorrow morning. I truly hope that the appointment will be confirmed and I can get a date for Cass to do a repeat MRI of her urinary tract pronto.

People have been asking me why don’t I bring Cass to see a nephrologist and urologist at a private hospital? It’s tiring having to explain Cass’ history from day one. As her condition is congenital and discovered when she was about 16 weeks old in-utero, it is therefore NOT covered by any insurance company. From the time she had her first UTI attack at 6 weeks old until her surgeries when she was 13 months old, we had spent over RM70,000 on her medical bills and not a single cent was claimable from our insurers. This is EXCLUSIVE of all her costly monthly supplements and other supplies. Thus, we try to go to government hospitals unless the circumstance is grave and urgent.

So let’s see what happens tomorrow morning. Will Dr Susan be free to see me? Being able to see her is like striking a RM100,000 jackpot! And if Cass is 100% healed, it will be akin to hitting a 500 million bucks jackpot for Cass and me.

Since I don’t have to camp at HKL today, I did groceries shopping and had Japanese for lunch with the hubs ☺️

No. of times viewed = 19

Clinell Disinfectant Wipes (Super Big Sheets)

Face masks and hand sanitizers flew off the shelves at all the pharmacies at our neighborhood a few days before Chinese New Year. As the number of infected patients in our country rises by the day, so does the fear and panic among Malaysians.

A few days ago when I was at Big Pharmacy, I saw a new brand of disinfectant wipes – Clinell Universal Wipes. I have never seen this brand of disinfectant wipes before but since everyone is buying disinfectant wipes, the kiasu-ism in me told me to get a pack, though it costs a frigging RM45 for a pack of 200 wipes (selling at RM69 at Shopee). Plus point is that the sheets are big enough for me to slot them into my Kao magic wiper mop. I now use these disinfectant sheets to wipe our floors, tables and chairs several times a day.

What really enticed me to buy Clinell is when I saw that the wipes can kill all these bacteria: MRSA, Acinetobacter, VRE, TB, Hepatitis B & C, HIV, Herpes Simplex 1 and 2, Influenza, Avian Influenza (H5N1) and a whole list of other bacteria!

Check out how big a pack Clinell is in comparison with regular packs.

These wipes are so easy and convenient to use and everyone at home is now wiping off surfaces with them. I made another trip to Big Pharmacy just now with the intention of getting another 2 packs of Clinell but was informed that they are all sold out! Within days! Other brands of antiseptic wipes and hand sanitizers are sold out too. I am going to Mid Valley Megamall in a few days to hunt for antiseptic wipes and hand sanitizer. I am that kiasu when it concerns the health of my family and I.

Have you been stocking up on these items too?

No. of times viewed = 86

Favorite Chinese New Year Gifts

Of all the gifts that the hubs received from his friends and suppliers during Chinese New Year, we love these two the most:

Inside the beautifully woven basket in bright red are Mandarin oranges, a bottle of homemade pineapple tarts, homemade butter cookies and a little treasure basket. Inside the little basket is a treasure of ‘kat jai’ (mini tangerines) and Patchi mini superior chocolate waiting to be savoured by all the chocolate lovers at home.

Below: Exquisite individually-wrapped Isabelle biscuits packaged elegantly in a vanity box with pearl handle is my top favorite. ISABELLE (Taiwan) once won the gold medal for biscuit gift boxes in Taiwan and obtained a certificate in ISO9001-2000 in 2001.

Isabelle cookies not only look pretty and exquisite, they are yummy and not overly sweet – endorsed by Health Freak Mommy!

I’m going to keep the box to store knick-knacks or simply use it as decor.

No. of times viewed = 49

Chinese New Year 2020 – 8th and 9th Day

Last Saturday, 1 February 2020 was the 8th day of CNY. It was Sherilyn’s Lunar birthday. She was born on the 8th day of CNY 15 years ago. I remember so vividly the thunderous fireworks let out for about half an hour that midnight when I was struggling to breastfeed this fiery infant who suckled my boob so aggressively that a small piece of the tit was bitten off by this toothless infant who wasn’t even a day old. My boobs were terribly sore, painful and bloody but I persevered with nursing this precious baby girl of mine. What a grand presence she’d made into the world with her loud and long first cries (loudest and longest of our 3 babies) in the OT and then later bit off part of mummy’s tits just several hours later 😂 Her character was already so prominently displayed the moment she announced her arrival into this world. My dare devil and drama queen!

On Chor 8, we had dinner with our old buddies at Oversea Restaurant @ Jalan Imbi. Dinner time allocated to us was at 8:30 p.m. and by the time we finished dinner, it was already close to 11 p.m. We were the last group of patrons to leave the restaurant.

The damage came up to over RM2k for 2 tables. The kids could wallop as much as us adults!

A big bulk of the bill came from the tiger prawns and Soon Hock fish.

My favorite dessert from this restaurant is their signature double boiled almond paste with egg white. It’s so addictive it’s illegal! Every mouthful is chokfull of silky smooth and creamy aromatic Chinese almonds, thickened with egg white. Though it was already 10 p.m. and way past my last eating time, I just couldn’t resist chomping down a bowl of this ‘hung ngan tun tarn tong sui’, all my myself.

Fireworks seen from our unit on the midnight of Chor 8 / Pai Ti Kong night.

The next day Cass had a gathering at her ertswhile class teacher, Ms L’s house in Ampang. Ms L was Cass and her classmate’s class teacher from Primary 2 through Primary 4. When Ms L announced that she would no longer be teaching them in Primary 5, Cass and her classmates were terribly disappointed. Her classmates then created a Whatsapp chat group with Ms L in the group. As Ms L is no longer their class teacher, she’s now like a good friend to them. Cass dots on Ms L.

Cass gets a hug from her favorite teacher, Ms L.

Cass and her classmates at Ms L’s CNY open house.

The boy in blue jacket in glasses is a Malay boy and is one of the top scorers in the entire standard (Chinese school). I am always very amazed by him.

After dropping off Cass at Ms L’s house, we went to one of the famous Ampang Yong Tau Foo stalls to have lunch. In all honesty, I think the Yong Tau Foo at that stall is nothing to shout about. There are stalls in my neighborhood that sells similar Yong Tau Foo and stuff that taste just as good.

Hardly with her hair let down, Cass had to let it down as her hair tie snapped while she was in the car. Alycia commented that Cass looks gorgeous with her curly brown hair let down 😄

From behind, my baby girl looks so grown up. She’s going to be 12 soon!

No. of times viewed = 52

Bonding With Cousins

Today I’m relieved of my Grab mom duties as it’s a public holiday (FT day), thus there’s no tuition, no martial arts class and no piano class. And our dearest part time helper of 8 years is here to help me with the house chores, so I have more time on hand to update my blogs. I’m so happy 😊

Our CNY dinner with our friends at Overseas Restaurant starts at 8:30 tonight. The dinner time allocated by restaurants during CNY is crazy. You either eat at 5:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. By the time the food arrives tonight, it would be 9-ish p.m. and serves more of a supper than dinner! There goes my 12-hour circadian rhythm intermittent fasting. In fact, I’ve not been consistently practising my time-restricted eating throughout the week-long CNY break. But with restricted food portion, I’ve still not stuffed up on my weight 👍

When we were back in Ipoh last week, our girls had a wonderful and fruitful time bonding with their cousins from Singapore. The twinsies are now closer to our girls and even baby Raeanne who was previously very shy and would cry if any of us went near her, has outgrown her timidity towards us ‘strangers’. Baby Raeanne has a special fondness towards Cass and baby Rayzen towards Alycia.

This CNY, our girls have mastered the skill of carrying the toddlers 🥰

Cass and Raelynne trying to pacify Rayzen who bawled uncontrollably when he woke up from his siesta and couldn’t find his papa who was out shopping with his mummy.

Playing with our neighbor/close family friend’s Golden Retrievers. They have a family of four super adorable Golden Retrievers.

I was overly ambitious and brought 5 kids on my own for an evening stroll around the neighborhood. It was not as easy as I thought as we had to cross roads and chase stray dogs away. Plus Sherilyn and especially Cass are still not very adept at carrying the hyper active toddlers. I was hyperventilating when we had to cross busy roads and almost got chased by dogs 😵 Even snapping this photo was a feat for me as I was worried that Cass would accidentally drop baby Rayzen (who’s on the heavy side) on the road 🤭 Each time our girls carry the babies, visions of me accidentally dropping my 2-year old baby cousin brother on the road on a cold night in Cameron Highlands when I was 16 years old still haunts me. And he had a bloody cut on his forehead resulting from the accident, which makes me feel bad till today!

No. of times viewed = 36

Chinese New Year 2020

It’s a ritual of the Yaps to go vegetarian on the first day of the Lunar New Year. And there will always be a Lion Dance ceremony in the earning morning on the first day of CNY at the Yaps’ family house.

Our girls are not fans of ‘jai’ but whether they like it or not, everyone has to eat this dish on the first day of CNY 😏 and we can feast on meat for dinner with my parents. 😬 For me, I’m more of a herbivore and have absolutely no issue eating ‘jai’ the entire day.

Lunch on Chor Yat at the Yaps’.

Dinner on Chor Yat at Kok Thai Restaurant with my family.

At almost 50, I still get ang pow from my parents ❤️

Ang pow from my darling.

On the 2nd day of CNY, we went to the Yaps’ ancestral house again for ‘hoi nien’ lunch. All the dishes were cooked by the great cooks of the Yap family, except for the waxed meat.

After lunch, we rushed back to my parents’ for another gathering, this time with the Yongs (my papa’s 8 siblings).

We stopped by the road side to get fresh coconut water as the weather in Ipoh was burning hot, so hot that we could literally feel our skin grilled. Hubs waited under the hot sun for 15 minutes for the vendor to pack the coconut water as there was a long queue. Things that my darling would do for me 💓

Dinner on Chor 2 was at YMCA. The dishes here tasted way better than Kok Thai. Though the restaurant at YMCA is small and less fancy, the quality of each dish was top notch. This restaurant serves halal Chinese dishes.

No. of times viewed = 28