I boycott old town white coffee kopitiams

and here's why.

what was meant to be a beautiful night for ts and i turned sour when we were told we were not welcomed in the non-smoking section of old town white coffee outlet in uoa building in bangsar. i have written to old town, throught their website 2 days (30 april) after the incident, siting the fact that i needed time to cool down to analyse the whole situation before i act. i mentally gave them a week to get back to me but after they failed to do so, i wrote in to hotline malay mail (7 may). i have yet to hear from either party. here's my hotline story.

I have written to Old Town White Coffee Kopitiam (OT) to lodge my complain. I wrote to them through their website (general inquiry form) 2 days after the unfortunate incident but till today have not received any feedback from their side. Below is what I've written to them.

"My husband and I were at the outlet in UOA Bangsar on Tuesday (28 April) at 10.39pm. We were told that the NON-SMOKING area is closed and that we can only sit in the SMOKING area. I spoke to the employee behind the cash register, K.S. Lim, and told him that I am pregnant and therefore didn't want to sit in the smoking area. He insisted that the NON-SMOKING section is CLOSED, because it was already time to clear out that area (they close at midnight). I asked him 'So, you are asking a pregnant woman to sit in the smoking section?' and with a smirk on his face, he nodded and said 'YES'. i told him that i will write to the management and he said go ahead and even flashed me his name tag. So, here I am writing to your company regarding this incident.

Are NON-SMOKERS not welcomed in Old Town Cafes?"

The business hours for that particular outlet of OT is till midnight. But they 'close' the non-smoking section at 10pm, unofficially, of course.

We are very dissatisfied with the quality of service of OT. The audacity of K.S. LIM to smirk at me because HE KNOWS I CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE MATTER!! How are the people of Malaysia going to say "TAK NAK" to smoking if operators like such are still rampant? The govt. should really look into this. One minute you hear them campaigning against smoking, and one minute, just quiet. I really hope that consumers can be protected from the wrong-doings of such operators, instead of just telling us to 'not patronize that outlet anymore', which does not solve the problem.

what i wish is to spread the word that second-hand/passive smoke is equally, if not more, detrimental to ones health as lighting up is. i used to be a smoker and i would never wish upon anyone who wasn't a smoker to have to inhale my smoke. i hope that stricter laws can be enforced instead of just being the written word on some legislative parchment.

Agape love

i can pretty much pinpoint the source of my incessant crying on my hormones. but that doesn't make it go away. as a result, my slanty chinese eyes are made more slanty to the point that if i laugh, everyone disappears. the reason behind all the waterworks is the overwhelming feeling i have missing my grandmother. as my pregnancy progresses, and ts' workload increases, we find it hard to make time to visit with her. it used to be every weekend, then twice a month and since i fell pregnant, once a month. i miss her tremendously it hurts. and seeing her so frail each time i visit doesn't help ease my mind. i miss her, and i worry about her. i somehow wish there was a way she could come live with us. but she loves her home.

i miss you, ma. i love you so much

should i laugh or should i go?

what an arsehole. i don't normally discuss politics, especially not on this here blog. even more rarely do i name-call or curse at someone on my blog. but this guy, along with that racist ahmad should be put to sleep like the animals that they are. the arsehole speaking in this video really shames all malaysians.

p/s: i have no tolerance for anyone fleeing the country and then spewing nonsense about it like they really know what was going on. i feel that once a person renounces their country of origin, they also cease to have the right to comment about that country. which leads me to say this to the woman interviewed at the beginning of this video 'don't talk shit about malaysia like you have the right to, or the knowledge to, and please, whatever you do, don't come back here. you are no longer welcome in malaysia.

the miracle of technology

today is the day we went for our first detailed scan. at first, i didn't recognise the little angle i saw in the monitor. i saw a tiny hand with even tinier fingers. all five on one perfect hand. and the hand was being sucked by a small mouth. i slowly made out a nose, and two spots where the eyes are. it felt surreal. i was actually looking into the face of my unborn child and there were no words to describe the feeling. it was like pouring a jug full of happiness down my throat and making it overflow. i felt a lump building up in my throat but since there were others present (mil and another relative on ts' side) i giggled instead. how is it possible that i've been so blessed to have fallen pregnant? i thank god everyday.

little endut at 21 weeks, lying comfortably in my womb.

i feel the earth move

today, for the first time, ts felt the baby move in me. for this week, it's been like clockwork. every 6pm and 6am, lil endut will kick 5-7 times before she tires and goes back to resting. i'm so happy every time i feel her move. she's just too precious.

my bun is a grain of rice

yesterday was a good day for me. besides my breasts being very tender and sore, i have no other discomforts. the same goes for today, although it's still early times to be sure. so far, so good, though.

the day before yesterday was the worst. i felt sick all day. my palate feels heavy with a coat of plasticky filament-like taste. hopefully that's the last of it for this whole pregnancy (if only *sigh*)

i've also been taking healthier foods, such as lots of fruits, greens, whole grains, and mostly home-cooked goodies. i reckon these foods somehow contribute to my overall well-being. 'duh', right? i know, but sometimes things are easier said than done. for instance, cooking takes at least an hour out of my day, from preparing to cooking to eating. well, maybe more than an hour. that is an hour plus i put aside from working. what that does to my work is prolong the hours i sit in front of my computer. so, it's not really that simple to have home-cooked meals every meal-time when you're working from home too. i hear my father's voice saying 'manage your time and you'll find that time is on your side'. ok, dad, thanks for that advice, but seriously, have you ever tried being a stay-at-home wife and work from home at the same time? oh, and i forgot to mention, my workload is rather heavy. we (our company) gets an enquiry for a website at least once every week. and most of them would end up hiring our services. so, on average, i'd have to finish up a whole site in a week. from initial planning, to the drawing board, to the actual design, and finally, execution. although i'm not alone, i still oversee most of the designing and framework. that really takes a lot of my time. and then there's always some adjustments or changes by the clients before the final delivery. some clients take as long as 3-4 months to finalise. so, yeah, i try my best to give my unborn child the best nutrients, as and when i'm able to.

i'm so in love. i have an appointment for a first scan in 2 days but i already know i love my baby so much. can't wait to see him/her. love you baby!

are you cross?

we're pregnant.

it was really hard for me to register the thought as i was clutching the positive-indicated home pregnancy testkit (hpt) in my hand, for fear of it not being true and at the same time overwhelmed by the feeling of euphoria. it was the most beautiful feeling and i wouldn't mind re-living that moment everyday.

it all started sometime early november, during the first weekend, when i felt a little sore in both breasts similar to those i experience prior to my period. this was followed by a few days of lower abdominal discomfort and subsequently, period cramp-like discomfort. all normal symptoms a week or so before my period. so, when the tenderness stayed on and the period did not come, even after 2 weeks, i started to panic, thinking all sorts of bad things, medically. to justify my fears, i would have to tell another story, one regarding my hormonal imbalance. hmm, i thought i was seeing the onset of early menopause. what a laugh right? but as the days grew into weeks, i started feeling, erm, different.

first, there is a really funny taste in my mouth, one that only goes away temporarily when i have food in my mouth, so long as i have food in my mouth, even if it was a gum drop. the funny taste can be described as sucking and/or licking on a piece of rusty metal. how would i know what that tastes like in the first place i hear you ask. well, i was a kid once upon a time too you know. *giggle*

then there is the slight cravings for certain foods. i have to say my cravings are really nothing compared to some horror stories i've heard, for example, one for uncooked rice. the constant hunger is another give-away. not having your tummy satiated asap leads to gag-reflex and subsequently vomiting. this, ladies and gents, is what they (the medical experts) refer to as morning sickness, and 'morning' is just a pretty, decorative word.

and only since last week, i've been really tired and exhausted. i sleep more than 9 hours a day, collectively.

not forgetting the emotional roller-coaster i've been on. i cry almost every morning but feel silly once it's all over. i cry because i fear i'll be a lousy mother, for fear that i won't be able to provide for my child, for fear of becoming old and ugly, not to mention fat and stumpy. i cry when i see a character in a movie cry, i cry when i feel nostalgic, and when i miss my grandmother. i cry to about almost anything.

so, i say to myself, if i'm not pregnant, i must be going crazy. sometimes, a woman just knows, and i knew. but to convince my sensible self, i took a hpt.