I'm a full-time mummy

I have been cutting down on doing product reviews ever since our 3rd kiddo came along in end of Sept 2013 and especially now with 4th kiddo due at end of 2016. I do still accept review pitches but only when time permits and if it is something that I can see it being useful and beneficial to our family. Also, as busy as I am with 3 kiddos, being preggy, home cooking, taking care of hubby's administration site of the business and swamped up with managing my FB page and blog, I just can't say no to reviewing good books, what more from a big brand name like Scholastic! Reading is my passion and coupled with books that are of parenting, children, family or religion or educational genre, all the more I gotta say yes!

Title: Scholastic - Bodhi and Friends series (Hello, Hey, Hi! and See You Later)
Publisher: Scholastic Singapore
ISBN: 978-981-47-2998-7 (Hello, Hey, Hi!)
ISBN: 978-981-47-2999-4 (See You Later)
Paperback: 24 pages (each book comes with a DVD)

Description from the product page:

"Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, presents a brand new book series “Bodhi and Friends” for kids ages 4 and up with the release of its first two sing-along books – Hello, Hey, Hi! and See You Later at its Book Preview Party held in Malaysia – the first across Asia.

This brand new book series is designed to provide a creative preschool educational program with adventure, music, fun, as well as the essential building blocks for early childhood.

The Bodhi and Friends books is a great series to be introduced to kids ages 4 and up as it is designed to help children to learn English phonics, vocabulary, grammar, listening skills while instilling a genuine love of language in them. "

We received a copy of 'Hello, Hey, Hi!' and 'See You Later' for our review and the first person being enthralled by the colorful sight of the book is our youngest kraken, who at 2.5 years old now is fascinated with books as she tried to emulate her older sister who is flipping through book at 4.5 years old and making up her own stories as she goes along and her older brother who at 7 years old can read books at his own pace. Each book comes with a sing-along DVD of the song, very very catchy indeed!

However, I'm not sure whether it is because of my Zoom player app or what, the song ends abruptly. Usually when we hear songs, there would be a few seconds of music lingering on before fading off, but the songs from these 2 books cuts off abruptly. I have yet to get other app to try the DVD again though.

Hey there, I’ll see you later.

S E E   Y O U later.

Even I find myself spelling out the letters as I sing along with our kiddos. Very catchy indeed!

As a stay-at-home mother who is ehem.. stuck at home with our kiddos most of the time, I find these books entertaining and educational as well. Apart from getting your kids to learn as they sing and enjoy along with the upbeat songs, I also can't help but noticed the subtlety in teaching children about manners as well. To say goodbye, to share toys, to greet others with good manners and so on. So these books are not just plain sing-along song, there's more to it!

The illustrations are cute and eye-catching. Reminded our girls of the Disney Palace pets characters actually. The wordings on each page is big and easy on the eyes.

If you are observant like me (ehem, ehem..) you can also make use of the books to teach your child to name the objects on the page, to count how many friends of Bodhi in a particular page, to ask your child what do they think Bodhi and its friends are doing on the page (Going to school? Playing? Having a picnic? and more), to tell the time, to pay attention to the sky (dark = night time, raining etc), to name the colors on the rainbow, so much more learning opportunities if you just pay attention to the details in the book!

Thank you to Scholastic for the opportunities given to us to review these books!

The book is available at all major bookstores.

For more information on the Bodhi and Friends book series, visit Scholastic’s website or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ScholasticAsia

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with copies of the books 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. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

** 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.

I have been cutting down on doing product reviews since 2014 and what more with baby #4 on the way this end of year, all the more I need to be particularly picky and selective with the products that I'm reviewing. Not that I'm trying to be hard sell, no, definitely not! But with 3 kiddos + 1 on the way, being a housewife at home with kiddos all the time and helping out with hubby's business, I just feel it is not fair to make companies and PR reps wait for my reviews while I slowly review and look for time to spare to draft out my feedback you know? But of course, like I said, I have to be selective, so products that we can definitely fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre) will be accepted!

Recently, I received an email asking whether I would be interested to review the latest products from BROS (yeah, the famous water bottle brand) I was like 'Hey, let's do it!' I mean, hey, who am I to say no to BROS? They are famous for their BPA-free, eco-friendly, reusable and recyclable bottles!

About the company:

"Proudly developed and manufactured since 2004, BROS reusable water bottles set the trend through superior quality, innovation and better design. Committed to better health and the environment BROS encourages more people to get hydrated. BROS is distributed nationally and regionally by Living Wing Sdn Bhd.

Every bottle in the BROS series is made to be durable with safe and eco-friendly materials, providing a compelling alternative to single-use, disposable plastic beverage containers. A fun and stylish way to keep hydrated while reducing plastic waste!."

I received the BROS Mother’s Day Gift Set (which is a bundle of the Mother and Child bottles) for my review. Here is how it looks like in its packaging (box a bit crumpled due to transit):

So kawaiiii!!! I mean, so beautiful!!! What more with purple being my favorite color and pink being our girl's favorite color! Awesome possum!!!

Here's a closer look of how the water bottles look like. A brief info on this Mother's Day gift set - both BPA-free water bottles are from the Crystal series, 350ml in size and were inspired by simple yet precious memories made with someone we love.

In this scenario, it’s the walk home from a little girl's childhood memory of grocery shopping with her mother. That was her fondest memories. Although it might seem insignificant to others but the warm presence of her mother lingers in the mind of the daughter till today.

Even though I am a mother myself now, I still cherished my childhood memories when I followed my late mum to the morning market to have our breakfast whenever we were back in her hometown during school holidays. After all, don't you agree that the most treasured memories are the ones made with someone you love? Our 4.5 years old girl is so happy with her special pink water bottle with a picture of a little girl (she said 'Awwww the little girl looks just like me!!!') and she feels special to have her own special set of water bottle alongside with mummy!

Thank you BROS for this wonderful and precious memories you created for my little princess and myself!

I'm also very grateful for the additional water bottles that we get, especially for our 7 years old boy and our 2.5 years old girl.

What a nice touch and extra thoughts! Wonderful company that cares about the extra little things!

Do check out http://www.bros-store.com/ for more choices and details.

As a token of appreciation to my awesome readers, BROS generously extended an additional 10% discount for the Mother's Day gift set. All you have to do is simply enter the code FTMUMMY10 at the checkout to enjoy the offer. Please note that this offer is valid from April 15 to 8 May only so do hurry up!!! Also, I don't get any commission or referral fees from doing this. I'm just sharing this in case you plan to get any Mother's Day pressies for the awesome mums in your life :D

Take note that the discount code is applicable per person per checkout. If you purchase 2 Mother’s Gift Set in a single checkout (one Order ID No., one invoice), both gift set will be entitled to additional 10% off. BUT if you purchase 2 Mother’s Day Gift Set separately in 2 different checkouts (two Order ID No., two invoice), only one gift set will be entitled to additional 10% off. You will not be able to utilize the discount code on your second purchase (2nd invoice).

Also, from 15th April to 8th May, the first 50 online orders of this lovely water bottle set will come with a personalized message.

This is the awesome sketch by BROS in-house artist of my humble little family!

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 everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

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:

The moment I see the motorcycle on the ap, it reminded me of my late dad's motorcycle. It was not the same Suzuki brand (my dad owned a Yamaha bike) but it looks very similar.

Ever since I was born, the bike has been in the family. I can't remember how many times dad repaired the bike but he had to, we are not rich to get a car etc. I remembered in late 90s, dad used his savings to pay for a second hand Iswara when my older brother got his license - that was the 1st car in our family. Yet, dad maintained his faithful old bike.

I remembered the stories dad told me about his bike. How it saved his life back in the 60s during the riot times. Dad told me how as he was riding his bike away from his office, he saw people chasing around with parangs trying to attack and hurt others, whoever within reach. Thanks to his bike, it saved his life. He made it back home safely.

I remembered sitting at the front part of the bike where the petrol tank was located at. I was 7 years old and insisted to tag along with my parents to the morning market.

I remembered how dad got into an accident when I was in my early teens and it hurt him that his bike was damaged as well but he managed to save up his money to repair it bit by bit.

I remembered as I got older and looking at my parents riding away after I got on my school bus to school in the wee hours of morning.

I remembered when I started doing part-time sales promoter job at 16 years old during school holidays, dad would fetch me back home with his bike from the back lane of Metrojaya Bukit Bintang Plaza.

I remembered when I was working part-time at the souvenir shop during my college year and dad fetched me back home everyday at 6pm with his bike.

I remembered the times we had to squeeze through the traffic jams and was amazed at how dad managed to sverve left and right to avoid hitting the cars and busses around us.

I remembered the times when I got stranded with my dad at some shoplots when it rained suddenly and we had to take shelter from the heavy rain.

I remembered the few times we braved through the rain on the way home (in highway, no chance to stop for any shelters) and how his raincoat will flap over my legs and I tried to cover his back as well with my windcoat.

I remembered to look of 'we made it home!' during these occasions.

I remembered the looks of admiration from other bikers as we all waited for green light and people were asking my dad about his bike.

I remembered the bike was unique from others, dad's bike has 2 long exhaust pipes while the newer modern bikes has 1 exhaust pipe only.

I remembered seeing how proud dad was with his bike. It was old, antique and in running condition. How can one not be proud of it?

I remembered dad telling us how people offered his lots of money for his bike and he rejected the offers.

I remembered watching dad wiping, drying and cleaning his beloved bike.

I remembered even as my dad started getting too weak to ride on his bike and he asked my hubby (then boyfriend) to start and warm up his bike every now and then to make sure it is still in running condition.

I remembered how sad I was when my dad passed away, the bike was left downstairs at our government flat motorcyle parking bays where it has always faithfully been parked at.

I remembered the sadness and regret that we never bothered to take up motorcycle lessons and exams.

I remembered the anger and fury as I see the tires and some main parts of the bike got stollen days after dad was cremated.

I will never forget how I cursed the thief and hope they rot in hell for doing this despicable acts.

I remembered regretting my cursing as I realised as a Christian, revenge is not ours to take and we should never ever curse at anybody no matter how.

I remembered praying that the person(s) who stole my dad's bike parts will make good use of the parts and the money will be able to support their family in need. That is the only thought I can think of to console my broken heart.

So many memories of that bike... Of my dad... Of my childhood... Of alot of things...

** 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.