A Seminar on Child Nutrition and Health

Mommy got this interesting announcement from a colleague yesterday. She got the invitation to this talk because she is in the field of Health and Nutrition (she is one of the lecturers in the Food Science and Nutrition programme). According to her (and the invitation card), this talk is free-of-charge and anybody can attend it. And the topics sound very interesting to Mommy. Here are the details:

Theme: Updates on Child Nutrition and Health

Date: 10th November 2009

Venue: Main Lecture Hall, Dewan Kuliah Utama, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia.

Time: 8.30 am - 5.30 pm

Deadline to RSVP: 30th October 2009

Who to RSVP to: Chin Yit Siew (chinys@medic.upm.edu.my)

Yap Su Ling (suling.yap@mjn.com)

Organizers: UPM and Mead Johnson Nutrition

Topics that will be covered:

• Child Nutrition and Immunity


• Socioeconomic Disparities in Childhood Malnutrition


• Parental Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status - What Do We Know?


• Micronutrients and Cognitive Development in Young Children


• Fatty Acids and Children's Health


• WHO Growth Standards 2006: What Does It Measure?


• Assessing Physical Activity of Children: What's New?


• A Practical Approach in Managing Childhoon Obesity


• Cow Milk Protein Allergy: A Clinician's Perspective


• Nutrition Interventions for Young Children: The Way Forward

By the way, Mommy only RSVPed on 2nd November 2009, which is already past the RSVP deadline, but luckily they still accepted because Mommy received a confirmation email from Ms. Yap Su Ling. So if you are interested to attend, you can still try to RSVP.

Teo Guan Lee Warehouse Sale (25th-31st August 2009)

Last week Friday, Mommy took a day’s leave from work after a very hectic schedule of keeping up with deadline to mark and submit exam marks. Guess where Mommy went to? Mommy went to the Teo Guan Lee Warehouse Sale to see what’s in store for baby and children items. This sale is in Taman Shamelin Perkasa, Cheras and Mommy went there via the Middle Ring Road 2. The sale is supposed to start at 10.30 am, but Mommy reached there at about 10.10 am and it was already opened. Parking-wise was a little difficult, but because Mommy’s car is small and it was still quite early, Mommy managed to get one.

There wasn't many people in the sale, probably because it was still quite early. The sale area was considerably big. Most of the items on sale are children and baby clothes and shoes/slippers and toiletries and other more minor sections are comforters and beddings, children toys, adult clothes and leather belts and wallets/purses.

Of course the section that interests Mommy most is the children and babies section. Some things are cheap, some are not - you have to choose wisely. Mommy also noticed that some really cheap items (for example Kiki Lala infant clothes selling for RM2) are no longer in good condition in that they have stains on them. Also, many items were not well price-tagged. Mommy saw many tags merely written as 'PW 03' with no mention of the price.....now what is that supposed to mean? As for payment, only cash term was accepted. But there's no queue for payment although there were also two cashier counters because not many people were buying anyway! Here are some snapshots of the sale:

Chicco bottle sterilizer - most of the boxes are already opened, but there's not price tag on the box...not even at the rack.




Kiki Lala baby clothes - can't find those at RM1 at all. Those RM2 ones are already in bad condition (stains).



Cuddles baby and toddler clothes - although the lowest price states RM3, however, the cheapest Mommy could find was RM8.


More of Cuddles baby and toddler clothes - again, Mommy can't find those at RM1, instead Mommy found those mostly at RM8.




More of Kiki Lala and Tom & Jerry items.

Pacifiers and pacifier chains selling for RM2 (Mommy can't remember what brand).




Puppy Winks canister wet wipes - RM5 per canister of 200 pieces of wet wipes - cheap!




Baby toiletries (can't remmember what brand) - RM1 for 120 mL bottle and RM2 for bigger bottle (can't remember the volume) - which is still not as cheap as the toiletries sold at Hytex.

Baby pillow and bolster sets and diaper bags.



More baby and toddler clothes. Mostly saw RM8 ones.



Popeye brand of children clothes.



Another Popeye boy's suit of T-shirt and bermuda for RM10 which is cheap, but Mommy dared not buy yet because it is going to be another 9 years before Juan Or can wear them. Maybe by then, the garters would have loosen already.

Kiki Lala pacifiers that come together with covers for RM1 each - cheap!



Kiki Lala toddler shoes selling for RM5 only - cheap! But Mommy didn't buy them because Juan Or already has enough toddler shoes bought at Hytex previously.



Girl slippers and clogs selling for RM5 per pair.



Ladybird brand of baby clothes gift set selling for RM35 but Mommy saw the original price tag was RM37.90. So this is definitely not cheap at all!

Children toys selling from RM3 to RM45. The toys don't look new and some are not in good condition.

Ladies' panty hose selling for RM1 per pack of 5 pairs - cheap! In fact, you get a pack of panty hose free if you purchase RM50 and above in a single receipt.

Comforters - the organizer did not indicate clearly whether the price shown is before or after discount of 80%, but Mommy doubts the price shown is before discount.

So what did Mommy get for Juan Or this time? Nothing much because most things like clothes and toddler shoes are already in sufficient supply for him. This is what Mommy got for Juan Or:

A set of rubbery toys-cum stackable cups that can double as chewy items for Juan Or, RM1 for all three pieces.

Kiki Lala shoes for children about age 5-6 years old for RM5. This pair of shoes has very thick soles and deep markings for good grip.

Popeye shoes for RM10 meant for children of approximately 7-8 years old. Again, the soles look thick and has deep marks for good grip.

Buying Things for Juan Or (Again!) at Hytex Warehouse Sale (1st August-13th September 2009, weekends only)

Today, Mommy managed to persuade Papa to drive Mommy to Kepong for the Hytex Warehouse Sale. As most of Mommy's close mommy bloggers will have known, Papa is not a fan of warehouse sale because warehouse sales tend to be crowded and parkings are difficult to find. So Mommy was quite surprised that Papa agreed but Papa did caution Mommy about the risk of Juan Or crying in the car due to disturbed sleep or lack of sleep.

To go to Hytex in Kepong, Papa used the Jalan Kuching way. Since it was a Sunday, there was no traffic-jam at all, so we reached there just within 30 to 40 minutes' drive from Sri Petaling. However, 10 minutes before arriving at Hytex, Juan Or started to doze off. So Papa merely parked the car at the main road off Hytex and suggested that Mommy walk there to do the 'shopping' while Papa stayed in the car with Juan Or who was still sleeping. So all Mommy had to do was to shift Juan Or away from Mommy's lap as slowly as possible without waking him up and then placed him back onto Mommy's car seat with the backrest reclined. Luckily, Juan Or remained asleep after all the shifting!

(Sleep, Juan Or, sleep!)

After that, Mommy walked into Hytex. At a glance, there was no crowd at about 10.15 am, and there's also no banner indicating the warehouse sale. Basically, the warehouse sale is divided into 3 sections: baby/toddler, children and adult clothes. There are 2 cashier counters dedicated to the baby/toddler section only whereas the children and adult sections share the same cashier counters. Only cash terms are accepted - no credit cards allowed.

(The Hytex factory)

(The chidren clothes section.)

(This warehouse sale is not crowded.)

(The baby/toddler section somehow has more customers than the children and adult clothes sections.)

(Here's the rack for Winnie the Pooh toddler T-shirts and shorts, sold at RM5 per piece.)

How are the prices? Basically, the prices are the same as last time. Most of the items offered are the same as the previous time, except for Winnie the Pooh toddler T-shirts which are of different designs now. Other notable changes in the baby/toddler section are:

• the non-spill sippy cup is no longer offered now, instead the food grinder container (RM5) is. However, in Mommy's opinion, the food grinder container is more of a gimmick plastic container which claims to allow food grinding to be done in the container itself. Apparently, it merely has a rough patch of surface to allow you to have more 'grip' when smashing the food!


• there are way lesser toddler shoes on sale now although prices remain the same as last time. Mommy only spotted one new design put up for sale, but the design is similar to one of the toddler shoe designs offered last time.


• no more cheap small bottle baby toiletries on sale this time, but the Looney Tunes family bath (1 litre for RM10) is on sale.


• on the whole, the variety of things offered this time is much more limited (and in smaller quantities) compared to last time.


• for the cloth type of baby car seat which is hung over the adult car seat, the price is now lowered to RM10 (last time was RM15; My Dear was selling for RM46!)

For prices of other baby/toddler items, please see here because the prices remain the same.

Here are the things that Mommy bought for Juan Or from this time's Hytex Sale:

(Three Winnie the Pooh toddler T-shirts for age 3, each for RM5, and a plain toddler shorts for RM1.)





(This baby pillow comes with a pillow cover, costs RM5. Mommy noticed that the Looney Tunes tag indicated that the pillow is made in Suzhou, China).

(Disney checked shorts, both for age 4, each at RM3 only! Very cheap! Mommy saw from the old price tags that it was originally sold for RM23.90!)

Books! Books! Books! All at the Big Bad Wolf Warehouse Sale!

When it comes to books warehouse sales, Mommy just can't resist them! The most recent book craze that Mommy experienced is at the Big Bad Wolf Warehouse Sale. What's that? Never heard of! Well, Mommy has never heard of Big Bad Wolf too, but Mommy saw it in Malaysia's Shopping n Sales website. In that website, there's also a link that leads to an article write-up about this sale. The main points that interest Mommy is that the books ranges from as cheap as RM5 to as expensive as RM20 only. RM20 only!? Wow, Mommy must go to this sale!

So Mommy went to the Big Bad Wolf Sale held in 2nd floor of Dataran Hamodal at Jalan Bersatu 13/4, Section 13, Petaling Jaya. The sale starts from 14th to 18th May 2009 at 10am to 9pm. Parking wise? If you are lucky, you get to park at the road side for free. If not, there's a public parking area just along the same road that charges RM1 per hour (that where Mommy parked!). Going into the sale section, the area is not overly crowded, is air-conditioned and there were lots of books in which some were neatly arranged, but most were not (probably due to the customers themselves!). There are also 6 (if Mommy didn't count wrongly!) cashier counters, with separate counters for those paying by cash or by credit card. If you happen to own an OCBC credit card, you will get a 10% discount on your purchases. The only not-so-good thing about this sale is that customers are not provided with baskets or boxes to carry while rummaging through the books. In fact, customers have to find the boxes themselves, probably by asking from the staff. So in the end, Mommy carried all those books all the way through. However, Mommy did notice that their staff do help customers (who bought really, really a lot) to cart their purchases to their cars. So Mommy's advice to others who are planning to go is to bring your own baskets, bags, boxes, carts and what not to assist in your quest for books. By the way, the books on sale are new and not dusty.

What about the selection of books? Paperback novels are aplenty (mostly at RM8 each, though some at RM5), children's books (variable prices) are plenty too, though not as much choices like that in the recent MPH Distributor's Warehouse Sale. There are also computer books (RM12 each), parenting books (RM5, mostly at RM8 and RM10), recipe books (RM5) and biographies (mostly at RM8 each). There are also other categories of books there but Mommy did not pay too much attention. About the parenting books, Mommy must say Big Bad Wolf has quite a good selection here - the titles offered are very interesting so much so Mommy can't resist buying a number of them!

Here's Mommy's yield of the day:

Left: Open Season Annual 2007 (hardcover, full colour pages) at RM5.

Right: Over the Hedge movie storybook for older children (hardcover, full colour pages) at RM8.

Left: Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Annual 2009 (hardcover, full colour pages) at RM5.

Right: Over the Hedge storybook for younger children (softcover, full colour pages, large print) at RM2.

The World Almanac for Kids 2006 for only RM1 (which is a steal!). This book is a general knowledge-cum-fact book, so most of these facts won't go outdated within the next 10 years. Mommy likes the presentation of the contents (includes facts on science, history, solar system, culture, geography, entertainment, popular culture, etc), which Mommy thinks will appeal to bigger kids.

Left: Tales from the Crypt comic book, softcover, full colour in thick glossy pages for RM5.

Right: Barney books - The New Babysitter, boardbook storybook for RM5.

Left: Stir-fries - Best Ever Wok and Pan Recipes, softcover, full one-page photo for every recipe, thick glossy pages for RM5 only!

Right: The Genius Factory - The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank, softcover paperback which Mommy found in the Biographies section, for RM8. Mommy is keen on this book because Mommy was trained in the reproductive biotechnology area.

Left: The Contented Baby's First Year, hardcover, full colour thick glossy pages for RM10 only. Although Juan Or is already past his first year, however Mommy finds this book an irresistable read for an irresistable price!

Right: The Sleepeasy Solution - The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep Through the Night, softcover paperback for RM10. This book is just what Mommy needs where Juan Or's sleep is concerned!

Clockwise from top left: When Your Baby Won't Stop Crying - A Parent's Guide to Colic (softcover, RM8), Coping with Crying and Colic - An Easy-to-follow Guide (softcover, full colour, thick glossy pages, RM8), Gina Ford's Top Tips for Contented Babies & Toddlers (softcover, more like a pocket book, a bit expensive in Mommy's opinion, nevertheless Mommy finds this a good read, RM8), Your Toddler's Development (softcover paperback, RM8).

Left: When Your Baby Cries - 10 Rules for Soothing Fretful Babies and Their Parents (softcover paperback, RM8).

Right: Playskool Guide to the Toddler Years (softcover paperback, RM8)

Finally, after paying for the books, Big Bad Wolf gave Mommy free Big Bad Wolf bookmarks.

Mommy's overall conclusion: What you see in the photos are good buys (in Mommy's opinion, except unless indicated in the caption). Most of the books are cheap, though some are not cheap enough. Many children's books, though are not too cheap. You really have to choose wisely to get your money's worth. But, on the whole, though, this sale is WAY, WAY, WAY BETTER than MPH Distributor's Warehouse Sale!

Coming next is Mommy's quest for the next book warehouse sale held by Crescent (never heard of again!) in Bandar Utama. Watch out for Mommy's posting of the next book warehouse sale adventure!