Free Sample Disposable Diapers

Mommy can safely assume that almost everyone loves free samples because you get to use them for free without any obligation to buy the product(s) in the future. Hahaha.....Mommy is one such person too. And Mommy is all for free sample disposable diapers! Reason? Because the free samples add to the stock of disposable diapers for use, thus lengthening the amount of time before opening a new packet of diapers. Although Mommy doesn't save much from using the free samples, but a few dollars saved is still a few dollars earned, right?

So far, Mommy only managed to get free samples from MamyPoko and SCA Hygiene (Drypers and Drypantz).

Mommy got the MamyPoko ones after a friend (which Mommy got to know from Friendster) told Mommy that she got hers from MamyPoko's website. For MamyPoko, you will need to register to be a member of the MamyPoko Club first before you can click to request for free samples (the icon at the top right hand corner). However, the free samples took very long to arrive - something like 6 months!

As for SCA Hygiene, Mommy managed to get hold of its website but its website does not have any indication for free sample request. But the opportunity came when Mommy saw a Drypers advertorial in Parenthood magazine, so Mommy emailed the company with the requested particulars. In just within 1 month, the free samples came but unfortunately it was 2 pieces of newborn size! Obviously Juan Or cannot wear them anymore! Mommy was wondering how can SCA make such a mistake? So Mommy made a quick check again at the Drypers advertorial and indeed, SCA was right. The advertorial was about how daddies can play their role during the birth of their babies which points back to newborn size. Even the particulars that SCA requested did not ask for the baby's date of birth. Mommy also made a check at the email content that Mommy sent to SCA and indeed Mommy did not include any info on Juan Or's age. So Mommy emailed them back again thanking them for the free samples, mentioned that Mommy would be passing the newborn size to colleagues who are currently pregnant and requested for size L instead! About 3 weeks later, Mommy received 4 pieces of size L Drypers and 3 pieces of size L Drypantz which is more than what Mommy had asked for! Yippy!

These are the free sample newborn size Drypers which obviously Juan Or cannot wear anymore.

By the way, Mommy had done an online free sample request long time ago on Huggies website and same like MamyPoko, you have to be a member of their Huggies Club first to which Mommy is already a member. Then when filling up other details, somehow the online form kept on retrieving Mommy's email address and saying there's a mismatch with the address. This went on for several times until Mommy got so fed up, so decided not to go on. However, Mommy has a colleague who has received the Huggies Ultra free samples via online request. So, looks like Mommy doesn't have much luck with Huggies.

So conclusion is: SCA is the most efficient in sending out free samples, MamyPoko is very slow whereas Huggies is totally hopeless (to Mommy!).

Waterfall Day (Part 2): At Sungai Gabai Waterfall

This is a continuation of the previous blogpost.

From the Semenyih dam area, we went on further following the signboard indicating Sungai Gabai Waterfall. However, Mommy felt there wasn't enough signboard put up to give people the confidence that they are on the right track to Sungai Gabai Waterfall. After the first signboard, we didn't see anymore signboard for a long, long stretch until another signboard appeared within 1 to 3 km from the waterfall. So to be honest, at one point, we really thought we lost Sungai Gabai Waterfall.

The road leading to Sungai Gabai Waterfall was very narrow and isolated. Luckily Mommy's small Kancil car was used for the trip rather than Papa's Wira. The road seemed more like one-and-a-half lane wide only, so you can imagine just how near another car from the opposite direction was to our car. Finally when we almost reached the waterfall, we were greeted by a Malay man who quoted RM2 for entering the waterfall parking area. He mentioned RM1 per adult, so looks like Juan Or's entry is free-of-charge. A closer look at the man's jacket indicated that he was Sungai Lui's Village Safety and Development Committee member. Whoa, so looks like the authority to collect parking fee here is owned by the village rather than the local municipal council! Ah, never mind since it's only RM2 rather than the one at Jalan Sungai Tua that charged RM4!

The entry ticket - RM1 per adult.

There were really many cars parked along the narrow road, so Papa parked quite far away so that we won't face problems with hoggers when it was time to go. So we had to walk quite far to reach the waterfall area which is good exercise for Mommy considering Mommy barely can make any time to exercise anymore after giving birth to Juan Or.




We reached the lower and flatter surface of the waterfall (or rather stream) first. So all three of us dipped our feet into the cool water. The depth of the stream is not as abrupt as the one at Jalan Sungai Tua. This stream seems to have more shallow spots, so is safer for toddlers like Juan Or. As usual, Juan Or enjoyed his dips with snapshots to show:













Mommy managed to capture a closer look of the stream water too.....





.....and the river rocks as well.






After the feet dipping session, we ventured further up a steep, long and rather narrow flight of stairs to see the waterfall. While climbing up the stairs, we were greeted with barbeque aroma because along the stairs, there were 'stops' for people to camp or picnic. Whoa, the smell of barbequed spicy chicken really made Mommy's stomach rumbled, what's more it was already noon - time for lunch! With the smell temptation came the visual temptation! It's just so tempting to steal glances at what the picnickers were barbecuing, but lo and behold, all Mommy saw were chicken pieces with most parts charred! What an anticlimax! ^ ^




Finally we reached the top part of the waterfall, though not the topmost part yet. It was Papa who carried Juan Or all the way up. Mommy, without carrying Juan Or, was already slower than Papa and Mommy was panting like mad too. This reminds Mommy that Mommy is no longer young! We spent some time looking and admiring the waterfall. Juan Or seemed fascinated too. He did not fret at all, instead he looked long and hard at the flowing water.

A landscape view of the Sungai Gabai Waterfall.

A portrait view now.

Mommy managed to record a video of the waterfall too.










And last but not least, a last dip at the stream water again before it's time to say bye-bye to the waterfall!

The next day, Papa complained of back muscle pain because it turned out to be too strenuous to carry Juan Or up and down the stairs. So Mommy helped to massage Papa's back and turned out, Mommy didn't do it correctly so much so Papa's back became worse the next day. Finally Papa decided to merely leave the back to heal by itself. As of the time of writing, Papa's back has healed already.

Waterfall Day (Part 1)

Following the trip to Jalan Sungai Tua to see nature, Papa and Mommy decided to take Juan Or to see real waterfall (that was last week Sunday, 28th February 2010). The nearest waterfall to where we live is somewhere around the Semenyih water dam area. To go to that part of Semenyih, Papa used the toll-free way to go to Seri Kembangan, then to Balakong, part of Cheras and then as if heading to Kajang but following the signboard that leads to Semenyih.

Our initial plan was to stop at the waterfall at Sungai Tekala Recreational Forest. However, before we could even stop, we could see that the parking lots were all full of cars! Not a good day to go after all - too many people!

So we decided to move on along the curvy and hilly road at the Semenyih dam area and made a stop at some unknown minor waterfall instead! Actually the minor waterfall is just a natural drainage outlet of hill water (or river, perhaps?) at some rocky part of the hill. Because of that, Papa termed it as 'longkang' or drain! ^ ^ It's just that it's a natural drain rather than a man-made one.

This is the minor waterfall which Papa called as the hill's 'drain'.




Papa posing with Juan Or at the minor waterfall.

Now it's Mommy's turn to pose with Juan Or at the minor waterfall.

Papa parked at the road side and took Juan Or to see the minor waterfall while Mommy stayed in the car (just to be on guard since the place is quite isolated). Papa was a little adventurous that day - he even took Juan Or down to the flatter surface of the waterfall which is rather like a shallow ravine. For Mommy, Mommy would not dare to go down with Juan Or because Mommy can be rather clumsy when climbing rocky steps while carrying a baby. But knowing Papa to be one person of good balance and agility even when carrying a baby, Mommy had no qualms about both father and son venturing down the shallow ravine.

This is the lower part of the minor waterfall that meets with the shallow ravine. It was at the shallow ravine where Papa took Juan Or to dip his feet in the cool water.

Ever wondered how Papa managed to go down the shallow ravine with Juan Or? Papa said he made use of the man-made drain steps. To Mommy's standard, the lower part of the man-made drain steps are rather steep. If Mommy is to carry Juan Or along while going down, Mommy dare not-lah, but if alone can-lah!

When it was time to leave the waterfall, Juan Or was a little fretful. Hahaha....looks like this boy is very keen on seeing waterfalls! But soon, his fretful temperament was cured by these little fellas!

The little fellas are MONKEYS!

Mommy also had the chance to take a few snapshots of the scenic hilly view, only thing is the view of the dam was blocked by the road barrier from Mommy's angle. However, in the later part of travelling along the hilly road, the view of the dam was visible again but Papa felt it was not a safe spot to stop the car, so in the end, no dam photo was taken.

A hilly scene from inside the car. See the monkeys sitting on the road barrier (and one more monkey in the middle of the road)?

Another hilly scene. If you dare to go beyond the road barrier and to the edge of the hill, then you will be able to see the dam.

After that, Papa drove on till we saw a signboard saying that Sungai Gabai Waterfall is 12 km away. So we decided to make a try for it as well since we were already at the vicinity. And that will be Part 2, so stay tuned!

Trip to Jalan Sungai Tua

It was Prophet Muhammad's Birthday, so a public holiday. Papa and Mommy decided to bring Juan Or to see the countryside, so we headed off to Jalan Sungai Tua. This is the old, toll-free road to Genting Highlands. This road is rather secluded but it offers jungle scenic views along the way.

We had in mind to bring Juan Or to see the Sungai Tua (Old River) itself. If you make stops at Jalan Sungai Tua (Old River Road), you will see the upper mid-stream part of the river. Last time, all the near-river stops (tarred area) along Jalan Sungai Tua was free-of-charge, but now it's different. Knowing that more and more people are getting to know the existence of this place, so the local municipal council has started to charge RM4 for entering the parking place. What to do? So Papa paid the RM4.

This is the 'parking ticket' that costs RM4 which is quite expensive! And who's the culprit? It's the Selayang Town Council.

We had a good time walking on the jungle track (but Juan Or wanted to be carried most of the time!), feasting our eyes on nature and dipping our feet into the cool river water! In fact, Juan Or's favourite is to have his feet dipped into the water so much so when we wanted to leave the river bank, he fretted! By the way, Papa noted that the water level of the river is rather deep now compared to last time (about 5 years back), but the water seems murkier now. Mommy could only manage some snapshots from Mommy's handphone camera because Mommy had to hold on tight to Juan Or most of the time. Most photos were taken by Papa because he took his DSLR camera this time but has yet to pass Mommy the photos. So here are the handphone camera snapshots:

This photo was taken before we went down the river bank.

A view of the river from the higher ground of the river bank. Notice the rather strong current of the river water (white colour waves).

Another angle of the river from the higher grounds of the river bank.

Jungle scene.

Posing time!

Shown here is a fretful Juan Or who seemed reluctant to leave the place!

After we left the place, Papa drove on further down Jalan Sungai Tua. Then only did we start seeing free river-stop areas (with large parking areas and more cars parked there) gazetted by the Selangor state government rather than the local town council. Dang!

Juan Or on the 8th Day of Chinese New Year 2010

This day will be the last of our house visitation days during the CNY season. It was a Sunday and Mommy had intended to visit Mommy's side of aunts (Ah Yees) in Pandamaran. One of Mommy's aunts opens a tyre shop, so rarely could go on holiday. Thus she and her family will go for overseas vacation during Chinese New Year. This year, she and her family would only be back in Malaysia from Day 7 onwards.

Also, just in case Juan Or cries when we go visiting to people's house, Papa and Mommy decided to drop by at North Port first for sight-seeing before going for lunch in Telok Gong and finally off to the aunts' houses (both aunts stay next door to each other).

Here are some snapshots taken at North Port:

"Hello, everyone! We are now stopping by at North Port to catch some sea breeze."





Here's a model life-sized ship to decorate the place. In the past, the municipal council used to allow people to climb the stairs and into the ship, but now they have put up a barrier. Too much vandalism, perhaps?

Here's father and son posing together with the distant port structures in the background.

A perspective of the seaside. Note the rocky seaside and anglers doing their business.




Now both father and son are in the perspective!

Papa was helping Juan Or to go up the short flight of stairs.

Juan Or was caught red-handed plucking the leaves of the hedges. He probably didn't realize Mommy snapping a photo of him in action. ^ ^

Got pricked by the twigs, eh?

"GOTCHA!"

"Bye-bye, North Port! We are heading to the car now."

When it was time to enter Mommy's Ah Yee's houses, Juan Or was hesitant and almost fretful at first, but once in the house, Juan Or looked like he has adjusted himself already - no more crying or fretting! So look's like Juan Or has truly 'grown up' already. No more like those days when he would cry non-stop when brought to people's house. However, Mommy was too occupied with chatting with the Ah Yees while watching over Juan Or so much so Mommy forgot to snap some photos there.