Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parenting. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

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.

Friday, May 15, 2009

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!