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Meet the PJ Masks and Robocar Poli!

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If your children are fans of the popular cartoon characters in PJ Masks and Robocar Poli, they are in for a great treat! Not only will they get to meet their favourites like Catboy, Gekko and Owlette, they stand to win prizes and surprises to do with LOL Surprise!, Hello Kitty and so much more at the Sunway Putra Mall this November.

Here’s what to expect at the Surprise Wonderland held at the Sunway Putra Mall’s Main Concourse (Ground Floor) from November 9 – 18th:

1. Meet and Greet the PJ Masks

If you haven’t been able to get the PJ Masks’ song out of your head and your child keeps saying she wants to be Owlette, you know you’ll have to bring them to meet their favourite characters! There will be a Meet & Greet Session with these masked heroes on the 11th of November at 12pm and 2pm, so bring your kids along for some special photographs and a little walkabout.

2. Dance Along With Robocar Poli

It’s time to boogie with the adorable members of the Robocar Rescue team! On the 17th and 18th of November, your children will be able to dance with the characters of Robocar Poli, so come around at 12pm and 2pm for some fun times.  Dancers will guide the children to dance along, so you can take those precious photos of your little dancers.

Robocar Poli Dance. Photo credit: Robocar Poli TV

3. Snap & Win with LOL Surprise

Best of all at the Surprise Wonderland? Just with a simple snap of a photograph, your child stands to win LOL Surprise! goodies they are bound to love. LOL Surprise! won the prestigious Toy of the Year Award from The Toy Association last year and was the Number 1 Toy of 2017 in the US, UK and Canada, so it’s no surprise they are an unboxing favourite.

From the 9th – 16th November, just post a picture of your child with any LOL Surprise! character at the Surprise Wonderland on Instagram.

Hashtag your photos with #lolsurprisespm on your (public) Instagram account, and you may just win the amazing MC Hammy or Eye Spy, along with a Fashion Crush or two. The contest starts from November 9 – 16 (11.59 pm), and the finalist shall be notified on November 17th. Prizes will be given out at the wonderland on November 18th at 12.30 pm.

4. Fun Daily Activities

There will also be plenty of exciting daily activities for families and children at Surprise Wonderland. Children will get to play with sand art, as well as partake in colouring activities there. There will also be 9 x 9 cube puzzles for children to try and solve, an interesting and brain-boosting way to spend their time!

As for adults, there will not only be a dim sum booth for passers-by to subscribe to dim sum (yes you read that right!), but various promotional sales on selected items. If parents are looking for a bargain, they will also get free Tobot Premiums with purchases above RM80 on Tobot items, as well as free Robocar Poli Premiums with purchases above RM80 on Robocar Poli items.

Colourful times with fun sand art.

With so many opportunities for your child to have fun at the Surprise Wonderland, remember to mark these dates down and come over to Sunway Putra Mall in November! For more information, visit their website here.

 

This is a sponsored post presented by RB Zicon Sdn Bhd.

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Activities & Events

Family Activities to Look Out for in Malaysia in November 2018

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The month of November is here, and there’s plenty to do with the whole family. Bookmark this page as we may be updating with new information and activities. Enjoy planning the month ahead with your little ones!

Cinema: Nutcracker

Young Clara is transported into a magical world of gingerbread soldiers and an army of mice. By the looks of it, this remake of the classic ballet takes the kids on an exciting adventure. Rated P13.

Dates: In the cinema 1st November

Children’s Festival @MAG

This is a festival to foster creative and innovative thinking among children, especially on topics related to finance and economics. There will be ‘Currency Education Programmes’ for children 7 – 17 years old and ‘What is Money?’ talks (7 – 15 years old), among other interesting sessions.

Daily activities, special programmes and art classes. Full programme here.

Dates: From now until 8 December
Venue: Museum and Gallery Bank Negara Malaysia

Musical: Sherlock Holmes in The Show Must Go On

This comedy play is inspired by the London hit show The Play That Goes Wrong. It centres around a murder investigation with the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson taking the lead. More info here.

Date and time: 3 November, 8pm.
Venue: Cempaka International School, Damansara Heights

Family & Friends Night at Kidzania

During these special days, parents and kids can role-play together. This time the theme is the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, Día de los Muertos! Face painting, Calavera painting, Día de los Muertos maze and more. More info here.

Dates: 3 and 4 November, 6pm.
Venue: Kidzania

Chocolate workshop

During this family-friendly workshop, you will learn about the history of cacao, the process of chocolate-making, and how to make your own chocolate from bean to the bar. Limited spots available. Full details here.

Date and time: 4 November, 10.30am
Venue: Casa Latina and Cacao Lab

Art Discovery Tours for Kids at Ilham Gallery KL

This season’s tours will take families through the work of one of Malaysia’s most important modern artists, Latiff Mohidin. For kids aged 5 to 12 years (accompanied by a parent). More information on the tours can be found here.

03 Nov (Sat) 10:00 am–12:30 pm
10 Nov (Sat) 10:00 am–12:30 pm
10 Nov (Sat) 2:00 pm–04:30 pm
28 Nov (Wed) 10.00 am–12.30 pm

Venue: Ilham Gallery

Kids’ Deepavali at the Muzium Negara

Interesting Deepavali activities for kids at Muzium Negara. More info here.
Dates: 2 – 4, 7 & 10 November 2018 from 10 am – 12.30pm and 2.30pm – 5pm.
Venue: Muzium Negara

Fun play farming at Mari House

A fun way for young kids to learn about farming, with an added bonus of outdoor play. They also get to prepare their ‘farm-to-table’ dessert for the picnic later, all prepared and set up by the Mari House team. More info here.

Dates: 3, 6, 10, and 20 November, 9.30 am
Venue: Mari House, Rawang

Cinema: The Crinch

The yuletide-loathing Grinch finds it unbearable to watch the neighbouring village of Whoville celebrating Christmas and comes up with a plot to ruin their merry season.

Dates: In the cinema 8 November

Puppetry: The Story of Ah Loy

Urbanscapes 2018 brings us Warung Panggung, a street puppet theatre on wheels! Moving in various locations throughout downtown KL with a modular cart, MUKA Space and the Malaysian Puppetry Association bring you the family-friendly, reimagined story of Ah Loy. More info here.

Dates and times: (12 shows)
3 & 4, 10 & 11, 17 & 18 Nov – 4.30pm & 6.30pm

Venues:
First Weekend: Pesta Lorong Hang Kasturi
Second Weekend: Medan Pasar
Third Weekend: RIUH River of Life KL

Deepavali celebration

Performances by Colour of Voices and a Bhangra dance troupe. More info here.
Date and time: 11 November, 4pm
Venue: Bandar Rimbayu by IJM Land

Theatre: Aliens Love Underpants

The hilarious tale based on the best-selling children’s book by Claire Freedman comes to life on stage. You can expect effects, madcap action, original music – and lots of aliens of course. More information here.

Dates: Opens 13 November, various shows. Relaxed Performance on Sunday, 25 November.
Venue: PJ Live Arts

Cinema: Ralph breaks the Internet

The new film picks up from the events of ‘Wreck-It Ralph’. Six years on, Ralph and Vanellope, now friends, discover a wi-fi router in their arcade and end up on a new adventure.

Dates: In the cinema 22nd November

Lottie’s Science Adventure

This year’s celebrations will be themed STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, bringing together science enthusiasts under one roof. More info here.

Date and time: 23-25 November, 10am – 10pm
Venue: Lot 10

Pantomime: Aladdin

The KL Players’ popular pantomime production tells the story of a young, carefree boy, Aladdin, who dreams of riches and marrying the beautiful Princess of China. Aladdin soon finds himself on an epic adventure filled with genies, zombies and Old Auntie Nor. Event details here.

Dates and times: 29 and 30 November at 7.30 PM, 1 December 1pm.
Venue: St Joseph’s Institution International School, PJ.

Jumbo Camp by NEC

A kids’ weekend camp that focuses on studying wildlife and how they interact with their ecosystems. Kids will join volunteer work at the Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Gandah, and get a chance to learn through other hands-on activities: nature walk, river scientist, nocturnal walk, games and more. For kids aged 8-15. More info here.

Dates: 30 November – 2 December (Friday to Sunday)
Venues: FRIM-MNS Nature Education Centre, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) Kepong, Selangor and Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Gandah.

School holiday camps

The school holidays are getting closer! For a comprehensive list of school holiday camps, head over to Happy Go KL.

 

This post is a collaboration between makchic and Happy Go KL. 
Happy Go KL is the go-to site for fun family activities in KL and kid-friendly travel in Asia. It is written by a bunch of KL parents who want to share what they know and love about their hometown and this beautiful region.

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My Story: Pre-eclampsia

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There are a few things no one tells you about pregnancy. One of them is that pregnancy is not always rainbows and butterflies. I have told my story about pre-eclampsia many times, but this will be the first time I am writing about it.

It was a Tuesday morning and I was about 30 weeks pregnant. I started seeing things differently, literally. My vision was getting weaker. At this point of my pregnancy, I was quite overweight. I was teasingly told it could just be my oversized hamster cheeks pushing up against my eyes.

Then came what I perceived to be anxiety attacks. I had trouble sleeping as my heart would beat rapidly. I took my blood pressure and found that I had stage 2 hypertension. However this came and went away, so I dismissed it as nothing serious.

Finally on a Friday, four days after it all began, I thought, this can’t be right. So I told my husband and then made an appointment to see my gynaecologist. As the next day was a Saturday, my gynae was away. Thus we had to look for another suitable doctor.

The big shocker

It was not good news at the gynaecologist

On Saturday I dragged my cankles off to a gynaecologist we found in Subang. He checked me and then said “Well, you have two options. You can either go to Hospital ‘XX’ to admit yourself, or go to your usual Hospital and admit yourself there. Either way you need to be admitted to the hospital today.”

He then explained that I had pre-eclampsia, a condition that can occur in pregnant women there is a problem with the placenta. The mother can develop high blood pressure, protein in her urine and fluid retention and swelling. Although most cases are mild, some can be serious and life-threatening for the mother and baby.

By then, I had lost sight in my right eye and the vision in my left eye was almost gone too. My blood pressure had skyrocketed so much it was going to affect my brain. I needed to be put on bed rest immediately.

My husband rushed me to our usual hospital with a letter in hand. When we got to the ER the nurses took me straight to a bed. That day, at 31 weeks pregnant, I was told I may have to have an early labour.

The next few days were a blur…

The writer had to have an emergency C-section

By 7pm that night, I was already in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) with tubes and needles everywhere. I was not allowed to move from the bed unless told otherwise. That’s how serious my pre-eclampsia was.

I was hooked up to a blood pressure machine which automatically checked my blood pressure every 15 minutes. A cardiotocograph (CTG) machine monitored my baby’s heartbeat. Meanwhile I was injected with the most painful jab I’ve ever had in my life. It contained a steroid to help my baby’s lung develop faster.

I went to sleep that night only to be woken up at 6 am by the nurses and doctor. They told me I had to undergo an emergency Caesarean section as my baby’s and my heartbeat were getting weaker. This is one of the risks of pre-eclampsia.

They explained everything to my husband and got him to sign some papers. By 9 am I was being wheeled in to the operation theatre (OT) and at 9.41 am my beautiful baby boy was born. Only I did not see it happen.

My birth story is a story my husband can tell in detail, but I can’t. They had to put me to sleep so as not to stress my body further. I woke up only after being wheeled out of the OT and was sent back to the HDU. Then the countdown to see my son began.

When things didn’t get better

We were told that once the baby was out, my vitals would improve but unfortunately, they didn’t. My blood pressure remained the same but now my oxygen level dipped.

The nurses came to fix an oxygen mask on me and more needles were inserted. I was so drugged up at that point, I hardly remember what was going on or who came to visit. Apparently, I lay on that bed for 5 days.

My family took turns to visit me when allowed, and I noticed their faces didn’t look all too great. I still had not seen my baby.

On Day 5, the nurses woke me up. They told me that if all went well I would be transferred to the normal ward and I could see my son. I was so ecstatic I was literally counting the hours. Finally, around 4 pm, I was wheeled to the normal room.

Seeing my baby for the first time

Premature newborn babies are usually placed in a hospital incubator

It was surreal. Feelings of guilt, feelings sadness, and feelings of joy all assailed me. There he was, a tiny baby, weighing all of 1.65 kg in that big old incubator. I was also told that I couldn’t breastfeed my son for a while as I was still under heavy medication.

As I was feeling weak and tired the first few days, I only managed to visit him a few times a day to talk to him and just look at him. The feelings of guilt never went away. There was the guilt of not spending enough time with him, not being able to feed him, and the guilt of having to give birth to him early.

The worst feeling was when I was discharged with a truckload of medication, but my baby had to continue his stay in the hospital.

 

That was 5 years ago. That is my story of pre-eclampsia.

Today, many people can’t believe that my son was born a preemie, eight to nine weeks early. His height is now within the top 10% percentile and he is as healthy as can be. We’ve definitely gone miles beyond the days of checking his heart beat every half an hour. Now we are too tired to run after him because the boy just can’t sit still. But you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

By Diana Annuar

Dee (Diana Annuar)  is a stay-at-home mom to a 5-year-old energiser bunny. Her days now consist of picking up toys, negotiating screen time and singing along to Teen Titans Go for the billionth time.

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