My kids has been bugging me for a certain collection for awhile now and out of all the brand's, SkipHop is still my no.1 brand that I will pick anytime over the others.

What do you know about Batik?

Ever thought about it before?

If you're like me, am sure you may have the same common understanding that Batik is a unique design by Asians, especially amongst the Malay community with their traditional Batik design and attires.

In fact, you're probably thinking, batik is a sarung or baju kurung or a cloth with nice pattern print design. But what if I tell you that, this post may change the way you see, think, imagine and feel about batik more than you can even imagine it's purpose for!

At The Batik Boutique, the story to how it began to it's solid footing here in Malaysia today, truly marks a gift that the founders and its creators really inspires and empowers more people with their humble beginnings.

Amy Blair, met her friend Ana, a single mother in 2009 and through her friend she actually met a few women who were living in PPR flats in a very poor and rundown condition with their family. It saddened her to see that they didn't have the opportunity that she had when she was growing up in the states. And settling here in Malaysia building her family here, after meeting these ladies, she were inspired to find ways to help these ladies and her friend Ana to have a better chance in Malaysia. 

Ever since then, from a few ladies who had zero knowledge in sewing or batik, learned baby steps and finally, from sewing from home, to studios, into retail outlets and now into exporting across borders such as UK, US, Australia, Japan and abroad; The Batik Boutique truly made its humble mark in proving that you can do anything if you just don't give up! 

The women who are involved can now earn a sustainable income to support their family unlike before, they can finally stand on their own two feet and be independent. You see, the Batik Boutique was created with the mission to teach women how to sew and to work with artisans in Malaysia.

They have just recently launched their 'Holiday Collection' a couple of weeks ago and the result was overwhelming as it was almost sold out.

I really love their display of the 'Holiday Collection', it's truly befitting for the upcoming festive season Christmas. What's even better, celebrating Christmas in Malaysia with the true art of the beautiful and unique Batik design. 

If you noticed the pillow design that I am cuddling with, was actually inspired through the founder Amy, rummaging through some of the batik blocks from one of the artisan and she saw a tenung design weaved on the batik. That's how this pillow design was born for this 'Holiday Collection'.

They also have 2 types of clutches, one in greyish white and another in vibrant colors; the colorful one is almost sold out as well by the way.

Everything that the Batik Boutique has to offer are all 100% handmade, including the tassels on some of the products.

It's really amazing to see women who started from scratch, they had nothing, everything from zero ground up, zero skills and no knowledge of sewing, even one of them couldn't read or write but they all needed one thing in their life, and that is money for their family. Through learning this skill set, they now make a decent living and continues to create these marvelous collection for the world.

I really love how the Batik Boutique does not just focus on selling batik cloths etc, but they offer you a wide array of variety in batik design, such as having modernise fashion but in batik styles. 

Batik Boutique successfully expresses to the public that batik can be modern and be used for more than just apparels, yet, it can still be casual AND each piece is unique because they work with artisans. This makes their collection valuable for money as you can not only wear it at home but even outside as well. 

And seeing as the season of gifting is near, what's even better than to gift these perfect gifts to your loved ones, here's a 20% code for you to enjoy online! (Valid till end Dec 2018)

HOLIDAY20

I really enjoyed the workshop here where they also organize workshops like these to the public too. These are perfect gift sets for kids too! I'm thinking to get a set for my kids to enjoy the beauty of batik at home.

Do drop by when you have time, and be mesmerized by their beautiful array of collection at :

Batik Boutique

Website | Facebook | Instagram

There's aplenty of bags out there today in the market which makes it a headache to even find one for my son to take to school and even for holidays.

I used to put all of my son's clothes into my luggage bag because he don't have one that is of his size! I even have the dilemma of school bags too, seeing as how many books they'd had to lug to school in the morning and back home at noon.

After searching throughout I found Benbat and realize that it kinda suited what I was asking for! Because I don't fancy shoulder bags, it hurt my shoulder when I was little which caused me to decide to either leave the books at school or don't bring those books at all (end up I missed the lesson). Yes, a bag that does not support your tools well will make you defend yourself from it and ultimately make you hate school for it and that's how I was "once upon a time" a rebel.


So this trolley bag was super cute and it stood out amongst the others I was comparing against with. Because its easy to use and it's quality is really sturdy for a cute little bag like that!

What's even better is it can carry a good amount of books that my kinder-going child needs daily and it doesn't stresses his shoulder because he can easily pull it to school. It has a set of wide wheels for smooth movement and transportation, even on bumpy road pavements it is sturdy!


The GoVinci Trolley is the perfect travel accessory for creative kids like my son (actually all kids are born creative). Because it features an "All-in-one" backpack that can be converted into a drawing table & houses a mobile art display in the front where I can put my son's photo or his artwork drawings too.


I love the unique and stylish simplicity design of it, the colours is really sweet and has 2 types of variant. I notice the GoVinci range available at Bloom & Grow Asia actually carries a really high quality material that is worth investing in for your child. There even have another backpack type where you can carry it. But I still prefer to get this Trolley type because body posture is important and its good to start looking out from young because that's where we start to grow healthy strong bones.

This bag is suitable from age 3+ years onwards. My son turns 4 years this 11.11, and he is so excited because he gets his very own trolley bag that can be converted into a luggage bag for travel, which he will be heading to Legoland and The Lost World of Tambun super soon!


Kids these days are so lucky with all these amazing choices and superb quality! Back in my day, it was simply any bag on offer at the nearest hypermarket, or just use a plastic bag for my clothes-lah...

Have you ever come across a malfunction breastmilk storage bag?! Well, most moms I know on FB has complained over several brands that may seem good, popular or may have a hefty price tag to it, but failed to deliver as promise at times! Some call it pure luck but to me, it's a wear and tear defect for sure.

I have been using several brands now, I won't name them here because I ain't gonna compare each of them. But I have come across a few disasters myself throughout my 4 years of breastfeeding journey and counting!


I remember the time I had to pump around the clock every 2 hours for the second week of my confinement because my eldest was admitted for 4 days and 3 nights for jaundice. It wasn't easy at the beginning, there was no convenient type of silicon pump back then and I had to get used to the hospital's standard breastpump and bottles for storage. So marking it was quite tedious, Thankfully the nurses was helpful! And not one drop is wasted!

Then I had over excess of breastmilk due to my pumping schedule that I had to slowly reduce and regulate back my milk production to suit my child. Because I allow my child to direct latch as much as possible day and night (I always unlatch them after they zzzzzzz la). So the extra milk I had was kinda wasted because my kids always had fresh BM and the extra kept in bottles or storage bags usually goes past their recommended duration (kept in freezer) that is not suitable for consumption. But bottles was taking up so much space in my fridge & the storage bags I had it was either too small 7oz or too big 12oz and I had to always Google check 1oz is how many ml! (Too used to measuring liquid in mL form, suddenly had to know about Oz!) - Oz means ounces, mL means milliliter which usually adds up to liters


Thankfully breastmilk can be used to make liquid soaps, soap bars, lotions, jewellery keepsakes and even milk bath! (Some even use it to cook or added into their coffee or tea, but not me haha, I can't get pass that stage lolx)


The biggest disaster is when you try to thaw your EBM stored in the storage bags and then there's holes, so it gets contaminated and leaks after thawing! Nothing really makes you feel even worse than to watch your precious EBM wasted like that! (I'm definitely not gonna recommend let alone mention that storage bag brand!!)


Ever since then, I've explored and learned alot and found that Appletree Breastmilk storage bags actually does as it says. Am pretty convinced and confident to be even able to write this to share with you. Afterall, good things should be shared.

If you don't know how to use a storage bag for storing breastmilk, you can watch the video below.



And here's a some additional information on breastmilk storage tips and also a pumping schedule for your reference.


Lastly, please remember that pumping milk does not equal to the amount of milk you have or can produce. Because no pump can mimic a baby's suction! And baby's saliva actually send a signal when in contact with our areola to produce the right amount for the upcoming feedings for baby (which is why I direct latch).


And I have been advocating other new moms to try and DL every night especially midnight so the next day production will be just enough for baby. Trust me, I know because I tandem fed both my boys (just weaned my 4yo this year) and I can tell you that your body is magical; It can regulate and change the milk component to suit according to the age of the child and the quantity they required!