Want to travel to space and be an astronaut? Today I did just that...

I had the honour today to be part of history in Malaysia. Since December last year, we have been working on this project with Axe Malaysia. Axe and Lynx worldwide launched this Global Competition to send 22 people into Space.

Buzz Aldrin a former American Astronaut and the 2nd person to walk on the moon 44 years ago, launched the global campaign in January this year with this video link. Malaysians thought that the chance to become Malaysia's next astronaut was a joke, but then after researching online they realized it isn't. Thousands of Malaysians participated and had to get a lot of people to vote for them. The Top 15 rankings will be invited to our Malaysian Axe-tronaut Space Academy/Space Race to then be the Top 5 of which Malaysians will then vote for their own Malaysian Hero that will be sent to A.A.S.A - Axe Apollo Space Academy, watch this (Space Academy video link).

In A.A.S.A Orlando Florida, 150 Space Cadets from around the world through the competition will go through some rigorous training on the L39 Albatross MK-2 et, experience the weightlessness of space in a Zero Gravity flight and ride in the G-Force Centrifuge where the 6-G force will push the body to its limit. Out of these 150 Space Cadets, 1 of them will be the Malaysian that we will choose during these 2 days and then the Malaysians will choose the Top 1 out of the Top5.

And out of these 150 Space Cadets, only 22 will fly up 103km to space with Space Tourism company - Space XC see this Space Flight video. The spaceship departs like an airplane, accelerating at incredible speed faster than the speed of sound. At 60km, the parabolic flight begins where they will experience a period of weightlessness and on the way back down, experience G-Force and gliding back to earth and arriving back like a space shuttle does.

Today, the Top 15 came down to our Axe Malaysia Space Camp. We interviewed them, listened to their stories on why they participated in this competition to go to space and how did they garner so many votes to be ranked the Top 15 in Malaysia out of thousands. We put them through the personality test during the one-on-one interview sessions as well as put them in front of a camera to see if they would know how to respond to media.

Myself together with Nikki, Axe Brand Manager Interviewing Top 15

During the interview, I was amazed by people's stories. They come from all walk of lives - student, lecturer, game designer, rope access freelancer, wall climbing trainer, war game trainer, unemployed, astro physicist, poet, aviation engineer, mechanical engineer and even a direct selling salesman. Amazing thing is they all had one similarity - they all dreamt of being an astronaut or going into space since they were kids.

But the thing that really touched me today is to see the dedication these 14 men and 1 woman had to realize this dream. I mean the reality is yes we all dream of this and that but what do we really do to try and achieve them - not much. Especially being an astronaut or going into space - who would ever think that you would have any remote chance at all. So without any chance, we wouldn't bother to even chaser work towards it. But these 15 people did. I am so proud to be amongst them today and I truly applaud them to get hundreds of thousands of votes so that they can be Top 15. Its easy to get 10, 100, 1000 votes from friends and family but to surpass 1000 votes, you would need a lot of strangers and these guys did anything and everything including marketing themselves globally to get votes. One of them even wrote to Buzz Aldrin to ask him to vote for him.

Words cannot explain these ordinary men and woman who have the guts to chase after what we call a silly childhood dream. But throughout today, I felt like I was going through and living through their journey of accomplishing their dream. Today, I felt like I was one of the Top 15 that will end up being 1 of the 22 going into space.

Most of all, today, I felt Malaysian pride for the 1st time in Malaysia. When they raised the Malaysian flag in our group photo, I felt like a Malaysian even though I am not one.

The Top 15 Axe Malaysian Space Cadets

When I conducted the briefing session to the Top 15, I saw it in their eyes, the huge glimpse of hope that they will be in Space as I played the videos above and explained the whole challenge they will go through tomorrow.

Even my team members who have not slept much the last few nights, trying out experiments with science building rockets out of baking soda and vinegar, something I used to make heaps when I was in high school. Finally last night and this morning, they got a successful rocket launching up really nice & high. Could see their huge sense of pride and happiness too. But in the craziness of deadlines and stress, our team always find time to have fun, laugh and be silly. Today, we became our own Axe-tronauts too!

Guess which one is me...

In my subject title I wrote "Want to travel to space and be an astronaut? Today I did just that..." you might be thinking, well no... I didn't do that today. I did not go into space.

For me just being part of this, watching the videos, talking to the Top 15, hearing stories and dedication, I felt like I did go to space vicariously through 1 of these guys. If and when 1 of them goes to space and comes back to Malaysia to tell the story, I will read it or watch it and go that's my boy/girl and feel so proud like a mama would.

I wish all the Top 15 lots of success and luck for tomorrow's Space Race we created to pick the Top 5.

And for all of you out there, if these guys can dream big, so can the rest of us.

Sleep is for the weak but at 34, I learned that sleep is important

I ended up sleeping at 5am on Monday night after doing my training materials and lots of research for a pitch I am working on. Amazing enough, I managed to wake up at 6am to tell my friends that I can't join them for a run at FRIM - a forest reserve and went straight back to sleep thereafter.

Since I have been a teenager, most friends who know me will tell you, Sham is crazy - she doesn't sleep or she doesn't sleep much. The past 21years I have been able to go through days without sleep or little sleep (1-4hrs max every night) with an occasional huge Knock Out session lasting 1full day of sleep. I am constantly told by everyone that this unhealthy and I believe it isn't. I just wished that I could go to sleep easily but I simply can't. Call it insomnia or hyperactive or just got too much on my mind or have too many things to do in 24hours or even workaholic. However since the 2 recent funerals that were back to back, in a row slightly more than a month ago, it's a reality check for me. I need to stay healthy and alive for many years to come, for my family - my 2 girls who have no one else but me, their only parent. So all the years or nagging from my friends and family, that I should sleep more finally stopped. After the funerals, I made a conscious effort to sleep.

Yes I had to learn to sleep. Miss Know-It-All Sham had to learn the basics. It was difficult initially for the 1st few nights but I think with the help of loads of holistic supplements and vitamin pills I started taking, eventually after a few days and consciously trying very hard to sleep, I finally did the basics of life - SLEEP!

There's tons of articles and proven research that you can Google on all the good effects of sleep such as Harvard Health. However for me, these past 21 years I have lived or 'slept' on the mantra that lesser sleep is better for me because I am more efficient. These past years, whenever I would sleep a normal 6-8hrs like majority of the human population, I would wake up heavy, still tired and for the next 8hrs I will feel sluggish and even more tired. I would feel like I am not sharp, unable to multitask or perform as per norm.

In comparison to when I have my ideal 3hrs a night sleep, I would be up super fresh, sharp minded, able to perform extremely well, have great ideas, multitask and well be in TOP FORM. So I came up with my own hypothesis that less sleep is better for me and that sleep was for the weak. However, occasionally I would have the 1 KO session which is a deep long sleep of about 12-14hours.

The years of nagging from friends & family is finally heard. With my past health issues and most importantly for the sake of my 2 wonderful children, I am learning to sleep.

Many friends have told me that even if I have to ONLY sleep 3-4 hours then I should only sleep between 11pm - 2am as this is when the body regenerates/detoxifies at its optimum level. After some simple online research, in the Dr Oz website its best to sleep from 10pm - 2am. I figured, hey why not. I will only sleep 5 hours and it is optimum sleep. I can then be awake at 2am and go back to doing the things I normally would do.

It wasn't easy to go to bed at 10pm so initially it started at 11pm, then gradually over days it became 10pm. The surprising element for me though is that the 1st few days I go to sleep at 11pm, I would naturally wake up at 2am. The gradually as the days go by, I would naturally be asleep from 11pm to 6am, then it progressed to 11pm to 7am. I am sleeping 8 hours a day DAILY, which in my life terms - it is simple UNHEARD of.

And how I used to be inefficient, feeling lethargy, cranky if I had slept more than 4hours a day, that all became history. Now with 8 hours of sleep a day, I am happy, functioning very well, still as efficient, able to multitask, feel good and have great skin!

So when Monday night/Tuesday morning, I slept at 5am, I could not wake up at 6am (1 hour sleep - what was I thinking). Instead I woke up at 8.30am and last night (Tuesday) when I was putting both my children to sleep at 9.30pm, I fell asleep with them. I naturally became so tired that I went to sleep so early. My body can no longer survive on 3-4hours sleep a day, it needs the 6-8 hours at least.

This morning I woke up fresh to the sound of the Subur Azan (Muslim call to morning prayer) from my nearby mosque at 6am sharp. It is a great feeling.

At 6am I decided to write this article on my blog and then go to the gym for the 1st time in many many months.

At CHI Fitness doing my 1st TRX class this morning 7am

So from a person of extremities, from extremely very little sleep per day (averaging 3 hours/day) to an average of 6-8 hours/day, there is a huge difference. I personally feel that sleep is good for your body, mind and soul.

The only downside, I have lesser time to use in the 24hours we have in a day once 1/4 - 1/3 of the day is taken up by sleep.

But longevity and good health is very important to me now, for the sake of my 2 children. So 11pm - 7am sleep it is for me everyday. But after reading Dr Oz's article earlier on, I am going to try and sleep 10pm - 6am daily now and learn to be even more efficient with the remaining time I have left in a day.

For those few crazy people out there like me that still sleep less than 6hours per day and sleep at 1am - 3am at night, try to put in 1 extra hour of sleep by going to bed 1 hour earlier. Keep trying that till you are able to fall asleep at 10pm or 11pm and feel/see the difference like I do.

I intend to try and keep this up for as many days I possibly can in a week (except weekends when I do go out to nightspots).

How I Multitask Cooking: 45mins to prepare many meals

For quite a lot of my friends who are used to coming over to my house for dinner, they are used to seeing me multitask in the kitchen, cooking plenty of dishes for a lot of people in a short period of time. Again, in my arduous task of obtaining perfectionism, I developed this habit of being able to act like a chef of a restaurant in my very own kitchen.

Monday nights I prepare the following:

• Monday night's dinner for myself, my 3yr old and 9mth old
• Tuesday afternoon's lunch for myself to pack to work
• Tuesday's lunch for my 9mth old daughter
• Semi-prep for Tuesday night's dinner for myself, my 3yr old and 9mth old

So how do I do all of the above in 45mins? Here's how...

All 3 of us are in the kitchen at the same time every evening

I will put my youngest daughter, Adrianna in her walker with some toys or vege sticks to munch on for her teething to distract her.

Alessi has been trained from 18mths old to always assist me in everything I do, so now she is my pro-assistant chef. Alessi will help me cut, clear, stir, mix, wash and clean :)

1st 10mins is always cooking rice in rice cooker (if it is rice for the night) & everything on the table to prepare all of the above meals and doing all the cutting, chopping, mincing, watever. I cut the meat 1st and marinade it while I cut all other items. 1st cut items are always for Adrianna's food steamer & blender. Once the rest are ready, I place all the cut items on as little plates as possible. Meaning as many dishes' cut items onto the same plates if possible (to reduce washing later).

Then I will cook Item No 1: Alessi's Chinese herbal soup 1st because it is the easiest and fastest to do. Boil water in kettle, pour onto half chicken carcass in a big bowl and pour boiling water into pot with herbs. Boil herbs, remove chicken carcass from big bowl and place in boiling pot of herbs. Bring to boil for 5mins and then lower the fire to simmer for another 30-40mins. 

In another small pot, Item No 2: pour boiling water to steam the corncob.

Whilst I am doing the Chinese soup & corn, I will also heat up 1 wok/pan on low heat and I will also place Item No 3: Tuesday night's dinner ingredients into the oven to grill. I am roasting vegetables for Tuesday night's dinner so I simply place them all on the tray and let them oven grill them for the next 15mins.

Once it is all in the oven, I go over to my heated wok to stir fry Item No 4, for tonight I am doing Chinese stir fry of tomato and celery with butter, garlic and salt. Very light stir fry to maintain freshness and crispiness of the vege. Remove from wok, 1/4 onto plate, 1/2 onto lunch box, 1/4 onto Alessi's plate.

I also multitask and do Item No 5: put a knob of butter into a small pot to lightly melt the butter, low heat for 30secs then pour in the finely chopped garlic, leave for another 30secs. Switch of the fire and leave to cool down. This prepares Homemade Garlic Butter which costs peanuts compared to the ones sold in supermarket! Breakfast tomorrow: Toast with Garlic Butter and Slice of Cheese

Using the same big wok stir fry vege, I cook Item No 6: pour in the marinated meat, stir fry for 2-3mins, then pour in the broccoli stir fry for 1min and lastly the bok choy for another 30secs. I always like my vege still crunchy so it is a short period of time to stir fry. Remove from wok, 1/4 onto plate, 1/2 onto lunch box, 1/4 onto Alessi's plate.

Cooking Multiple Dishes To Save Time

In the meantime, Alessi would have washed all the cutlery and plates used to prepare.

Remove corn cob from pot and put into lunch box.

Add salt to Chinese soup and remove from heat. 

Pour soup into 2 bowls, balance into lunch box.

Scoop rice onto my plate, Alessi's plate and lunch box.

My maid will scoop Adrianna's food from steamer/blender into her bowl.

So in 45mins, I have prepared:

Chinese Soup to last 2 dinner nights

2 Dishes + Rice for Dinner and Pack Lunch

1 Corn Cob to snack on at work

Adrianna's meal for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow

Semi-prepare tomorrow night's dinner - Roasted Vegetables

Dinner Tonight + Lunch Tomorrow + Dinner Prep Tomorrow

I know it sounds like a really crazy 45mins. 

But in this short time, I am enjoying my favorite past time, spending quality time with my kids teaching them cooking and cleaning up (a life skill) whilst making it a fun activity filled with great conversations and I feed healthy meals to my family!

So if I can do it, so can you :)

Madness Multitasking Monday!

First of all, I am very impressed that my 1 simple blog post last night received 288 views! Purely from the linking of my blog to Facebook... sounding like an old aged non-tech savvy person, but... I am DAMN impressed! So a BIG THANK YOU to whomever is reading my blog.

Now, back to my 2nd blog posting...

Monday is always called Madness Multitasking Monday!

In my quest of being a perfectionist, I find that MULTITASKING ends up superseding Perfectionism. I strive to have my usual Mondays as such:

• 7.00AM: Wake up, make breakfast for myself and kids and eat breakfast together (whilst eating breakfast i quickly go through some emails - multitasking no 1)
• 7.45AM: Take a shower and bathe Alessi (my 3yr old) at the same time (multitasking no 2)
• 8.00AM: Alessi picks her clothes, I put all my lotions and creams on, lotion up Alessi then wear her clothes, I wear my clothes then its hair dryer time together. I dry her hair 1st then i'll dry mine as she goes downstairs to watch TV (multitasking no 3)
• 8.30AM: Walk or Drive (pending on my mood or how rushed I am) Alessi to school
• 8.40AM: Check on my work emails whilst interacting with Adrianna (my 9mth old) and the Baby Einstein DVD (multitasking no 4)
• 9:30AM: Leave home for work (Thankfully I live 5mins away from my workplace so on "bad" days it takes me only 10mins max)
• 9.45-10:00AM: its work work work work work in the office, have lunch in the office. I normally bring packed food from home or I'll have takeaway in the office as I'd rather get as much work done rather than waste time going out to eat. (multitasking no 5)
• 6.30 - 7.30PM: I leave work for home, if I leave early that means I can walk my dogs with Alessi or now I am TRYING to go to the gym for half an hour. If I leave 7.30pm like tonight, then the madness begins
• 7:30 - 8.15PM: Cooking time with my kids. I cook, Alessi cuts and washes (multitasking no 6)! Cook tonight's dinner for me and the kids, Cook tomorrow's lunch to pack to work, Prepare tomorrow night's dinner (multitasking no 7) - this is what I will further explain on how I multitask cooking so much within such a short period of time, in buy next blog post
• 8.15 - 9.00PM: Eat dinner with my kids, talk about today, what we did in school, at work, play interactive games, watch TV together (Disney Junior or Baby TV only, preferably the latter to unwind the kids down)
• 9.00  – 9.15PM: Evening shower together, brush teeth together, wear pyjamas and while Alessi goes to the playroom to play, I will be applying my night lotions and creams in the name of my vanity (multitasking no 8)
• 9.15 – 9.30PM: A quick short playtime in the playroom or educational reading of books together with Alessi and Adrianna
• 9.30 – 9.45PM: Drink milk (I will feed Alessi and my maid will feed Adrianna), hugs, kisses and goodnight to both kids and lights out
• 9.45 – 10.45AM: It’s me time: Check out news feed on FB, Googling interesting ideas/articles, reading a book or starting today, it will include my 10mins writing on my blog!
• 11.00PM: I used to sleep very little before, but new me is trying to go to bed by 11.00pm. However, like tonight, I have tons of work and deadline and research to do, I will go to sleep once I am done with my work. Most likely tonight, I will go to sleep at around 3am

Just writing this, I already kinda feel exhausted. You must be exhausted reading it too.
But I would assume most working mums have the same kinda day as I do. I have a maid now finally for the past 11months since my 2nd child was about to be born. But I am very hands on and I thoroughly enjoy doing all of the above with my kids so that they get to spend quality time with me whilst I educate them on growing up. No matter how exhausting a day like this may feel, at the end of each day when I put my kids to sleep, I have this smirk on my face knowing that everything I am doing, every minute and every second of the day is all simply worth it for them.

Why am I blogging? My 1st blog post ever.

This is my 1st blogpost ever. I advocate content and blogs so much but I myself didn't have a blog whereby I could create and share content. So this is it.

I contemplated for days what in the world would I blog about. Why would anyone want to read my blog. Whilst pondering, as usual friends and people would ask me on a daily basis... how to this and how to that and how can you do it while you are a single mum. Then it finally struck me, I should write about my daily life.

I am a single mum by choice. My kids are through IVF and I chose/bought the sperm. I decided to have kids on my own with our without a husband at the age of 30 and at 32 I was blessed with my 1st child - Alessi, my little princess. Alessi is now 3 years old and she is the Chinese one. What do I mean by that - her male donor is of Chinese origin. At 33, I was blessed with my 2nd child, Adrianna, my other little princess. Adrianna is now 9mths old and she is the Dutch one. And again, what do I mean by that - her male donor is of Dutch origin.

While in Europe, America or Australia, it is common to hear of single mothers or women who have decided to have kids on their own accord, in Asia it is a big boo-boo... a taboo. Maybe if being a single mother was through out of wedlock and marriage didn't happen thereafter, or through a tragedy such as an accident, teen pregnancy is heard of.

But to decide on your own accord and purchase the male sperm, go through IVF or insemination and have kids as a single woman without a husband is a whole different ball game altogether.

This has resulted in the many comments be it good or bad, praise and criticisms, admiration and mock from friends, family and the public.

However, this has made me even stronger and prouder of the fact that I am a single mother by choice and it is THE BEST DECISION I have made in my life. I don't deny that many a times I wish I had done it the regular way, be married and have kids, but I am still unmarried and my 2 wonderful children  complete me in a way I can never explain and have brought my life to a whole new meaning.

I am still that career woman, that party girl, the girl waiting to find her soulmate, the trying-to-achieve-everything-in-life person, a daughter, trying to be a sister, the friend that my friends can always rely on, the trying-to-be-a-humanitarian, the entrepreneur, the perfectionist and now... the mother.

Thus, the title of my blog: Single Mother Doing Everything In 24 Hours.