Counting down to CNY

Chinese New Year is coming in another 3 days. And gosh. Nothing is done. House still messy and dirty and messy. I just have no motivation. And it's sooo difficult to clear stuff with two sticky kids. Everything seem so dangerous to the "everything oso wanna touch" kids. Hais.

I must be a little more motivated. Last weekday tomorrow. Jiayou. 

Grocery shopped a little. Yet I bought over $60. Omg. What did I spent on??! My happy little shopper kaki. 

Bought the oranges too. My first time buying. Nope I didn't try. I just bought base on price and gut feelings. 

I'm such an easy customer yet I'm treated like I'm invisible. Sian. Me so bully looking, carrier Josie then with reciept on outstretched hand. Yet no one attend to me. But i saw the shocked reaction when they finally realise this person is here to get orange, not kar jiao jiao for samples. 

Ok. Complain end. Lol. 

Meiji Warehouse Sale

First day of this weekend, we had no plans yet. Many events and places that we wished to go, but we were kinda worried about crowd, timing and weather. After much thinking, we decided to go for the Meiji Warehouse Sale, located on 36 Quality Road. 

Till 5pm today. 

The place was packed! My first time to Meiji's warehouse sale and I was alittle lost, though I got orientated fairly quickly. Aunty's sale + kiasu-ism power hahaha... 

Hubby waited for a parking lot while Josie and I headed in first. I just followed suit and grabbed a big box. And after filling up with maybe 4 boxes of Hello Panda goodies, my arms were tired, so I placed the box on the ground. Lol. A Meiji staff laughed at me. Carry baby still wanna carry big box. Haha oopss aunty-me. Most of the goodies had 20% discount or more (those I didn't really check out, like the collagen and beauty drinks).

The queue for payment was LONG. But it was fairly quick for this snaking queue. About 30 minutes till our turn. 

My Miss Cheekiness queuing with us. 

On top of snacks/biscuits, we also bought two 450ml of milk and 12 yoghurt for $12. Like cheap. Lol. The hubby doing all the carrying. Happy loot!

Back home, the kids inspect the loots. 

Then the parents had their Meiji-ful teabreak. Burps. Very full. 

Happy buys. Great start to our Saturday!

Shopping day

Yesterday I went shopping with baby and Daddy. I had these Mothercare vouchers to use before they expire. I had enough of expired vouchers and I had better use them before I forgot. Again.

Lunch was at Xin Wang. Both daddy and I had set lunch. Baby had her cereal, star puffs, biscuits and tasted alittle of our lunch. Sounds alot huh. 

Then we went on for our mission. Lol. We were in there for ages. I duno what to buy. I chose sale items and didnt choose enough to make full use of the vouchers. In the end, I bought enough socks to last her 2 years. Haha. 

Btw, I love the shoes. It's $15, 50% off and it's a pair of cute bunny ears pink sneakers. 

Popular book buffet

Baby and I journeyed to the far far east for a Book Buffet by Popular Bookshop. It's held in Singapore Expo from 3rd September to 6th September.

More information (from a friend's sms): 

<ADV>POPULAR BOOK BUFFET@EXPO 3-6 Sep Hall 6B.Closed-Door 3Sep. Buy 15 books @ $30; 30 books @ $50. POSB EverydayCard 10% rebate.T&C. http://bit.ly/1N6kotO

It's indeed far for me. A 3-hour journey to and fro on the MRT. At the end of the day, it's pretty worth it though. 

A mummy friend mentioned that it was Teacher's day. Meaning there will be loads of parents and students. Why didn't I think of that. Hmm.. There really are alot of people. It was pretty difficult navigating through the tight lanes lined with people and their trolleys with my trolley, my baby in front and my backpack on my back. I'm glad I didn't bring my pram. Not sure how to navigate through with my lousy skills and having so many things. Plus, high chance, baby will be pulling stuff down. Lol. 

There were at least 8 areas of children books for the books buffet. There are adults fiction and recipe books too. But they didn't get my interest. 

Mid way, baby fell asleep. Envious of my little angel as I was feeling sleepy and giddy at scanning through the books. 

The red trolley provided by Popular for carting out is not full. But I can feel and hear it complaining on the weight it's carrying. Haha... 

The amazing thing about this trip is, I babywear my little one throughout the whole shopping trip while I comb through tables and tables of books and travelled home with two heavy bags of books. Hurray to babywearing. Luckily I had 10 months of practising babywearing out my baby by myself, going to near or far places for long period of time and of course like this day, with heavy stuff. I'm amazed by my strength. 

Two big bags. Very very heavy. I had to stop to take breaks in between. 

My loot of the day. All baby books. All board books. Some are duplicates, to gift my friends' kids. Majority are darling's. Haha. Need to wipe them clean. They are all too dusty. 

Side note, I didn't know about this nursing area near the entrance to Expo from the MRT. Pretty cool. There are four cubicles, one of which I tried entering but the door was unable to close. Two changing counters. One sink. 

Happy shopping with the mummies

A date with the mummies to get some groceries. Fresh sashimi, oysters and frozen meat. I had fun shopping. Gotten pretty much food to make dinner for a few days, including today's. 

First stop, FarOcean. You can find all sorts of meat here. Fish, seafood, chicken, pork, beef, lamb... Love the lady, Laureen. She introduced us to their products, and I got the codfish after she recommended me as a bb food. 

All our baskets were at least half filled. At least. Haha.. 

Here's my loot from FarOcean. $70.30 for these. The most expensive item here is the 1kg cod fish at S$53, which is a great value buy. And we got 5% off the total bill. Cool eh?

FarOcean 

15 Fishery Port Road Singapore 619735

http://farocean.com.sg

Free delivery with S$150 purchase from their online shop. 

2nd stop, Snorre Food. Just a turn away from FarOcean. I didn't get any other stuff, except those that I had pre ordered. (Forgot the store photos as the guy there was a little grumpy, kinda affected my mood lol)

My loot from Snorre Food. 600g of salmon sashimi at $28. 6 pieces of live oysters at $2.40 each. Yums. 

Enjoying my feast. 

Hubb's late home from school, so he had his for supper, with the oysters. He said they were FRESH. Haha. I know nothing about oysters. Glad he liked it. 

** We had some trouble shucking the oysters. The guy didn't wanna do it for (some) us, saying that it will be fresher if we shuck it just before eating. True but ouch, my hands. 

Snorre Food

http://snorrefood.com.sg

25 Fishery Port Road, Jurong, Singapore 619739

More new toys.. and books

Just received my loot from Amazon. Spend US$125 (T&Cs applies) and above and it's free shipping~ The entire loot, only one item belongs to Josie's Papa and one item belongs to Josie's Mammy. The rest are all hers. Hahaha..

65daigou.com 5th anniversary

To all taobao shopaholics! Are you using 65daigou.com for your buys? Great news!

It's their 5th anniversary and they are celebrating it with us by waiving off the agent fee when we use the "Buy for me" service. Nice eh?

Time for more shopping. I seem to have never ending stuff to buy. Sigh. I have no income and I am spending non stop. What a "good" wife. 

PS. This is not an advertisement. Good stuff must share. 

Babywearing - Lenny Lamb Autumn Woven Wrap

Remember I was overwhelmed with choices for babywearing (see post)? I already have an Ergobaby SSC as a gift from the hub's colleagues. That was a pricey gift.

Then I bought myself a woven wrap to kickstart 2015. It's still very new. Not broken in yet. And I'm still very newbie. It's quite warm too. But babywearing itself is a warm affair.

I had only tried two ways of wearing. Well more to come as LO grows up since some of the ways are for bigger babies with better neck control or already seated up.

Babywearing : Lenny Lamb Autumn Woven Wrap

Fluffmail!!! My Lenny Lamb Autumn woven wrap arrived at my doorstep this afternoon. Happy happy! Very excited to try but LO has been sleeping and feeding the afternoon away. 

Finally got to try it at night. Not too bad for my first time doing the FCC, but I look too unglamourous for photos. 

Happy happy. Even though LO fusses a little in the wrap (evening time is not a right time to try new things), but I'm sure she will love it. 

It needs a wash. The 'new' smell is pretty strong. I need more practices too before showing it off to the world. 

Fluff Mail

Fluffmail has restocked! And I had been eyeing one of them for a while. It got my heart all itching for it. With approval, I had paid for it. Oh my Autumn~

Can't wait for it to arrive.

Last online shopping done for 2014

Babywearing

I had been considering getting a ringsling for my LO for a while now. I'm thinking that it will be much cooler (for both LO and myself) and easier (to dine outside) with a ringsling. Girlfriend had loaned me hers, but I have not had succeeded in wearing my baby. I'm not sure whether it's because LO doesn't like it or I'm too ganjiong and she can feel it or the material is too slippery or because whenever I try it, she suddenly decided she wants to snack.

Then, recently there's this video circulating on Facebook. It shows a mummy using a stretchy wrap to wear her baby. And it got me thinking whether I should get that instead. I was looking at a Boba Wrap.

Boba Wrap from Amazon.com

THEN... I joined the Babywearing Singapore group to learn more. Advised the "seniors", a woven wrap is better than a stretchy wrap in terms of longer lifespan. Babies grow, so being stretchy will lead to baby slipping downwards and have to keep readjusting. So, stretchy wrap, out.

Now I'm considering between a woven ring sling or a woven wrap. And there are sooo many choices. There are many very pretty designs and so are the prices. And also, another thing to consider is the learning curve. Sling seems difficult as I have difficulty with my girlfriend's loan. Wrap seems to have a steeper learning curve but has more versatility. My head is getting bigger and bigger by the day.

And MGG had me thinking... Really thinking... Should I get a MGG mei tai instead?

Here are some finds that I LOVE or deciding...

Madame Googoo (MGG for short) - I love the fabric designs!! LOVE! Her Mei Tais are very unique and pretty!

MADAME GOOGOO ® is a Polish brand designing safe carriers and slings for carrying children. They are made from excellent quality fabrics, rich in designs and bright colors.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Madame-Googoo-baby-carriers/145687608816099

Lenny Lamb - A more affordable brand with a Singapore distributor, http://www.fluffmail.com.sg/, but for those I like, Fluffmail either don't carry or it is out of stock.

LennyLamb Company is a family business and initiative of people that are fascinated by the phenomenon of babywearing.
http://en.lennylamb.com/

Little Frog - A more affordable brand that has really nice fabric color. But I have not yet figure out how to buy from here.

Little Frog is a 100% Polish brand of high quality baby wraps, designed and created by Marzena and Patryk - the proud parents of two daughters, Nela and Pola.
http://littlefrog.pl/

** Update 19 December 2014. 

I have decided. My next buy will be a Mei Tai. Time to save up. 

Just another "Today"

Happy that I procastinated in going out for some errands as I managed to catch the postman with my ASOS loot. One for the hubby. Two for me. 

And I had made dinner today. Simple noodles with chicken, broccoli and carrot. Healthy. I hope. Looks pretty and colorful. Lol

Designer Diaper Bag - Ju.Ju.Be

A Ju.Ju.Be diaper bag was presented to me for my birthday last month, from 3 dear GFs. Thanks girls. Love the bag. It is very pretty and useful. Can't wait to use it. It was suggested that I use it as my hospital bag when I go into labour. A very good idea on starting my journey as a mummy with it.

Designer diaper bags for today’s parents.
Ju-Ju-Be bags are built to fit everything baby needs – while being stylish and fun. Featuring tokidoki, Original Ju-Ju-Be and Legacy prints. All Ju-Ju-Be bags are machine washable, anti- microbial and incredibly durable yet lightweight.

LEGACY SUPER BE - THE DUCHESS
http://shop.ju-ju-be.com/legacy-super-be/
This pretty, stylish diaper bag weighs only 0.23kg. Being a typical kiasu Singaporean, I can put in loads of stuff without worrying about the initial weight of the bag, but only what I put in =P It's huge too, measuring at w46cm x h38cm x d14cm. And the strap is long, very easy to carry and retrieve things, especially when one of my hands/arms is occupied.

I had never thought of getting a diaper bag. I had intended to just use my large Longchamp Le Pliage bag as a diaper bag. It huge and considerably light too. This new diaper bag comes as a big and pleasant surprise. Love it alot. Here's a video on the bag's benefits.



If you are interested in getting a lightweight diaper bag, you can consider this too. There are several styles and designs by this brand. There are even bags for dads and backpacks too. I like the Legacy range more though. Happy shopping!


Ju.Ju.Be
http://ju-ju-be.com/

Shopping at Carter's

Let me reshare my happy shopping loots from June.

And I was very happy. I had tagged along girlfriend's shipment. There are so many cuties on Carter's, but had aimed only for those on sale with the 20% clearance sale on top of it. Not too sure whether these are suitable, but I had shopped happily. Don't you agree that they are so adorable? Hopefully my sweetie pie is able to fit in and likes them.

This loot's damage: US$53.13 (with SGD13 international shipping via comgateway.com)

My loot is really value for money. If divided equally for all 17 items, it is only $4.80 per piece. Love love...

Shopping at Carter's

I had just paid for my first US online shopping loots. And I am very happy. Tagged along girlfriend's shipment. There are so many cuties on Carter's, but had aimed only for those on sale with the 20% clearance sale on top of it. Not too sure whether these are suitable, but I had shopped happily. Don't you agree that they are so adorable? Hopefully the sweetie pie is able to fit in and likes them.

This loot's damage: US$53.13 (excluding international shipping via comgateway.com)

Not too sure if this first US spree is going to open up to future sprees. Will have to control a little more.

Mid Autumn Festival - Mooncake feast

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 is a festival which most Chinese celebrate with mooncakes and lanterns. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, during a full moon.

Offerings are also made to a more well-known lunar deity, Chang'e, known as the Moon Goddess of Immortality. The myths associated with Chang'e explain the origin of moon worship during this day. One version of the story is as follows, as described in Lihui Yang's Handbook of Chinese Mythology: In the ancient past, there was a hero named [Hou] Yi who was excellent at shooting. His wife was Chang'e. One year, the ten suns rose in the sky together, causing great disaster to people. Yi shot down nine of the suns and left only one to provide light. An immortal admired Yi and sent him the elixir of immortality. Yi did not want to leave Chang'e and be immortal without her, so he let Chang'e keep the elixir. But Feng Meng, one of his apprentices, knew this secret. So, on the fifteenth of August in the lunar calendar, when Yi went hunting, Feng Meng broke into Yi's house and forced Chang'e to give the elixir to him. Chang'e refused to do so. Instead, she swallowed it and flew into the sky. Since she loved her husband very much and hoped to live nearby, she chose the moon for her residence. When Yi came back and learned what had happened, he felt so sad that he displayed the fruits and cakes Chang'e liked in the yard and gave sacrifices to his wife. People soon learned about these activities, and since they also were sympathetic to Chang'e they participated in these sacrifices with Yi. (wiki)

In the past, I used to gift mooncakes to our parents and grandparents. But as years go by, my parents decided that they prefer the confectionary mooncakes, and not the "branded" mooncakes.

This year, we went ahead and bought mooncakes, but only the durian mooncakes. Both mothers like eating durian. The hubby and I went to our usual (many years ago) place, Takashimaya Atrium, to purchase a token of our filial piety.

These mooncakes look so special. But sad to say, they taste very normal.

And here I thought that this set of mahjong is actually a tray of mahjong mooncakes. It's parlines.

And we got our durian mooncakes from the Four Season Durians. Look at the price list. Aren't you amazed by the 100% Mao Shan Wang durian mooncake (box of 4 pieces) at $128? Haha.. We only bought the $56 Pure D24 durian mooncake (box of 4 pieces).

The freezer full of the durian mooncakes.

Haagen Dazs icecream mooncakes. Pretty mooncakes.

Our buys. All as gifts. I wonder if we will get to eat any mooncakes ourselves? haha...