Saturday, March 29, 2014

[Sponsored review] Online shopping at www.babyonline.com.sg

Hello! If you do most of your baby-shopping online like myself, you would be like me, constantly on the lookout for reliable websites which offer a wide product range at competitive prices.
 
www.babyonline.com.sg carries every conceivable baby and Mummy product you can possibly think of.


I have been purchasing Bellamy Organic Milk for YEARS now, starting from Adam and now Ashton.
As Bellamy Organic is expensive and hard to find in local supermarkets, I really appreciate a trusty and low-cost supplier.
 
Navigation of website:
Idiot-proof with a search bar for quick listing of your wanted product because there are simply too many items to browse through!
However, had to click on the header banner or any featured product on the default loading page to go into the main site.

 
Product range:
Wide range of products from more than 80 different brands!
Strollers, wall stickers, food blenders, breast pumps, toys, you name it.
 
 
Pricing:
Prices are comparatively about the same as some online retailers, and slightly cheaper than in a brick and mortar shop. They offer free courier service (for orders $30 and above), which most online retailers will charge $6 - $10 for, so that's effectively like $6 - $10 off already!
They also offer bundle pricing for Bellamy milk powder which is means further savings.
 
 
Delivery time:
From checkout to delivery it took 3 days which is reasonable.
They use Ta-Q-bin for courier service so a tracking number is provided.
When the delivery man was on his way, he also called me on my mobile to make sure I was home.
Very prompt service.
 
 
 
 
This was my first time ordering from them, and it was a breeze from payment to delivery.
The following modes of payment are available: Paypal, cash on delivery, or iBanking transfer.
Best of all, www.babyonline.com.sg offers FREE island-wide courier for purchases $30 and above.
Now isn't that marvellous!


I did mention www.babyonline.com.sg has every conceivable thing a baby can have. I also picked out a Tiger Tribe inflatable globe for the kids which I think is really useful for them to learn the world map.

Have bookmarked BabyOnline to my list of trusty suppliers of baby stuff.
Thank you, BabyOnline for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with you!

Thanks for dropping by this post, and hope you have a fabulous weekend :)
If you have not purchased from www.babyonline.com.sg before, do check them out!

 

Sunday, March 23, 2014

March School Holidays: trip to Bollywood Veggies farm.

Wanna know about our first school holidays this year??
Blur Mummy-me totally forgot this week is the March holidays. On Monday, I woke Adam up at his usual school-going time and after getting him dressed, we proceeded downstairs to wait for his school bus. Only that the bus did not come. I called up the bus operator, who then promptly reminded me "Aunty, today is school holiday! 小朋友没上学 (little children have no school)"

Luckily for me, Adam's school has a flexible program that allows drop-off and pick-up during school holidays where they just go to school to play and revise on the term's work so I drove him to school before heading to work and arranged for my MIL go fetch him at noon.
Note to self: mark future calendars on school holidays please!

Since it's the school holidays, we decided to keep Adam home the rest of the week due to logistics problems.

We, however, managed to squeeze in ONE outing with the kiddos this weekend!
So what did we do on the last day of March holidays?
Boring folk like us travelled from Eastern side of Singapore to the West, and considered that a done deal.

We ended up at:
Bollywood Veggies farm, at 100 Neo Tew Road, to be exact. Tel: 68985001.

Opening hours:
Wed to Sunday: 9am - 6:30pm.
Mon & Tue: Closed except for PH.



We shared a hearty meal at Poison Ivy.
First time eating in a local farm so we ordered a little bit of everything!
Tried the banana curry which was something new to me.
Their Warrior chicken was also nicely roasted as it was not oily at all.
 



















Outfit of the day:
Grey t-shirt: Zara
Distressed denim romper: @shopmehgees from Instagram

Slippers: Tory Burch

If you are bananas about bananas, you can buy home some souvenirs from the Poison Ivy café as well.
Heard they are known for their Pisang Rajah cake.
 
Ironically, despite its name, there were no vegetables on sale, much to my mother-in-law's disappointment. 
The kids and I, however enjoyed the visit because of the lush greenery and the huge land for them to run around in, and also due to my love for growing my own vegetables.
 
These are the eggplant and capsicum Adam harvested from our own mini garden!

An entire week of having the kids cooped up at home has reduced the house to catastrophic proportions. Thankfully for us, it's back to school tomorrow!
 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

[Advertorial] iPrice SG online shopping coupons.

Hi Mummies, if you're a busy bee like me who has to manage full-time work and come home to my kids and husband, you will know what quality time means. Every waking moment with family counts!
Hands up if you do most of your shopping online, and kudos to websites that not only cater to our fashion needs, there are also many sites which offer groceries and baby essentials just a click away.
 
 
Due to the enormous numbers of websites that have sprung up in recent years, chances of fake and swindling websites are on the increase. Therefore, the first step to online shopping is to pick credible e-retailers such as Zalora, Foxysales, Streetdeal, Valuebasket, Smartbuyglasses, Expedia and Zuji, just to name a few.
Apart from sourcing for reliable websites, finding good deals and discount coupons are also important in helping to save cost.
 
 
Personally, The Husband is a huge fan of http://www.zalora.sg/. He bought shoes, tees and bermudas from Zalora before and had encountered speedy delivery services every single time.
 
I would like to introduce a relatively new discount coupon site which offers consumers like us discounts off our online purchases. The catch? It's absolutely FREE!
 
If you have not heard of www.iprice.sg, I highly encourage you to check them out.
When the very kind people of iPrice contacted me and asked if I would be interested to write about them, I jumped at the chance.
How's a bargain-aunty like me to turn down an opportunity for online shopping, what's more with discounts?!
 
Obtaining the discount coupons are as easy-peasy as 1-2-3, I promise!
p.s. If you need to squint, click on the photos for full-sized images.


1. Go to http://www.iprice.sg/coupons/ on your internet browser. A list of available coupons are displayed on their website.

2. Click on the "Get The Code" button and a pop-up bar will show you the code you can apply. Clicking OK on the pop-up will also automatically direct you to the discount website. In this case, we chose Zalora.

3. Don't forget to always check on the coupon's terms and conditions. You will be prompted to enter the discount code upon Checkout. However, if it's a printable coupon, you will have to print it out and bring it to the outlet or scan and email it.


 I have here-in included a step-by-step video guide to using the coupons from www.iprice.sg
 
 
 
 
Sorry for sounding like a naggy relative, but I have to reinforce that discounts like these, no matter how small, go a long way, as all those dollars and cents do add up!
 
Now with these discount coupons, online shopping has never been more retail-therapeutic :)
 

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Moms with maids - the dilemmas of a FTWM.

Hi guys! As promised in my previous post, I am now sharing my woes about my maid having a boyfriend.
 
 
Not too long before Chinese New Year, I was playing with the kids in the playroom (also my helper's bedroom). As she was charging her handphone on her mattress, Adam happened to press her phone and showed me this photo:
 
 
A photo of her and her Bangladeshi boyfriend. As you can see, the man was caressing her from behind and staring at her chest. He arm was also placed across the chest.
 
As it was Adam who chanced upon the photo and showed me, my immediate reactions were disgust and worry.
We travel, or are at least away at staycations several times a year. I'm just worried that she might bring men back to our home without our knowledge.
And no, we do not have CCTV installed because we didn't see the need to when the maid and kids are at my MIL's during the day and only come home in the evenings after we fetch them.
 
Since this incident, I have questioned her about it and warned her that if I ever hear our neighbours mention, or we catch her red-handed bringing strangers to our home or stealing from us, we will send them to the police for theft and trespassing and we will also send her back immediately.
 
 
My family, in-laws, Andy and I have discussed about this issue over and over ever since we found out and my friends / colleagues and I have debated about this fiercely over gatherings and lunch-time chatter.
We have come to a conclusion that we will still keep her.
Reason being she has 2 days-off a month, and she is entitled to do what she wants on her days off.
The MOM law states that foreign domestic helpers are not allowed to get pregnant otherwise they will be repatriated back to their country, but no mention has been made about them not allowed to have boyfriends.
 
Besides, we found this photo of her and her boyfriend in her handphone. We did not personally catch them in the act in our home.
 
In such a scenario, will you still keep your helper?
In Singapore, I think most working Moms will face maid problems, give and take the seriousness of the "problems".
 
Life-giver vs caregiver: this is the constant (almost) daily battle I face as a FTWM who has to depend on a foreigner to "mother" my children.
As much as I try to leave work on time, spend time with my kids on weekends, take leave during school holidays, I simply cannot be there for their every single moment.
Moments where they need help in simple tasks like getting dressed/ a change of diaper/ toileting needs/ feeding... the basic activities of daily living and I am not the one to provide such care for them.
It's driving me insane.
 
Lately, due to a shortage of manpower in my department, I have had to work on almost every Saturday till the late afternoon.
The only times I have to my family, I spend locked up in my room catching up on lost sleep.
 My kids want to go to the playground on a weekend evening but all I can muster is enough energy to instruct my son, to ask our maid to bring them down.
 
 
The last thing I need right now, is to deal with BGR problems of someone totally not related to me but whom my kids have to depend on!
Fun times.
 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

My kind boy.

I went for Adam's teacher-parent meeting last Friday and got some updates from his teacher (who also happens to be his Principal).



She told me he was improving in his work, and he is good in his Mandarin and Math. I got similar feedback from his Chinese teacher 古老师 who said that Adam loves Mandarin and he could recognize many Chinese words.



The only thing that we need to work on is his handwriting, which can be quite messy.

Books aside, Adam's teacher (who also happens to be the school principal), shared with me that there is an Autistic child in his class, and much to her surprise, despite Adam being usually a cheeky and naughty one, he was the only one in class who was helpful and kind to this Autistic child. He was also the only one who was willing to sit beside the child, while the rest of his class mostly stayed away from this child because she was different.

She said overall, Adam is a lovable child. Adam's principal then praised me for doing a good job. #proudmummymoment





Last Christmas, we attended a church gathering and there was another Mummy who encouraged me - don't worry about making mistakes in parenting, we are all learning along the way.
That was a humbling & wonderful encouragement to me, especially since I was considered a young mum- I had Adam when I was 26, when most of my friends were not even married yet.
The only advise I had back then were from forums and other mummy-friends made online, and through my personal trial and error.





Dear son,
Although I'm so strict on you, and that I make mistakes some times, I want you to know that I love you, and that I am very proud of you.

To all other Mummies out there - don't worry about making mistakes in parenting, we are all learning along the way.
Please share this encouragement with other Mums if you think it's true!




Thursday, March 6, 2014

My 4 year old has been naughty lately.

Today, when I came back from work, I heard from my husband and maid that Adam had been rude and disrespectful this morning while waiting for his school bus.
 
For the past few mornings since last week, I worked the 8.30am shift at my centre, and Adam's school bus pick-up is at 8am daily, so I brought him to wait for his bus every morning.
It happens that there is a patch of mimosa on the grass near the pick-up point (which is at the side of the road) so under my supervision I let him touch the mimosa during our wait.
My rule is - never go to the road-side, and always come back when I tell him to.
 
This morning, I had to reach work at 8am so I let my helper send Adam down.
As usual, he was playing with the mimosa and one aunty happened to pass by and commented that there could be "gao sai" (dog shit in Hokkien) on the grass.
My helper then asked Adam to come back to her side, which he disobeyed.
He replied that dogs will shit at the side near the pavement, not near the road (what is he? 10?!)
As it was a time with morning traffic, I had always warned him to be careful and listen to whichever adult was with him. And he broke my rule this morning.
 
When I came home from work and heard about this incident, I was mad at Adam.
I reprimanded him and removed his iPad privilege for the evening and nagged at him over and over about the importance of safety and the consequences of not listening to his caregiver.
 
Thing is, he is only like this when he is with my helper as he knows that she is not the "boss" nor his Mommy.
I've tried time and time again to make him obey the maid - I talk/ reason/ spank/ threaten.... until I have no more saliva, and it is driving me crazy.
 
I know it is unreasonable to, and I never expect a domestic helper to be a disciplinarian and mother to my children, but these are some of the issues faced by working Moms on a day-to-day basis.
 
And these issues are very real. Issues of your children's safety resting on a non-family member's shoulders, issues of caregiver substituting lifegiver.
It's impossible for me to be there to police his behaviour all the time, and by the time I reach home to do that, it would easily have been 10 hours later.
 
My maid is not worry-free, either.
Not too long ago, slightly before Chinese New Year, we found out (through Adam, horror of horrors!) a photo of her with a Bangladeshi man hugging her from behind.
** I will share about this issue in another post.
 
 




It is a known fact to our friends and relatives that Adam and Ashton are polar opposites in terms of their character and behaviours.
In all due fairness, Adam is a darling who will plant kisses on you, says he loves you, and he is a happy pill who is hardly angry or unhappy. 
He is a very kinetic child, who thrives on being on the move. He is also witty and vocal.
 
Both my kids are different from each other, and I love them differently.
For Ashton, I love him tenderly and affectionately. He is a sweet, quiet little child who is happy by my existence alone. He's the easy baby who makes parenthood a joy.
For Adam, I love him intensively and impulsively. When he hugs, he hugs with all his might. When he laughs, his laughter is etched on my mind for a long time. He is intense and does things never in half-measures.
 
 As I always say, I love my children differently, but I love them all the same.
I just wish parenting could be a wee bit easier. 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

My birthday staycation at W. 31 really IS the new 21.

Hubby booked a staycation at W Sentosa Cove for the weekend.
This is the end of my birthday month of celebrations!
The boys were thrilled, despite their expressions.


Some drinks at Woo Bar before check-in.



Hubby had booked the Away Suite which the kids would find entertaining with its whirl pool.


It's official - we have atypical kids.




My Hermes 90cm x 90cm silk scarf worn as a top for the resort look down pat.
The SA was very generous to throw in a pack of knotting cards on the different ways to wear your Hermes scarf.

Here, I am wearing it as a halter with 2 simple knots, possibly the easiest way to wear it.



On Saturday night, a complimentary room service came!


Which really caught me by surprise as you can see, I was dressed in nothing but a robe and glasses.
You know you're old like me when you get ready for bed at 10PM.


On the second morning, breakfast beckons. 

At Kith, Sentosa Cove.
My Hello Kitty power bank is really handy in times where I am on the go all day, especially during the Chinese New Year period last month. I got mine from www.qoo10.com.sg for only $19 shipped.

Hers: Vegetarian sandwich. After all the  sinful feasting, it was time for some greens.

His: Big breakfast.

Ended breakfast with a walk along the Cove.

 
 
Thanks for dropping by to read on my birthday celebrations.
Wishing you a good week ahead!