The Lure of $2 30 October, 2011
Posted by dear1dear2 in Around the House, Dear2, Reno & Furnishing, Shop till you drop.add a comment
- Square porcelain plates
- Round Japanese bowls
- Dustbin for kitchen and bed room
- Tub for sink
- Baskets for laundry pegs
- Baskets for putting make up and stuff
- Wall suckers for bathroom and kitchen
- Horizontal rod for hanging kitchen tools
- Potato masher
- Kitchen gloves
- Big paper boxes for storing small items
- Food containers
- Small handheld broom and dustpan
- Big plastic bowls for baking
When we first moved into our house, equipping everything from scratch often leads us to buying these household essentials from Daiso. At that time, money was scarce for us, so with each item at just $2 per piece, these were very affordable for us yet stylish. Many a times, there were even cents to dollars of savings as compared to buying the same item elsewhere, or simply as a cheaper alternative.
Over time, we would often frequent Daiso whenever we need to get more household essentials:
- Laundry bags (I think we have about at least 8 now)
- Large zip lock bags for overseas purposes
- Containers for storing Dear1′s meeples and tokens (I think he has bought at least about 7 to 8 boxes in all)
- Apron (my second piece already, just because the first one was not pretty)
- Food grater for Baby1 (used maybe 3 times?)
- At least 3 sets of small containers (for storing Baby1′s pureed foods that time; now all neatly stacked up in the cupboard)
- Cookie cutters (2 new sets, washed but not used yet)
- Cute food picks (still in the plastic bag. Extremely cute!!! But haven’t got the chance to making bento for Dear1 yet. Oh yes, there’s still the ‘fake’ seaweed for sushi decoration which we have not tried yet too.)
- Laundry hangers (we have 2 sets of 8 pegs each, and 3 sets of 18 pegs each)
- Tie Hanger (hmm… cannot remember why I bought this at that time)
- Clothes hanger over door (ermm… we realised that the door cannot be closed with this one on, so………..)
- Flower pots (bought 3, but only used 2)
- Various hanging baskets in various sizes (usage varied, depending on where needs what to be hung)
- Shower caps (I have 4 now – blue, yellow, white and pink. ;p)
- Gloves for Baby1 that time when we went Korea (ermm.. we didn’t even take this out to use, just for ‘in case’ situations)
- Round stools for sitting or just putting the feet up (ermm… we have 2 grey, 1 brown, 1 yellow, 1 pink and 1 blue now. Why do we need so many stools in our little 3 room flat!?)
- Bottle brush (when we already have 1 Pigeon one for Baby1′s bottle)
- Racks (total count reveals 5 in the kitchen. Didn’t know that I have bought so many!)
- and the list goes on and on
Things are so cheap at Daiso! I mean, everything is fixed price at $2, so I just have to count the number of items in my basket and it’s easy to know the total price. But many a times, total damage usually exceeds imagination. We would walk into Daiso wanting to get a container for storing some of Dear1′s cards (again), but end up having 1 Christmas tree, 1 more basket for the living room, 1 toothbrush set for Baby1, 1 fork and spoon set for her, a super cute food container for her too, (resist to buy the matching pink bowl, and oh, there’s a plate version too!), (prohibited to get another Christmas decoration because Dear1 refuses to choose one for me), and 1 packet of the caramel corn at check out. Nowadays, I even have to give myself a budget, say $20 if I want to go in to get a $2 item!!!
The lure of Daiso is indeed very big. Things are so pretty in there, and most of them are really useful. But we do have experiences when the quality is poor, like that hamburger food timer which we didn’t manage to get it to work properly ever, and that stainless steel egg mold which got rusty though we only used it once. But even if the item is no good, it’s at most a $2 write off, very cheap indeed ya. ;p
- Dear2
Korea 2011 – The Sights 19 August, 2011
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear2, Shop till you drop, Travel & Discovery.4 comments
Dear1, Dear2 and Baby1 went on a 1 week trip to Seoul, Korea last week over the National Day holidays. We flew on Sunday, and was supposed to return on the following Sunday for our 7 days free and easy trip, but came back earlier on the Friday overnight flight as Baby1 caught the cold bug there. I shall split our Korea experience over the next few posts, so let’s talk about the sights that we have visited there.
Lotte World
There’s a reason why Lotte World gained numerous awards – it’s really cool!! Big, or I would say, so EXTREMELY big is the interior once you enter. You can’t even see the far end of the building. There are hot air balloons cruising overhead, there’s a huge ice skating rink right in the middle below (though this is not part of Lotte World), there’s lots of kids and families, lots of attractions, and a huge stage on the other far side – all seen when you enter. And we have not even went outside for the outdoor park, and inside the various holes for more attractions, and upstairs where there are more rides and even the Folk Museum outside. Lotte World is simply fun!!
A section of the indoor part of Lotte World, there's also an outdoor part of similar size.
However, do note the limitations for the Passport ticket. This supposedly include all attractions, but excludes Game Attractions and rides which indicates that children under certain age needs to pay.
Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insa Dong and Dongdaemun
On Wednesday, we took subway Line 3 to the palace, and after the 1 hour English guided tour which starts at 11am, it was a short walk to Insa Dong. The palace is huge – really like the mock up we saw at the Folk Museum the day before, except for its real stone paths and sand walks. And no jokes about the stairs, it’s really steep. Insa Dong was lively, and we walked the way to Dongdaemun in the hope of getting some lunch along the way. Surely there must be food from all the shops I see ahead? We walked until our legs nearly gave way before we finally found a Korean food eatery. Luckily for us, Dongdaemun was just round the corner after we finished our meal.
Gyeongbokgung just outside the main entrance where the guard changing ceremony was taking place.
One of the more famous buildings in Insadong, we saw a miniature of this building in the teddy bear museum too.
Inside the Dongdaemun shopping complex.
Dongdaemun is a market, a wholesale market from what we gather. Shops and shops that sell clothes to metal poles to buttons to plastics, all in various shapes and sizes. The Cheonggyecheon Stream runs up here too, so we took the stairs down and strolled along the stream like the other local Koreans. There was a grateful breeze down here where you can hardly hear all the noise and bustle upstairs.
Baseball Match @ Jamsil Sports Complex
We took a cab from our hotel to the stadium. It was the Doosan Bears (home ground) versus some other team. Dear1 says that watching a baseball match is what a Korean packaged tour will never bring you to, so here we were. We spotted 2 Ang Mos buying tickets, and went up to inquire on the ticketing. First, you need to determine which team you are supporting, cos that determines which side you sit. Then you point to the grid and say which seat you want. Paid, and bingo we went searching for the entrance in the huge complex. Before going in, the Koreans will buy a pair of cheering ballons (1000 won each for the reused ones sold illegally outside, 2000 won each for the authentic new ones sold in the stores) and a box meal for the 3 hour match.
Go Doosan Bears @ Jamsil Sports Complex.
The game was exciting, more so becos of the mood and atmosphere. We left at 4 of 9 rounds, and the game ended only at about 11pm while we watched it live in the hotel room. Keke.
Namsangol Hanok Village and Namsan Park
Next morning, we took a subway to the village. Unfortunately on this day, the rain came back again (the typhoon was still looming on Monday when we reached Korea, and cleared the next 2 days after). Hence a brief tour of the village and we were off to Namsan Park on Bus 2. First time taking a Korean public bus, we were very nervous, but off course you’ll just alight when everyone alights on this tour bus. After alighting, what next? Just follow everyone uphill!! It was a steep uphill climb and we reach the bottom of the Observatory very soon.
A glimpse of N Seoul Tower from Namsangol Hanok Village.
Up at the ticketing booth at N Seoul Tower.
The Observatory was just very ‘observatory’. The only familiar landmark we spotted was the Hanok Village which we came from earlier. Then we went to the Teddy Museum. Surprisingly, this museum is very cute indeed with all the animated teddy bears dressed like real people in the familiar palace!
This is the miniature of that familiar building at Insadong which is on display at the Teddy Bear Museum.
Before we descended the park, we made sure that we leave a ‘love lock’ locked there too, just like the Koreans. :)
Namdaemun
From the same bus station, we took Bus 5. This bus stops at Namdaemun (2 stops) and ends at Myeongdong. Ermm… “What if we miss the Namdaemum stop, cos there are 2 stops listed?” Dear1 asked. ”Then we’ll just go right to Myeongdong”, I replied. True enough, the first Namdaemum stop doesn’t look quite like a market we want to go, so we alighted at the next one where some teens got off. This market is quite unlike Dongdaemun; it’s more like the Shilin Night market where there are rows and rows of shops selling clothes and local produce and street food. Interesting!!
Namdaemun feels very much like our local pasar malam and Taiwan's night markets.
Myeongdong
From the market, we took a 1 stop MRT to Myeongdong (we learnt our lesson from Dongdaemun, no more walking please). This market is totally mind-blowing. Soooooooo many people, and its extend is soooooooo very huge. Chinatown in KL, and even Mong Kok seems small compared to this. Definitely a must visit if you are in Seoul!!
Myeongdong shopping district is very large, there are people everywhere.
COEX Mall
On Friday, Baby1 started to feel feverish, and so we packed our bags for the night flight home. On this day, we hang around in COEX Mall for the Baby Fair and Aquarium. Though it requires registration and a 5000 won entrance, the Baby Fair was very impressive judging from the crowd already there at 11am. The Aquarium was more disappointing for its 17000 won entrance fee – it’s small and stuffy, though the interesting use of daily household items as tanks for the fishes makes this aquarium different from the rest we’ve seen.
A very large nursing room inside the exhibition hall of the Baby Fair @ COEX.
Though a short trip, it was really interesting and eye opening for us. I shall talk about the other aspects of the trip again.
- Dear2
Nex vs Clementi Mall 26 May, 2011
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Shop till you drop.add a comment
Clementi Mall definitely wins hands down over Nex.
We visited Nex one Sunday, and within 2 hours, I was eager to get out already.
Parking – With the famed insufficient parking lots within the mall, we decided to head to the HDB multi-storey carpark straight. Bad choice, cos we had to park right at the highest level on the open air roof of the carpark, and had to lug the stroller all the way down the stairs. Finally reach ground floor, but the mall is still bumps and distance away…. So big in sight, yet so far away…
Layout of the mall – It is the biggest heartland mall in town, but the layout sucks. To me, I hate malls that do not have a clear defined theme and layout. Shops in various shapes and sizes all over. You can walk from one end to the other, but yet cannot find the lift or escalator up/ down. The worse thing, there was a flight of stairs up to somewhere at one end, but we decided not to proceed cos again because of the stroller. There were lots of eateries though, but probably a few too many cos everywhere you see restaurants, but where to shop? And when we reach somewhere shop-able, hmmm…. this don’t look like a new mall leh. Why do I feel that it looks old and messy, like some old shopping centre?
Toilets – The worse, worse worse. I think the mall is opened for maybe half a year already? But the toilet is dirty and poorly maintained!! Water is seeping through the toilet wall tiles, the tiles and doors look cheap, and there’s buckets and brooms in visible sight. This just look like a cheapo mall.
Biggest, newest maybe, but definitely cheaply built too. I wouldn’t want to go to Nex again.
Come Clementi Mall, it was newly opened recently though the basement with its NTUC Finest and various eateries were ready some time back.
Access via Clementi MRT Station – Cool. It leads right into the station, so you can avoid that packed bus stop at the ground floor. And it is spacious once you enter – at least on level two.
Shops – Cool!! Basement is all the food. Level 2 is all the boutiques. There’s a couple of jewelery shops right next to each other, so makes shopping for your favourite diamonds easier. There’s a row of beauty salons at the higher floor – gives you one clear glance of what there is. There is a cluster of baby shops at this floor too – mummies’ favourites!! And not forgetting the National Library in this mall too. Simply cool!!!
Toilets – Yes, like I say, one can tell whether there was budget for the complex by looking at the toilets. It’s spacious here – at least 15 cubicles I would say, and mind you, not cheapo dirty looking ones, but those build with solid doors and beautiful tiles and lightings.
Clementi Mall beats Nex many hands down. I am glad that we stay in the West to be able to frequent CM more often.
- Dear2
All I want for Christmas is a Coach Baby Bag 12 December, 2010
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Dollars & Cents, Shop till you drop.add a comment
All I want for Christmas is a Coach Baby Bag, How material have I become!!
Girls can never have enough bags. You need an everyday work bag. Or maybe 1 more for variety to match your clothes. Or maybe another one for added variety. In fact, you need many many everyday work bags so as to keep up with the times. Luckily for Dear2, I was never one to keep up with fashion anyway, and I was too lazy to keep taking out all the stuff from this bag into the other one. Most importantly, I was too stingy to own multiple everyday bags.
You need a few outdoor bags. Maybe some backpacks – large and small for different purposes. And a few sling bags for different occasions. And a few hand carry bags to suit the event. Luckily for Dear2 again, I was never really into branded last time, so there was just 1 tiny Esprit backpack for me, and a Fila small one for sports purposes. And the Karimor large backpack that we used for travels. And 1 more Fila hand carry one for the sporty me when Dear1 and Dear2 went dating last time in our youth. Plus a couple of slings and shoulder bags bought as souvenirs from Vietnam. Plus a couple more other cheapo ones that din manage to survive the test of time. Etc etc etc.
Alas. After Dear2 started to have earning power, I start to look at what bags do other people carry. Even a girls’ Saturday out and everyone is sporting an LV, Chanel, or minimum Coach. And this is just an all girls outing, who to look at your bag!? And it’s Gucci amd LV and Chanel and Coach again at work – bags, wallets, wristlets, even a handphone strap….. -_-
Dear2 had a Bonia bag for 2 years. ”$200+ and it’s still good as new”, says Dear1. ”Branded bags are really durable”, says Dear2, and I started to look at BPs for Coach bags…. Barely a year down and the small Coach swing bag at $200+ has proven to be too small to be functional, Dear2 starts to eye a Coach Diaper Bag, aka Baby Bag.
All I want for Christmas is a Coach Baby Bag. Hang on, dun impulse buy. Let’s think through real carefully if we really need this item.
I want a Coach Baby Bag…..
- :p Dear2
Re: Giant (IMM) 16% Discount 1 October, 2010
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Dollars & Cents, Shop till you drop.add a comment
Hmm…
We just went to Giant @ IMM to spend one of our $8 voucher yesterday. We’ve confirmed with the staff that only one $8 voucher can be used for every $50 purchase.
Let’s see how this affects things.
First off, this is a reponse to Dear2′s earlier post. Strictly speaking, the $8 voucher is more of a rebate than a discount. A discount is something that you receive upfront before paying. A rebate is something that you receive (and can be used for a later purchase) after paying the original amount.
So, strictly speaking again, the percentage savings should be calculated as 
Of course, we can take a look at the more general case to see how much savings can we actually achieve if we keep returning to Giant @ IMM to spend $58 each time to continually accumulate $8 vouchers.
Let 
We know that we should spend $50 on the first visit to earn the first voucher. On subsequent visits, we should spend $58 so that we can use the first voucher and then continue to earn one more voucher. We should repeat this until the last visit where we should only spend $50 simply to use our last voucher.
Hence, we can define the percentage of savings as
Simplifying, we get
In the limit that we visit Giant @ IMM a large enough number of times
In order to better visualize this relationship, we plot the graph of the amount of savings against the number of visits from 0 to 100 visits in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Graph of Savings against Number of visits
We can observe that the amount of savings rises rapidly during the first few visits before again rapidly tapering off towards the horizontal asymptotic value of 0.1379.
Of course, we’re not going to visit Giant @ IMM that many times since the promotion is going to end in 30 more days (i.e. 31 Oct 2010). Practically, visiting 13 times (including first and last) is enough to put the savings at 13%, which isn’t too bad at all.
Take note that this is only the theoretical limit. Practically, it isn’t quite possible to purchase *exactly* $50 or $58 every single time. So, the practical savings is likely smaller than 13%.
Solved. :D
-Dear1
p.s. This post is just poking fun at how much an engineer Dear1 is! I don’t usually do such things when we go shopping. :P
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Giant (IMM) 16% Discount 30 September, 2010
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear2, Dollars & Cents, Shop till you drop.1 comment so far
One day, Dear1 and Dear2 were grocery shopping at Giant @ IMM. Upon checking out at the counter, the salesgirl told us that there’s a $8 discount voucher given for every $50 spent. We topped up the purchase with 1 tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (UP $13.80 i think, already $4 more than the offer price last time, but I’ll get back a $8 voucher, so though it’s $4 more, but I still get back $4, well worth it!!). Redeem the voucher at the Customer Service Counter, and we went home feeling very happy. Spend exactly $50 and get a $8 voucher, that’s 16% discount leh! Not even the 10% storewide at Carrefour sometimes can beat this, and if you pay by Citibank credit card, you still get that 5% rebate, hoo haa!!
We decided to maximise this benefit the next time round. Spend $58, use that $8 discount voucher, balance $50, and bingo, you get back another $8 discount voucher. We did that once and it was okay!!
Dear1 and Dear2 now has 2 $8 discount voucher, we are wondering if we can use 2 vouchers with just $50 spending. If it is viable, then it’ll be buy $66 worth of grocery, net off 2 x $8 vouchers, balance $50 to pay and you get another $8 voucher. We doubt that is possible as usually you can only use one $8 voucher for every $50 spent. Who knows, maybe Giant is nice enough to use this technique to lure more customers to their already very popular supermarket.
- Dear2
PS: It seems that the promotion is only valid at Giant IMM, and is valid until 31 Oct. So hurry down while stocks last!! (but if possible, try not to go on a weekend lah; shopping centres, and especially supermarkets are always CROWDED during weekends. Unless you don’t mind their super long Qs, which, cannot understand why, are usually long on weekdays anyways…
Everything Pigeon 16 April, 2010
Posted by dear1dear2 in Baby, Dear2, Shop till you drop.1 comment so far
Oh dear, Dear1 and Dear2 have unknowingly become Pigeon’s fan.
Our entire collection of Pigeon products!
Avent, Medela, Ameda, Tollyjoy, Tommee Tippee, Pureen, NUK, Dr Brown, Kodomo, Pigeon, these are common names that any parents will come across when shopping for baby products. And like any brand, every individual will have their personal preference towards certain brands. For Dear1 and Dear2, it seems to be Pigeon.
Over the past few months, we have stock up quite a few Pigeon items, with the latest and biggest (by number of items) damage from the recent 20% discount at Metro.
Pigeon Sterilizer - At $95 that time when we bought it, it was a steal until Metro started offering $99 which includes a Step 1 weaning set as well :(
Pigeon Wet Wipes – By far the most user-friendly wet wipes that we’ve used, with it’s one hand system (trust me, a wet wipe that can come out easily really is a life saver when you are changing the diaper of a screaming infant). The free wet wipe box that came together with the $9.50 for 3 packs which we bought sometime back, opens up very beautifully too, making one wanting to keep pressing the lid open, haha…
Pigeon Pacifier – Dear1 and Dear2 introduced the Step 1 pacificer to Baby1 only recently, and it seems that she’s not too keen on it. Nonetheless, we went ahead to get Step 2 and 3 as well, :p, as the different shapes at different stage apparently caters to different parts of baby’s growing months as well. Hmm, interesting….
Pigeon Nasal Tweezer and Nasal Pump - These were the only 2 items NOT purchased at a discount (apart from the consumeables cos any discount usually dun apply to them…) cos that time Dear1 was so worried about the congestion in Baby1′s nose and we frantically purchased these with the hope of helping Baby1 remove her nosedirt.
Pigeon Toothbrush – Haha, Dear1 and Dear2 got the Step 1, 2, 3 training toothbrush for Baby1 already. A tat too early, but since she’s going to need it anyway, might as well just get it first since there’s offer. Wahahaha…
Pigeon Mag Mag – How cute!! Even the mag mag comes in Step 1 to 3. Dear2 was so excited that she almost got all the 3 mugs, meaning mugs x3. Luckily the rational brain functions at the last minute to realise that actually the cup itself can be used throughout, so just only need to get the different spouts.
The brightly colored (and cute) Weaning Bowl, Dish and Plate that we decided not to get. :(
Pigeon Weaning Set - Finally, the most ‘insane’ thing that Dear1 and Dear2 almost bought: the Step 1 and Step 2 weaning set. Excitedly, Dear1 and Dear2 compared the price of the package to that of the individual items and concluded that buying the individual items was slightly cheaper. Happily, we proceeded to the counter for payment, but at the last instance, Dear1 asked, “Why do we need the weaning bowl?” At $10+ and $20+ for just a brightly colored (and cute) bowl, dish and plate, these plastics seemed a bit expensive. Bowls are just bowls and I’m sure we can get $2 bowls plastic bowls too, no need expensive ones lah. And so, we dropped the bowls and just got the Step1 and Step 2 weaning spoon and cutlery. :)
Unknowingly, Dear1 and Dear2 have become Pigeon’s fans. Let’s see, how many Pigeon products have we bought so far? Keke…
- Dear2
Know your credit card rebates 23 December, 2009
Posted by dear1dear2 in Dear1, Dollars & Cents, Shop till you drop.14 comments
I’m talking about rebates, NOT discounts. You know how credit card companies always advertise their discounts in prominent positions using human sized banner posters? Well, they don’t do the same for rebates.
Credit card rebates are those rewards that you can accumulate and later redeem. Some credit cards allow redemption only at specific partner merchants while others return the rebates by offsetting the credit card bill directly.
Credit card rebates are in general a very worthwhile system for consumers, sometimes offering rebates of up to 5%. The problem is keeping track of which credit card gives rebate at which merchant since they do not advertise it. The only way to find out is to visit their website. However, there is one exception that is the POSB Everyday Card. They have huge signs telling everyone that they give 5% rebates at Carrefour and 3% rebates at Watsons. It’s really more an exception than the norm.
So, after crawling the credit card website for the list of participating merchants, I decided to consolidate and list down some of the frequently visited ones. These will be discussed in categories.
Supermarkets
- Citibank SMRT Card offers 4.7% rebates at Giant, Cold Storage, Market Place, Carrefour, selected NTUC and Singapore MEIDI-YA Supermarket. And Shop n Save (Updated 24 March 2010). And Sheng Siong (Updated 28 March 2011).
- POSB Everyday Card offers 5% rebates at Carrefour.
- Maybank Friends & Family Card offers 5% rebates at Cold Storage and NTUC.
- Note: NTUC refers to those outlets that accept credit card payments.
- Note 2: We don’t have any cards to give rebates for Shop n Save (Update 24 March 2010: We have confirmed Citibank SMRT Card gives the same 4.7% rebates for Shop n Save) and Sheng Siong. Maybe they don’t have any tie-ups with banks? Do they even accept credit cards? I know Shop n Save definitely do; not too sure about Sheng Siong.
Coffee
- Citibank SMRT Card offers 4.7% rebates at Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Coffee Club, Dome Cafe, Gloria Jean and tcc.
- Note: That takes care of all our coffee needs. :D
Touristy
- Maybank Friends & Family Card offers 5% rebates at Bird Park, Night Safari and Zoo.
- Note: That covers the most popular animal attractions in Singapore, truly a family oriented card.
Others
- POSB Everyday Card offers 3% rebates at Watsons.
- Maybank Friends & Family Card offers 5% rebates at Popular, Cathay Cineplex, GNC, Unity and Guardian. Toys “R” Us and Yamaha Music (Updated 28 Nov 2010).
- Note: That covers our alternative grocery suppliers and pharmaceutical needs.
Of course there are many more merchants where you can earn rebates but I’m just listing down some of the ones we frequent.
Don’t belittle the seemingly small 5% rebate. It means $5 (a hearty breakfast for 2 at the hawker centre) for every $100 worth of groceries (bread, shampoo, toilet paper, etc). Every bit of savings goes a long way.
-Dear1
Addon: Let me add one important point which I forgot to write earlier. A major reason why credit card rebates is important is that it can be stacked on top of other discounts. Normally, store promotions will have a clause stating that promotions and discounts cannot be combined. But we can circumvent this clause by earning additional rebates using credit cards. For example, Carrefour may have a 5% storewide discount. After enjoying the storewide discount, you can get another further 5% rebates just by paying using POSB Everyday Card. This is becos one discount is given by Carrefour while the other discount is given by POSB; they are separate entities. So now you see why everyone should know their credit card rebates.
