Diva's Day Out & Hot Pink Chic Bazaar

Joanne was in town all of last week and we had a joint sale of clothes on Saturday called "Diva's Day Out & Hot Pink Chic Bazaar". Actually it was more her sale than mine, she needed a venue to showcase her Delirious Divas samples and ready-made stuff, and at the same time I used the opportunity to have a wardrobe sale.

We had an open house from 11 am - 4 pm, most of the people who came were her customers and relatives, though a couple of my own friends popped by. I must admit I didn't publicize my half of the sale much, just informed a few people whom I thought would fit my old sizes. Hence I had a very conservative sales target, which I managed to hit, thanks to my niece who bought like 8 outfits!


Overall, it was pretty fun, I ended up taking the measurements for most of Joanne's customers because she didn't dare to...hope their clothes fits, wasn't sure what I was doing either! Ha ha!

In the process of clearing out my closet, I realised how much money I have wasted over the years buying clothes I didn't need just because they were on sale or had a nice print. Had so many dresses that were still new, never worn...waiting for the perfect occasion or waiting for the weight to disappear.

I have stopped deluding myself that I will be skinny again, there's no way I am going to drop 2 dress sizes anytime soon. And after childbirth, my hips have permanently expanded! But I can't hide behind babydoll dresses forever, it's time to start exercising for real...no more excuses. When Swana pops, will join her in whatever weight lost quest she decides to embark on. Well, anything except kickboxing, my co-ordination sucks!

Anyways, my sale is ongoing, anyone interested in having a look can make an appointment with me. There is a range of dresses, tops, skirts, pants and shorts ranging from size 8-10 UK or smalls and mediums. Footwear is also available, size 7 locally and prices start from $5.

Say, "Aaaah"

Made a first attempt at introducing solids to the munchkin earlier yesterday and as expected, she didn't like it.

Had bought some rice cereal to start with and her facial expression was just priceless when she took her first spoon. I didn't even fill the spoon, just a tiny drop but she spat bits of it out. Made 3 attempts and gave up. Nick tasted some of the cereal and said it was sweet, maybe should go with something more bland. Shall attempt again tomorrow, perhaps some cereal in her milk.

Riley's Barnyard Birthday Bash

Riley celebrated her 1st birthday today, 3 days ahead of the actual date. It was held at Savannah Condo Park courtesy of Kaelash's uncle who lives in the estate. The place was very nice actually, Swana commented it felt like we were in Africa when statues of giraffe, elephants and leopards greeted us as we drove past the guardhouse.

Since the theme was Barnyard Bash, we came in our farming best. Well, the only thing I had resembling something country-looking was a pink gingham top. Nutty wore striped pink overalls and brought her own cow that played 'Old Macdonald had a farm' when you pull the handle...I swiped it from the Fisher Price rocker we have at home.

The party was grand - the function room was filled with helium balloons, signage, and some entertainers who kept the kids occupied with storytelling, music and games. There was even a piniata, body painting, sprays to colour hair and photo montages of Riley, plus a donation box for her education fund!

Food was catered from the Eurasian Association and the cake from Awfully Chocolate. Jeanette even made all the desserts.

Gosh, I wonder what Nutty's first birthday will be like? I can't imagine a birthday party filled with screaming children, bouncy castles etc. Our house is too small and I can't think of any reasonably-priced nice venues to rent. Am not into chalets and we don't have any club memberships. Nick and I think we will be quite slack when the time comes, I know we will have cake...but other than that, I can't envision anything else!

Hmm, I have to start planning already.

Adios Pedro, Bonjour Pierre!

Ok lah, some of you were very clever and guessed what our major purchase was. Yes, we have a new car...just collected it today. Actually, it's not new but rather a second-hand Peugeot 407 sedan bought at the SPH Car-nival two weeks ago. Succumbed to temptation especially since the car was in very good condition with relatively low mileage, the dealer was willing to offer a reasonable amount for Pedro and the interest rate was at 2.65%!

We were initially supposed to collect it last weekend, but when we went down to Car Times at West Coast and test drove it, something was wrong with the brakes so the dealer sent it in to Autofrance to check. And then after that, had to do the Vicom inspection for road tax renewal so we only managed to take ownership of our new 'baby' today. Actually the whole experience with Car Times was very pleasant, and Nick was impressed with their service.

I was kinda sad to leave Pedro behind but also look forward to zipping around in Pierre the Peugeot. You know, the fact that 'Pedro' and 'Pierre' both mean 'Peter' is a coincidence. And the fact that Peter is Nick's middle name is another coincidence. I hadn't put this together till today. Swana was the one who suggested naming the Picanto Pedro when we first got him. We had wanted something Latin sounding in P since Picanto sounded like some Mexican dish and Pedro was short and snappy.

And, at the back of my mind, I always knew that if we ever got a Peugeot, I would name him Pierre. Firstly it was French, and secondly it started with P. I had toyed with Philippe, Pascal, Jean Paul, Henri and Thierry but went with Pierre in the end, and today Swana pointed out that Pedro and Pierre both translated to Peter and I wondered how come it never occured to me before.

Anyways, it's been hard to keep the news from Mummy and we finally surprised her today when we went to pick her, Arlyn and Swana after collecting the car. She had been looking out for the silver car and didn't realise we were in the Peugeot till we pulled up. I managed to capture her expression! Must buy 4D soon!

When we were leaving the house to go out, I spotted a snake downstairs. Its head was sticking out from the a gap in the pavement and I was kind of shocked. Reminded me of the time I mistook a giant monitor lizard for a snake when walking home from primary school one day and ran all the way home crying, traumatised by the sight!

I was slightly calmer this time, more excited than anything. Had my camera with me and managed to snap a picture before it disappeared back into its hideout. Ma thinks it's a black cobra, I have mentally named it Caspian. Don't ask me why. I have a thing with double letter initials. I even named a stingray I saw along the beach in the Maldives while on honeymoon, something like Sam the Stingray, or maybe it was Steve?

Had wanted to call the AVA but didn't have the number on hand. Will take a look tomorrow if I go out and if it's still there, will call the authorities. Am actually inclined to leave it alone, but in case it is a cobra, better to alert AVA or something since kids play around that area.

Mafia Night

Our company D&D was finally held last night at HOUSE, Dempsey Road after months of delay. It was actually supposed to have been held while I was on maternity leave but for some reason got pushed back...maybe because there was no one really heading the social and recreation club after one of the HR persons left, and the ball got dropped.

In the end, I did most of the event management. I couldn't sit and watch from the sidelines while the committee ding-donged on every decision, so I stepped up to liaise with the event company and venue, sourced door gifts, sorted the lucky draw prizes with help from another colleague, and did the internal publicity and actual day event logistics including bus shuttles to ferry people out. Phew!

It all went well last night, I think majority had fun. We had about 120 persons including partners and overseas colleagues and people got hooked onto the Nintendo Wii game consoles set up, that it was hard to draw their attention to the stage. But overall feedback was that it was more fun than last year, because people did not leave immediately after the event. There were a few stray ones who stayed to continue drinking and explore the rest of HOUSE.

The food was surprisingly good, and there was so much leftover. I really enjoyed the roast chicken, grilled seabass with citrus sauce, mushroom soup and the coconut apricot cake, which I took home a large chunk of. There were actually some portions of vegetarian risotto prepared for some of the guests, and I had a one and a half plates of it. It was that good, just the right texture with some cheese, asparagus, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Simple but tasty!

I even won a prize in the lucky draw, a 2D/1N stay at the Caribbean Residences, a service apartment at Keppel. Shall be checking that out soon! Here are some photos from the event...

Happy Days

Ok, ComGateway redeemed themselves slightly as I received the missing Old Navy package on Thursday...but there's still part of that order that's missing as the merchant had shipped a pair of shorts and socks seperately. The next day I received my Motherhood order, less than a week after it arrived at the ComGateway US address.

However, I have not heard back from their customer service people despite 2 emails, so am still miffed.

Swana has been staying over the last 3 nights while Kevin's in India. Today she helped me sort some of the stuff that I am selling at my home bazaar. The original cost of the clothes on sale add up to a few thousand dollars! Scary!

But at the rate I am eating, there will be more clothes in future that don't fit. Last Thursday evening, I met up with some of the ladies from SES, past and present, for the Fullerton Hotel chocolate buffet. There was Yus, Emily and Theni plus Bona whom I had not met before but have occasionally read her blog. Caprice popped in for a bit too, I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures! Duh. But will take pictures at the next one, we said we should feast together regularly and have planned to attack The Line at Shangri-La next.

It was just like old times. I think out of all the places I've worked, the colleagues at SES still rank as the best. Despite the high amounts of estrogen in the air from working in an all-girl department, there was no animosity or politicking against each other, but we were united by a common enemy. I cherish all the friends made there and miss the good old days at Cathay Building and Goldbell Towers. Sigh...

Went furniture hunting on Friday with Swana, and Ma, Arlyn and Nutty came along for the ride. Had lunch with Aunty Sarda at Shokodu at Raffles City first, before heading to the mega Courts and Ikea at Tampines. The food at Shokodu was not bad and not very expensive, it's like a Japanese Marche and we may have overordered a little. I had one of those tomato rices with an omelette and chicken chop, and we shared gyoza, yakitori sticks, a waffle and a crepe!

The Courts at Tampines was a disappointment, not to mention the layout sucked in terms of entrances, exits and escalators. In the end, Swana didn't buy anything from there nor Ikea, but yesterday she found a computer table she liked at the VHIVE Jurong outlet. Nick drove us all the way there and for dinner we landed up at Tanglin Mall. I opted for Spageddies and had my favourite crayfish parmagianna and picked off everyone else's mains. Such a glut.

Am ignoring my daughter by blogging, and I have to continue sorting out my inventory...ciao for now.

Those twits at ComGateway

I just have to rant.

Stupid ComGateway screwed up another one of my orders, this is the 3rd time. The first time was a delay in delivering an Old Navy order. I didn't mind so much because I saved on shipping charges in the end after they waived it.

The second time, a concierge order I had placed for Ann Taylor got sent to a wrong US address and was returned to the merchant. It was more than a month by the time the package was delivered correctly, and I subsequently received it this Monday. The order was originally placed on 3rd June! Am still not sure what kind of charges I will incur but Ann Taylor had better offer some kind of discount for screwing it up.

Today I just found out another order has been wrongly delivered. This particular Old Navy order had been placed on 21 June, and arrived at ComGateway's Portland facility on 26 June. Last Tuesday when I asked their customer service to check, they said the shipment was in Singapore but there had been a delivery error. They did not elaborate what the delivery error was but said they would expedite the courier.

I gave it a few days, but still nothing. On Monday night, I wrote to their customer service email enquiring about the status but till today there was no reply despite their auto-reply saying they would revert within two days.

I engaged a customer service officer named Kate in a live chat just now and she said the package had been delivered! I said no it hadn't, nothing had been sent to my house. But she said according to the airwaybill, someone named Joyce had signed for it on 11 July. I said I didn't know any Joyce and no such person lived in my house and I definitely have not received anything. She apologised and said they would look into it.

I printed out the DHL tracking result, the package supposedly arrived in Singapore on 29 June but I wonder why there was no attempt at delivery till 7 July. According to the tracking result, a recipient refused delivery on 7 July, probably because it wasn't meant for them but DHL tried again on the 11th and this time it was delivered.

They have no excuse getting the address wrong, everything is registered with ComGateway and should be on their system. It was probably a human error or really bad handwriting.

I had been looking forward to receiving my package and now there's a possibility I may never receive it. I doubt Joyce wants to return all those free clothes! She might even have distributed them all by now! Such a pity too, since I had some dresses for Nutty in there to match mine. I expect a full refund and compensation for my order cost because Old Navy would have charged my credit card directly.

Hmmmpfff.

I am not pleased. As soon as my last outstanding ComGateway order from Motherhood.com arrives, I am cancelling my account.