Feeling the pinch

I wonder if I am becoming a miser of late or just being prudent in light of the slowdown in the economy. After the JC Penney shipping saga which cost me a pretty 'penny', I am a little more cost conscious these days and therefore was irked by another revelation yesterday.

Last week I had bought an 8-pc crib bedding set from Robinsons, not on sale mind you, just so Nutty's bed could look nice for my SUGAR party (she did not have a pink bumper!). I had initially wanted to just buy an Aussino set for like $69 but I think the Centrepoint outlet had closed, so in desperation - I rarely buy non-sale items - I picked up a set from Robinsons at $122. I used up $40 vouchers to offset some of the cost and consoled myself that I only paid $82.

But yesterday, I chanced upon the exact same bedding set at Kiddy Palace and guess how much it was? $88 only (not on sale either!), a difference of $34! I wouldn't have minded so much if it was a few dollars but $34? That's a huge gap! I feel like my vouchers were used in vain.

Suffice it to say, I wrote in to the Robinsons website to highlight the price disparity. I am not expecting a reply, much less any partial refund but I just wanted to highlight to them that they failed in living up to one of their mission statements about providing value to their customers.

Will I still shop there? Probably, but where possible I will switch to Takashimaya or Tangs. Parking at Taka was a killer though, about $10 for a 3hr period, compared to yesterday's Marina Square outing which charged $3.21 per entry.

On the bright side, Nick and I made another discovery yesterday that will save us a few dollars on Nutty's expenses. A provision shop near his mum's house carries the Nestle Nan formula that she drinks and there is a stark difference in cost with the supermarkets. Granted Nan just introduced a new improved version that costs a couple more dollars now but here's a price comparison based on the old starter formula:

Carrefour: $32 or $33
Cold Storage: $31.90
Giant/NTUC: $29.60
Provision shop: $26

Their Pampers was also slightly cheaper so we shall be buying these two items from there whenever we visit his mum. Thank goodness we were sent down on an errand to buy ice cream otherwise we wouldn't have discovered the difference!

Oh bugger...

Silly JC Penney! In my last blitz of online shopping before my birthday resolution kicked in, I splurged on 6 dresses from JC Penney. The dresses themselves were relatively cheap, they were all on sale and I spent an average of USD$20 per dress. But the killer was the shipping cost because the silly retailer doesn't know how to pack!

Ok, so I was naive and assumed they would come in a small box or a plastic pack like Old Navy. But oh no, they put EACH dress in a box the size of a ream of A3 paper, and then the smaller boxes into one LARGE box that can fit a bloody car seat! And because ComGateway charges the higher cost between volumetric and actual weight, I am being charged over USD$88 for the shipping since my volume totals 19 kg vs the actual weight of 4 kg!

I could not opt for the fully landed cost service for this merchant whereby ComGateway predict the cost of the shopping based on the item descriptions and honour the lower price when the items are shipped eventually. Based on 6 dresses, it should not have exceeded USD$26.

It would have been cheaper for JC Penney to ship here direct, their charge is USD$52 for 10 pounds. Silly me...lesson learnt, no more JC Penney!

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was pretty long but the production by Zhang Yimou was impressive. The fireworks were spectacular.

Went to the Takashimaya Baby Fair today, me and Swana spent over $800! We finally bought a car seat, there was a Safe n Sound Britax one going for $199, it can be used from birth to 4 yrs. I also bought an all-in-one steamer/blender thingy to prepare the munchkin's semi-solid meals. It's very compact and the good thing is that immediately after her fruits and vegetables are steamed, I can blend them in the same gadget!

Attempted to feed her mashed carrots today, suffice it to say, she didn't like them. Like mother, like daughter!

Spot the difference - Part 2

Nutty turned 6 months yesterday, my how she's grown. The months are just flying past and I seriously need to take more videos of her as she starts achieving things.

She doesn't spit out cereal anymore, and finishes a tablespoon worth per day. I know she can actually do more, so I will up the feeds and move on to other more interesting foods.

She can't quite sit up yet, but is already trying to crawl on the bed. She'll get on all fours and try to propel herself forward, only to tumble and land on her side and roll over. She'll repeat this a few times until she gets to her destination, usually an out-of-reach toy or towel at the other side of the bed.

Her theme song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and whenever you sing that, she'll attempt to open and close her fingers. She likes to babble and when alone in the playpen, she's capable of entertaining herself for a few minutes before she gets bored and squeals for attention. She can sort of smile on demand, knowing when the camera is on her, I think she gets that from me - Nick has another poser to contend with!

At this point she's not so selective with who carries her, as long as you smile at her, she'll go to you. She can reach out to be carried if you open your arms to her.

These days I find I just want to cuddle and squeeze her, even when she's sleeping. If I was out and missed her bedtime, I pick her up from the cot when I get home just to inhale her smell and give her a hug.

I seriously think she looks more like me, judging by some latest pictures. Check out this latest comparison!

No more ComGateway for me

I give up! I think all the hiccups with ComGateway were signs that I should stop my online shopping. I could feel another frustrating incident coming my way and it has materialised as predicted.

The order in question is my latest Old Navy order. I usually wait until the merchant notifies me my order has been shipped before I input my details onto the ComGateway website, so I know how many shipments to expect and save on base shipping costs by consolidating.

And so when this latest order had left the Old Navy warehouse and there were indications to expect 2 packages, I entered my details (Order 00016) onto the ComGateway site but for some reason could not indicate multiple shipments.

I contacted their customer service agent (CSA) via 'livechat' who asked me to try again and in the meantime would delete my first input. After the second attempt (Order 00017), my order was still not displaying on the multiple shipment page so I dropped them a mail to remind them to cancel my first input (00016) and take note of the multiple shipments for my re-entered order.

They only replied via email that they would cancel my order in 1 business day and I asked them what about my consolidation request, stating upfront that I should not be charged double base charges since it wasn't my fault I couldn't indicate multiple shipments, but their site simply didn't allow me to do so. They then replied one day later that because I had opted for their 'Fully Landed Cost' option, I am disallowed from using the multiple shipment option.

They should have told me that in the first place and make the information available on their FAQs instead of wasting my time re-entering my information over and over again. Their CSA should also have advised this when I first encountered trouble...who knew about this policy since it's not stated anywhere on their site?

I immediately asked them to cancel my 2nd entry (00017) and re-entered the order a 3rd time (00018), this time not selecting the fully landed cost option. Only after doing this, could I indicate my shipments were arriving in 2 packages but a few days had passed since my order left the warehouse and I had a feeling ComGateway would receive Part 1 and match it to the entry that had not been cancelled yet (00017).

True enough, they forwarded the package upon receipt and have sent me notice that Order 00017 has been shipped and that part 1 has been received for 00018. I have since written to them to say 00017 and 00018 are the same, and I just know that I will be charged 2 base charges of US$14 each. Essentially because of this hiccup, I can expect to pay about US$12 more in shipping costs overall. It's not much but still!

Anyways, they also recently wrote to say that they have lost part 2 of my last Old Navy order and would be issuing a refund. I don't know how long that would take! I am definitely cancelling my account after all outstanding shipments and refunds have been received...time to try the Citibank Globeshopper site!

Happy birthday to me!

Yesterday's actual birthday was a very low-key affair. I had one request that Mummy obliged with and that was to let me sleep in. I eventually got out of bed at 1 pm plus but still it was only a 10 hr rest having gone to bed at 3 am. Plus, the sleep was constantly interrupted with sms greetings and calls so it wasn't much of a sleep in! Shall have to try it again...

Spent the afternoon playing with Natalie and then headed to Vivo for dinner with Ma and Arlyn, and met Swana and Kevin there. I felt like having Chinese but we couldn't really decide where to eat. Landed up at a restaurant called Bosses, the food was so-so, we unintentionally ordered so many deep-fried dishes!

After dinner, it was back to Membina to watch Formula One, poor Massa had to retire 3 laps from the end after leading almost the entire race! Nick picked us up after that, and then I watched some more TV at home before calling it a night.

What an ordinary day...I think age is catching up!

SUGAR

I hit the big 3-0 yesterday and had a small do on Saturday night to commemorate the occasion.

Initially I had wanted to do a dinner, but because of the clothes sale in the afternoon, I was afraid I would not have enough time to tidy up the house and prepare food etc.

Also, the twits at NATAS brought forward their usual September fair to this past weekend, meaning Nick would not be around at dinnertime. Hence Swana proposed having a dessert buffet and we set the invite for after 9pm. Methinks she picked dessert because she's had a sweet tooth since becoming preggers!

The event was aptly named SUGAR however there's only so much sugar one can consume. Most of the men didn't have sweet tooths, and I guess the women were watching their weight! I had also set out a dress code, everyone had to wear pink and the majority did, so that was nice to see.

We ordered a few cakes from Bakerzin, plus made our own. On the menu was Amer - a flourless chocolate cake, Scarlet - a strawberry jam and vanilla sponge concoction, walnut cheesecake, apple flan, sago gula melaka, coconut candy, durian pengat from Merchant Court, jello shots, a fruit salad and mini lemon cupcakes. Plus a chocolate pound cake with candied orange from Centre Ps that served as my birthday cake.

Jane, Germaine and Rena came earlier for dinner, and Rena's son Gabriel hung out with Nat. Got a couple of photos of them looking as if they were having a proper conversation!

I was gonna sort of countdown at midnight but brought forward the cake-cutting so that Nutty could participate. She blew out the candles with me but I forgot to make a wish! Oh well, I am pretty content with whatever I have now so no wishes necessary. Although losing 10 pounds wouldn't hurt.

I did make some birthday resolutions though, namely:

1) Shop less
2) Save money
3) Lose weight

Let's see how much progress I make this time next year!

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.