the right fit

Sometimes i wonder if babies are really supposed to buy/wear clothes in their "real months". Coz baby Joel can still wear his bedtime clothes (long-sleeved rompers & separate pants) for 3-6mths (and even some from 3mths)...though it's getting a bit short now.

Joel has big buttocks and very fat thighs. So, if i buy pants in his actual month (esp if they're not the angmoh brands), chances are the thighs/butt wont fit!!! And it could get messy during diaper changes. He can wear the bottoms i bought for him "for later" in 12-18mths...and still look ok. Haha! Most of his tshirts are for 12-18mths...and i guess we can just pass them off as "Hip-Hop"!!! Save $ too! ;p

In preparation for his first winter, we've bought a H&M jacket in 12-18mths & a Mexx in 24mths...so that he can wear them from November till March/April next year when it's still quite cold. (He'll be 12-18mths during that period) And becoz they're not cheap, we think maybe grandma's theory of 'Bigger is Better' is indeed better. BUT, when we tried it on Joel back at the hotel in Brussels, we realised that it's not good...coz he's got "no neck" and we cant zip it up all the way to the top (coz of the length of the jacket, the armholes etc)... Hmm...maybe they're angmoh-sizing...or maybe it's difficult to dress for a baby who's not standing/walking yet. :(

I also bought lots of Japanese size-90 sweaters for him, and was told that can even wear till 2-3 years old!!! From "hip-hop" style to its real fit! Hmm... That means Joel will be wearing the SAME clothes for the next few years - except in Summer! That sounds really boring, huh...but can save lots of $ lah. ;p
(The Japanese sizing is according to the childs' height which doesnt really makes sense coz 60/70 is for 6mths, 80 for 1yr and 90 is for 2yrs. Does that sound correct???)

Only some of the clothes which he really cannot fit anymore...i have packed them away - to keep for next time (JOKING LAH! It's to clear space) or to give away to anyone who doesnt mind hand-me-downs. Anyone???

halloween DIY

How to make your own Halloween costumes (click).

vainpot

No matter how hard baby Joel is crying or whining, there's a few things that will make him stop almost immediately.
1. Look into the mirror
2. Look at his wardrobe
3. Look at his toy Monchichi

my perfect phone

We went to the Handphone Mall a few months ago (when I still had my Samsung) to look for something that I liked...and I really couldnt find 'My Perfect Phone' after scouring through many levels and many shops. Elvis saw a friend's Nokia which he thought is sooo nice and would suit me...but when i saw the actual phone, i feel it's too long, too heavy, looks too fragile-looking... There also wasnt an urgency to get another phone...so i decided to look around a bit more. Little Miss Fussy buying a phone. ;p

When we were in Europe (and i've really lost my Samsung), Elvis wanted to buy me a very nice new model of Motorola, but i backed out last minute coz i still preferred a cheap phone. Then, i saw My Perfect Phone!

It is the Sony Ericsson z555i. Nice huh! It's so pretty, stylish, sparkling even, a flip-phone (which i luurrvvvee), light and not expensive. I liked both colours, the pink/gold might suit me more, but i'll go for the black. I was told that it would come 'Next week'. When i went down again 'Next Week', they said it would come 'Next week'...BUT we had to go home by then. So i decided to look for the phone at the Handphone Mall in Shanghai 'Next Week'.

I looked around many shops again and was told that My Perfect Phone is NOT available in China - only in Hong Kong (Greater China). I was so disappointed. Well, the next best alternative is to get it when we go back to Singapore. There was also some means that we could buy "special imports" and Elvis said he'll check it out too.

When i got home, i searched online for my z555i and am surprised to find a seller in Shanghai! But of course i was a bit skeptical since i've looked around soooo many shops in the Handphone Mall and NO ONE is selling it. Anyway, i decided to take the risk and transfered the money to the seller's bank account the next day. (Throughout, we conversed using HanYuPingYing coz she didnt know any English and i couldnt type Chinese...so i was a bit worried if there's any miscommunication too) And guess what??? I received the cellphone the following day!!!

When i opened the carefully-wrapped box, i took out the instruction manual which was on top... i flipped open the first page and it read, "Terima kasih..." (HUH????!!!!) Every word is gibberish to me! I looked at the actual phone and i spotted something "weird"...coz it is written as z555 on the inside of the phone (not z555i). The other spare parts (USB, charger, earpiece are all stated 'Made In China'). Only the Terimakasih manual looks "fishy". ;p

Anyway, z555i or no 'i'...I'm happy! Nice phone, nice price! That's S$200 and No Contract too! ;D

P.S. The BEST PART is...i just realised that the phone has JewelQuest2 inside!!! HAHAHA!!! :D

diesel cult

You can now log-in to Diesel to register as a Cult member. With spendings of 300 Euros, you can also apply for the card (but remember to keep your receipt).

Also check out their Kids & Baby collection! Sooo cute!

If you're buying from outside of Singapore, dont forget to ask for your tax refund too - which is what we forgot. Sigh...could have bought a Diesel tshirt with the refunded tax! :(

when a baby is born

When the sun is born, so is the day.
When the night is born, so are a thousand stars...
and a wish that has just come true.
When you were born, so was I.
When a baby is born, so is a mother

Actually, this last sentence really makes sense (to any mother). Haha...at least i didnt know i was mother material! ;p
Read other moms' stories here.

Taken from Johnsons ad.

crawling baby

Joel started to crawl last week. Actually, it's more like wiggling his butt and his uncoordinated arms/legs to reach whatever he's eyeing. He has this mischievous look on his face too! Haha!

Crawling Baby videos
(from above posts)

europe photos

I'm not sure if this works... If it does, you can view our Europe pictures by clicking on the albums.

Album 1
: Brussels
Album 2
: Amsterdam - Brussels
Album 3
: Brussels
Album 4
: Paris - Brussels
Album 5
: Brussels - Brugge

We were in Brussels most of the time coz it's where Elvis' work was. Amsterdam & Paris were just weekend trips. Brugge is a small town in Belgium - a 30mins train ride away. We wanted to go to Antwerp too on one of the weekends (coz it's like a "fashion city"), but we didnt have the time. So, we chose to go to Brugge. Brussels is kinda boring coz it's a small city and there isnt many places to sightsee, walk, shop, eat... It was also rainy half the time of our 3-week stay (only 1 day was a Sunny Tshirt Day).

big boy in jeans

Does Joel look like a big boy who can walk already? Keke... ;p

macaroons

Macaroons are kinda like a new dessert (i think, at least in Singapore) and they just look sooo pretty when you see them on the display - esp in pastel pinks, yellows, greens, blues, lilac... Hmm... maybe even the browns look pretty for macaroons! Keke... ;p


We bought 8 of these macaroons from Laduree at a corner of the Printemps store in Paris. Everything there was so pretty. I have never tried macaroons and just wanted to see what they taste like... At first, we had wanted to get them in the lovely gift box complete with soft tissue paper...but on 2nd thought, it would be cheaper to get them in the doggie bag. After all, we will throw away the box, right? Keke... ;p

Elvis ate half of it before i could take out my camera! (I was too shy to take a picture of the shop) Anyway, I thought that we could have a bite of each piece...then we get to taste all of them (since we have so little), right? And shouldnt he savor it rather than gobble it down? Sigh...

For its small size (about 4cm only) and price of about S$3 EACH, i think they're very expensive as snacks. I wonder how much they cost in Singapore? I would really like to eat some of these macaroons again! Haha!

BELOW is a picture taken from a friend's Facebook. She bought 20 of these macaroons from Zurich...and she bought like 80 pieces on her entire trip! WAH! 80 pieces x $3 = S$240 on snacks!

jet-lagged baby

Joel is definitely jet-lagged from the trip. He's been sleeping only at 2+AM for the past 2 days. That is Belgium time 8pm CET (6 hours behind). His usual bedtime is anytime from 9pm - 12am GMT. During the day, he's fine and takes his 2 naps as usual. Now, he will whine (mmmm....aahhhh...mmm.....mamamam...mmm....aaahhhhh...) ...then go to bed in the late evening...and i'll be thinking that he's going to sleep through the night. But if he has to get up for his last feed (at 10/11pm), he'll hear Daddy's voice and look at him 101% awake! And we'll go, "Ooo...NO...!!!"

snap snap

I was just looking at LiJia Baby's website (which i dont visit coz it's in Chinese and the delivery is from Beijing which takes longer and will incur freight charges) ...and i saw this cute toy that's actually a real digital camera! How cool!

Here's the info in English (from US).

e/tel- everything

One of the best thing about living in Shanghai is that u dont need to step out of the house to get anything. Yes, almost ANYTHING!

Yesterday, i was looking at the Carrefour website and realized that they do delivery now! (The last i checked a few months ago and their e-shopping was still under construction) The website is sooo good - in English, easy to navigate & can add items as 'Favorites' too! The best part, it's next-day delivery & FREE for purchases above ¥200/S$40. That's a piece of cake! I've tagged a whole bunch as Favorites and am going to order next Monday! ;)
There's a huge supermart just opposite our place which stocks almost everything i need, but online Carrefour is so much better! I dont need to carry Joel & lug the goods home.

And if u are hungry, just order delivery. I'm surprised i can remember XingWang's number. I cant remember any local number other than Elvis' cell coz mobile lines are 11-digits (!!!), land lines are the same as Spore's 8-digits but it's harder when i try to remember it in Mandarin.

Since i came back in April, there's these 2 guys who started a very smart business doing delivery for a few eating places in the area at a fee of only ¥3/S$0.60. XingWang used to deliver only if it's above ¥50/S$10 (which is impossible if i'm ordering for just 1). Now, i call XW delivery almost everyday, Mondays-Fridays. That's really really neat esp when it's too hot/cold/lazy to go out. If i want to eat McDonalds or KFC, i can just call their cellphones direct. (Note: McDonald charges ¥7 for their delivery) This "freelance" delivery is so good and i dont need to go out at all! And they make many rounds of ¥3 in a day (sometimes multiples of ¥3 in 1 trip). Recently, they increased their fees to ¥5 and they hired more people to do the rounds. Good business huh!

I've also been ordering Joel's milk, cereals & diapers etc from the LiJia Baby catalogue. (I really wish their website is in English) I just call the hotline, state the product codes and the items will reach the next day. I can also choose free gifts for purchases of ¥100/200/300/500/1000/1500 (but it excludes milk & diaper) OR get ¥30 off ¥300. Selected brands also give free items. So far, we've got free bathing sponge, flash cards, Lego-lookalikes, sandcastle set, Little-Tikes toy ball, inflatable swimming pool and even a skate-scooter (which i got from 6 cans of milk but we gave it away to Ahyi's 5-yr old son)! IF i order 18 cans of milk at 1 go, i can even get one of those "motorized bike"!!! And LiJia Baby's delivery is FREE too!

I wanna tell u more of the advantages of being here...but i'll spare u that. ;p

Haha! I just love being in China - well, most of the time! ;)

P.S. My friend from Hong Kong was so amazed that XW's "sai dor si" & "qiong fun" (french toast & rice rolls) tastes just as good as in HK!

pucker up

flying forward indeed

Elvis told me that when he was in Cannes a few months ago, many of the French were wearing Feiyues - shoes from Shanghai, China. They were kinda like Shaolin shoes in China coz they're incredibly comfortable to wear. Now, even Orlando Bloom has been sported wearing them.

During this trip to Paris, we saw Feiyue selling in Galeries Lafayette at 50 Euros (S$104).

Anyone interested, dont need to fly to Paris to buy them. I can feiyue them to you for 25 Euros... ehhh, or make it 20 Euros. ;p

joel likes the eiffel tower

Bet u werent expecting this! Haha! ;p

getting married?

My good pal's bridal "planner" website is up! Please take a look and call them if you are planning something soon...or just tell your friends! THANKS!

Simple Blessings
- bridal bouquet package
- church deco package
- ROM/party deco
- personalized invitation cards

www.simpleblessings.com.sg

city of not-your-regular bikes

When you're in Amsterdam, you'll be surprised at the number of bicycles you'll see on the roads and parked everywhere! And it actually seems a lot more than what i see in Shanghai!
Quote: "City of Bikes...the 750,000 people who live in Amsterdam own over 600,000 bicycles".
This sure sounds like A LOT to me. The ones with a cart in front are used for babies, kids, dogs or anything! The kids just look so cute in them...and so happy too!


In fact, bicycles were all the rage here in Shanghai too, and many "cool people" have bought at least a bike - for "some reason" other than for transportation. (Thanks to Chanel & Gucci who made it fashionable with their US$12,000 price-tag) Suddenly, it's cool (fashionable even!!!) when you tell people that you ride a bike to work! Well, not everyone looks like Gisele Bundchen on a bike. Besides, here in China, even if u were to pad-lock it, I'm sure your entire bike will be moved somewhere...so what's the point of riding it out and going home in a cab! I thought that maybe the best way is to lock it to a lamp-post or something...but wouldnt they still be able to snip off the chain/lock. So i guess most fashionistas just leave them at home for fear that it will be stolen. (At least our friends who bought nice bikes are still meeting us in cabs! LOL! And the brave one with the most expensive bike got his stolen on Day 1!) Many shops here - big or small - have also found a way to display a cool-looking bicycle. Guess it's just the 'IT' fashion accessory.

Anyway, when we were in Amsterdam, we noticed that almost every bicycle has this really nice bag attached to its back. They come in so many material, designs and colours! Daddy was sooo attracted to THE "IT" BAG that he wanted to buy it (he couldnt decide between black/red)...and then buy an "IT" bicycle TO USE the bag. Finally, we gave up looking for it coz he decided that he wasnt going to cycle to work anyway. And the bike would cost much more than the bag, right? So it's finally making some sense here! ;)

Anyways, we finally saw this red bag in Brugge (a small and charming town in Belgium) and it costs 49.95 Euros (approx S$105). So i guess if he had bought it, people will have a reason to steal his bike...AND his nice bag! Haha! ;p


This interesting bike and the "tuk-tuk" (same as the ones you find in Thailand) are more for tourists. Sure looks like a lot of hard work to ride it.

He also saw this cute super mini Honda and wondered if we're able to buy it back to Shanghai! In China, people dont really need to wear helmets, so Daddy can ride a bike! Haha!

belgian chocolates

Blogger: jo+el - Edit Post "belgian chocolates" This is what more than S$500 worth of Neuhaus chocolates weigh like...and what it actually (just) is!
- 6 tins of Tintin chocolate thins (30Euros; 40 pieces in a tin),
- 1 box of 500grams pralines (25Euros),
- 1 box of 1kilo pralines (50 Euros) and
- 1 small box of candied fruits (17 Euros; 80% of it is FRUITS).
I think it's about 4-kilos of chocolates in all. I went to buy them alone and had a hard time lugging them back to the hotel in the rain.

After giving away the bulk of it to Daddy's team yday, we're only left with 2 Tintins. 1 for ourselves (which meant ME) and 1 for X&X - my nephews who are chocolate connoisseurs.

There goes S$500... ;p

home zzz home

We're finally back home in Shanghai! And we're completely exhausted from the trip because it's been almost 2 days since we last slept! We had to leave for the airport at 3.30am (flight at 6am) so we didnt sleep a wink. When we reached Brussels Airport, we realised that the VAT refund counters were not open yet and we had no choice but to let our luggage go (checked-in to Amsterdam). We asked around and none seems to know what we can do (and they probably didnt wanna work their minds/butts off that early in the morning). We later tried to ask to off-load our luggage so that we can do the VAT refund in Amsterdam airport but were told that we had to go on a later flight (which we really didnt mind). But the ticketing counter lady told us that we could still retrieve our luggage in Amsterdam. In the end, we decided to get on our flight... :(

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is really huge with lots of shops and even a casino. There were many corners where people could rest/sleep, so we found one of those lounge chairs and rested there until Joel made too much noise we were so paiseh (coz everyone was sleeping). We later found out that our flight will be delayed for another 1.5hours, so we were in the Amsterdam airport for about 10 hours! (Can u imagine that???!!!)

Fortunately, their VAT Refund counter open at 6am, but as we did not have our items with us (YES, THEY CHECK!), we were given the stamp but told that the actual refund will be done at the airport in Shanghai (at a bank). So NO refund into credit card, NO Euro, maybe RMB Cash.

Anyway, when we reached Shanghai airport and as things usually go in China (i.e. cork-up and troublesome), we went home without the refund and have to go down to the bank another time. :/

Joel has been a little difficult lately - always whining and wants to be carried. When carried, he also whine. So, we had a tough flight back to Shanghai. ;p

So now we're home...unpacked his sterilizer etc (only the really necessary stuffs) and his clothes for Ahyi to wash just now. Daddy went into the office in the afternoon while Mummy & Joel slept for 5 hours straight! Maybe after dinner, we can all sleep early today.
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