To go for the kill or not go for the KILL (offer-lah!)

Damn! I am regretting when i am supposed to be gloating of my purchases!

I went to boots, used a £5 voucher, and bought 2 N7 lip and eye suncare. Each of them costs £5.50, but since there is a "buy 1 get 1 free" offer (BOGOF) going on, I paid 50p! 50p for something with a value of £11! I did think of trying the buy 6 get 1 free thingy, but I was just too scared. Chickened out!!! &^%*^%&^~# whack whack........

And I was walking on sunshine blah blah blah.... until I realised so many other people did the buy 6 get 1 free thing, and they also used other vouchers blah blah blah! Hmmmm.. now I feel silly-loser!!! I could have grabbed another 4 pieces and paid the same amount 50p (the cost of a pee in some touristy London areas).

You see BOOT;s have this "glitch" or "sale" going on for some weeks already. One of their brands offer buy 2 get 1 free. And the suncare within the brand gets a buy 1 free 1 special offer. Somehow, both promotional codes goes trough the system, and taadaaa.. people walk away with paying next to nothing!

Shall I try?? 6 for 1!! For the thrill of it! For the fact that I will pay something like £3-5 (after a £5 voucher) and easily get £40-$60 worth of products!!! And N7 stuff are one of those rare things which will not irritate my skin and on the slightly expensive side. Shall I?? I still have a £5 voucher with me, and 2 pieces of £3 voucher for hair stuff!

Whatever, I will go back again to get more Botanics stuff. Got to use up my 100 Advantage points, and got to get another free tub of moisturizer. I got 2 tubs so far. I for buying cleansing wipes, and another for buying hair dye. Hmmmmm

God give me courage...................please. Shall I try???? Awww The feeling is horrible. I am whacking myself for not daring to try a good offer, and get I got no guts/feel damn guilty-as if stealing if I do!!

Dilemma!!!!!

Err... Can I do it, and then run to any church/temple to confess??

The joker goes shopping again......................

someone wants to buy another gadget thing........
Kingston Technology 1GB Elite Pro Secure Digital (SD) Card 50x
for 7.41 quid, it is a good buy.

He is also getting this mouse..............

I wonder if he would add this cool Kingston Technology 2GB USB 2.0 Flash Pen Drive
into his shopping basket, considering he had yummy home cooked nasi lemak yesterday, and char siu pork ribs are being marinated. It is less than £14, and comes with a free delivery for purchases of > £15

If the wife is worried about not able to cram her things into her flash drive... pork ribs may get burned.

There are certain things that maybe people will not do... like offending a person who could cook you nasi lemak in London.

I wish I have................

Isn't it cool?? It is a can opener.

Kenwood CO606 Chrome Can Opener 40W

• 40 Watts
• Soft-touch rubber handle grip for increased comfort
• Lid retaining magnet for safe disposal of lid
• Full feature table top can opener opens all shapes from small and standard domestic cans to large 1.2kg cans
• Automatic start/stop, hands free action means the blade starts cutting with a light push of the lever and stops when the lid is removed
• Removable blade allows for easy cleaning and ensures hygienic operation
• Non-slip feet keep the opener securely in position for extra stability and safety
• Cord storage prevents trailing flex on the work top
• Integral knife sharpener
• Built in bottle opener

Can you get any more lazy than that??

Hubby the shopping KING

I think my hubby is the shopping KING!!!

Hahaha. I think he got a taste of how great it is to know you got something for 1/2 price after getting the camera. Now, he look out for other sales too!!!

Yesterday night we bought loads of gingko and ginseng from Healthspan. On top of the 1/2 price thing, hubby also managed to find a code on the internet that gave us and extra £5 off every £8 of purchase! Can you believe it?? I am not sure... I only know if it is true, someone's job is in trouble.
One year's gingko + ginseng supply for 2 of us, for £10!

Today, I sent the link to my sister, are we are buying more! Definitely cheaper than Sg!

Digital camera 50% sale!!- Just bought

we also just bought a digital camera... minutes ago. Hubby bought from the kodak website. 50% off!!

The cost of my camera is about errrr... 1/4 of my sister's camera! hahah.. but hers got 2 x my megapixel, and maybe 1/2 my size. It is a Kodak, Z730 Digital Camera [5MP, 4 x Optical Zoom]

Of course it is not as cute as as my sister's.. But how can you complain when it is ...........

£53 including delivery-www.kodak.co.uk- sales only last one. Since I "only eat and never do work-work will break things", at least this one is one which I can happily drop here drop there without any heart ache.

Hubby is so happy now. He feels like he has "accomplished" something....

Cotswolds and more shopping

There is something called -Pent up demand.

We have not been buying stuff for pretty much of one whole year! That is really difficult here, considering you have 4 seasons.

On 27tth, we hit Swindon after picking up MS and SH. These two are really shopping gurus, and I must kowtow them for their knowledge of the trade. I really hope that hubby will get influenced and start to understand the art of shopping.

Swindon is a more downscale village compared to Bicester, which means things are more affordable, and you feel less like a failure in life-watching people buying thing by bag loads when you cant afford most of the things. The last time we were there, I almost wished I am gay. Those gays couples seems to have limitless credit card limits.

We bought quite a lot of stuff from Swindon.
Hubby got his a pair of new Nike for less than £20, but he still complained that it is not cheap enough. Difficult to please. His standard is cheap is £5 for a pair of Nike, as the is the price MS and SH managed to get last Boxing day. I also forced him to buy a Gap thing- you know that thing that is long and go around the neck. I know it is scarf for women, but for men- it is really long! He keeps on complaining it is long, "mah fan" etc etc. But is is to keep away the cold!! Darn. At 80% lambswool, you cant even buy that much raw material-yarn for £5(less than 1/3 of original price). If he does not want it anymore, i can tear it apart and knit into many many things. hehe.

Me? I have been really good. RADLEY WAS CHEAP!!! So was TULA! Prices for handbags started from £14! I really had to resist temptation and convince myself that nothing suits me. I got another pair of boots for £20 from Clarks, less than 1/2 price too! :).

Since we are on our own, we needed household stuff! We got a 1/2 price bale of 6-towels from M&S to replace our fungus infested ones. We bought toasters for £5 (will recoup the money from our electricity bills very quickly), a steam cleaner for £15 and finally a mirror from Sainsbury for £4.99!. We went back to Oxford very happy, but very exhausted.

Yesterday we hit Cotswolds again. The guys were very happy as they thought we are done with shopping. Unknown to them Burford is actually a shopping haven. SH got a 100% cashmere jumper for only 40 quid (original price more than £120!). I got a scarf for £14.95, I think the original price was over £40! Hubby insisted I get one as my "pashminas" were bought in HK for about HKD20 each and are getting really worn. I got a nice cream colored one. I think we can share it. He should look quite suave with in in his suit. :)

Then we hit Coventry, on the pretext of visiting the famous Cathedral. Coventry is another shopping haven!! But i supposed we were too tired and out of budget to buy anything there. We were searching all over the place for the Body Shop, but it is a real disappointment. Prices were much more ex than last year's.

I liked the ruined Coventry cathedral. There is something beautiful and sad about it. Hopefully MS will send us the photos soon :)

The early bird caught the worm(S)!!

Yeah! That is right. I only wished earlier. Regretted spending almost an hour in River Island, the bulk part of it queing, for two pieces of not exactly dirt cheap shirts-£15 per shirt-which I had not tried, and therefore has a high chance of return. Bought 1 black shirt for myself with black bead details-I think it is quite cool. hope it fits!

Then I hit Dorothy perkins to use up that £5 card member voucher. I got a nice blouse for £10, still not sure to keep it or not cos i always look 5-10 years older with shirts, another of the long sleeve turtle neck jumper, this time in grey. The black one works fine for me, one of those pieces of clothing that you would LUVVVVV cos whenever you put it on, people ask you if you lost weight. :) But this grey look weird. I realised that I bought 1 size bigger than the piece I am currently wearing. I think the trick of turtle neck knit wear is to buy them TIGHT, then wear 1-2 times at home to expand them, and they will fit your curves.

I also bought another pair of black pants. £7!! Heheeee. I think it is the revenge of the fat woman. The only pants that fitted my BUMS were those from Sense, which cost me S$49.90-59.90 a pop, that I had to STOCK up in different colours when one fits. But over here, my only problem seems to be the British cut at the bum is too big for me, especially the lower bum. You get what I mean? YOu wear pants, and then there are some lose cloth just below your most pointed part of the bum! I understand why after I watch British women. They have saggy bums. Sigh.

I tried to fit into a low cut jeans too.. perfect everywhere but.....it is a no no. It had the curse of the golden flower effect-upside down. Imagine if you go to toilet... and then a piece of wayward tissue get STUCK there....... Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

MY most glorious purchases were from BOOTS!!! I got enough shampoo, and hair styling stuff like gel etc to last me a year :) at less than 1/2 price! This gal saw this big packet of Toni and Guy gift thingy, and grabbed one because she liked the hair brush. I went around the store and grab grab grab grab... before analysing and doing the maths. That was a good idea, and it shows that EXPERIENCE counts! The Toni and Guy thing was probably the best bargain, and when I walked back there 30 minutes later to see if there are other packets on the shelf... there were none left! The price? £ 7.50 for 2 x 250ml shampoo and conditioner (usually costs £4.99-5.99 each), 3x stylying gel/waxes etc.. dunno how much it costs usually, I only know it is not cheap, and that hair brush. Hee hee. Now I got myself a nice hair brush. NO longer have to envy my sister's. Did I mention I also got a complete set of N7 make-up thingy for £7.50??I wont need to buy make up for the next 1-2 years :)



Verdict of today's trip. Successful!!And now.. I begin to think that I am a shopping queen. I am now a very happy gal.

Shall I walk to town to shop?? Tomorrow is boxing day!!

Tomorrow is Boxing day.

Today, I shall make all preparations to go shopping!!! Boxing day is THE day for shoppers. Last year, I was scared of the crowd, and really regretted.

This year, I shall buy and buy and buy. Getting my credit cards and my cash ready.

Books...and shopping

Today I went to the local library to get some books. Got to keep up my reading thing :)

I finished reading Save Karyn- cover to cover yesterday evening :). AUthor? Karyn Bosnak.
Was this a film? I bet so, funny i did not notice it at all. That shows how pathetic my life is for the couple of years. Missed films. Missed books. Missed everything. Thanks to the books, Chimes did not manage to make me part with 1 single penny, despite everything screaming sales! I am also putting off that 29.99 boots from clarks, because I am going to swindon on 27th to SHOP!!!!

Yes, SH, and I will shop shop shop.. while the men got to bear with us, since we were working so hard to save them tonnes of money. I am gonna see if the stuff will really be much cheaper there. I know boots like that would cost probably around 20 quid is Bicester, and Bicester is having sales from early January! If SH is going, maybe i could visit her and go with her. I can see why the men regret introducing the two of us. In fact I think hubby regret introducing me to any of his friends' WAGS cos I alway hit it off with them, and we always end up happily going out for shopping trips.

I originally planned to get some good books from teh shops, but greatly disappointed. I believe you can judge a nation/city/town by the stock of their bookshops. The nearby bookshops have lots of poetry, literature, history, philosophy-great, but these are not what I am looking for at the moment! For that, I got to plan a trip to the book Mecca in Oxford, or charring cross.

Sunday ROAST and the newly crowned shopping queen

Went for a sunday roast at the local pub as part of a mystery shopping assignment. Yummy! I think I start to like roast pork-western style. This pub-George and Dragon (Ok, there are lots of George and Dragons all over England) has very decent pricing. £3.95 for a sunday roast meal- with two generous slices of pork/beef/turkey, baked potatoes, parsnips, carrots and green peas. Also included were Yorkshire pudding and some meatball like stuffing.

Although we were disappointed that they only served ONE type of food ie Sunday roast, we had no more complains after tasting the food. I loved the parsnips and the baked potatoes! The baked potatoes where so nicely browned and was crunchy outside, soft inside. And the parsnips-I never knew they could be so good! My best parsnips so far were the ones I made last winter (yeah, winter =parsnips), which was baked with ginger beer and some oyster sauce. (Creative cooking!!!)

No desserts. Disappointed.

Disappointment ended when I ordered the Baileys in Chocolate cup! It is really a bit too much to drink liqueur in broad day light with lunch, but the advertisements with Baileys in the chocolate cup tempted me! I loved Baileys-esp if they are in Haagen-Daas. It was a really small portion served in a small piece of paper-like those for making cupcakes :) Yummy. Got to sip and snip the chocolate delicately. heavens!

But the real heaven started when I ventured to the stores nearby. You cant prevent your self from going in and showing some support when the shops all have a sign "Stop Tesco from killing the town". Awww!!! Half of me says-show support, at least browse. Half of me wondered, if you are good, how can tesco threaten you??

I was in for the best shock in my life.....

And while walking home, giggling like a mad woman, and kicking myself for not discovering these places earlier...I congratulated myself as THE shopping queen!! The £1 books and this bagful of stuff sealed my status. hahaha. At the rate this is going, my colleague who bought 30 pairs of shoes in 2 weeks got to start sucking me up for tips. :D

I paid only £1 for that pile of books......

"£1 for 1 bag of books"

Saw this in my local library. I walked pass it, and thought that from previous experience, I might not be able to find anything there. But.. slowly, one by one, the gems appeared.

The stuff I got:

1. SAVE KARYN-a true life shopaholic's journey to debt and back. (Scary book, but I better read this before I become a TRUE shopaholic. My sis needs it too i think)
2. The officers' ward-Marc Dugain. Heard of this book before. Now I get to own it.
3. Children and trauma- I almost spent a lot of money on this one a year ago.
4. Your rights at work-no harm knowing
5. Buying a second hand car- for my hubby and buddy!
6. What to do when the doc says it is IBS
7. Perfect Mothers-invisible women: need this for my new project
8. Top 10 ALgarve--- I want to visit this place!
9. Insights guide to Switzerland! 2002- a bit old, but good bed time reading
10. Children's food bible--- really easy peasy recipes inside!!! Hahaha

All that for 1 quid. If I was greedy, I could have stuffed more into the bag. Ok, the actual reason is because i could not carry so many books, as I have already borrowed a few other books, including The Constant Gardener :), and The Devil Wears Prada. Now I am going to go through all this books, plus a few others related to my project.

That bargain had temporarily alleviated my cravings for more shopping. The satisfaction that came with it :) I think there are hardly more depressive things in a cold, Christmas season for a woman who just started a new job and desperately need more clothes than stopping her from buying the good bargains. I could just stare at the window displays of shoes, coats, and bags things which I had waited for a discount (and now there is a discount!), but I cant buy now because it might all turn mouldy at home! Hubby needs a new coat too! And some sweaters! He really need new clothes! Sigh...

On the positive side, life seems normal again. I could read. I am finding time to read. I am now catching up with all the readings which I should have done.

Back to my books now...

The shopping queen

I am so proud of myself.

After many hours of roaming at primark, I walked off with
1) £1 coin purse
2) £5 grey pants-nice grey of the season.

I managed to take many things off the list because
-poor quality
-uncomfortable to wear.. because blah blah blah...
-How many times will I wear this??
-I cant take a photo in this, because I will think it is ugly 10 years later
-another piece of BLACK? No. Enough
-nothing in my wardrobe goes with this.

:) so proud of myself... and then I went into boots, and spent about 2.5 times more money.
-vitamins at 1/2 price
-buy 1 free 1 colgate
-buy 1 free 1 party feet from scholl!! These are life saviours. I would not have lasted my last business trip without them!
I was almost going to buy the N17 cosmetics, because if you buy more than £5, you get a really nice gift pack worth £10! hehehehe...


FUrther homework.. check out the price of lancome products. See whether it is worth it to get the freebies from selfridges. :)

Ahhhh retail therapy, after such a stressful day at work, and that damn mold....

More Radley bag craze...........

Tomorrow is my day off and i think i will be doing some damage. .... plus hubby got me a new credit card ...... hahahahah. Press four numbers and these would be mine.. hehehehehe What am I waiting for??? Gonna "recce" some pieces for my Friday haul at DP. I love their turtle neck, puffed sleeved knits. Fit me to a T, and my colleagues say I look MUCH slimmer in that! For £15 +20% off.. I want!!!

I saw more Radley bags!!! Really finish eat rice nothing to do, so find ways to spend money.

From shoebypost website:

This is nice, but the damage is horrible: £150!!!!
I think i got to get a christmas job for it!
This one is perfect for traveling! My boss got something like that, and it is really really convenient, and look traveler chic!

This white one is as cute as the black one, but more fresh looking........but I dont think I can keep it clean for more than 1 month. High maintenance.





And needless to say, i love this one too. Another £150!
Sigh........ It is really tempting, because my other bags have shorter handles, and they keep on slipping off my shoulders. Not only is troublesome, it also make the shoulder part of my coat look worn :( . I could hold it there-that is what hands are for! But... I got to walk like 30 minutes each way, and my poor fat fingers would freeze! Winter is the time to have hands free bags so that you could chuck your hands into pockets and keep in warm and toasty...

handbag dillema day

Another two bags...

The pictures dont do them justice at all. It is much much better looking in real life..

I saw the Jessica city bag from esprit that day, when it was on the window display and fell in love with it...!!

Argh... so cool....

Argh.. so chic

And so many pockets!! The only problem is I dont like the way the handles jut out when I add the shoulder strap...




And this one (the shopper bag) is not so cute as the city bag.. but it keeps you hands free!!!

They both damage your purse.... £49...

And they are polyurethane material :(




I think I got the symptoms already.. finish eat rice, nothing to do.. then find things to do and find ways to throw money. BAD gal!

Radley's handbags!!!

They are obviously out to con dog lovers' money, by including that cute little dog in their bags!!!!

But they stuff is not cheap. This cute little purse is already £13! I am salivating!! And this small shourder bag is also so cute. My sister is going to go crazy if she sees it.

This tote bag is nice tooo.... the doggie!!!

And I think I can definitely bring these to work.... but they cost £100!! A bit too much for a bag, especially a big one, considering how I throw them everywhere, and usually just too happy to drop them on the floor....

Anyway, ..... will grab them if they go on sale post Christmas haha. I need a decent sized bag. My bags are old and dirty.

New 3G phone for £19.99??

And £10 airtime was included. It is a motorola C375.

Sure, hubby found an extremely good deal to replace his phone. He was soo happy... and I am thinking about boasting about it....but...

but there are two buts...

but #1
But......... it is so heavy that I joke with him that this could be used for defense purposes. Haha. Just throw it at someone and their brains will burst.

but#2

It is refurbished!!!!!!!!!
I think this will kill him. He was wondering what is the catch, read all the fine prints.. but.....the fineprint is in the IMAGE. Managed to find it??? Hmmm. I am not going to tell him. He reads my blog anyway, and will know sooner or later.

My winter foot wear

The past few days have been really cold. Glad that I have my winter clothing shopping partially done. Have my coat for work, my tights to keep my pins warm etc etc, and yeah, bought boots too!!!

I like my boots. Got them from Clarks. £39.90, if I remember correctly. Still considered very cheap!!!

When I wear them, I feel ....

1. warmer
   
2. taller, therefore slimmer
   
3. sexier (bleah!!!)
4. more stylo-mylo
5. I walk with more confidence??

It is just 1.25 -inch heel, but is "high" compared to the completely flat shoes I usually wear. I think I will buy another pair- a total non-slip, ice resistant flattie. 1.25 inch is till too high, and a bit too dangerous (for me) when the roads get really icy!!!

At home, my best investment is these shoe-socks!!!

Fleece!!! Very warm, soft and cozy!!! Got them from Primark for £1!!! The bottom part has some rubber "dots", that prevent it from slipping. After wearing it many times and it get smelly, just need to dump into washing machine.Hygienic. Not like those cozy indoor "shoes", looks warm and everything, but is a nightmare to wash and dry.

They are so cute that I was so tempted to post a pair to each friend of mine... but I cant see how they are going to make use of it. Maybe I get a pair for Phi when she comes here :).

Keeps my feet from freezing, and I could keep my heater at a lower temp with these!

Nah... dont look at those fat fat legs.... just look at those cute prints...They are a bit too small for me, because the larger sizes were all sold out!!! Over here, my shoe size is the most popular!!! hahahahahahaha..........Buying shoes is a breeze in UK!!! Hated those shops that didn't stock my size.

BURT's Bee's!!

Oh.. how can I forget Burt's Bees?

Their hand salve and lip balm is now legendary.

Oii.. anyone want to buy, better email me.

What to buy from London?

I am going home soon and thinking of what to buy from London!

There are stuff that are cheaper/better quality here. In fact, lots of better quality stuff. The problem is I don't have the $$$.

Since there isnt much time left, i will grab whatI can get, and hit the stores when the England team is playing. Oxford Street is a ghost town when England is playing, and there are sales (i think MNG is on!) for football widows to swipe their cards as a revenge! heeeheee.

Stuff to get:

1. SHOES!! - shoes are good quality here, and cheaper! I am gonna go for Clarks and Ecco! The clarks here are cheap cheap (£25-35), have more varieties, and there is always something on offer! If there is time, i will go to the clarks warehouse in Tottenham court. If not, Oxford street will do. :)
2. Health products: It is time to do massive purchase from www.healthspan.co.uk (for my glucosamines) and "attack" Holland and Barret for the Aloe vera gels!
3. PERFUME!!! How can I miss this? Will get these for my in-laws. I bought a bottle of Vercase Red jeans for my sis for less than £10! Gonna hit Beauty Base at Whitleys for the best bargains.
4. Cookies, biscuits, short breads, jams.....ow.. yummy! Fortum and Mason is the place! If William's garndma have been eating their food and is 80 a kicking, so will I! Hmm.. I wonder if I can get another free sample of the damn expensive Sjal eye-cream. :) heheh. They are very generous with samples. The trick is go go there well-dressed.
5. Moisturisers? Aw.. I hope I got some space to stuff in some goodies from Boots.
6. Tea? Must buy the Whitards' tea. They are sooooo good.
7. Wild and Natural- got to throng this store in Westbourne Grove and rub shoulders with movies stars and their "organically" fed and clothed babies. Shall I get that organic shampoo?

Hmm.. there is lots more to get, but my suitcase is sooo small! I wish I have a private jet.

Other household things to shop about!

My biggest regrets (what I did not buy.. or did not buy enough)
Most of these are handicrafts unique to Thailand.

1) Scented candles-- those that can float in water to create a spa like ambience. It costs only around 100B, (you can bargain to 70 or 80B) for 10. Can get at night market , MBK or JJ.

2) Chopsticks set: They have this very nicely lacqured sets. I guess I was really put off by the girls attitude and missed a good bargain. It was an intricate set, and she offered me 3200B (wow!). I told her no way, and she offered 1500B. I was really appalled and the she would let me have it at 750B. I was more shocked than anything by then... she offered me 350B. Shucks... I should have bought it!!!! It is so much more beautiful that those sets which go for more than 20-30SGD!!

3) Water feature: I was lazy to bring them back, cos they could be quite heavy. But now that I am not there I realised that you get better choices there!

4) Towels: This is so 'auntie'; but the stalls in JJ are main distributors for towels! You get really good quality and nice towels there! We bought from a corner shop and each towel was around 200B (did not bargain). The towels turned up to be much better than those that I obtained in Singapore ... for only about 50% of the price here.

5) Lamps: Yes, lamps! Again, lazy to carry and hoped that the designs will be here soon. It never arrived. If you cannot get the whole thing, just get the lampshades and use it to replace your cheap and common table lamp from IKe* :)

6) Paintings, art pieces : there are so many creative things there.. things that you do not see out of Thailand yet. There is something that will definitely make you feel like buying! I fell in love with the salt and pepper sets. Check out those pewter sets!

7) Fine ceramics: Yes, they have really good ones there. You can get this at SL might market and MBK too. I was really attracted to the ''bowl'' like thing, but decided not to buy when suddenly reminded that it look like an urn holder... hmmm have been watching too many horror shows

hint: Thinking of getting a gift for someone? Bangkok is a handicraft haven. There are so much variety in Thailand, and at a cheap price. I suggest you check handicraft websites such as Productthailand.com or other sites in the internet. See what are the pieces that your friends/family like. These sites also frequently list the places where you can get the products, and give you more information about it.