Ideas and Reviews

Mothers with pre-schoolers are those whose creative minds need to work really hard. Unfortunately, people like me has none.

As a result, I turn to the Net to get ideas and am usually just awed by the number of great tips and things that can be done.

One of the better sites for arts and crafts is Kids Craft Magazine (http://www.kidcraftsmagazine.com/). They have wonderful ideas which even creative numbed mothers like me can do. I especially like the fact that most of the crafts need everyday things which we already have in the house.

The other thing is that the crafts can be done in a relatively short time – good for managing an active pre-schooler as well as the time we are spending on it.

To top it off, their crafts usually is done to suit the time of year. E.g. Easter will have its bunnies, Halloween will have its share of pumpkin crafts etc. Never a dull moment.

Enjoy then!

I am a proud mother of a 1 year old little girl who is still breastfeeding. Because of this, I am constantly on the look-out for decent and clean nursing rooms.

One of the better ones I have come across is the one located at The Curve. It is a cozy place which is located on 1st floor, just beside Mothercare. I like the fact that it is done up with the mother’s expectations in mind.

Across the room is where the security guard is, who is always on the look-out for people who should not be entering the room.

In the room, there is a changing table which is from the Ikea range of furniture. However, the changing mat needs to be changed – think it is a little worn out now.

There is a bin inside with a lid to ward off any smell from the diapers. The wash basin in clean and there is also ample space for you to park your strollers.

In the room there are 2 cubicles with curtains drawn for the privacy of breastfeeding mothers with their precious bundle. The seat inside these cubicles are quite decent. However, the management may want to think about putting another seat inside for the older child who follows the mother in. Otherwise, the mother will be distracted with a tired and restless kid.

The cubicle also has a table for mothers to put their relevant things, but also good for mothers who pump their milk. I sometimes do that and I appreciate the table very much. However, only one of the cubicle has a plug point. And so, you have to choose the cubicle to cater to your electronic pump.

Of all, the best thing is that the set-up of the room gives the mother a sense of isolation from all the hustle and bustle of the shoppers. Perfect for that special bonding moment with the baby.

I am extremely caught up with work at the moment – explains why I have not been updating this blog for a while now.

However, I cannot resist blogging about my recent experience with Success Resources – apparently Asia’s largest seminar company.

About 3 weeks ago, I received an email from them saying that as a customer appreciation bonus, I get to attend its Millionaire Mind Intensive (MMI) seminar and National Achievers Congress (NAC) for a very attractive price of RM650.

Putting aside their inefficiency in communication, I had to call them 3 times and speak to 3 different people before I could understand their terms. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not stupid nor a person who takes joy in badgering other people, but I feel that their mails and verbal communication needs to be improved on.

Anyway, when I spoke to the last person, someone called Kenji, he told me that I need to confirm my attendance by 12th Jan as they are going to increase their prices after that. I only wanted to attend the MMI and was told that the price is only RM245 for 3 full days. I was also told that it is a very special price and they are only taking in 1,000 people this time as opposed to 3,000 – 4,000 people like the last time.

So, naturally, I was very excited as I am a fan of T. Harv Eker and I signed up immediately.

And I went round telling my friends to enrol immediately too cause I think it is really a good seminar. However, after a week, one of my friend came back and told me that the price was still RM245!

Just now, one of their sales reps called me again and told me that they are extending a special privilege to me by allowing me to bring a friend for RM245. I initially thought that they could not fill in their 1,000 but was instead told that they are increasing the crowd to 1,200! My immediate concern was if they have enough space to accommodate the additional 200 people.

Although they assured me that space is ample, I cannot help but feel that they might not be entirely honest about that. And I cannot help but feel like I have been taken for a ride – firstly by telling me that the RM245 is a limited time offer to prefered customers who are on their mailing list and secondly by being told the crowd was a manageable 1,000.

I am just wondering why sales ethics on the phone is so lacking nowadays. Why can’t companies operate by being completely honest and transparent in their offers? Do they not realise that their antics can cause a lot of suspicion amongst consumers out there and in turn, make honest telemarketers suffer?

What do you think? Have you felt like I do? Have you been sold something with the pretext that it is for a limited time and for a selected few but turns out it is an on-going pricing and the crowd has extended?

One of the things which I enjoy doing is cleaning the fridge. Really. And the main reason is because it is very cooling. No joke.

Every time I clean the fridge, I will discover some amazing things that are in it. Leftovers which still look edible but I cannot recall when I cooked it. Vegetables which I do not remember buying. Fruits which already have a different smell to it. Once I discovered some food in a container and I cannot really identify what its origins were!

Now, because of all these amazing discoveries, naturally some smell will emerge occasionally.  Imagine my delight when I saw a small write-up in the Star a few days ago which tells us how to freshen up the fridge. Here goes …

* Take a lemon and cut into half.

* Scoop the insides of the lemons out with a spoon.

* Fill up the lemon halves1/2 to 3/4 of the way full with table salt.

* Place the lemon halves in a small bowl to keep them from tipping over. You can place both halves in one bowl or place each half in separate bowls.

* Place the bowl or bowls in the back of the fridge.

* Replace every 30 days or as needed.

* The salt will absorb foul odours while the lemon gives you a fresh citrus scent.

Easy right? Seems  so simple to me that I might just try it right away!

What about you? Do you have any other ways to give your fridge that great fresh smell?

So last week, the much awaited book sale happened in Amcorp Mall. I was thinking of going in the morning of the first day but I got a SMS from a friend who said that it was packed. I then decided to go later that night.

IT WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!

 When its maiden sale happened in May, I wrote a review here which favoured this sale. After all, reading is an expensive hobby and any great sale like this would have been great to book worms like me.

Due to that great experience I had, I was really looking forward to this year end sale. However, this was what I found.

The whole venue was extremely small. I do not see how it can accomodate 200,000 titles and all those people in it comfortably.

The entrance was jammed with people who were queuing to pay. The queues were zig zagging and my friend said she had to wait for a whole hour to pay! OMG! I had half a mind to leave the second I stepped into the place.

Then I found that the aisles were too small to fit all the bookworms there who had baskets, bags and boxes in their hands. I had to elbow my way around since that is the only way I could move forward. People who brought their babies in strollers were in for a surprise.

Although I saw some great titles on self-help, I could not really reach it cause it was just too many people around it. Business selection seems to be more limited this time round as well.

One thing which topped my annoyance was how the sales people behaved. One guy who was rearranging some of the books was practically ripping away a book which my little boy was looking at. When I asked why he did it, he simply said that my little Ryan was going to tear it apart and so, he should take it away! When I insisted that Ryan will not do that, he pointed his finger to Ryan and said that if it is torn, then I will have to pay for it! Did he have to be so rude??

Then there was this girl at the customer service table in the children’s section who gave me a non-committed look when I left my bag of unpaid books with her. Ryan wanted to poop and I was not going to hold it off while I zig zag my way through the payment queue. And so, she simply shrugged and said she cannot guarantee that my books (together with my bag) will be there when I return. I really felt like slapping her!

But, as with all things, 2 good things were the fact that the children’s books were separated from the madness and it was pretty easy to shop. But I think the choices last time were better.

The other plus point was that the prices were indeed low. The most expensive one I got was a pirate set which was RM15. The other self-help and biz books I got were RM8. Ryan’s books were mostly RM5.

I did not even bother going back the second and subsequent days. Don’t think it was worth the effort. I hope that the organizer will pick a bigger venue the next time. And for goodness sake, get more polite temps!

Did you go to this sale? What do you think about it?