Shopping – Page 15 – My Life in Canada

July 29, 2010

My Kid Loves To Read

My kid loves to read – i even have a picture of her in the toilet reading a magazine – muahah!! I am guessing – she loves to read because she sees us reading a lot – they say the apple don’t fall far from the tree eh. We get all her books from school, or the local book store here but PB uses Amazon books to get his special books that you have to order – like the Forgotten Realms & the Wheel of Time series (we can find it in this small town).

The school encourages us to read to her and we do it every night before she sleeps – she loves for us to read to her – but she refuses to read on her own. So ever since she started “real” school, we were able to acquire some books that was in her level – and she is now able to read simple books. And though she doesn’t read too much yet – she loves buying books and we never refused when it comes to books. My grandfather used to say that books should be our best friend – and at that time – i thought it was so corny – but now i can fully understand why my grandfather preaches it constantly. What about you? does your kids love to read? where do you get good and cheap books ? pray tell.

May 29, 2010

Kids & Jewellery

I never planned to buy jewelery for my kid – in fact – i feel that they wouldn’t know how to appreciate it at this age. Afterall, she is only 6 yrs old and won’t know any better – but I rather buy her jewelry whereby she can appreciate and keep for her own kids instead of costume jewelry or toy jewelry that she throws away and forget all about it after one day.

So while up in the city – earlier this month looking for life insurance lead, we found a Swaroski store in Halifax – and of course, we had to look for stuff for the princess – she don’t know the value of it – except that it is shiny and pink – but this swaroski crystal is definitely worth the $50 something dollars we paid for it – it shines even without any lighting. You see had i been back in Singapore – i bet i would be buying gold for her – but here in Canada – gold for children is a no – no. So tell me what is your take on children and jewelry ? while back home – it’s a way of showing off – here in Canada – it’s a way of show good taste.

March 26, 2010

Chick Flick & Women

I came to a conclusion last nite about why women love their chick flicks – haha! now, now – i know what you are thinking – women just loves it – no reason/s – but there ISsssss..! it’s all because of our men! hahha!! i know what the men are gonna say – blame it on the men again ! hahahah!!! but it’s true – the reason why we women love the chick flick is because we are not getting enough romantic encounters from our own men – so we look into other ppl’s life – even though they are only a show – and may not be true – it’s ok to dream about it eh. Likewise – why some ppl would wear casually and others insist on branded clothings and handbags but some are comfy with urban clothes because they are just those who are pretty confident – it is what you want that you don’t have so you watch or wear them. Food for thought eh.

March 23, 2010

Teach Them The Value Of Money

I don’t know if you know this – PB just exchanged his aeroplan miles for a 52″ plasma tv. I would never have agreed to pay cash for it – and he knows better. So when he told me he was gonna use his aeroplan miles for it – i didn’t say a word but thank God that he was sensible enough not to overspend. For if it was up to me – i would never have bought anything fancy – a tv is a tv to me – just like buying the best vitamins for men – pretty straight forward.

Anyhow – PB had been searching for a tv stand for this new plasma tv – of course! and he was trying to convince me that he was trying to get one at a reasonable price. After months of searching – he finally bought one from Skytec at a pretty reasonable price and he had put it up himself the other day. Chloe came home from her grandparents and as soon as she saw the new tv stand asked her dad how much it was..?? and if it was orange tag.. muahahahhaha!!!! you see we taught the kid that we never buy anything that wasn’t discounted. I didn’t mind telling our kid that i was a pretty el cheapo person – but moreso – we wanna teach the kid the value of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees – even though her Uncle Richard would beg to differ since he put money on a tree in a huge card for the kid one Christmas.. hahahah!! So teach them young and teach them well – else trouble lies ahead.

December 12, 2009

New Boots

Chloe has a new boots this year – since the one last year didn’t fit her anymore. Winter boots are expensive here in Canada.. and raising a kid properly is definitely not cheap. I know of some parents who would buy used boots for their kids.. but we all know certain things cannot be second hand lah. The “ang moh” very particular about the shoes/boots. We found this winter boots at Zellers and even though it was on sale – it still cost us about $35 !! imagine that eh..! Winter boots are supposed to keep her warm up to – 30 degree Celsius.

November 17, 2009

New Phone

PB had been using his old model phone for like 5 yrs now, the phone still works.. but the face plate, well, lets just say.. it doesn’t wanna come on when it should.. and the battery don’t last too, too long either. His old model was a Samsung .. but like any responsible adult.. one don’t just go out and buy stuff .. when you want to.. or feel a need for change. Well, unless of course you are rich lah.. muahahha!! which we are not… although some may think otherwise.. but really we are NOT..! Anyhow, he was looking to change his old model and was looking at the many cell phones they have at Rogers (local phone shop here).

And since we know the manager of the store.. and he recommended this new Nokia model .. and it really didn’t cost PB a lot of money .. just a contract of 3 yrs which is the norm here.. but we figured there is no harm.. because we’ve always had this # even before i came to Canada. So how do i feel about his new cellphone..?? it’s a cellphone .. muahahhaha!! these days.. beside my laptop.. the rest .. well, you can say .. i only use them when absolutely necessary.

November 3, 2009

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 was certainly different.. and *slap forehead* .. why i didn’t think of doing Halloween with my daughter.. i don’t even understand it. Every year since Chloe had been doing Halloween, it was her daddy who would drive them around.. and her babysitter would bring her trick a’ treating. But you see .. when we brought her for her rounds this year.. i wouldn’t wanna missed it ever again. The glee.. the smile.. and the joy in her face was priceless. Making money is important.. but spending special moments like these are more important.. because she isn’t gonna be 5.5 for very long.. it only comes once. So even though we were trying to buy a walk in bath by making a few extra bucks online – this is a lot more important.

She now runs up the door .. while PB and I stand back .. and watch her go .. “trick a treat!! ” and then she would say.. ” thank you !” “Happy Halloween!” Too cute to watch.. and so proud of her.

Another door and another house – i don’t think she was really interested in the candies.. i think she had so much fun .. just knocking on doors.. and saying .. “trick a treat!” .. hahahha!!

We went by to Uncle Jerry’s .. and then to Tubby’s .. and Dominic’s but he wasn’t home.. so we went across to Sarah’s .. and had fun there for a bit.

Some of the houses were decorated really good.. and the people were friendly .. and welcome the kids with open arms. You can see that not all that went trick a treating.. were kids.. some were adults as well.

House with huge eyeballs were the one that was the best dressed. And the nice lady – the owner of the house was very nice and welcoming.

Oh.. and we had to go out and buy another halloween costume for her.. because the one grammie sent back .. still smelled of smoke.. the day before Halloween. Poor Chloe.. was devastated and inconsolable till we went out to buy her a new costume.

And what did PB do.. during Halloween..?? stealing someone’s kid.. muahahhahah!!! Pinky is her nickname and she is tubby’s kid.

October 8, 2009

Swaroski For Kids

Our babysitter had been sick for a long time now and we haven’t heard back from her or her father since Monday. But we knew we wanted to get something nice for our friends for Thanksgiving .. so we headed to Swaroski as soon as we could. I don’t know about other parents.. but I love to get good stuff for my kid. Now don’t get me wrong, good stuff doesn’t mean.. 100s of dollars of stuff.. but things that are worth it.. and things that are everlasting.

Chloe loves her pink Swaroski Crystal.. and even though it was at a very good price.. we still only bought her one.. and a few for our other friends. Generous you think..?? nah.. those friends are priceless. Do you treasure your friends..like we do..?

July 15, 2009

Back From Vacation

So we are back from our vacation, a short one .. but that was all the time we could afford. We didn’t go very far.. but we did a lot .. more than we had for the last 5 yrs. With your own businesses and a child.. and years of ex-employees that had the “me first” attitude.. there was just no way to go anywheres. This year, we had Katelynn who double up as a part time employee at the store.. and looked after the store.. while we were gone. Yes, she followed instructions to the tee .. and we had no problems with her manning the store.. for she is trustworthy. On top of it.. we had our good friend, Gary come see look.. and help Kate when it was busy – during the days we were gone. Grateful for good friends.. and finally a good employee – we are going for another short break in August before the summer ends. So while PB bought some golf training aids for himself, he bought me this handmade necklace. Love it..!! and he insisted on paying for it.. so i’m happy.

June 22, 2009

Patio Set

So we finally bought our patio set from my favorite store in town. It was on sale.. and it was a no tax day. For those who are not aware of this, in Canada – taxes are like 13% – pretty high in my opinion.. for a place where one can get a new landed property for as low as $125K as compared to home of $1.3 million. Back home where the standard of living is higher.. the GST we paid were mostly included in the price that we see .. and only at 3%.

Why did we wait so long to get the patio set..?? because we are pretty el cheapo.. and only feel that we will only buy things at the right price.. and not necessary the right time. So PB put it together.. one evening when it was really hot in the house. Glad the man is very handy .. and can do stuff like this on his own. Oh.. and special thanks to Uncle Jerry for helping us bring the patio set home from Superstore.