Crazy Chinese Woman

Most of us in the West has an outdoor pool for the summer – I think it’s because we have so much land here in the West and not so much because the family is well to do – so if you visit a friend in the West don’t be surprised to see a pool in their backyard.   This winter it had been especially windy for us – but not so much snow this year, so it’s great that we have  pool covers because the leaves that gets into the pool when it is not covered – can leave a lot of mess.   For those who don’t use pool covers, I don’t know how they managed after winter – because sometimes the leaves and garbage leaves a stain inside the pool and the scrubbing takes hours.  I heard from a pool boy that mold/algae can set in too – so yes, I’m glad that we had bought the pool covers – and they are not expensive either – so when I see a pool not covered during the winter – I just don’t understand it.  So those of you out there who have a pool, please cover them up during the winter – it would save you a lot of headache when the summer comes.

Wish and Switch Episode 15 is out for watch on you tube !!!  With the problem starting from last week with Megavideo and Megaupload, I’m guessing you are all finding it hard to watch them online.  Lucky for me – I found some online ones that I can watch still – thank God – else my life will be quite bored.  Well, I didn’t actually find the link – it was a friend who is an ardent show fan – who found it and shared it with me.  So I rewarded him with some  cigars for all his hard work for I know how much he likes this kind of cigars.  While the westerners don’t think you need to reward someone for doing things for you – it is in our brought up and cultural difference that tell us otherwise.    Follow the birdie – leave me a comment for the synopsis and the password for all the discussion and yakking. Don’t forget to enjoy your show – and come yak with me.

These days – I’m crazy over vintage stuff – I think I must be watching too many Pawn Star shows lately – and hoping to strike rich perhaps from a vintage thing that Imight accidentally acquire.  Well, a girl can always hope right?  but those who remember typing on an Olivetti typewriter while going thru’ a secretarial course – now these typewriter must bring back some good memories right?   They don’t even have secretarial courses here – and I don’t believe they have it in Asia either – but I could be wrong.  But I remember going to Tanglin Shopping Center and finishing my secretarial school – so that I can do shorthand and do minutes – hahah! those were the days.  Anyhow, if you are like myself – you can get one of these vintage typewriters for about $500 – and if they were any cheaper – I would be tempted to get one – but with $500 – I could get a cheap laptop for my kid – so no thank you in the meantime – but for those interested – check out FAB for purchasing them.

Last year Christmas, the cousins received some new games for their xbox 360 and they were very happy with it – so they invited my kid to go over and have some fun with their jeux xbox but my kid was a bit hesitant because the other side of the family were Acadian french  – so they all spoke in french.  My daughter worried that she might be left out in conversations didn’t want to go but when she saw that it was the xbox 360 games that she loved to play – she was gung-ho once again to go.  So we went back to the store – to get some extra xbox 360 controllers for her – and another game so that she can introduce her xbox 360 games to her cousins.  Just Dance 3 was the xbox 360 game that she brought along with her – and guess what ?  the kids had such a great time last week – they are doing it all over again.  Woohoo!! free time for this mummy alirght!

Winter suxs!  and if you needed to do anything outdoors with your hands during winter – you need your gloves but what if you needed to open the door with your key or answer a phone or text message someone because you can’t find them in the car park?  Yes! you have to take off your gloves else you will be standing outdoors in the cold and even with your winter jacket and ear muffs – it can be a bitch!

These gloves are called Swypegear gloves and uses conductive fibers that lets you do all the above with all your ten fingers covered. Woohoo!  I say if you have cold weather where you lived like I do – inveset in one !  this is a life saver! especially for savvy and techy folks like you all out there.   $18 at FAB or check out http://www.swypegear.com/ and get a 20% off regular price by typing 20OFF.  I liked the green color ones and getting a black one for the spouse.

So I asked my 8 yrs old this morning if she would like me to take out her winnie the pooh decal out since she is no longer a baby.  And she said sure and I asked her if she wanted something else put up on her wall, so she said – sure – how about Hannah Montana – she asked me in reply?  I said – why Hannah Montana? and she said ok How about Jonah’s brothers?  hahahha!!!

But I was thinking of more of something else than Hannah Montana and Jonah’s brother – so she said how about inking my walls?  now that’s a big phrase for an 8 yrs old I thought – and googled inking my walls and came up with these expensive decals from FAB by Surface collective.

I do like some of the things they have but not all – and after checking out their website – I found some that were really expensive.   So I wanna buy from Etsy but am afraid of the quality – because some just don’t stick as well.  But I’m hopeful – for those who wants to check out Surface Collective – you can.

For those who knows me – you would know that I loved food – and I love to cook extra food to bring to friends and neighbors to get them to try my food. And this collapsible carrier from Rachel Ray is the best thing one can buy when you have lots of potluck or if you are someone who is invited to parties or housewarming a lot. This carrier will keep your food warm – while you transport them to a friend’s house. Holds a 9 x 13″ baking dish and is expandable to carry a second dish. Keeps your food warm or cold for 6 – 7 hrs. The part i loved most is the handle – the way it is done – your food would always stay where it should be and arrived beautifully at the hostess home. $26.95 – definitely a great buy.

The one thing I like most about the West – whether in the States or here in Canada – land are plentiful – so when you rent or buy a home – it’s not as expensive as it is back home.  Back home – one can never buy a home like the above for less than a few million dollars.  Yes! you heard me right – millions!  but here in the West – land is plenty – therefore, one can get a good home for a very good price.    Many who migrate to the West – look for homes for lease and then decides to buy a home after many years after becoming a landed immigrant.   And renting a good home like the above doesn’t cost you $10K like back home – homes like that are also at reasonable rates.  Plus, if you are in a rural area – houses are big and land are plenty for gardening and even raising horses and those are even more affordable.   The home I’m in is only over $100K and I do have a lawn and backyard – had I bought it in Singapore – it would have gone no less than $2 million at least.  Yes ! I do miss home and all – but it’s definitely a perfect place to raise my daughter.

Yes! definitely fancy !  earlier this year I had bought a Keurig and loved it – but I think I’m ready to upgrade to a more sophisticated machine – an xpresso machine is what I’m looking for.  Although I would love one that grinds the coffee in the same machine – this is a lot easier to use – it comes in already prepared cup form – and it’s only 2 steps to it.  Very convenient if you asked me but note the price of a X7 iperEspresso Set Red – I guess only the serious coffee drinker will fork out about $300 for a machine – but it will impress your clients/friends and even family.  Currently for sale at a really good price from FAB.com  – check it out. Come in black or red color – I prefer the red – although I was given a black one to test.

The spouse wants to turn the basement into a home theatre after Christmas when the store isn’t so busy – and although I don’t know much about it – I won’t stop him from doing what he wants – for he sure earned it.  He had been working hard this year – and been saving some money for some Energy speakers and a bigger plasma tv.   As for me and the children – we are not too fussy about the sound systems – as long as we can hear sounds – it’s fine with us – but the spouse – now he has other ideas of course.  He cannot use the speakers from the tv itself – it has to be external speakers – and as long as I have known him – he has always had external speakers for his home.  I let him do what he wants – because he does it himself and never asked for help.

So you think your kid is a natural born musician but you don’t want to spend a lot of money buying all the above instruments  – and I don’t blame you too.  But if they are under $100 – why not right?  for all you know – they may be the next Jesse James or Eric Clapton -  and these are Mahar guitars and musical instruments made in India/Pakistan – not expensive but remember – only for beginners – for the finishing quality I read isn’t that fantastic.

If you are looking for some unique jewelry for the girlfriend this Christmas – look no further – Miss Atomic has them for you online.  Made from antique brass and with music on her mind – this piece is pretty neat right?  So if you have a girlfriend who loves music and a big tom boyish yet so beautiful – you may want to consider getting this for her.  $21 – not a bad buy at all.

Retro-inspired fireplaces like that are so interesting isn’t it.  Runs on clean burning ethanol,  puts out a toasty 5,800 BTUs and is safe for indoor or outdoor use.  Could be the answer for people like us with no fireplace at home and has cold winter nights and days.  A bit pricey but you don’t have to do any major renovation to keep warm – plus if you have power company like ours here – it would be definitely a great investment on days when you don’t have any heat at all.

Why do I say that?  because this is not your ordinary alarm clock !  this one jumps out of your night stand and rolls around your bedroom – so that you have to get up and hit the snooze button  – and not let you fall asleep again.   Pretty neat right?  you can play your favorite MP3 music or use the built in microphone to record some crazy get up shouting to wake you up or the kids -  I bet that would be crazy funny!   And who say you can show tough love with a little bit of charm!

This Tocky alarm clock is at $44.99 – from Nanda homes

For less than $40 – you can buy a desktop football machine – just for fun.  It’s small I have to tell you -and needs to be on a table – or a flat surface.  But one can always have hours of fun – with a smaller kid – great for a birthday or Christmas present and great for those who don’t have a basement to put their real fooseball table in. I want one of those is located in UK, Wales – so you luck in if you are in UK – but of course, I’m sure they will send anything if you pay for shipping.

Lovely, little Lavender pouches in real kimono cloth – hand sewn with dried Nova Scotia lavender buds in them.  Lavender is said to be soothing not only for yourself but great for your surrounding.  I’m putting mine that I received this morning under my pillow and buying some more of it soon.  You can buy them online at $3.75 each from the Ikebana Store in Halifax, Nova Scotia.   Personally, I’m in loved with the store – the owners are awesome folks!

It rains a lot here in Canada especially in the fall – even in the early winter – it rains a lot too – and I had been looking for the right kind of rain boots like forever.  I went to Walmart – I tried online but can’t find anything i liked.  Either the color is wrong – or they don’t have my size or the ones I tried at Walmart wasn’t comfy.  But I just found this online for $32.99 !!!  price pretty reasonable  – unfortunately, they only ship to a USA address – so I have no choice but to mail it to a friend in the states and then get her to mail it back to me.  A bit troublesome but what can I do right?  At times like these I wished i lived in the states instead of Canada.  For those who loved this stomping boots – check out Zulily.com.

So all these years Barbie had never come out with anything exciting during Halloween – but not this year – this year you can get your daughter the Count Dracula Barbie Doll for $150 from Barbie Collector – shipping only $1.  For the Barbie die hard fan – I’m sure you will get it – but for my lil’ brat – I doubt she wants one.

I think I might have found the perfect gift for my spouse – a leather and cashmere glove for Christmas!  I have been looking for something like that for him because he needs his gloves to be thin enough to be able to drive in the cold winter but yet – can keep his hands warm when he is out walking.  Big gloves are great for the warmth but it leaves your fingers hard to move and do things.  Love the colors and the way it is made and we all know that cashmere can keep one’s hand really warm – I love it ! and only for $39 – now that’s a steal !   I figured you all have a hard time finding  gifts for husband during special occasion – so I thought I would share this with all of you ladies out there.  Check it out yourself – because I found some really good stuff here.

While we had our Thanksgiving dinner in Canada last week, our friends and family in USA will be having it in November – and I choose to send thank you gifts during Thanksgiving rather than Christmas because I think it is more meaningful.  Thankful that they are our family and friends – and it’s so easy now – because I can get cookies delivered to your doorstep just with a few clicks of the mouse.  Many years ago, I had to plan to send things way ahead of time and postage will cost me a bomb.   But now that I can send cookies, fruit baskets, cakes and chocolate online for a very reasonable price – and no hassle – I do that every year – no excuse.  Why?  because i want to show my friends and family in the States that I am thinking of them and that I love them and am grateful for having them in my life.  In fact, i’m sending out one to my boss in the States and in Spain.