Two New Bottoms

Just before Australia Day in January, I bought myself two new pair of bottoms from Target. I wore the denim shorts on Australia Day and wore the other grey cropped pants on the first day of CNY on Valentine’s Day. I desperately need new clothes. In fact, both of us need new clothes because more and more clothes are becoming too big!

With Summer coming to an end, many end of season clothes have been drastically reduced in shops such as Target, but we don’t really dare to buy any because if we lose more weight during the year, they may not fit by the time Summer comes around again at the end of the year. The new shorts we bought M in January 2009 are now so big, they don’t stay up without a belt. LOL. The new belt he received for Christmas is also becoming too big. He is down to the last hole. Is there a place to go to punch another hole? Mr Minit?

My own need for a transition wardrobe started around April 2008. I noticed that I constantly need to hitch up my jeans every few steps. I thought there was something wrong with my jeans and it was happening to all of them. It never occurred to me that my weight was dropping. So, I solved the problem by wearing a belt but by the time AFL Grand Final came around in September 2008 I had no other option but to ditch those jeans. Reluctant to buy new clothes for the warmer months because I tend to only like to play dress-ups in the cooler months, I went digging in the wardrobe for pants/jeans that I wore back in 2004 and found some Levi’s that fitted just nice. They looked alright still but they didn’t last. They too were becoming too big by May 2009 so I went back to the wardrobe for another dig. It was like going on a trip in a time machine. So until I bought the two new pairs of bottoms from Target last month, I have been wearing clothes from circa 2001! LOL. Believe me, the clothes from 2001 do look quite outdated and I don’t mean in a fashionable vintage kind of way. I did buy a few new pieces for Winter last year to mix and match with the old clothes but I just can’t bring myself to buy a whole new wardrobe every time I drop a size. That is just too wasteful don’t you think?

M and I are not on any miracle diets. We love food, including junk food. As I type this now, I am craving for some Pulut Udang - ewww… to some but absolutely delicious to me right now. We have however added more vegetables into our meals and we walk everywhere. I think the walking is playing a big part in the weight loss because I think we are losing more from the waste down. That doesn’t mean that my upper half is not shrinking. It happens a little slower than the rest. When M and I were queuing to buy super cheap Korean instant noodles last year, some guy behind us was going on and on about another guy’s unusual weight loss. He insisted that his friend must have undergone some kind of treatment (e.g., liposuction) because the resulted weight loss was ‘uneven’. LOL I tried desperately not to laugh at the time. Someone else I know also insisted that walking alone does not result in weight loss because according to her, walking is a good exercise for your heart only. I beg to differ and I think M will agree too that all the walking we had done had also contributed to greater improvements to our lower halves.

Just Because I Like Maria

90-95% of the books relating to Montessori that I own are bought from montessoribooks.com.au. When I emailed them to see if I could pop over after Christmas to purchase a few books in person I was sad to learn that my favourite bookseller (Mr G) had sold his business to another organization. Not very good with changes beyond my control, I felt kind of odd that I would now have to deal with another unknown person whenever I buy Montessori related books. Yes, I was a little apprehensive even though I was communicating via email. LOL

The lady in charge now replied in an email stating that they are re-opening on the 11th of January. Desperate to finally pore over two of the three books I was interested in purchasing, because they have a tendency to be out of stock, I jumped at the opportunity without thinking twice about the weather. Monday turned out to be the hottest day in the New Year so far. I normally do not venture out of the pigeon hole when the temperature goes above 36°c but that day I was bursting with excitement to leave. I will do anything just for Maria. LOL. M was late because of work commitments and we made it to the school just before 1:00 pm. I did indicate in the email that we would be there between 12:00 – 1:00 pm. As we looked for a gate on a side street to enter the school, I saw two small groups of women leaving the school building. I instantly turned to M and said, “Oh WOW! M, those women are Montessori teachers!” M looked puzzled and asked, “How do you know? Is this a Montessori school? This is a state school isn’t it?” and I answered, “They are. I am sure of it. They have just finished a day of training.” Despite walking past them, I typically didn’t give any of them any eye contact while M was probably wondering if Montessori teachers have distinctive features making them easy for me to tell apart. LOL.
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The women leaving made it easy for us to find the entrance to the office. We just followed the way they had come from. Nothing prepared me for what was up the stairs; I was just hoping that Ms A was just as friendly as Mr G. M did let the front door slam shut loudly startling me a little. Yes, I am not very good with sudden loud noises. Funnily though, loud noises made by children do not bother me. When we got up to the landing, we entered an open door that led into a large room. There standing slightly to the left was Ms A and guess what? Her facial features are like mine. She is an East Asian! (Before we entered the building, I told M that I thought that Ms A was of Indian origin. He was puzzled but he predicted that Ms A was of Italian origin because Maria Montessori is Italian.) Next I tried really hard to scan her voice to see if she was OK about us. At this point, I was still making sure that I was looking in her direction courteously, which meant that I was looking towards the left side of the large room. After she said something about me picking up my books, she came towards us to get to the door behind us and that was precisely when I turned my head to the right and saw what I had been wanting to see for really a long time. The problem was that Ms A had left the large room and as guests, I thought we ought to follow her but by the time we stepped out onto the landing again, she had disappeared into another room. I really liked what I saw and couldn’t resist popping back into the large room.

So what did I see? I saw a full scale 3-6 Montessori Classroom on display. For someone who had only seen some Montessori apparatus and visited classrooms with some Montessori apparatus (while the rest was locked up) all so many years ago, and for someone who had been reading so much about Montessori in recent years, the display was truly quite a sight. The only thing missing would have to be the children (+ the teacher)! How delightful it would be if only there were children working, for me to observe from a separate room, how they interact with such a special environment made especially for them! People like me do not normally engage in excessive physical displays of affection but that day, I felt like squeezing M to make sure that he was also absorbing the sight in front of him. When Ms A came back with my books, I told her that the classroom was very special and she told me that it is a typical 3-6 classroom. After I paid her, I asked for the permission to look at the farm and the ‘video camera’ inside my head went to work. The farm looked somewhat different from the one inside my old Nienhuis catalogue but someone told me that Nienhuis changes their product design ever so slightly from time to time. I did notice that the craftsman had applied gorgeous lashings of glossy red paint on the barn’s roof making it very attractive. Yes, I have a tendency to notice little things that are usually insignificant to most people. LOL. I do prefer my own collection of Schleich animal figurines but theirs were better scaled. See, Schleich should really make scaled figurines for consistency. (I am aware that Schleich makes a small range of scaled dinosaurs and another small range of scaled sea creatures. The other animal figurines are realistic but are not scaled.) The Long Division material that fascinates me so much was also there. It is smaller in real life. Why it was there is a mystery. I thought that it belonged to the 6-12 class. Nevertheless, I am happy to have seen it. The Fraction Circles that could have saved me from pain and humiliation were also there. Worried that we might have overstayed our welcome, I went over to say goodbye and we left. As I stepped out of the building, M quietly asked, “Are you happy?” I was more than happy. Despite the heat, I was talking non-stop about the things we saw. I even forgot to put on my hat and got sunburnt!

I have been reliving the footage I taped in my head a few times since that day. It would have been so wonderful if when I was between the ages of 3-6, I had a classroom such as the one I saw to go to. The freedom to be allowed to get on with one’s work with as little distraction as possible would be PRICELESS. As for the books, they are sitting on my desk waiting for me to cover them with Contact before I can study them in earnest. M suggested that if I hurry, we could organize to buy more books for my birthday so I could see the classroom display again. That would be great but imagine when we rock up next time and they have turned the display into a 6-9/6-12 classroom. I think I might collapse to the ground. LOL. Raise your hand if you would like to see the timelines that the children use in the Montessori elementary classrooms. “Yes, me please!”

Small Animal, Big Influence

Before I came here, I had many Aussie pen-pals and almost all of them wrote about their collection of pets. After I came here, I began to see on the news how awful ‘my people’ were in the way we would treat animals. From bears forcefully taught to dance with a rope harness through their snouts, to bears held captive in cages for convenient bile extraction, to Orang Utans kept as pets, to Whales getting harpooned for scientific purposes; Asia, a big continent was fast becoming a super bad place in my head. Then in 2003, we bought our beloved Guinea Pig and I began to become more aware of local animal cruelty in the news. Although I have no scientific evidence to prove it, I also began to notice that such cruel incidents tend to happen during school and public holidays. I find it hard to believe that such heartless people live here regardless of whether the person has been imported, born here or is someone who can trace their ancestry back all the way to the first fleet!

One evening, 7-10 days before Christmas, I sat myself in front of the TV but I wasn’t really watching it. I think I was looking at a pattern book trying to decide which patterns I should buy on Boxing Day, when I first heard the sound of elevator music and then the noise of an animal in distress. When I looked up, I saw a pig lying on its side, thrashing about with a metal bar stuck between its jaws. Because I was so disturbed by what I had seen, I only heard snippets of what the narrator said. It went a little bit like this: “Now that you know…” I wondered what it all meant. The ad appeared again the following evening. In fact, it appeared multiple times during the next evening but I have not seen it again since! I just blocked it all out by switching channels. Ironically the ad almost always appeared just before or after an advertisement for Christmas ham. The truth is that I was pretty angry at the organization responsible for this ad at first, as I thought they were ruining my Christmas, but the sight of that pig haunted me over the past two weeks. I remembered something that happened in the 90’s when I read about a foul mouthed VIP (P for Pollie) who was linked to a piggery that kept its pigs in very small pens. I sat in my bed wondering whether the ad had anything to do with the pork industry and wondered why the poor pig was thrashing about like that.

3 days after Christmas, we had to go to the library to drop off some DVDs. While we were there, I went upstairs and found these two books: “How Good Are You?” by Julian Lee and “A Lighter Footprint” by Angela Crocombe. I think I had previously picked up the second book for a quick glance in the past. Anyway what is written in these two books has managed to enlighten me on the horrible practice of factory farming. YES, factory farming is here in Australia too! I am sure there are other countries that are doing the same thing, but I really expect a lot more from Australia. Reading about Factory Farming made me want to puke as it is completely opposite to an article (Pig Birthing Plan by J Owens) that I read in the latest issue of Grass Roots - Australia’s most popular self-sufficiency magazine. This caring Tasmanian’s little farm is almost like a dream! Humans are omnivores even though some choose to be vegetarians but what have these poor animals ever done to humans for them to be treated in such a cruel and brutal way. I am realistic and I am going to openly declare that I can’t ever see myself becoming a full time vegetarian, but we are going to really try to change the way that we buy our meat products. We are now looking to buy organic or biodynamic meats, even though the shocking price tags may force us to eat less meat in future. As I write this, I wonder if Temple Grandin’s ideas have been implemented here in Australia.

It is now 20 months since our beloved Guinea Pig left us. I have written many times about the little things I have learnt from keeping a pet and even though I have always liked animals, it was the experience of keeping our Guinea Pig that has explicitly taught me true empathy for animals. In 2008, we changed the incandescent light bulbs in our pigeon hole to the energy efficient CFLs. This year, we are looking to improve the kinds of food and personal care products that we consume. Already I have changed my soap. Yes, I still use soap bars for my showers. For years after I came to Australia I did use fancy shower gels from the Body Shop because I thought they were trendy but secretly, I have always preferred holding onto a bar of soap. So I reverted back to soap and have always bought Aussie or UK made ones. Then in early December 09, I saw that Safeway now stocks the ECO STORE Goat’s Milk Baby Soap and thought that I should give it a try. I have heard that Goat’s Milk is kind to dry skin. Since it was just under $2 a bar, I bought one to try and I can declare now that I am totally in love with it. Each bar lasts about two weeks. That means that if there are 52 weeks in a year, which is equal to 26 fortnights, I will need roughly 26 bars of ECO STORE Goat’s Milk Baby Soap annually, which equals around $52 a year (except if they suddenly put the price up). The soap is apparently GE Free, New Zealand made and most important of all, the product was never tested on animals, which I hope is applicable to each of the individual ingredients listed to make the soap, and not just the finished product. Do you know that some humans in the cosmetic industry strap little animals down so that they can cruelly test the ingredients used to make cosmetics and personal care products on their eyes?

Dirt Cheap Reads

M and I went to what looked like a temporary bookshop on Elizabeth Street on Monday afternoon. It is called Dirt Cheap Books. They have other stores around Melbourne as well and we only spotted this one on Christmas day. It is opposite St Francis Church and next door to JB Hi-Fi on Elizabeth Street. We bought four items as pictured above. The Sewing Calendar was only $5. I bought it simply because I wanted to check out the sewing projects inside. There are more than 100 sewing projects sourced from various blogs. Because each project's designer and blog address is also listed, I suddenly also have many new blogs that I can visit in my spare time! The New Yorker 2010 Desk Diary is for M. It was also just $5. A sticker on its back cover indicated its recommended retail price in the US was USD$32.95! I am trying to stay away from the diary because there are a few maps in it, including one of Manhattan and I have a tendency to study them. LOL. The other two books are for a young relative who is about to turn 12 in a few days. The green picture book (my idea) is about Don Bradman. It was also $5! Elsewhere the same picture book is priced as high as $32.99! The fourth book is the most expensive. LOL. It was $7.

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On Boxing Day, I dragged myself to Dymocks on Collins St for their twice yearly 20% off most items sale. There were two items I had in mind to get but only one was still on the shelf when I got there. This sale is on till Thursday (31/12/09). I love the sale at Dymocks because it is one good opportunity to actually buy cheaper books after sampling parts of the contents first.

Hey Hey! Borders @ South Wharf is Open

Someone left me a comment anonymously not so long ago to tell me that the Borders at South Wharf was opening on the 3rd of December. Since I was a little busy yesterday, I popped into the bookstore to have a little look today. The store turned out to be a compact one like the Carlton store. Over the years I have noticed that whenever a new store opens its doors, there is a standard range of books on the new shelves, including a pretty good range of books on Education, normally placed next to the parenting section. This was the case when the stores in South Yarra, Chadstone, Melbourne Central and Highpoint open their doors. Unfortunately this is not the case with the store at South Wharf. There is only one small shelf of books on Education. LOL. There is one title on Montessori and no titles at all on Homeschooling but there is a book by Alfie Kohn. Oh… I sound like I am whingeing here…

I did enjoy my trip to Borders today though. While it didn’t have much of what I was looking forward to, they did have heaps of other books and products for me to browse. At the cooking section, I saw a cup made to look like those take-away coffee cups with a Sippy lid except that this one can be reused over and over. Now, I really like that and am thinking of getting one for M. After staying at the store for an hour or so (or was it more?), I walked out with one of my favourite magazines – Grassroots. The only other place to get Grassroots is at Mag Nation. Oh wait, I think Melbourne Central’s Borders have it too. I used to get it from McGill’s but that closed down a few months ago.

The staff members at this new store are young, energetic and friendly. Well, I am referring to the team that was there when I was this afternoon. Other than a cheery hello or a smile, they pretty much left me to browse without invading my personal space too much – this is very important to me because I hate to be given the ‘Pretty Woman’ shopping experience. My magazine cost only $6.20 but the giggly young lady who served me was happy to give me a cheerful service nonetheless. Now that is what I really like.

Window Shopping @ South Wharf

During one of the ad breaks that came on when we were watching The Amazing Race on Thursday, we saw an ad for the new DFO South Wharf. We saw Borders in the ad. Whenever Borders open a new store, they always have a few Montessori and Homeschooling titles in their Education section. Ooh...I can't wait to browse through some of them before they get sold out. There was also a full page printed ad on the back page of that day's copy of MX (free newspaper). Studying the map on it, we realized that the new outlet stores are located within walking distance and decided right then that we would drop by the next day to have a look.

The moment we got there, we quickly learned that many of the shops were not open for business yet. We were disappointed that Borders was also in that category. So we did a quick lap of the basement where most of the shops were already up and going, quickly checked out the shops on the ground floor that are getting ready to open their doors and then went upstairs to check out the JB Hi-Fi. I can't possibly give that place a miss if I have M in tow. There are a few more shops (e.g. The Good Guys) in another building adjoining the main building.

With the DFO outlets at Southern Cross station (aka Spencer St station), Harbour Town and now, more DFO outlets at South Wharf, we will never have to drive out there to buy discounted goods. Yay!!

Where Do My Groceries Come From?

I am currently reading an amusing book called ‘A Year Without “Made In China” – One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy’. The adjective ‘amusing’ is not chosen lightly. It has got to be amusing if M was caught smiling while reading page after page of the book. It is written by an American journalist named Sara Bongiorni. Printed inside the book’s dust jacket is a picture of her but before I even took a look at it and before I even finished reading a few lines describing the book, I suspected that she had Chinese heritage! Is this spooky or what? I haven’t seen the book in any bookshops and borrowed this copy from none other than our beloved Melbourne City Library.

The book and along with TV shows like “A Current Affair” and “Today Tonight” got me thinking about the so-called invasion of Chinese or foreign made products. Is it really that bad? Both M and I are not really bothered by China’s expansion. China’s steps to become an economic giant have given my Chinese relatives a better standard of living and thus a better life. I used to feel how unfair it was for them to be stuck over there but seeing them moving up makes me feel better for my late maternal grandma who seemed to blame herself for their sufferings all those years ago. Right now China is not a threat to me personally at all. I have lived as a minority all my life and that has given me invaluable abilities of working my way around obstacles even though it is not very nice to be a minority all the time. So instead of freaking out, I just get around any obstacles that come my way, but the thing is that Chinese products are not things I particularly shun unless they are harmful or if the quality is especially bad. Despite saying that, it doesn’t mean that I don’t support Aussie made products.
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I was thinking about what to write about in this blog last week and an idea came into my head. I wondered if it would be a good idea to write a post about where my groceries come from. Just like the author of the book I am reading, I have decided to sort each product according to what is printed on its label. I am not going to call each company to make them give me the country of origin of each ingredient/component that makes up a product. Being a ‘nobody’, the companies probably won’t entertain someone like me questioning them. Since I had a few days before we do our grocery run on Saturday, I had time to think about it a little bit more. If the invasion is really as bad as what people would like me to think, I wondered if this idea would turn into a “Spot the Aussie” game. The vision of a certain type of local visitors turning up at a famous Melbournian landmark only to find the place ‘taken over’ by ‘other’ people came to my head. Imagining the possible facial expressions of those local visitors was almost enough for me to throw out this idea but M wanted to give it a go and see what we would find.

The pictures below are the stuff we bought on Saturday. We shop for our groceries at Safeway (now known as Woolworths) at QV and ALDI (on Franklin St). Because Asian meals are also consumed in this inter-racial household, we also regularly buy certain products from Asian grocery stores but we didn’t have to last Saturday. The only things not depicted in the pictures are sausages and chicken thigh fillets. We returned to get them on Sunday and they were both Australian products.


Australian products from Safeway/Woolworths

These are what I call “Somewhat Aussie” products. They are ‘Made in Australia from imported & local ingredients’ and we bought them from Safeway/Woolworths.

These are the ones made overseas and we also bought them from Safeway/Woolworths.
· Macleans Toothpaste – England
· Home Brand Toilet Paper – China (Aren’t we brave to use 1 ply sheets?)
· Heinz Baked Beans – New Zealand
· Trident Sweet Chilli Sauce – Thailand
· Home Brand Tuna Chunks – Thailand

Australian products from ALDI

“Somewhat Aussie” products bought from ALDI. They were labelled as ‘Made in Australia from imported & local ingredients’.

These are the ones made overseas and were bought from ALDI
· Jasmine Rice – Thailand
· Aluminium Foil – China
· Pineapple Slices – The Philippines (Note: We usually buy Golden Circle.)

A note about ALDI: Some people think that ALDI is not a patriotic option because they are German but they do hire Aussies and when the products are sourced locally, they do come from places that also hire Aussies. ALDI helps to keep our expenses lower.

This is the book I am currently reading.

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Judging from just the groceries I bought on Saturday, I bought only two items that were made in China. That is not that bad, is it? There are a few other things made overseas but only two came from China. I didn’t set out to buy more Aussie made/produce goods just to write this post. What I buy during each grocery run is based entirely on the fortnightly menu we are currently sticking to and what non-edible items we have run out (e.g. Silver Foil). Even the shopping list is pre-made (printed from the computer) and reuse until we dump the menu because M is completely bored of the same meals over and over. LOL

How I Use My TROLIG

Yeah I know very well that I simply can’t have enough of IKEA. I went there on two Sundays in a row in September. I actually went alone on the second trip because Moosh could very well have gone insane if I made him go again. LOL. That was when I bought myself a TROLIG plus a couple of other things. In case if you are wondering what in the world a TROLIG is, it is actually a curtain rod set that requires no drilling because it is spring loaded. And just in case if anyone is as curious as me, I actually went to Google the word and learnt that it meant plausible in English but it could be wrong because people should not believe everything written online. (In that case, people shouldn’t believe a word I have blogged about too. LOL.) M and I have always been curious with the names of IKEA products. They can sound quite funny. If I am not wrong, there used to be a teenager’s desk called BRA!

I have always wanted some kind of cabinet / buffet to store plates, glasses and other serving ware within the dining area but because we live in a tiny pigeon hole with limited space, I am forced to put that dream on hold until we move to a house one day. We have also accumulated other pieces of furniture over the years that we do not wish to just chuck them out yet. One example of such a piece of furniture is this bookcase that I bought when I was at university. It is not a Billy. In fact, it is not even from IKEA but it is made of the same kind of material as those Billy bookcases. One blogger calls this material fake wood. Fake wood or not, we don’t wish to throw it out yet. We had recently placed it in front of the short wall separating the kitchen and the dining area. It has been empty ever since M moved his collection of DVDs that used to be stored there to a new lockable cabinet. Its current location makes it possible for me to use it as a buffet to create more storage room within our tiny kitchen but I was a little worried that the contents may become dusty because this so called ‘buffet’ has no doors. Then I remembered this TROLIG thingy in the 2010 IKEA catalogue. I wondered if I could make a curtain for this bookcase. Out came the measuring tape to see if the TROLIG would fit in between the bookcase’s sides and it fitted apparently. So off we went to IKEA that very Sunday and since it was our first visit after the release of the new catalogue, I insisted that we go through the whole shop to make sure I didn’t miss a single piece of new products. Poor M went along like a gentleman without complaining even when I mentioned my intention to not buy the TROLIG that day because I needed to think a little bit more. LOL. I could see that he was wondering why he was made to spend his Sunday negotiating his way through such a thick crowd to emerge at the other end to buy two jars of Lingonberry jam and a hot dog. LOL. Anyway I made up my mind six days later and went back to IKEA on the following Sunday to buy that TROLIG.

This is the TROLIG in its packaging.

This is the fake wood book case with the TROLIG fitted.

This is my notes on how to construct the curtain. If I am not following a pattern, I have to make notes before I start on a project. Once I have the skeletal framework on paper, I am pretty flexible with any alterations needed along the way. Okay, the fabric I chose is quite childish but that is the only blackish fabric I have in my stash at the moment. And yes, the fabric is from IKEA. I bought it a few months ago.

This is the end product. It is just a basic curtain but M and I are happy with it.

Note: We are happy with the outcome of this little project. The TROLIG mounted firmly to the inner sides of the bookcase and the rings/clips did their job in hanging the curtain but because the curtain rod is not permanently fixed, it might fall out if a curious hand yanks the curtain forcefully. This is not a problem to us since we do not have any children of our own and we are not likely to have any child visitors ever. How lonely, huh? In the catalogue, the TROLIG is used to fit inside window frames. I just thought I made it clear in case if anyone is interested to do what we did, he/she should consider carefully before making an educated choice.

Cash Is Money Too

I love purchasing things or paying bills by cash. It helps me to keep things under control in a concrete way. There was a time in my life when credit cards were attractive to me. To be given them as a young adult was a status symbol. Better still because they were supplementary cards, I didn’t have to worry about paying anything at the end of each month. Nowadays I prefer to complete transactions using cash. It is just so much easier to keep track of everything. Interestingly, cash is becoming less ‘welcomed’ these days. I suspect that people are getting ‘told’ and are subscribing to the idea that cash is ‘uncool’ and low tech. LOL

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At IKEA, the self-check machines do not accept cash like the machines at Safeway/Woolworths. When paying bills over the counter, customers are now getting charged a Cash Payment Fee/Payment Handling Fee. I just don’t get it. Why do customers have to pay extra for making a payment? I am so glad that Independent Senator Xenophon is looking into this issue. It just doesn’t seem right for customers to be slugged so many different type of fees even when they are doing the right thing. So there must be other people out there who are bothered by this for Xenophon to take an interest.

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Imagine one day when department stores start charging shoppers a fee if they choose not to check out at the self-check machines.

The Bonus Bundle Finally Arrived

We bought a new printer back in June. As part of the purchase, we were offered a choice of two bonus bundles that were supposedly valued $100 each. To redeem the bundle M had to go online to submit some contact details. Unlike people who turn up on shows like A Current Affair or Today Tonight to complain about being ripped off by similar promotions, we have never experienced such bad luck over the years. The bundle of our choice arrived last week. We chose the Home Bundle and it consisted of a pack of 10 T-shirt transfers, 40 sheets of A4 size, glossy photo paper, 40 sheets of small semi glossy photo paper, a pack of 25 DVD-Rs and 10 sheets of A4 coloured cards. Other than the T-shirt transfers and the DVD-Rs, I have never bought the other products in the bundle before, so I don’t really know if the bundle is really worth around $100. LOL. I did wonder why Canon didn’t offer Cash Back bonuses like other home office products though. Maybe this is one way to encourage us to use our printer more. Imagine the cost of replacing all the ink tanks regularly because we are printing anything and everything!!!

Bitter Sweet Purchase

There is absolutely nothing wrong with our old Canon printer but the old computer it is hooked up to has ceased to work since a couple of weeks ago. This means that we can no longer use the old printer. It is not Vista compatible and it is therefore not possible for it to be hooked up to this computer. Bummer!

After careful consideration, I gave in to the idea of buying a new printer. We looked at the printers on sale at Officeworks. This is a good time to buy such things. M pretty much let me make the decision on which model to buy because he wasn’t fussy as long as it is a multi-function one that can be hooked up to this computer. I think he was secretly very happy that I have come to the decision of buying one. So we marched into the Officeworks at QV last Wednesday (17th June) and bought our new printer. We initially planned to go to the store on Kings Way but since we were already going to the city, we opted for the store inside QV. This time we didn’t really stick to what was recommended by computer magazines. We just stick to the same brand and our pre-agreed budget. Since we have some gift cards, we ended up saving an extra $40 on top of the already reduced sale price!

There are people out there who are not very fond of IKEA but I am not shy to let people know that I love IKEA. It doesn’t bother me one bit that my neighbour or someone in another country probably has a piece of furniture that is identical to mine because we have bought the item from an IKEA store. One of the most versatile items I have bought from IKEA is not actually a piece of furniture. It is a large blue bag that shoppers can pick up near their check-out counters. We bought one and it is used to lug a lot of things. We brought it with us when we went to buy the new printer and the bag was large enough for M to carry the printer home comfortably.

We are very happy with the printer but I must admit that I feel a little sad also. I find it really hard to have to replace something that is not broken. M promised to have the old computer repaired soon. If it can be repaired the old printer will be up and running again. The old computer is still useful to us because that’s where we type anything in Chinese.

Buying A Few Things

Here's a post on what I bought in the last 12 days or so. I know that I only just blogged about the need to stick to a budget that also allows a bit of fun. That’s what we did when we went shopping recently. We left the ‘Fun Police’ at home to make decision making easier and the trips guilt free. I specifically held onto the gift cards and money I had received for my Birthday in May for use during the June Sale. Quite a few items are things for the kitchen because since I changed the menu recently, I realised that I need a few extra things.

Here is what I bought so far:

• A pair of tongs because the other ones are broken.


• A set of scone and cookie cutters because I want to make sure that my homemade hamburgers are relatively the same size (M thinks that this is pathetic.) but I can also use them to make scones one day.


• A plastic butter box. We used to use butter portions but are unable to find them these days. So this box is a hygienic way to store the block of butter we now have to buy.


• A pack of three tea-towels because we need more to replace the retired ones.


• A pack of 5 dishcloths.


• A small fry pan because I want to make blueberry pancakes that are relatively uniform in size. (Moosh thinks that this is pathetic also.)


• A pair of wool blend socks from Target and believe it or not, they are made in Australia?


• One pie plate because the menu now includes a vegetable pie once a fortnight.


• One long sleeve Spencer – I love Holeproof Thermalite and the whole range is now made in New Zealand.


• One photo snowglobe because I just want another ornament housing a photo of my Guinea Pig.

The small fry pan is a really cheap one ($4.50) from IKEA. The truth is that I am a little unsure about it. After I got home from IKEA the other day, I suddenly felt a little unsure about using it and still am. If anyone is reading this post, have you used cheap non-stick fry pans before? What do you think? Apart from the snowglobe, all the other things I bought were for practical use. I just hate to be seen as a Gold Digger if I bought only pretty things for myself.

Blogging Less Again

A tradesman is coming on Thursday and I have heaps of cleaning and tidying up to do before his arrival. My skin is just not thick enough for me to allow anyone other than us into this pigeon hole in its current state. So, I won’t be blogging much in the next few days. I have heaps to tell the world though. For instance, we went to IKEA again today. Aussies have been told that they have narrowly avoided a recession last week. If you were there at IKEA today, you would be asking, “What Global Financial Crisis?” People were buying like IKEA won’t be here tomorrow. LOL. I confess that I bought a bit too but one item was a pressie for someone else. No, the pressie wasn’t a $1.50 vase.

Goodbye McGill’s and Hello Mag Nation

I heard on the news that McGill’s, my favourite magazine shop is closing its doors. Apparently it was bought by Campion but they found it too much of a struggle to keep it operating. This reminds me of a well known toy brand A from Europe. It was taken over by toy brand B, also from Europe. After the take over, all of the toys from toy brand A were renamed toy brand B. It was like that for a while until they decided to move the manufacturing offshore – to where else but China of course. When I saw the new batch in toy shops again, I was totally shocked. The quality was beyond dodgy. This is not turning into a China Bashing post as I have seen products from China that are of high standards and good workmanship. After a year or two, we stopped seeing the toys in the shops. Some people are totally against plastic toys but I really adore some of the classical pieces that were made by toy brand A. Unfortunately, they can only be bought occasionally on Ebay now. I am also a fan of toy brand B as they too used to make great quality wooden as well as plastic toys. It’s a pity that when they went offshore, their standards lowered beyond belief.

Oops! This post is meant to be about my favourite newsagent. Before Borders’ arrival, most Melbournians’ access to magazines from abroad was via McGill’s. At one point, they even stocked a magazine from my country of origin! They also stocked some lesser known Aussie magazines like Grassroots. The store had always been busy. So it was quite a shock to learn that it will not be around anymore. Also situated along Elizabeth Street is another big magazine shop called Mag Nation. We had been in there a few times but we have always been loyal to McGill’s. It looks like we will have to buy from them now. Mag Nation is actually quite a friendly place. There are comfy seats on every floor for customers to browse before making a purchase. When we were there on Wednesday, after checking out McGill’s one last time, I noticed that Mag Nation stocks some of the magazines that I like to buy from time to time. M also said the same about his selection of magazines.

Happy Birthday to Me

It’s my birthday today. I started the day telling M what we did on this very day 6 years ago. We went to a pet shop far away to buy our Guinea Pig. I was happily going through all the details when M decided to interrupt by reminding me of the incident when I pinched my Guinea Pig’s fur a few years ago. I did it as a way to move him away from sitting on his own puddle of wee and I totally regret doing it. The incident taught me that corporal punishment is also ineffective on little animals.

When I finally emerged from the bedroom, M was already in the middle of his breakfast and watching the news. As always, I asked if something disastrous happened while we slept. I really shouldn’t have asked. M turned on the Sky News Active for me to read the headlines. As always, I started by reading the last headline listed on the first page because the top story was too hot to handle but M was too eager to make sure that I got it. Aside from highlighting the first headline, he announced that Bud Tingwell was dead. I read the headline a few times before accepting the fact that one of my favourite older actors had gone to heaven. It was beginning to feel like M was trying to sabotage my day.

We had to pay some bills on Elizabeth Street so I suggested that we get into the CBD via Southgate. I normally do not like going via this way but it just made more sense to do it this way today. As we crossed the busy intersection (corner of Elizabeth and Flinders) right after we emerged from the Flinders Street Station Underpass, something lying flat on the road caught my eye. It was black and white. When I glanced at it again, I saw white fur moving in the breeze. I knew immediately that it was a small mammal and told Moosh not to look. Every time I asked him not to look at something (e.g. puke), he would look and then complain about it. We were both very angry with what we saw. We think the animal was someone’s pet. It was probably a Guinea Pig, a small rabbit or even a puppy. When I reached Flinders Lane, I felt like going back to pick it up but M didn’t think that was a good idea. As I ate my lunch, I wondered how many cars went over it. Since I do not know what exactly happened, I have no right to judge the human/s involved in this but I am certainly not happy with irresponsible pet owners.

After lunch, we went looking for a new headphone for the iPod. I like the ones with silicone cushions that go into the ears so I do not disrupt anyone who happens to be close to me when I listen to the iPod. Frugal me is only willing to spend around $50 but most of them are priced around $70. My favourite (BOSE) is $149! So, this mission failed.

Once we finished paying the bills, we were ready to go somewhere I picked especially for my birthday. You won’t believe what a stupid destination I had picked. No, it’s not the museum. No, it’s not another shopping centre and no, it’s not the state library. LOL. I told M yesterday that I wanted to go to Baillieu Library (Melbourne Uni) to check out a phonics kit. How unromantic? LOL. It’s been a while since we visited the Uni and we got quite lost. When we eventually found the library, we searched the catalogue to find the kit and manual that I had wanted to take a peek at were gone! Had they been in, they were usually kept at the Education Resource Centre. We did go to the ERC. It has been renamed the Eastern Resource Centre. It wasn’t a good idea to visit the Uni at all. I came away feeling really old.

We are home now. The dinner lady is not working tonight. M volunteered to cook dinner – Spaghetti Bolognaise. I am more than a little nervous about that. He has already cleaned one load of dishes. The man is trying to be nice after buying those DVDs behind my back. I am just going to put my feet up and watch an episode of Law and Order but it won’t be easy.

A ‘Duffle Coat’ for Me

I have always loved Duffle coats. I love the toggles. The length and thickness kept me warm. I am no fashion guru but I think that the Duffle coat is a classic piece that doesn’t seem to be unfashionable. I could be wrong. People like me are notoriously known to need more than a little help following fashionable trends. LOL. Comfort and practicality are top priorities for us.

Here is what I look out for in a proper Duffle Coat
• It has to be made of wool.
• It has to be Navy (so dark that it is almost black), Black or Red (Radio Flyer Red to be exact but red is only applicable if I am buying for myself for when I was 6!).
• Ideally, I would like one with a detachable Chin Flap but not all models/versions have this feature.
• It has a collar as well as a hood.
• Ideally, it has a detachable 3-piece hood with or without a little peak/visor.
• It should have at least two pockets externally and two more side entry, hand warming pockets around the middle of the coat.
• Internally, the colour of the lining must complement the colour of the coat.
• Plastic Toggles are quite acceptable. (Can’t be too fussy now can I?)
• On top of the toggles, there should also be a zipper or some other way of doing the coat up to keep me warm and toasty.

I had a Duffle Coat when I was at University. It didn’t have all the features outlined above but it was one of my favourites. I even wore it when I went to China on an extended study trip. Eventually, it had to be put away because ‘shallow’ me didn’t want to be seen wearing the same thing too often.

This last Sunday, M and I (Dumb and Dumber) went shopping at Highpoint. It was the first Mother’s Day we spent together. It was surreal that he wasn’t required to go home. I do not know the full story but I was super happy to have him to myself. Our intention was to shop for presents and a pair of Winter boots for me. The pressies were easy enough but I had little luck with the boots. Coats were on sale and I found one that looked somewhat like a Duffle Coat. It was meant to be $99.99. With a 25% discount on all coats, this coat would be reduced to around $75. That’s pretty good I thought. M was just happy that I finally found something I liked. When we got to the counter, we received further good news when we learned that the coat had been further reduced to just over $50. I was over the moon of course and was in a hurry to pay for it in case if there was a mistake. LOL. Later, my Mum too was delighted to hear that I found something nice for myself. It looks like the fun loving Priscilla is slowly re-emerging or did I make this purchase because I wanted to spend like M to match what he had spent?

The Lone Shopper Turned Nasty

Its April already and it has been a while since my last bit of retail therapy. There is just no way I can last till my birthday without splurging a bit. Grocery shopping and paying bills do not count as retail therapy; neither is buying pressies for other people. On our way to grocery shopping on Saturday, I was dragged into Southgate because M wanted to buy a CD. As a result, we entered the city via Elizabeth Street and I saw a note stuck on the window of a popular craft shop announcing a 20% discount of everything in store and sewing patterns (of all major brands) for $5 each for 3 days only. On reading that, I instantly wanted to buy quite a few things in there but unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time for me to visit the shop that day. I plotted over lunch to go on Monday since it was not open on Easter Sunday. With a devilish smirk I thought that if M bought a CD for himself then I too could buy myself a little something.

Well that little something turned into a small pile of patterns and gadgets that ended up costing close to 5x of what M paid for his CD! I felt extremely guilty after the initial high and after receiving news that my Mum will be off again on another trip overseas, the nasty me appeared to wreck havoc within the confined space of our little pigeon hole. I was Miss Impossible and M bore the brunt of it all. LOL. He was accused of not being proactive and offering too little support. He probably wondered how a bit of retail therapy could turn so nasty.

$5 per pattern is really a bargain. The recommended retail price for each of those three patterns I bought is normally around $15 - $17. This means that I saved as much as $30 on the patterns alone. As for the gadgets, I am not sure yet if they are any good. I didn’t do enough research online before purchasing them but I do admit that I am quite a sucker for little gadgets. I mean I do know basic embroidery and I also think it is quite possible to make a yo-yo without these two pieces of plastic but I am very curious to find out for myself how they work. Do they really make things easy? Besides, I am quite a fan of the range of products by Clover. The dizzying effect of a little retail therapy even caused me to downplay the indifference of the shop assistant towards me but it’s obvious that it wasn’t dizzying enough for me to not notice what was going on though. I remember thinking that while I didn’t receive a bright and cheerful service like the previous customer, I should be grateful that I was allowed to buy the things I wanted. How pathetic?

When I went shopping on Monday, I went on my own. I like my own company because it gives me ample time to browse and make ‘careful’ decisions. However there are still remnant bits and pieces of my old self that totally disapproves of being seen in public on my own unless I am working or running errands. This came about from when I came to Australia. Months after my arrival, I learned that it wasn’t a socially acceptable norm to do anything considered to be a social experience independently. Activities like shopping, watching a movie, eating out, visiting iconic places and such must all be done so with at least one other friend (preferably in a group of 4-6), presumably to look like you have a social life. It’s a bit like the current trend to constantly check one’s mobile phone to read text messages. I am not sure if this came about because of the people that I hung out with then or if it has something to do with my then age group. It probably has something to do with being young and foreign. I found it troublesome and stifling but I hate to be judged by my own more than anything so that’s why I am still a bit bothered by being seen on my own in public to this day.

Scored a Good Buy

While I was out today, I dropped by the supermarket to buy a few items. Since I was on my own, I was free to hang around a bit longer to study the price of some things. We normally do not buy laundry powders with fancy brands but today I spotted a 2kg box of Drive Advanced Concentrate for just $5.99. Not only did my glasses nearly fell off my face, I think my eyes nearly pop out as well. That’s 70¢ dearer than a 2kg box of Homebrand Concentrate. According to a sticker on the box, it looks like the product is about to go for a facelift including a formula change (2X concentrate). $5.34 off normal recommended retail price is really quite a catch. I think I will go back tomorrow to get a couple more. I will have to be speedy because now that the Chinese New Year is over, the students (the International Student population) are back for another year at Uni.

I am still quite disappointed for not buying a 10kg bucket of Cold Power Advance for $27 from Big W at the end of 2008. There were stacks of them on display but I was taking my own sweet time. Before I knew it, the offer was over! At $27, that’s $2.70 per kilo! A 10kg bucket would last us a year or more. Today the same bucket is about $35 - $38, I think.

Boxing Day Visit to Harbour Town

We went to many places on Boxing Day. After shopping around the city, we caught the rickety old City Circle Tram to get to Docklands. We saw the ads for Harbour Town on TV and wanted to check out the new factory outlet type shops and to see the big Ferris wheel. No, we didn’t pay for a Ferris wheel ride. It is new and the fare is still very expensive (imo). We didn’t receive any free money to give away. So, we are hoping that there will be some specials by around middle of next year. We might go on a ride then. I don’t feel like we miss out if we don’t because the ride seemed to be terribly slow. Here is a shot of the wheel that I took while M was looking inside Sanity.

Show & Tell: Christmas Pressies

M is not allowed to buy me any surprise pressies. Everything has to be pre-approved by me first. That’s partly because I am fussy but it is also because I have a never ending obsession in proving to the world that I am not a ‘gold digger’. Everything M gives me has to be practical and these days, each item has to be of super value too.

The only item that was bought before Christmas was a puzzle. (I was wrong when I declared in a post before Christmas that I didn’t get myself a single thing.) That, along with the two books on evolution, is an item for my dream classroom and is therefore deemed acceptable. The books: “World Atlas of Dinosaurs” and “Evolving Planet” were bought on Boxing Day at Dymocks. I love the 20% discount on offer for almost everything at the bookstore at this time of the year. Hopefully, the contents of the books will help me in my story telling effort.

The other book: “Wealthier than you think!” is one that I had originally wanted last Christmas. The title is listed in our local library but I don’t think they have actually bought it yet. Since it was only $16 at Target, M got me a copy. I have read bits of it at Reader’s Feast and it is from this book that I first got the OK to be frugal during the silly season. M promised to read it after me.

M also bought me a Tefal Wok from Kmart and two food containers from Big W. Yeah; we went to many places on Boxing Day. The Wok was 50% off its retail price. Along with a recent discovery of a special cooking ingredient at China Town, I am looking forward to using this Wok to make “Drunken Chicken” for Chinese New Year at the end of January. Woks also make it easy for any lousy cook (like me) to make Chahan without spilling anything. My other big Wok died a while ago and I have been using a ‘deepish’ frypan from IKEA in the last year and a half. My wish is to buy another Scanpan but if I managed to ruin one before, I still can’t trust myself to spend so much on another one.

The only ‘non-practical’ item that Moosh bought for me was a tin of Arnott’s biscuits. On Boxing Day, it was reduced to around $3.50 and I agreed to buy it. I don’t think it is entirely ‘non-practical’. There definitely is some use for it in the dream classroom one day. The unique shape is just so adorable. May be I should store teabags in it for when the ‘bikkies’ are all gone.

That’s my show and tell. I hope everyone reading this agreed that I did stick to the goal of receiving practical items only. There will be another show and tell post later. Moosh’s mum bought me something I had considered buying last year.