Fanco ceiling fan review - Model FF9

We have been deliberating about installing a ceiling fan in the living room even before shifting in to Park Central. Shelved the plan after seeing that the living room is rather windy and prefer to make do with a small table fan if required.

Recently, the weather has been rather unpredictable. Hot and sunny for one moment and start pouring the next moment. Not to forget about the haze and burning smell we are experiencing now due to the hotspots in Sumatra region.

Haze in Singapore due to hotspots in Sumatra region

Decided to review our plan of installing a ceiling fan and these are some of the criteria we were considering:

- Wind speed of the ceiling fan (Does it really cool down the living room in the shortest possible time?)

- Matches the living room theme (Not that we have a beautifully designed living room but it has to at least match the Scanteak furniture lying around the area.)

- Silent (Does the fan has a quiet motor? We don't want to disturb the quiet sleeping environment for our hamsters =P)

- Comes with a light kit (As the connection that our future ceiling fan will be using is also our current light source, we would need a model that allows a light kit to be attached underneath.)

We were not considering air conditioning at all due to the higher costs involved (installation, operation and maintenance cost) and installation is going to be another nightmare. Prefer not to deal with any contractors after the long arduous with Park Central defect office. Entries are available here and here. Another reason of not considering air conditioning is due to our sensitive noses. Somehow we always end up sneezing after sleeping in an air-conditioned environment.

Currently, we are making do with a table fan (when necessary). There is just no space for a standing fan in our tiny 90-square-metres 4 room HDB flat at all.

Brands we have in mind are KDK (very good motors and wind speed but no light kits) and Fanco.

Decided to arrange for a free on-site consultation session with a seller which was sourced from an online forum and we actually placed our order in the same appointment!

 Spent a total of $380 for Fanco FF9 48" (in brown) and LED light kit (3 light bulbs) inclusive of installation. The above pricing was above the same as what was quoted by Everjoint 1.5 years back. 

After one week of heavy usage, I would say the money was well spent. The wind generated is rather strong even at speed 1 and the motor is super silent. Now I can spend my daytime in the living room without having to bear the midday heat. Best of all, the constant circulating air is 'diluting' the polluted air created by the irritating neighbour who keeps smoking at all hours of the day.

Desperate Housewives - Scene on coping with grief

Saw this interesting and meaningful scene whereby Eva Longoria (acting as Gabrielle Solis)  was 'guided' by a third party to release a balloon into the air as part of coping with the pain of her miscarriage. Just looking at the scene, I can feel myself letting go all the sad memories over the past 2 years and the peace settling down within...

Source: www.wellsphere.com

 Previously, Gabrielle's way of coping with the loss was shopping and more shopping which seems to be a rather appealing avenue as well. Imagine the wonderful feeling one gets when you found something which you were looking for... No doubt this feeling might not entirely 'cover' the sense of loss but I believe it does help one to gradually overcome this low point in life. I am sure guys won't really understand this view point though.

Math tuition - Primary & Secondary levels

Thinking of going back to my old job as a maths tutor.

Have previously taught both primary levels and secondary levels (including A maths and E maths).

Would anyone be interested to engage the services of an NUS graduate?

Preferred location: North (AMK area)

Tuition fee rates : S$25 - S$40 per hour

Please contact me at impixie@gmail.com for further enquiries.

Door to door durian sellers @ Park Central

Was kind of forced to buy these 2 Maoshan durians from 2 Malaysian sellers who claimed to be delivering durians to a fellow neighbour at Park Central.

Really regretted opening the door. A woman's 6th sense is always very accurate I guess.

Was quoted $13/kg for these Maoshan durians which I also don't know if that is a reasonable price. They opened a total of 3 durians in fast succession before I sensed something is not right.

Immediately asked for the price and was quoted $100+. Almost fainted...

One guy was even saying buy 3 get 1 free. Told them I really had not much cash and could see the change in their facial expression. Requested for the price of 2 durians instead which was close to $60. :0

Told them I really don't have so much cash and managed to 'escape' by paying $40 for 4.5kg of Maoshan durians.

Luckily HE didn't scold me... These durians better be good and we have sworn not to open the doors to any strangers.

The amount of door-to-door salesmen at Park Central is really astonishing. Hopefully this post will act as an alert to fellow residents and not to be as naive as I was.

Update: Sad to say, the durians are really not worth the price! Had better ones at much cheaper prices.

Pre packed Laksa sauce from NTUC

Various ingredients for yummy laksa

Took the lazy way out by buying pre packed sauce from NTUC and cooked this laksa dish a few weeks back. Although I have not noticed the brand before but it turned out quite well. However, the sauce was abit salty.

Bought Sakura laksa beehoon, fish cake, taupok, coconut milk and some eggs as well as part of the ingredients. Quite a yummy and easy-to-prepare meal on a lazy weekend.

Recent beauty loots from Taiwan - Part I

The above items are some of the loots I got from the most recent Taiwan trip: 自白肌 Super Moist Toner with Hyaluronic Acid, Olay Pro-X Clear Purify Hydrating Renewal Lotion, Hada Labo facial wash, Olay Pro-X Eye Restoration Complex, Hada Labo Hydrating Cream and Mentholatum Acnes Oil Control Film.

Quite pleased with these items and will progressively review these products.

So far, my combination skin is responding quite well to them.

Good skin == Happy me!

The Black Box

Source: http://www.blackbox.sg

Have just subscribed to The Black Box.

Looking forward to receiving the surprises in June 2013!

Will be doing a review of the items so stay tuned =>

* Do visit the website and sign up for a complimentary Black Box.

Mixed vegetables fish porridge

Decided to cook this broccoli, carrot, potato and Sutchi fillet porridge for breakfast.

Soak the rice with a tablespoon of black sesame oil.

Thereafter, add in cubed carrots, potatoes and broccoli before starting to cook using the rice cooker.

As for the Sutchi fillet, I soaked it in diluted white vinegar solution for 15 mins before slicing it up and rinsing under running tap water.

Marinated it with a tablespoon of Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, a teaspoon of rice wine and a tablespoon of Taikoo ginger red sugar (new found treasure at AMK Hub NTUC Xtra).

When the porridge is halfway into its 1 hour cooking cycle, I added the fish slices in.

The porridge turned out to be quite nice n a twinge of sweetness without having to add in additional seasoning.

Best thing is that HE didn't complain that the porridge is bland which I took it as a major achievement as HE is always complaining that I don't add enough seasoning.

Whenever that happens, it just pisses me off haha.

Less salt is for the sake of YOUR health u know !!!

Pizza Hut 1-for-1 Weekday Deal

There is this 1-for-1 promotion for Standard Chartered Bank card holders.

Quite tempting especially on weekday dinners when I am lazy to cook.

Visit here for more information.

Sutchi fillet in Chinese style

Bought lots of Sutchi fillets (8 pieces to be exact) as it was on sale. Have to seek HIS consent before buying just to be on the safe side (if the picky eater don't want to eat this, I will die lo).

Read online that these Sutchi fillets tends to taste fishy so I always soak them with a super diluted solution of white vinegar before cooking. So far so good.

Have tried pan frying it, cooking it in fish and chips style and also in fish soup.

Today, I tried steaming it with HuaDiaoChiew (a type of Chinese wine), sea salt, pepper and also fermented black beans. Turned out to be very appetizing.

Review of Udon King @ AMK Hub

So happen to see this article on 我报 introducing the various fusion cuisine offered by Udon King. We were there last Fri for dinner.

One of the dishes we ordered was the right most item in the second row done in chicken style. The sauce was kinda sour (even for someone like me who take sour stuff quite well). Was not able to taste any tinges of butter at all. In addition, the chicken was abit tough.

HE tried this chicken cutlet thing with egg and it was quite salty.

The way they pack customers into confining spaces is also quite irritating. We got to keep shuffling the table whenever new customers are being shown to their seats or when any of our 'neighbors' are leaving their seats. Suggest that you visit the restaurant in larger groups to get those booth seats.

Service was quite bad too. Their service staff have no knowledge of the table numbers and kept delivering wrong items to various tables. Feels so uncomfortable due to the limited space and got to keep an eye on them as the wrong orders appear randomly in front of you and we got to keep correcting them.

Last straw came when the cashier lost HIS credit card after payment was made. She was not able to find it and was requested that we wait at 1 side while she serve the next customer. Was totally pissed off la... In the end, she found the card on the floor. Personally, I feel that the cashier is a very important person in the business context. The business owner should have put in some effort to train them up.

Hello Kitty promotion at Cosmed, Taiwan

Received these 2 Hello Kitties - the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood which comes as a set after spending a bomb at Cosmed, Taiwan.

Was super happy and lucky to get these 2 (out of a total of 6 selections) as they are packed in boxes and I wasn't able to pick and choose.

Even though I am not a Hello Kitty fan but this set somehow just appeal to me and is somehow symbolic of our relationship (HIM as Big Bad Wolf and me as Little Red Riding Hood).

There are 2 other sets available: the Frog Prince and Little Princess as well as the Peter Pan and Little Fairy.

SMRT operation management is really ...

Stuck on a slow moving packed train with a wailing baby is no joke...

Mild headache has evolved into a throbbing one...

With no service announcements, I can only guess that the rain has affected train service to such an extent that we are stopping for a few minutes at each station.

I just wish some brilliant scientist would improve the teleporting process to include human beings. The possibilities are endless!

Korean Ginseng Chicken

Bought prepacked Korean Ginseng Chicken from Jia Yen quite a while back as emergency supplies on days that we are feeling lazy to cook.

The portion is just nice for 2 of us with half a chicken and three glutinous rice balls.

Just empty the contents into the cooker (rice cooker with soup function/pot) and cook it for around 40 mins.

For me, I put the rice cooker to soup function for 1 hour so that the glutinous rice gets infused with the ginseng soup and turns into a nice gluey texture.

Selling at around 10 over bucks at NTUC or Cold Storage. Worth a try especially on cold rainy days!

Supper from Upper Thomson

Jio-ed HIM for supper and he agreed!

Bought mutton murtabak, egg prata, dim sum and teh tarik from the prata shop and dim sum stall at Upper Thomson for supper.

So hungry even though we just had Mayim a few hours ago!

Everything just taste so good!

Review of the Library - Bar @ Keong Saik Road

Went to this "hidden" bar a few hours back.

Very dim atmosphere which makes reading the menu a challenging chore.

It was quite crowded towards the end and I can't wait to get out of there.

Service was alright though it was verging on the rude side at some point in time...

Drinks was alright...

Don't think I will be back anything soon.

Wai San Chicken

First time cooking this dish based on the following newspaper cutting.

Chicken fillets was already marinated using italian herbs instead of what was recommended in the recipe. My tiny attempt at fusion cuisine.

Added mushrooms to the above recipe with the end product below.

This dish is supposed to be good for people with weak constitution or people who tends to "kill" alot of their braincells.

Remaining amount of Wai Shan aka Shan Yao will be used to cook this Wai Shan minced meat porridge for tomorrow's breakfast.

Chicken gone bad...

Having this family steamboat gathering later and was happily planning and buying the various ingredients the past few days.

Bought 2 sets of chicken bones from Jingshan wet market downstairs on Saturday and was happily boiling water to rinse the chicken bones to prepare the chicken soup base when I realized it has gone bad!

I whiff at the bowl of raw chicken bones so many times to be certain and even asked HIM to do a whiff test to be certain.

The raw sourish smell plus the roasted chicken rice we had just a few minutes ago was enough to make me feel nauseous :(

Got to depend on my trusty pork soup powder for the soup base later...

Felt so cheated sia...

Bought for less than 3 days and the chicken bones had gone bad? Keeping in mind that I washed the items and freeze them on the same day before defrosting them this morning.

Should have just bought the items from NTUC etc.

Daiso Washing Machine Drum Cleaner

Bought this oxygen based washing machine drum cleaner from Daiso to try for fun.

Chinese New Year is coming and it is time to spring clean the washing machine too!

According to the instructions, pour the entire contents of 1 sachet (2 sachets in a pack) into the washing machine drum and operate the machine for 2-3 minutes for the water to fill up and mix the cleaner uniformly.
Thereafter, switch off the machine and let the solution sit for 2-3 hours. Final step is to operate the washing machine as per normal for 1 cleaning cycle to enable the solution to wash out.

One thing to keep a lookout for as a gauge that cleaning has completed is when the sitting solution changes from light green to white.

Personally, I think it helps to remove the musty smell which might lingers around the washing drum if we didn't manage to 'air' the drum thoroughly after each wash.

Candlelight dinner for HIS birthday

My first attempt at candlelight dinner while enjoying the city view with HIM (but HE is still busy Diablo-ing and is totally unaware of this surprise!)

Hopefully he likes it :)

吴奇隆 - 祝你一路顺风

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TfMgg9-QiA8

It has been close to half a year since you have left us...

Although we have not been really close, listening to this song on YES 933.3 FM just brought back all the memories...

I am just glad that you have moved on to a better place...

RIP

Don't use your handphone if you are driving...

How to drive when you are holding your handphone in 1 hand while trying to steer with the other hand?

Did you realize you are taking up 2 out of 3 lanes in your attempt to multi-task during peak hour traffic...

City square, Johor Bahru

Went to JB earlier today with the parents and traffic was horrible. Clearance @ JB Checkpoint was a nightmare. Queues for all counters were snaking almost till the end of the arrival hall.

Renovations at City Square seems to be completed for the lower levels. Saw this famous Hong Kong dessert outlet Xu Liu Shan inside the mall. There is also this new xiaolongbao restaurant called "Long De Chuan Ren" in Chinese. Lots of people queuing at both restaurants.

Walked past this new bakery called "Lavender" and bought some stuff to try. Their tuna bun tasted average. It has this weird red powdery topping which tasted slightly pepper-ish. RM2.90 lo! Also bought their pandan cake (RM7) and kaya jam (RM5) to try. Personally, I feel that their prices are catered for Singaporeans.

City Square is rapidly turning into another Singaporean style mall. It would be better if there is a decent sized supermarket there. The auntie cells in me!

One word of caution though, please change currency in Singapore (RM248.50). Rates were super low in JB (RM244.20).

Picture that best depict the organization - Desert

Ah Boys to Men - Review

Just watched Ah Boys to Men with HIM... Quite a funny and heart warming in local context.

Gained some new knowledge about NS terminology, eg: CB leaf (which HE brought up previously but simply refuses to elaborate further).

Personally, I felt that the movie is worth watching and it would be even better if it is a complete movie instead of being split up into 2 parts. No doubt the 'break' was quite nicely done.

Review of obdo mask

Finally used this last piece of obdo mask. It contains coenzyme Q10, collagen and ginseng. It is supposed to prevent wrinkles, moisturise the skin and improve skin elasticity.

The previous 2 times that I tried it (left it on overnight as per instructions overleaf), I was quite happy with the results (whiter and more moisturised skin). However, the ginseng smell is quite strong.

SingTel's Corp Social Responsibility initiative - Project Silverline

Received this SMS from Singtel a few minutes ago:

Donate your used iPhone 3GS/4/4S for a good cause! As part of SingTel's Corp Social Responsibility initiative - Project Silverline, we will sponsor 1 yr's talktime & data plan to our senior beneficiaries to match your iPhone donation. Donate yours at any SingTel Retail Shop today. More info @ www.singtel.com/silverline

What is the main purpose of this Corp Social Responsibility?

You mean the elderly cannot use phones from other brands?

JUMP & FLYING - Non-verbal Korean Drama

Watched JUMP previously in Korea during our honeymoon.

It was quite humorous and entertaining.

When HE saw the advertisement on FLYING the other day, it was decided that we shall get our tickets too.

The 1.5 hour show just flew past and we were vastly entertained.

Tinges of romance, humour and action...

Review of OTO e-Cuddle & e-Lux

Just collected these 2 items from OTO earlier on as part of the Zaobao Subscription promotion I did for my parents.

Only spent $99 for these 2 items.

Have 'copied' the setup at the OTO store and attached the OTO e-Cuddle to the top portion of the e-Lux to enable a more effective massage experience.

Quite shiok to enjoy a 20 mins massage while watching TV especially our neck and lower back.

Incorrect postures while using PC (slouching + tortoise head-out posture)/too much Diablo-ing...

Yet to try the OTO e-Cuddle on the thighs and calves though.

The massage style of e_Lux is separated into 2 main styles - rolling or Shiatsu.

The e-Lux Shaitsu style and e-Cuddle is quite effective for tired aching neck and back muscles.

More details of these 2 items can be found at http://www.otobodycare.com.sg/products/details/OTO_e-cuddle/ and http://www.otobodycare.com.sg/products/details/18/.

If you are interested, can just pop by the nearest OTO outlets to give it a try.

We saw quite a number of promotions when we were at their Nex outlet earlier on.

Loots from Kwerkee - Cityscape Wall Organiser

The nicely packaged item was delivered by the delivery man during a weekday evening.

As there was no call beforehand informing us of the delivery, it was rather lucky that we happened to be home.

In addition, we deliberated for quite a while, peeking through the peephole trying to ascertain the identity/purpose of the caller.

Met too many cases of persistent ice cream sellers/salespersons.

Furthermore, there are also neighbours who have come across drug users in the estate.

Really regretted installing a doorbell at times even though HE has diy-ed a switch to turn it off when necessary.

 

After unwrpping the package carefully...

After installation today...

The package actually included 2 small thumbtack like nails that was totally useless in securing the wall organiser.

Even though HE hammered the nails carefully, they were very fragile and bent out of shape in no time.

Resorted to using strong double sided tape instead.

So pretty and useful!

It really jazzed up my plain kitchen entrance and yet hidden from view from anyone standing outside the main door entrance.

Items are organised and easily accessible just before we leave the house.

I just hope the tape wont fail on me.