Zara sales started yesterday. As usual, being a crazy Zara fan, I couldn't resist waking up early and making hubby drive me there.  Each year I would spend at least $300 on the sales buying clothes for hubby and I.

This year, I am proud to say that I have more self control over shopping ! The normal SG$89.90 dresses again cost SG$59.90 each during the sales. When I thought of how much cheaper it was to shop from F21 online , I decided to forgo looking at all the attractive dresses at Zara which usually make me lose self control !!  Shopping from F21, each dress would not cost me more than SG$30 (including the shipping fees)! So when I buy 3 dresses from Zara (which will cost around $180 even after discount), I can actually buy around 6 dresses from F21 !!!

Soon I was back to F21 online shopping with my colleague instead of shopping at the Zara sales. For this time , we only bought 15 apparels in total ! Hahah ..quite "lugi" when we could actually buy up to 20 apparels for a flat international fee of USD$35. We tried to confirm the order quickly as the apparels chosen were hot items and we didn't want them to be out of stock. (This is the most annoying part when shopping from F21. They do not lock your orders in even if you add the item to the basket. It all depends on who makes payment first!!) !

Anyway, back to our shopping spree! Take a look at what we bought this time round !

This is my list !!

I spent a total of US$112.09 (apparels) + US$17.50 (shipping fee) = US$129.59 = SG$166.373 for 7 items !!

That means that each item is only around SG$28 !! And I still get a causal singlet FREE because of their Clean Up Sale - Buy One Get One Free for all Sale Items !

How about my colleague ? Let's see what she bought :

 She spent a total of US$150.70 (apparels) + US$17.50 (shipping fee)  = US$168.20 = SG$215.83 for 7 items !!

That means that each item is only around SG$30.83 !!

After doing such a "good analysis" for our readers, don't you think you will be tempted to shop more from F21? Actually, I rather not !! I do not want more competitors to "fight" for the same apparels during my next spree with F21. Hahaha.

Anyway, what a great way to end my 2010 !! This will be my last blog entry for 2010! Hope everyone has a Happy New Year  !!

Order Date: 30th Dec 2010 (Thursday)
Packed Date: 5th Jan 2011 (Wednesday)
Shipped Date: 6th Jan 2011 (Thursday)

Arrival Date: 10th Jan 2011 (Monday)

Seeing the spurt and potential in online shopping, my hubby and I decided to encourage my mother-in-law to do some marketing for her CNY goodies business online. Each year, her regular customers will place their orders via phone or email. And each year, a well-known bakery in Hougang will order large quantities of her goodies to sell in their shop.

We both feel that the lack of marketing isn't doing any justice to my mother-in-law's goodies which have been very well received by all her customers for a good number of years. So this year, we decided to help her by doing some marketing online to promote her business ! We decided to help her take orders via facebook and the Motherhood forum!! The response has been pretty good and we hope it will continue! For those who wish to find more details, you might want to visit her blog at http://irenesdelights.blogspot.com/ , and also add her to your facebook !

Or you might want to visit her at the motherhood forum:

http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/581296/4940951.html?1293719515

Inspired by Ms Chocolate's colleague who really knows how to make 3D cakes, I decided to have my first try with fondant! In the next 8 hours after reading her colleague's blog, I went online , searched for recipes on fondant-making and also the right  methods of creating 3D cakes. By night time, I forced my hubby to go to Phoon Huat with me to buy the essential ingredients.

While I was there, I found this interesting set of 16 Carving Tools For Cake Decorating Modelling. I excitedly put it in my basket without checking the price. This act was stopped by my hubby who took it to the cashier to enquire the price. Astonished on hearing that the small plastic looking tools cost $46, he told me not to buy ! He always feels that baking tools are a waste of money and told me off for being unrealistic since I had started making the fondant dough yet . Haha ... But silly him, he didn't know that I was thinking in my mind that I would go online and do my shopping there when I got home ! I remembered an online friend from flowerpod forum telling me that she bought lots of bakery stuff from ebay.

After crawling through ebay the whole night, I finally found my 16 craving tools for cake decorating modelling at only SG$18 , with free shipping !!! That is savings of $27 !!! Sufficient for me to order another set and still have extra money to treat my hubby to McDonald's or KFC. !!! I placed my order quickly with this ebay seller from Hong Kong/ China and made my payment with paypal. I am just waiting patiently for my order to reach me now !!!

The shopaholic in me wasn't satisfied yet . I started to google for more items to assist in my fondant designing and found another cute discovery ! I found this set of Cake Decorating Bakeware Piping + 8 Nozzles from another Hongkong/ China seller and you know how much it cost ? Only cost me around SG$5 !! Imagine I saw a whole set of nozzles at Phoon Huat for $110 !!! I know I shouldn't do comparisons like that as they are obviously of different quality! But who cares so long they can function the same! : P

Oh ya, did I tell you that I haven't told my hubby that I just spent $25 on baking again ? I am just waiting for him to read this blog and found out himself : P This is where he does my shopping tracking !!!!

Happy New Year, Everyone  !!! Hope you enjoyed your online shopping for 2010 !! I certainly did and would continue to do so in 2011 !! Hope you will too!! 

 

Updated on 7th Feb 2011:

I only gotten my cake decoration tools today . The seller told me that the first time he sent out my order, it went missing. Thus, being responsible, he sent me another one via registered mail : )

The packaging

The product looks exactly like what we have seen in the photo!

Our Harrods shipment arrived just in time for Christmas!!!!

We were quite worried that the shipment would be delayed due to the snow storms in UK but thank goodness it came just in time by DHL.

Look at some of the pictures of the package and the bags we bought : )

The Harrods box that came in by DHL








Some bags from Harrods



























Now i must hurry and wrap up all the bags for Christmas!

I am not crazy over having nails done and I am not addicted to pedicures or manicures like many girls. However, for festivals like Xmas or Chinese New Year, I love to dress up pretty and it is a MUST for me to put on nail polish during these periods ! I only started using OPI nail polish last year ( Yah ! I am very slow! Need not remind me ! ) when my elder sister brought me for a pedicure and manicure to prepare for my bridal shoot. My sister is addicted to pedicures and manicures and all her nail polishes are from OPI. She couldn't believe me when I told her I have never heard of this brand! Even the manicurist was nagging at me for ill-treating my nails. In the end , my sister bought me the a OPI base nail polish from them at $30+ !!! She told me that if it wasn't for my wedding , she would just buy one online for me at a much cheaper price!

For this Xmas, I have run out of the base OPI polish which my sister bought. However, when I looked through the flowerpod forum, I couldn't find any one suggesting any website . So I started googling for OPI polish website. I found one - Nail SG. com. There was this OPI Start To Finish - a three-in-one nail treatment that combines a base coat, top coat and natural nail strengthener in one high performance product, selling at $18. However, this was slightly above my budget. So I started to google for alternative and stumbled upon this surprise. The same seller was giving $3 off for this product at Singapore Motherhood Forum. She was giving out free gifts for certain price ranges and even provided free shipping for this month! I happily emailed her and ordered another straight nail clipper , which made a total of $20 ! For $20 and above, I would be entitled to 2 packets of 2mm rhinestones (30 pieces per pack) ! Furthermore, I got my OPI Start To Finish at only $15 !!! Wow !

* All the above images (except the ones we personally shot) belong to  Nailsg.com  unless specified otherwise.

The seller responded to my email within 10 minutes, telling me that OPI Start to Finish was out of stock and whether I was willing to wait for a week or I would prefer to find an alternative. When I replied her that I was willing to wait and whether payment was required now, she replied me within a minute, letting me know that payment is not required and she would inform me when the shipping arrives. I am was really impressed with the prompt service !

By the next Saturday (think the seller received her shipment by Friday), she informed me about the available stocks. I ordered an extra Xmas gift set and made my payment online and was able to collect the stuff from her within the same day from her place. She specially made this arrangement as we were both worried that I would not receive the shipment by Xmas! To satisfy her customers, she even gave me 2  packets of 2mm rhinestones (30 pieces per pack) free for spending above $20 !!

Website : http://www.nailsg.com/

Delivery: Within Two days. Xmas season - might take a week. Can collect from Lorong Chuan MRT station on weekdays after 9pm.

Ease of Website: Quite organised. They have a search function but I don't find it particularly useful : (

Price: Cheap if you compare buying OPI products from retail shops!

Rating : 8 out of 10 ( I like the service! )

If you wish to read about this entry, please click on this link >

http://onlineshoppingtemptation.blogspot.com/search/label/ASOS

The good thing about online shopping is that it makes shopping so accessible. You can shop from anywhere and at anytime. However, therein lies the perils of online shopping. It is so accessible that sometimes, you end up buying things without thinking cos it is so simple and fuss free that before you realize it, the damage is already done.

That is what happened to me today.

I was just browsing through news on the Internet when I came across an article on the the release of the official range of Royal Wedding China to commemorate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in -  http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20101220/tuk-royal-wedding-china-goes-on-sale-a7ad41d.html

Out of curiosity, I started surfing on the Royal Wedding Collection and found  The Royal Collections Website at the following address- http://www.royalcollectionshop.co.uk/.

Now if you had ever visited the Buckingham Palace in London, you will know that there is a shop just outside the Palace selling The Royal Collection Souvenirs. Now you can shop from the same shop from the comfort of your home. Besides the Royal Wedding China, you can also find a range of official gifts and accessories from the Buckingham Palace bearing the "lion and unicorn" emblem of the royal family as well as other palace souvenirs.

Sale of the  Royal Wedding China had just started from 20 December 2010. The below is an extract of the details pertaining to the  Royal Wedding China that I had extracted from The Royal Collection Website :

"The Royal Collection has launched an official range of commemorative china to mark the forthcoming wedding of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011.

The official Royal Wedding range has been approved by the couple and includes a tankard (£35), eight-inch plate (£40) and pill box (£25) in English fine bone china. Each piece bears the couple’s entwined initials in gold and silver surmounted by the coronet of Prince William and the wedding date.  The range is decorated with a pattern of doves, white ribbons and hearts in silver, gold and grey, set against a pale-grey striped background.  Handmade exclusively for the Royal Collection in Stoke-on-Trent using methods that have remained unchanged for 250 years, each item is individually decorated and then embellished with several layers of burnished gold and platinum before a final layer of gilding in 22-carat gold is applied by hand. All pieces come in a presentation box and are wrapped in white tissue-paper printed with designs inspired by the wall hangings in Clarence House"

Doesn't the  Royal Wedding China Collection look exquisite from the pictures extracted from the website below :) ?

It is true that the  Royal Wedding China is a lot more costly than your normal china plates (not that I would even think of eating off them). However, if you were to compare the prices to the China and Porcelain Collection from Wedgewood or Royal Albert Collection at Takashimaya, you would find that the prices are actually quite reasonable, especially since this collection has much more commemorative value, and thus is more of a collector's item.

Anyway, without much thought, I immediately ordered the collection from the website.

The website was able to do direct international shipping and the shipping charges were quite reasonable at £15.05 for the 3 items in the  Royal Wedding China. I though that by offsetting the £14.89 VAT on the purchase, I was virtually enjoying free shipping once again :)

The ordering process was very simple and in just 3 steps, my order was finalised.

STEP 1 - Filling in of customer details and shipping address.

STEP 2 - Checkout

STEP 3 -  Confirmation of Order

* All the above images (except the ones we personally shot) belong to The Royal Collections  unless specified otherwise.

Once the transaction was completed, I immediately received a confirmation email from The Royal Collections confirming that the order is now in process.

My only grouse with the whole process was that I did not realise that the store had not deducted the VAT charges when I made payment for my purchases.

I have emailed the store to ask them to clarify on the VAT charges and hopefully the VAT will be refunded to me  ASAP .

If you ever want to give your friend an interesting gift which is not found in Singapore, this is a good website to pop by. You can now surprise your good friends with royalty treatment by giving them some souvenirs from the Buckingham Palace :)

Website : http://www.royalcollectionshop.co.uk

Delivery: Orders will be dispatched within 7 working days.

Ease of Website:  Very user friendly and simple to navigate. 

Rating : 6.5 out of 10 Would have given a higher rating if not for the wrong charge on the VAT.

One of my favorite places in the world would be Harrods department store in UK.

True there is no shortage of department stores in Singapore, but there is just something about Harrods that just takes your breath away. And I simply love the wide selection of in-house brand of tote bags, accessories and bears they have at the store.

If you go down Takashimaya Basement 1, you will find a small selection of the items Harrods offer.

However, if you really want to purchase any Harrods items for yourself or as a gift, you should really check out their website at http://www.harrods.com/.

The great thing about doing online shopping from Harrods is that not only do you get to enjoy a much wider selection of their items, the prices are based on the actual pricing available at their UK store. Hence after conversion from UK pounds to Singapore Dollar, you will find that the items are much cheaper than what you will find at Takashimaya, especially when their online sales and special promotions are on.

Check out the below promotions on their Harrods Bears.

Furthermore, Harrods offer direct international shipping to Singapore, which is not an EU country. This means that any VAT on the items purchased will be deducted out from the sale price, which works out to be a bigger discount for us!!!

Being a Department Store, you can find a huge range of items from Harrods, ranging from Clothing to Shoes and Accessories to Beauty Products to Kitchen Equipment.

Besides their house brand selection of gifts, you can also check out their selection of beauty products for great bargains. Not only can you find brands such as Laura Mercier which are not available in Singapore, you will find a number of brands such as Lancome or Molton Brown at much lower prices compared to what you would find in Singapore. For example, a 330 ml bottle of Molton Brown Lotion can be purchased at only £15 , which is almost 30% to 40% cheaper than the prices in Singapore!!

My colleague has recently asked me to help her order some items from the website for her christmas presents. Check out some of the cute stuff she ordered below.

You can basically find things suitable for all ages :).

The website is very user friendly.  Not only are the items clearly sorted by the different departments, a search engine is also available to facilitate searches. To save time, you can also choose to view all items in a catergory by selecting "view all" instead of viewing page by page.

As you add on every additional item, the cumulative total cost and quantity of items would pop up on the shopping cart. This helps you keep track of the total purchases. The amount of VAT deducted can also be seen from the shopping cart summary.

When it was time to check out, the steps were very straightforward and clear instructions on the website made the process very easy to navigate.

As I had earlier registered with Harrods, there was no need for me to rekey in my details and shipping address. Payment can be made via all major credit cards.

The total purchase worked out to be £191.25. However £26.99 VAT was deducted due to delivery being outside the European Union. This deduction more than offset the delivery costs of £24.05 and the total amount I had to pay in the end was just £188.31!! This meant that I was virtually enjoying free shipping on the purchases :)

* All the above images (except the ones we personally shot) belong to  Harrods  unless specified otherwise.

 

A confirmation email from Harrods was received almost immediately upon my placing of the order, together with the confirmation number as well as an itemized list of the purchases.

The items are expected to reach in approximately 10 days from day of order so do keep a look out on this blog for further updates when the items arrive!

Website : www.Harrods.com

Delivery: 7 to 10 days.

Ease of Website: Easy to browse !

Price:  Much cheaper than the pricing available from the Harrods outlet at Takashimaya. Shopers can also get goods bargains on some of the other branded items which are available cheaper in UK.

Rating : 8.5 out of 10  Shoppers are easily guided by the different departments and categorization of items. A search engine is available for easy searches.