I wish I were more creative so I could make toys for my kids instead of relying on mass market products like what this mom did when she got fed up with trying to buy limited-edition Cars toys.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
My Penny Auction Experience
I've always wondered how penny auctions actually work, as in how the company makes money off you when they're selling a 1,800SGD MacBook for 50SGD and how easy or hard is it really to win in one of these auctions. Well I found out over this weekend and it was quite a wild ride.
Here's how it all went down:
Thursday - I get an email link to sold.sg though I can't remember from where. I check it out and it seems reputable. I sign up and get 10 free tokens. Each token = 1 bid and each token = 0.75SGD. The company makes money by selling you these tokens upfront in addition to the amount you eventually pay for the product once you win an auction. I look through the list of live auction items and not really interested in anything but there's a MacBook up for auction on Friday so I'm gearing up for that one. Still, I practice bid on a couple of auctions, some simple ones like free tokens and free 50SGD vouchers. Then I spy a live auction for an Ipad Mini and think I'll try my hand in that. I spend the next 3 hours bidding on the Ipad Mini. Note the general rule is to try to bid during the auction's last 20 seconds as that is when the frenzied bidding starts to happen. Each subsequent bid extends the timer for another 20 seconds and so you try to outwit other bidders and strategize how long the other bidders can hold out and how much they're willing to put in, in terms of tokens before deciding it's too much/not worth it and call it a day. I think I put in about 70 tokens and still had room to maneuver but I made what I guess is a rookie mistake of being stingy with my tokens and assuming someone could bid and extend the time instead of me bidding. Unfortunately, I didn't bid one time and no one else did and so the timer ran out and the auction closed at about 14SGD even when I still had tokens to spare. Aaarrggh. First heartache. Still not too bad. Just three hours in and just blew off a couple of tokens. I write it off as practice.
Friday - If you've ever wondered how long a knock-out drag-down bidding war really lasts (this was for a MacBook), let me tell you...in this case, it was 14 hours. Here's what happened:
2pm - Auction's last 20 seconds. No sense bidding. An item like this would generate a lot of interest and would sell at 15-20SGD or more. I check first few bids then I compute how long it would take to get to 11SGD. Each bid = 20 seconds x 100 bids to get to a dollar = 2000 seconds/60 seconds per minute = 33.33 minutes which means it would take 30 minutes for the bidding to get to a dollar if the bidders maximize the time before bidding and not wait till the last second. I vow to check again at the end of the day.
530pm - I leave work and try to get a taxi but as it's a Friday, that's an impossibility so I'm forced to take the bus. I open the auction website on my mobile and monitor the bidding. It's about an hour's trip to get home so I have time.
630pm - I get off at Orchard to try and get a taxi. My husband sends me an sms about it being date night. I decide to wait for him at Takashimaya and settle in a cafe for the next hour. I bring out the goods. Laptop. Personal hotspot on my mobile. And continue monitoring. I start to bid at about 11SGD in. I wait until the very last second, in the countdown usually when there's 4 or 3 seconds left. I do that every time and each time the timer starts counting down, my heart starts beating faster. It's like a cardio workout this whole exercise. It takes my husband an hour or so to reach me but I don't mind. I'm quite preoccupied. In fact I'm anxious about leaving the auction too early. I worry that the auction would close while I went off to dinner. Hmmm. Husband of course wins out. Whatever will happen will happen. I close the site once my husband arrives.
730pm - We moved to nearby Ion and had dinner at a favorite Yakitori place. I surreptitiously check the mobile website on my phone and feel good that bidding still ongoing. We went to Prologue to browse before making our way home.
10pm - I set up my laptop and auction still ongoing. I quickly hunker down find a comfy spot and start to bid again. I am quite efficient with my tokens, still at under a hundred with potential savings at 90%.
1130pm - Two autobidders kickstart the system into overdrive. The clock extends by 2 hours. I use the break to go to the bathroom, get a drink and check my notes on the bidders. Also to buy more tokens. Willing to invest a bit in order to win big I can maybe accept 80% savings. Also need to figure out who's likely to stay through to the bitter end.
130pm - Still doing okay. Not too impatient when bidding and not too visible to other bidders. I note there are still about 5 regular bidders and some stragglers hanging around.
2pm - Fingers starting to get tired. Eyes a bit bleary. Just want to sleep but keep thinking about the prize at the end of it all. A few minutes into it, two autobidders again kick the timer forward another hour. I am simultaneously frustrated and happy. This gives me time to nap and hopefully will discourage stragglers from finishing the auction. I set an alarm on my mobile and go to sleep.
330pm - Wake up disoriented. What was I doing? Oh, auction, right. There are still a couple minutes left on the timer and I use that to try and wake myself up. Gotta get ready for the last stretch (hopefully). And so, the countdown goes to the last few seconds and bidding starts, I see familiar names. Ugh. There's still a whole contingent of us in the auction. I wonder how long this will last. Fed up with this. I try to set up the auto-bidder so I at least buy a few precious minutes of rest for my fingers. Too late. I suddenly see the timer at 3..2... I try to hit the bid button and see the PROCESSING notice and realize I'm too late...and then the CLOSED notice. Stunned. Cannot believe the other bidders all simultaneously failed to hit the bid button. And so after almost 14 hours, the auction finally ends. I try to go through the bid history and figure out where I went wrong. No use crying over spilt milk. And to think I still had about 100 or so tokens to spare. Now I'm truly awake.
345pm - I cannot believe I spent all this time and tokens for nothing. I browse the website for other live auctions. Maybe I can still win something. There's this GoPro camera that looks interesting. I look and bidding still at about 11SGD. Good enough to start. I start bidding.
5pm - I hold on through sheer will and manage to win the GoPro camera auction at about 15SGD. Yay! I check my stats and see that I won the camera which is about 800SGD at 86% savings. I am happy and all spent out. I finally crawl into bed.
The next day my husband threatens to block the site so I can't access. I still can't decide if that's a good or a bad thing.
Here's how it all went down:
Thursday - I get an email link to sold.sg though I can't remember from where. I check it out and it seems reputable. I sign up and get 10 free tokens. Each token = 1 bid and each token = 0.75SGD. The company makes money by selling you these tokens upfront in addition to the amount you eventually pay for the product once you win an auction. I look through the list of live auction items and not really interested in anything but there's a MacBook up for auction on Friday so I'm gearing up for that one. Still, I practice bid on a couple of auctions, some simple ones like free tokens and free 50SGD vouchers. Then I spy a live auction for an Ipad Mini and think I'll try my hand in that. I spend the next 3 hours bidding on the Ipad Mini. Note the general rule is to try to bid during the auction's last 20 seconds as that is when the frenzied bidding starts to happen. Each subsequent bid extends the timer for another 20 seconds and so you try to outwit other bidders and strategize how long the other bidders can hold out and how much they're willing to put in, in terms of tokens before deciding it's too much/not worth it and call it a day. I think I put in about 70 tokens and still had room to maneuver but I made what I guess is a rookie mistake of being stingy with my tokens and assuming someone could bid and extend the time instead of me bidding. Unfortunately, I didn't bid one time and no one else did and so the timer ran out and the auction closed at about 14SGD even when I still had tokens to spare. Aaarrggh. First heartache. Still not too bad. Just three hours in and just blew off a couple of tokens. I write it off as practice.
Friday - If you've ever wondered how long a knock-out drag-down bidding war really lasts (this was for a MacBook), let me tell you...in this case, it was 14 hours. Here's what happened:
2pm - Auction's last 20 seconds. No sense bidding. An item like this would generate a lot of interest and would sell at 15-20SGD or more. I check first few bids then I compute how long it would take to get to 11SGD. Each bid = 20 seconds x 100 bids to get to a dollar = 2000 seconds/60 seconds per minute = 33.33 minutes which means it would take 30 minutes for the bidding to get to a dollar if the bidders maximize the time before bidding and not wait till the last second. I vow to check again at the end of the day.
530pm - I leave work and try to get a taxi but as it's a Friday, that's an impossibility so I'm forced to take the bus. I open the auction website on my mobile and monitor the bidding. It's about an hour's trip to get home so I have time.
630pm - I get off at Orchard to try and get a taxi. My husband sends me an sms about it being date night. I decide to wait for him at Takashimaya and settle in a cafe for the next hour. I bring out the goods. Laptop. Personal hotspot on my mobile. And continue monitoring. I start to bid at about 11SGD in. I wait until the very last second, in the countdown usually when there's 4 or 3 seconds left. I do that every time and each time the timer starts counting down, my heart starts beating faster. It's like a cardio workout this whole exercise. It takes my husband an hour or so to reach me but I don't mind. I'm quite preoccupied. In fact I'm anxious about leaving the auction too early. I worry that the auction would close while I went off to dinner. Hmmm. Husband of course wins out. Whatever will happen will happen. I close the site once my husband arrives.
730pm - We moved to nearby Ion and had dinner at a favorite Yakitori place. I surreptitiously check the mobile website on my phone and feel good that bidding still ongoing. We went to Prologue to browse before making our way home.
10pm - I set up my laptop and auction still ongoing. I quickly hunker down find a comfy spot and start to bid again. I am quite efficient with my tokens, still at under a hundred with potential savings at 90%.
1130pm - Two autobidders kickstart the system into overdrive. The clock extends by 2 hours. I use the break to go to the bathroom, get a drink and check my notes on the bidders. Also to buy more tokens. Willing to invest a bit in order to win big I can maybe accept 80% savings. Also need to figure out who's likely to stay through to the bitter end.
130pm - Still doing okay. Not too impatient when bidding and not too visible to other bidders. I note there are still about 5 regular bidders and some stragglers hanging around.
2pm - Fingers starting to get tired. Eyes a bit bleary. Just want to sleep but keep thinking about the prize at the end of it all. A few minutes into it, two autobidders again kick the timer forward another hour. I am simultaneously frustrated and happy. This gives me time to nap and hopefully will discourage stragglers from finishing the auction. I set an alarm on my mobile and go to sleep.
330pm - Wake up disoriented. What was I doing? Oh, auction, right. There are still a couple minutes left on the timer and I use that to try and wake myself up. Gotta get ready for the last stretch (hopefully). And so, the countdown goes to the last few seconds and bidding starts, I see familiar names. Ugh. There's still a whole contingent of us in the auction. I wonder how long this will last. Fed up with this. I try to set up the auto-bidder so I at least buy a few precious minutes of rest for my fingers. Too late. I suddenly see the timer at 3..2... I try to hit the bid button and see the PROCESSING notice and realize I'm too late...and then the CLOSED notice. Stunned. Cannot believe the other bidders all simultaneously failed to hit the bid button. And so after almost 14 hours, the auction finally ends. I try to go through the bid history and figure out where I went wrong. No use crying over spilt milk. And to think I still had about 100 or so tokens to spare. Now I'm truly awake.
345pm - I cannot believe I spent all this time and tokens for nothing. I browse the website for other live auctions. Maybe I can still win something. There's this GoPro camera that looks interesting. I look and bidding still at about 11SGD. Good enough to start. I start bidding.
5pm - I hold on through sheer will and manage to win the GoPro camera auction at about 15SGD. Yay! I check my stats and see that I won the camera which is about 800SGD at 86% savings. I am happy and all spent out. I finally crawl into bed.
The next day my husband threatens to block the site so I can't access. I still can't decide if that's a good or a bad thing.
Monday, August 12, 2013
As Different As Night And Day
When you think of having a second child you always assume that it's going to be more of the same and you're surprised to realize how different your children can be. You bring your children to the playground and people comment on these two little girls playing together, one girl so fair she always gets mistaken for a Singaporean Chinese and the other girl so dark she too gets mistaken for a Singaporean, not Chinese though but Malay. More than the physical differences though, the temperament is so distinctive that even at this young age their personalities seem quite well-formed.
There's Lexi our first-born. Fearless. Confident. Independent. She hit her developmental milestones early because she always wanted to do everything by herself. She likes dressing up and being a girls girl but is also quite athletic - she likes to swim, climb and do back flips. She can be obstinate too and kick her heels in when she doesn't want to do something though her Dad can talk her out of her moods, quite the Daddy's girl that one. She goes from 0 to 100% the moment she wakes up and it's all high energy from then on - lots of jumping and running around and bouncing off the walls as only children can do.
Then there's Andi, my little baby. Born premature, she spent her first few days at hospital in an incubator. I can still remember how small and fragile she looked back then. I'm reminded of how delicate she is now that she's also started to develop allergies, to chicken and eggs. But she's such a trooper and good thing she has such an enormous appetite so it makes up for her not being able to eat a number of things. She's quite resourceful too. She'd dig through her sister's backpack for leftover biscuits or climb kitchen stools to make a grab for out of reach bread. Oh but how can we resist her when she gives us her best woe is me look. Though I've come to learn this cheeky little monkey can turn on the waterworks at will. She'll scream her head off at the slightest provocation and shed tears by the bucket until you give in to what she wants. But she can be so sweet and gentle too. Right now she's learning all she can from her older sister and is into her monkey see monkey say monkey do phase. She's people-friendly as well and was probably the favorite toddler at our previous condo unit because she said hello and goodbye to everyone she met. She has such a warm aura about her that I see kids gravitating to her and wanting to play with her all the time.
It's a wonderful journey of discovery getting to see how my kids develop and come into their own. And as a mother I just hope I have enough time to enjoy these moments.
There's Lexi our first-born. Fearless. Confident. Independent. She hit her developmental milestones early because she always wanted to do everything by herself. She likes dressing up and being a girls girl but is also quite athletic - she likes to swim, climb and do back flips. She can be obstinate too and kick her heels in when she doesn't want to do something though her Dad can talk her out of her moods, quite the Daddy's girl that one. She goes from 0 to 100% the moment she wakes up and it's all high energy from then on - lots of jumping and running around and bouncing off the walls as only children can do.
Then there's Andi, my little baby. Born premature, she spent her first few days at hospital in an incubator. I can still remember how small and fragile she looked back then. I'm reminded of how delicate she is now that she's also started to develop allergies, to chicken and eggs. But she's such a trooper and good thing she has such an enormous appetite so it makes up for her not being able to eat a number of things. She's quite resourceful too. She'd dig through her sister's backpack for leftover biscuits or climb kitchen stools to make a grab for out of reach bread. Oh but how can we resist her when she gives us her best woe is me look. Though I've come to learn this cheeky little monkey can turn on the waterworks at will. She'll scream her head off at the slightest provocation and shed tears by the bucket until you give in to what she wants. But she can be so sweet and gentle too. Right now she's learning all she can from her older sister and is into her monkey see monkey say monkey do phase. She's people-friendly as well and was probably the favorite toddler at our previous condo unit because she said hello and goodbye to everyone she met. She has such a warm aura about her that I see kids gravitating to her and wanting to play with her all the time.
It's a wonderful journey of discovery getting to see how my kids develop and come into their own. And as a mother I just hope I have enough time to enjoy these moments.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Not Living UP Yet
So I posted previously that my husband, sister and I each bought a Jawbone UP to track our activities, sleeping patterns, meal intake and mood. I was quite excited to be an early adopter of the technology and was quite diligent at first about updating my information and syncing my data. But the constancy of the feel of the device was a bit off-putting for me. I took it off for a few days and felt freer. I told my husband I was too busy to keep tracking these things but actually it wasn't serving its purpose for me. I knew I wasn't moving enough, doing enough and it just seemed like maybe I shouldn't wear this band until I was really committed to have a more active lifestyle.
In any case, there's been a lot of interest in the Jawbone UP I've noticed since it's probably one of my top five posts in terms of reach and here I thought it was just one of those factual posts you publish very quickly.
I know there are some of you who are committed to making this work. My husband and sister for example, still wear theirs quite diligently. In fact it's so much a part of my sister's life now that she's going into withdrawal since she's not wearing her band currently (i.e. her band stopped charging properly and she had to contact Jawbone UP in the US for support so they could give her a replacement band) and she's more active than ever. She's drunk the Kool-Aid obviously and is truly disappointed that she's currently not living UP. Like me, she's also gone out and recommended it to at least 10 people.
I just really think it's one of those things that can change your life...but only when you're ready to make that change.
In any case, there's been a lot of interest in the Jawbone UP I've noticed since it's probably one of my top five posts in terms of reach and here I thought it was just one of those factual posts you publish very quickly.
I know there are some of you who are committed to making this work. My husband and sister for example, still wear theirs quite diligently. In fact it's so much a part of my sister's life now that she's going into withdrawal since she's not wearing her band currently (i.e. her band stopped charging properly and she had to contact Jawbone UP in the US for support so they could give her a replacement band) and she's more active than ever. She's drunk the Kool-Aid obviously and is truly disappointed that she's currently not living UP. Like me, she's also gone out and recommended it to at least 10 people.
I just really think it's one of those things that can change your life...but only when you're ready to make that change.
Kids and Movies
My kids are at that age where they're starting to appreciate full-length animation movies. It's quite fun to watch. They'd be glued to their seats and then start laughing hysterically at something or other. It all started interestingly enough with a bunch of clearance sale DVDs I bought from the closeout sale of VideoEzy Novena. I should probably have bought more, but I carefully handpicked the ones that I wanted to watch as well. I chose the Toy Story series, a whole bunch of Charlie Brown DVDs, Winnie the Pooh, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Lilo & Stitch and the odd Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD.
Lexi and Andi started with Toy Story first and not even in sequence. Rule breakers that they were, they chose to watch Toy Story 2 first. This made me a bit crazy because of course shouldn't kids learn the Toy Story storyline in proper sequence? As it happens, they ended up watching Toy Story 2 a gazillion times before deciding they've memorized it enough and it was now time to move on to Toy Story 1. That in turn took another gazillion viewings before they were ready for Toy Story 3 and by then they just plonked in whichever one they felt like watching. I loved the Toy Story series. I think it's quite an appropriate movie for kids just starting to appreciate movies in general.
After that, it was Jake and the Neverland Pirates, which then turned us onto the series and all things pirate-related. For awhile there, I got a bit carried away and seriously thought of doing pirate-themed décor for my girls' bedroom but kids being kids I'm sure they'll latch onto another favourite thing in a couple weeks' or months' time.
Winnie the Pooh was also a hit especially with my younger daughter Andi. Charlie Brown as well, though I realize the Charlie Brown series has themes that younger children might not easily grasp - like faith (Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch every year for the Great Pumpkin who never appears), unrequited love (Charlie Brown pining for the little redhead girl), disappointment (Charlie Brown bringing a suitcase to school to fit in all the potential valentines he was expecting to get and not getting a single one) and so on. But they seem to like it so I let them watch. Maybe they're still trying to grasp the story. In a way it also feels more realistic and relevant I suppose especially for Lexi since it's about kids going to school and about friends.
Lilo & Stitch was quickly forgotten while Mickey Mouse is always a favourite they'll keep coming back to since we also have other DVDs and recorded episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on our video recorder.
Recently, we thought maybe it's time to introduce the fairy tale classics to them as well. We started out with books but thought it might be more entertaining to watch the Disney fairy tale classics. So my husband trooped off to Mustafa on a mission to find these DVDs. He first got Snow White and eventually found Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Meanwhile, I tried the free trial at hollywoodclicks.com so I can borrow Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin among other DVDs.
Well, as I was watching them again with my kids I realized there were quite a few violent and possibly scary scenes in there. But they seem to take it in stride and dutifully laughed at the funny scenes.
In fact, Lexi is so protective of her favourite DVDs that we aren't allowed to touch them and only she can handle them so she knows exactly where they are. We had a problem before with some of the DVDs gone missing so I think this time she's decided to be systematic about it and appointed herself sole guardian and protector of the DVDs. In fact, we can't even throw out the box the DVDs came in. We tried to do that once and she looked at us accusingly as she digged them out of the garbage.
I'm looking forward to sharing more movie moments with both of them and still have a long list to go.
Minnie: Why do we get stuck in the back? Bunny: Yeah, I can't see a thing!
Minnie: Now this is much better. Bunny: True that.
Minnie (seen sitting on corner of sofa): Hey where'd those two go? And why don't we get snacks? Bunny: At least you're still in the frame. I'm totally out of shot.
Andi: Is this what's called a captive audience? Lexi: Shhh. I'm trying to read to you....I can't quite read yet so I'll just try to make something up.
Andi: I'm so tired from running around all day it's nice to just lie down and watch TV. Lexi: Yes especially when you can rest your head on a pillow as comfy as this.
Minnie: Oooommmpphhhfff.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Extra Virgin Pizza
My first thoughts upon hearing that Extra Virgin Pizza was opening in United Square was 'Ugh, extra virgin doesn't sound very appetizing, it's probably one of those organic, healthy eating kind of places'. And since I tend to want my pizzas, quite meaty and tasty, I wasn't that interested in trying out a place that would serve bland food. But then my sister told me the food was quite good and to go try it out. Well, I did and this is now one of my go-to places for casual lunch or dinner.
I get the 'extra virgin' concept and the thrust for pure ingredients and it really shows in the food. The first time I had the meatball spaghetti, I was overwhelmed by how pure the tomato sauce tasted. And my kids loved it too. My daughter Lexi who is at that stage where she's a picky eater more than anything actually ate both the spaghetti and the pizza we ordered. Normally, she would just eat white rice and egg. But here she was eating everything in sight. At SGD20-24 for each whole pizza, it was quite reasonable. So far we've tasted the meatball, pepperoni, spotted pig (their version of a meaty pizza) and four cheese pizza. We keep coming back to the meatball pizza though and the spaghetti & meatballs. That tomato sauce is to die for. And I've never said that about any pizza or spaghetti before but this one's love. If you check their promo materials, it says that 'Extra Virgin pizzas are handmade with premium ingredients and baked to order in twin brick ovens. Extra Virgin uses Italian double-zero flour, California organic Saporito tomatoes and imported cheeses and toppings.'
In any case, it's still quite easy to get a table there, mainly because there's still less foot traffic where they're located but just wait until Wee Nam Kee opens and more people find out about the pizza place next door. So go now!
The main counter
The menu. Not a lot of items but most of the items are quite good anyway.
Andi also quite cheerfully waiting for the food
Meatball pizza! Yum! With the famous 'leopard spots' that Extra Virgin pizza is known for.
Pepperoni pizza. Good but I would still go for meatball pizza any day.
Random Shots
Things have been pretty quiet as we settle in our new apartment. We'll go out to hit the playgrounds or the mall but otherwise it's quite nice just watching DVDs or downloads at home while sipping chococinno made from our new coffeemaker. Here are some random shots of our recent trip with the kids.
Yes I know it's a safety violation but Lexi wouldn't take off her sunglasses while balancing on this beam. At IMM playground.
Lexi and Andi cooling off at IMM playground
Andi at the coloring table at Art Garden, Singapore Art Museum
Andi exploring at Art Garden, Singapore Art Museum
Andi loved sitting on this 'broken chair'
Lexi and Andi with Walter the (giant) bunny. Lexi didn't want to pose for any pictures inside the museum but specifically asked to see Walter and to have a picture with him.
I loved this room which was plastered all over (floor, ceiling and walls) with illustrations of fairy tales. It had a mirror on one area where you could project messages, a tree, a bridge and of course a coloring area.
Dada and the kids
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