Bought myself a rice cube yesterday from http://ricecube.net/

I’m excited to try it. I hate rolling sushi, I’m too clumsy for it. My little one loves his rice and loves feeding himself, so hopefully this rice cube will help!

I’m taking my baby overseas and has been stressing out on how to carry the stroller on the plane. I’m not keen of carrying my heavy 4 month old around while we’re overseas. I have a Peg Perego Pliko P3 and after searching around, I found that the travel bag specially for it is not available in Australia. After more searching, I found Bebe Care stroller bag which has the perfect measurement. I checked with Baby Kingdom and thank goodness they have it in stock for $49.95 plus $14 delivery. Quite reasonable price I say. I think babyzonedirect has it for much cheaper,  but they’re famous for having items out of stock without telling you  so I wasn’t willing to chance it. I couldn’t be bothered checking with their offline store either. I just wanted it now. I’ve had good experience with Baby Kingdom so I gave my business to them.

It just arrived today and it’s a perfect fit! The bag looks quite tough and has boarded part to protect the wheels. I’m happy now!

Okay, I have decided I like Deals Direct…when they give me vouchers and coupons hehe.

I bought the vacuum bags on the day when they’re giving away $10 voucher. So using that voucher, I bought a stroller net which costs $14.95 + $6.95 shipping. I found a coupon that gives me $6 off. So in total I only paid $5.90. What a bargain

I received the item today. I love it. Especially for the price I paid. I would have still loved it otherwise but I probably would just buy it from the shop to save on shipping.

The net bag you can attach on your stroller. Very handy. I can already see myself using it a lot. It seems to be of a good quality. Looks strong.

Processing + shipping took 3 days straight. That’s the best about Deals Direct. Super fast!

The net bag came with a tag that says the brand is Minene, a UK brand.

It came in a cute bag

hangs nicely on the stroller. You can actually shorten the strap. I didn’t do it in this picture.

Closer look

Closer look at the strap

PS. The $6 coupon I used is DD6BDAY. Valid until 15 Dec 2010, one per customer. Doesn’t seem to require minimum order.

Argh, I’ve been shopping a lot lately.

I just bought these space saving vacuum bags from dealsdirect.com.au and this waterproof mattress protector. I have mixed feelings about Deals Direct. Once upon a time I bought something from them and wasn’t impressed with the quality. But these two products seem to have good reviews so I’m giving them a go. I really need these two items and they will be a lot more expensive if I buy them from the shop.

I find the shipping fee very annoying. I paid $13.90 for shipping, that’s already with $5 off. I wish they have capped shipping. Also their price fluctuate a lot so it’s really annoying to find out the item you bought yesterday is now few dollars cheaper. They ship really fast though. I think my order has been dispatched.

Will write more once I receive the items.

I also bought this first aid kit from catchoftheday.com.au. Again, another shop I have mixed feelings about. I’ve bought from them before and wasn’t impressed with the quality and the slowness of the process. It takes them few days to mail the goods.

I’ve checked around online for first aid kit, I can’t find anywhere cheaper. Let’s hope the quality is good.

I’ve been itching to buy stuffs online ever since USD dropped against AUD but because I’m in saving-money-for-baby mode, I tried really hard not to buy useless stuffs. A couple of days ago, hubby mentioned he was running out of perfume. He loves his Acqua Di Gio perfume and will not use anything else. Also partly because I love him using it as well hehe. Acqua Di Gio is very expensive when I buy from department store or even duty free shops when we go overseas. Strawberry NET has really good price and now with AUD being so high, it’s even better. I ended up buying other stuffs with it because I’m running out of my Clinique soap and moisturiser. The Clinique Moisturiser was unbelievably cheap at Strawberry NET. It’s only US$38. I usually have to pay $75 in department store!

I also bought Pretty by Elizabeth Arden perfume along with everything else. That’s a bit of indulgence, but I really love that perfume,  I recently ran out of mine and have been using whatever perfume I have at home because I refuse to spend so much on it. Strawberry NET has it for $50 for 100ml! I couldn’t resist.

A little tip with buying on StrawberryNET, after your first purchase, they often send you this “We Miss You” email with special discount (on top of the loyalty discount). I’m not sure what triggers this email, but I suspect, if you have items saved in your cart, go through the checkout (entering your email address) and stop there and wait a few days, they may send you a “We Miss You” email. A frew days ago, I was putting stuffs in the cart but decided not to proceed because I was waiting for a better bonus item (they often has bonus item for purchase above certain amount). Just today, I received a “We Miss You” email offering 10% off my order. Or it could just be a coincidence. I don’t know.

My order totalled to $187 minus 3% off for ordering more than 3 items, 1% off loyalty discount (this is my second purchase), and 10% off “We Miss You” discount, it came down to $160.82. If I bought all of these from local department store at RRP price, it would have costed me over $350!!! I wish I did this a lot earlier. I’ve always bought my skincare from David Jones or Myer! Ah the beauty of online shopping. Also shows how overpriced things are in Australia.

Ahh, I’m so happy! I finally decided which pram/stroller to buy. I’ve done so much research, changed my mind a million times, finally I came to a decision. And the final choice is………..Peg Perego Pliko P3!

I didn’t want something too big so I stayed away from outdoor prams. I can’t see myself going cross-country with a baby and I’m not an outdoor person. We also have a small car so it needs to be compact enough. My initial choice was MacLaren Techno XLR but after seeing the pram, there are a couple of things that made me uneasy about it. I love how it’s so light and so easy to steer but it didn’t seem very stable and easily tilted to the back. The cushioning also didn’t seem very comfortable and the basket is inaccessible when the seat is flat. It also doesn’t have front bumper. I’d like my baby to have something to hold on to when he wants.

I liked the cuteness of combi strollers and how the handle can be reversed but it was so hard to steer when it’s reversed so it defeats the purpose. Combi strollers feel tiny and low which I didn’t really like.

I also looked at Peg Perego Uno which has bigger wheels and reversible handle. It was a lot more expensive though and the folding mechanism is not as simple as Pliko. I guess Pliko P3 was ‘in between’. It’s not too small and not too big. I’ll be using it for newborn so I wanted something small but stable. There was nothing about it that made me uneasy. My husband was also happy with it. The best thing is, it was on special in Baby Zone Wollongong so I got it for 499.95, down from 699.95! It was even cheaper than Baby Zone’s online shop. I’ve looked around online, I think it was the cheapest deal there is considering it’s going to be brand new (not floor stock) and the latest model.

We also bought Boori Four Drawer Chest. It was a splurge buy. It was expensive and not on special. I initially wanted kingparrot drawers for $100 cheaper but my husband insisted we may as well buy boori to match the cot. Then we found out that Baby Zone would give us 15% off on full price items because we basically bought everything from them. So the price came down to the same price as Kingparrot drawers so I went for it. We also bought the tray to make it a change table but didn’t realise we will also need the pelmet as the tray would stick to the pelmet.

We got the drawers from 594.96 (down from 699.95). I couldn’t find anywhere that sells the drawers for less than 699.95. Initially I was happy to settle with any drawers but after checking furniture shops, the good ones cost almost the same. I may as well buy boori to match the cot and use it as change table. I paid $42.46 (down from $49.99) for the tray. I think I will have to buy the pelmet as well which costs around $40.

So, big purchases today but I’m happy I finally made decisions and the price I paid was less that I initially expected.

We bought this bath stand + tub package from Baby Zone Wollongong today for $79.95. It felt really steady compared to other ones in the shop, the price is very reasonable, too. I like the fact that the top is like a basket and it’s big so it can fit most tub if I ever decide to get anything fancier. The tub that comes with it is good enough though. It’s big, stable, and has the drain feautre. It also has space to put soap/shampoo bottles.

The stand is collapsible comes with anti-slip mat. The ‘basket’ has a rail where you can hang towels. Oh the ‘basket’ and stand’ can be used to store things once it’s not used for the bath.

You can check more of the range here.

I thought that was a good buy compared to the fancy bath + change table in one that I wanted before but refused by my husband because i’s not collapsible and taking too much space. Most of the fancy ones may come with storage but have a lot smaller tub which I’m sure the baby will grow out in few months (and much more expensive!).

I love Sophie Kinsella’s books. I’ve read and owned every single one of them. They’re light, funny, silly at times, but never fail to make me laugh and put me in a good mood.

I recently bought the latest release of the Shopaholic series, Mini Shopaholic, from borders.com.au which is the cheapest around. It’s $22.95 paperback version with free shipping. The best thing about buying a new release book is the fast shipping. I ordered on Thursday and got it on Tuesday (would have gotten it on Monday if it wasn’t a public holiday).

I’ve read a couple of chapters, so far I’m loving it just like any other books in the series.

Okay so these are not online purchases but I did a great deal of online research before I bought them.

Boori Country Classic Cot

in white from Baby Zone Wollongong for $552 + Boori breathable mattress $136

I won’t be getting them for another 5-6 weeks so this is the picture of the display cot in the shop.

I looked around online, this is the cheapest one around and also the shop is local so I decided to go for it. I didn’t want to get a Boori cot initially because the price is more expensive than other brands and also a lot of people say Kingparrot is made by the same company and it’s as good. But when my husband and I browsed the shop, we really liked this style so we went for it. The price is not too bad compared to some other Boori models and it’s $150 more expensive compared to Kingparrot model I wanted. It’s not bad considering Boori is bigger and feels smoother and well, we like the style.

LG 42″ LCD TV 42LD560

We went for LG because it’s  a lot cheaper compared to other brand for the same thing. Most of our electronics are LG so we’re happy with it.

We got it for $1160 + Wi-Fi dongle for $70 from The Good Guys Warrawong. We went to Bing Lee first and the best price they could give us was $1200 for the TV unless we can get a better quote from somewhere else. I never liked how Bing Lee works, it just feels insincere. We indicated we would like to get it today but that was the best they could give us.  We read in some forum that someone bought it for $1159 from The Good Guys so we felt Bing Lee wasn’t really giving us the best price. Also, they didn’t have one in stock in the shop so we couldn’t get it on the spot. So we went to The Good Guys which has been our favourite electronic shop and we were given $1170. After saying we seriously wanted it today they gave it to us for $1160. We were happy with that price and decided to give our business to them for giving us good price. They had it in stock so we can straightaway went home with it which is another plus point.

We have set the TV up and so far very happy with everything. It was easy to assemble and setup. We had old fashioned TV before so this is a HUGE upgrade. It can connect directly to YouTube (once the Wi-Fi was setup), I can connect my netbook to it,  it can stream media files straight from external HD, and of course HD movies look HD in it XD

It has 100Hz refresh rate which is a lot better than the cheaper model but not much difference from the more expensive model which refresh rate is  200 Hz (the guy in the shop showed us the difference).

So far we’re very happy with this TV.

I should never be left alone at home. In the past I’ve successfully restrained myself from buying clothes from YesStyle or any site for that matter. I don’t usually like to take risk that comes with buying clothes online (sizing issue, deceiving pictures, etc). But being pregnant and frustrated with my wardrobe and disappointed with local shops that sell maternity clothes (they’re either expensive or boring), I decided to buy some clothes from YesStyle.

The maternity collection is rather expensive and generally too small for me so I opted for the plus size collection. I tried to choose something that looks lose around the tummy. There were quite a bit that I liked but I couldn’t justify spending so much money on clothes I’m unsure will fit well.

I first had 5 or 6 tops in my cart but after so much deliberation, I reduced it to 3 (and kept the rest in my wishlist for future use : P)! But I still spent a little over $100 >_<

Let’s hope they’re worth it!

They’re so cute, so hard to resist! And the price isn’t that expensive  compared to normal maternity clothes locally although I’m not sure about the quality. I guess we’ll find out soon.