Searching for Utopia

What have you been up to?

Me, I’ve been telling people that I’m too busy to be online since Adam occupies most of my time.

But psst, that’s not totally true. With Gmarket being all the rage in Singapore right now, I’ve always spared some time to check it.

True enough, online shopping is nothing new, especially in Singapore — where most people are internet savvy. But let me tell you why Gmarket is better.

I’ve tried Amazon. The service was good, it’s just that the shipping cost a bomb. Recently I wanted to buy a bunting for Adam which cost US$14.90, which was very cheap. The only problem was that they charged US$80++ for the shipping — not to mention that the US is all the way round the world that Adam would be a man when he received the bunting.

e-bay is a little better, in a way that there are many sellers from our areas. I just think it’s a turnoff to make a bid before buying. And I may love budget shopping, but I don’t buy secondhand stuff from people — unless for books. Excuse me, but who knows what have happened to those items before. You can never be too careful, can you?

What we need is a local trustable site, which is exactly what Gmarket is. I’ve purchased several items from different merchants. So far I’m a happy customer.

But as I’ve said, I do budget shopping. So if you’re into expensive branded stuff, you don’t belong here. Otherwise, you could find cheap useful items which you might never see before. I’ve bought little romper extensions for Adam for $4 per piece. What a genius invention! Well, it depends. Actually for the same price you could even get a brand new romper. I know I did.

What’s better is that many sellers offer free delivery, including the ones from Korea. Usually your item would be delivered within 3-7 days. Meanwhile, you could contact the seller if you wished to ask questions about your purchases.

I guess I’ll still be coming back for more after all. Here’s the T-shirt I received today. I paid $5.90 for it. What do you think?

Holiday season in the rest of the world may be over, but not here in Singapore. Chinese New Year is coming soon, and another holiday means another excuse to indulge yourselves in shopping spree.

Once again you can first check #1 Coupons for better deals before doing your online shopping. Kohls Gold Star Clearance Dept, for example, gives 60-80% off of their items. A perfect time to expand your wardrobe collection, eh, girls?

And don’t forget about your other halves. You can shop for him on the cheap. Check this sale for seasonal fashion items for men and women.

If you’re interested in those offers, then you might as well like to get 75% discount on perfume, skin lotions, bath soaps, cleansers, makeup, fragrances, self tanning creams and gifts.

And plus-sized ladies, you too can receive up to 60% off of these Step Up Comfort boots. From their usual price $69.99 - $74.99, now you may have them for $39.99 - $44.99 only.

As always, don’t forget to verify that your free coupons are still valid upon checking up, and make sure that the price they give is correct. It wouldn’t be funny if you used an expired coupon after all.

Apart from the deals mentioned above, you could still expect many more discounts from many merchants. Click here for the merchants list. Happy shopping, ladies!

We’re selling our car, folks. If any of you happened to plan to buy one or know somebody who planned to buy, choose ours!

It might be a two-year old car, but Zsolt is a very careful owner, I can assure you. He pampered this car more than me. It’s like a second wife for him.

The reason we are selling it? Zsolt is looking to buy a new second wife So please, please, please click here for more details.

How important do you think a bedroom is? For some people, it may only be a place where you can enjoy your slumber, but for others it’s much more than that.

A bedroom is also showpiece of a home for its owner. And therefore furniture pieces play very important role in the interior decorating. In fact, the perfect furniture might set better mood for its owner.

If you belong to the second group, then you can’t avoid spending some bucks to find the right Bedroom Furniture. One thing you could avoid is wasting too much money, while spending zero time to make visits to furniture stores.

Depending on where you live, you could simply view online furniture stores like Discount Quality Furniture of North Carolina. Such online stores offer products from major furniture manufacturers.

You can find everything you need for your dining room, from daybeds too mirrors, chests to full bedroom furniture sets made by Ashley Furniture, Powell Furniture, Hooker Furniture, and American Drew.

It’s up to you whether you prefer elegant style or a more practical one. Bedroom furniture come in a large selection of types.

But of course, such online stores only exist in the USA. When they will reach Singapore, I wonder.

Once again Christmas is just around the corner. If you have many clients, co-workers and colleagues on your business gift list, and you haven’t got anything for them, then you must start to look around. More people will also mean more damage to your pocket.

No worries though. There are sites that list online promotion codes, so that you can shop at the convenience of your home—and still get the best deals.

Officedeals.info is the one for you. If you are thinking about buying gadgets for your colleagues—or yourselves, make sure you visit this site first.

For example, Apple fans can save up to $100 on a new Mac and printer, if you have the coupon codes from Officedeals.info.

HP also offers a $459 off on HP tx2500z Customizable notebook PC for your convenience.

And not just those two, there are many other merchants listed. Gadgets are perhaps the safest present to give to co-workers, but if you like something different, then maybe you should check Target online specials to purchase other items.

Whatever you choose, personalize your gifts to add an extra touch of feeling, even if it’s a business gift.

Explore the library for more ideas on gifts, or just tips to choose equipment and supplies for your business.

Are you planning to go on a vacation for this year’s Christmas and New Year? Don’t forget to look for the best deals online on #1 Coupons, so that you can save more.

Either it’s for cheap flights, car rentals, hotels or cruises, #1 Coupons offer discount code deals and coupon codes for you FOR FREE. Fret not that Cyber Monday 2008 has passed. These coupons will still be valid even until later, because many merchants are actually having special offers for Christmas shopping.

Where else could you get cruise tickets starting from $99 but from here? And if you’re looking for the cheapest hotel deals, maybe you’d be interested in this coupon for 70% off hotel rates.

Before choosing your coupons though, you must make sure that they are available in your destination. This 15% discount for mature travelers of 50 and above, for example, can be used in many locations such as San Diego Hotel Circle, Manhattan New York, Lake Buena Vista, London, Dublin, Dubai, Portlaoise, Leeds and Kensington.

Your vacation will actually save you from the stress of having to do Christmas holiday shopping. But if you can’t avoid it, of course, the best way to reduce it is by shopping online. Try these tips to make your shopping experience more pleasant.

Visit #1 Coupons for more offers.

People who are physically challenged have less privilege than those who are able-bodied, especially in term of travelling. They need Wheelchair Accessibe Vans (WAV) to assist them.

IMED Mobility is USA’s leading manufacturer for WAVs. On top of affordable prices and high quality products, they too offer great service for their customers since 2003. And for your convenience, they also provide free delivery across the nation.

Depending on your needs, you can just rent or purchase the vehicles of your choice. Their technicians are skilled to make modifications which will suit your purpose.

Honda Odyssey Handicap Vans is one of their best-selling products. Not only they make wonderful transportation tool, they also look good while doing it.

Visit their site for more info about their products.

Who doesn’t need printers nowadays? We all do. Even if we hardly print documents, we’ll still use them to print pictures, photocopy, scan or just fax some documents.

Considering all those usefulness, a printer is not really expensive. Just today I spot one which cost only $99. And that was all-in-one printer. What can be more costly are probably the ink cartridges. The last time we replaced ours a few months ago, it cost almost $150. That was very very expensive, since we got the printer for free as a bonus.

Therefore, folks, a website like InkjetDeals.info can come very handy. They can help you to save money on your inkjet cartridges. How, we hear you ask. Well, they have a listing of printer ink suppliers which offer coupon codes and discount promotions for you. And these coupons can cut up to 80 per cent off of the usual price.

Depending on the type of your printers, InkjetDeals.info cover these brands, including: Hewlett Packard, Canon, Epson, Dell, Lexmark and Brother, Apple, IBM, HP, Kodak, Okidata, Ricoh, Pitney Bowes, Toshiba, Xerox, Konica-Minolta, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung and Sharp.

On top of that, you can also get other kind of printing supplies, such as Glossy Paper Kit for Epson PictureMate Snap PM 240, cables, printable greeting cards, and many more.

Visit Inkjet Deals.info for more discounts.

NYC is one of the most desirable cities to visit for Singaporeans. Perhaps it’s due to its diversity and readiness to accept other cultures.

Most likely you can find anything from anywhere in the city, which are popular not only among tourists — but also for locals.

In case you haven’t, you should take some New York tours and cruises to experience the wonders.

You can obtain the New York City Pass for as low as $74, compared to the $134 retail price. After you have it, you can visit places like the Empire State Building Observatory, and of course the famous Statue of Liberty, as well as other attractions.

You will have nine days to use all your tickets, which would actually cost almost twice more expensive — had you bought them separately.

If you still have some bucks to spare, you might want to purchase a pass to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. For me this is the must see place in NYC. Well, you can get your first feel of snow in other cities, and you could take ducks tour even in Singapore. But where else could you take pictures with Hollywood “celebs”, if not here?

Whom would you like to meet? Hannah Montana? Captain Jack Sparrow? You can strike a pose with them all you want!

Anyhow, a two-hour pass will cost you $25.95, but with an additional $6, you can buy an all access pass.

These tickets include all taxes. You’d only have to print them at home, and get ready for your adventure.

Are you an electronics gadget addict, and you live in Australia? If you do, you’ll surely love Getprice. Most of the time when you searched for shopping comparison sites, you’d only find those in the U.S. And comparing each price manually on each store is just so yesterday.

That’s why you must try Getprice. It’s not actually your usual online store. More than that, it’s Australia’s leading independent shopping comparison engine.

Over 350 online electronics stores give details of their best deals on this site. And they deliver to anywhere in Australia, be it in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart or Darwin. All you have to do is to compare their prices online, and take your pick.

Low back pain is common complaint for pregnant women. I did online research and tried to dismiss the issue, since everyone says it’s normal, it’s bound to happen, yadda yadda yadda.

But there is actually a way or two to lessen the pain. First, mommies, is to get prenatal massage, that is if you don’t mind spending some bucks — because it doesn’t come cheap.

Second, is to sleep on an air mattress. I tried this since last month by accident. The aircon was faulty in our bed room, so we moved to a cooler room and just slept on our air bed queen.

Voila! The next morning I woke up with no back pain at all. I’m no expert, but I suspect this comes from the idea that pregnant women should sleep on their sides, if they experienced back pain. I definitely can’t do that, so I ignore such warnings. But air mattress is so soft that you can sleep on your back without having back pain.

There are things to consider though, before deciding to purchase your own mattress. Maybe it’s better if you read this guide first.

One thing I dreaded about buying maternity clothes in Singapore is the price. During sales you could find nice ones around $40-$50, but most of the time they cost more than that. You can even expect somewhere around $100 if you check local online stores.

No wonder, in some stores you can even rent them. I myself don’t trust such solution. Who knows who have worn them in the past?

So, the only solution is to find better bargain. And this site offers just that: Kiki’s Fashion. Here you can buy cute maternity clothes from as low as USD 9.99.

They’re located in the US, but even with the shipping, it’ll still be cheaper than buying from your local stores.

Currently they offer some promotional coupons. If you reside in the US they’re offering free shipping to your door for purchase above USD 75 (coupon code: freeship). And for all mommies, you’re entitled to 20% discount, which expires on October 22 (coupon code: BIGSAVINGS).

Here, check some of their collections. This shirt, particularly, is definitely something I could wear. What’s better, without any promotion, it’d cost you only USD 19.99 — instead of $100 per piece at your local store.

These days it’s become more and more difficult for pranksters to play their tricks over the phone. The reason? There are many ways to unveil their numbers.

Who Just Called Here.com is one of them. This site can track any phone call you receive — whether it’s listed or not — and get you the information about the owner. Don’t worry, it’s FREE!

Type the number in the search box above, and you’ll find out.

Now, no longer will you ever ask, “Who Just Called Me?”

If you have some change to spare, you can also try its other services, such as the reverse phone lookups for a one time fee of $39.95 and privacy protection — also for a one time fee of as low as $4.95, which will block your name and private information from data acquisition service such at this — in case you’d like to prank somebody.

Nobody enjoys to be hospitalized, but sometimes we just can’t escape it. Such is the case with myself a few weeks ago. Fortunately all the staffs in the hospital were being helpful.

One thing which could be improved, though, is the hospital gown. They only provided pants for patients, and those were too difficult to be worn for patients with catheters like me.

So, next time I’m admitted into a hospital — which will be anytime within five weeks from now — I’ll be ready with my own versatile hospital gown.

Don’t you think they look great? They’re provided by a brand called “The Original Healing Threads”, and they’re available online here.

Besides looking good, those gowns also offer more benefits to patients: the front access panels make them comfortable for nursing mommies, the back opening will maintain modesty during breath sounds checks, and the interior pockets will hide your drainage bags. Remember, visitors don’t have to know what you’re dealing with, right?

All garments are said to be soft and comfortable, colorfast, wrinkle resistant, machine washable, and gentle to individuals experiencing sensitive skin.

While most online shops are only accepting orders from within USA, they will ship to your country via UPS International. Thus, all costs will be calculated based on UPS rates.

But the good news is that The Original Healing Threads will give you wholesale pricing if you purchase ten items or more. Prices are varied, depending on the items, but you won’t have to worry about the quality. The Original Healing Threads have made media appearances in magazines and TV programs, such as: Elle Magazine, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Boston Globe.

If you’re not satisfied with your gown, you can call their toll-free number, 1-877-647-3900 to report your problem. You will get refund, but you’d have to be responsible for return shipping the original purchase — that is, of course, in the case if you don’t wish to get a replacement.

Visit their site for more information.

For you who live in Europe, winter is coming again. An air purifier would be most useful, since most of the time you’ll leave all your windows closed.

Although they are commonly marketed as being particularly beneficial to allergy sufferers and asthmatics, I’ve found it to be very important to have one at home. And no, neither I nor the hubby is asthmatics, nor that we have winter here in Singapore.

The obvious reason is because most likely you’d find all types of junk in the air around you, especially inside closed rooms. They’re not just odorous, but also posing a risk to your health.

If you plan of cleaning the air in your house, then purchasing an air purifier is the solution. Before doing so, however, you can first do your own research online.

Depending on your purpose, there are actually several types of them in which you can choose. I myself am very satisfied with the very basic one which only eliminates odors.

How about you?