.::. Buying from Taobao II .::.

I wrote about Buying from Taobao some time back, and would like to add a few points since my PRC colleagues have been giving me lots of tips and pointers. I bought quite a few items from Taobao, not fully aware of discerning the quality of sellers. I was lucky that most of the stuff I got was pretty decent, but I've read of many who are disappointed with their purchases too.

According to them, the Chinese themselves buy extensively from Taobao - from fashion, to food, to air tickets and hotels. They take ratings and comments very seriously. Most of them only buy from top rated sellers and look at the comments.

How to know if sellers are good without having to read through many chinese comments? How to choose good sellers?

The short cut is to look at the seller's rating, which is accumulated over time and many reviews. The highest rating is "crowns" where you see lots of glittering crowns right below the seller's name. The maximum number of crowns should be 5 and any seller with crowns should be generally safe to buy from. The level before crowns are diamonds. The maximum number of diamonds is also 5 and will upgrade to one crown after 5 diamonds. The starting level should be stars.

These was what the Chinese themselves shared, and it was new to me, so I thought that I should share it with everyone else. They've been showing me how to buy authentic ZARA and branded apparels which are sold by factories directly though Taobao among many other things. *gasp* I've yet to try though I'm tempted to.

There's now Taobao Southeast Asia and it seems possible for us to buy directly from Taobao through an account with Alipay. I still haven't figured out how it works and still enjoy the convenience of buying through daigou65 who will settle my order and ship them over. I'm not quite sure how the shipping fees is if we buy direct from sellers and get them to arrange shipment - you may save the 5-7% commission but have to liase with sellers directly (in chinese!) and the shipment fee might be more expensive (as daigou has preferential rates and ship in bulk).

Will update again if I find out something new. =)

.::. Bundle With Love .::.

Do spread the word and share the love.. =)

Like and share on Facebook - HERE!
www.bundlewithlove.blogspot.com

.::. Bangkok with the girls .::.

Spent the long weekend during National Day with the girls in Bangkok.  I can't believe that it's been 5 years since our last girls trip to Bangkok!



We had dinner here after arriving.



Trigger happy Jo.



With Chye and glorious food.



Had the room all to myself.



Early morning Pratunum Market.



Spent quite abit of money here.  The fabrics were so beautiful.  I'm going to learn how to sew.



The furniture shops at Ekamaii, Sukumvit.



Inside Tuba Line 2.  So pretty.



Mirrors.



I want a lounge chair!



MobxMobler and Y5.





Inside Hawaii Five O.



Us at Terminal 21.



Asiatique.



They sell furniture and quite abit of house stuff.



3 of us at JJ.



And the ever crowded JJ market.

It was a fun but tiring 3 days, and I'm suffering from Bangkok withdrawal symptoms.  The food was so good, I love Thai food.  Every random roadside store tastes great, and really cheap.

I bought cushion covers from Jim Thompson, plates and some home stuff from Asiatique and quite abit from JJ market.  JJ market and Asiatique is really good for home stuff and we barely shopped a section of JJ market!  I'm craving for more shopping, though I really couldn't lug back everything.  The girls lent me luggage space and helped me with my shopping along the way and shopped home stuff with me when they really have no interest in them. Thank you!

I'm so thankful to have these great girlfriends who has been with me the past 13 years.  We've evolved from teenagers to the adults we are now, and went through all the stages in life together.

Meanwhile, we also bought my bridesmaid skirts and his best man's bow ties!  Also managed to get some accessories for wedding and a tuxedo for Chinook the daschund.

Can't wait for the next girls trip when Ju's back.

.::. Buying from Taobao .::.

Many people have started shopping on Taobao, this China e-bay which practically sells everything you can think of.  Things are really cheap and there's such a big variety!


I'm using Daigou65 for buying at Taobao. I have bought quite a few items from Taobao, mainly track and pendant lights. I have also bought a few Phillips downlights, but have decided to buy those from Singapore instead since it's fixed inside the false ceiling and I'm somewhat worried about potential quality issues. I've less concerns about pendant lights since they're essentially a piece of metal. I have also custom-made curtains from Taobao, they will sew based on measurements provided, and it's so much cheaper than doing it here. I have also bought Eames fibreglass chairs from Taobao. However, I have not received them.

For the pendant lights, I have received all of them in good condition. Things like Tom Dixon lights, Spinning lights are selling for like SGD$10-$30 each, but shipping is expensive for bigger items, like the big spinning light. Prices are still at least half-price as compared to Singapore. E.g. I heard Tom Dixon replicas are selling for 100++ each, but I got 3 of them for SGD$97 including shipping. My large spinning lights are retailing for 200+++ in Singapore, but I got it for SGD$129 all-in, mainly because of the expensive volumetric shipping fees. I also got track lights track. Everything came in good condition, except the spinning light which I found to be yellowish/cream in colour instead of pure white. Mr K is helping me paint it glossy white.

For me, I buy from Taobao with the mentality that it's really cheap, and even if it turns out bad, I wouldn't be heart pain. I was willing to take the risk and ain't that particular about quality. Moreover, the light shops import from China too!So I think that if you have similar mentality and isn't too bothered about quality and workmanship, the items are pretty decent and at least half-price (for the things I bought). I had fun searching for the chinese names of things I wanted to buy, surfing the endless products. Anyway, I was surfing in Chinese, so if you do not have a decent command of Chinese, this won't work!

A few tips for buying from Taobao:
(1) Find out the chinese name of the things you want to buy. Google translate helps.
(2) Surf the first, say 10 pages of the products. Many of them are similar, and there's a range of prices.
(3) Try to choose sellers with better ratings, just like buying from ebay.
(4) If possible, buy a few items from the same seller and request for them to pack them together to save shipping
(5) Confirm volumetric or actual weight before confirming the orders. Due to different packaging by different sellers, you can save quite abit e.g. same item, one seller might pack into 15kg volume box while the other packs it into 8kg volume box.

It helps if you have an idea of the prices of similar pieces here, and some items are more worth it and 'safe' to buy from Taobao than others. E.g. Phillips lights do not have much savings compared to Singapore pricing. But if you do not mind their China brands, they are very cheap, even LEDs. But that was one item which I wasn't comfortable with buying online as it's troublesome to change.

Will post pictures once my stuff are up! 

.::. Shopping Spree .::.

Just a short one before I concuss.  I'm sleeping later and later these days, it's like I'm surviving on adrenaline rush.  I'll probably stay this way till we move into our new place.

I went to Bugis to baibai for our renovation before meeting Chye to get my cheongsum done.  Got a good lot, and hopefully everything will go smoothly from now onwards.

I've been cracking my head to choose all sort of things these days.  There are so many things to know and to choose!  Even making my cheongsum had so many possibilities, designs, cuts and colors.  Luckily Chye was with me, which makes it a little easier since I trust her taste.  I'm not very confident about carrying a cheongsum off, but I like the idea of having something traditional during the wedding.  After all, weddings are traditional and it's probably the only time that I'll consider wearing one.  Hopefully it'll turn our pretty.  Since I wanted the 20% early bird discount, my dress will only be ready in Dec/Jan, not in time for our pre-wedding shoot.

Then, I went shopping at Robinsons after Chye went for her dinner date.  Robinsons is having some ridiculous sales with discounts on top of discounts plus vouchers and rebates given.  I spent quite a few hours in there and bought quite a few things for the house!  I got us bedsheets which were on 40% + 15% sale, the Kenwood water boiler which I really like, some colorful mixer bowls and strainer, cutlery which was 6 for $10 (cheap!), 2 beautiful (expensive) towels, a small chef pan, a cooking wok and some little stuff.  It's a struggle telling myself to buy only things that I really like and not spend too much unnecessarily. It cost me almost $600 after the discounts, but it was pretty worth it!  The extra discounts are only till this weekend.  Luckily they provided free delivery, otherwise it'll be impossible for me to carry all those back.

The husband is still happily in China, sightseeing during the weekend and drinking every single night!  He doesn't sound very sober and laughed at my auntiness.  I'm helping to save money okay!

There's still seemingly 101 things to buy.  Lights, air-con, hood/hob, TV, bed frame, console...and the list goes on.

.::. Pampering .::.

Have been feeling like I need some major pampering these days.  Been really busy at work this week, it's been a long time since I'm the last one in the office and get to cab home.



Have been feeling like I need some new bras.  La Senza is having sale!  2 for $30!!  Super good buy.  *beams* Sizes and designs are limited though, many A, B and D cups left.  And if you love red bras, animal prints, there are plenty of choices.  Panties are 8 for $40 too, but I didn't buy since the husband bought my loads of underwear from Victoria Secret - those seem to last forever.

We got tickets for Jason Marz's concert and Annie the musical too!  Jason Marz's concert has gotta be good and I've heard many good things about Annie. Things to look forward in June and July.

I'm also looking forward to the cocktail reception at Fullerton Bay Hotel next week!

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.  I like that.

.::. Suited .::.

We finally went to the tailor for his suit.

We have tried so many places, but none of the suits suit him. When the shoulders fit, it simply looks like he's swimming in his suit. He has too broad shoulders and a tiny waist.

I brought him to Kingsmen at my ex-colleague's recommendation. He has always recommended this tailor, he's a long-time customer and comes for tailor-made shirts every year. He's very particular about service and his shirts are noticeably fitted. Upon googling about tailors, I realized that Kingsmen is indeed popular, and peoples' comments are usually 'go for it if you can afford it'. Apart from Kingsmen, there were also a few famous tailors in Singapore, one in Tanglin Shopping Mall and the other at Raffles Hotel.

Prices for 3-piece suits start from about 800, tailored shirts for about 130.

This is where we were served. I was somewhat surprised that this is run by a Chinese family. Just before we arrived, he asked if it was an Indian tailor and I realized that I had no clue.

They were tending to customers when we arrived, but asked us to wait for awhile. The service was really good. They asked you what you wanted, color preference etc. There were also other customers who seemed to be regulars, and you can notice that they really enjoy serving their customers. There was also an ang-moh customer who was featured in the 'Nan You' magazine in their suit.

I guess we were pretty comfortable and the boyfriend can be pretty willing to pay for quality once in a while. After all, it's once-in-a-lifetime and he can wear this for our traditional wedding again while I buy my Vera Wang online! No need for overpriced bridal packages!

There was 2 very old and experienced masters who took his measurements, one for the shirt/coat and the other for pants. They are really old and kept spurting numbers in cantonese while the sales guy wrote it down on a piece of paper. Then they'll suggest certain styles that suits you body shape.

His 4-piece suit with a vest and extra pair of pants was a hefty $1,495. Very pricey, but coats alone (that doesn't fit him) easily cost $599, so I guess it's gonna be worth the buck.

We chose this design, in a darker color. I'm going to buy him a Tiffany blue tie to go with it!

I think he's going to look like a million bucks on our special day.

I was really happy with the personalized service, it's essential when you are paying so much! Good service is really extremely rare in Singapore these days. We are going down for fitting this weekend and collecting the suit in about 4 weeks, a few days before our ROM. The paranoid me actually trusts that they would make it in time without any glitches like they promised.

If I were a man, I probably wouldn't mind paying for 5 new tailor-made shirts every year.

CONTACT US

KINGSMEN SHOP 14, Scotts Road #02-56/57/76/77 Far East Plaza Singapore 228213

Operating hours: » Mon-Sat (11:00am - 7:00pm) » Sun & Public Holidays (For appointments only)

Tel: (65) 6733 3581 Fax: (65) 6733 9258

.::. Fitting In .::.

I bought this dress about 3 years ago, and I haven't been able to zip it up for a very long time. The zip is really delicate and I didn't dare try pulling it up.

Today, I finally got my sister to zip it up for me. Surprisingly, it came up effortlessly!

I love the ribbon and texture of the dress, and I have never worn it out yet.

*yay! I can fit back into my Size 8 dress. It'll be good if I can shrink one more size, but I think I can live with being this size. =)

.::. Apple Convert .::.

So, I took the plunge and got a 13" MacBook Pro.

How do I feel now?

Lust. Satisfied. High.

Here's my new toy!

I think I got a pretty good deal. Free upgrade to 8GB RAM (and I got to keep the 2x2GB RAM), hard cover case, a palm protector, keypad protector, sleeve and 3rd party wireless mouse. It was the first time I actually looked into a laptop's insides.

I have been contemplating about getting a Mac for the longest time, since many years ago. I was a little apprehensive about getting used to it and compatibility issues.

My last 2 Laptops were Acers. My dad is a big fan of Acer and he got me one when I just started university. And when my dad gets me stuff, I usually don't get to choose. It was a huge machine, but if served me well, for a good 5 years. After 3 years in university and a year at work, it went with me to Sweden. Alas, it was making too much noise for comfort and the battery life was non-existent then. I was so worried that it may die on me in a foreign land while I was writing my thesis. A new laptop would have enabled me to work on my thesis in the library and on the go.

I got the 2nd Acer when I came back for holidays in December. It was another dad's choice. Another Acer, but slim and light and as sexy as a PC can get. I was pretty happy about it, since it was a great upgrade from the 5-year-old Acer. All was good, till it blackout-ed on me in Sweden. Brand new, barely 3 months old. The screen went all black in a foreign land, just when I just started working on my thesis.

Imagine my anguish!

I still remembered feeling so helpless then. Being so far away, without a laptop is being disconnected to the world and home. A Swede helped me to enquire about repairs, but it takes at least a month and is not covered by my warranty. It's going to cost a lot and take a long time. Buying another laptop was out of the question since it's so expensive and comes with Swedish keyboards.

I had no choice. The laptop screen was gone, but it worked perfectly when connected to a screen. Being the poor student I am, I borrowed the huge, old, bulky screen that Swede was willing to lend (for free!). It was godamn heavy and I carried it up trains and bus and walked home with it, just so I can continue using the laptop.

I thought all was good, but the screen turns off by itself periodically and I have to unplug the electrical power and plug it back on for it to work again. I can't tell you how many times I cursed when I worked on my 75-page thesis. I actually lived with this for about 5 months and completed my thesis with it.

I'm thankful for that Swede. He even drove over and picked it up after I'm done with it. It saved me quite abit of money.

Thinking back to my days in Sweden, I really did all sorts of crazy things just to save some money. One of the heaviest thing I carried home was this huge, old, second-hand microwave oven. It cost me $20 instead of $200 for a new one. I collected it from someone's house and carried it home all by myself, getting on the public transport. I didn't even know that I had strength like this.

The 2nd Acer got repaired for free when I came back. But my mum dropped it on the floor after some months and the screen was gone a second time. It cost $300. Barely 3 years old, the screen died on me again. It's the THIRD time!

It was like a cue, for me to get a MacBook!

Seriously, it's not a good time since we're planning on getting our flat soon. It's either a 30k cash downpayment or upcoming renovation. But since there was the 12-month interest-free installment, it isn't too bad.

I've to say that NuBox's service was pretty good. He spent a good hour with me, changing my RAM, putting my protectors and teaching me how to use the features. He even installed the flash player and my microsoft office for me! I'm still pretty much confused really, but I'm loving the scrolling function on the touchpad.

I'm happy! Very happy. I may be able to get another laptop at half the price, but I won't get the same satisfaction and happiness with my purchase. All my pictures suddenly looks a lot nicer! I honestly am willing to pay more for more satisfaction. It's like how people choose to eat at restaurants instead of coffeeshops or how people buy Prada bags.

Surround yourself with beautiful things and things which make you happy. Life is too short for regrets! =)

.::. Red Heels .::.

I bought my first pair of red heels a few weeks back. It was on 40% at Tang Studio, when we passed by it during lunch time. How can I say no to such pretty shoes when it's like less than $40?!



I really love it. The boyfriend says that I always buy the same kind of shoes - those with a ribbon or bow infront.

Men just don't get it.

They can balantly say that it's the same when it's obviously different.

One thing I don't quite like is the sling-backs. It cuts into my skin/meat at the side of my feet.

Just when it was getting more comfy and easy to walk in, the bottom part of the heel (the stopper?) dropped off when I walked in the rain. Gotta bring it for repairs. =(



Doesn't it look awfully similar to this pair of Prada heels?

I'm falling in love with Prada. Have you seen their new collection this season?

.::. Girly Saturday .::.

I've been looking forward to this weekend, because I (finally) have no classes and the girls are meeting up for brunch and shopping! Jo's been making me really charged and excited this week, it puts me in a good mood everyday. Hahs!

I got up bright and early and got to Wild Honey at about 1010am. Goodness, it was already crowded on a Saturday morning. By the time we managed to go in, it was already past 11am.



I like the feel of the place. It's so homely/cosy, and it tries to mimic breakfast at home. It has such a causasian feel to it, the idea of getting up for brunch/breakfast in a cosy setitng.

My 'European' breakfast with eggs benedict. I love eggs for breakfast and I prefer a savory breakfast to a sweet one anyday. I like all sort of eggs, english-styles, chinese soft-boiled styled with dark sauce, scrambled, sunny-side-up. Hard-boiled eggs are my least favourite. I prefer bacon and ham with eggs and baked beans to pastries and scones too. The only difficult choice is pancakes/waffles with maple syrup - I like that though it's sweet.

Breakfast reminds me alot of my life in Sweden. I made my own breakfast often, met up with Emma and the girls for home-cooked brunch often. We made our own scones and pancakes, tea, coffee and all. I liked making scrambled eggs with bacon and toast, sometimes with sausages and baked beans too. Those were the days, happy and stress-free with lots of time on hand.

With dear Jo, who looks so young here! Why huh? Is it the 'glow'?

With dear Ju and her beautiful drink!

It's been forever since I shopped like that for the whole day with the girls! We went to all the branded jewellery and dress shops, it has been tiring but fun.

There's still lots of stuff to be done, but I'm really excited! *jumps around.

.::. Souvenirs .::.

I'm a sucker for sovenirs when I travel, especially small and pretty stuff, things like magnets. Check out my pretty magnet board and Disney Paris puzzle!



*loves!

.::. Beautiful Saturday .::.

2 of the roommates friends came over to stay last night after a concert at a nearby club. We woke up and walked along the beach to this indoor scouts flea market about 30 minutes walk away.



It was such a beautiful day. Lovely. Sweden can be really beautiful when the sun shines.

Outside the building where the flea market was at.

The roommate and her classmate who is a scout volunteer.

It's like our expo halls, with all sorts of second-hand things on sale. Most of the things are really cheap. I got an almost-new novel for 5kr (SGD$1) and a long cardigan for 20kr (SGD$4).