Gimme A Break

I dislike going to the bank. The long lines, the slow service, the lack of air-conditioning all make me want to get out as quickly as I can. But the reality of it is that, even on a good day, there’s still a line and I still have to sit and wait for my number to come up.

I was sitting near the reception counter the other day when someone came in to ask about buying gold coins. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but he and the bank officer were talking quite loudly and so I was privy to the information exchanged.

Amazing what you can learn about investing if you sit near the reception counter .

• investing in precious metals
• wouldn’t you rather be counting gold?
• all that glitters
• my morning out
• like a scene from a Bond movie

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Woo-hoo, peace and quiet again! Now time to kick back a little and not have to rush around organizing lunches and fun things to do for the kids. We had a bunch of relatives to entertain over the past couple of weeks and it’s been nothing short of tiring.

Don’t get me wrong. We love when they visit. It’s just the amount of energy that goes into organizing a fairly large group and getting everyone to have fun doing what they and everyone else wants to do.

And of course, there’s the meals. I didn’t want to cook up a storm and let’s face it, I didn’t want to spend a fortune eating out either, and figuring out something in between isn’t always easy.

Well, that’s over and done with for now. Till the next time. So I’m off to chill!

• bored stiff
• you wanna charge us now, do you?
• mommy burnout
• bad pizza
• herbivorous days

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Quite honestly, we haven’t been on a vacation in quite a while. We used to when the kids were younger. Back then, we could just up and go. But now that everyone’s pretty much got their own schedules, a vacation’s just getting harder to organize.

We’ve been talking about going to Hong Kong Disneyland since it was completed. At one point, I was checking out the cost of a trip for all of us and well, it was a little above our budget at the time.

Last night, someone suggested I check out Accor Hotels City Super Sale. Hey, their hotel rates aren’t bad at all. In fact, they’re way more affordable than the ones I checked out last year.

In fact, it’s not only the rates for Hong Kong hotels but hotels in 27 cities across 10 countries in Asia Pacific which are being reduced by up to 60% in Accor’s new “City Super Sale”.

If I book online between June 23 - 29, 2009 for stays between July 10 and September 30, 2009, I can enjoy rates starting as low as US$25 per night. Together with the record low airfares across the Asia Pacific right now, we could get to see more than just Hong Kong and still have money left over.

I love shopping in Hong Kong. Don’t even get me started. In fact, shopping is fabulous in Asia because there’s so much variety at such bargain prices.

• no books for us
• best stress reliever
• so who wants to go where again?
• book sales but
• re-reading old books

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I’m not sure why Father’s Day is never as a big a buzz as Mother’s Day somehow. Not that fathers are any less important, mind you . Since we didn’t celebrate Mother’s Day this year, we decided to be fair and give Father’s Day a miss too. We did go out for a sumptuous breakfast this morning. Does that count?

• Happy Father’s Day
• my thoughts on Mother’s Day
• drop everything, the nosies are here!
• too commercialized
• Happy Thanksgiving

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I washed my car today. Not that it’s that big a deal but for me, it is. Well, for starters, with everything that’s on my plate, having a clean car is not one of my top priorities.

I don’t really care either if people stare at my not-so-clean car. That’s not to say I don’t care about my car. I do. I love it dearly and really want it to look good. But like how some folks need to find the inspiration to write, I need to find the inspiration to wash, you know ;).

Well, today I found that inspiration. Between the hot dusty mornings and wet rainy afternoons, my car was starting to sport the polka dot look. Great but only if polka dots are back in fashion this season?

In fact, I was so inspired after the wash I decided to give it a shine as well! Yep, I polished the car by hand all by my lonesome :D. And now that I’ve done it, let me tell you what a fantastic workout that was!

You may have heard or read about housework doubling up as a form of exercise for those who are too busy for the real thing. Mmm, I don’t know. Personally, I have my doubts that sweeping the floor or doing the dishes will do the trick!

But if you’re looking at a good hour’s workout, go wash and polish your car! And if you’re still not beat by then, come on over and give my car a shine! :lol:

• mistaken for Cruella de Ville
• due for a car wash
• depending on the rain
• forget the news
• glimpses of doggie year

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If your kids are using up printer ink like there’s no tomorrow, then you should really be looking at the cheapest option for printer ink. Don’t be paying regular prices through your nose.

At 101 Inks, you can find inkjet cartridges, laser toners, cartridges, toners, fax ribbons at the lowest prices and save up to 85% off regular prices. They also offer free shipping on orders of $55 and above.

Now you can save an additional 10% by using the coupon code “8356620″ when you check out with your order. Seriously go check them out yourself and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

• purple chic
• where the magazines are
• tubes are in!
• more than a nurse’s guide to good living
• a good night’s sleep

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During the school breaks, city kids tend to spend too much time online and of course, when they’re at loose ends, they tend to get up to all sorts of mischief. Being parents, that means we have to be all the more vigilant of the types of things our kids are doing online.

I know for a fact that lots of kids think it’s really cool to be a hacker. I can see the glint in their eyes at the very prospect of it. They hero-worship the real life hackers, yes, even the ones that have been caught and sent to prison.

Well, hacking isn’t all bad though. Many hackers leave jail, turn over a new leaf and later become ‘ethical hackers’, the people employed in IT Security positions where they identify areas of system weaknesses and help catch hackers.

For those interested in pursuing a career in IT security, the EC-Council offers courses in such areas as  security fundamentals, Ethical Hacking, penetration testing, secure programming, disaster recovery and computer forensics.

They have live, online, instructor-led training courses that anyone can do from home. I mean, if someone loves the highs of hacking for fun, they might as well be an ethical hacker and make an honest living out of it, right?

• banish that self-limiting mindset
• crossroads
• much ado about movies
• is your computer protected?
• back to work for some

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I was supposed to meet my girlfriend for coffee this morning. I messaged her late last night and got her reply this morning that she was on her way to another coffee morning.

Oh, never mind, I’ll go crawl the mall on my own. Lately I’ve become incredibly conscious of my spending. With the bad economy and all, most of us are affected in one way or another unless you have millions stashed away. Personally I’m getting down to some serious penny-pinching.

Thought I’d share some tips I came up with as I was browsing at the mall (my pupils dilating at every price tag).

1. Compare brands, compare prices. I usually buy a certain brand of rice noodles. Whenever I need to top up my supply, I automatically reach for it. Lately I’ve been looking around and noticed it’s more expensive than some others. I wonder if the other brands would taste as good.

Then I remembered my neighbor had brought over a plate of fried rice noodles for me recently (she knows I love fried noodles, bless her ;). And she’d mentioned that she uses a house brand of rice noodles. Mmm, I remember that plate of noodles had tasted pretty good.

See, it doesn’t mean that if you’ve always been using one brand, you must stick with it forever. Don’t prejudge other brands, give them a try. You never know, it could turn out to be equal or better quality for less money.

2. Wait for the sale. Unless you’re in dire need for an item, don’t rush to buy. Forget the misconception that sales are for the poor folks. I know for a fact that it’s the rich folks that make a dash for the sales (that’s how they got rich!).

I’ve had my eye on a new pair of shoes. I’ve tried it on and love it, but I’m procrastinating. Why pay more when you can pay less?

3. Do it yourself. Eating out can get costly. For the same amount of money or less, you could cook more meals or feed more people.

I love the roast chicken at this place called Dave’s. I thought they made the yummiest chicken and had many a fulfilling lunch there during work break. The price seemed pretty reasonable at the time.

One night, I took the whole family there and the price multiplied by x family members burned a hole in my pocket. Ouch! Since then, I figured there had to be a better way. And there is. Now I make the best darned roast chicken in town!

Okay, that’s all I have for now. Are you a newly-inspired penny pincher too? Great, let’s pool our resources. Drop your penny-pinching tips into the comments box and let’s work on it together ;). What do you say?

• fullmoon party
• want to live to be 125? try this!
• yucky meals
• no cheese please
• yummiest fried rice

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I know many people think H1N1 is a bunch of overhype but being a mother of school-going kids, I have no choice but to be on the alert. I was doing a bit of research on the internet when I came across Scrubs, the nurse’s guide to good living.

At first, it didn’t look to me like I would find anything of interest there since I’m not a nurse but I was pleasantly surprised to find it’s a site with a certain warmth about it and has sections that touch on lifestyle and living that many of us can relate to.

I also found a very relevant article about swine flu with information on how to avoid swine flu, how you would know if you had it, what to do in the event of an outbreak and where to check for the latest updates. Exactly what I was hoping to find.

I also found the comments section useful because you can read other people’s thoughts and concerns that can probably help to allay some of your own. All in all, it’s a pretty well-rounded site that focuses on all aspects of living. I’m definitely going to have to check out the beauty and news and entertainment sections later when I have time.

• refreshing thoughts and perspectives
• compare free cell phones
• where to find sports gear for your kids
• am I doing anything wrong?
• snatch reading

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I confess, I’ve been trawling the malls. There’s just too many mid-year sales tempting me… and you know what, about every fifth woman I bump into at the mall seems to be wearing a tube…

… so I’m guessing (just a wild guess ) that tubes must be in this season. This is a really classic tube dress that I found at iThreads where they offer free shipping on designer brands so you can save some money there.

Go check them out if you have some event coming up or even if you just want to deck your spring closet with a few trendy in-season pieces. I love the shimmery grape color of this dress, don’t you?

• great timing for a watch
• save additional 10% off already discounted printer supplies
• make money with your blog
• brown
• last in, first out

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