Tales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic GoddessTales from an Undomestic Goddess
Since discovering that I needed to apply for an LPF letter of exemption to get my DVDs cleared at customs and suspecting that it’s going to be a long and tedious process, I decided to check if FedEx could re-route my parcel to Australia where I’m sure my parents would receive it without any problems. Turns out I can send it on to Australia but it’ll just cost me another RM480. At this rate, the shipping charges alone is costing me as much as the DVDs!
After checking things up with the Censorship Office, it appears I need to pay RM280 - I’m not sure whether this is customs duties, LPF costs, or what. It also appears you need to go in person (or have a representative) in order to apply for the LPF. Since the office is in Putrajaya, I’m not about to strap my son into his carseat and drive an hour away, bumble my way around a city I’m not familiar with to hunt down the right departments. So hubby engaged a runner to do this menial task and that’s going to cost another RM200.
Well, what do you know, I’m still going to have to pay another RM480 whatever I decide to do.
And all this because I decided to be smart and save on shipping by buying all the DVDs in one shipment. Turns out I would have been wiser to incur more shipping charges and order in smaller quantities. My friend, who has also been placing orders for the same DVDs, has been buying hers in lots of three or four DVDs at one go. According to her, she receives her shipments very quickly and without problems.
In the end, this is how much I ended up paying for my DVDs:
Initial order and shipping charges - USD$521
FedEx courier charges (for second shipping when the first parcel didn’t arrive) - USD$100
LPF charges - RM480
Total cost - RM2610
If I had bought them in smaller quantities like my friend, I would only have paid RM2160. In the end, by trying to save money with a bulk shipment, I ended up having to pay RM450 more, plus the added headache, frustrations, annoyance and disappointment when I didn’t receive my DVDs from the first shipment they sent. Yeah, RM450 that could have bought my son a lot of other things…
With open dimensions of 20.5″ x 16.1″ x 9.5″, a volume of 30 litres, I think we should be able to fit most shopping purchases in here. It has a capacity for 26 lbs, which I think is plenty since any more would mean I wouldn’t be able to carry my son and my backpack with his essential items. Since the Reisenthel Mini Maxi Hauler folds into a pocket size of 8.3″ x 5.7″ x 0.8″, it’s small and slim enough to carry around without the inconvenience of extra bulk.
And since I was already getting the bag, I decided to buy another 12 oz Kleen Kanteen stainless steel bottle for myself so I don’t end up drinking my son’s water when we go out. Although I’ve generally been more concerned about using toxic products on my son, I don’t usually take much notice of the products I use on myself. With more concerns about the use of polycarbonate bottles with regards to the leaching of Bisphenol A and articles advising against its use, I figured that I ought to try to minimise my own consumption of fluids in polycarbonate containers. Besides, my son has dropped his bottle a few times already and it has a couple of dents at the base so it doesn’t hurt to have a spare.
I also bought a sports cap for the bottle since my son has been quite capable of drinking fluids without a sippy spout for some time now. He doesn’t really want to use bottles with the sippy spout any more because he feels he’s a big boy capable drinking from cups and bottles that Mummy and Daddy use.
If I can’t buy DVDs online, then at least I can buy stuff from reusablebags and be kind to our planet at the same time. And now, I get another parcel in the mail. Yay!
First, my DVDs don’t arrive. Then I have to pay more delivery charges to get it re-shipped via DHL. Now, I get a call from FedEx telling me that my DVDs require an LPF permit from the Malaysian Censorship Office before customs will clear my DVDs. While the parcel arrived in Malaysia very quickly after being sent by FedEx, I have no idea how long it’s going to take to apply for an LPF permit or how difficult it’s going to be. Since the Censorship Office is in Putrajaya, I’m not sure I relish the thought of having to go through this process. I don’t suppose they’ll let me do all this by remote?
Since the DVDs are for personal use, it appears that I can apply for a letter of exemption. Whether this is the same or different from an LPF or if it is a simpler process, I don’t know either. Regardless, I’m not sure why the Censorship Office is even involved since my DVDs are purely educational and for children. There’s nothing at all questionable about the content in them.
The funny thing is that I’ve ordered DVDs before and they arrived without a problem. Okay, so that order was a smaller one - a lot smaller - 3 DVDs versus the whole Signing Time collection that I purchased this time around. I’ve also ready on forums that a lot of people don’t seem to have problems receiving DVDs from online purchases.
After what has happened, my stance on ordering online DVDs is this: don’t. Just don’t. I definitely won’t be ordering any more online DVDs. It’s not worth the hassle or the pain. However, if you must order online DVDs, here are a few things I learned based on what I’ve read on the forums:
The key to purchasing online DVDs, apparently, is to make small orders. Nothing too high value and definitely nothing that will be delivered in a big box. As far as I’ve read - box sets get noticed. I think it also helps if the sender can make a note on the parcel that the items sent have no commercial value. Alternatively, the best bet is either to buy it yourself when you go overseas or to ship it to a friend or family member in a country that doesn’t a problem with international shipping of DVDs.
And if you do choose to pursue the online ordering of DVDs, good luck to you…
Even though we don’t really celebrate Christmas, it is still my favourite time of year. The hubby accuses me of being a closet shopaholic so I guess I ought to confess that I love going holiday shopping. If you do celebrate Christmas, then I’m sure this is probably one of the most expensive times of the year - what with Christmas presents to buy and holiday trips to plan over the long break…
Well, guess what? eBillme is running a shopping confessions contest where you stand a chance of winning the grand prize of $15000. I’m sure it goes without saying that the extra cash will really come in handy for the holidays. All you have to do is share a secret shopping experience that you want to confess and enter it to: http://www.shopandconfess.com/.
You can write a story, post a video (uploaded to Youtube), or use photos for your confession then submit your entry to the website above.
All I ask in return for sharing this news with you is that you name my blog: http://figur8.net/baby as your referring website. Good luck! For more details about this contest, check out the video below:
I was never a very thrifty shopper. Unlike my Mum who could cite where all the best bargains were at any one time, I tended to just buy whatever whenever I felt like it purely because I never had the time nor patience to go bargain hunting. I figured that the extra $10 that I was going to save would probably end up being burnt up in petrol and parking costs anyway - not to mention the time I didn’t have. Back then, I was a busy corporate woman and my time was more precious than money. In many ways, I could identify myself with Samantha Sweeting, the main character in the chic lit novel “The Undomestic Goddess” by Sophie Kinsella.
Recently, however, with the cost of living rising exponentially and businesses slowing down, I couldn’t help noticing the price differences in food costs between different supermarkets. The biggest irony is that it can vary between different branches of the same chain of supermarkets.
For instance, Cold Storage in Great Eastern Mall were selling the same brand of strawberries at $7 more than most other locations. I’ve also discovered the Village Grocers in Bangsar Village 2 is one of the “cheaper” places to buy frozen blueberries and raspberries. Jusco supermarket in 1Utama were selling Red Globe grapes from the US at a steal for $0.99/100g. Even the markets and the local fruit shops don’t get that cheap (average price being about $1.30/100g), not to mention, the grapes looked pretty good, too.
Aside the price differences, there is also a great disparity in the freshness of food produce, and the closeness of expiry dates in some supermarkets (some even retail expired goods!). For instance, I was in Mercato supermarket, Pavillion, when Gavin spotted his favourite Yan Yan biscuits. I was going to buy some for him but decided to check the expiry date on a whim only to discover that they were already passed the used-by date!
I told one of the staff who happened to walk past and he looked at the product with a stupefied expression. He finally took the product away and went into some back room. When he appeared, he smiled and said it was the manufacturing date, not expiry date. I then took another packet of Yan Yan biscuits that had not expired and asked him how it was that they manufactured that packet in the year 2009. I was glad to note that they removed the entire box. I’m sure there are people who shop without checking the expiry date (like I have been proned to do on the odd occasion).
As for fresh food produce, I’ve noticed that the Village Grocers at Bangsar Village is one of the best as far as supermarket shopping goes. Again, there is a disparity in freshness of food between supermarkets in different locations. For instance, just yesterday, I noticed some nice Montel bananas at the Jusco supermarket in 1Utama going for 0.59/100g. In the evening, I went to Jusco supermarket in the Alpha Angle and the Montel bananas were the most horrid looking bananas I had ever since (granted they were selling at 0.29/100g, but even at that price, you won’t see me buying them).
Conclusion? Village Grocers is probably one of the best supermarkets to go to if you want consistently fresh and cheap groceries. I won’t say they are the cheapest in everything, but for what you get, the prices are pretty reasonable.
After waiting two months with not a peep from the mailman about my order of Signing Time DVDs, I’ve come to the inevitable conclusion that it isn’t caught up in customs, but that it’s lost, stolen or otherwise. I wrote to Signing Time to ask what could be done and they suggested I check with the local post office. I did, and got the standard reply - no tracking number, cannot help.
I was devastated. $500 worth of DVDs and they went missing!
I wrote back and asked what could be done. Signing Time agreed to send me a new set for free as long as I paid for the delivery charges. I agreed. This time I asked for them to send it by DHL Express so I can track it. The cost of delivery might be more expensive, but at least someone’s accountable for delivering my parcel.
In the meantime, there’s no more heavy duty online shopping for me. Only items that fit into small boxes that won’t attract the unwanted curiosity of some dodgy character in the postal service or pay extra for the added postal security.
And while we’re on the topic of dodgy postal services… My SIL2 sent a present to her boyfriend in the UK some time back - a hand made t-shirt, some sweets and a card through regular mail. The only thing that arrived was the card. Beat that!
As much as I get high off the arrival of a nice little parcel through the mail, I think the disappointment of non-arrival just isn’t worth it.
Subjecting my son to child labour and making him carry his own go bag seemed too cruel (plus I was worried about affecting his posture with a backpack that was too heavy for him), so I finally bought myself a much sought-after Pet Shop backpack to carry all the things I needed in a go bag… To be fair, I’d already been dying for an excuse to get another one of these cutesy bags so it didn’t take much convincing.
I bought my backpack from the shop in Midvalley because it has a lot more choices and colours than the one in the Curve. There were a few options for the backpacks - ranging in size and number of compartments. One of the main reasons I like the backpacks from the Pet Shop is because their bags come with different compartments. Rather than having to put everything into one compartment, making it difficult to find things, I can separate his snacks from his toys and his spare clothes.
The backpack cost me RM120, which is a fair price, considering that the main compartment is waterproof and the quality and handiwork is pretty good. Although I was sorely tempted to go pink, I decided blue would be a more neutral colour that the hubby wouldn’t mind carrying, although the cat and the flowers are still somewhat dubious.
There were two sizes that I was debating between but I ended up with the bigger one. Unfortunately, with a bag this big, I end up carrying more than just the essentials just because I have the extra space. On the up side, it makes for pretty good weight training, and with Gavin in my arms, the weight’s about right for a hiking pack. Now the only thing missing is an incline…
Tomorrow is Deepavali, a major Hindhu festival also known as the “festival of lights”. I received the following story in my mailbox from a friend which brought a smile to my face. I hope you enjoy it, too…
An elderly man in Mumbai calls his son in New York and says, ‘I hate to ruin your day son, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce; 35 years of marriage… and that much misery is enough!’
‘Dad, what are you talking about?’ the son screams.
‘We can’t stand the sight of each other any longer,’ the old man says.
‘We’re sick of each other, and I’m sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Hong Kong and tell her!’
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.
‘Like heck they’re getting divorced,’ she shouts, ‘I’ll take care of this.’
She calls Mumbai immediately, and screams at the old man, ‘You are not getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then , don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR??’ and she hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. ‘Okay’, he says, ‘It’s all set. They’re both coming for Deepavali and paying their own airfare!!’
I hope I’m not making a false generalisation, but when I was working, I got the impression that “sour” was a taste a lot of women were fond of (myself being an exception). I have never liked anything sour and I avoid acrid foods like a child avoids yucky-flavoured medicine. I was told that once I became pregnant, I would pick up the taste for sour foods because it seemed a lot of pregnant women crave sour foods. I think it has something to do with the fact that sour flavours can help stave off the nausea from morning sickness. Well, after being pregnant with my son, I can confirm that I still don’t like sour foods.
But I digress… If you are at all like me and unable to stomach sour flavours, you may find this tip useful when blending whole fruits for fruit drinks.
Because of their beneficial properties (see below) I like to blend blueberries and raspberries into my juices. Well, so far I’ve yet to taste a sweet blueberry or raspberry. I used to add a sweetener to my fruit juices but recently I discovered that if I blend a sufficient quantity of banana or grapes with these berries, the sweetness of the banana and grapes negates the tartness of the berries.
Blueberries are beneficial because they have antibiotic, antiviral and natural aspirin-type properties.
Raspberries have anticancer, antiviral and natural aspirin-type properties.
In addition to providing sweetness to your fruit mixture, grapes are rich in antioxidants (especially the seeds which can be pulverised in a highspeed blender); they help boost good cholesterol levels and inhibit platelet clumping (which helps prevent blood clot formation within the blood vessels that are responsible for causing blockages). Red grapes are also have antibacterial and antiviral properties.
Bananas has antibiotic properties and are great for stomach upsets (great for hubby who suffers from a lot of stomach problems); they also help to strengthen the stomach lining against acid and ulcers.
So the addition of bananas and grapes are not only a great way of naturally sweetening your juice, but they also provide an additional boost of goodness.
And if you are at all like my hubby - who gets put off anything that looks too healthy, the surest way to get him to consume it is to make it taste good.
For instance, he came into the kitchen today while I was preparing his juice and he saw the actual contents of what was going inside it and he remarked, “Is that carrot? Please don’t put it into my juice.” Then a suspicious look came across his face and he said, “Or have you already been sneaking it in all this time without me knowing?”
To which I replied, “Well, could you taste the carrot?”
Sheepishly he said, “No.”
“So it’s not a problem is it?” I asked.
“Good thing I never saw this before. This concoction looks far too healthy for me,” was all he had to say after that.
I never eat raw carrots, celery or green apples, but adding them to a fruit mixture of grapes, bananas, and strawberries really does wonders to make it so much more palatable. If you find the mixture too thick, just add 200ml of water before blending and a handful of ice cubes to chill it.
I had to call up one of those call center service lines today. Being in a country that is multi-lingual, we are given the choice to select which language we want the customer service (CS) representative to speak in. Since I can’t even maintain a regular conversation in the national language Bahasa Malayu (BM), I always opt for the English speaking channel.
So when I rang CS today, I was surprised to find myself unable to understand what the lady was saying to me. Although I had selected the English line but nothing she said sounded intelligible. I must have asked her to repeat herself four or five times before I realised she wasn’t speaking in English, but in BM!
I’m pretty sure I didn’t make the mistake of pressing the wrong channel button because she spoke to me originally in English and then she switched to BM. Plus I called them on two separate occasions and the same thing happened - the lady would speak to me in English first, then switch to BM.
If you’re going to have CS representatives that can’t speak English properly, and who will switch languages partway through the call, then you had best leave the option of an English speaking CS representative off the list altogether.
I had to call up Streamyx to fix my internet connection as well. Thankfully, their CS representatives can speak English! Unfortunately, that’s about all that is better about them. Check out the conversation that ensued:
Me: I am having problems connecting to the internet.
CSR: What name is the account in?
Me: (it was a business account so I had to tell him the company name) It’s called *company name*.
CSR: Yes?
Me: (I repeat myself)
CSR: Some more?
Me: (thinking to myself) what else is there? (out loud) Sdn Bhd?
CSR: Thank you for verifying your account details.
In case you missed the point, Sdn Bhd is like the equivalent to a Pty Ltd for a business in Australia. I can’t believe he was waiting for me to add that before he considered my account verified. I mean, most companies have the suffix Sdn Bhd. It’s practically a given.
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