Television or Projector?

[Product Review]

One of the first items we thought about getting right after we completed the merging of our two HDB units into the 'Jumbo' flat we are in right now, was a bigger television for the now enlarged living room area. I had the fleeting thought of getting a projector instead of the convention television, but ultimately decided against it because you know, everyone uses television lor. So we ended up buying a 65" television for almost $3k, which is sitting pretty in our living room now, collecting dust. To be honest, with all the entertainment available on handheld devices these days, add in how often we bring the kiddos out, television time is really quite rare for us these days.  

Very portable, can plug and play anywhere you want!

My experience with any projectors was limited to the big ones we see at the cinema screens, and the ones I use at work for presentations. Trying out the TK800 - Home Entertainment Projector from BenQ was really a first for the family. The kiddos had no idea what the device was when they first laid their eyes on it, but I can still recall their expressions when I connected the set top box to the projector and the ASEAN Football match between Malaysia and Japan came on. They were totally wowed by the HUGE screen and caught the full match in 4K HDR glory! But do not go all technical on me, I only know that output was sharp and beautiful!

The kiddos were totally wowed by the big "screen"!

Because of my existing television in the living room, the projector was actually fixed in my master bedroom instead. The installation was simple and I never had to refer to the instruction manuals because it was essentially plug and play. The usual selecting of source and the connecting of devices to the projector via HDMI cables should be familiar to most. All the buttons can be accessed on the projector itself, or via the remote control. Because there are windows at both ends of the room, with the toilet door on one end as well, I was only able to project the match on the short side of my super long master bedroom. But the output was surprisingly still much bigger than my television screen despite the short distance of only 9 feet! Just curious to see how big the projection can go, I turned it around to face the wall furthest away and the image were still sharp (with adjustments of course) and the colors vivid! It was just like in the cinemas!

Simple control buttons, no need to refer to instructions!

Pardon the mess, but see how big and sharp the image is!

After experiencing for ourselves how the projector performed, I was already toying with the idea of replacing the television in the living room the projector! Maybe I should sell the television on Carousell! If you ask me now, my personal take on the TK800 in the case of my own family situation, would be that it is a very good buy at its price point, and can be a great replacement for the conventional television for the following reasons -

• Television time is really getting lesser these days, it does not make sense to have a big white elephant sitting around collecting dust. The projector can be kept easily if not in use and with the expected lower usage these days, it would probably last a pretty long time too (up to 10,000 hrs in fact)!
• The portability of the 4.2kg projector means we can easily place it in any of the rooms in our house, as long as there are power points nearby. The sound output is quite impressive too, without any needs for external speakers!
• For just the price of a regular 55" television set maybe, the TK800 allows you to watch your shows in as big a screen as your space allows, in awesome HDR no less!

It reads 4K HDR, but I only know the image projected damn sharp and clear!

Go try it out, I am pretty sure you would be impressed by the projector too because we are all loving it! On a side note, it is scary how our devices track us these days that right after I finished the draft for this article, I was already shown advertisements on Instagram! In any case, you can get your projector from their Lazada shop if you wish to.

Playing Tourist in Singapore

[Media Invite]

Friends and colleagues were all going overseas with their families during the school holidays, but we were not able to for this year because of work and our newborn. So when the good folks from URA asked if we were interested to join in a heritage tour right here in Singapore, the boys said yes of course! It was a trip to Kampong Glam area and an eye-opener for us for sure! We played tourist and learnt much just from the few hours in the area, thanks to our wonderful guide, Stacey and with the help of an app, LocoMole which we will share more later.

Started right with some food and drinks at Dong Po Colonial Cafe!

Following tea-break at the meet up point with the rest of the cool peeps, we headed over to Derwish Halal Turkish Mediterranean Restaurant located at 60 Bussorah Street. Truth be told, it looked like some tourist trap that I would avoid but this is different since we were there for some hands-on dessert making! 

Making Kunefe, which is the best selling dessert at the restaurant according to the manager if I remembered correctly!

The boys with the Turkish Chef who demonstrated to the participants! 

The Masjid Sultan was just a few steps away from the restaurant.

The session took part on level two of the restaurant and I must say that the place looked really opulent with the chandelier and all the tiles on the floor and walls! The manager even said that they renovate the place and change the decor from time to time as well. Having a nice dinner here definitely have the feel lor! 

Our guide, Stacey sharing details about the Istana Kampong Glam to all of us.

Besides getting to know more about the history of the place using the app, one can also take some cute AR photo as well!

Also paid the Malay Heritage Center, which was previously know as Istana Kampong Glam and the home of the first Malay royal family in Singapore. One can browse the various artifacts in the galleries at leisure.

Chickens do not only come from the supermarkets. 

Aliwal Arts Centre was previously Chong Cheng and Chong Pun Schools.  

There are many interesting nooks and crannies within the Kampong Glam vicinity, and it is always a good idea to expose the kiddos to more of Singapore before they disappear! Leroy and Louie were definitely accustomed to the indoors and complained intermittently on the lack of air-conditioning, but some things in life are meant to be experienced in person lor!

Never knew that to access the living quarters on the 2nd level, one would have to get up this ladder, rumoured to be the only one left due to fire safety!

The tour is essentially self-guided and totally free, and you can rely on the LocoMole app for a brief history of the place, as well as what you can do there. Of course, the map will also show you exactly where you are and the directions to your next destination while showing you amenities or promotions nearby as well. We took part in the Kampong Glam - Walk To The Past Trail, which is only one of the many free trails you find in the app. You can download the free app on the App Store or Google Play. Thank you for the fun weekend once again, URA and LDR Technology!

The Lion King

[Media Invite]

We were sitting right beside the walkway and the usher had to go round informing everyone to keep clear of the walkway because the cast will be making their entrance from both sides. With that, we were pretty prepped to expect action but when the cast finally make their grand entrance, I could still hear gasps and wows from all over. Audiences young and old were grinning and totally in awe of the cast in their animal puppetries that ranged in size from a hand puppet to even that of an elephant!

We only managed to catch The Lion King musical this time round, after having missed it 7 years back, and we were glad we did! It opened my eyes to the many different ways the animals can be represented by the performers. The lions and their masks were surely impressive, but I definitely had my eyes on the regal cheetah amongst the horde too! The powerful live singing and beautiful orchestral music definitely made it a musical well worth watching! I am still pretty amazed at how the various scenes in the animated movie were brought to live on stage. Many touching scenes too...

The family had such an enjoyable time and the kiddos were still breaking into songs as we made our way home! Thank you for having us Sliding Doors Entertainment! For the rest of you still sitting on the fence, I say go catch it before the musical ends its run on 23 Sep 2018!

Useful Information

Performance Times (now till 23 Sep 2018):

Tuesday - Friday: 7.30pm
Saturday: 2pm and 7.30pm
Sunday: 1pm and 6pm

Ticket Bookings:
Internet - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or SISTIC website.
Phone - +65 6688 8826
In Person - Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby). For more information please log onto - www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing

Taimaobi And Umbilical Cord Stamps

All my 5 kiddos had their heads shaved but if you ask me why, I can only answer you that it was because my my parent told me to, and they said it was just tradition when I asked why. I did my little research into why Chinese shave their babies' hair at full-month on the world wide web and found that the main reasons basically boils down to warding off all the bad stuff that babies may carry from the previous 'incarnation', and the belief that babies will grow thicker and fuller hair after a clean shave (which is not true btw) as well. But I do know one thing for sure, and it is that I would like to keep their hair for sentimental reasons.

Little Starri getting her first haircut!

Everything about our babies are so precious, be it the locks of baby hair or even the umbilical cord stumps. It is not only the Chinese or Asians who keep such mementos of their babies, but across different cultures as well, simply because we treasure our babies. For Steffi, we had her baby hair made into a calligraphy brush (also known as Taimaobi or 胎毛笔) and her umbilical cord stump embedded in a crystal name stamp (also known as 脐带印章), both destined to only be displayed, and never used. Back then there was only one company Huaxia Taimaobi 华夏胎毛笔 that does that, and things got pretty expensive when you factor in all the additions such as engraving of parents name on the pen, engraving of kid's name on the box and whatever is not covered in their package. As such the price range can be pretty misleading if you do not probe more about the pricing beforehand. I definitely felt the pinch, but the real PAIN was when Leroy, Stacci and Louie came along! My wallet bled.

There are so many different types of brushes one can choose, which can cost up to a few hundred for one!

Hence when Starri came along, I actually tried searching for more (cheaper) alternatives in advance, because I knew I needed to 'confirm' her Chinese name too. Lo and behold, I googled and found that in the few years between the birth of Louie and Starri, a new company offering Taimaobi and umbilical cord stamps in the Singapore market had sprung up! So I dropped them an email enquiring about the prices for baby naming, as well as for the making of brushes and stamps for Stacci and was pleasantly surprised that their prices were upfront and reasonable. But one thing did struck me at that point in time, was that the name of this new company, Taimaobi Huatsing Souvenirs 華新胎毛笔 (with website address - https://babysouvenir.com.sg/) sounded like a blatant knockoff to the company we used previously for our first 4 kiddos. Of course I am also old enough to understand the fact that CHEAP does no necessarily means GOOD, so I was naturally cautious too.

This James had actually met all my 5 kiddos and gave them their first full shave!

However my concerns were put to rest the moment I met up with the company sales representative and found out that he was none other than James, the same person whom attended to us, from Steffi all the way to Louie! He was the same friendly salesperson whom did their first haircuts, who happened to set up the new company after his resignation. I tried looking up the website of Huaxia Taimaobi but was unable to find the prices I paid previously for my earlier brood, thus I went along with his assurance that whatever I had bought before, will still be available and at a fair price as well.

The naming package consisted of a printed Book of Naming once the name is finalized.

I also engaged the new company for its naming services for Starri at an affordable price of $88 nett, which comprised of a detailed analysis of 10 names, followed by another 100  possible combinations. The process was fuss-free and everything can be confirmed through email and e-payment, with the physical naming book printed after the name is finalized. He was also prompt in replying to my emails on the concerns we had, because the names given in the first round were not to our preference. We ended up with 'Ting Ting' which sounded perfectly fine, but consisted of different Chinese characters that best suited her 'Ba Zi'.

We are just one of the many families who did the brushes. 

Lots of samples to choose from. 

These are examples of the different types of stamp they carry.

They offer special bundled promotions as well.

Display stands can be simple.

Or of the classic Chinese designs.

To the really elaborate (and expensive) types.

They also carry special tooth boxes for you to keep the fallen tooth of your kiddos and James is doing some engraving here!

Making the appointment for the hair cutting of Starri was as simple as sending a few Whatsapp messages, and he really had the same type of brushes we wanted when we went through the company website, Best of all, the prices for the brushes were transparent and inclusive of all the necessary engraving! Since I already knew what we wanted, our order was placed and fulfilled in no time. I popped by their shop located at 21 Woodlands Close, #02-08, Primz Bizhub Singapore 737854 to collect the brushes, and was wowed by the sheer number of choices for customers to choose from, from the stamps to the brushes and even the cases. Thankfully we already knew what I wanted, otherwise I cannot imagine how long I will take.

Nope, I did not do 5 brushes for Starri. She do not have that much hair also! But I got a frame to display all the brushes of my 5 kiddos instead!

In any case, I would treat this as a public service announcement to all parents who are looking for reasonably priced Taimaobi for their kids. Very often we may be swayed by discount vouchers or limited time offers, but one really needs to do a little homework, There are some 'competition' out there now and that is good for us consumer. In short, check well before making that big purchase, and you may wish to have a look at Taimaobi Huatsing Souvenirs 華新胎毛笔 first! Tell them The "Perfect" Father sent you, and who knows? Maybe you might even score some discount or freebies on top of the already good prices they offer. *wink*