You have reached the Parenting, Lifestyle and Travel blog of a daddy of FIVE, Steven Teo. Parenting, because that’s what I NEED to do, have a peek at my LIFE (style got or not, you decide) and our Travels via bus and MRT, plus the occasional cheap overseas trip!
My little Stacci is not longer that little anymore. She used to be on the plump side and eats pretty much anything, and her nickname was actually "Ah Fei". But she is no longer fat now and turned rather skinny now. How I wish she could put on more weight and that I could pass some of my fats to her, but she is so much pickier with food these days!
It was her birthday last month and because of Covid, all we had was a simple and cozy celebration back at home with just our family. Nowadays, the cakes I see on social media tends to be "for show" and I dunno if anyone gives a damn on how the cakes tastes. Well, we let her choose her cake and she wanted a bunny cake this time. Maybe it's because it's her Chinese Zodiac animal too?
We ordered the cake from Whyzee and it was truly a breeze placing the order through their website (https://whyzee.com.sg/). We had a choice of vanilla or chocolate and we chose the former because the wife dun really fancy chocolate. Her birthday cake was definitely Instagrammable lor but also tastes rich and decadent as well! I would imagine their chocolate version to be just as good, if not better!
The cake felt really heavy for its size lah. We just couldn't finish the cake the other day, and I happily had it as dessert for a couple more days actually, and was still loving it! They do have a physical shop at Thomson V Two that you can check out if you are nearby but they offer free delivery for orders above $100. If you are in desperate urgent need of a cake in double quick time, they also have 1hr express cakes service, and they carry flower bouquets as well! Thank you Whyzee, for sending the lovely birthday cake over for Stacci!
Over a year ago, we go to review the BenQ GW2480T which to us, was already a marked improvement from having to rely solely on the small laptop screen. Who would've imagined that many working adults now have to work from home on their office laptops as the default these days, and not to mention students having to do home-based learning as well.
The size of our monitors increased over the years, but the size of the boy remained the same.
I am really starting to feel old, having to squint at times when I needed to work on my excel spreadsheets and having to maximize the display on many occasions just so to see the contents! But hey, who knew we got the chance to review the BenQ GW2780T this time round, and just the size of the 27inch monitor wowed Leroy when he first set his eyes on it! In fact, our monitor screen size grew, but Leroy hardly did!
Not bad leh, the MacBook auto detected and optimized the display for the monitor.
The monitor does look very sleek with its slim bezels and the display is really flexible, allowing one to choose between portrait or the usual landscape mode. I love that one can raise the height and even adjust the angle easily without working up a sweat. But I have to highlight that the main selling point for this monitor, has to be the their exclusive Eye-Care™ Technology.
To briefly explain, this specific range of monitors has the BenQ Brightness Intelligence Technology which automatically adjust the brightness of the monitors based on the surrounding brightness for your best comfort. It also emits low blue light and it almost totally flicker-free! All these work together to reduce eye strain and make working or studying more enjoyable!
This is not a gaming monitor lah. I am supposed to show him working on his schoolwork but now holidays. So this is the real situation lah.
There will be times when one would like to the desk to be illuminated so that one can work on the PC or laptop and refer to documents as well. There were also times when I struggled with the keyboard too because it was too dark. Of course you can turn on the room light or get a table lamp, but this BenQ ScreenBar can be a great solution!
Finally the kiddos got a 'lamp'!
You simply need to balance it on your monitor screen and connect it via the USB cable to any port to power it up and you are good to go! The minimalistic look and matt back finishing looks really cool, while its 4 brightness levels, 8 colour temperature, coupled with auto dimming with built-in ambient light sensor makes it a total delight when one needs to work in the dark!
Just three simple parts that are a breeze to put together.
No one can predict how the situation will be like post Covid, but one thing for sure is that we need to get used to the new norms such as working from home and home-based learning and many things are just going to turn virtual these days. Getting a good and reasonably-sized monitor, as well as adequate lighting would definitely be a great investment for the dark times ahead. Ok lah, joking only. Must be positive!
The light you can easily hang off practically any monitors in the market without the need for screws or clamps!
Check them out on BenQ's official stores on Lazada and Shoppee. The 12.12 sales are coming up in the next few days so be sure to strike while the iron is hot ya and get enjoy all the discounts ya?
We are loving the monitor upgrade and our lighted desk with the ScreenBar!
Disclaimer: We were provided with the review sets. No monetary compensation was received and all views were ours of course.
Nope we are not talking about the kids fashion here, but its range of bath & skincare products under ELLE Baby and ELLE Kids instead. And as with anything that has got to do with the little ones, you bet companies will be especially meticulous in ensuring that their products are formulated in the gentlest way possible. The same goes for ELLE's range of products and my kiddos had been using them for a while now and loving them, and I must add that they smell fruitily nice too!
My two older girls always have the problem of hair tangling since they both sport long hair and we do go swimming or get under the sun often. The kid's shampoo smells great of course, but the conditioner made all the difference in improving their hair texture after a bath! And they actually have a Detangler Mist that works great on dry wispy hair too, and allows you to comb out those pesky knots after application!
With Christmas just round the corner, I am pretty sure you would be able to pick out some of their very useful products from both ranges as gifts for loved ones. Sure beats having another mug in the house right? You can check purchase their full range from their official Lazada shop, and get 25% off your order using discount code [FATHER25]. But hor, with 12.12 sales coming up soon, they will also be having discounts for their products and I do not know if the discounts can stack or not lor...
We will also be having a giveaway for you, our followers! All you need to do, is to complete the following steps before end of Fri, 18 Dec and you may stand to win one ELLE kids gift set worth over $126 or one ELLE Baby gift set worth over $110 -
1) Like and follow The "Perfect" Father FB page; 2) Like and share this FB giveaway post (with original captions) publicly; 3) Tag 3 friends under the comment section and also state which set you would like to win!
One of the most irritating type of body pain for me, has to be stiff neck from a bad sleeping posture the night before. It takes a long time to resolve on its own and not being able to turn one's neck is really meh. It happened quite frequently in the past because I simply loved my super soft overused pillow, which offered next-to-nothing neck support!
Our early Christmas presents?
For the record, I do not really like those so-called orthopedic pillows as I tend to feel that they are too 'thick' for my comfort, given my penchant for really soft ones. Worst still, sometimes they can also feel quite warm after use lor. There are so many type of pillows out in the market that it fazes me. Thanks to Best in Singapore, we got to try out Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow for ourselves recently. BTW, you can also check out their post on The Best 8 Pillows in Singapore for reference on pillow selection.
Our new Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow
It took merely hours from the ordering of my pillows to the actual delivery and you will be happy to know that delivery is free! Now that we had used the pillow for a while, let me share with you my thoughts! It came in a nice box that would be perfect to be gift wrapped as a Christmas present too. So the pillow was supposed to be cooling, with it's cool gel etc but I did not experience much of that effect which I attributed it to the fact that we sleep in an air-conditioned room.
Realized that it came with a removable pillow cover only days after using. Duh!
It was only days after using the pillow that I realized it came with a removable Tencel fabric pillow cover. We actually fitted the pillow over with another pillow case and that was the reason why it didn't feel as cool as it should have! But with our extra cover removed, one can really feel the cooling property of the latex pillow now, even though the white cover also meant that it can be easily stained. Thankfully the fabric pillow cover is machine washable lah.
Stacci is loving it alright!
I am of the opinion that the pillows offered reasonable support without the feeling of too much hardness, and it made me wonder how my dad can actually sleep on those hard wooden pillows! Stacci loves it the most and practically kept one aside for her daily personal use. The pillow performed its job of providing a cooling restful sleep for me as well. My only qualm is that at $159, it is not exactly cheap for our family lah but it is going at a discounted price of $129 on Origin Mattress website now though.
Not that things are not looking better as compared to the start of the pandemic, but it sure is disappointing to read about the situation leading to the travel bubble postponement and also the reoccurring local transmission. In any case, it only highlights the importance for us to take the situation seriously and not rest on one's laurels.
Latest MaskFit ProShield® Masks
I do not know about you, but our reusable masks from the previous batch had already gone out of shape from our daily use and washing. Temasek Foundation will be launching the third distribution of reusable masks island wide, as part of its ongoing efforts to support the community and just in time for you to change to new ones!
The masks comes with accompanying filters.
Each MaskFit ProShield® mask kit consists of 2 x masks + 3 x mask filters for insertion into the internal pocket. The masks are available in 4 sizes, S for kids (8 year & below only) while older kids and adults can choose from M/L/XL based on the measurements. You may wish to refer to the video below -
Each Singapore resident will be entitled to one FREE mask kit each and they can be collected from 30 Nov to 13 Dec at StayMasked vending machines located at CCs, RCs, Bus Interchanges, Temasek Shophouse and Plaza Singapura!
Inserting the filters into the mask is easy, even for the little ones.
You can even pre-order online if you need extras! Here are some FAQs that you might be interested to know -
What are
the mask filters made of?
The mask
filters are made from nanofiber non-woven fabric. The three additional reusable
filters provide added protection from saliva droplets or dust particles. They
may be used with the MaskFit ProShield® mask, or with other DIY or 3D-shaped
masks with filter pockets. The mask may be used without the filter when one is
exercising, or in less crowded environments.
Can we wear
the MaskFit ProShield® masks without the filter pad?
The mask may be used
without the filter when one is exercising, or in less crowded environments.
However, we strongly recommend the MaskFit ProShield® mask to be worn together
with the mask filter when you are in locations with a lot of people and/or are
required to interact with many people.
How long
can I use the mask for?
The filters and reusable masks may be washed up to 50
times. Thus, the two masks and three filters in each kit can provide reusable
protection for more than three months on a daily ‘wear one, wash one’ cycle.
After 50 washes, the masks can continue to be used like ordinary masks with
lower antimicrobial performance.
What if I’m
in between sizes?
If you are between sizes, or at the upper end of one size,
you may wish to consider getting the next size up, if you prefer a roomier fit.
Note on measuring the distance between the middle of eye to bottom of chin for
correct size: this should be done towards the side of your face as a straight
vertical line, i.e not along the curvature of your nose.
Having tried it ourselves, I do feel that this new masks are more breathable as compared to the previous versions. I only have a problem with the sizing for my kids because they are so small-sized, requiring an S even though they are already over 8 years old! But it is still a great thing that no citizen is left behind and everyone has access to this very basic need during this difficult period.
I always have a sweet tooth and thus dieting hardly works for me lah. Always like to end my meals with dessert and ice-cream is obviously one of my favourites. My freezer would be filled with ice-cream of all sorts after our every trip to the supermarket for groceries. I really think they are essentials lor.
We were introduced to the Mathilda's Gelato recently and got to try out some of their flavors. Do not be misled by the name, for they carry ice-cream and sorbet as well, on top of their gelato. I tried ordering online and realized many of flavours get sold our fast.
I managed to grab their D24 Durian ice-cream which was really delicious lah, like eating cold durian paste lor, but smoother and sweeter of course. Chocolate gelato was really rich and felt premium with every mouthful. I though of just trying the Salted Caramel with Almonds ice-cream to find out how it tastes. But who know I couldn't stop at all, and finished 1/5 of the tub instead.
The Matcha Green Tea ice-cream can rival any of the macha ice-cream I ever had at the Japanese restaurants, if not, even better! All I need is some glutinous rice balls and sweet red-beans and I can sell it as a dessert myself liao.
What's really amazing was that I ordered at around 10am in the morning, selected ASAP and the ice-creams were delivered to my place at 1pm the same day! Totally relieved my cravings sia. If you wanna try out these handmade ice-cream too, use my code [Steven5off] when you order from icecreamdelivery.com.sg and get 5% off your order before Christmas, 25 Dec 2020.
Now that the year-end exams are over for my eldest three, it is time to prepare for their new year of study in just a couple of weeks. This time round, Louie will be joining his two older siblings in primary school. I am sure it will be an exciting new experience, while Steffi will be moving on to secondary school already!
I am sure that when we mention our favourite brand, Skechers, comfortable walking and running shoes will come to mind. Not forgetting that they are very reasonably priced as well! But do you know that they carry back to school essentials such as bags and water bottle beside school shoes as well? Simple classic designs for the bottles and bags, that I would not hesitate to use too! My wife thinks so too.
So Leroy picked his choice of school shoe for next year.
We just picked up new shoes, bags and water bottles for the four older school-going kiddos from Skechers , and are glad to share that they are having some promotional bundles at selected outlets* right now that can save you up to $39.90 off usual prices! For example the most comprehensive bundle, Bundle A, consists of a pair of school shoes, classic backpack and water bottle + one free pair of black socks is discounted at $99.
*includes Tampines 1, Jurong Point, Northpoint, ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, VivoCity and Suntec City.
I have been wearing my different pairs of Skechers shoes for walks, runs and even to office, and I dare say that they provided me with the most comfortable fit! Even my colleagues who wears them can attest to that. So when it comes to their all black or white school shoes, I have no doubt that they will be just as comfortable with the breathable material and comfort midsole. Well, the kiddos were happy when trying them out!
Their bags comes in 2 different sized designs in pink, dark blue and black. Both designs are minimalistic, without loud prints (except for the brand lah), which makes it classy and nice. We chose the bigger bags because having seen the stuff my own kiddos needed to carry in primary school, I know the bigger is better! By the way, you should get their matching BPA-free water bottles as well because I find that they match and fits the side pockets of the bags perfectly. Comes in pink, blue and black too!
The bags displayed here are the smaller ones.
Now is a great time to get your Skechers not only because of the Back to School promotion I mentioned above, but also because they are also having a $1 Second Item promotion on quite a number of regular-priced items. That is effectively an almost 50% discount!
I also picked up the latest Skechers 92 Max Cushioning Premier Ultra Go! Super comfortable and looking really colourful and nice too. A change from my usual grey or black!
Must check the terms and conditions before utilizing them ok?
Besides that, with any purchase of kids shoes from any range, you will also get a $5 Popular voucher (got terms and conditions though, but sure can use on storybooks lah). Limited to one per transaction only and not available at Bugis Junction (Performance), VivoCity (Performance), The Clementi Mall and Velocity@Novena Square, because they don’t carry kid shoes hor.
Happy kiddos with their new bags and water bottles!
I am not going to lie. Just ask my kids. It is hard to squeeze money out of me. I would use my devices until they die on me and try to save them if there are still ways to do so! We got our first Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner back in 2016 and it was a Dyson V8. Fast forward to today, I am still using the V8 daily and I am still very pleased with the performance, albeit I did have to get a battery change last year.
Wielding the Dyson Digital Slim using just one hand is of no problem for Steffi, but the Dyson V10 can be a little heavy for Leroy!
Along the way, we got an upgrade in the form of a Dyson V10, which was a decent space-blaster looking machine that I personally feel, had stronger suction power despite only having around the same weight. The bin size of both V8 and V10 were the same as well. Both will be used when both my wife and myself decides to clean at the same time, or whenever a cleaning session extends beyond the battery life of any one machine.
When Dyson announced the launch of their latest Dyson Digital Slim earliest in August 2020, the first thing that I wondered, was exactly how much better can the machines get? They promised a 20% smaller and a whopping 30% lighter machine as compared to their last model V11, without compromise to the suction power. So let me now share my thoughts about the Digital Slim with you, after having tested it out myself.
Size / Weight / Suction Power
Shorter and slimmer rod for the Digital Slim but all the attachments can still be shared.
My first vacuum was a "normal" corded one which is pretty heavy and needed regular dust bag replacement. When we first tried the classy Dyson V8, we felt liberated and free. Now with the Digital Slim, the difference is even more! It is REALLY light and I feel, is just as powerful as the V8!
The fluffy cleaner head is also slimmer and is also lower.
Removable Battery
One can easily charge the battery by itself now!
The game changer would have to be this feature which was not available in all the previous models. One can now buy additional batteries and change batteries easily with the click of a button! The battery can be charged in/off the machine also.
Smart Digital Display
The screen will indicate the estimated run time before the battery dies on you.
The display shows the real time performance of the machine, with indication on the mode I am currently using as well as the remaining run time available. It will also show reminders on proper maintenance as well.
The screen will also show you maintenance reminders or inform you of any blockages etc,
Easy Maintenance
The bin can be removed and washed easily!
For a lighter machine, the plastic bin is also made smaller and requires one to clear more often. But that in itself, is not really a bad thing. It is always better to clear after every use right? Love that the bin can be removed and washed, and the same goes for the filter and any other parts that do not have any electrical component.
Maneuverability
The low-reach adaptor means you need not bend down as much as before.
With a lower slim fluffy cleaner head and the low-reach adaptor, I can now reach under the cabinet or bed so much easier as compared to the V8 and V10! If you use the extension hose, you can also reach into hard to reach corners as well.
In conclusion, we love the latest Dyson Digital Slim after trying it out myself! But there are some cons such as if you are going to use it full blast with the boost mode, the batteries will last just over 7mins on a full charge. But using the Medium or Economy mode will extend the usage to around 30mins and 50mins respectively. Hence only use the strongest mode when necessary.
Also, the RRP of $749 may not be exactly easy on the wallet for everyone. Having said that, we had been using Dyson for many years now without any problems, and I would gladly choose it over any corded vacuum or unreliable cheap knock-offs! When it comes to vacuuming at home, nothing comes close to Dyson lor.
The full set of accessories that come with the Dyson Digital Slim Fluffy Extra,
In all honesty, Dyson's technology and products basically sells by itself, but you just have to try it out for yourself. I strongly recommend anyone who has yet to be "Dysonified", to jump straight to Dyson Digital Slim for your home vacuuming needs. You can thank me later. Go check out all the different models here if you wanna compare the specifications.
What is a birthday celebration, without a birthday cake? And sometimes we have more than one, either because the celebration is with different groups of friends, or because we wanna try different types of cakes! From our many years of cake-buying experience, there isn't any time where everyone in the family was happy with the choice of flavors!
Buying a birthday cake requires a fair bit of planning for us as well. Such as who is the one who is buying it while on route to / from work and the timing needs to be worked out as well because our fridge is not exactly that big! The easy way out would be getting one from our neighborhood bakery, but the ones they sell does not taste good and is really our last resort.
For the birthday of my Wonder Woman of a wife this year, we had one of the most interesting cake ever for our cozy family celebration. It was a special Build You Own Cake from Cake Delivery Singapore. Yours truly had the honour of choosing up to 12 different flavours for the cake, such as Rainbow Cake for my wife because that is what she would always order, and Mao Shan Wang Choc for myself! The boys also loved their Choc Ganache and Choc Fudge which were comparable to the many "branded" bakeries we had tried, while Bubblegum cake was pretty unique too but a tad too "artificial" perhaps though.
Ordering online from them is really simple, just head over to their website and check out their many different offerings! I believe that the company is working with a group of home bakers and after tasting the different cakes delivered, I can confidently recommend their cakes to you as well. The cakes all taste fresh and delicious. The Ondeh Ondeh cake is also noteworthy, tastes much like the real thing! Worth considering their Build You Own Cake if you want to try a little bit of everything!
D-Link had launched 2 new WiFi cameras not too long ago, one outdoor model (DCS-8630LH) and the other is the indoor model (DCS8526LH), which is the one I am reviewing right now, having used it for a couple of weeks now.
Ok, I have to be very very honest with all of you, and that is that I do not have in-depth technical knowledge. So while I can tell you that this camera boasts full HD at 1080p at 30 frames per second, I can only tell you that the footage looks really clear and allows me to zoom in without losing details. Let me tell you what I love about the camera! First thing first, I love that it comes with 2 different adapter heads (3-pin or 2-pin) that you can fix depending on your power socket. Hee hee... no need to stick in a pen or screwdriver already.
As an existing user of mydlink App, adding a new camera for this noob is as easy as it can be. All I needed was to select "Add Device" from the side menu, scan the QR code on my new DCS8526LH and follow the instructions to link the device to my home WiFi. One point to note is that one has to ensure that one is logged into the same WiFi for the successful linking.
Once linked, I am able to control the various settings for the device. I can pan and tilt the angle, set detections and even set it to Privacy mode, which is good especially if the camera is set in the bedroom and that there may be times you want the camera off.
Sometimes when I cannot get the kiddos on the phone, I can even turn on the Mic and speak to them directly. Actually more to scold them for not answering lah. Sometimes I do receive notifications in the middle of the night on movement detected but when I check my mobile and see no one around even when I pinch to zoom into night vision footage, it can be kinda scary.
So here's one tip, please set your motion and sound detection to a suitable sensitivity level depending on where you place the camera lest you keep getting false alarms! You can also set designated contact so that you can do a quick deal when the notification is triggered.
This is not the first pan-tilt Wi-Fi camera we have tried, with the first being it's predecessor, the DCS-8525LH which is still working great by the way. But this latest model sure looks sleeker without the antenna, and also requires a smaller footprint. I am loving all my D-Link Wi-Fi camera and had been using my first camera DCS-960L for over 4 years now!
Thank you D-Link Singapore for sending over this awesome new camera for review. I know we will be using it for a very long time.
