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!
Asked her for a different look and this is what I got!
Singaporeans are really spoilt for choices when it comes to CNY goodies. Just a walk along your neighborhood confectioneries and you will be able to see so many different types available. The supermarkets are also not letting you off easily too, with big areas set aside solely for these weight-gainers. I am being very honest here, I am really stingy and would usually wait till CNY eve to pick them up at a steal. But sometimes those 3 for $10 bottles really CMI lah... lol
Looks like a lot hor, but believe me... they will be gone before you knew it!
This year, thanks to the good people from 黄梨家 (https://pineappletart.com), we got to try out their "award-winning melt-in-your-mouth" Pineapple tarts and Kueh Bangkit. But being a non-foodie, I can only say that they were hard to resist once you have tried one and we actually finished the two bottles within a day or two! The same goes for the really crispy and tasty Salted Egg Crab Stick Cracker as well! I finished that one whole container on my own lor.
I think there is indeed a difference in their premium stuff, for it seems that they are a little milkier and powdery, hence melts in the mouth. But their normal (and cheaper) versions are not bad also lah. In fact, all their pineapple tarts are good, and you can taste and feel the crunchy fruit bits too. I think their stocks are running fast too so you better hurry if you wanna order them online, with free delivery for purchase $88 up too!
Really delicious goodies. Hard to last you beyond CNY!
I speak for myself here ok? I usually do not bother about things that I cannot see, until consequences happen. And the classic example these days would have to be viruses in this Covid period. Who would have been this concerned about viruses or bacteria in the air (or anywhere for that matter) back then? Who would be disinfecting one's hands as often as we do now? Not me for sure. And lest you feel all safe and secure at home, just for your info, studies had shown that the indoor air pollutants can be many times worst than outdoor levels!
One thing that would definitely help in improving the indoor air quality, would have to be air purifiers. Air purifiers in my mind, would be a device with built-in fan, that come with filters to trap air particulates. Or should I say, just a fan with filter. But the air purifier by Airfree that we were recently introduced to, is absolutely filter-less, much to my delight! This meant there will be no need for any costly filter replacements in the future just to keep the equipment running optimally! It doesn't even have a fan lor, so no fear of parts breaking down or moving parts slowing down due to trapped dust.
My first feel when I unboxed the air purifier was that it looked rather futuristic with its pod-like shape and it was really lightweight. The model I got was the P150 meant for rooms up to 60m2 (such as living rooms) which I intended to use for my upsized master bedroom. It was plug and play with no need for any fixing up whatsoever and it does not even have any physical button. I simply turn on the power socket and it started working right away. The only thing which I can control if I wanted to, was the intensity of the blue light through a touch sensor button in front.
So how this machine works is via Thermodynamic TSS™ Technology, which simply means that air is heated up to 200℃ with 99.99% airborne microorganisms killed or deactivated, just like how we boil water before drinking. It works on bacteria, viruses, mould and organic allergens, through air convection without the use of any fan. Hot air rises and cool air rushes in from the bottom. The unit does feel quite hot on the top after a couple of hours, so one must take care to place it out of reach from young children.
I had been using the air purifier for the past 2 weeks and I am damn honest one lah. I do not know if it was just my imagination or not, but I do feel that the room smells fresher these days. However, that is the only noticeable difference for me, as I do not have any validation of its efficacy. At the back of my mind, I also wonder how long the air purifying of a room would take, as I would guess it would be quite hard to "pull" allergens from one end of the room to the other where my purifier is located especially without a fan?
So how? Should you buy or not? My take on this is that if you suffer from any form of allergies to airborne particulates etc or if you want added protection from airborne viruses or bacteria for the whole family, this machine would serve as a good insurance. I am personally quite sold by the company especially by the impressive numbers of tests done by independent laboratories that you can find here. After all, it is just a one-time cost of the machine that comes with a 2-year warranty as well and you would feel good knowing that you are doing something to protect the family 24/7, even in your own home. Shop here now.
Disclaimer: We were provided with a review set. No monetary compensation was received and all views were ours of course.
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.
