My joy splurge: Nemesis Prime R5

 

After catching sight of it at the Singapore Comic Con (you can read my review here), I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I decided to make the splurge. Even though it was not the cheapest model in town, it brought me so much joy. I had so much fun assembling it without the manual because I think it is more fun to be surprised. Plus it looked absolutely great on my work table (couldn't display it at home as the kids are bound to butcher it). 

Definitely think it is worth it because it is very well made. Each assembly parts (secret compartments) was designed with great precision. Generally, I don't spend that much on myself. But...I should really love myself more and indulge in little treats once in a while. After all, I only live once. <3

Where to get it: Shopee

Christmas with Pan Pacific

It is no secret that we dig Pan Pacific's food and hotels. So I was pretty stoked when we had a chance to try out their Christmas offerings. I am unabashed to admit that I like being blown away by pretty deco. And the lined tables, iced Christmas tree, fake fireplace really gave the place so much ambience. I took away with so much inspo for the next event we will be hosting! (Thanks Pan Pac!)

The food wise was also very impressively laid out. And most importantly, they tasted as good as it looked. My favourite was the oysters. Did you know that Pan Pacific has an annual Oyster Buffet? I felt this was a entree that let you have a flavour on what the buffet has to offer <3

To me, Christmas is really a time to feast. Personally, the turkey is always a highlight so I was pleased to see a traditional roasted turkey being served. You will be guaranteed a classic Yuletide experience as there is also the Honey-glazed Boneless Ham, Fruit cakes and Log cakes! Apart from the Christmas delights, we can also find snow crab, beef stew and crispy duck skin as part of the festive offerings. 

The desserts table was truly a sight to behold as it was thoughtfully revamped and decorated with Christmas-related embellishments. The Mao Shang Wang Logcake was my personal favourite, and I did ate more than my usual share of desserts because some of the items looked so intriguing - just had to try to find out what they are!

Also, I wanted to take the chance to highlight the festive hamper. It has quite a nice variety of items and look extremely presentable as a corporate gift. Another good gift option is the box of Praline or macarons, which will add up to be around S$20+ a box. I think it is quite a nice gift to colleagues or subordinates. And you just need 6 boxes to hit free delivery. :)

If you a fellow tea lover like me, the Festive Afternoon Tea ($78 per pax) is bound to capture your heart. Even if you miss the holiday season, you can also try the tea menu at $68 per pax (but it does not have the yuletide-inspired delicacies. 

Unpopular Opinion about the Dyson Hairdryer

We are a bit late in this game but we got our Dyson Hairdryer (a complete set too). To be quite frank, I have a bit of expectations. High ones too because a lot of influencers and our personal friends rave wildly about them. 

Here's our thought - it is ok. I have a really thick mane so this doesn't dry my hair "extremely fast".  In terms of anti-frizz and a more styled look. I think it somewhat does it - not a 100% but maybe a good 60%. Is it worth the price of around S$400+? Not really. 

To be quite frank, even though it has so many accessories, we barely use any. The box which I have been lusting for turns out to be quite a white elephant cos it is quite bulky. It is though a sturdy box and my kid uses it as a stool. Please don't judge me! They also use the Dyson to shoot air at each other. Since I have it already, I will probably be investing in a stand and how to manage all these hair accessories. 

I have done my price research. So if you still want one for yourself, the official store at Shopee has the best discounts during 11.11 or any double digit sales. You should be able to get it around $400+ and not more than $500. If you are ok with a more dubious source, there are new ones being sold at Carousell, the most desperate trying to get rid his/her new hairdryer at around $250.

Tips to make the most out of Singapore Comic Con

After much count-down, we finally reached D-Day. If you are new to the Comic Con, I would say that how much you spend/ enjoy would depends on what is being exhibited. Personally, I don't belong into any "camps" so I don't have one or the other sort of likes and dislikes. This year marks the year I spent the most at any Comic Con because it featured a lot of cute blind boxes (which I am horribly weak for) and transformers!

It doesn't help that it coincided with Disney's 100 so there was a lot of Disney Merch being sold. I had to put in a lot of self-restraint. If you have a family and a home (i.e. space to display), this is an awesome convention to look at statement pieces to decorate your crib. :)

1. Go every alternate year. The Comic Con does charge an entrance fees which can be quite steep especially if you are a student. I don't usually go for consecutive years, not just to save money money but because I like to see a bigger change. For this year, I could observe quite a huge change in the blind box scene. A lot more Chinese brands (which means more choice for us) and darn they hit me on the right spot that I even bought a few back. 


2. View every store first before you make your purchase. There is quite a lot to see and you will soon realise that you can't buy everything before you burn your wallet. So set a budget and make your decision. You usually see me shopping at the last hour. But note that popular items can get sold out. One of my plushie got sold out :'(
   
   
   


3. Bring cash! Some foreign vendors charge a bit more when you try to pay by card. Photography is free by the way. So if you are a looker (like me in the past), you won't end up spending much. Some of the items that I thought was really pretty included the mage handcrafted resin dice, hand-drawn scarves and glass printed posters.
   
   
4. Go with like-minded friends. Maybe it is me, I just don't think I can walk the grounds alone. I think I will end up spending too much or leaving early. It is more enjoyable when you have friends acting like your voice of reason :D





5. Free activities: There are free activities - like the painting of the figurine. I have been getting better and faster at it :D There are giveaways too but this year I was so busy shopping I didn't have the time to hunt them down. 


6. Food Booths: I don't remember there being food booths the last time I went. But there was this round and the price was really reasonable. We didn't grab food but we did get the drinks. 


7. Super Kids-friendly! They even had Bluey down this year and I saw young families pushing strollers and baby-carrying. I didn't bring my kids but I sure think they would have enjoyed it too (and may end up grabbing a toy or 2 back) if they were 5 and above. 

X'mas with a Splash at Vivo

We have been to a few bouncy castles, but with water element...this was a first for us. This 2-in-1 concept for X'mas with a Splash was very value for money because the kids had variety. It did feel like we went to 2 play areas instead of 1. Personally, I felt the difficulty was more on the administration and packing. So here's some takeaway we had from our experience. 

We let the kids went in wearing swimsuit. And we started with the dry area. This was a good call on our part because if it was the other way round, precious playtime would be wasted on dressing them up. Also, we set about 45mins for the indoor play and the rest for the outdoors play. (Personally we felt the water play was more fun as it was a fresh experience for us.)

The sun was scorching so good thing we had our sunblocks on. The water and changing area was surprisingly clean, and the Germaphobe within me was very pleased! We did bring a stroller so we placed our non-valuables within it. We also rented a locker for us to put our valuables. I would advise to pack the dry clothes in a separate bag so you could bring it in and wrap the children immediately when done. 

Surprise surprise, the slides are adults-friendly and we had a go on it. Pure fun. We would strongly recommend this to families. Can't wait for the next installment already! It helps that Vivocity is a very family friendly mall. After our fun waterplay, we went to Sushi-Go to catch such trains sending us sushi. Not much photos here cos our baby was terrified by automated items and was bawling her eyes out everytime a train approached us. 

** Use the discount code "BABYNFAM" for 5% Discount For All Klook Activities with min. spend of SGD50. Discount capped at SGD15.

Food Tour 40: Yummy finds at One Village Holland

Holland is my secret haunt. I am sure many of you already know that there is lots of good food there. Now that One Holland Village has open, I am quite curious as to what sort of food it will add into the mix. Surprisingly, this is not the typical mall with its usual chain selection. So I was pretty pleased with the find there. By the way, this mall is pet-friendly so the kids and I are pleasantly thrilled with all the cute doggies strolling around. 

1. Extra Virgin Pizza

We stepped in because we needed to find kids-friendly food for our kiddos. Turn out to be the best decision ever because the pizza is the best we ever had. I was quite addicted to the Broccolini Gratinata (forgot to take photo of it). After our meal there, the husband did some research and I realise it had another branch in town. No wonder, I felt the name sounded really familiar because people had told me this place served awesome pizza. Haha. By the way, they are local too :D You will definitely be seeing more of me.

2. Lau Wang Claypot

It was raining quite heavily that day so I decided I needed some warm soupy food. The kids were asleep so I had more options. And I really like frogs porridge/soup. It is quite hard to find places that sell them so I had to give this a try. Generally, I feel it is of comfort food standards and reasonably priced. The Ginger and Spring Onion was really good. The frog herbal soup is nowhere near the famous stalls but was good enough to satisfy me. I slurped everything down. :D

My only grouse was that this mall is weird. The entrance was not sheltered at all. So I had to brave the rain to enter the store's compound and this is a rainy day food. I seriously don't get Far East mall design sometimes. 

To more good food. Yum!

The Artground Soft Launch

I was pretty excited when The Artground opened in the West because it seems like every fun kids enrichment was always in the East. During the soft launch, The Artground was offering S$10 per family (up to a max of 5 pax). You could even drop in the classes, but because of our time schedule, we couldn't make it for any. 

I actually did a lot of homework i.e. scrolling through instagram and the website. The place looked really pretty in photos. There was this treehouse, this climbing dome... In my head, this was a spacious play area. My #1 went with his school to the Goodman Arts Centre. Although I didn't go along, I could see in the photos how much fun he had. So I had really high expectations. 

The place isn't huge but enough to keep my 2 toddlers entertained for nearly 1.5 hours. It was also nice to see my kids interacting with other children of their age - collaborating and communicating. Because they could self-play safely, the husband and I could take a bit of a breather at times. There were nice seating areas for us to just chill and take a breather. 

If you are a parent who likes taking photo, you will be disappointed to know that the lighting there isn't exactly fantastic. I think it is too dim so most of my photos came out rather blurry. But it ok, you just have to live for the moment. Overall, I think I would still be dropping by again (or even sign them up for some classes) cos the location is really convenient and it is within One Holland Village which has some nice beauty and wellness outlets for me to have some me-time while waiting for them. 

On a separate note, I was researching on The Artground and realised they were actually an art charity and are in the reds. So if you want to support them, you can click here. If you donate more than $50, you can also get some tax incentive. 

Ending off the post with a photo with the Ah-Ge, we bumped right into him after our day out. What an awesome day!