Cupcake Memories: Life in Sydney, Australia

I remember the time when we were shopping for tv stands, there were hardly any low ones unlike today where they are just everywhere and is the trend now due to the demand of Plasma/LCD/LED TVs.

Fortunately we managed to buy a low long one at a reasonable price five years ago. It is still holding pretty well with our heavy CRT TV! However, our DD managed to break the roller on one of the drawers that keeps her DVDs.

Like they say, try not to buy expensive items for the house when you have a young kid of preschool age.

It doesn’t seem to end. We’ve been taking advantage of the current stocktake sale to get new manchester and other household items. We seem to be buying something every time we visit the mall. The latest being a floor lamp from Target today. We got it for AU$30 which is a bargain IMHO.

Like I mentioned before, once you have a home, the “to buy” list for the household is neverending.

I am one who used to love buying funny gifts for people really close to me such as my hubby. Before I had my girl, I would spend time at the mall looking for that special funny gift for his birthday or for Christmas. Unfortunately such activity has become almost extinct to me, well for now anyway.

If I were to get hubby a Christmas gift this year, I would probably go for this funny Wayfarer sunnies that reads “I heart CocaCola” since DH is a die hard Coke fan. Anyone looking for funny or even stylish sunnies might want to check out Wayfarer sunglasses. The prices look very reasonable too. I know DH also loves buying funny items for his company’s annual Kris Kringles.

As we know, it is rather difficult to buy gifts for men. To me, it is either a shirt or a tie for a friend. If it is someone dearer, I always like the idea of buying a good quality item that is practical such as an IWC watch. Every successful man needs a reliable watch.

I guess watches can be like accessories to men especially modern men who can never have too many watches to rotate frequently.

Credit: Watch Image Copyright © essentialwatches.com

The box set finally arrived on 28 April, exactly one month from the date it was shipped ie 28 March from the USA. As long as it arrives, I am alright waiting for things which I ordered. DD has not watched all of the DVDs yet. She seems to prefer the Talking Words Factory I and II. The Maths one didn’t interest her much at all. Maybe because she could already identify numbers 1 to 10 way before the DVD arrived. I was hoping the DVD would help her count. I guess the subtraction and addition included in the DVD was a bit boring for her and of course too much to absorb at this age.

Yeah I am that lazy, I let the TV teach DD. Well, the Letter Factory did its job alright! Actually some books also helped her learn. DD is stubborn like any other kid. I dislike to make her repeat anything she doesn’t want to. So I let her learn on her own sweet time. All I want is a happy and healthy kid. Anything beyond that is a big bonus and she has indeed given us some bonuses

Now I have an extra Letter Factory DVD to be given away

… for the Leapfrog Box Set DVDs which was shipped from USA on 28 March 2008. It is probably stuck at the Australian customs. That’s the only setback for ordering a little bulky items from the USA, sometimes it may take up to 5 weeks to get here due to customs clearance. Oh well, not like I have never waited that long before. Unfortunately there is no tracking number.

My girl has got bored with the Letter Factory DVD already but fortunately that DVD has done an awesome job in helping her recognize the letters A-Z and the sounds each letter makes. That DVD is really well worth the money spent and the time waited!

I wonder why I do not see Leapfrog Learning DVDs being sold here, not even in Toys R Us. All I find are Leapfrog learning cartridges. Is it because Leapfrog DVDs are in American syllabus with American accent? I saw a few Leapfrog Learning Activity packs at Toys R Us yesterday and on the packaging itself, it specified “British voices”, so I guess in this part of the world, a lot of emphasis is given on the English accent.