Dressed Like a Princess

My girl was a flower girl all of one time but it was one of my proudest moments as her mother! I keep hoping someone would ask her to be their flower girl again but till date, we're still waiting (anyone?).

The sister promised that she would be her flower girl at her wedding so I'm still holding on to some hope that I would still be able to shop for another flower girl dress for my girl.

But have you seen the flower girl dresses at the departmental stores? They all cost upwards of $80 or more! So expensive! :S

Hence I was happy to find out that Sunshine Kids sells very pretty princess dresses for just $30-$60. I scrolled through their collection and found it so hard to pick one dress as I liked all of them! Eventually I settled on a pretty pink dress with beautiful roses and a lovely flowy skirt that is the dream of all princesses.

Since Sunshine Kids has also recently partnered with Agape Babies (a store that sells all sorts of baby stuff) to form a multi-store, I was also able to get a few books and a pack of flashcards and checkout in one shopping cart. This is great as I can accumulate purchases and save on shipping =)

My package from Agape Babies / Sunshine Kids is here!

I was very excited to unpack the beautiful dress and show it to my girl! =)

Viola Rose Flower Girl Dress in Pink (S$48)

This dress is very value for money as it is made of very good quality and has 4 layers of skirt (to give the dress its poofyness)

I love my girl in it! She looks so grown up and well, princessy!

Pretty in pink, front and back

She wore it to our cousin's wedding at Holiday Inn and though she wasn't the flower girl, she certainly will forever be a flower girl in my heart! =)

Family photo at the wedding

Offering tea to the bride and groom during tea ceremony in exchange for a red packet

Left: One of my favourite photos of her in her dress =)
Right: A photo with a real 3-tier cake (I thought it was the usual fake cake because it looked fake!)

Love this shot of her with her brother

There's currently free courier delivery with $80 spend if you're thinking of buying a couple of dresses for your kids/neices/friend's kids for Christmas.


GIVEAWAY!
To get you started, we are giving away S$10 store credits to THREE lucky winners!

Sponsored by Agape Babies / Sunshine Kids

Simply follow these steps to qualify:

(1) Leave a comment on this blog post on what you intend to buy if you won the voucher
(2) Subscribe to Agape Babies' Mailing List
(3) Enter the above entries into the Rafflecopter widget below (don't forget to do this as we'll be using the widget to pick the winner!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The other entries are optional but you may enter them for more chances of winning! Good luck! =)

Terms and Conditions of this giveaway:
a) This giveaway ends on 14th December 2014 (Sunday) and is open to readers living in Singapore.
b) Participants must complete the steps and enter their entries into Rafflecopter in order to qualify. Other entries entered into Rafflecopter must also be completed (integrity please; if you said you've shared my post, please make sure that you did. I do check!). Incomplete entries will be disqualified without notice.
c) Limited to one prize per household
d) The winner will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter and must respond within 3 days after being contacted by me otherwise another winner will be drawn.

~~~~~

P.S: Enjoy savings at both stores by entering the following discount codes (both valid until 5 Jan 2015):
-- "madpsychmum15%" for 15% discount at Sunshine Kids; and
-- "madpsychmum15%"for 5% discount at Agape Babies (except for sale items, diapers, milk & breast pumps)

 Happy Christmas Shopping!! 

Disclosure: Complimentary store credits were received from Sunshine Kids & Agape Babies for the purposes of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

Illusions and Ear Piercings

We brought the kids to Trick Eye Museum at Resorts World Sentosa last week, after hearing good reviews about it as compared to Alive Museum. My girl loves to take photos so this should be fun for our whole family.

Our family wearing identical red Ferarri tops from Puma to the Trick Eye Museum

I'm sure the photos will look cohesive since we're all in matchy-matchy family outfits =)

Left: Please don't let me fall!
Right: O.M.G!!!

Part of a painting!

Dancing in the rain

Left: Somebody climbed up and panicked when she couldn't come down!! (We had a good laugh!)
Right: Big baby trapping the small baby

Got eaten by a fish, help!!!

Sky-diving with the baby!
(History in the making!)

Floating in a mysterious house

Left: Angel riding in the sky
Right: Riding a sleigh

Left: Woahh, one balancing Supermom coming up!
Right: Floating down the river

Riding a swan like royalty

Racing on a race horse!

Stretching out like a ballerina!

Left: Captured by a dinosaur!
Right: Lounging on the moon

Left: Baby over fire!
Right: Trick Eye Snow Globe

My girl loves it here as she can pretend to be anything she wants to be! Even the mum-in-law got into the action and had a lot of fun!

Left: Trying to balance on a beam
Right: Mermaids in a lagoon

Sailing on a merlion

Riding the dolphins

My kids just love to pose!

Left: Hand stand!
Right: Chilling at the beach

Love the paintings that in themselves are really works of art. It was great that we could be a part of the art! =)

Boy was in an awesome mood so we took the opportunity to take a photo with him!

In the afternoon we headed to Orchard Road. It was a big day for us because I was determined to bring my girl to get her ears pierced!

I had started preparing her for months. She really wanted to wear earrings but was afraid of the pain. I'm of the opinion that the earlier she does it, the less likely she will be traumatised by it (young kids tend to have shorter memories of pain).

Armed with rewards like sweets, promises of toys and ice-cream and the choice of a really cute earring, we managed to convince her to go with us to a jewellery store in Wisma that specialises in ear piercings. Even though they were more expensive than ordinary goldsmith stores, I liked them because I've heard of good reviews about how fast they were such that the child did not even see it coming. Plus, they pierced both ears at once. This was my number 1 criteria because I knew that once my girl experienced the pain of one ear, she will definitely not pierce the other.

She freaked out the moment she sat on the chair so I had to hold and sit with her. The staff moved fast and distracted her with the cleaning solution, saying that that was all they were putting on her ears. They kept talking and talking and next thing we knew, bang! The earrings were fired into her ears and the deed was done!

Left: The staff cleaning her ears with solution, which seems to relax her
Right: Eating one of her many rewards for being a brave girl!

If you thought that she was too young, well, I had actually wanted her ears pierced since she was 6 months old but her dad strongly objected to it. He still disagrees with me but I went ahead because I strongly believe (from personal experience) that she will thank me when she grows up and can wear pretty earrings.

My baby girl is growing up!

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This post is part of my MadPsychMum Fun in Singapore Guide to all things exciting for kids! 

Check out other fun playgrounds and attractions in Singapore! =)

You can also follow us on Instagram or join us by using our hashtag #mpmfuninsg! 

Centime Gift Personalised Jewellery

I'm one of those narcissistic people that love anything and everything (well almost) with my name on it. I used to carve my name into pencils, draw my name on files with liquid paper, and even bought label stickers with my name on it to stake claim on all my possessions (it was too bad that the personalised Coke that they sold in London did not have my name on it, otherwise I would have bought it)!

Oh please, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about! =P

So of course I jumped at the chance to be able to review personalised jewellery from Centime Gift. Jewellery with my name on it? Say no more! =)

"A gift for me? Aww you're too kind!"

A pair of stackable rings with the names of my kids on them!
(This is one of Centimegift's top sellers)

And.. my own signature necklace!!!

I had sent the only picture of my signature that I could find to the designer and she concretised it into wearable works of art! Awesome right? =)

Before
(and no, you can't use it for my credit cards because it's a stylised version of my "serious" signature
so don't even try! *wags fingers*)

After!

Looks so pretty on me doesn't it? *grin*

I love that I can even select the length of the chain to where it hits me nicely between my neck and my boobs! I'm one of those people that can never wear a choker (or anything too tight on my neck!) or a necklace exactly on my boobs because they're not small (especially now when I'm breastfeeding) so the pendant will somehow not rest nicely on my chest.

Centime Gift also teaches you how to get an estimate of your ring size such that your stackable rings would fit. Mine fit my finger perfectly!

Wearing my babies on my hand

The designer also concretised a beautiful handwritten quote by a customer's late father into a bracelet for the customer to remember her father by. I thought that was a really cool and nice way to remember someone. You may want to check out Centime Gift's Facebook page for more of their creations =)


GIVEAWAY!
If you're keen to get some personalised jewellery for yourself, we are giving away US$20 Centime Gift Store Credits to TWO lucky winners!

Simply follow these steps to qualify:

(1) Leave a comment on this blog post on your favourite jewellery from Centimegift and why
(2) Enter the above entry into the Rafflecopter widget below (don't forget to do this as we'll be using the widget to pick the winner!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The other entries are optional but you may enter them for more chances of winning! Good luck! =)

Terms and Conditions of this giveaway:
a) This giveaway ends on 26th October 2014 (Sun) and is open to all readers worldwide.
b) Participants must leave a comment with the required answer and enter their entry into Rafflecopter in order to qualify. Other entries entered into Rafflecopter must also be completed (I do check!). Incomplete entries will be disqualified without notice.
c) Limited to one prize per household
d) The winner will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter and must respond within 3 days after being contacted by me otherwise another winner will be drawn.

~~~~~

P.S: Enjoy a 20% discount at Centimegift by simply entering this discount code: "MAD20OFF" (valid until 30 November 2014).


Disclosure: Complimentary jewellery were received from Centimegift for the purposes of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

Playing Dress Up

These days my girl is very into the Disney Princesses (yes, she is one of those Frozen geeks) so every outfit she chooses on weekends when we go out have to be a dress that she can swirl around in. My mum-in-law tried to get her to put on a pair of expensive jeans that we bought for her sometime ago but she vehemently refused (note to self: no more jeans!).

So when we were given some shopping credits to shop at Paley & Love, of course I was on a hunt for pretty dresses for my girl. And she loved them! =)

She wore the first dress to a friend's baby 1st month celebrations. I liked that the dress was easy-breezy, perfect for a party held in a hall located next to an outdoor patio.

She's wearing: Purple Flowers Print Summer Dress
I'm wearing: Baby Boy in Baby Bjorn 

Family shoot outdoors taken by our friend

It was a good thing that she was wearing a sleeveless dress otherwise she would have be perspiring like crazy in the mid-day heat. She liked this dress so much that she requested to wear it again a few days later =)

Art is an important part of my life, which was why I was immediately drawn to this artistic calligraphy dress that my girl wore to church this Easter.

She's wearing: CalliArt Ink Dress

Posing with her favourite Aunt

I bought a slightly bigger size as my girl is taller than most girls her age. All I had to do was to tie the ribbon at the back a bit more tightly and it fitted her perfectly. More bang for your buck, I say! =)

One of my personal favourites is this colourful peacock lace dress that is pretty unique and one of those things that looks much better in person than in photos.

She's wearing: Vibrant Peacock Lace Dress

Beautiful lace details

I love the intricate details, which also made me very nervous that she would accidentally tear a hole in it! The dress is also shorter than most of the dresses so remember to check the actual length and width before ordering. Overall, this dress was my favourite of the three =)

My only gripe was that there were very few outfits for babies so I couldn't order anything for my boy =(


GIVEAWAY!
If you would like to order one of these dresses for your girl (or something else for your boy), great news! Paley & Love is giving away $20 store credits to FIVE lucky readers each!

Simply follow ALL these steps to qualify:

(1) Leave a comment on this blog post on your child's favourite outfit

(2) Like both MadPsychMum and Paley&Love on Facebook

(3) Enter all THREE of the above entries into the Rafflecopter widget below
(Don't forget to do this as we'll be using the widget to pick the winner!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The other entries are optional but you may enter them for more chances of winning! Good luck! =)

Terms and Conditions of this giveaway:
a) This giveaway ends on 30th April 2014 (Wed) and is only open to readers living in Singapore.
b) Participants must enter all 3 entries into Rafflecopter in order to qualify.
c) The winner will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter and must respond within 3 days after being contacted by me otherwise another winner will be drawn.

~~~~~

P.S: Enjoy greater savings by entering this discount code "PaleyKR" to enjoy 10% discount at Paley & Love (valid until 21st May 2014).

Happy Shopping! =)


Disclosure: Complimentary dresses were received from Paley & Love for the purposes of this review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

Batam III: Eat, Play & Shop

I had wanted one last overseas trip before I gave birth and since the family wasn't too keen on having me fly (even though I was given the go-ahead by my OBGYN), we compromised on a short weekend trip to Batam.

She was excited to finally have her own luggage (which she shared with me)

As usual we boarded a Batam Fast ferry at Harbourfront Cruise & Ferry Terminal and took only 45 minutes to arrive at Batam Center Ferry Terminal.

Welcome to Batam

The hubby had booked the brand new Harris Hotel, which was located right next to the ferry terminal so we only need to walk to get there.

Harris Hotel

The familiar orange and green colours that represented Harris

Our room

Similar layout to the Harris Resorts

The toilet

We asked for a connecting room between ours and the mum-in-law, which made it easier for us to take care of my girl

I liked that they had installed an universal electrical plug on top of the plug that we are used to in Singapore

For approximately S$60 per room per night, it was pretty value for money we thought. Plus the hotel was just across the road from Mega Mall Batam Centre, where we spent most of our trip doing nothing but eat, play and shop! And we ended up having more fun than we had all anticipated =)

Mega Mall Batam Centre

EAT

Some of our favourites include the seafood restaurant at the 4th floor (can't remember the name) and surprisingly, Black Canyon Coffee.

Black Canyon Coffee

Kids spaghetti was nicer than expected (my girl loved it!)

As usual, we also wanted to eat at A&W but were disappointed to find out that they no longer served root beer on the menu!

A&W

Waffles and Fanta float (instead of root beer..)

Imagine having to drink Fanta float instead.. really weird. Thankfully the waffles and curly fries were still as good as we remembered them!

PLAY

We were delighted to find out that Timezone at level 3 was offering a promotion, for every Rp100,000 (S$11) purchase, you get another Rp100,000 free!

Timezone @ Mega Mall

To make things sweeter, most of the rides were at an affordable Rp1500 (S$0.20) per ride!

Swipe your card and play!

Many different machines for everyone in the family!

She got on soooo many rides, she looked bored by the time she was done with the 30th one! *laughs*

This drive-it-yourself bug car ride costs only Rp15,000 (S$1.50)

Car racing!

Pirate ship game to kill mummies moves as you play! Hubby said it was the best game in the house =)

Carousel cost only Rp10,000 (S$1.10) per ride (adults ride free)

She rode it almost everyday that we were there!

There were also bumper cars which were also Rp 15,000 (S$1.50) per car

Everyone had loads of fun!

Finally, girl wanted to play at the indoor playground

Costs only Rp35,000 (S$4) per child for unlimited play

She spent an astonishing 40 minutes inside while the rest of us played other games outside =)

All of us had loads of fun playing and recreating the memories of our childhood when our own parents would bring us to the arcade and play.

I had also always wanted to bring my girl to sit on the train that roamed the 3rd floor on our last trip to Batam but it was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by a much smaller caterpillar train, which my girl was still interested to ride (cost Rp 10,000 | S$1.10 per person).

Here we go!

Meant for only 3 people

It was a super boring ride though and both came back looking really sleepy and bored. Probably won't be riding it again.

Finally, we also had fun swimming at the small pool.

Swimming at the hotel

SHOP

It so happened many of the shops were having sales so we managed to buy 3 sets of Carter one-piece, jackets and pants at just S$14 each, 1 set of Chelsea jersey and shorts at S$29 and a pair of baby Adidas shoes (hubby's favourite purchase) at just S$22!

Clothes and shoes for my little boy

Mum-in-law bought some clothes and even a pot as it was on sale. She had a blast shopping and even complained that we should stay one more day so that she can have more time to shop >.<

On the last night we travelled out of the area by cab (Rp80,000 | S$9) to Golden Prawn for our favourite seafood dinner.

Golden Prawn

Mum-in-law and my girl

Not sure if it's because it was the weekend but by the time we reached, only the small and tiny prawns were left! Nevertheless we really enjoyed the rest of our seafood which included crab, shellfish, fish and crayfish. We spent about S$120, which was pretty ok considering all the live seafood that we ate.

My girl looked at me with great sadness when it finally came time to go! I think she didn't expected our trip to be so short!

Staring longingly at Batam before our ferry left the terminal

We'll definitely be back again next year, this time with another little baby ^_^

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Batam, Indonesia 
as well as other travel itineraries!

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)