Crazy about notebooks

No! I am not referring to the new generation of small laptops but the original thing. I am a big fan of Moleskine notebooks and sketchbooks and a couple of days ago I was really excited when I noticed a few in the clearance section in TK Maxx nearby and they were really having a clearance - around £5 each (normal price is between £8 -£15). I found out sometime back that these notebooks have quite a following and having tried one myself, I have to say I am hooked. I should have grabbed them then but unfortunately I didn't.

Anyway, I thought I will treat myself for Father's day today and went back to the store to see if they were still there but they were, of course, gone. However, I noticed some notebooks which looked quite similar but without an elastic band around the notebook. I have never heard of the brand 'Il Firino' (I can't even find their website) but these 'made in Italy' genuine leather bound journals looked fantastic. The acid free paper feels and looks great as well. I have no idea what kind of leather it is but I am sure they were ethically taken from the animals. I am vegetarian but unlike some people, I do not really mind leather products - is that an oxymoron.

I also bought a teNeues notebook with a black cover (I do not think it is leather) with red & white Zebra print design inside for my daughter. It has alternative lined and blank page and a great gift for my daughter who like to write and sketch as well. The best part is that both cost me only £3 each - a real steal. There were a few more and I might go back again to grab the remainder.

This happens to me all the time - I go out to buy something and end up buying something else - and regretting but fortunately today was an exception. I ended up with something even better.

Saving time by Shopping Online

With the rise of the internet is it unsurprising that retailers have jumped on the opportunity to offer goods online whenever they can. Reaching a far wider group of people, retailers can use clever online campaigns to advertise their goods as much as possible. While retailers benefit, shopping online also offers you and I, the consumers on the street a huge range of benefits as well.

One of the best reasons to shop online is the ability to save time. Modern lives have become very busy, with work and leisure activities quickly taking over all the hours of the day. While some lucky guys may love nothing more than to hit the high street and shop, others simply don’t have the time as they are too busy with their families or with work. This is where online shopping is becoming increasingly important as it saves valuable time which can be put to better use elsewhere.

A major benefit is that no travel time is needed if you want to shop online. While an entire morning may need to be set aside for grocery shopping, browsing the internet before buying goods can be done in an instant. It can be done within the comfort of your own home, meaning that it can be done at any time of day whenever you get a spare moment. Search options also significantly reduce shopping time. Whereas in a shop you have to browse through items, in an online store you can instantly look for what you need and want. Prices are often cheaper too, with online retailers not having to pay large overhead expenses for brick-and-mortar shops and many retailers such as M and M, direct discount vouchers can be found. And with search options often offering categories, pricing ranges, sizes, or quantities, life can be made much quicker and easier.

Over the past few years food shopping online has become particularly popular, with a range of both high street and online retailers offering delivery services. This is a brilliant way of saving time as not only can you get delivery options, but many websites provide online baskets which will remember the foods bought previously. A weekly shop can then be done by simply reordering a standard basket, taking only a few minutes of your valuable time.

Online clothes’ shopping can also save a huge amount of time, and while you may believe that the returns procedure is complicated, many stores have taken steps to make it as easy as possible. Valuable time can be saved by utilising search facilities available on websites, allowing you to search for garments by size, colour, prices, or even brand. A number of websites also offer style guides, a great benefit if you find a top you like but are not sure of a suitable trousers for example. Meanwhile, by shopping at online outlets such as M and M, direct discount codes can be found and the returns process is often free and as easy as simply filling out a small coded sheet and popping items into the post. And for anyone who is pushed for time and would rather spend valuable moments enjoying their family and hobbies, online shopping is a fantastic time saving opportunity.

Lush soaps and inspirational words

My wife is a big fan of Lush soaps and we were running low on our stock of bath bombs and soaps. This Monday, on our day out at Coventry city centre with our daughter who's having her Easter break, we took the opportunity to drop by the Lush shop at the Lower Precinct.

For your information, Lush was started by husband and wife Mark and Mo Constantine, who originally supplied cosmetics to Bodyshop. Their handmade soaps are really popular and they now have more than 600 stores in 43 countries. What we like about the company is that they are totally against animal testing, are hand made and they support a number of ethical issues.

After we got back home I was reading what was written on their shopping bag. I am not sure how many of you do that but as a marketing student, I love reading stuff written on packaging. Anyway, I really liked the part about

"We believe that our products are good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right."

And I do believe them.

Ikea the supermarket

Last week I was leaving the office when I met a friend. He was so surprised when I told him that I was going to the Ikea Coventry store to have lunch with my wife and son. "Are you sure?" he asked.

He is looking forward to visiting the restaurant on his first ever trip soon.


My son fell asleep in the shopping trolley during a recent trip to the Coventry store.


Anyway, most people still see Ikea as a furniture store but strangely we rarely buy furniture though we are regulars at the store. Most of the time, we usually go to eat there but we do end up buying something or the other - a picture frame, candles, rugs or even plants. This may be de to the fact that we don't change furniture that often.

They have also started selling luggage, books, electrical equipment and even soap. In the future we may actually see Ikea transformed into something like Marks and Spencer (another favourite store of ours) selling everything from food and clothes to furniture and electrical equipment.

First Commentator:
Lynne

Shopping at Stoke-on-Trent

I started out writing this post with "today morning..." but realised that it's already 1am - so a short post before I go to sleep.

Yesterday morning, we set off for Stoke-on-Trent to do a bit of shopping. My sister-in-law who came up from London yesterday was there as well.

For those who didn't know Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, is the home of the UK pottery industry and some of the World's most famous luxury brands like Royal Doulton , Wedgewood, Mintons, Portmeirion , Spode, etc. originated and many still have their headquarters here.

I had the post code for the Waterford Wedgwood factory shop at Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent but couldn't find it on my TomTom. Was quite disappointed because I had just bought the latest UK map from TomTom a few days ago. My wife called up her friend in Nottingham who had visited the store sometime back and she informed us that it was a couple of yards just further down the road from the Portmeirion factory shop. Later found out that the factory outlets for Portmeirion, Waterford Wedgewood and Royal Doulton are all along King Street.



Our first stop was the Waterford Wedgwood shop. I know that Wedgewood products cost hundreds of Ringgit in Malaysia, with some sets costing over RM5000. We were shocked to see plates going for £1 each. As you can imagine, my wife and sister-in-law were in ceramic and China heaven.




Next stop was the Royal Doulton outlet which was having a clearance sale.





I have to say that the staff at the Waterford Wedgwood were way professional and did an excellent job with the packing as compared to those at Royal Doulton.

We also dropped by the Portmeirion shop and they were having a sale as well but both my wife and sister-in-law didn't like the designs and we left without buying anything.

Here are some of the stuff we bought yesterday:











As you might have heard, Waterford Wedgwood is in deep financial trouble and . I doubt that the brands the company owns, namely, Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood, Rosenthal and Royal Doulton will disappear but you never know.

The address of the  Waterford Wedgwood factory shop is:

King Street, Fenton, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 3DQ

Ikea Coventry sale

Both my wife and I are Ikea fans and we decided to pay the Ikea Coventry store in the city centre a visit yesterday. The Ikea store here celebrates their first birthday and we were expecting some celebrations but were disappointed to find out there weren't any.

I had received a few coupons (for being a loyal Ikea customer) and one of the coupons was for a free copy of their new coffee table book 'UK at Home'. Was quite disappointed when I found out that it was not available in the store and the staff apparently did even know anything about it.

We didn't have anything in mind and had gone there to browse through and grab a bite. However, as it usually happens, we came back with a car boot full of stuff. We didn't buy any furniture but we got some great steals from their bargain corner.

They had cut prices on a number of products. I guess the credit crunch has hit them as well and like other retailers are trying to pull in their customers with bargain offers. The choice of candles was amazing - in various shapes and sizes and with different aromas. My wife grabbed a few. Our house smelt of apples and berries nice last night.

We also grabbed a bite at their restaurant.


Anyway, their winter sale starts tomorrow.

Online shopping wiki

Wikis rank as one of the most important innovations on the web. These are sites that allow anyone to contribute or modify content. Of course the most famous example is Wikipedia. However, I am sure that not many people have heard about ShopWiki. ShopWiki is a revolutionary online shopping search engine combined with a wiki contributed by consumers.

Normally if I was looking for a product, I would do a search on Google, read reviews on various sites and then compare prices offered on various e-commerce sites.

Traditional comparison sites usually lists sites that have paid to be listed on the site or carry a limited number of brands. Thus, I might have to go to several sites to get the best deal. In comparison ShopWiki does not sell any products themselves and doesn’t charge retailers to include their products in the search results. You can literally find anything and everything for sale on this site and the best deals. Apparently ShopWiki actively crawls more than 180,000 online store.

Empty Coventry Ikea store

Just got back from Nottingham where I had spent the night together with the wife and kids. Had a wonderful dinner yesterday at our friend Amrul's house. Not many guys like cooking but it's a fact that some of the best cooks are men. Amrul happens to be one of them. He loves cooking. He has a nice kitchen fully furnished with Ikea furniture in the house he's renting. Our small kitchen looks terrible in comparison.

Talking of Ikea, we visited the huge Ikea store here in Coventry on Tuesday. Both my wife and I, are long time Ikea fans and if we had the choice (and money), we would equip the entire house with Ikea furniture and stuff.

Anyway, when we entered the store, we were shocked when we found that there was absolutely no one around - not even the store employees. It was like we had the entire store to ourselves. We did get to see a couple of other customers after a few minutes. But having got used to crowded Ikea stores in Malaysia, it was a big surprise. Made me wonder whether the Coventry store is making any money at all.

We also decided to try out the food here. The food was great and quite cheap. Reminds me of the days in Malaysia when we used to go to the Ikea store for food.

We had wanted to grab a few items but like usual ended up with a whole shopping cart load of items. Looks like more DIY time for me.

Online grocery shopping - Tesco vs Sainsbury's

Both my wife and I shop a lot online. I guess we are what marketers refer to as a "innovator" especially in relation to stuff online. However, I never imagined that I would be shopping for groceries online one day.

As compared to books, software, electronics or even clothes, shopping for groceries is totally different. I like to look, feel and sometimes smell the food I buy. My wife wanted to try out some of the online grocery stores here. She gave a couple of resasons why buying groceries online was a good idea. According to her:
1. These stores would ensure the quality of stuff sold online.
2. We could shop at leisure.
3. We could avoid the crowd at the stores.
4. We could save on petrol.
5. We could avoid the temptations of the "spur-of-the-moment" buys.
6. It would give her a better insight into service quality of online stores, which is somewhat related to her PhD research.

We tried out Sainsbury's Online Groceries first of all. We bought products worth £77.41 - mostly organic food. I also earned two Nectar points for every £1 spent online.

The groceries were delivered on the appointed date and we were satisfied with the quality of the products.

A few days later we decided to take a look at Tesco's online grocery store. We had one coupon which enabled us to get a discount of £10 on orders over £50. The final amount came to £64.32. The stuff will be delivered to our house this Monday.

Here are some of our observations:

Website Navigation: We found Sainsbury's store to be more user friendly. Easier to find items.

Product Choice: We were looking for organic food and Tesco definitely has a wider choice.

Pricing: Tesco products were cheaper. As for delivery charges, Sainsbury's was comparatively cheaper but as I mentioned earlier, we had a discount coupon for Tesco.

Conclusion: I would have to give a thumbs up to Tesco's online grocery store because of the overall savings. Plus I get points on my Tesco card.

My Boxing day in Coventry

If you are in the UK, I am sure you are aware of the crazy scenes in stores all over the country. Yes! I am talking about the Boxing day sales. I am not really into branded stuff and I didn't join the people flocking to the West Orchard shopping centre nor did we drive up to the Bull Ring in Birmingham.



I did do some shopping though. Drove down to the nearby Go Outdoors store with our friend, Kyrzul who's visiting us. A bit disappointed because I had been expecting lower price cuts but bought some stuff anyway.

We later went to see 'I am Legend' at Odeon - my first time there. The movie was simply amazing. One of the best I have seen in a while, maybe except for Transformers.

Anyway, after the movie as we had about an hour to kill before the next bus (buses ran every hour for Boxing day), so we dropped by Ikea. The store opened on 16th of this month. No! I wasn't there at the opening. It is huge - slightly less in area than the store in Damansara, Malaysia. For your information, the store in Coventry covers 24000 square meters while the Ikea store in Mutiara Damansara is the largest in Asia with a shop floor area of approximately 270000 square feet (25000 square meters). There were some fantastic deals and of course more shopping.

How was your Boxing day?

The Nokia N95

The release of the Nokia N95 in mid March of this year, went almost unnoticed in the hype surrounding the debut of the iPhone. The phone was released with the tag line "It's what computers have become" and with the S60 software running on Symbian OS, it truly is a mini-computer in your hands. This smartphone has a integrated GPS receiver, built-in Wifi, built-in 5 Megapixel (2592 x 1944) digital camera with Carl Zeiss Optics as well as a frontal CIF camera for video calls, a media player and several other advanced features.

Another unique feature that I almost forgot to mention is that the Nokia N95 is among the few to support a 4GB MicroSD / MicroSDHC memory card.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows price war

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) is $17.99 on Amazon.com. On the other hand, it is £8.99 on the Amazon UK site.

Compare that with what UK supermarket chain Morrisons is offering. The last Harry Potter book is only £4.99 here. No! I won't be queuing up anywhere when the clock strikes midnight. However, I will be rushing there tomorrow morning and hope that there are still some copies left. If not, my next choice will be Asda where it is going for £5.

It is still £8.87 at Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Waterstone's and Woolworths are sellingit at £8.99 per copy while it is £10.99 at WH Smith.

The price war is on in Malaysia too. According to a news report, bookstores here are protesting against hypermarkets Carrefour and Tesco, slashing the price of the book from the recommended retail price of RM109.90 to RM69.90. The four major bookstores there, namely MPH, Popular, Harris and Times announced at a press conference, that they would not sell the last Harry Potter book. Cry babies!

Updated: 22 July 2007

Tags: harry potter harry potter and the deathly hallows morrisons

Favorite software package.

I just found a place to buy my favourite PC Software online.

As someone who first learnt how to design websites on Microsoft FrontPage, I was really looking forward to trying out their new web design software - Microsoft Expression Web Professional Design Tool. It is now available at Buypcsoft.com for $258.95. That's $40.05 cheaper than on the Microsoft site.

Had the opportunity to try it out on a friend's place and it was great.
First thing I noticed about it was the similarity of it's interface with Macromedia Dreamweaver. Unlike FrontPage, which is the first choice of many web design amateurs (and sneered at by professionals), this WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web design software package is targeted at the professional web designers. It promises to help you create standards-based sites with full CSS and XML support. Thus your sites are automatically optimized for accessibility and cross-browser compatibility.

One of the most attractive features of this software from Microsoft are the sophisticated CSS design features. You can browse through various CSS styles and actually see what each style looks like before applying it.

The XML features allow you to build interactive websites by using the XML data source for page elements. It allows you to view quickly each feature using the drag-and-drop tools.

This software requires PCs running on Windows Vista / XP / 2003.

Last car boot for the month of April

We look forward to every Sunday and our favourite weekend pastime - car booting. Yesterday was no exception and we made our way to the Furnance End car boot sale. CJs has moved to the Rugby Club in Leamington Spa and will only open in Stoneleigh Park later this year.

As I have mentioned before, the car boot at Furnance End is huge. I have never had the chance to go over the whole place. Because of the slope and rough paths, pushing a pushchair can be quite a challenge. One of the main reasons we bought a Quinny Speedi push chair over eBay.

Bought a lot of stuff this Sunday as compared to the last. Probably because my wife was there too and she always spots some nice stuff.

Here are the stuff we bought this time:

- 2 Ikea Smila lights: £1.50 One hasn't even been opened yet.
- 2 Jigsaw puzzles : £1 These are for my daughter.
- Table lamp:£1 Later found out that the bulb was not working.
- Tomato and Marrigold seedlings: £1
- 4 seed packets (carrots and courgettes): £1
- Toothpaste: 50p
- 3 Uplighters: 50p
- Paper shredder (manual): 50p
- Air bed (as new, single with foot pump): £2.50. A real bargain.

Total: £9.50. Not bad and we got some real good deals.

Related posts:
- Furnace End car boot
- Car booting March 18
- Rainy carboot day
- Car Booty in Coventry
- Cheapest books ever

Tags: Car boot sale CJ's Car Boot

Furnace End car boot

Last Sunday we were introduced to the Furnace End car boot sale, which is believed to be one of the biggest in the entire UK. It was the first time we had been there and we were left awestruck when we first got there - it is huge.

When people talk about car boot, the first thing that come to mind are used unwanted items. However, half of the pitches are of traders - selling first hand stuff at way down prices.

Getting in is slightly costlier as compared to CJs at Stoneleigh. 40p for adults and 20p for kids above 7 years.

We didn't buy much and we covered only about half of the place in nearly 3 hours.

Here's the list of stuff we bought that day:
1. Matsui HiFi system - £2
2. Kitchen tissue holder - 20p
3. 2 Duvets (double) (new) - £10
4. 3 jigsaw puzzles - £1.25
5. New Junior Encyclopedia set (16 copies) - £2
6. 2 pillow covers (new) - £2
7. 2 Bed sheets (double) (new) - £6

Grand total: £23.45

Rahil had fun on the plane ride and even though she was scared at first, she wanted to go on it for a second time round afterwards.

Was a bit worried about the HiFi as it was too cheap, I mean it was good to be true. Only £2. The first thing I did when we got home was plug it in and put it on. I was surprised to find that there was already a CD in "Simply the Best - Love Songs." It worked perfectly OK. One of the best bargains ever.

UK contact lens site

This is a review of the LensCatalogue.co.uk site, an online retailer of contact lens in the UK. As an irregular user of contact lenses I was quite impressed with the range of branded contact lenses they have including Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb, etc. You can also choose lenses based on the type - from Daily disposable and Weekly Disposable to Colored and Tinted ones.

Of course any contact lens site won't be complete without the accessories and this site is no exception - they stock all short of contact lens accessories including the regular solutions and cleaners. I was quite unsure what "Computer Vision Aides" were and on checking found out that listed under this category were special glasses, which were designed to help reduce glare and block UV rays produced by monitors and fluorescent lighting. I really need those.

Coming to their website, I was interested in knowing more about them but they don't have an "about us" or "Company profile". I would strongly recommend them to put one up as soon as possible.

Research has shown that concern over online security and lack of trust are the major factors preventing consumers from shopping online. LensCatalogue.co.uk is a Verisign verified site and they should fully emphasize that by putting up the Verisign logo on their home page.

I also noticed that the title of the FAQ page is given as Privacy statement.

Apart from this, the site is quite easy to navigate and the design is easy on the eyes. One thing that will bring in customers are their prices - the lenses listed are upto 70% lower than retail lens prices. I also liked the fact that you could track orders online. In case you were wondering, yes! They do ship to the US (but not to Puerto Rico, Alaska, or Hawaii).

Buying Euphoria

Euphoria is the new fragrance from Calvin Klein. My wife wanted it and so I thought it would be an ideal Mother's day gift.

Checked out a few online retailers and as I wanted to pay with Paypal, I narrowed it down to Harrods and Boots.

The prices of Euphoria Eau de Parfum 30ml, were same in both: £28 (approx. US$55/ RM192). The only difference was the delivery charges. £4.95 for Harrods and £2.95 for Boots. So naturally I choose boots.

The final charges was £ 33.90. This included "Gift boxing" (£2.95) and a free card.

Looking on the net, I discovered that I could have got it cheaper. The cheapest prices are at:
1. Fragrance Direct: £26.94 (£24.99 + P & P: £1.95)
2. Cheap Smells: £26.45 (£25.50+ P & P: £0.95)
3. Supaperfume: £26.45 (postage free).

Do you know of any place I could have got it cheaper?

Next time before I shop online, I will definitely do a little bit more research to find the best prices.

Tags: Boots Calvin Klein Euphoria Fragrances Harrods Perfume

Not junk

Soon after we moved into our house we were really distressed because we need to buy among other things, a washing machine and a microwave. That meant a few hundred pounds.

One day we were out with the kids searching for a clinic who would accept us, when we passed by a second hand shop (some refer to them as junk shops).

We saw a few washing machines outside and went inside the store. It was amazing - the stuff they have in there. We couldn't imagine from the run down facade outside. In the end we bought a washing machine, microwave, vacuum cleaner, rubbish bin and a strange looking clock, which was hanging on the wall - all for £100/


I was checking on ebay recently and found a clock similar to ours listed there. The clock which we bought for only £3/ was being sold on ebay for £51/ It's a Metamec starburst/ sunburst wall clock from the 1960s. It's amazing that the clock is working perfectly even after all these years. Testament to British and German (the clock mechanism was made in Germany) craftsmanship and quality.

Never going to call a 2nd hand store a junk shop ever again.