presenting hot malls…

As a seasoned shopaholic, I’m very in tune to what happens at the shopping malls and stores. Lately I’ve noticed that some malls have turned down their air-conditioning to reduce utility cost.

Come on, it’s a frigging 90 degrees outside, it’s days to Chinese New Year, the malls are jam-packed and the air-conditioning can barely be felt even when I’m wearing a tank top!!

If you guys are going to cut cost, why not just rip out the air-conditioning, turn the mall into a tent and install a couple of ceiling fans instead?

How come I don’t see retail prices coming down with all your drastic cost-cutting measures? Heck, some malls even turn OFF their escalators for crying out loud! Why not just close down the mall, eh?

tis the season for pigging out

Chinese New Year is coming and I really dread the thought of all that good food that I’m not going to be able to resist. There’ll be cookies and munchies at every house, not to mention a free flow of soda and other drinks.

The reunion dinner and new year lunch are going to be two major meals that are a must. I haven’t decided yet if we’re going to eat in (which means I’ll have to cook up a storm) or out (which means we’re going to be paying festive prices through our noses).

Either way, this festival is almost entirely about getting together over good food. Right! That might very well mean that Fenphedra is in order! I’ve just bought some new clothes and I still want to be able to fit into them after Chinese New Year .

to bake or not to bake

I like to poke around the baking supply shop and see what new stuff they have. Now I’m really torn between baking my own cookies for Chinese New Year or paying through my nose for the store-bought ones.

I used to take time off from work to bake cookies close to Chinese New Year. Now that I’m working from home and have all the free time in the world to bake, I’m feeling somewhat lazy especially when I think of the washing up .

I’ve seen some families hoard home tins and tins of cookies. Good thing we normally make do with just a few tins for the few relatives who drop in during the festive season. Most years, we have so much left over that we end up eating them for months till we’re sick of them.

sparkling coins unearthed

Recently I saw a news clip on CNN (I think it was) where archaeologists had unearthed not one rare coin but a whole stash of them. I was watching this at the gym where the machines are louder than TV so I couldn’t hear where it was that they found these coins.

We’d normally expect old coins to be dull, weathered and sometimes defaced. But these were sparkling gold which had me wondering how old this collection might be.

Had someone recently bury their pot of gold and forgotten all about it? An interesting thought, eh? But if I were the archaeologist who discovered the stash, I’d be laughing all the way to the bank.

Shopping Confession contest – ‘fess up and win!

Just when you thought your holiday shopping is over, there’s a contest over at eBillMe.com that can win you up to $33,000 in prizes! eBillMe is a secure way to pay for your online shopping and it’s free.

To participate in the Shopping Confession Contest, all you have to do is confess your shopping story in text, video or pictures. So maybe you’ve made a secret purchase or indulged in a forbidden purchase, now it’s time to ‘fess up… and win!

View the eBillMe video to find out how the contest works.

Celebrity judges are waiting in the wings to see your entry. Oh, and please remember to quote my blog URL, bubblyink.com, in your entry form so I can win some prizes too .

Good luck and may we all come out winners.

brave the groceries, slave in the kitchen

The Chinese New Year reunion dinner is coming up real soon and I just dread the idea of going to the grocery store which seems to be crowded at all times of the day.

Indeed I’m trying to avoid having to cook a huge dinner at home.Yes, there’s lots of food involved and I’m considering serving alli diet pills for dessert .

I went to a couple of restaurants over the weekend to inquire about their reunion dinner menus. I was thinking if the price is feasible, I’ll just save myself the cooking and just take the family out.

As I’d suspected, the price of a reunion dinner is exorbitant as this is the best time of year for restauranteurs to make a killing. Chinese New Year is about abundance so people are more willing to spend now than at any other time of the year.

So there goes my grand plan. I’ll just have to brave the grocery stores and slave in the kitchen like I do every year. Duh!