Presents for a blogshop owner

I spent a lot of time in front of my laptop. Like, really, a lot of time.

My family must have noticed too because recently, I got a lot of unexpected gifts from them. No, not diamonds or Chanels, haha! But affordable little gifts that make working for TFL much easier!

A foldable bed tray table from Ikea! The Husband bought it at S$9.90 in early May! What a good deal! It's not some filmsy plastic but of sturdy high-impact polystyrene plastic! I only saw it in hot pink though. I like the amount of space under the table top. It's wide & tall enough for me to sit cross-legged underneath or change to stretching my legs straight, without having to push away the tray table to do that. The table is very stable during usage. Its legs don't collapse under the weight of my 2kg laptop and my hands, even when I used it for 5-7 hours straight.

The Husband has taken it upon himself to stock up my snack pantry when I get hungry in the middle of the night, replying emails or doing up launches or watching Kang Xi Lai Le. I didn't like the Lays chips he bought because as much as I like chips, I don't like them too salty. Meiji biscuits packs are very yummy when paired with Laughing Cow cheese! And of course, with Coke! Heavenly!

So the other night, I randomly grab this packet of chips because there's none left. It was of a ailen brand that I had never heard before. Was telling myself if it did not taste nice, I would get the Husband to finish up because I don't like throwing away food. But SURPRISE SURPRISE!! This is the most delicious packet chips I had ever had!!! It's not as salty as most chips and tastes very real (not sure if you know what I mean)!

It's a bonus that the chips are free from cholesterol, gluten & trans fat! I didn't even know that till I was almost done! I thought the chips were made from potato till the next day when I was gushing to the Husband how different & yummi-licious the chips were, the Husband enlightened me that the chips were made from cassava, otherwise known as tapoica! 番薯片! It was written in bold on the packet but I was literally eating blindly! Lol! 

And guess what?! It's manufactured by Tai Sun! I was expecting a US manufacturer because of the taste. My mum-in-law tried looking for it in Malaysia when she was in Johor, because she saw that the chips were made in Malaysia but couldn't find it there. Yes, she likes the chips too! 

I'm never going back to the usual potato chips!

THIS is the most most most most most most most useful present I had ever received as a blogshop owner! My mother had never saw how I work for TFL. 2 Fridays ago, she came to meet me to pass me homemade red bean agar agar. That was her first time seeing me carrying so many bags of parcels & stuff. I was lugging a big China bag of shoes, bags & clothes, all packed, with several other smaller bags. Mum saw me and throughout the 2 hours we met, she kept asking me why I sloughed this way. I presumed she was referring to why I opted for such a laborious job instead of a corporate career. 

Then, last Sunday, when we went back for lunch, my Mum surprised me with this trolley bag she got her friend to buy from Bangkok! I had never seen this selling in Singapore. The bag, yes. There are tons of variations, but not with an ATTACHED trolley! The trolley is really sturdy and stable and because it's attached to the bag, the bag base is of strong metal + plastic and not waxed paper. It is still light enough to be hand-carried if necessary. This also means I don't have to worry about the bag falling off from the trolley and no more torn bags and no more holding on to 10-12kg worth of stuff!! The usual cabin bags don't work for me, because selling bags & shoes mean parcels can be of all sizes & shapes. So bags with slightly flexible shape works best!

Back in SQ days, I had always used cabin bags with attached trolleys. I didn't fancy using a separate trolley, because many times, the bag would fall off when the crew gets on/off the escalators, makes a turn or navigating through the plane's narrow aisles. In short, it's just irritating. I gathered I must have a 不解之緣 with trolley bags because I never thought 4.5 years after hanging up my kebaya, I would still rely on a trolley bag for work! Hahahah!

Such China bags (is there a proper term for them actually?), despite their size & ability to store, break rather easily when they are made from wax paper. Canvas is the best bet if you have heavy stuff to put in. But I can't find canvas China bags in Singapore. I asked my mum if there were plain ones because I'm so not a cartoon prints person. Hope to buy a bigger one with attached trolley too! I'm very adept at pulling trolleys! =D

Metta, 

欣雨 Xinyu