AA Pharmacy at Lucky Garden, Bangsar

We were told by few people that the prices of medicines and supplements from AA Pharmacy at Lucky Garden are one of the cheapest in town. So, when hubby needed to get some supplements, we decided to get them from the pharmacy. True enough, one of the supplements that hubby wanted was selling at half price. We surveyed the other well known pharmacies like Watsons and Guardians.

A few weeks later (which was the recent Sunday), we went there again to get my supplement, which was the evening primrose oil. It was selling at RM 140 for two bottles of 180 capsules each (the price tag was marked at more than RM 200). So, we thought it was really going at great discount.

Today, I went into Guardian and found that the same supplement was going for RM 129 and it comes with a free 60 capsules. In short, it is not necessarily that AA Pharmacy can provide good pricing for the supplements. I think it depends on the brand and also type of supplements.

One thing I noticed in AA Pharmacy – the price tags on the products do not reflect their true values. They can be discounted without any signage saying that it will be discounted.  It is based on what the sales assistants tell you. (However, their sales assistants do provide some consultation when needed.) From my observation, I find that the prices are marked very high on the price tags and they will attract you by giving huge discounts. Therefore, one may not be able to truly judge whether the discounted prices are worthy.

Also, what I don’t like about AA Pharmacy is that they do not provide any receipt, unless asked (I guess).

Well, we learnt the lesson. Guess, we need to do more survey on the pricing from few sources before deciding to buy at AA Pharmacy.

Follow up read: Valuebuy Neurogain PB @ AA Pharmacy, Lucky Garden Bangsar

Follow up read: New branch – AA Pharmacy @ SS2/67

Pet Grooming Studio @ Taman Orkid Desa, Cheras

So, our shih tzu was due for grooming, after more than 3 months. This time, we sent him to Pet Grooming Studio @ Taman Orkid Desa, Cheras, which was near to in-law’s place. This pet saloon has been recently taken over. Therefore, it wasn’t as familiar to us.

 

Once entered the pet saloon, the lady boss (I think) approached us and asked our needs. We told him that we are sending our pet for grooming. Looking at the fur of our shih tzu, the lady advised to go almost full bald. This is because the dog’s fur was not managed well for the last three months. Before proceeding to agreeing, we asked about the grooming price, which was RM 70 (this is RM 10 cheaper than the ex-owner of the shop). We were also pondering if the shih tzu could go on “poodle” leg, but the lady said that there is no point doing so since the fur will be very short. So, we left the dog there at around 11am. The man who was attending the cashier told us (or rather after I asked him) that the grooming will be done by 2pm. However, he said that he would ring us up when it is ready. Hubby was required to fill up the registration form, which is usually done on the first visit.

 

It was approximately at 2pm that the man called. We only picked our dog up after an hour or so. When arrived, the lady asked if the shih tzu’s face was enough short – which we then requested for it to be shorter. We stood there about 10 minutes. It was then done. We paid the amount RM 70. Before we went off, the lady told us that the dog has bad breath and advised us to get some medication, which was currently out of stock, for the dog. She then thanked us for taking up the services.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. Well, we weren’t really picky on the way the dog turns out to be, as we wanted it to be short and clean. I like the way she gave advice on how the grooming should be, which I don’t think we had ever experience. Well, it is a family business, as we seen relatives (kids) around the place, occupying the sofa at the shop. I think it will be nice if they have taken the initiative to offer us the seats while waiting. Nevertheless, there is still a high likelihood that we will return.

MOF Japanese Sweets & Coffee @ Sunway Pyramid

Our initial plan was to dine at Pasta Zanmai. However, it was full and we needed to put our names on their waiting list. Given that we were already hungry, we decided to search for another eatery at Sunway Pyramid.

 

We actually passed by MOF Japanese Sweets & Coffee many times but never actually tasted the food and beverage there. So, I made the decision to test it out. MOF actually stands for Ministry of Food, as indicated on the waiters’ t-shirts.

 

Well, there were many people at the café. In fact, in the café itself, excluding those that were sitting outside of the café, we were only the third table there. This makes it perfectly quiet ambience. In the menu, it states that MOF provides protected wireless connection (which is true that they have). The food they have range from pasta, sushi, bento and dessert. One difference from their pasta menu was there was curry pasta. However, at the end, I did not choose the curry pasta but went for the tomato pasta that comes with soft shell crab (they did not have soft shell crab on their curry pasta). On the other hand, hubby decided to go for the salmon bento. And, we decided to get their hot pot of green tea.

 

We asked for the waiter, only to realise that it works like the Hong Kong cafés where we actually needed to write down our orders on the sheet provided. However, the waiter decided to jot down for us. He recommended hubby to go for the set bento, which also comes with miso soup and potato. The food came in 10 minutes.

 

Well, I would say that the food is normal. We will still prefer Pasta Zanmai if given the choice of both. Price wise, I think they are almost competitive. At the end, we did not order dessert, as we find it a little too costly (but they do have a wide range of desserts).

On service, we are not sure why – even though there weren’t many people, the waiter insist of taking away the menus, which we prefer that it is left on the table – for us to think if we would like to add orders. It was two to three times that they wanted to take away the menu from our table. Also, the waiters (especially one of them) weren’t really pro-active in adding hot water to our jar of green tea until we ask them to do so.

 

I don’t think we will return to them, unless if there’s a need for a quiet ambience.

RM4 for 2 La Kaffa Bubble Milk Tea from Streetdeal.my

This is our first purchase from streetdeal.my, a website I found when I googled for “discount sites”. Since La Kaffa is located at USJ15 where we always frequent, we did not hesitate to purchase the deal. Also, it was just RM 4 for two cups of bubble tea. Payment was made via Maybank2u. Once purchased (February 21), the voucher was ready and it is valid till April 15. The best thing is that it did not restrict the time on when we can redeem the drinks. It was only subject to availability.

Since we were having dinner at the area today (February 23), we stopped by at La Kaffa to have the drink. There weren’t many people at that hour (around 8pm on the weekday). So, we just hand over the printed voucher (Voucher Number: LA 573E4E2-GCJ) to the waitress. She then quickly prepared the drinks. We were handed the drinks and the waitress did asked if we wanted a plastic bag, which I declined since we were be drinking at the café. We were also given a RM2 cash voucher that can be used for our next purchase/ visit.

We had a look at its menu and found that it is actually more famous for its coffee. Besides drinks, there are also foods served. I think the drink we purchased was originally RM 5.90 per glass (which probably excludes the RM 1 on the pearls). I would say that the drink on promotion is rather as “normal”, nothing really special actually. But for the price of RM 2, we can’t ask for more.

Having looked at the prices of the menu, I think it is slightly pricey compared to other bubble tea shops. I personally have not found the “urge” to return. But, it could probably be we have not “ordered” the recommended drink or so. Besides that it seems to me that the food prices are also slightly more expensive, but I think it would be unfair for me to judge without tasting it.

I would say the ambience is nice. The place is rather quiet too. Also, it provides high speed wireless internet to its customers. At the end, we were greeted with “thank you” when we left the shop. We certainly like friendly customer service.

The question on whether to return to La Kaffa will be ambiguous at this point of time.

Home yoga practice via you tube videos

I had my “last” yoga practice with Manasa yoga before the Chinese New Year break. And, I decided to stop my practice there. Just for one simple reason – they weren’t responsive to my query on whether an extension of class could be given for the one week Chinese New Year break (through their facebook). I won’t be offended if they answered me no, nor would I mind if they could have private message about the issue. I don’t think this is the kind of “customer service” that they should be giving to their loyal students.

Nevertheless, I still have great respect to the yoga master and some teachers there. They (the administrators) definitely need to learn to answer their students’ queries over facebook. And, it wasn’t that they weren’t active at facebook. To cut it short, I have stopped my practice at the centre currently and went into home yoga practice.

One benefit of home yoga practice of course is it is FREE. And, I found great short videos, usually at the length of 20 minutes. The better ones are from Yoga Journal and psychetruth.net videos.

Well, I think one can do such home practice if one just want to maintain the current flexible and already know the basics to yoga practice. This is to ensure that you do not hurt yourself. Also, one has to have the self-discipline and ensure that there is no distraction at home. I would suggest that one start by one video at one time, maybe twice or thrice a week. Then, add one or two more videos as you go along. Well, it works for me. And, I was indeed surprised that I have the motivation to go along. In fact, I have been practicing longer time compared to the previous once a week class.

I hope to continue this for as long as possible. However, I still have the itch to get back to yoga classes, if not the same yoga centre – I don’t mind a new centre too! I think at times some coaching is necessary. This is especially if I have the itch, time and patience to further improve my yoga flexibility.

Rotten eggs – Nutriplus Omega-3 Jumbo

It has been about three to four months since we switched to Nutriplus Omega-3 Jumbo. Initially, it was fine. But then, we found more and more rotten eggs each time. They usually look good externally, but when cooked (half boiled), it stinks like mad. Hubby, who has been taking half boiled eggs every weekday morning, has never complained about getting bored of eggs. But, several incidents of smelly and rotten eggs from Nutriplus Omega-3 Jumbo has got him on nerves to stop consuming half boiled eggs, at least for now. The recent one incident, we had about four rotten eggs out of 10. We are truly disappointed. I found that the easily rotten eggs are usually soft in its shelf.

So, we have stopped buying these eggs, as for now. And, it is unlikely for us to buy them in the future. And, I believe the listed company, Lay Hong Bhd, which produces Nutriplus products, should do something about it! They had a competitive advantage that they produce jumbo eggs, but they have to watch the quality too.

Isenbin: Authentic Taiwanese Handmade Desserts at SS2

Lately, hubby and I (or rather me) have gone madness on Isenbin, which is located in SS2 and next to Starbucks. We actually get the first taste on Isenbin in January on a Monday when we were looking for shelter during a heavy rain. Hubby bought their dessert which was exactly the kind from Snowflake. On the first taste, hubby said it was not bad and the portion was big.

We returned weeks later. At first I didn’t want to take any dessert or drink, but then I started with Isenbin Covermilk Black Tea (similar to the ones we find in Gong Cha and Chatime). Surprisingly, it was tasty. And the story goes on. It was since then, we visited it almost every week. I now have a preference for their Isenbin Covermilk  Oolong Tea (I also tried its Isenbin Covermilk Fresh Milk Tea).

Currently, I think it is nicer than Chatime and Gong Cha – maybe because I am getting bored with the latter two. As mentioned, they also served the similar dessert as Snowflake and with a bigger portion. However, the place is much quieter compared to the three other dessert places. What makes it special – it is a combination of Snowflake and Chatime/ Gong Cha. The current setback could be we can’t really control the sugar level of the drinks. Moving forward (or maybe already), they are serving food. The menu is already up but it did not serve so far.

Another competitive advantage of Isenbin compared to Snowflake is – the former has ice flavour like soybean, nut and grass jelly regardless of the season – unlike Snowflake, which has these flavours for particular period of time.

Pricewise, it is the same as the norm. Drink is going out about RM 5.90 while the dessert is RM 6.50. Service wise, they are better – at least they greet us “Welcome” and “thank you” compared to the other three – most probably because they are fewer customers in Isenbin. Thus, the place has nicer ambience too to chat or meet up with friends.  It was only once when there were quite a number of customers who bought discount vouchers, the place was packed on a Friday night. At that time, they lack staff to clear the tables. But, it was only that time. Otherwise, it is fine. Another setback could be, currently this is the only outlet. So, to enjoy our Isenbin desserts and drinks, we can only have it at SS2.

I think we will still frequent Isenbin till one day we are off the addiction or decided to cut down on this dessert/ drink. Currently, they are having promotion where if you spend above RM 10, you are entitled to a draw. We had few draws already and the prizes range from having a free dessert on the next visit, half price for the next dessert and one extra  chop on their loyalty card. Yes, they are having loyalty card – where for every 10 drinks and/or dessert, you will enjoy a free dessert/drink. Hubby and I have claimed one.

Isenbin Covermilk Oolong Tea

Follow up read 1: Isenbin deal from mydeal.com.my

Follow up read 2: Isenbin weekdays special

Clarins product from BestBuy Malaysia

I came to know about BestBuy Malaysia site (bestbuy-world.com) months ago through google search engine when I was looking for affordable Clarins product. However, the site has limited Clarins items. Most of them are sample sizes, which I actually don’t really mind.

 

Only of late, I wanted to get HydraQuench Cream after being advised by my beauty therapist, Karen to try out this product with Clarins Lotus Oil. I spotted the item available in BestBuy Malaysia – which comes in three pieces of 15ml for RM 130 (RM 2.88 per ml). It says that the standard price would be RM 195 (as stated in the website). So, I went to check on strawberry net, which has become my benchmark in pricing Clarins products. The HydraQuench Cream of 50ml is worth RM 180.50 (RM3.61 per ml). So, I decided on the product given the savings. Also, I wanted to try out Clarins Gentle Eye Make Up Remover Lotion. BestBuy Malaysia has the sample size ones of 30ml for RM 17 (RM 0.56 per ml). A check on the strawberry net site, it is RM 95 for 125 ml (RM 0.76 per ml).

 

I read on the BestBuy Malaysia’s site and policy before I proceeded. I found that for purchase of RM 100, there will be no delivery charge. However, if we wanted the items to be despatch personally to us, an additional charge will be imposed. Also, it was stated that delivery will only be made in work weekdays. In addition, I found that it is also possible for customers to pay upon delivery of the items (probably this will involve despatch charges).

 

So, I gave it a try. I posted my order late Friday night (Feb 10). I first need to create an account before I could proceed. Also, the billing and mailing address can be different. Once submitted, an order confirmation (Order Number: 38545) was emailed to me. I made my payment via Maybank 2u, and upon payment, I needed to email them my name, order number, date and time of transaction, bank name and total amount, attaching the online payment slip. The total payment made was RM 147, with free delivery.

On Monday morning (Feb 13, 10.43 am), I received an email from their customer service, saying that they will post out the parcel by the same day. I received the parcel in good hand on the next day. They actually bubble wrap the items before couriering it out. The items are brand new (but I haven’t used them yet). It is also stated in the website that the products are genuine (and hopefully this is true).

Overall, I am satisfied with their service. It is just unfortunate that they have limited Clarins items. I am hoping that they would have more Clarins items on board. They have many kinds of brands and products in their site. It will be just a matter of whether it suits you. I will be their return customer provided they have items that I need and if I find them at discount.

 

Since strawberry net is located in Hong Kong, I think BestBuy Malaysia has an advantage in terms of time of delivery. While I needed to wait up to two weeks for items in strawberry net, I could actually get my items from BestBuy Malaysia in one working day.

 

Yee Chou Acupuncturist at Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya

Hubby was suffering from back ache for quite sometime. After seeing specialist with no help, his colleagues recommended him to see an acupuncturist and he told him there is one at Taman Megah, which is above the corner lot Secret Recipe.

So, hubby started to make a trip there on the federal holiday. He was approached by Tony Wang, who spoke more on Mandarin and slight English. He explained his concern to Tony and the acupuncture starts. It was then followed by some bone alignments. All together, it took about 45 to 60 minutes. The session cost RM 40. Tony then advised hubby to come another three times (in a span of 6 days). Each session went along the same way. I only went along with hubby on the third time onwards. On the fourth visit, Tony asked hubby to come another round in five days time, which was today. No medication was given. After each session, he advises hubby not to make big movements to the body for the next two hours.

There was improvement felt by hubby after each session. And, since the second or third session, hubby has not got any pain on the back, which causes him to wake up in the wee hours. Today’s session, Tony told hubby that he need not return to the acupuncturist unless the pain returns. So, for the total five sessions, it costs hubby RM200.

Well, see how it goes – hopefully the pain will not return. Tony also advises hubby to get a new mattress, which we did. On the first day, he told hubby to stop hardcore exercises first. Although he was not really good conversing in English to us, he tried his best to explain. He was recently transferred from the Kepong’s branch to the Taman Megah’s branch. So, the name card below is his old card. There are other acupuncturists in the centre that could converse in Cantonese. I guess once the “patient” starts with an acupuncturist, it would unlikely be transferred to another acupuncturist in the same centre.

 

Read also: Follow up 1

RM368 worth of Personalised Photo Albums from Photobook Malaysia at RM 92 from Groupon

In June last year, I spotted this deal. And given that we were taking pre-wedding photos at that time and that we know we will buy extra soft copy photos, we decided to buy this deal. Our voucher code is Voucher code: 4507152651 and it will expire in Feb 29, 2012. However, due to our laziness, we thought of doing it after the actual wedding day. Also, it was because we do not have an album for our actual wedding day photos.

It was near expiry, end of January that we started designing the album. Groupon also started to send reminder that the voucher will be expiring in one month’s time. I left the designing to my hubby to do. Hubby has to sign up an account, following the instruction and also other groupon customers’ enquiries via Photobook’s facebook. We decided to pick it up ourselves so that we can do quality checking, since we did read that some albums turn out not as expected over their facebook. However, there wasn’t any choice to choose self pick up and we were expected to pay the delivery charge of RM 15. We read on the facebook that we have to pay the RM 15, make a note that it will be self-pick up and then they will refund us the RM 15. It took some time to load the album and once down, an email was sent to hubby. Our order confirmation number was PBO0114270 (on Feb 4, 2012).

On Saturday, which is four days later, a staff from photobook called hubby and we can collect it before 1pm on the day itself. So, we went and self collect it. To our surprise, it was bigger than we expected. On the refund of RM 15, it wasn’t make on the spot because the payment was made via credit card. According to the staff, it would be credited back into hubby’s credit card.

I would say we are satisfied with the purchase. I would say they are efficient. The only trouble is the initiative needed to design the photobook. It sounds a lot of fun, but when it gets to doing it, it is a different story. And, hence the delay in getting the photobook done. I guess this deal is more for people who like to design their own albums and have talent to do so. Due to this reason, it is unlikely that I will purchase this kind of deal in the future, unless I suddenly have the inspiration to design. Or maybe one should have their design done first before purchasing such deals.

I am not sure whether it is truly worth RM 92, as there were many other deals after my purchase that are much cheaper. Also, I have neglected to note that there was delivery charge. So, I would advice buyers to check on the delivery charges too before purchasing this kind of deal. Quality wise, I guess it is just ordinary quality – maybe with a risk that it would tear off in the future?