Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Product Review. Show all posts

Friday 27 February 2015

Our New Washing Machine - Panasonic NA-F75S3HRQ

Our old Samsung washing machine was spoilt four days before Chinese New Year. To be more specific, the "power on/off" button was spoilt, so there was no way to switch on the washer.

Old Samsung washing machine

Since the washer was already about 9 years old, it would be better to get a new one.

In a hurry to get a new one before Chinese New Year, we went down to one of Courts' retail stores after checking the prices of their washers at their web store. At that time, they were having a promotion on Panasonic NA-F75S3HRQ. It was a top loading washing machine with a 7.5 kg capacity. It has three ticks on water efficiency and a 12 years motor warranty. Everything looked good so we decided to buy this. However, it could only be delivered on the third day of Chinese New Year (21 Feb 2015), which was a Saturday.

Panasonic NA-F75S3HRQ 
After waiting for days, our new washing machine finally came. After trying a few times, we concluded that it could not spin dry properly. As it was within 7 days, we could request for a one-to-one exchange with Courts so we called them the next day (Sunday). We had to wait till Wednesday (25 Feb 2015) for Courts to get someone to check on the machine before we could decide on an exchange. 

On Wednesday morning, two persons from Courts came over to take a look. After checking, they told me we could do a one-to-one exchange, but they needed to inform their supervisor first. 

In the afternoon, a lady from Courts called Ardon and checked with him whether the external drain water hose from the washing machine was placed on the floor and he told her "yes". He also told her that we wanted to upgrade to another washer model so that we would not get the same problem.

Later in the day, we went down to the same store where we bought the washer and the lady who called Ardon attended to us. She explained to us that all the top loading washers these days were made with the drainage hole (located behind the washer) much lower than those made many years ago. So, the external drain water hose should not be placed higher than the drainage hole or else water could not flow out properly. So, no matter which model we chose, we would face the same problem. The ways to solve this was either to cut/saw the PVC pipe to a shorter height or to elevate the washer. Front loading washers, on the other hand, would require the external drain water hose to be placed high for water to flow out.

I had read a review saying that the height of the pipe cannot be too high for top loading washers but, at that time, we did not know that our new washer's drainage hole was lower that of our old Samsung washer. We did not think that the height of our drainage pipe was causing the problem.

The lady said we could go home and test it out again before deciding whether to change. We just needed to give her a call. So, we went home to test with the external drain water hose placed in a small bathtub (low enough so that water can flow out). After all the hassle of getting the water out from the bathtub and getting the kitchen floor quite wet, we were satisfied that the washer worked fine with proper drainage.

Small bathtub used
Now the next problem was to decide whether to saw the PVC pipe to make it lower so that water could flow out properly or to elevate the height of the washer. Ardon managed to remove the top part of the pipe (it was detachable). However, the water hose could not be properly put in the remaining pipe there and we were concerned that this may cause leakage of water. Furthermore, even without the pipe, the water hose would still be placed quite high due to its length. In the end, we decided it was easier/better to elevate the washer. 



Ardon managed to get 4 stands (sold as a set) from a shop and we placed them below the washer. Our only concern was that the washer might not be stable on the stands. 



We tested the washer again. Everything worked well. The water was drained away properly and the clothes were quite dry after the spin cycle. Thank goodness, it worked! 


Thursday 12 February 2015

Eczema Balm

Sera had eczema on her left inner elbow. She didn't like the smell of the eczema cream I bought from a retail store so she refused to use it after applying 2 to 3 times. Normal moisturizer only helped to relieve the itch temporarily and was not able to clear the eczema rashes.

I happened to see this Theo10® Skin balm sold online and read many positive reviews about it. It could also help with minor cuts, burns, insect bites and nasal congestion. Since it could also be used for other purposes (in case Sera refused to use it), Ardon and I decided to give it a try. It was not expensive and was manufactured in Singapore. 






After about 3 applications, we saw an improvement on her inner elbow. Rashes started to clear and her skin felt smoother. According to Sera, the balm did help to soothe or numb the itchiness.


1st day after application

3rd day after application

The downside was this balm had a very strong peppermint smell. However, it was the premium peppermint essence that helped to numb the area to stop the itch. Fortunately Sera didn't mind the smell and was willing to use it. Her only concern was that Lynn could not stand the smell. So considerate!



Thursday 29 January 2015

Ebi-fry

A few weeks ago, I found this Ebi-fry in the frozen section of NTUC hypermarket. 



Big prawns are usually quite expensive but the price for this Ebi-fry (already marinated and coated with bread crumbs) was reasonable, so we bought one packet to try out.

Yesterday, I finally took it out from our freezer. There were no instructions on how to cook this. What I did was put some oil in a deep baking tray and coat both sides of the prawns with oil. Then I placed the tray into our convection oven, set the temperature at 220 degree Celsius and heated it for about 20 minutes. I am using our oven as a multi-cooker :p. 

After about 20 minutes, the prawns were cooked but I found them a bit too soft probably due to the oil. So I placed them onto another dry shallow pan and heated it in the oven toaster for another 3 minutes. On taking out the prawns, they were still a bit soft. However, when we ate the prawns, they were okay - crispy on the outside and soft inside. Tasted good too - not too salty and not too bland.


Ebi-fry

Perhaps next time, I should put less oil. They should turn out better after 20 minutes of heating.



Monday 22 December 2014

Drink Bottle Blender

When we were in Gold Coast, we watched their home shopping TV channels while in our apartment at Swell Resort at night. We noticed that they have quite a number of such TV channels and that there were a few brands of blender on sale on these channels. After watching the infomercials, we got a desire to buy a blender for the sole purpose of producing fruit juice. 


While we were shopping at the malls in the Gold Coast, we saw blenders of different brands and sizes. Then we found the drink bottle blender at K-mart at the Pacific Fair shopping mall. They were selling this blender at AUD 15. We thought it was a reasonable price and we decided to buy it. We just needed an adaptor when using this in Singapore.


A few days after we came back to Singapore, we tested it out by blending some honey dew. It was working fine and the honey dew slices were all blended into juice very fast. I think it took less than a minute. 





The good thing about using this drink bottle blender was that after blending the juice, we just needed to replace the blade with the cap of the bottle and keep it in the refrigerator for later consumption. Since the blender is only used for a single purpose, we don't need to worry about not cleaning it well and running the risk of food poisoning. 




Sunday 9 November 2014

Hyundai Clothes Dryer HYCD-8070

Giant was having a promotion on a Hyundai Clothes Dryer model HYCD-8070 about two weeks ago. It was sold at $69 instead of the usual $100+ (don't remember exact amount).



Ardon and I had been contemplating to buy this type of clothes dryer ever since we saw one a few years ago. However, we put off the idea as they usually cost more than $100. Here was a good deal to buy a clothes dryer at $69. Furthermore, with the rainy season coming soon, this would come in handy.

There is a knob at the bottom of the Hyundai Clothes Dryer where we can set the timer for the clothes dryer to work at intervals of 30 minutes. I usually set it to 120 minutes (2 hours).




When I turn the knob clockwise to the timer side, a small red light will light up beside the "on" label.






When the clothes dryer is in operation, it will be inflated with hot air as shown in the picture below.






When I first used it, I put about 12 pieces of clothing and set the timer to 120 minutes. Once the time was up, the children's dresses and Ardon's long sleeved shirts were already dry but the sleeves of the adult cotton T-shirts were still wet.

After trying a few times, it seemed that it was better to put about 7 to 8 pieces of clothing that usually dry fast on normal sunny days (drying indoors, not directly under the sun). All of them would be dry after 2 hours in the clothes dryer. Children's clothes, adult sized sleeveless T-shirts and handkerchiefs will be dried in 2 hours in the clothes dryer. 



This clothes dryer will not damage our clothes since it does not tumble dry. It cannot dry a lot of clothes at one time but it is still useful to speed up the drying process on rainy days. Otherwise, we would have to use a lot of space to hang all the wet laundry.

Just hope that it can last...


Note: I have never used a tumble dryer before but I heard that clothes will tend to shrink a bit each time they are dried in the tumble dryer.




Tuesday 24 December 2013

Curry Chicken

Cooking curry chicken used to be a daunting task. My late grandma was a nonya and was very good at cooking curry. Whenever she wanted to cook curry, she would put all the spices needed into a motar and pound them to make the curry paste. She would make coconut milk the traditional way by adding water to shredded coconut, placed them in a cloth to squeeze out the coconut milk just like what 蕙娘 Huiniang (played by Joanne Peh) did in the TV drama serial 《信约:唐山到南洋》 ("The Journey: A Voyage"). So basically, everything was freshly made from scratch.

Now, there are so many different brands and types of curry paste. However, I was not satisfied with the end result I had with most of the curry paste that I had tried. So, I had to combine curry powder with some sambal chilli paste and salt to get the taste and colour of the curry gravy that I wanted. 

Recently, I bought the A1 Instant Chicken Curry Sauce for cooking the curry chicken.





This was what I did. 

1. After peeling the potatoes, I put them in a bowl of salt water to prevent them from oxidising and to add a bit of saltiness to them.


2. I heated some oil in a wok and stir fried some garlic in it. 

3. Next, I put in all the chicken pieces (1.2 kg) and potatoes (300 g), then added all of the A1 Instant Chicken Curry Sauce. Mixed well, added water.

4. When the mixture started to boil, I added 2 packets of the Kara UHT Natural Coconut Cream (200 ml each, actually one packet would be good enough). Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and it was ready to serve.





The taste was just right - spicy and salty enough. I didn't even have to add more seasoning to the curry. Just what I wanted. :)




Saturday 2 November 2013

Metro Expo Sale from 1 Nov - 3 Nov 2013

Metro is currently having its Metro Expo sale at the Singapore Expo from 1 Nov to 3 Nov 2013, at hall 4. 

With only about one hour to shop around yesterday, naturally shopping for clothes was out for us (have to spend time queuing for a fitting room and change). The next thing to look out for were bargains for shoes and other items.

When we were at the right corner (looking in from outside) of hall 4, we saw some ribbons meant for Christmas tree decorations. Metro was selling them at 5 for $15. I didn't want to get five rolls of ribbons, then I realized that we could mix many different items to make up the numbers. After looking around, I finally decided on these 5 items.


Ribbon

Bells for Christmas tree decorations

Accessory holder

Accessory holder


The accessory holders shown in the pictures above were available in 3 colours, two of which I had bought. The other colour was black and light grey. These could hold hook earrings and bracelets on top as well as small stud earrings and rings below. 



The accessory holder above was in the shape of a lady's body. This could hold necklaces, bracelets, bangles, rings, hair ties and hook earrings.

I think this was a good deal. Normally, such accessory holders would cost about $10 each. 

Other items that were sold at 5 for $15 were piggy banks of various shapes, party masks, party hats and other Christmas tree decorations.  

The pictures below shows the accessory holders with accessories on them.







Tuesday 29 October 2013

Remico Double Grill Frying Pan - Part 2

I had previously written a post on the Remico Double Grill Frying Pan on our Ace Swan Blog. I had used the pan several other times to cook other dishes but I did not take any pictures then.

Yesterday, I used the Remico Double Grill Frying Pan to fry some fish. As Remico Double Grill Frying Pan had non-stick surfaces, I did not need to put a lot of oil. I was glad the fish turned out just the way I wanted it - crispy on the outside. See the picture below.


I also used it to cook my vegetables instead of the wok that I normally used.  I didn't want the hassle of having to wash the wok as well. I was glad I was able to put all the vegetables in the pan to cook.



I also noticed that by using this Remico Double Grill Frying Pan, my kitchen wasn't as oily as when using a wok for cooking/frying. It should be due to the fact that less oil was used and covering the food during the cooking/frying process.


Related post:



Tuesday 22 October 2013

Yoei Egg Boiler - Part 4 (Heating Up of Dim Sum)

I bought some dim sum yesterday and kept it in the fridge overnight.

Today, I used the Yoei Egg Boiler to heat up these dim sum. I put 80 ml of water onto the heating plate. Then I placed the dim sum on the stainless steel bowl that came with the Yoei Egg Boiler and switch on the Yoei Egg Boiler.


After about 10 minutes, the dim sum were fully heated up and was ready to eat. Although the skin of one of the them did break a little, on the whole, they still turned out ok. Maybe next time I shall try with slightly less water.

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3


Saturday 19 October 2013

Dining Chair from Giant Hypermart

Yesterday, we went to Giant Hypermart and saw that there were some furniture on offer. As we needed some chairs, we tried on some of chairs. In the end, we settled on the black dining chair with cushions below and behind. It was quite comfortable, and looked easy to fix. It was also quite light weight and was selling at $12.98. The cushion was probably made of faux leather. We bought two of these chairs.

After we bought the chairs, we fixed them with the screws and tool given. Ardon had difficulty tightening one of the screws for the first chair that we did. It seemed that the holes were not done as well as Ikea's furniture for DIY purposes. Nevertheless, it could still hold the parts in place. We were then surprised to find that there were no holes on the bottom of the chair cushion (not the metal support). Then we realized that we need to drill the 4 small screws from the bottom of the chair's metal support where there were holes to the bottom of the chair cushion to fix it. 


Screw drilled in from metal support to bottom of chair cushion

After Ardon drilled the 4 small screws into the holes, the chair was done and ready to use. This was how the chair looked.


The weird thing was, this chair seemed uneven and slightly shaky when no one was sitting on it. Once I sat on it, I could not feel that the chair was uneven. It did not shake like when it was empty. We had better luck for the second chair that we fixed. At least no problem with tightening of the screws.

Apart from the minor grouses and mishaps while fixing the chairs, I would think it was still a good buy at $12.98. It is not easy to find a chair with cushion at such an attractive price.



Saturday 24 August 2013

Hair Bean Hair Brush

I first saw this Hair Bean hair brush at Mustafa Centre a few months ago. This is an "As Seen On TV" product. The packaging claimed that it can remove tangles gently. I did not buy it initially because of its shape. I was not sure if I would feel comfortable using this hair brush as it does not have a handle unlike the other hair brushes that I have. 

Subsequently I noticed that there were also sellers selling these Hair Bean hair brushes on Qoo10.sg. I read the good reviews on this. Hair Bean uses alternating bristles with Memory-Flex Technology that gently separates and removes tangles. A few weeks ago, I went to Mustafa Centre again to buy some things. I bought a new comb for Lynn and I thought it would be a good idea to get a new comb or hair brush for Sera too. Then I thought of this Hair Bean hair brush and searched for it. I managed to find it. It is only available in one colour - purple - and we bought it at around $5 (can't remember exact amount).




The Hair Bean hair brush came in a purple case with a small mirror inside the case as can be seen from the pictures above. Sera liked it with the case. It did remove tangles from her hair without causing any pain. I also realized that the shape of the brush actually made it easier for her to brush her own hair compared to other hair brushes and combs that she tried previously. 

No regrets buying this. 

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Wednesday 7 August 2013

Winox 4 Piece Kitchen Knife Set

A few days ago, Ardon and I went to Giant Hypermart for groceries shopping. We saw that there were many knives on offer. I was pretty much attracted to those knives because they were very colourful. Initially I thought they were ceramic knives due to the colours of the blades. On closer look, I realized that they were made of metal. As I had always wanted a better cleaver, we looked more closely at the 4 piece knife set that consisted of the 1 cleaver knife, 1 Santoku knife, 1 utility Knife and 1 steak Knife. 




The above knives were available in yellow, blue and purple. I held the sample cleaver to get a feel of its handle. The grip was comfortable and the cleaver was not heavy (unlike the one I had at home). The blade of the cleaver was thin enough to do slicing job too. So we bought one set at the offer price of $17.99 (usual price was $24.99).

These two days, I had tried the cleaver knife to slice some vegetables as well as to chop the bones of a raw duck. It was relatively easy to use compared to another cleaver that I had. :)



Monday 8 July 2013

Hoover Floormate Spinscrub H3060

At the time when Sera started to walk, I was concerned about her slipping on the wet floor whenever I mopped the floor. When I saw the Scooba floor washer from iRobot, I was very much tempted to buy it. However, I was not too sure if it could clean well and whether it was durable. So I did some research on the internet. I read some reviews which said that one had to change the spare parts of Scooba every year to keep it going. Hmm, I would not want to spend $1000+ on something that may not last for more than 1 year.

Then I came across a review which talked about the Hoover Floormate. That got me interested. It had almost the same functions as the Scooba except that it was not robotic. The Hoover Floormate can also be used to vacuum (dry vac), scrub (wash) and dry (wet pickup) non-carpeted surfaces such as vinyl, tiles, marble and sealed wood. It cost below US$200 (excluding delivery).  I had not seen anything like this for home use in any retail store in Singapore. What impressed me even more was the dual tank technology which I will explain later. 

I ordered from an online seller from the United States (US). Actually, that was a very big risk because I wasn't even sure if the Hoover Floormate could be used in Singapore. The Hoover Floormate was manufactured for the US market so it used an electrical voltage of 120 V and frequency of 60 Hz. In Singapore, we use 230 V electrical voltage and frequency of 50 Hz.

After I received the product, we went to buy a step down transformer from a shop at Sim Lim Square. This lowered the electrical voltage to 120 V. Voila! It worked perfectly. Apparently the difference in the frequency did not affect the performance of the Hoover Floormate.


Transformer
Plug inserted into the transformer's socket
Hoover Floormate Spinscrub H3060
From the picture above, you can see that there is a mode selector dial at the side of this machine. You can choose between 3 modes - Dry Vac, Wash and Wet Pickup - just by turning the dial. The Hoover Floormate has 2 tanks. The upper tank holds detergent and water that is to be dispersed on the surface to be cleaned.  The lower tank collects the dirty water using the wet pickup mode (unlike a normal mop that tends to spread some dirty water on the floor). 

What I liked about this product was that we can vacuum, wash and dry the same area at the same time using the same machine and then move on to the next area. Compare this to using a mop where I have to vacuum the whole house first before mopping it (it is too troublesome to switch between 2 equipment to vacuum and mop the same area at the same time), the Hoover Floormate is more convenient. Of course, I also liked the fact that dirty water was separated from the clean water. 

My purchase of the Hoover floormate came with a small bottle of detergent to be used for floor washing. The instruction manual said we cannot use cleaning concentrates that contain solvent based ingredients. I have already finished using the Hoover floormate detergent a long time ago. Now I use the floor detergent from Magic Clean and it still worked perfectly. 

What I did not like about the Hoover Floormate was that it was a bit difficult to change directions when using the machine. It took me some time to get used to it. After 4 years, it is still in good working condition. 

I have noticed that this model was not available for sale anymore. Hoover has newer and improved models of the Hoover Floormate. If you are residing in Singapore and are considering to get one, you can get a step down transformer to work with your Hoover products. :)

Note: This step down transformer can work with any appliances that use 120V and frequency of 50hz to 60Hz. Check with the person selling the transformer before buying it.