The Bargain Hunter

I was enumerating to a friend my latest bargain purchase when she told me I am the best bargain hunter she knew!!! This made me realize that indeed, I am always on a look out for the best buys - whether it be on the internet or at the shops. I have a favorite site - ozbargain.com.au which list all shops/products/sites that are having a sale as of the moment. I also check out Missy Confidential and Vogue forums for some bargain tips.

So, I present to you my recent bargain finds which saved me a few hundred dollars:

 

Oroton Large Tote Bag (my gift to myself after completing my CPA)

Original Price: $495

Got it for: $153.50
Where: Oroton Online
Savings: 69% (should have been 70% but I have to pay shipping cost which is still cheaper than going to the shop and queueing for hours! Seriously, this is such an overpriced Australian brand that everytime they're on sale, people would go nuts. I would only buy it if they are on sale).

Wittner Shoes
Original Price: $189.90
Got it for: $20.00
Where: Wittner Shop - Town Hall (special thanks to Lynn for coming with me. She bought her very nice sandals here for only $10!).
Savings: 89%

Guess Stilletos
Original Price:$169
Got it for: $50
Where: Guess Online
Savings:70%

RMK
Original Price: $109
Got it for: $49
Where: Myer Wespoint
Savings: 55%

welcome to the latest additions to my stills! summer be quick so I can use these pretty little things. =)



-yes, I am a certified bagaholic and shoe-a-holic. =)

CPA Certificate Ceremony

After three years of (not-so) hardwork and anti-social mode a week leading to exam day, I finally finished my CPA program and got my certificate yesterday. The event was held at Shangri-la Ballroom with the CPA NSW Division President handing out the HUGE paper to us. My dear supportive hubby was with me to celebrate this momentous occassion and of course to be my photographer. But instead of pushing the click the button when it was my turn to accept the certificate, he instead turned the camera off! We still managed to get a few decent shots so all is well.

To reward myself, I bought an Oroton bag online, onsale at 70% off! wohoo... just waiting for it to be delivered next week, can't wait.

ps - my hair is 'tamed', thanks to the flat iron i bought (not GHD coz I can't bear to part with $300 so I purchased a GHD-like flat iron at half the price). =)

pps - I love my dress! A very good buy from my favorite store. Bought two dresses since they had a buy one get the second one at half the price. I am a sucker for bargain products haha.

ppps - Zara opened yesterday at Westfield. I was about to join the long queue but after the linesperson said it'll be a 45minute-minimum-wait in the line, I gave up my spot. I will just come back when the hype died down already.

Nympha's Hen's Night and my being a Manang =)

Saturday night was Nympha's hen's night scheduled a few months in advanced. I asked Agie if I can join the girls and will just sleep over at Lynn's place because it'll be too late for me to travel home alone from the City. We booked at Studs Afloat - a four-hour harbour cruise with food, drinks dancing and of course gorgeous studs who gave 'Brides to Be' an unforgettable sexy show. =)

I saw a dress in Parramatta a week earlier, the dress is kinda revealing but I thought I could pull it off. I also saw a very nice shoes that's perfect for the dress (and perfect for jeans too!!). These are very good buys because they are all discounted, the dress at 50% off and the shoes at 70%, such a bargain.

The bridal shower started at 12noon but I only arrived at 3pm because I had driving lessons in the morning. An hour after arriving, the girls who are not coming to the Studs Afloat left and we started prepping up for the big night.

I asked Perla to curl my hair (thanks Ate!) and Ellyn to do my eye make up. All the girls were glammed up for a night of partying. And it was indeed a very HOT night. No incriminating photos for the bride to be and the rest of the girls, hehe. During the dancing and the 'show' I felt sooo sleepy, and realized I am becoming a Manang!!! I am not used to partying, staying late, drinking and even dancing! I love to dance but when we went to the after party, I just felt so tired that i sat on the couch with Shawie while everyone else is dancing the night away.

with the bride to be, Nympha... I am so taba!!!

partying @ studs afloat

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I had fun at the boat, dancing wiht all the girls. but when we moved to Homebar, I just didn't like the ambiance --- so full of teens, so hazy and with techno music. The time didn't help at all --- at 12 midnight, I was not in the mood for dancing, my eyes started to dry up and I thought my contacts would pop out. After a few minutes, everyone decided to call it a night, hailed a cab and went home.

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I would have enjoyed the party if I was more comfortable with my dress! I am really conservative at heart and I had difficulty working my revealing outfit. hehe. I carried flats with me so when we started walking, I changed to my comfortable shoes. Those who did not think ahead decided to ditch the stilletos and walked barefoot! haha.

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The girls still have the saturday night hangover, judging by their comments to the private photos posted in FB soon after. =)

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My new Sunnies

Agie and I went to have oral prophylaxis in Ashfield today because our entitlements from our health insurance will expire by the end of the year. We also dropped by the Optometrist to get our glasses.

Getting a prescription shades is too expensive and I don't need another transition lenses right now. But I do want a nice sunglasses!!! I asked (very subtly, of course, hahaha) the Chinese guy there if I can get a regular shades instead of a prescription one. He was hesitant at first (bawal nga kasi!) but in the end, he relented.

So, I went home with a new Burberry Sunnies. :D

What a day

Today was a scheduled shopping day for me, Lynn, Vien and Vans. We have been wanting to visit a factory outlet in Parramatta that sells winter clothes at a much cheaper price, almost 50% off the rack price.

Joyride
Parammatta is a suburb West of Sydney, and going there, I can either take the bus, train or ferry. I was looking forward to the ferry ride but the trip that will go direct to Parramatta from the City leaves after 12 noon, and I will be too late for my 1pm appointment with my friends. I ended up taking the bus --- it took me all of one hour and twenty minutes from Chatswood to Parramatta but I enjoyed the view. I got to see Macquarie University, the beautiful houses along the streets, great scenery, weird and funny people and so much more. It was my first time to travel that route and I would love to do it again. Too bad I didn’t have the camera with me.

Bargain
The Factory Outlet Building we went to was noticeably empty --- not a good sign. Most of the shops are close while those who have goods to sell are not really selling them at dirt-cheap prices. To top it all, Paddington Coat Factory is nowhere to be found!!! It was really a sad day for us coz we were so looking forward to our Winter shopping but we went home empty handed…almost.

There was an athletic store that had a vast inventory of shoes and other athletic gadgets that we chanced upon. I went directly to the pile of “1 for $3 or 2 for $5” shoes. I saw a size 5 Sketcher shoes in the pile but when I saw the price, it was marked down to $15 from the original $50 price. Since I am unsure of the exact price (if it was $15 or $3), I asked the cashier and he informed me it was for $3. Without hesitation, I gave him three dollars pronto to pay off the shoes. After punching the sale, he then told me that it was really a $15 shoes but he gave it to me for $3 --- “thank you Mr. Cashier!”, you made my day!

my $3 Sketchers

Near Accident
We concluded our shopping at around 5pm coz all stores are now closing (this is the downside here in Oz, shops close early… weekdays, shops close at 6pm, except for Thursday, which is a shopping night, where operating hours are until 9pm. Saturdays they trade until 5 pm, while Sunday is the worst when shopping is over by 4pm --- made me miss Manila where Midnight Madness happens every so often).

Going home, I took the train since it would be faster (took me about an hour) and safer as well.

When I alighted at Artarmon, I noticed that the train is a little far from the pathway, creating a gap. As I was walking towards the exit, a man suddenly shouted “No! No!” and another one started running towards the middle shouting “Stop! Stop!” --- signaling the conductor not to close the doors, lest the train will start moving. Another person run towards the driver and said stop. In all the commotion, I thought that someone must have fainted or tripped while alighting the train but it was worse than that --- a little girl, around 4 or 5 years old, actually fell down the train tracks. Good thing her father was quick enough to shout that people reacted and helped in notifying the train persons. The father scooped the girl from the tracks and she was just crying her heart out, her father just hugged her and everyone helped them to safety. I couldn’t imagine what could have happened to the girl if the train moved so quickly or if no one helped or if the father’s reflexes were not that good. I shudder at the thought… I felt really sad and teary eyed thinking of the worst case scenarios… The train, which normally departs a minute after arrival, departed after around 5 minutes. I just hope the little girl is now okay.

Earth Hour

Today, at 7:30 pm, we participated in 60 minutes of total darkness -- well not really total darkness coz my computer was turned on. :-)

At 7:30 pm on 31 March 2007, we are inviting Sydney to turn off its lights for just one hour - Earth Hour -to show that it's possible to take action on global warming.

WWF-Australia and The Sydney Morning Herald are asking all of Sydney - its companies, government departments, individuals and families - to turn off their lights for just one hour. It's a simple action if everyone takes aprt, sending a powerful message that we care about the future of the planet. Click http://earthhour.smh.com.au to read the rest of the story.

We took part in it and hope our little contribution will go a long way.

What a nice activity to wrap up my day. :-)