My Top 10 Best Bargain Buys

Who says good things can't be cheap? :)

I love bargain hunting! Even though all those books on keeping your finances in check always warn you never to buy during sales etc. I usually can't resist. Here are my Top 10 Best Bargain Buys! In no particular order of preference.

1. 3/4 length white terry cloth pants - RM25 from FOS



I have always been a fan of Juicy Couture track suits. This pair of pants, I must say, comes close to the terry cloth track pants they sell at Juicy. What I love most is that it's low waist, something that I look for in all pants I buy (I cannot stand having the waist band dig into my belly!). It's also super comfortable, being terry cloth, without it getting too hot when I wear it out. It's supposed to be Old Navy brand as well, but tags were cut so couldn't confirm.

2. Nike Sports bra - RM24.50



It's no secret that I go to the gym everyday. And for ladies, you definitely need proper support. I've tried other brands before, but I always find Nike has the nicest, most comfortable, and supportive sports bras out there.
The original price for this was RM149, and it was on 50% sale. I had an RM50 voucher, and voila! I got it for RM24.50 :)

3. Carrefour make up removing wipes - RM0.80 for a pack of 10 wipes



I'm pretty fuss free, so I don't wear make up on a daily basis. Just maybe once a week? I know, sad for someone my age. But still, when I do, it'll be on a weekend and I'll get back home late. Tired and lazy, the best make up removal option for me is to use wipes.
I've used quite a few brands prior to this and all have served its purpose relatively well, but at a price of RM16 for maybe 20 wipes?
I am totally fine using house brands, and make no mistake, this one works just as well as the other more expensive brands, at a fraction of the cost! Plus, since I don't use it often, it can stay moist even after it's been opened for a long, long time.

Note: This, and other brands, does not seem to be effective against removing waterproof make up ie. mascara, but I team it up with baby oil and it works fantastically. Will blog more on that later.

4. SK II Body Designer - RM74.40



The most expensive of my Top 10, but one of my favourites! I think this has been discontinued, but it has got to be the best body lotion ever! IMHO. I bought two 250ml bottles at 70% discount (obviously via staff sales). Original price? RM248.
What I love about it is that I have perpetually dry skin, and upon application, it immediately makes my skin really soft and supple, without it being greasy at all! It has a slight rosey fragrance to it, which is lovely, as one wouldn't want to walk around smelling like Pitera. Pitera isn't disgustingly pungent, but its fragrance does take some getting used to.

5. Bling bling hair clips - RM1 each from Shenzhen



Super huge haul! The hair clips are so blinged out, of relatively good quality and super cheap. With inflation and all, I was surprised that we could still find things this cheap in China. I got these and a ton of other things including cute butterfly and lobster magnets. If you're ever in Shenzhen, look out for the 2 Yuan shop. I can't for the life of me, remember the street the shop was on. The total damage on the hair accessories purchased above? RM11. What a steal!

6. Multi- purpose pouches - RM5 each from Jatujak Market



These were cute, I couldn't resist getting them! They're of a relatively good size, about 5 inches in length and 4 in height (though I could be wrong, amongst the many things I cannot do, accurate estimation is one of them). They come together with the dangly bits on the zip, and are currently used to store the bits and bobs I usually have scattered around my handbag. JJ market is a complete maze though, so I doubt I could find the stall that was selling this again :(

7. Over-sized bag - RM10 from Times Square



I absolutely love this bag to bits! The exterior is woven in pretty pastel colours, and the interior has ample space to throw in all the garbage I like to lug around at times. I also use it as an overnight bag, as it can store all my clothes and toiletries without being bulky. Surprisingly, it hasn't fallen apart (like the other cheap bags I've bought in the past) and is in pretty much the same condition I bought it, despite my mistreating it.

8. Casual dress - RM10 from Times Square



I bought this from Silver Trend in Times Square. It looks better on me than on the hanger, though. Silver Trend sells everything in their store for RM10, and sometimes you can find really nice buys there :) I love this dress - this is my first casual one. On its virgin outing, it already garnered some compliments from friends :) I liked this so much, I went and bought two others:


9. Low-rise, corduroy pants - RM7 from FOS Warehouse Sale



Ok, to be completely honest, I only bought these because they were cheap. I was going through the warehouse sale, and this was the first item I picked up. Saw the price tag, and 7 bucks for a pair of long pants of decent quality is DIRT CHEAP can die. So it was a no brainer, I brought it home. And tried it. AND FELL IN LOVE WITH IT! Fits like a charm and is low rise (I like!). I FINALLY have another outfit option besides jeans! :)

10. Racer back singlets - RM5 each



I have like a hundred of these, in different colours and patterns. NO JOKE. Not only are they cheap, they're versatile, and they don't shrink or get screwed up in the wash. If I'm not dressed to go to the gym, chances are I'll be wearing one of these. Anyway, I have practically a 3 month supply of them, even if I wear a different one every day. I liked these SO MUCH that I now sell these at the Times Square store, AND I will be creating a shop blog specifically to sell these. Stay tuned for the link if interested. Just sharing the love for my staple clothing :)

Ok, so that's it! My Top 10 Best Bargain Buys. Just goes to show that you CAN get nice things even on a budget. In fact, my entire Top 10 are things you can get for under RM80, with 9 out of 10 things being RM25 and below :) Retail therapy is goooooooddd.......

Almost got robbed - blah!

Ever since stepping out of the corporate world (I think it's been, 4 months?) I have had yet ANOTHER slap across the face on facing reality. This time I've learnt, it's a cruel, cruel world out there. I have lots more to say on that topic, but cutting to the chase, let me share my yet another awful experience at the shop.

This time, I was at Times Square, alone.

A Middle Eastern guy came into the shop to browse some t-shirts. He looked pretty well off, was wearing a nice long sleeved button shirt, almost business man like. But then again, looks can be deceiving. The weird thing was, he kept panning the shop, concentrating most on the ceiling.

"Gee, he looks like he's looking for a CCTV" I thought to myself.

I couldn't be more correct, and my suspicions were proven awhile later.

He pulled a shirt off the rack, and said he wanted to buy it. BUT he only just landed in Malaysia, and had ONLY USD. He then opened his wallet, showing a nicely rubber-banded stack of $100 notes (which I suspect were fake). So then he asked whether if he could pay me $100, could I give him the balance in Ringgit?

I said no. And asked him to go to a money changer.

He then said he wanted to see what Malaysian money looked like (wtf?!)

Feeling even MORE suspicious, but decided not to be too paranoid, I pulled out RM10 out of my pouch, and held onto it tightly for him to examine. He asked to see a RM50 note, and I showed it to him, holding onto it tightly again. He then asked me to show him a NEW RM50 note, while tugging at the old one in my hand.

He found out the hard way I wasn't going to let go of it, and proceeded to stuff his hand into my pouch and grab the stack of cash inside. I was outraged! Who on Earth has the audacity to do such a thing??

He started speaking in Arabic to me, trying to point out some things on the RM50 note he "supposedly" wanted me to see. And while distracting me, carefully stuffed RM300 from my stack into his pocket.

But not quick enough. I noticed, and since I was in a shopping mall, I wasn't afraid this time.

I pointed at his pocket and demanded loudly, "Give me back my money".

Luckily, he gave it back, and insisted he wanted only to exchange his USD with me. I asked him yet again to go to a money changer.

Apologizing profusely, he left.

I wonder how many other people he scammed. 3 things this time, tripped the alarm bells in my head:

1. Who checks out the damn ceiling in a shop?
2. If he JUST landed in Malaysia with no Ringgit, how on Earth did he end up in Times Square? Fly there? As far as I remember, technology here isn't that advanced that taxi cabs can accept credit cards.
3. A foreigner that has NEVER seen Malaysian money before, knows that there's a new RM50 note out. Wow, way to go, you psychic or something?

I was lucky this time, that I got my money back. And this lesson made me realize that I need to take more precautionary measures to prevent this and other unwanted things from happening in the future. For all small boutique owners out there, PLEASE take note and learn from my lesson.

Theft in our store - left me traumatised.

*Warning, long ass rant ahead*

Ok, I'm now going to relate to anyone who would listen, exactly what happened yesterday which has haunted me vividly until now. (Plus, writing is very therapeutic so yay for me!)

Two guys from Sabah, Malaysia came up to the shop.



A mish-mash of pictures. The shop doesn't look like this now, layout has changed.

Coincidentally, Gwee had to run off to the post office. It's Puasa month; they close at 5pm. So these two guys looked around, and one of them passed me two tee shirts - he wanted to buy them and paid on the spot and said,"I'll look around some more, but give me a big plastic bag. I'm going back hometown tomorrow and I want to carry clothes".

That was warning bell number one.

So I did. He went around and picked up another t-shirt, and this time paid too much for it. He asked me to keep the change first, as he'll pick out another shirt. He finally did so, but asked for me to put this last shirt in a different bag - it was for his friend. He took the big bag and proceeded to browse.

He then went behind a rack where he knew I couldn't see him from where I was and proceeded to open the plastic bag (rustling sounds, can tell) and supposedly "count off" how many shirts he had bought.

Warning bell number two.

I quickly rushed over to him, and found an empty hanger on the rack with "RM330" printed on it. I wasn't too sure what to do, and to make matters worse, a couple of his other friends came up at that time. I was sooo itching and dying to say "Let me look in your bag, I know you took my hoodie". But because I was worried about losing more than the hoodie (Maybe they would get violent? Rob me? Run away? I don't know but I didn't think at THAT time it was worth the risk), I didn't confront the idiot. A slight distraction by his friends asking about other clothes was enough for the guy to slip the empty hanger off the rack, pretending it wasn't there in the first place.

But it was too late. I knew he stole my hoodie.

They left. I contemplated chasing after them, confronting them in public to avoid any probable bodily harm, but I was in shock. I was still unsure of what tot do. And because of that shock, it prevented me from preventing a theft. I don't know whether it was out of self-preservation, or stupidity that I had let them get away with it.

I was alone in a 2nd floor shoplot with no one occupying the floors below, and workers occupying the floor above. I was alone, with 3-4 guys who were taller, and stronger than me. I did what I thought best at that time.

But that wasn't enough...I could have prevented it.

I will never stop hating myself for that, and I doubt I ever could. Gwee reassures me that the theft wasn't too big and at least I wasn't hurt, so that's alright. It doesn't, however, stop the deep, fiery rage that is slowly, but surely building deep inside of me. My dreams are filled with violence; my fury so blinding that I am only satisfied when these guys get their well-deserved retribution.

I understand there are several stages you go through when you have experienced something like this ie. trauma, but it looks like acceptance will be something I will never achieve. I am still distraught, and to be honest, I know this is a small and petty thing, but I WANT to see those guys get what they deserve, and I will stop at NOTHING to prove to them that they shouldn't have messed with me...