Great Singapore Sale!

Sold! Sold! Sold!

That was what happened most of time today.

All three of us went to "Licensed 2 Play" sale at Singapore Expo to get two electronics items we already eyed for some time but only got the opportunity to buy it because the prices have become rock bottom at the annual nation-wide Great Singapore Sale.

Wifey wanted a new camcorder... something that is light and virtually with no techno hassle to remember. There are many choices but we did not narrow down to one until we saw the two-page advert in the newspapers.

The one we bought in year 2000 for our family vacation to Europe was a JVC GR-DVX40. It was costly then as we splurged a S$1,990.00 as an investment for our family moments posterity.

A wonderful and still working camcorder that uses a MiniDV cassette tape. Its decade-old technology has served us well. The camcorder has tagged along and captured many happy moments during our yearly faraway family vacations throughout these years.

Sonny needed a new laptop. Conveniently, the last one he got, a Packard Bell ALP Ajax C2, broke down several times before it finally gave way for good a few days after its warranty of 3 years expired!


We have the option to send it for a third party repairs, after the official recommendation by Packard Bell's service centre to scrap it and get a new one since it will cost a little over S$700.00 to replace its motherboard... essentially the major part of the whole notebook.

The third party repair at Sim Lim Tower will cost us S$200.00 with a month warranty. I guess that is the best bet to have it working again at least than chucking it down the rubbish chute.

As for me, there was nothing techno to buy, only organic. My beloved Durantas have been displaying beautiful velvety-purple flowers and attracting many sunbirds throughout the day for its orange fruits. Unfortunately, it also attracted white mealy bugs that infected two planters.

Many attempts to rid it off the plants proved futile. It then infected other neighbouring plants as well. It saddens me to see the state now from the once striking blooms in the whole block to one with is full blown infection!

I want my beautiful corridor garden back. I want to feel happy and relaxed whenever I reach home! My garden at my front door is the first thing I see when I reach home. I consider it a symbol of serenity... home is where the heart is.

We stepped into the event hall at Singapore Expo just half hour after it opened at 11am. Already hordes of bargain hunters were already there!

True to its intention, the place was loud with hour sales and knockdown prices promotions announced by the numerous booths.


We checked out Acer i3 330M laptops that went for S$799.00 but the limited number of sets was already sold out! The current offer price at the fair was S$1,099.00, lower than the usual price outside the fair.

We went around the hall several times, searching for our target items with our bargain prices in mind. We found many other better configurations with prices being offered and worth considering.

We completed our scouting phase but left confused with the many options that were opened to us, we had to take a break for lunch before we making our decision.

A Burger King meal later, we continued our shopping with our buying phase...

Wifey got her lightweight and petite camcorder, a love at first sight for her!

Not larger or thicker than a cell phone, she settled for another JVC CG-FM1 HD Camcorder that can slip into a pocket easily. A high-definition video that uses Secure Digital Memory Card and doubles as an 8 megapixel still picture camera was selling for S$199.00.

It was bundled with another piece of 8GB SD card, mini tripod and a set of cleaning kit.

After ten years, all is miniaturized to 1 tenth of its original form... from the larger size to a cell phone type that fits right in your palm, so too is the price.

The weight has trimmed to about the same amount too. The hand needs to be strapped on to the camcorder strap with the palm supporting its weight. The hand will get tired and shaky after operating it for longer periods. This new camcorder needs only fingers to hold and operate.

What remained about the same is the hours of video recording both has... about 2 hours on a single charge.

What is larger though, is the video resolution. From the pixilated movies when viewed from our Sharp Aquos 32 Inch LCD TV we had for the past five years.
Next was Sonny's laptop.


We decided on Lenovo's i7 720QM Game Laptop instead of the Acer i5 550M that was selling for S$1,398.00, simply because its CPU set is the latest and fastest. With dedicated nVidia GeForce GT240 1GB graphics card, it frees up further its already bloated 4GB DDR3 SDRAM onboard.


A large capacity 500GB harddisk and a high-definition display screen of 15.6 Inch packs a hefty weight, tipped at 2.5 KG. Its IT Sale price was a surprising S$1,299.00 from the usual S$2,499.00... a "S$1,200.00 cash off" offer!

Everybody left the hall happy with his or her own new toy.

I, for one, just want my garden... we left for the nursery near Tanah Merah MRT station but that is another post entirely because it will be beautiful when I am done with it and be very happy with my accomplishment.


Well, the garden and my own techno gadget. I did not get any today but am just happy that mine will come eventually... the Apple iPad Wifi-3G! That will be mine when it is launched in Singapore in July 2010.