Having a stay-cation with the wifey for this weekend

Having a stay-cation with the wifey for this weekend.

Just booked an impromptu stay-cation at Ascott Raffles Place this weekend with my wife to surprise her. Will be staying for 2 nights at the property right smack in the middle of the Central Business District of Singapore. 

Well, it is sort of a pre-Valentine date warm up, and plus, it is way cheaper to celebrate Valentine's Day ahead and in advance of the actual day itself. 

There will be wining, and dining, and as a bonus. We are also arranging for a dinner date with two of our single friends of the opposite sex, with the hope of match making them. 

Well, the lady, who is a friend of my wife, just broke up recently with her boyfriend. The guy friend, a long time friend of mine, is just plain single for like a really long time. Think it's time they meet and get to know 1 new friend. 

No pressures. If it doesn't pan out, well, it's just meeting one new friend, and a casual dinner event. If they like each other from the first meeting, well, the onus is up to them to carry this forward. Maybe plan something for the upcoming Valentine's Day. 

For other singles out there, get your ass out there this Valentine's Day, and make the magic work, or work the magic. 

For everything else, there's iWish. 

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg

Love at First Sight

Love at First Sight

I am a Singaporean who has never been to Thailand before. She was a Thai who has been to Singapore once when she was very young. That fateful day, 18 Jul 2007, we were gathering at a ferry terminal to board a ferry bound for Bintan for our company's induction program. That was where I met her for the very first time.

My first impression was that she looked stunning. Long black hair, beautiful face, slender long legs that goes on forever. I had to introduce myself to her, that was when I started the conversation with a remark on a flower brooch she had pinned on her bag – lousy starting line, I know. Well, it worked, and that was then when we talked about where we came from and everything else under the sun literally.

That first conversation led to many more, including me sitting just next to her during one of the team dinners. At the dinner, she briefly mentioned that her birthday was actually the next day, and so I surprised her during breakfast the next day with a muffin and a candle, taken from the buffet table. I guess I was being too straightforward and obvious in my additional liking towards her, and so my fellow Singaporean colleagues were making fun of me throughout the entire induction program in Bintan.

After we left Bintan and back to our home country, we still kept in touch through long distance calls, messenger and emails. She must have good thoughts about me too, if not she wouldn't have reciprocated with the calls and emails. One month later, we were sent by our company to study in Copenhagen, Denmark for 2 weeks. We met on the plane as planned, and went for our first date when we landed. The 2 weeks saw us getting closer, discussing the studies every night, chatting till late into the night. The unfamiliar country, the stresses of being away from home and the comfort in having someone familiar to spend time with must have helped. We officially became lovers during the study trip. Unfortunately, the study trip had to end, and we returned to our home country.

I missed her so much that I booked a flight to Bangkok immediately a few days after I got back, and went on my first ever solo trip and my first ever trip to Thailand. She brought me around town for the few days and I knew immediately, she is the one! Long distance phone calls, daily skype calls into the night, frequent monthly trips to Bangkok, millions of emails exchanges finally led me to the following…

In the middle of 2011, I got permission from her parents and officially proposed while I was in Bangkok. She agreed and preparation is underway for our double wedding dinner celebrations both in Singapore and Bangkok. We got married in 24 Nov 2011.

Today, we are happily married and we've just celebrated our third wedding anniversary.

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg

Start living simply, and simply start living.

Before you start to want things you do not have, make sure you appreciate the things you do have. 

In essence, it just means we need to stop wanting more, and instead, start enjoying more of what we already have in our possession. 

Start living simply, and simply start living. 

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg

Something, anything, is better than nothing at all

Attending the Straits Times Digital Life Award 2015 at Funan DigitaLife Mall in the afternoon. 

Great IT prizes are going to be given out. 

I've taken a look at the prizes listing, it looks enticing. 

Too bad I am not in the running for it, neither do I know how do one qualify to be considered for it...

I guess I can only list the items on my wish list, and hope my loved ones pick up the direct hint, and get me something. 

Something, anything, is better than nothing at all. 

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg

Always show your appreciation and gratitude

Watched Mocking Jay Part 1 over the weekend. 

Taken note of a theme that was playing throughout the movie. 

To win the War, you need to capture the hearts and minds of the people. 

Well, I think this theme applies to many aspects of our life as well. 

However, some may have lost the plot...

Win battles, but lose the war. 

Read a story on facebook as well, that went something like this:

Mum spent a hard day at work, returned home, and made dinner for the family. 

Somehow, mum overcooked and charred the chicken. 

During dinner, dad just picked up the charred and overcooked piece of chicken and ate it, no complains, no comments. 

Mum even apologised for overcooking the chicken. 

Dad however said, honey, I love chicken with some charring. 

Later that night, when tucking the kid into bed, the kid asked dad if he really liked charred chicken or was he pretending. 

To which dad replied that eating the charred chicken hurt no one, but harsh words will hurt, and besides, mum worked a hard day at work and even put in effort to cook us dinner, so the least we can do is to appreciate her efforts and eat the dinner. 

To this, the kid learnt a valuable lesson. 

Harsh words hurt people. 

Always show your appreciation and gratitude. 

Same theme goes to gifting. 

Sometimes, it is not the actual gift that matters, it is the thought that truly counts. 

And an unexpected gift, goes a long way...

To win the hearts and minds of your gift recipients, surprise them with a thoughtful gift today. It need not be extravagant, need not be expensive. It just have to be thoughtful and sincere. 

Happy gifting!

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg

Valentine's Day Gifting Made Easy!

Almost 3 weeks to go to Valentine's Day. 

What will you be giving to your loved one? 

What will you be giving to your secret crush?

What will you be hoping to receive?

Any gift that will make your day?

Stay tuned as we curate interesting gift ideas especially for this Valentine's Day. 

For the season of love. 

For one, we have a few gift ideas to start you off:

1. Hand-made DIY says it best

2. Something very personal that only the two of you know

3. Something heartfelt, which says how you feel for the other person

4. Practical gifts where both of you can enjoy

5. Cash/Vouchers - so that your loved one can go get himself/herself a desired gift

6. Something real expensive - signalling effect that you can provide for the family

7. An SG50 baby!

8. Couple coupons - eg. wash the dishes, clear the trash, clean the toilet, a good back massage, etc...

9. A romantic date - leave the kids with your parents, spend the day with your loved one, indulge in couple time, doing couple activities

10. Nostalgia date - bring him/her to reminiscence the good old days, like where you first met, where you had your first kiss with each other, the place where you proposed etc. 

If you have any other romantic gift ideas on how to make Valentine's Day a special and memorable day, do give us more ideas to add to the list. 

Good things are worth sharing, isn't it?

#iWish

iWish - Valentine's Day Gifting Made Easy!

www.iwish.com.sg 

The rise of e-commerce

The rise of e-commerce. 

With the increase use of technology and technological advancements made in recent years, e-commerce platforms are sprouting up everywhere. 

What makes e-commerce so appealing and what distinct advantages does it have over the traditional brick and mortar shops?

For one, e-commerce achieves the Anytime, Anywhere maxim. Shoppers are able to access websites/apps/platforms anytime and anywhere, as long as he/she has an internet connection. 

In comparison, the brick and mortar shops are limited by their fixed location, their physical store is only at one particular location (unless it is a chain store and has stores in all corners of Singapore), and operates only during limited operational hours (unless again it operates a 24 hours establishment). Brick and mortar shops are also burdened with the logistical and storage costs of their inventory, and having to pay relatively high rental for the use of the shop space. Also, they need to hire staff to man the operations, check the inventory, do customer service, and do the actual retailing. 

All these high overhead costs, the e-commerce platform has none or very little exposure to it. All it costs is a one time fee to set up a website, incur the hosting fee and maybe annual maintenance fees. Oh, if the platform handles payment, it need to host a payment gateway, which will take a % cut from the online purchases made. What about the logistics part? Well, that is a massive headache, and if you can solve that with a viable and cost effective solution, you're on your way to e-commerce heaven. Did I also mention the need to do heavy marketing to acquire a large user base? Well, that is another large piece of the puzzle. Many e-commerce platforms are still figuring out what works. Oh, and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), you've got to figure out what works and make it work for you too. 

At the end of the day, you got to find the right solution and need and that will inform you on the best choice of retailing. Is it the e-commerce route, or the brick and mortar way? 

Well, for iWish, we are going the e-commerce route. 

Wish us success on this journey. 

Leveraging on technology as an enabler for gifting.

#iWish

iWish - Gifting Made Easy! (electronically)

www.iwish.com.sg