I'm a full-time mummy

I came across this tweet message looking for Malay bloggers to review kitchen tool products and as a Malaysian, this is one step easier to pitch for products to review since Malay means most likely the PR or sponsor is in Malaysia! Anyway, I replied the Tweet asking whether they are OK with Chinese bloggers as well, and to my surprise, I received a reply saying mummy bloggers all welcome and we continued our communication via emails and the rest is history!

I received 2 pairs of scissors for my review: one for kitchen use, and the other for children's use, which you can read my rave reviews here. So here goes my final review of the "Scotch™ Premium Kitchen Scissors":

Description from the product page:
"3M’s new Scotch™ premium kitchen scissors are produced from Japanese-made stainless steel which has been treated using 3M’s unique electro-polishing process for superior smoothness in comparison to generic stainless steel. This means there are fewer ridges and rough spots on the blade surface, which can trap food residue and breed bacteria. It also enhances the material’s ability to resist corrosion.

3M’s unique electro-polishing process makes Scotch™ premium kitchen scissors more hygienic for safer food preparation which is really important to everyone. The micro-serrated blades also add on an extra level of sharpness, making it easier for everyone to cut through meat and bones or to snip fresh herbs and fruits! Many of us take great care in preparing quality food for our family, so tools that aid in safe and hygienic food preparation are always welcomed by Malaysians.

With the Scotch™ premium kitchen scissors, slicing, trimming, and shaping food is simply a breeze! It’s time to get creative in the kitchen as it’s now so simple to shape food into fun images to whet the appetites of the little ones or to impress the guests. For greater agility and to get things done faster, you no longer have to worry about using a cutting board. Using a pair of high quality kitchen scissors can give you a great time cutting your way through vegetables, meat and anything else your recipe calls for."

Honestly, when I saw this scissors, I told my MIL and hubby "OK, you guys go ahead and try this scissors out then just before you want to use, call me, I want to take pictures for my blog review!" - I have to be honest, I was skeptical at using scissors to cut meat! I mean, hellooooo, scissors?!!!!

So yeah, I told myself let others be guinea pigs ngek ngek ngek... But it sat there unused as MIL forgotten about it and hubby was too busy with his work, so I decided to try it out myself as I have to submit my honest feedback in my blog for you guys to read!!!!

Now before I go ahead, I just want to share my opinion on this scissors. It is quite heavy but not that heavy that you need two hands to hold it, when I said heavy I'm actually comparing it to normal scissors hahaha... I love the sturdy grip on the handles, the solid materials of the handles and I'm impressed that there is not many ridges on the blades as this will mean less food will be trapped in the blades.

And you see the rounded ridges between the 2 handles? That is a multifunction feature where you can use the scissors to open bottles! Cool eh?

How I tried out this scissors? I had to wait for our next grocery shopping (every fortnight) and once I got hold of my chicken meats (I planned to use some for roasting and some for frying), I wash the chicken meats, also wash the scissors as well. Then I muttered a prayer hoping that this is going to work and started sniping gently.

To my absolute surprise, the meat cuts off ever so gently! I was amazed at what I saw! The chicken meat just fell off easily as I snip and snip and snip. I got all excited and I think that's how my 3 year old felt too when he realised he could easily cut papers with his Kids scissors!

The scissors is magnificent! I even try cutting by few milimeters just to see whether it is good enough to cut small amount of meat and yes, works wonderfully! So good and excited I was that I took the scissors, the chicken meat I was holding and the container storing the cut meats and demonstrated it to my MIL.

She too went 'Whoaaaa... that was easy! Next time can use scissors to cut meat!' So people, this scissors is MIL approved too! Hehehehe!!

I tried with fish the next day and it cuts smoothly as ever. So so so easy!

My verdict of this scissors? No doubts about it, this scissors pack a punch and YES, it cuts meat like a scissors cut papers! Smooth and easy! Love love love it!

The new Scotch™ premium kitchen scissors retails at RM35.90 (about USD12) and is available at all major supermarkets, hypermarkets and DIY stores.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product by 3M in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

Almost 3 weeks ago, my family and I finally found the time to check out this shop as part of my upcoming product reviews (coming soon!)

You have no idea how excited we all were to be able to review the shoes from Skechers! Woohooo! This is like one of the pinnacles of my blogging journey! Read on to know more on our shopping experience there!

About the company/brand:
"SKECHERS originated from a south California slang, which means "energetic youngsters". SKECHERS designs, develops and markets a diverse range of footwear for men, women and children. Born in a small beachside California community in 1992, SKECHERS has grown from a one-style, one-building company to be one of the world famous footwear brands. SKECHERS is now the No.2 footwear brand in the United States (according to Sporting Goods Intelligence) and was named Company of the Year by Footwear Plus for the 5th time in 6 years (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010).

The Skechers Fitness Group have also hit the market by storm in the rapid growing toning footwear market and has captured 60% market share of the U.S. toning market in 2010. Shape-ups was named "Launch of the Year 2009" by Footwear News. Skechers has also partnered with renowned celebrities including Britney Spears, Ashlee Simpson, Christina Aguilera, David Cook. In 2011, Kim Kardashian, Brooke Burke, American Football legend Joe Montana, Basketball Hall of Famer Karl Malone & Hockey Legend Wayne Gretzky represented different collections. In Hong Kong, young singer G.E.M. was the spokesperson followed by superstar Sammi Cheng.

There are now over 500 SKECHERS company owned and franchised or licensed stores in some of the most attractive locations in over 40 countries across 6 continents."

This is the first part of my reviews (I'm starting off with my shopping experience there, followed by each of the shoes we received for our reviews) and I will share my feedback based on the following:

* LOCATION

The outlet in 1 Utama shopping mall is easy to locate (located at LG330A / Lower Ground Floor in the new wing) and you can't miss the shop with its big bright signage. You can look for their other outlets from this website: http://skechers.com.my/store-locator.php

* PRODUCT (DISPLAYS & RANGE)

The shoes are displayed neatly and easy to see. I like the cute little toy dispenser machine right in the middle of the children's shoes display. While one of the staff checked through our records to verify that we have the approval to review the shoes, another staff promptly passed 2 small coins (special for the machine) to my 3 years old boy. My hubby guided Ben to slot in the coins and drew out 2 round containers. Both contains stickers and Ben was thrilled at seeing the stickers and the awesome machine!

I think it is a creative gesture by the company to entertain the little ones! I like the size chart provided and there is also another size chart floor mat for the children's section as well though I think the mat needs a little bit of cleaning due to being used and stepped on a lot of times.

Another feedback that I'd like to add is for the outlet to provide more brochures or leaflets about the shoes (especially latest models). When we were there, only a couple of the latest models have brochures stand next to the displays. The shoes that I got for myself does not have brochures or leaflets at all.

* CUSTOMER SERVICE

I stepped into the outlet and kept quiet as I browsed around, waiting to see how will the staff approach me, you know to test whether they are doing their work or laze around.

Immediately one of the staff approached me and asked whether I need any help. I then explained to him the reason we were at the outlet. While waiting for them to check and verified our IDs to prove that we are the legitimate people to review the shoes, the same staff passed 2 coins to my boy to slot into the toy dispenser machine.

I think it is a thoughtful gesture by the staff as I was already panicking in my mind on how to control my active toddler running around the outlet! Luckily my boy is well-trained not to simply touch things around!

After a few minutes, we were then assisted by another male staff (I remember his name is Amar). Amar explained to us that based on instructions from his management, we were only allowed to select shoes which are not on sale or with discount.

At first we thought 'OK, totally understand, I mean, we are already lucky and blessed enough to be given the chance to select and review Skechers for FREE, must be grateful!' and as I stepped forward to look at one of the shoes on sales, Amar repeated again clearly this time saying that we cannot select shoes on sales or with discounts, meaning, we can only select normal price shoes.

I was GOBSMACKED.

Normal price shoes means newer and even latest models of shoes.

Where on earth can we find awesome company that not only let commoners bloggers like me review their shoes, they even let my family review their shoes as well and on top of that we can only select normal priced items?!

Skechers, you guys totally rock!

You guys have no idea how hard I tried to control my excitement and happiness at hearing that! I told my hubby I felt like those rich people we see on TV that walked into a shop or boutique and just select everything nice and buy it without thinking further! Only difference is we are not paying anything at all! Thank you Skechers! Muakssssss!!

Now back to my feedback on our customer service experience, I am happy to share that the staff are helpful and knowledgeable in their products.

I like that the staff hurried over to get the shoes in the sizes we wanted to try and waited for us patiently while we try and stroll around to test the shoes.

Now, I don't have experience selling shoes but I do have some experience being a sales promoter during my college break days long ago, so one thing I'd like to recommend to the staff and outlet to adopt is to give added touch to their service in the sense that they take the effort to bring other shoe sizes as well to save the extra trips back to the storeroom. Example: If a customer asked for shoe size 6, perhaps the staff can bring along size 5 and size 7 (one smaller and one bigger) as well rather than just bringing the size mentioned by the customer.

I think this will be a value added touch which saves time and help in speeding up the decision making from the customer point. I mean, I would totally be pleasantly touched if I see a staff bringing other shoe sizes as well so that I don't have to feel bad if the sizes I asked for does not fit resulting me in asking the staff to take another size and then wait for the shoes. Instead with the other sizes available right in front of me, I can immediately try them out and decide straight whether I want it or not. This is just my personal opinion.

* ANYTHING PECULIAR OR INTERESTING?

There are a couple of things in the outlet which caught our attention:

1. The giant shoe model at the top of the latest shoes design display area. Ben goes 'Wahhh.. giant shoes!' and told me he wants to try it -_-

2. Shoes with pig skin lining wrapped tightly in clear plastic wrappers. I totally understand the reason for wrapping up the shoes as being a Muslim country, Muslim people are forbidden to touch anything with pigs, dogs and so on.

 Stay tuned for my review posts on each of the shoes we got for our review. And here's a sneak peak of the shoes we got! Awesome right?!! Thank you Skechers again for your generosity and awesomeness! You guys totally rock!

Yes! After weeks of researching for the best survival kit, and then having to hide sheepishly when googling for the best buys scared that my hubby finds out what I was doing, then have to compare which one has the best price (as I'm using my own sweat and blood money to buy it), then taking the leap to purchase from eBay (been years since I last shopped on eBay!) and not to mention having to strain my neck everyday watching out for the postman to see whether the package arrives safely...

So finally, 4 days before today 31st July 2012, the package arrives!

Survival kit that I got for my hubby (pouch C)

The contents in the pouch...

So glad to say my hard work pays off!

Btw, I also got hubby a set of cupcakes with the cute Doraemon (robot cat comic character from Japan)

Happy birthday to my dearest hubby!