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For someone who is as allergic to cleaning the house as I am, decluttering is strangely therapeutic for me. It’s a simple theory really, because the less stuff I own, the less stuff I have to end up cleaning. Over the years, I’ve adopted a very brutal approach to dealing with clutter – which is when in doubt, just chuck.

The husband says I have a heart of stone because I don’t hesitate to throw out boxes of handwritten cards and cute trinkets but I’m just un-sentimental that way.

Only problem is that there will be these items that are 50-50. You know the sort. The ones you think you will need to use at some point (just not now) but takes too much space to store. Chances are, I’ll keep it for years and not use it. Then one day, I’ll decide to throw it out only to find that I finally have use for it.

Recently, I was introduced to a genius new way of dealing with this sort of items. Space Saver Vacuum Bags from Mummy Cents. They’re essentially Ziploc bags (with double Ziploc closure for more security) with a one-way valve that prevents air from reentering the bag after deflating. Once all the excess air is removed, it saves up to 75% of the space. The bags are also reusable, which makes it great for the environment and your pocket.

The bags come in 5 sizes ranging from S to XXL. This largest one was big enough to keep all their stuffed toys and then some.

Kirsten is still in her photo-taking phase so she had to get in the shot.

After extracting all the air, I was left with this. Poor Tweety looks like she’s being asphyxiated, which I suppose, only makes it seem so much more effective. The great thing is that the plushies (and other stuff) will retain their shape once the air is let back in so you won’t end up with deformed toys that will make your kids have a meltdown.

I tried it on a bunch of other stuff like cot bumpers, curtains and baby clothes and they all worked like a charm.

These also work great for travel packing as it comes with a handy manual air extractor to bring along while traveling. I usually end up having to sit on my suitcase to fit in all the items but with these space saver bags, it’ll be a breeze to squeeze everything in.

Did I already say it was therapeutic? I’m having so much fun sucking out air that I’mma get me more of these magic bags. It’s like squishing bubble wrap, except more productive.

Mummy Cents will be giving away a $50 voucher (to be spent on any item in the shop) to 2 readers, so head over to the Facebook page to join!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mummy Cents. All opinions and text are my own.

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So I was back for part 2 of my Porcelain experience and this time was not quite as um, relaxing. After the soothing Oxy Revive Treatment, I was in for some hardcore extraction in the Director’s Quintessential Facial. This is the one treatment most people come here for because it is that good. On top of the legendary extraction process, they also make use of LED Light Therapy to promote collagen production, reduce pigmentation and soothe the skin.

When I arrived, I braced myself, took deep breaths and kept my fingers crossed that it wouldn’t hurt as bad as I expected it to.

“Is this going to hurt?” I asked nervously.

“Yes, but it’s going to be worth it.”

With that, I experienced the most exquisite pain I have ever felt for the next 45 minutes. Seriously, childbirth is painful but at least there’s epidural. This was just pure unadulterated grit-your-teeth-and-suck-it-up sort of pain. I twitched like a fish out of water as Aunty Jenny meticulously extracted every blackhead, whitehead and milia seed from my face, even those I didn’t know I had. She would pause and show me all the impurities she extracted, which was a little gross yet strangely therapeutic to know that the pain was yielding such obvious results.

After the extraction, Aunty Jenny customized a blend of serums and mask to help the skin regenerate as I heaved a sigh of relief.

When it was finally all over, I looked like I was attacked by a very angry bobcat. In the face. But I was assured that it was temporary and when the redness wore off, it would all be worth it.

And so it was. When the redness subsided, my skin was smooth as a baby’s bottom. Well, maybe not that smooth but smoother and clearer than it had been in years. Some of the pigmentation was also considerably lighter and I was loving my new glowing Photoshopped complexion. In fact, I’m so sold that I’m willing to go through the entire ordeal all over again.

What can I say? I’m a believer.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Porcelain, The Face Spa. All opinions and text are my own.

It’s now day 4 of Truett’s head injury and he’s doing much better. He finally let us wash his hair last night after refusing to let us go near his head for 3 days. He tried running his fingers through his hair and got grossed out at how oily and clumpy it was so he came up to me and said “ok, you can wash my hair now.”

I may or may not have said that lice were going to have babies in his hair.

Anyway, I thought about it and I am going to talk about our visit to the dentist. Because I’m embracing the mundane. Right after this, I’m going to have a cup of coffee with the mundane and talk about mundane stuff for the rest of the day.

First, here are all the things I know about dentists.

1. I’m really bad at dental visits.

2. I’m really, really bad at dental visits.

3. Dentists have lots of sharp pointy things that make pain in the mouth.

4. I really don’t like pain. Or sharp pointy things.

5. But I like my teeth and dentists make sure I keep them in my mouth.

All this while, dental visits for the kids have been on the list of things we know we should probably get around to doing at some point but just not now. We do the basics like brushing and from time to time, I check their teeth for signs of obvious decay. So far, it looks like their pearly whites are still pretty pearly.

Besides, aren’t these teeth supposed to come off in a couple of years? Worst case scenario is that they lose all their teeth and voila, they’ll get a set of brand new ones, right?

Ok turns out, wrong. As I found out from Dr Chin from T32 Junior Dental Centre, messed up baby teeth will likely result in messed up adult teeth so the whole adage about prevention being better than cure – well, it’s true.

We finally brought the kids for their first dental visit at T32 Junior, which is at Camden Medical Centre. I was amazed at how painless the experience was. The place was incredibly kid-friendly it was and I don’t just mean the decor. Lots of dental places do the bright cheery themed walls to distract you from the pointy things, but the staff at T32 were also great with putting the kids at ease.

Dr Chin was a natural with the kids, making a balloon from a surgical glove and teaching them proper brushing techniques. He believes in helping kids combat dental phobias by creating a non-threatening environment and making sure they feel comfortable in the treatment room.

In fact, it was so convincing that the next time I go check my teeth, I’m going to request for a princess room at T32.

I tried different sorts of accommodation options when I was Melbourne, ranging from the standard hotel room to a mountain lodge to an apartment and I have to say that my favorite was hands down, the apartment.

That’s the one I booked through Roomorama and it was a 2-bedroom apartment in St Kilda. I’d never tried home apartment rentals before this because I didn’t even know that had such a thing to begin with. I was familiar with the commercial studio apartments but this one was literally one of a kind. Each apartment on the site was done up differently and owned by different people so there was that personal, homely touch.

I loved the decor in our St Kilda apartment. Dark wooden floors, classy modern furnishings, a full kitchen with a washer and dryer, and 2 outdoor patios – one out front and one at the back.

We would whip up a feast of bacon, sausage, eggs and toast every morning and have it outside on the patio even though it was freezing cold. The kids would run around the courtyard picking fallen flowers to warm up while we sat back and sipped our hot coffees, feeling like life couldn’t get any better.

When the kids got too cold, they’d grab their cereal and run back into the apartment to take shelter for a while before coming back out again. This here is Kirsten finding herself a nice spot beside the heater and munching her cereal looking extremely contented.

And why yes, those are indeed clothes pegs we used on her hair.

I think the kids also really appreciated the living space. They had plenty of room to play hide and seek, peekaboo and pretty much go crazy in the apartment.

So much so that on the second day, the owners came by asking if we were having a party because the neighbors had complained about having too much noise. Then they saw the kids tearing around the house and we were all “yeah, they’re having a party alright.” Ok, to be fair, it was a nice quiet residential location so we did try to keep it down after that.

The amenities were also very good. It was thoughtful of them to include plush towels, toiletries, coffee and snacks so we had everything we needed for the stay right there. It really did feel like home.

The entire apartment sleeps 4 and cost only $179 a night, which is so much cheaper and more comfortable than getting 2 rooms in a hotel. Best part is that every new experience with Roomorama will be something different and I’m already browsing the site for ideas for our next trip.

Huge thanks to Roomorama for a sublime experience.

I’m at the halfway mark of the Melbourne trip and I’m starting to feel bummed about having to go home soon so I’m trying not to think about it too much. Still 4 more days to go and lots more places to visit.

I’ll be updating those experiences over the next few days but for now, here’s something that I was working on before I left for the trip. It’s a campaign by Olay to film 6-part series called Olay Project 360, where 4 bloggers and 4 contestants came together to undergo some serious transformation. What sort of transformation, you ask? I’d tell you but that would take the fun out of it, so you’ll just have to watch till the end.

Despite the fact that I’m not the girly swoon-over-make-up sort and cameras make me deeply uncomfortable, I decided to do it because my mantra in life is to try anything once. Well, anything that does not involve me being eaten by sharks or wild animals. The husband says it’s a ridiculous mantra to have but it’s worked for me the past 29 years and I’m sticking with it.

Wendy was the host for the show and the other 3 bloggers were Valerie (Miss Singapore Universe 2011), Qiuqiu and Scarlett. They’re all so very girly but also very sweet and insanely hilarious. It was the most girl bonding I’ve done in the past 3 years, talking about skincare, make up, dresses and shoes all day for many days.

So being what they call a mature blogger (thanks, you guys, I’m going to stab someone in the thigh), I was introduced the Olay Regenerist range. It’s supposed to delay the visible signs of aging so I continue to look like I’m 24 for the next 10 years. Or something like that.

To give you an idea of how the shoot went, I’m just going to post excerpts of the highlights from my mental journal.

We’re supposed to give ourselves a group name and ours is O-YEAH, complete with eye-hand-gesture. For the record, this is causing me physical pain but I’m doing it in the name of solidarity. 

The husband is never going to let me live that down. Ever. When I’m 65, he’ll play this video for the grandkids and and they will all fall off their chairs laughing. 

Every single girl on this show has false eyelashes on. I do not even possess the ability to put on false eyelashes. 

Ok seriously, being girly is SO MUCH WORK. 

Now we’re playing charades. How am I supposed to sign Luminance and Radiance? Can’t I have words like butterfly? I can do an awesomesauce butterfly sign. 

I can also do lion, giraffe and elephant. Kind of.

I hate charades. If I ever lose the ability to speak, I’m getting a pen and notebook. 

***

Anyway, here’s the video if you want to watch it. You should though – it’s going to cheer you up if you’re having a bad day at work or just kind of like bored. It’s incredibly mortifying seeing myself on video but you should go watch it just so you can point and laugh.

You’re welcome.