Toy Shopping @ Tropicana City

Running late is what I’m all about lately and that includes giving my niece her belated birthday present right before leaving for Monaco, a few weeks after her actual birthday.

Where's my present Aunty Marzie?

Prior to shopping for Issy’s gift, I had spent days browsing through a recommended site called Firstcry, which offers great FirstCry coupon deals and is also Asia’s largest online retailer of baby supplies and kids toys. 

With over 15,000 products from leading international brands like Disney, Barbie and Hotwheels, I was hoping to get some cool gift ideas for my niece. Upon discussing with my sister Mel however, I decided to stick to my initial idea so off we went to Tropicana City Mall to do a little toy shopping for our adorable and oh-so-chatty Issy.

Mel & Oscar

It was good to have Mel’s company that day and she helped me decide which Dino to get for Issy. My super smart niece knows a whole lot of different dinosaur species, which she identifies by name and a little narration of each creature every time I ask her.

How about this?

Jurassic Park collection

 

We stopped by  Brickboy Brothers toy store and as usual the cool toys on display called out for attention! I mean, who doesn’t know Chucky and Master Yoda right? I would love to get the huge Master Yoda for B’s Star Wars collection by the way.

Me and my fave, Oscar the Grouch!

Who do we have here?

Chucky

Fear of Chucky!

Master Yoda

 

We got home and I surprised Issy with her gift. Initially, she seemed a little sad that her Aunty Marzie came over empty-handed but her eyes definitely lit up when she saw the nicely-wrapped box I hid behind my back!

Thank you Aunty Marzie!

What is it?

I love it Aunty Marzie!

Another Dino for Issy's collection

 

Late or not, I hope my gift helped put a smile on her face and judging from her excited reaction, I daresay it did! Happy Birthday Isabella, we love you!

Mariuca ♥ Issy

MARIUCA LOVES

LADY JAVA

MM - Let Her Go by Cole Vosbury *

It’s been a while since I joined the popular meme Music Monday and though I usually have a song in mind, I never seem to get around to posting my selection.

Let’s change that this week with two equally awesome versions of Passenger’s Let Her Go; first by Cole Vosbury, one of my favourite contestants from The Voice Season 5 followed by an equally haunting version from the talented 13-year old Jasmine Thompson.

I can’t stop listening to both versions and to the sad story behind this beautiful song … do you hear what I hear?

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava’s Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

MARIUCA LOVES

Back from Europe!

Hello! I am back from my trip and it has been weeks since I last blogged! Did you miss me or have you been busy travelling the globe as well; vacationing in London or Paris perhaps?

We're back!

Initially, B and I did discuss stopping by either London or Paris before heading to Monaco but after working out our expenses and the number of leave days B still has for this year, we decided to forgo both London and Paris and stick to our original plan of visiting just Monaco and Amsterdam.

Mariuca and B in Monte-Carlo

I ♥ Amsterdam

B in Amsterdam

By the way, if you are a theatre buff heading to Europe, London specifically, you may want to check out the Big Ticket Shop to book the award-winning, smash-hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors tickets. I hear the show is taking London by storm and the Big Ticket Shop is offering cheaper deals online. Tickets are quickly being snapped up for shows in November so hurry if you don’t want to miss out on this show while vacationing in London.

Port Hercules, Monaco

Me at Monaco Harbor

B and I are not big theatre fans so we did not include any shows on our agenda this vacation. However, I am happy to report that we managed to do other touristy things on our trip, both in Monaco and in Amsterdam. Some of the highlights of my Monaco trip include visiting Cannes, re-visiting Adam and Eve to snap a ‘special’ photo for my BFF LJ and helping an elderly Iranian tourist couple find their way to an eating spot despite my very bad sense of direction!

Easy breezy in Monte-Carlo

Mariuca in Cannes, French Riviera

As requested, 'special' shot for BFF!

The second half of my trip was more relaxed seeing that B was done with work by then so it was a sightseeing, eating, shopping and relaxi-taxi vacation – my favourite kind! I am also pleased to say that after three times visiting Amsterdam, this trip finally saw B and I finally accomplishing our mission to see the windmills, which as we all know truly epitomize Holland.

Cold day in Amsterdam

Windmill Day at Zaanse Schans

Missing Amsterdam

Spider and Super Cows in Amsterdam

Of course there were some bad points during our travel as well, mostly airport issues and me suffering a bad sinus attack the first few days. Having said that, the good definitely overcome the bad aspects of our travel and we ended our trip on a high note with yours truly winning in Holland Casino on the last night of our vacation!

Stay tuned for more interesting travel stories from me but meanwhile, I hope you like the few photos I’ve uploaded here for your viewing pleasure.

MARIUCA LOVES

FOONG