The Guide to Shopping at Taobao with Ezbuy from Singapore

I have a little secret which I would like to share today. The secret, is a revelation as to where I usually get my clothes from ;) Well, it's from Taobao 淘宝!!!! I AM A TAOBAO ADDICT because clothes, shoes, bags are so ridiculously cheap and value for money!

I discovered Taobao about 3-4 years ago, my brother introduced it to me and we have been using 65daigou as the agent for years (even before it rebranded to ezbuy.com). I know it's difficult to shop at Taobao due to the language being Chinese but trust me, it is not as hard as it seems to be! Besides, there's translation now! Before the rebranding to ezbuy, I had to manually search for clothes I want with Chinese keywords on Taobao (so it was definitely harder back then) however you guys are in luck as ezbuy has nicely categorized its products for its users. AND TODAY, I'm gna share with you guys some of my little tips on how to hack the system further and find even value for money clothes :)

Since ezbuy is such an established agent in Singapore, I would say it is the BEST PLATFORM for anyone to leverage on if you are new to Taobao and wants to give it a try! :)

1. Visit ezbuy.com and search for the item you like over at the search box

As you scroll further down the website, you'll see that ezbuy has made its website very user-friendly by classifying clothes under different categories such as Female, Male. Furthermore, when you click on it they are further curated based on topics/themes/collections such as Supermodel style, Athleisure, High Order (for female clothing).

Just navigate around the website and I'm sure you'll find something you like!

2. When you found something you like, click on "View original site" which will lead you to the original taobao site

Say for example you fell in love at first sight with the crotchet halter crop top :)

3. Copy the whole Chinese title into the search box

Alternatively, you can choose KEY Chinese characters to search for e.g. 镂空花边拼接螺纹针织露脐短款小吊带 which means Crotchet Crop Spaghetti Top.

4. Hover over your favorite items and click on both the 找同款 (items alike)/ 找相似 (similar items) buttons

To look for the most value for money item, you can categories the products based on price from lowest to highest by clicking on the 价格 button.

The good thing about the 找相似 and 价格 button is that it helps you discover other products that might interest you at LOWER prices :) E.g. A RMB11.99 top is only approximately SGD$2.50 before shipping and agent fee which is DAMN CHEAP RIGHT!!!

Another tip will be to look at the 销量 aka sales volume (next to the price) so that you can have a rough gauge on the product quality/sales. The high numbers will thereby translate to more people buying. The numbers act like a guarantee as those products are also popular and bought by many others too :)

Also, when you look at the clothes in its individual webpage, you can also read the reviews 累计评论 to know how the clothes look like by other buyers :)

5. After you've found the items you would like to purchase, simply copy the url and paste it into ezbuy.com search box

There's many other ways to shop Taobao but I chose ezbuy.com due to its efficient and convenient services. Their delivery services are super convenient with lots of neighborhood/MRT collection point! I have one near my house and one near my office which is extremely convenient for me to collect my parcels when they arrive without having to incur extra charges :)

My last tip will be to always look out for Free Agent Promo or Shipping Discounts of which you would be notified if you have their mobile app or had signed up to their mailing list! Hurray to more savings! :DDDD

Also, sharing come of my favorite shops with you guys (mostly American styled clothes):
- 奈丝NICE优质外贸女装
- 好多衣服饰专营店
- 凡衣优品外贸
- MISS LUCY女装快时尚
- 小熙外贸性价比店

And viola, that's all for my mini guide to shopping at Taobao!!!! I hope it has helped you guys saved some money and find some gems! Why spend so much on retail shops when you can look the same or in fact, better? By spending smarter, you can use the savings to buy more clothes or spend it on other stuff you like :) It's all about stretching the dollar so have fun and get shopping! *Psst... Don't get addicted :P*

Top, Boots and Shades - Ezbuy.com

Jeans and Bag- H&M

Love,

Jasmine

Christmas Wonderland

 I've been to Christmas Wonderland at Gardens By The Bay twice last year and thrice this year. This place will always be my favourite to soak in some festive christmas vibes. It's the 4th day of Christmas so I guess I'm not that late to wish a Merry Christmas! :)

Floral Romper- Neonmello
White Tube and Grey Pleated Skirt- BKK
Pink Tulle Dress- Laceandebony

Love,
Jasmine

Museum

Visited the newly opened National Gallery Singapore during the week. Formerly the City Hall and Supreme Court buildings, the museum is housed in glorious classic european artitecture, which made the visit there felt like a time and space travel back to the nation's founding days. 

Wore a fuzz free easy slip on black slit maxi from AllWouldEnvy which was a steal at 20% off on Black Friday :) The cut in neck details was absolutely flattering, the dress was so flowly it made me felt like dancing in it and the slit at the side added a subtle surprise as I moved :)

Love,

Jasmine

Hippie

¡Hola! It's December so I'm back from the hiatus with more outfits posts since it's the hols yayyyy and I'll be heading out more to catch up with all my friends :)

For this getup, I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave the pigtails a try which added a smash of fun to the whole outfit :) The wide leg pant is from MotelRocks which was such a steal from ASOS at about 70% discount YAY plussssss is soooooo comfortable that I can sleep in it!!! 

Location: School Of The Arts, Singapore

Halter Neck Top- Taobao

Pants- ASOS

Shoes- Chatuchak Weekend Market

Love,

Jasmine

Grana

Ever since Summers started, I've been swarmed with work and ashamedly, neglecting this space.
I'm back (yay!) with some short updates on what I've been up to recently!

I recently joined Grana as Brand Ambassador for their Pop Up Store in Singapore! The job opening was like a god gifted opportunity as I was really really really suffering at my previous job plus I've always wanted to explore the fashion industry!

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." 

I've never felt such great content from a job before but this has got to be my Dream Job. This is exactly what I envisioned myself in when I graduate: Events and Fashion. Maybe is luck, maybe is destined but whatever it is, I am grateful for this opportunity.

So what is Grana?

At Grana, we make Wardrobe Essentials from the World's Best Fabric that could be purchased at an affordable price. 

A very good example will be The Light Washed Skinny Japanese Denim on me which is only SGD55! Good things must share and I'm not saying this because I work for them! 

Do drop by and feel the quality of our products yourself :) We are located at Working Capitol (1A Keong Saik Road) and will be here till 17th July! We also extended our visit in Singapore and will be saying hi at Orchard Central till 5th August!

Love,

Jasmine

DIY: 21st Birthday Parties (Updated)

2015 is the year where most of my friends and I, are turning 21!

That being said, it is hence the year of Birthday Parties! I LOVE BIRTHDAYS, is an understatement on how much I love it because even if is not mine, I'm also overly excited for the birthday boy or girl! 

I'm extremely honored and humbled to be able to help in the planning and mostly aesthetics and creative for three parties! The sight of my imagination and visualization turning into reality, gives me a great sense of satisfaction :) I especially love doing photo booth because it is the place where most photos are taken and who wouldn't love a pretty backdrop? 

I love doing everything (if I could), with my own pair of crafty or not so crafty hands. I've always been living by the life policy that sincerity is best shown through a personal touch. Hence, I will be sharing some DIY tips for birthday parties and what I've did to minimize cost while ensuring that aesthetics is well taken care of. Much more time and effort will be needed but I promise is going to be worth it!

1. ANGIE'S HAWAIIAN 21ST

1) Photobooth
Everything was designed, printed and cut. The leaves were cut out from dark and light green coloured papers. The props were printed out and pasted on foolscrap paper's board so that it isn't flimsy and good to be held in hand. The balloons were purchased from Mtrade and reasonably priced at only a sum of $21 for ten helium inflated balloons. The only down side will be that self collection is at woodlands and I almost got lost. The grass on the table was created with two bundle of rafia strings. Everything cost only less than $30! :)

2) Cake
I wasn't in-charge of the cake but I do know that it is baked by a lovely lady from Wanderlustcake.

3) Others
To add on the Hawaiian theme, Angie provided  flower leis for all her guests and had grass skirt for photobooth :) Props like these definitely spized up the party! They were all purchased from Taobao.

2. FRANK AND TERENCE'S 21ST

The colour theme for this party was white and blue. I really love how white goes along with any other colours and how good it looks on photos :) This party really tested my ability to react quickly because we were faced with a big graphic wall. I still remember vividly how epic it was when we first stepped into the hotel room and was greeted by a graphic wall. We kept swearing while trying to find a good place to have the photo booth. I even lifted the whole bed sheet up in a stupid attempt to cover the wall HAHAHA (what was I thinking?!) Eventually, we had my friend's mum to bring majong paper down for us to disguise the graphic wall.

1) Photo Booth
The Photo Booth was a simple one. The words were printed, cut and pasted to the flag banners bought off the shelf. Tip: Dafont.com is by far my best friend when it comes to finding beautiful types and I swear by it!!!! The backdrop is easily made with the play of alternating colours of balloons. All the party supplies were all bought from the party shops next to Bugis+.

2) Cake
I ordered the cake only 3 days before the party  hence I didn't had time for customised cakes. The Rainbow Cake was purchased from Prima Deli. They were very flexible with the design and allowed me to remove the chocolate chips, change the colour of the cream and icing at no additional cost. It cost about $130 for the 2kg cake. Reasonably priced and best part it tastes gooddddddd. I've ate this cake before the party hence I knew it would be of a good choice :)

To make up for the plain cake design, I made a few pop up stands. The cake banner and boy figurines were both designed and printed out in paper. I attached satay stick and tooth pick to the back of the paper so that they can be inserted on the cake. Similarly, the candles were all bought from the party supplies shop :)

3) Others
I also made stands for the cupcakes. The logos were printed, cut, and similarly pasted on toothpick. The cupcakes were bought from Twelvecupcakes.

3. KYLIE'S 21ST

I would say this is the prettiest set up I've ever done. So magical, so pretty, def something I would love to have for my own birthday.

1) Photobooth
The theme for the birthday was Classy Beach hence i tried to had a mix of beach (with the shells on the dessert table) and style (with the fairy lights, baby breathes and roses). Sadly, Singapore's beaches are all man-made hence I tao bao-ed the sea shells which were super duper pretty!!! The fairy lights were also tao bao-ed. The glasswares on the other hand were all from Ikea. Ikea sells very cheap vase like the ones holding the roses were only 90cents.

2) Cake
The pretty cake was once again prepared by the lovely lady from Wanderlustcake. The cake fitted the theme perfectly, such a gorgeous centre piece! My dear friend Angie also made cupcakes that surrounded the Cake, which were super delicious and cute!

3) Others
Angie also designed a Message area for friends to leave their wishes for Kylie! Message Jugs are always a good idea as I think is sweeter and more sincere to wish someone in ink.


Half of the year had passed and I've already attended three birthday parties, with more to come in the later part of the year! It's really heartwarming to see everyone gather for this beloved someone on their special day.  I hope this post comes in handy for anyone who are planning for their 21st birthday :) It's a once a lifetime thing and I wish that you will have the time of your life whether or not you chose to hold a celebration. Do hit me up at onethreeonetwo@gmail.com if you need any advice/ideas on how to plan your 21st! I would love to help in anyway :)

Here's wishing everyone a blessed 21st, it's your time to sparkle and be showered with love!

Love,
Jasmine