Looking for the perfect head and neck support while you sleep? From the creators of the award-winning Origin Mattress’s, Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow, with its breathability, comfort, and design could just be your top choice if you need to improve your quality of sleep.

Why Natural Latex

Most of us don’t give much thought to how our pillows are produced or knowing what materials that they are made from. Origin Mattress uses natural latex, which has the following benefits:

Suffice to say, latex foam has a denser material as compared to memory foam or fiber
Brings you quality sleep, as latex pillow can mould to the shape of your head which provides the ideal balance between softness, comfort, firmness and support
For people with allergies, it has extreme durability with hypoallergenic properties that have lesser dust, bacteria or mould issues. This means you don’t have to replace a latex pillow as often as you would a more traditional pillow

Unboxing Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow

Instead of simply grabbing a traditional pillow off the department store, deciding which kind of pillow that is most suitable for you is important. Choosing a latex pillow, with its health and comfort benefits, can go a long way toward making sure your body gets the right level of rest.

We like the way Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow is being packaged. It comes with a lovely sky-blue box that looks super clean, neat and aesthetically-pleasing that could also be a perfect gift for loved ones.

Just like the right partner, the perfect pillow should meet all your essential needs. A product of Germany, Origin Superior Coolmax® Latex Pillow comes with dimension of 60cm x 40cm x 13cm, cooling gel that dissipates heat, and 2-years warranty, amongst other features.

In extending the pillow’s life in the long run, the pillows comes with a removable Tencel fabric pillow cover.

Quality sleep only comes with quality pillow.

Origin Mattress also offers super fast delivery where you can receive within 2 hours, 30-Night trial and money-back guarantee. Delivery is free of charge and you can make your booking here.

Thank you Best In Singapore for recommending another amazing product. Check out Best In Singapore, a lifestyle website with the goal to sieve out the best choices from a range of topics from food to entertainment! .

Origin Mattress:
Website | Facebook

Best In Singapore:
Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Applying for a Personal Loan – What You Need to Know

June 16, 2020June 17, 2020 katongkidsinc

Since the COVID-19 pandemic made a widespread impact around the world with the outbreak situation worsened rapidly, Singapore too, is not spared. According to news report, Singapore is heading towards its worst-ever recession in nearly two decades as the economy continues to feel severe strain from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current situation here in Singapore amid COVID-19 times is, well, pretty grim for many of us. As essential businesses shut down and the country debates difficult years ahead, more Singaporeans have been impacted financially – furloughs, job losses and pay cuts. With no clear date of when things will return to normal and no easy prospects of finding further employment at this time, many are starting to worry about their financial situation.

Your financial health is important, just like your physical health. Doing a reality check to find out where your money is going and assessing how much you have (after scraping every option and minimizing expenses) can help you determine what adjustments you need to make in your life.

Questions like “How can I afford my bills?” and “How can I make ends meet?” are becoming all too common. With the pressure weighing heavily on you and finding yourself struggling financially, weighing your options on taking up a personal loan may not be a bad idea. Use in the right way, a personal loan can come in handy in managing your cash flow. Before taking it up, it is important to understand there are 2 situations where applying for a personal loan is not only a good idea, but might actually save you from further debt:

You are overwhelmed by high-interest debt

Credit cards are ubiquitous in our society. With the convenience of tapping into ‘future money’, it is tempting to spend as and when we want. However, when used unwisely, we will face the brunt of astronomical interest rates (up to 26% per annum!) when credit card bills are either left unpaid or only settle by minimum payment every month.

Consolidating and repaying such high-interest debt is one of the single best uses for a personal loan. The interest rate on a personal loan is far lesser than the interest rate on a credit card. By borrowing a personal loan to pay back your credit card debt, it makes more sense and relieve a lot more stress from you.

When some say comparison is the thief of joy, it is not exactly true.

For someone who is saddled with high-interest debt, he will never know how much he can save until a search for the best personal loan interest rates for 2020 at MoneySmart reveals the pleasant surprise.

Of course, you will need to make sure you have a healthy credit rating so that you can qualify for a personal loan to make the consolidation worth your time and effort.

You are in need for an emergency fund

Emergency fund gives you a much-needed buffer in the event something significant happens financially that you cannot quick come back from. Some examples include:

#1 Medical Bills

Medical emergency is one such event that can cripple your finances when a loved one, who is not sufficiently covered by insurance, is in need of medical care. The staggering healthcare costs in Singapore is something we cannot overlook and one can be prepared to shell out a lot of money for such expenses.

#2 Home Repairs

It is bad enough to be cooped up at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. Imagine spending warm and stuffy days at home plagued with air conditioner problems, it is certainly an experience you do not want to repeat. A personal loan could give you a much needed respite.

#3 Helping Out Someone in Need

Helping out your loved ones or someone floundering in deep water financially can be an event you can’t ignore. Be it for a medical reason or helping someone to tide through difficult moments in event of retrenchment could go a long way.

Getting a personal loan in Singapore is one way to meet your emergency needs – be it emergency medical bills, air conditioner repairs, or a financial misstep. With emergency funds, time is of the essence and it is always good to know there are personal loans in Singapore with the fastest approval and cash disbursement you can tap on.

A personal loan may not be for everyone

Taking on debt in the form of a personal loan comes with making a conscious decision. Before you take the leap, remember these golden rules:

Don’t borrow more than you can repay (Be certain that you have the ability to pay off the debt in full)
Don’t borrow to splurge on your ‘want’ (A want is temporal, while a need is essential)
Timely and regular repayment (Disciplined payment habit helps you to avoid late payment charges)

These pointers from MoneySmart sums up the understanding on personal loan. That being said, you should take up a personal loan only when you absolutely NEED to.

The ideas expressed in this blog should not be construed as an enticement to buy or sell securities, commodities or assets. The accuracy or completeness of the information provided cannot be guaranteed. Readers should carry out independent verification of information provided.

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Guangzhou Travelogue – (Part 2): Baima Clothing Wholesale Market, Beijing Road, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Baiyun Mountain and Pearl River

January 8, 2020 katongkidsinc

Guangzhou is safe and suitable for family to travel. We visited the bustling Baima wholesale market and the items were, but not overly cheap.

Baima Clothing Wholesale Market

This wholesale market is located at the Guangzhou Railway Station. You will know it’s the right place when you see people lugging big plastic bags of clothing.

The whole place was made up of various buildings/malls and basically they are selling clothings and accessories at wholesale prices.

With such a big crowd, food stalls will inevitably exist to cater to the hunger pangs.

We felt the weather at 22 degree was warm but still, the locals were out in their thick coats.

Try shopping in the wholesale markets and find good bargains. New stock arrivals…a common sight.

The prices are marked up when quoted to you so spend your time bargaining in your shopping spree.

Address: No.16, Zhannan Road, Yuexiu District; close to Guangzhou Railway Station

Opening Hours: 8:30 – 17:30

How to Get There:

1. Take metro line 2 and line 5, and get off at Guangzhou Railway Station.

2. Take bus Business Line 1, 2, 3 and bus line 5, 238, 290, 301a, 518, 543, Gaofeng Rapid line 25, Night 88, and get off at Zhannan Road Station. Then walk to the north for about 250 meters (260 yd).

Beijing Lu Pedestrian Street

Beijing Road is located in the center of Guangzhou and is probably the busiest street. The whole stretch is about 1.5km so can imagine there are so many attractions to explore.

Not even peak hour but look at the crowd!

Big and Small M trying out the Christmas special soft-serve.

Eating is an important part of Chinese culture. The street foods sold by the operators were better than we expected. Not only they are clean, super yummy as well!

But street food is the way to go and to satisfy the taste buds.

1. Take metro line 6, and get off at Beijing Road Station. Leave from Exit B.

2. Take metro line 1 or line 2, and get off at Gongyuanqian Station, and leave from Exit D and then walk to east for about 800 meters (880 yd).

3. Take City Sightseeing Bus Ancient City Line and Xiguan Style Line and get off at Beijing Road Station.

4. Take bus line 10, 183, 190, 1, 219, 3, 541, 544, 66, B8, Night 1, Night 32, Night 36, Night 39, Night 69, Night 8, and get off at Beijing Road Intersection Station.

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall or Chen Clan Academy is an academic temple in Guangzhou, China, built by the 72 Chen clans for their juniors’ accommodation and preparation for the imperial examinations in 1894 in Qing Dynasty.

It is situated near to our Airbnb so it is a must-go attraction. We are not big fans of museums so didn’t spend much time there. However, the wood carvings and paintings are examples of super workmanship and certainly present an eye-opener to tourists.

But it does offer good spots for photo-taking.

Had our lunch here at this restaurant near to the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall.

While the rest of the dishes were so-so, the steamed fish was fantastic.

Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain

Baiyun Mountain (also known as “white cloud mountain”) offers spectacular views.

You can either choose to walk/hike, take a buggy ride or cable car. We chose the latter.

We spent half a day at Baiyun Mountain not because of enjoying ourselves but time wasted in taking the buggy rides at different points to reach the cable car station. You have to alight from the buggy at one point and queue up again to buy tickets to hop onto another buggy.

Our advice is to take the cable car from the ground instead of going up the Baiyun Mountain to find the cable car station.

Opposite the Baiyun Cableway is a food street.

Freshly made Guangzhou-style rice rolls.

Chee cheong fun or rice noodle roll. The stuffing of the salty rice noodle roll mainly includes pork, beef, shrimp meat and pork liver.

A walk in the neighbourhood after our dinner.

Guangzhou Pearl River

One can not be considered to have visited Guangzhou if he hasn’t cruised the scenic Pearl River. We wanted to try the river cruise where during the ride we could catch attractions such as Haiyin Bridge, Canton Tower and such but too bad we didn’t make it in time.

But still, walking around the Pearl River wasn’t that bad either.

What a beautiful Guangzhou.

Just finding joy in the little things. Click here to follow Katong Kids Inc Facebook Page to stay tune on the next travel post.

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Guangzhou Travelogue – (Part 1): ICC SIM Card, Baiyun International Airport, Alipay International Version, Dim Sum Spot and Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

December 29, 2019 katongkidsinc

In deciding to explore other parts of China, we chose Guangzhou and Shenzhen this time round.

Guangzhou is also known as Canton and is the capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong. Before the trip, we purchased SIM cards from Qoo10. Note that ICC Cards allow us to avoid the “firewall of China”.

Buy ICC Card from Qoo10

We only need to plug-and-play the SIM cards into our mobile phones upon arrival at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and we are ready to go. You can use in Hong Kong and Macau too.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

Adorable children having an excursion at the airport!

Guangzhou Metro is located within the airport. Look at how the airport interiors are beautifully furnished.

Guangzhou is conveniently connected by metro so we would not need to take any taxi. We felt it’s more worthwhile to buy one-trip tickets instead of 3-day pass which cost us RM50 per pax.

Use Alipay Tour Pass from now on

Our first time using Alipay International e-wallet and all goes well!

This is the metro “card” or token.

Remember to download Guangzhou Metro Map app.

Image result for guangzhou mrt map"

Our Airbnb is located near the Chen Clan Academy Station which is a metro station on Line 1.

The hassle of staying at Airbnb. The host will only inform the location upon arrival so we need some time to locate the place.

A street peddler selling novels. For a moment, we thought the novels looked like “wu ling mi ji“..

A shame not trying the food at this restaurant. It was jam-packed throughout the day. Look at the queue outside!

Our Airbnb

So, this is our Airbnb building.

This will be our abode for the next few days. The place is not so fantastic – weak / non-existent wifi, dusty and water heater not working well.

But hey, we are staying next to a shopping mall!

The place was bustling with activities early in the morning.

One of our favourite bakery where we bought egg tarts every day.

Yummy egg tarts for breakfast and supper. Only SGD1 per box of 4!

Guangzhou Dim Sum is just thumbs up

It was said that the modern form of dim sum is believed to originate in Guangzhou (or Canton) and later transmit southward to Hong Kong. So we are at the right place to taste one of the best dim sum.

Dim Sum in Guangzhou is cheap when compared to Singapore or Hong Kong. Per steamer basket is about SGD2 as compared to SG of about $3.50.

We actually over-ordered. Did not expect the steamer basket to be “JUMBO” size…next time we will be aware.

Here is our order. We spent over an hour trying to finish the food to fill up our small tummies.

One do not need to pay an astronomical sum for good food. Here in Guangzhou dim sum food-hunting is one of the best finds.

Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street is the place to go

We did our research before the trip. It seems everyone was raving about shopping in Beijing Road. We discovered that Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street is much better in terms of price and variety.

Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, or simply as Shangxiajiu, is a commercial pedestrian street in Liwan District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

Promoting mobile phones and attracting street onlookers to have a time of e-game!

Yummy taro pie from McDonald’s.

This street is awesome to find clothing stores, snacks and restaurants. The stretch of Shangxiajiu is more than 800 meters long and you can see many Lingnan style balcony buildings here.

Many tourists here all the year round finding cheap buys.

When night falls, the street comes alive.

There are many traditional snacks of Guangzhou for us to taste.

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California Travelogue – (Part 4): Golden Gate Park, California Academy of Sciences, Facebook, Googleplex, Stanford University, Big Sur and Solvang Village

September 21, 2019 katongkidsinc

Time passes so fast, it would have been a year before we complete our US travelogue. We had a magical experience visiting the Golden Gate Bridge the day before.

And we were ready to leave San Francisco, but not before collecting our rental car.

We had 5 pieces of luggage and were told that we had to take a Buick Enclave to fit our family inside..

Wasting no time after the car collection, we hit the Golden Gate Park.

The San Francisco Botanical Garden is a living museum within Golden Gate Park where it houses landscaped gardens containing over 8,500 different kinds of plants from around the world.

A short distance away is the California Academy of Sciences. We heard that it’s a must to check out this discovery centre as by far, it’s an educational experience that every kid will never forget.

The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park has three combined attractions where we could explore the aquarium, planetarium, and a natural history museum.

Our first time seeing a white alligator, one of the rarest in the world!

There was a school excursion and many curious kids are here at the rainforest exhibit.

The building just offers endless fun! We spent about 2 hours here which was rather short before hitting the road.

We drove along the Pacific Coast Highland where there are 13 incredible stops on your visit to California. Well, we tried our best but it was challenging to visit every single attractions.

We stopped by Silicon Valley to visit Facebook Headquarters and Googleplex.

Continue our journey and checked Stanford University.

Hit the road again..

We passed by Santa Cruz, Monterey and on our way to Big Sur, cattle feeding on the hills.

Taking a breather and had our lunch before moving to our next accommodation.

Finally arrived at our Airbnb!

The landlord provided instruction how to retrieve the keys.

A big house where we stayed together with the landlord.

The next day, we hit the road again (as usual) where we covered about 450km per day.

Stopped at rest points to have our meals.

After driving about 300km, we finally reached Denmark. Did we hear correctly? More than a 100 years ago, a group of Danes settled in a corner of this idyllic place.

The beautiful Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. This charming Danish village is nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley that looks and smells like Christmas year-round.