Online Shopping Guide for Indians

Online shopping has its own advantages and disadvantages. Ive been doing this for the past four years and would like to share my experiences with you.

For a busy mom like me, online shopping is very convenient but there are things to consider before diving into it to avoid losing your money.

1. Google it.

Its just a click away.
Online forums usually comes up when you google it like mouthshut.com where customers lodge their complaints on almost all online companies. I thank these people who take their time to write their experiences.

When you search on the internet, you should consider the following in an online company.
a. has a detailed company address
b. good customer service- they promptly solve customer's queries & guide them accordingly.
c. has good feedbacks or reviews from customers

All of these is just a click away.


2. Check in the market near you.

Nothing can replace the experience where you can check the product physically. That feeling where you can touch the product and you can imagine yourself bringing it home and be its master.
Also, you'll be able to check if there's something defective. So when it comes to expensive and breakable stuffs, checking the mall or the shops near you is the best option. Spare a half or whole day to check the stuffs out. That's much better than waiting the product for 5-10 days & if its defective youll have to return it which will take another 5-10 days to reach to the company and the company will take maybe 2-3 weeks to process and will send you back the product after a week or two. Do you see the number of days spent? not to mention your valuable time and efforts that are being wasted.

I resort to online shopping only when I'm sure that the product I'm looking for is not available in the market near me.


3. Breakable stuffs- A Big No No

Unless you really need it, then please avoid. There's a huge tendency that the breakable things can be broken on the way due to mishandling. After googling, if there are lots of satisfied customers, then you can proceed shopping for it.

I ordered a pair of breakable bangles from yebhi.com. It arrived broken and from the looks of it, its not even worth the price. I didnt take the hassle of returning it as it would eat so much of my time which I didn't have on those days. But one thing on my mind, I will never ever shop with them again and will not recommend it to anyone.


4. Screenshot

This is very important. Take a SCREENSHOT of the successful payment page and the order number for future reference.

I'm a regular customer of zoomin.com for the past two years. I ordered from them photo mugs, photo calendar, posters and photobooks. Their delivery is fast but last month, I wondered why the product didn't arrive for 10 days... That's weird coz it usually arrive the next day or maximum 3 days after ordering. I didnt bother checking my account on them online because I have ordered from them a lot of times already.
When I checked in my bank account, payment was successful but on my account on zoomin.com, it says "payment pending". Then, for the first time since shopping with them for 2 years, I emailed them. They replied back saying that I should pay for it as it didnt reflect on their payment gateway. That's when the screenshot got handy and that resolved the issue without much hassle.


5. Opt for COD

If it's the first time you shop on a website, then opt for CASH-ON DELIVERY. This is what I usually do and after the first delivery, if I'm satisfied, then I use Netbanking the next time.


Based from my experience, the following online shopping portals in India are safe and trusted.

1. Firstcry.com

Product shopped: toys and bed sheet
Delivery: 3 days
Quality: Excellent
Overall Rating: 10/10

2. Zoomin.com

Product shopped: Photomugs, photobooks,photocalendar,posters
Delivery: 2 days
Quality: Excellent
Overall Rating: 10/10


3. Yebhi.com

Product shopped: Bangles
Delivery: 5 days
Quality: Poor
Overall Rating: 3/10


4. BabyOye.com

Product shopped: Toys & bedsheet
Delivery: 5 days
Quality: Excellent
Overall Rating: 8/10
No COD option for Haryana State


5. Heavenandhome.com

Product shopped: Bedsheets & Home Decors
Delivery: 10-15 days depends on the product
Quality: Good
Overall Rating: 8/10

I was really impressed on the range of home decors available on their site. First time I ordered a breakable stuff from them. Its a knick-knack mini-drawer. They packed it so well it didnt have any damage so I will surely shop from them in the future. I recommend them but you need to be patient as their delivery is not fast.


6. Quickheal.com

Product shopped: Antivirus
Delivery: Instant, product code sent on email few minutes after payment
Plus the hard copy of the antivirus pack was sent to my home after 7 days
Quality: Excellent
Overall Rating: 10/10


International Sites that I have tried:

1. Ebay, a very reliable online shopping site.

2. PhilCake.com- Cakes and gifts you can send to your loved ones in the Philippines. Awesome service and fast delivery.

3. TomTop.Com- Decors and some electronic goods

Note: I use only Paypal for international transaction.

Online Shopping is a great experience. But you have to remember two words: BE CAREFUL.
Remember that its your money that lies here so make sure you get what you want specially if youre buying expensive ones.


Don't forget to leave your comments below... specially if you have additional tips to add on. Thank you!

The Other Side of Kawasan

Me and my bestfriends decided to go to Kawasan Falls in Cebu, Philippines few years back. We trekked for half an hour. Legs were aching, stomach churning, but when the waterfalls were in sight, we forgot everything... We just wanna dive into its beauty.

As I looked at the waterfalls, I was mesmerized by its unexplainable beauty... It feels like its speaking with me... It feels like its saying "Come, be with me, and feel my magic."

I shook my head. I was imagining things...

Its a mysterious place... but beautiful and fascinating...

A lot of people went missing in this place... One of them was my bestfriend's friend who suddenly disappear and was nowhere to be found till now.

Spooky, mysterious, captivating... I couldnt find the right words to describe Kawasan Falls.

We enjoyed swimming... and hopped on from one waterfalls to another on a bamboo raft...

Then, suddenly, one of my friends found a small trail up the hill. One locale saw us looking at the trail and told us to stay away from there with a sharp warning look...

We looked at each other and without words, we knew what to do next.

I needed some hot water for my instant noodles. I asked our local guide to get me some hot water somewhere coz I was really hungry...

He happily went... and we happily escaped to that mysterious trail. Of course, that was a technique to get rid of him, LOL...

I know, we dont know the place but without second thoughts, we went ahead to discover what lies on the other side of the hill.

My instinct told me its not dangerous... I usually follow my instinct :-)

We climbed up the hill and trekked down and crossed over what seems like a river.

Gosh, it was very slippery and the rushing of water could let you go out of balance in any time and if youre not careful, you could hit your head to a lot of big rocks around.

So there we were, slowly and carefully balancing ourselves while crossing...



On the way, we met a British couple who were in their mid-forties (I bet) and they said "its awesome out there, go and explore".
The more our excitement rushed up.

After 15 minutes, we heard a sound of flowing water.. Wow, it must be another waterfalls.

But we were surprised to see something else...

It was a huge dam... and it looked awesome!

...and we found a rock where we could enjoy the waterflow...oh yeah, thats how mischievous we were... We bathed in the dam... of course, we were very careful not to fall over... it was very slippery... If youre not careful, you could slip or be taken away by the force of water...
What an experience!

Then we found another trail at the top of the dam... We again looked at each other, grinned and said "lets go".

At the end of the trail we found a spring and it was boiling but its very cool, not warm...
Without second thoughts, we soaked ourselves into it and let the coolness enveloped us for awhile.

The water was very cold but the boiling felt like massage. It brought freshness to our aching muscles. We were refreshed after the bath.

We noticed the sun was starting to go down the horizon. We need to go back. Our local guide might have already be freaked out right now, LOL.

We went back with a feeling of satisfaction and without regrets. Yes, it could have been dangerous. But you know what, as long as you are careful and know how to respect nature, we believe nothing could go wrong...

These are the simple things that we have kept in mind while discovering new places, specially in a place where lots of people died and went missing,hehehe :-)

1. No shouting
The place is very quiet so I think nature would not appreciate your shouts or singing or whatever. Its very disturbing for them. Its their place, not yours. Respect it...

2. No littering
You can eat on the way but never throw stuffs. Have a special bag for your leftover goodies...
Nature's beauty lies on its own magic and cleanliness. Respect it the way it is.

3. Dont touch and take anything on the way.
Whether a flower, a plant or an egg or something that fascinates you on the way, always remember, not to touch or take it with you. I remembered one of my highschool classmates who almost touched a Venus flower basket but few seconds before she could touch, it devoured a fly. LOL, she was shocked for few minutes and thought that it could have devoured her hand, hehehe.

There are lots of wonderful things nature has in store for us. They are just waiting to be discovered, not to be destroyed...

I believe that if you respect nature, it will respect you back.
So back to the story, we met our locale guide back in the cottage. We were all prepared for a sermon...but then he just smiled and said "its good to have you back".



We looked at each other with puzzled look... and smiled...

We had an adventure of a lifetime :-)

Spa in the Volcano

Expect the unexpected!

When I first visited Indonesia, I was wondering where to go for the best spa.
I found it in the most unexpected place...

In Domas Crater- one of the Indonesia’s volcano’s crater located near Tanguban Perahu Mountain. We walked down to the crater for half an hour. My legs ached. It was quite a long time I haven’t walked that long and the path was steep and slippery.
But I enjoyed the scenery. It was breathtaking! I felt so close to nature!

We arrived in the crater… There were smokes coming out from the ground…Yayy, it feels like I’m going to be barbecued alive, hehehe. The guide might have read my expression so he assured me that its safe. It would just feel warm.

There were pools of water with different temperature, one pool was boiling. They said its 98 degrees Celcius. Wooohhh, how hot. They could even boil eggs on it in few minutes.
The best of this journey was the foot spa experience. It changed my view of a spa.
SPA on a Live Warm Crater of a Volcano

Can you believe it? Even until now, I couldn’t believe such wonderful thing nature has to offer.
The water was warm, you just have to soak your feet on it and feel the sand and the stones that are warm yet comforting. After a few minutes soaking, they gave a massage. The local was very polite and asked me first if it’s okay to massage my feet. I appreciate his politeness.


Instead of oil or whatever it is that they use in spa centers, there in Domas Crater, they use the volcano mud which is green in color. It doesn’t look like a yucky mud at all and it feels like lotion when it touched the skin. The locals said it’s very good for the skin and muscle ache.
Indeed, the aching of my legs subside after the spa. I felt refreshed and ready to trek up the mountain again, hehehe.

Indeed, a very unique experience I'll forever cherish.

Is Your Toddler Afraid of Something?

Most moms create a "Fear Icon" to their kids to scare them when they do not obey.

Is this good???Will it affect his confidence?

My sister's kid is scared of Monster and pressure cooker's whistle. Just the sight of a pressure cooker and he'll run or hug his parents.

My brother's daughter is scared of Big Eyes- an imaginary monster they create. Others are even afraid of the dark. They often use these fear when they are not obeying or during a tantrum which I think is helpful for the parents.

I do not let my kid developed fear of the dark. I believe that it might affect his confidence and could lead to emotional breakdown when there will be brownout at night. What if he would develop a phobia of the dark and he could not breathe or could not move or do something when its dark?

I haven't instill on my child's mind something that should be fear of. He's not scared of anything. Even he wanted to go near a dinosaur, lol. Its true... When we went to Dinosaur's Alive, he was fascinated most by T-Rex. While other kids hugged their moms with scary faces, Jasper was smiling and laughing pointing to the dinosaur. He even wants to hug it, hehehe.

At the moment, one thing he's scared of is my ANGER. Humans as we are, we do have anger outburst sometimes no matter how much we control it. My son saw it once and he got scared... Opps, I remember Monsters Inc. part of the movie where Kitty was told by Mr. Waternoose to roar and the little girl saw the monster side of him. But I wasn't like that monster, lol. My little boy got scared but of course, I hugged him and reassured him that I would never be angry if he would be a good boy. I think he got it and is obeying my orders.

I seldom get angry and I guess that's what makes it effective. Coz if youre angry all the time, your kid will be immune to it and will not have any effect in the future. Its okay to get angry sometimes to toddlers, only when necessary. It sets them boundaries and lets them know their limits.


One day, I went out and left my kid for an hour with my sister. When I came back, she was so impressed. She said he wanted to open the drawer, my sister just told him...NO, YOUR MOM WILL GET ANGRY... He stopped and obeyed. So, no need to create a fear icon to my little junior... hmmm, as of the moment... I hope he will not change. He's still 19 months old, so you'll never know...

To moms out there - Whatever suits you and your kid...do it... Moms know best.