15 gift ideas for baby shower

This post on gift ideas for baby full month celebration is suitable for readers that:

•  Despite the Singaporean culture of practicality, you recognize that gifts display more sincerity and thoughts than cold hard cash.
• You are the type that will go for random gift rather than $20 vouchers.
• You hold a Bachelors in … (Sorry, verzon spent too much time looking for a job and started writing in job advert style unwittingly)

While contemplating whether a 一路發 angpao or a gift will be better, I decided to check up online for some ideas on what are some pretty gifts for the cute baby. Well, it seems like a very common question everyone faces, and there are tons of ideas out there. I shortlisted some of them here:

1. Baby Bouncer
   
   Experience sources shared that this is a must-have for parents. Baby bouncers take away 70% of the noise and hassle of looking after the baby. Before you head to the nearby mothercare shop to get it, check that the couple needs it, because chances are they might already have it.
   
   
2. Clothes for baby
   Clothes come in all sizes and for different stages of baby growth. Since the couple could be flooded for clothings for infants (<3months), you can consider buying some clothes at the later stage(3-6months, or 6-9months, etc)
   
   
3. Bib
   
   Never too many for this one. Babies have never-ending supply of saliva. I recommend the I love Mummy designs, super cute!
   
   
4. Baby Swimming trunks/costume
   
   
   This strike me as something people won’t usually think about. Worth a consideration especially for couples that enjoy getting wet with their baby.
   
   
5. Diapers
   
   

   Something practical. But my mom objects, for aesthetic reasons.
   
   
6. Diaper cake hamper
   
   This was a stunner – never knew such concepts existed. Essentially diapers are used to resemble that as a multi layer cake, and wrapped as a hamper. This gift idea combines both practicality and the sincerity of gifts. Brilliant.
   
   
7. Milk bottles
   
   A lot of creativity can go into this one. You can customize the bottle, or put some gifts inside…
   
   
8. Fruit basket
   
   Pretty self explanatory, pretty normal gift for assorted occasions
   
   
9. Baby blankets
   
   Choose carefully as this could potentially follow the baby for years. My sister’s baby blanket followed her till high school.
   
   
10. Playmat
    
    Immediately the alphabet rubber-like playmats pop into my mind. I love that when I was a kid!
    
    
11. Nightlight
    
    Very thoughtful gift. Definitely a must-have for couples that need to wake up frequently at night to cajole a crying baby.
    
    
12. Educational books (for parents and babies)
    
    Not only the “Parenting for dummies” kind of book, but also cute alphabet books for the babies!
    
    
13. Strollers
    
    Very useful to open up a path in shopping malls. I mean, strollers are good to have to bring the baby out!
    
    
14. Baby sling
    
    The alternative to strollers. A good baby sling is important as the comfort level makes a huge difference especially if the mom has to carry the baby the whole day.
    
    
15. Vouchers (mothercare, kiddy palace, etc)
    
    A little bit more sincere than cash. 

Some other tips

• Call the parents up and see what they need
  Things like baby bouncers and strollers would be typically what they would already have. They will also tell you things like don’t buy clothes as they already have too many or even tell you what they need.

• It could be quite a tough decision to select a gift. Some things that can help you to narrow down your choices
• Boy or Girl?
• Budget
• Practical or fanciful?
  
• If some of the above gifts are too expensive for you, get your mutual friends/colleagues to share the gift!

Hope this was useful for you!

EUFASS

How much red packet money to give for baby shower?

It is common for new parents to hold a baby shower celebration to commemorate the first month of their newborn. In my opinion, the full month celebration for the infant is not just an occasion for parents to share their fruit of their labour, after arduous months of carrying and delivering the baby, but it is also a good reason for friends and family to get together and be part of the new little life.

I was recently invited for a baby shower of a colleague. It is a blessing to be part of his baby shower celebration and it was enjoyable to see and play with the cute 1st-month baby! However, this question came to my mind like all my previous other red packet questions –

How much angpao money should I give to my baby/infant full month?

There are elements of similarity with red packets for weddings in this question, and I would say it would depend on:

• The type of event ( Can range from house visit to lavish hotel setting)
• Relationship with the couple

Typically baby showers are held at the couple’s house or a function room of a condo.

$50 seemed like a rate that I would give an ok friend. A simple $50 note is polite, but I personally find that you can go an extra mile to show that you care. For example, you can augment your red packet amount with auspicious numbers like $68, $88.

For close friends and relatives, I would go with $168. It bodes well as it sounds similar to 一路發, which means earning big money throughout the baby’s life journey.

If you feel like giving more, by all means! More is always better than less, especially for the couple as it can help defray some of the exorbitant expenses needed to raise the baby.

Hope this was useful for you

EUFASS

SGD to JPY: Credit or Cash and tips on how much to change for 1 week in Japan

Ramen, generous beef serving, onsen egg, tasty seaweed for 800 yen

In my most recent solo trip to Japan last month, a few things have changed with regards to currency exchange.

1) Singapore dollar to Yen is now at a bargain compared to 2 years ago.

2 years ago, I changed at 1 to 65. Last month, I changed at 1 to 90. Now imagine the happiness of a tourist in Japan as everything is basically at 30% discount!
Why? Abenomics, they call it, which is their Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's solution to their declining economy. He has introduced a round of quantitative easing since his political victory causing Japanese currency to drop and hence increase exports.

2) More outlets are accepting credit cards

2 years ago, cash is king as many outlets do not accept cards. Now, it seems that paying by cards is increasingly common as most eateries accept cards. This will greatly impact the amount you have to change, since you need not carry huge amounts of cash anymore.

If you are planning to go to Japan and thinking on how much cash to change, here is the right place.
If you need ideas on where best to change SGD to JPY, refer to my previous recommendation here.

The two key questions are -

How much minimum cash would I need for 1 week?

Lets break down the expenses that can be paid via cash / credit
Accommodation - credit
Better Restaurants - credit
Shopping - credit
Roadside shopping - cash
Other food/convenience store - cash
Transport - top up by cash

Lets say you spend 1000 yen (~$11) on food per day, another 1000 yen on miscellaneous at the convenience store, 800 yen (2 x two-way trip from shibuya to akihabara), you will need 2800 yen a day. For 1 week, having about 21000 minimally with you would be OK. 

The rest, I will recommend to pay by credit card (Remember to activate overseas usage!). 

The next question I investigated was:

Does it make economic sense to pay by cards? How much would bringing all cash save me?

My credit expenses for this trip were as follows:
I spent, per my credit card bill, $583.19 in restaurants and shopping.
If I had paid by cash, with the currency exchange rate I got at Singapore, I would be spending $578.86. Which means that for $583 of spending,  I paid about $4 for the convenience of not holding large amounts of cash.

Pretty worth it (<1% of spending), I would say. So bringing all cash might not save you alot after all!

In conclusion, Japan's ease of credit card use has improved these 2 years. If you are going to Japan,
1) have minimally about 3000 yen per day, carry more cash if you want to
2) pay everything in credit and enjoy the convenience of not holding cash at a small price


Hope this was useful for you
EUFASS