Years ago, i bought an oil sprayer, but it was soon left in the dust. It really didn’t work so well in that you don’t get an even misting. Fast forward to today, oil sprayers have improved quite a bit. The main reason i abandoned the idea of the oil sprayer was that the oil became rancid very quickly. However, i recently realized that this problem can be overcome by storing the oil sprayer in the fridge. Simple as that. I felt it was worth trying out the oil sprayer again.
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Taobao product recommendation – Mini Wash Ultrasonic washer
I came across this “new” gadget on Kickstarter that uses technology I’ve never heard of – Ultrasonic cleaning. It looked really impressive, but by now, it’s become a reflex for me to be suspicious of products on crowd funding platforms. True enough, this was one of those many products being launched on Kickstarter simply for exposure rather than to kickstart a built-from-scratch brand new idea. Indiegogo is much worse in this respect, they advertise products that have been around for a long time, and sell the products for many times more than what you could get them for on other retail websites.
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Taobao product recommendation – Aircond remote control
The aircond remote control is one of those things that’s bound to become spoiled after some years of usage. The LCD becomes illegible. Thankfully, you can find compatible replacement remote controls from Taobao.
I’m sure most people would prefer to buy a remote control that looks exactly the same as the one its meant to replace, but for the savings i am able to enjoy by buying from Taobao, i don’t mind slight differences. The remote control i got has an extra heat mode, which obviously doesn’t apply in this part of the world. But hey, it’s in English, and that’s more than good enough for me.
For 15.80 Yuan (S$3.15), and including shipping, it still works out to be cheaper than what you can find on Shopee or Lazada. I also got a “universal” fan remote control. Unfortunately this one didn’t work with my EuropAce tower fan. Oh well, for 7.6 Yuan (S$1.50) it was still worth trying.
Taobao product recommendation – Piano humidity controller
The relative humidity in Singapore typically ranges from 50% to 100%, and this is not very good for keeping pianos in optimal shape. According to Steinway, the most favourable environment for a piano is a relative humidity of 45% to 70% and a constant temperature of 20°C. This is only possible if air conditioning is turned on all the time, which is not feasible for most people.
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Taobao product recommendation – Tamagoyaki pan
To make Tamagoyaki, you really need a special pan. You need a small pan so the eggs would be thick, and it has to be rectangular or square so you can make a roll out of it. I needed little convincing to buy one of these pans on Taobao.
If you’re lazy to do parcel forwarding, you could buy from Shopee and the like. However, the cheaper ones you find on these local marketplace platforms are the ones with coloured bottom (green/pink). I don’t like these, they look unprofessional. I rather go though a little bit of hassle and buy the stone coating, or the really made-for-Japan ones.
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Taobao product recommendation – Cassette tape player
Years ago, i bought an Aiwa (if you’re a teen two decades ago you would have heard of it) branded cassette tape player so i could future proof myself, to be able to play some cassette tapes i had in my possession. Unfortunately, it broke down, and, like everyone who’s lazy to do backup, my intention of digitizing my cassette tapes did not materialize.
By the way, i have a cassette tape with a recording of my voice when i was a toddler. I felt it was important that i make a digital recording of it for keep sake. I’m pretty sure not many people have a recording of their childhood voice from decades ago, when a cassette tape recorder was hard to come by.
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Taobao product recommendation – PC Power Supply Unit
Taobao is my go-to source for all PC components and peripherals, and why not, since everything is cheap and potentially very good quality. The PSU of my home theatre PC just broke down, and i managed to find a very good replacement.
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Taobao product recommendation – Wireless Microphone, replaceable battery for receiver
I have previously gotten a set of wireless microphone. Having been mistaken that it is spoilt, which i later found out was not the case, i went ahead to buy another set. This time round, i chose one that came with replaceable lithium battery for the receiver unit, so that it will be future proof from battery failures. The previous microphone set i bought uses non-replaceable lithium battery.
I wasn’t quite willing to pay more for the new wireless microphone, so i got this generic one that is even cheaper (65 Yuan or S$12.80) than the SAST OK-91 (89 Yuan). As you can see in the featured image above, it tries to mimic the Pioneer brand, with an illegible English brand name.
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Taobao product recommendation – Reading light
You won’t believe how cheap a reading light can be on Taobao. I recently bought this one for 65.80 Yuan (S$12.80). During the upcoming Singles day sale, it would cost only 58.90 Yuan (S$11.50). Like many Chinese products, it goes by a lame brand name – “Staycation”, but thankfully the branding isn’t imprinted anywhere on the actual product.
Taobao product recommendation – Redmi K20 Pro: the flagship-killer killer
OnePlus phones used to be the de-facto flagship-killer, with flagship level specs at a fraction of the cost of true flagship phones. However, Redmi just killed their flagship-killer with the release of the K20 Pro. It boasts flagship level specs at a price point that is lower than OnePlus’.
The K20 Pro 6GB + 128GB cost CNY 2239 (S$432) at present. For me, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is the entry level specs anyone should get. There is also the option to get 6GB + 64GB at CNY 1999 (S$386), which is dirt cheap, but i think one will run out of storage in less than a year. In my opinion, it’s worth paying $46 more to save the trouble. I don’t think you can find any other device that has a lower price for a flagship level phone (only the Vivo iQoo comes close, but i suspect software updates for Vivo phones are less frequent than Xiaomi).
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