Manu's Medley

Hello Readers,  Welcome back. While browsing through a weekly flyer by Canadian Tire, my eyes got hold of a smart watch, primarily for its name - Monkey Smart Watch. It's original price was $89.99. On account of Father's Day, the price was slashed 70% and offered for just $24.99 (from June 9th to June 16th).  As it was listed on Canadian Tire website, I thought the product should be genuine and googled to know more about the product. But there weren't sufficient reviews online. So I decided to try it myself and booked it online. This smart watch was launched in the last quarter of 2021 as Anex Monkey Smart Watch. Last year, it had been sold for just $19.99 as part of Black Friday deal. Even after 5 days of waiting, Canadian Tire didn't process my order. On the other hand, the stock was vanishing real quick and only 80 watches were available in our near by store. When checked with their customer service executive, I was told to cancel my online order or wait until they p...

Wish you and your amazing fathers, a memorable and happy Father's Day!!!!  Father's Day is observed on different dates by people in various countries and cultures, while it is celebrated widely on June 3rd due to westernization. Countries like US, Canada, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Ukraine, Mali etc. celebrate on 3rd Sunday in June; Italy, Portugal, Spain on 19th March; Egypt, Syria, Lebanon on 21st June; Australia and New Zealand in September. Many countries have declared this day as a national holiday, so that families get together and celebrate their father and father figures in life. In the year 1972, President Richard Nixon has declared Father's Day as a national holiday in the US. But Sonara Smart Dodd was the one who founded Father's Day. Her father, William Jackson Smart, a civil war veteran, raised 6 children including Sonara, as a single dad, after his wife's death. One day, while Sonara was in church sh...

It's summer time and people of all ages are pretty excited to be outdoors after a long and hard winter. If you are in Canada, one fantastic way to get outside and connect with nature during spring and summer is to take part in community gardening in the neighborhood. Community gardens have become very popular in Canada and has been garnering a lot of public participation over the last few years. Considering the major cities in Canada, there are approximately 242 community gardens in Toronto, 200 in Calgary, 115 in Ottawa, 110 in Vancouver and 100 in Montreal.  Community gardens are set up in city parks, city owned lands and private lands and are completely managed by gardeners themselves, without any professional assistance. The garden could be divided into plots and allocated to individuals (on first come, first serve basis) or can be communal, where everyone works together on the whole garden. In these type of gardens, vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowering plants will be g...

Are you very excited about your newborn and at the same time not sure how to handle him? Don't worry. You are not alone. As I always quote, babies don't come with a manual and we too learn and grow along with them as parents.  Parents, especially first-timers somehow manage to take care of the basic needs of baby like feeding, bathing and diapering, but will have a lot of questions on how to engage the infant 24hrs or are we adequately entertaining him or going overboard and so on. I definitely had these. In this post, I am sharing simple, but effective ideas to entertain 0-3 months old. These activities will also help him learn about himself, his surroundings, develop physical and mental skills and a great way of bonding with parents.  What to expect from a newborn (0-3 months)? Spends majority of its time sleeping Can hear sounds and respond to voices/noises by smiling, cooing or crying Grasp fingers/clothes and gradually try to grasp objects  Vision is not fully develo...