A few days ago, we were given a free voucher (worth SG$350) for a photo shoot and a 5x7 frame from Essence Studios, I did a super short post on it here. We immediately scheduled our photo session before Sofia flew back to the Philippines and the photographer we got, Esther, was quite good.
The concept of Essense Studios is that they do a quick interview with you to get an insight on your personality, as well as the personalities of every member of the family, before they confirm your appointment for the photo shoot. They also encourage you to bring as many outfit changes and props as you want because the studio only has white walls and white floors aside from all the photography equipment so they really rely on you to come with your own things.
Given that we were just using our free voucher, we didn't really make much effort to bring anything. Sofia had one extra shirt and a small backpack with some puzzles, her miniature Sushi and Dessert that Auntie Lynn got her from Japan, and Choco. I was quite impressed with Esther because she made the most of the photo shoot despite our lack of props. She started with making Sofia feel comfortable by doing shots of the two of us together first. She directed Sofia to run around me, push me, then hug me, so the shoot became very playful and spontaneous. Once Sofia was more comfortable, she started taking Sofia's solo shots, even bringing in a big fan, to get really nice professional model looking shots.
After the shoot, they confirmed a viewing appointment so I could choose the shots and products that I'd like to buy. This is normally scheduled a week after the photo shoot but since I was travelling out of the country for four weeks, they scheduled my session just a few days after.
Esther managed to get some really, really good photos! The catch is that everything they sold was bloody expensive! If you think that The Picture Company in the Philippines is expensive, it's actually NOTHING compared to Essence Studios, and both of them do the Free Photo Shoot and Free Picture with no obligation come on. At The Picture Company, they still manage to shame me into ordering at least an additional shot, which would normally cost me around SG$30 (Php1000) for one Photo Sheet with your choice of layout. With the prices at the Essence Studios, it was very easy to say "Just the Free Picture please." Though it was quite a challenge picking out my favorite, to save myself at least SG$1000 I forced myself to choose.
They were a bit of a hard sell, telling me that I would only be entitled to a 10% discount during my first preview appointment, but I let them down nicely by saying that we were moving back to the Philippines in August, and we don't have our own place YET, so I wouldn't feel comfortable making such a big purchase when I wasn't sure if I had walls to hang them on. I promised to come back when I was sure we had our own walls. I was so proud of myself. No lies there... just stretching the truth a bit.
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| Fif after the photo shoot We think the little boy on the banner may be Max, her classmate. |
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| The rates at Essence Studios. Even with the promos, everything is still so expensive. Prices are all in SGD (SG$1 is approximately Php34) |
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| The rates (continued) and other Opening Special Promotions. |
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| You can also have your pictures printed in an album, or saved digitally in a thumb drive, but that will cost you around SG$2000! That would probably pay for the Gucci handbag I have been coveting. |
ESSENCE STUDIOS
You can visit their website here to see a sample of their work
Singapore
112 Killiney Road, Singapore 239551
Tel: (+65) 6836 3360
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Unit E & F, 9/F Shing Lee Building,
6-8 Wing Kut Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 3616 6464
Since my Essence Studios viewing was a bit disappointing save for the free picture frame that I ordered, I did some exercise (brisk walking and window shopping is my Singapore exercise of choice) and walked to Orchard Road. I did a quick detour for my favorite snacks: (I wrote about that here) XXL Crispy Chicken from Shilin in 313@somerset and TakoPachi from Takashimaya (still no food at home is my excuse!).
When I was in Takashimaya I realized that the Sanrio Spring Fair was still on-going. I already spent loads of time there the day before trying to convince myself that Sofia DID NOT need everything I was tempted to buy for her. I was quite successful too because I went home without buying anything.
Well, I guess the lesson here is that you should NOT tempt fate twice. Especially when you feel like you deserve a reward to saying NO to spending SG$1000-2000 for really, really nice pictures of yourself and your daughter!!!
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| This is all All for SG$101.80, which comes virtually free if you consider my savings from the picture. At the bare minimum, the voucher we used was worth SG$350 for the Photo Shoot and the 5x7 frame. |
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| I bought Sofia a Jelly Maker |
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| I hope it doesn't come with just one packet of Jelly mix... then the toy becomes useless if we don't find the mix elsewhere. Well, we can always experiment and make our own jelly candy recipe. |
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| 2 in 1 Sticker and Card Maker |
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| Insulated Lunch Box SG$36 (Php 1,228)and Tumbler SG$19.90 (Php 6) to keep her food warm and her water cold I justified the need for this for her new school in Manila where they need to bring their own breakfast or lunch. |
The Sanrio Spring Fair is until 13th March 2012 at the at Talking Hall, Basement 1 of Takashimaya Department Store in Ngee Ann City Mall in Orchard Road. You get a chance to participate in a Lucky Dip Promotion for every SG$50 spent. Takashimaya DBS Cardholders also get a SG$10 Sanrio Voucher for every SG$100 purchase.
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| The promotion is an effective way to increase basket size because I bought the Hello Kitty Ice Cream Truck Memo Pad SG$3.80 (Php 130) so I could get two lucky dips. |
I won the Little Twin Stars Fan and the Hello Kitty Stickers for Sofia but the biggest bonus was the SG$10 voucher I got even if I was not a Takashimaya DBS cardholder. I used it to get four Sanrio pouches for SG$10 for Fif and her friends.
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| This will be waiting for Fif in our Singapore home because she is coming back one day earlier than me. |
I calculated my total savings to be at least SG$50. That's 50% of what I spent! I love, love, love Sanrio! Just Saying.
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