Michelin Tires replacement for my 2013 Toyota Sienna van

Anyone else has the same issues I have with your less than two years old van? I owned a 2013 Toyota Sienna van. Back in May 2014, I took my van to the dealer for the regular maintenance. I was told that I need to replace my front tires. My van only has about 17k miles. The person at toyota service center on south street told me that it is normal that tires don't last that long and it is waste of time to claim manufacture warranty. I decided to verify the information knowing that tires has 60k warranty. I called Michelin about their warranty and started a claim over the phone. I was told that I could take it to authorized dealers which are Lex Brodie and Sears Auto Center. I took it to Lex Brodie and was told that I will only need to pay 17% of the cost of the tire replacement. I ended up paying A little less than $200 thinking that I have got a deal.


Four months later, I needed to replace my other two tires. My car only has 20k miles.  Again, I took it down to Lex Brodie because of its convenience location by my work. I was told that I have to pay 75% of the tires because the thread is uneven. They claimed that it was possibly caused by lack of rotation and alignment. I couldn't believed that this is what you need to do with a brand new car., check your tires every two weeks? In addition to that, you are suppose to get them rotate every two to three months. So, I was quote at almost $500 for two tires. I refused to pay that much. I called Michelin again, every time I call and ask them to help, they have me 10% credit more to the initial 75%. Finally I was able to get 45% credit. Then, I started looking at  the Invoice from Lex Brodie to
see how much they actually quote me per tire. $248.88 while Costco is selling for $170. So, I called Sears Auto Center and got help from the General Manager. I ended up paying about $300 for Two brand new tires (Sears Road Handler Touring 100K miles warranty) and alignment with the 45% credit from Michelin. I will write a follow up review on these tires. I am pretty sure that I wouldn't get 100k miles from them though. Just hope that I don't have to spend money for brand new tires in two years.

Overall, My advice for you is not to trust what people tell you. You always save a little money if you verify your information.

Lesson 1: if I believe the technician from the dealer, I would never know that you can get claim manufacture warranty.

Lesson 2: I learn that it is beneficial to check your tires every 2 weeks, rotate your tires every 3 to 6 months and check your car's alignment at least once a year.

Lesson 3: Always check if the store do price matching and details of the warranty.

Lesson 4: Ask question and ask question. Never feel embarrass to ask any question at all.

Hydro Flask, H2go and Tiger Sahara Water Bottles

I recently found that I have a H2go insulated water bottle inside one of the gifts that I received from my 5 years service awards at Kamehameha Schools. I am very blessed to be able to contribute to Princess Pauahi's will. I have been given a very good opportunity to support KS Endowment using my technical and interpersonal skills. It is motivating for me and proud to say that I am contributing to the endowment that supports a statewide educational system that serves more than 47,000 learners at preschools, campuses and community outreach programs. Please feel free to Kumukahi.org website if you are interested in learning about Hawaiian culture using videos, games, musics and etc.

Back to the water bottle talk. I finally found this H2go stainless steel water bottle hiding in the box sitting on my desk for over a week. I was so happy and thankful for getting a special gift like this. It is a nice water bottle with one hand open and drink function. I was very curious and found ETS Express that sells these really good bottles for a decent price. This company produces Contigo 2 Pack Stainless steel water bottle. As you can see from Amazon's site, Contigo water bottles are getting pretty good reviews. I also spotted Contigo Water bottles last weekend at Costco Honolulu. If I remember it right, it should be priced at $29.99.

Meanwhile, my new Hydro Flask Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, Wide Mouth, 40-Ounce, Everest Blue came in the mail. It is a nice purple, heavy and big water bottle. I bought this bottle for my husband as a 9 year anniversary. Did I count it right? September 25, 2005 was the special date we got married. This bottle has been performing well. I filled it up with half ice and half water. The water stay cold sitting in the car for two days. We definitely drink more water than before. It becomes very useful when we are able to refill the kids water bottle. It just saves us money on buying bottled water. The only thing that I do not like about this water bottle is the cap. I am a mom who has three kids, I wish I could have 4 hands but a lot of the time I have my hands full with things that I need to carry. Having to hold the water bottle and unscrew the cap is just does not work at all for me and my husband. The solution is paying another $5 for the Hydro Flask Hydro Flip Lid from Amazon. I hope that it will work because I have spent more than I like to on a water bottle.

So, out of these three bottles: H2go, Hydro Flask and Tiger Sahara, which one is my favorite? I think I will still vote for Tiger Sahara. H2go and Hydro flask are really heavy and comes with no carrier. I am going to have to come out with something creative to make a DIY carrier pouch. All thse water bottles do a very good job in keeping the water cold.

Raising kids in Hawaii

Living in Hawaii is really expensive especially raising 3 kids. A gallon of milk cost about $6 for store brand at Costco, Times supermarket, Foodland and other groceries stores. A gallon of Meadow gold brand of milk cost about $8 to $9. I have paid $10 for a gallon of milk in Waikiki at ABC STORE.

Preschool for my 2 year old cost $875 and 4 year old $850. Summer program when public school is out for my 6 years old could cost between $300 to $1200 depending if I am sending her to just a summer fun at the district park / summer school by DOE or a private summer school program. I am going to write a post on Summer school program in Hawaii in the future.

My kids are currently all in school during the week. My financial condition really limits the activities I can send them during the weekend.  So, we usually try to do something fun outdoor without costing me too much. And of course some times I just like to stay home and relax with the kids. Kids can play with any toy at home as long as they clean up afterwards. Of course this rule doesn't apply to our Ms. Chloe because she never clean up after playing. Ms. Chloe is my no.3. She is two year old little cute monster who likes to spread out all the train tracks and blocks on the floor. Nobody is allowed to clean up the mess till she is asleep. She was a colic baby when she was young and she could cry for the whole 30 minutes-45 minutes if things do not go her way.

OK. I am so distracted when I start talking about Chloe. I should write another post just about her.

It has been really hot lately, staying at home all day without air conditioner is truly a torture for the kids and me. Finally we made our way out the door to the beach at about 5:30pm.  We went to Waialae beach park to attend Ashley's classmates birthday blessing. We were making sand castle on the beach and then went into the ocean. It was awesome. The water was warm. The kids were having fun with the little waves. We were there for about  2 hours. And it cost is nothing. Kids ate grandma made wonton soup that we brought from home and ice water in our favorite Tiger Sahara bottle. The cost of today's activity cost me nothing and the kids had a lot of fun in the water. The bonus was we get to see the beautiful full moon. 中秋季快乐

The Best Insulated Water Bottle

"Mommy, I am thirsty." 6 years old Ashley said.

"Drink your water from water bottle." I replied to her while driving home after pick up all the kids from school at about 5PM.

"The water is not cold." And she rather stayed thirsty and refused to drink warm water. 

Ashley was using Thermos 12-Ounce Barbie Funtainer Bottle, which is pretty small for her age and it really does not do a good job on  keep her water cold from morning till the evening. This thermos water bottle has more than 500 reviews and is rated 4 stars. However, Ashely is totally not into drinking water from her bottle at all. So, here is the trigger for this mommy to hunt for the best water bottle.

I have been seeing a lot of kids carrying the TIGER Sahara Water Bottle both at school and at work. I tried to get it from Longs Drug store once when it went on sale. I gave up after checking out and calling few stores and they were out in stock. I really just could not justify spending that kind of money on water bottle. The water bottle is normally pricedd at $42.99 for 0.8 liter and $44.99 for the 1 Liter. They are currently on sale starting today.

I was really debating if I should buy the Hydro Flask Wide Mouth Stainless Steel Drinking Bottle with Hydro Flip Cap, Pinkadelic, 18-Ounce or the Tiger Sahara bottle.After spending hours reading reviews online and Amazon feedback on the Hydro Flask, I was really frustrated because I can not seem to find any review on the Tiger Sahara bottle. However, I decided to buy the Tiger Sahara bottle when I stopped by Marukai one day after lunch. Marukai was having sale on the Tiger bottle for $34.99 without membership.

I got a call for Ashley at 4pm while I was still working in my office.

"Mommy, you are the best mother in the whole wide world. How can I ever thank you enough? What can I do to thank you? Mommy you are the best. Thank you so much for the awesome water bottle."

Ashley has been drinking ice cold water from her water bottle frequently since she has the new water bottle. This water bottle follows her closely in and out the house everyday.

I had no idea about insulated water bottle till I started reading and researched on water bottle. Insulated stainless steel water bottle is durable and superior insulating material when it comes to vacumm-sealed bottle. It does not sweat and gets wet. This is a cool feature especially when it comes to taking the water bottle to the beach.The exterior of the bottle stays dry and clean with no sand sticking on it. So, why would a frugal mom buy the Tiger Sahara bottle instead of Hydro flask since it is more expensive? The Tiger Sahara bottle comes with a cute carrier bag that they claim durable on the box. However, the fabric has already coming apart after a week of use because Ashley has been banging and dragging the bottle when she carries it in and out. I will share with you how I use my creative DIY skills to fix up the water bottle carrier in another post.

I have tested the water bottle by filling the water bottle with half ice and half water at 7pm in the evening. The ice is still in there when we go home at 5pm in the evening. We have not got a chance to do the 24 hour test yet because she usually finish the water by night time. Another feature that I love about this water bottle is that I no longer have to mess with the green moldy straws like the one is in the Thermos Funtainer bottle.

I am always into finding the best product. Since Hydro Flask insulated water bottle gets such a good review online and from the people I met, I decided to buy the Hydro Flask Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, Acai Purple, 40-Ounce to test. The drawbacks on hydro flask are the bottle does not come with a carrier and it cost extra to get a one hand flip open water cap. I will share with you in the future post on how I am going to create my own carrier for the hydro flask.

Insulated Tiger Sahara Water Bottle On sale at Longs today!!

Peeps in Hawaii, TIGER Sahara Insulated stainless steel bottle Sahara Cool Pink is currently on sale for $32.99 before tax at Longs starting today. I bought one yesterday before it goes on sale using my 30% CVS coupon. I ended up paying $32++ (Tax included). I bought one about 2 weeks ago at Marukai and paid about $36++ (Tax included).

Welcome to Kids and Beauty DIY

Hello!

I'm Chyn. Welcome to Kids and beauty DIY in Hawaii

A tech savvy mom of 3 beautiful girls living in the second most expensive state in America - Hawaii. Life in Paradise does not come cheap, everything from housing, groceries, electricity, gas, dining is more than anywhere. Born and raised in small town - Kedah, Malaysia and now live in Honolulu Hawaii with my husband and three girls - Ashley(6), Kayley(4) and Chloe(2).  I love blogging about:

• my kids
• my favorite products
• my homestay host's experience
• diy ideas
• how to save money
• living green

I hope you enjoy the site and share your ideas and experience with me. Till then, happy blogging.