This will change your life.

I must confess, I have a weakness for simple yet functional stuff.

Clean lines, no fuss, multifunctional, hardy and easy to use.

Minejima & Co appeared in my Facebook newsfeed one day not too long ago. They were exhibiting at a Christmas fair at Orchard, so I dropped by along the way home to learn more about their range of products.

At the fair, there were kids toys, pretty bags and had some other interesting products such as a DIY horse craft for anything that has a handlebar.

Being somewhat uncreative at toys and curious about everything else, I badgered Naomi (who started the business and checks each item for defects) to explain each and every item she was selling at the fair.

After at least 15 minutes of her demonstrations, it wasn’t difficult to see why she chose to carry these brands (which cannot be found elsewhere in Singapore).

I bought a mixture of items using my credit card and decided to test them out.

At home, we assembled the DIY horse craft that’s called a mini “Handlebar Hero” on the kids’ bicycle. It was easy, but there were small loose parts so we had adult supervision.

The kids have an obsession with water and sand, so I observed how they would use Quut toys compared to their usual favourite buckets (which they still used to carry the toys).

Quut toys are quite different, there are holes for water play and even a transparent plate to let you look underwater without getting your face wet.

We next tried these toys at the sand pit. The yellow and blue hand shovels are actually more comfortable to use than the normal spade, and they don’t have any sharp edges.

We used each segment of the Quut toy to create shapes, sieve sand and decorate our sand creations.

We loved dragging the long blue shovel to create lines in the sand (which happens to be the name of a favourite Dream Theater song too).

The shovel is easier on the wrist and can has 3 different edges to create various line designs.

The kids insisted on playing with the Quut toys in the bathtub before we could air dry the toys.

I hate it when I can’t fit my stuff easily into bags, so I was happily using this this RuMe tote to toss the toys in together with the water bottle and spare clothes.

On another day, I’ve stuffed a few full Fairprice plastic bags worth of heavy groceries in it, and it didn’t break like all my other cheapo bags!

According to Minejima & Co, this bag can carry 23 kg of weight, they’ve tested it too. Well I don’t think my shoulder can ever lift a bag that heavy, but I don’t have to worry about having my hands full of multiple bags or a broken shopping bag.

The best thing is there’s a couple of Velcro straps that keep the bag folded neatly when empty. I love the tessellations too. It beats carrying a stodgy shopping bag with a random brand name emblazoned across it.

Minejima & Co’s products will make you rethink your shopping habits too.

Too often we buy things because they’re so cheap, on sale or just for the sake of retail therapy. Then we have to deal with the stress of having too many things which are not useful in our lives.

I’ve been looking up Marie Kondo and her advice on keeping things that “spark joy”.

At the fair, it was refreshing to enjoy the journey of understanding each item’s function and visualisating how it fits into my lifestyle before I chose the ones which “sparked joy”.

Since my first encounter with Naomi, I’ve been practising this way of shopping even for everyday things such as fruits and vegetables.

It’s just a matter of time before I make this a habit for my office tasks, errands, housework, app usage and other life choices too.