Credit Card Cross Border Transaction Fees

Recently I bought an air ticket through expedia.com.sg, and also a service from Groupon.sg.  The prices were quoted in Singapore dollars, and everything seemed to me that the transaction is done within Singapore shore.  However, when I checked my credit card bills, I noticed I had been charged more than the stated amount.  Feeling uneasy, I called up the credit card company.  Their explanation is that the merchants are located overseas, so a 'cross border transaction fee' had been incurred.  The rate is 0.8% of the transacted amount.  I am fine with the fee if I had been informed of it and I can tell whether the merchant is a Singapore one or an overseas merchant, but in this case, I bought a service in Singapore, through a .sg website, but in fact the transaction is considered 'cross border'.

A search on the internet shows that almost all the banks in Singapore have this charge, with the exception of OCBC, at the moment.  The worst seems to SCB, a foreign bank, and it happens to be the one I am using.

Now, the only safe way is to support our local business.  Book your air tickets, hotels, etc, everything from a local Singapore company, not with those overseas brands, not even if they have a .sg suffix in their website.  

Annoying Alarm Clock

Recently, one of my neighbours set his/her alarm clock to ring at 6am.  That's pretty fine if the alarm clock can wake up its owner in time.  Unfortunately in my case, that alarm clock can ring so loud that the whole block can hear it, but its owner.  On Monday, the alarm went off at 6am sharp, and kept ringing and ringing until 6.23am.  It is still not that bad, at least it only rang for 23 minutes, long, but still tolerable.

Then today, that same alarm clock went off at 6am again, as it has been programmed to.  But then can you guess how long that it rang?  From 6am till 8.30am!!!  Two and a half hours!!!

I was waken up by the alarm, and tried to find the source to no avail.  The alarm just kept ringing and ringing and ringing, never a minute of silence.  Out of frustration, I called our friendly neighbourhood police at around 8am.  They sent someone down at around 8.15am.  The officer said the sound sounds like an alarm clock, they could only see what they could do, but it was difficult to locate the source.

At 8.30am, the alarm finally stopped.  I don't know whether the alarm clock woke up its owner eventually or our police officers managed to locate the alarm clock.

I hope this will not repeat in the coming days.  

It Pays to Do Your Price Comparison

I must say I am not a very price sensitive guy.  If I want to buy something, I will just buy the item when I see it, as long as the price is within reasonable range.  Never did I realize even for small items, the price difference can still be quite a lot.

For example, I like the Nin Jiom herbal candy (original).  The small can at Watson's goes for $3.30 as its normal price.  In the period of discount, it is $3.00, as 10% discount.  Just a few steps across Watson's, at Unity, you can buy the same can for $2.95, as its normal price!

The absolute difference is very small, just 5 cents in one case, and 35 cents in the worst case, but still it shows how prices can vary on some minor items that you thought the price was universal!

It really pays to do some price comparisons, even though the amount can be small, let alone the big items who may cost you thousands of dollars.

Malaysia Ringgit at 15-Year Low against Singapore Dollar!

This is the most catching title of today!  Malaysia Ringgit has fallen to 15-year low against Singapore dollars at SGD1.00=RM2.548.  Ok, this is the bank rate for large amounts, probably at your neighborhood money changer, the rate should be roughly SGD1.00=RM2.50.

There were news reports saying many Singaporeans are taking this opportunity of low rate to go to Malaysia and spend there.

Is it really cheaper?  Ok, exchange rate aside, Malaysia is cheaper in many aspects.  For example, a 3-D movie ticket in JB costs you RM22.00?  That's less than SGD9.00.  While the same ticket in Singapore will cost you SGD14.00.  Well, Malaysia is in general cheaper, not due to the recent fall of its currency.

If you do your maths, from 2.45 to 2.50, the difference is only 5 cents.  If you spend RM1000, then you only have a RM50 savings from the fallen exchange rate alone.  This lower rate will only benefit people who need to change from SGD to RM in large amounts.  For people like you and me, who only visit Malaysia once in a long while, and spend less than RM200, the exchange benefit is total insignificant. 

Sam Hui's Album

Walked past a Cash Converter shop the other day and found a very old Sam Hui album.  It was really cheap, only S$1.50.  What can you buy these days with S$1.50?

Came back home and tested it on my computer, well, it happened to be Sam Hui's Karaok set, not really his album.  However, it was really funny to watch those videos from decades ago.  The video and the songs may or may not have any links at all, but always beautiful girls and handsome guys.  Probably that is the simplest, and the most successful formula to sell pop.

Sharing one of my favourite songs from Sam Hui.  Enjoy :)

Bogus Seminar

I bought a Groupon voucher for a 'seminar' some time ago, and I was eagerly waiting for the seminar day to come, hoping I can gain some knowledge from this 'seminar'.  When I bought the Groupon, I did notice some of the free seminars organized by some investment services are being put on sale at Groupon with a nominal fee.  I hesitated, but then, still what the heck, just putting 12 bucks at risk, I took the risk.

I went for the seminar today.  It was a fear come true story.  The so-called 'seminar' ended up more like a   sales talk, product introduction, rather than a seminar where you can gain some knowledge.

I won't say the name of it, but then in the future, I will be more careful and skeptical about such 'seminars'.  This is to share with people who might be interested.

Insomnia

It has been quite a while since I last blogged, and I am writing this blog entry at the wee hours of the day.  I have been having problems with falling into sleep recently.  I started to feel sleep at around 11pm, but then by the time I go to bed at mid-night, my mind somehow decided to get active again.  All kinds of thoughts would just flow to my head, and they are like house flies that I couldn't get rid of.

As I couldn't really fall asleep, I decided to just get up and wander around in the virtual world.  There were still people around on msn.  It seems like they either also have a sleeping problem, or they are just too hard working.

I need some fresh air.  

My Groupon Experience - Continued

This is a follow-up post to my previous blog entry on my Groupon experience.  Luckily, all woes with Groupon had come to a more pleasant end.

For my golf course Groupon, the service provider managed to find me a class that I can attend and I had happily attended my first lesson last Saturday.  Well, the Groupon didn't state very clearly the hidden charges, which is you must pay for the golf balls that you hit at the prevailing price of 8 cents/ball.  The Groupon only covers that coaching fee which is S$18/hour.  Anyway, I am happy.

For the Japanese language class, it was a disappointment.  The service provider didn't seem to be interested in those Groupon students.  However, I managed to get a full refund.  The money is credited back to my Groupon account, so that means I still need to spend that amount of money with Groupon.  It is not the best solution, but it is not the worst.

In the future, I will probably just get some deals which is small in total amount, and short in duration.  Or just for some small little goods.  

Farewell, My Dear Friend TS

The wife of one of my ex-colleagues put up a shocking facebook update today, announcing her beloved husband had bid farewell to this beautiful world, and ascended to a higher, more beautiful, more happy world which we are unknown to all this world's living beings.

Her husband and I worked together on some past projects and we were a good team.  I witnessed him and his wife to go from colleagues to happy husband and wife, to the arrival of their lovely daughter.  His cheerfulness and his quiet personality both left such lasting impression on me.

RIP, my dear friend!

Climb Asia - My First Rock Climbing Experience

Bought the Beginner's Climbing Course voucher from Groupon.sg at the price of S$38 some months ago.  This deal must be very popular, as I had to wait for almost 3 months before I got my chance to get into a class.  And the class started on last Sunday.

Climb Asia is located at the Civil Service Club near Farrar Park MRT station, it is just a 5-min walk from the station, so it is really convenient.

When I arrived, some people were already busy climbing on the walls.  I heard that they were in the instructor's course.  Oh my, they are the gurus.

Anyway, our instructor was Michelle, a very cheerful young lady.  We were supposed to have a total of 11 students in the class, but only 6 turned up.  Out of the 6, 5 were ladies, I had the honour to be the one and only guy in the class.  And we had really young ladies in the class, I mean so young that they needed their parent's consent for taking up this class.  Young they were, they were not to be sneezed at.  4 of them already got the level 1 certification.  I was the only blur sotong :P

We started first with bouldering.  We learnt to climb a low wall, without the need for any ropes.  Down on the floor, there was a thick layer of cushion to soften your fall.  Michelle taught us some basic techniques, pointed out some common mistakes the beginners made.  It was really fun.

Then we went out to challenge the 'wall'.  You can see how high it is in the picture above.  I gave two tries.  Nice, but as I am still a beginner, not really mastering the basic technique, so I ended up very exhausted.  My hands were trembling a bit, a sign that I was not doing the right thing.

Well, it was really a very fun and pleasant experience.  As anything in life, there is always a way to do it right, and speeds up your progress.  There is always something for you to learn.  Nice.

My Groupon Experience

Groupon, the group purchase company, has been present in Singapore for quite a while.  I was quite happy to see all those wonderful deals when I first 'discovered' them.  I got my first golf experience, although on simulation, was brought to me by Groupon.  Then my first experience in pawn fishing, was also a Groupon experience.  I was pretty happy with my Groupon experience, until recently.

After my pleasant experiences with Groupon, I further purchased a deal at S$78 for a Japanese language course.  I checked their class schedule, plenty of classes available for you to choose.  I had the perception that maybe I could just join one of their classes.  However, later I found out that they group all those Groupon students in a separate class, and they only have one class available, and it is on a week day night, which I can't attend, due to my long hours of work.  The manager from the school advised me to get back to Groupon to get a refund, which I did.  I first sent them an email.  No reply in 7 days.  I gave them a call, they said they could direct my request to their refund department.  Now 5 days had passed, no news from them at all.

No upset by this first unpleasant experience, I went on to purchase a S$180 golf course for beginners.  This time I also checked their schedule.  Looks like easy to find a time slot for myself.  I bought it, and registered myself.  The school came back to say not confirm that one I choose will start.  I asked them for any alternative, they then went silent.  I hope this golf course will come out to be fine, if not, I think I will think thrice before I will make any further purchases from Groupon any more.  I don't want to make a fun event into a dragful, time and money wasting event.

How to Get Rid of Ants, Naturally?

I left some food in the kitchen this morning, and it attracted an army of ants buzzing around the food item.  I didn't want to kill all the ants, as they are also living beings, nor did I want to leave the ants going around my kitchen like spoiled children.  What should I do?

It happened that I like garlic a lot and always have some garlic at home.  Just to try out my luck, I peeled a clove of garlic, then cut it into two halves to let the garlic smell to come out, then I dropped the garlic clove to the army of ants.  Guess what?  It was like throwing tear gas into a crowd, the ants dispersed and disappeared in a minute!

I was still wondering whether it was because of the smell of the garlic, or just because they were alerted by the disturbance.  I left the garlic clove in the kitchen for the rest of the day, and when I checked again in the evening, still there wasn't even a single ant in sight.

Next time, if you want to get rid of the ants in your house without killing them, try this trick!  :)

AEI - The IN Word

AEI, Asset Enhancement Initiative(?), seems to be the IN word these days.  Causeway point has been asset enhancement mode for more than a year, and it is still work in progress.  Suntec will start its AEI work soon, which is supposed to increase its attractiveness and asset value.

AEI is not only in Singapore shopping malls, but in Malaysia too.  Johor Bahru's City Square Mall, the most frequent shopping mall by Singaporeans, is also undergoing some AEI.

New malls are popping up everywhere, guess the competition is really fierce, and everybody needs to add some unique features, or contemporary elements to their existing assets.

Let's hope we will have a whole new breed of 'old' malls soon :)

Singapore - World's 3rd Richest Country

According to this report, Singapore now is ranked the 3rd richest country in the world, based on a per capita GDP of US$56,649, just behind Qatar and Luxembourg, ahead of Norway, Brunei, UAE, USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Ireland, Canada and Kuwait.  France, UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, & South Korea are not even in the top 10 list.

World Airline Safety Ranking 2012

Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre, an aviation institution based in Germany, released the ranking for world's airline safety.  The top 10 safest airlines are:

1. ANA
2. Finnair
3. Cathay Pacific
4. Etihad Airways
5. Hainan Airlines
6. Jet Blue
7. Emirates
8. Virgin Blue
9. Air Berlin
10. Air New Zealand

Big shots in the aviation industry, Qantas is ranked 11th place, while our beloved Singapore Airlines is at an appalling 27th.

Malaysia Airlines comes at 32nd, one spot behind Air Asia.  For more details, you can download the report in pdf format at this link.

The World’s Top 10 Retirement Havens

According to this link, the top 10 retirement havens in the world are:

1. Ecuador 
2. Panama
3. Mexico
4. Malaysia
5. Colombia
6. New Zealand
7. Nicaragua
8. Spain
9. Thailand
10. Honduras


Out of the 10 countries, I have only been to three of them, our neighbours Malaysia & Thailand, and the beautiful New Zealand.  


For retirement, I am not so sure Malaysia is a good choice.  The country's crime rate is high, especially in the wonderful JB.  KL is not much better.  


Thailand is a nice country, but if you live in the cities, especially Bangkok, then air pollution is a problem.  Medical care is another.  Language barrier is another factor for consideration.


New Zealand is the best of the lot, as far as I know.  It has very beautiful natural environment, but then it also has natural disasters, earthquake is common.


For you, where is your ideal retirement country?

Caning

Caning as one of the punishments or the criminal court is a legacy from times long ago, and it still remains relevant in the modern world of Singapore, Malaysia, and some other countries.

Below is a video recording how caning is like in Malaysia.   It may look a bit barbaric, but then it is effective in crime prevention.

Who Wears a Rolex Watch

Rolex has been a very famous branded Swiss watch across the world.  The prices of Rolex watches are also as high as its fame.  However, do you ever wonder who wears a Rolex watch?  Other than the kings and queens, presidents and celebrities, who else will wear a Rolex watch?

As I passed the immigration at LAX, I simply couldn't not to notice that flashy shiny piece of stainless steel on that US Homeland Security officer's wrist.  Why?  It is a Rolex submariner.  The price of such a watch is in the range of S$7000-8000 to S$10,000, depending on the exact model.  I was a bit far from his hand and couldn't get a close look at the exact model, but I am sure it is a Rolex!

On my way back to Singapore, the young steward on board that SIA flight also has a piece of shiny piece stainless steel, popping out from his nicely ironed sleeve.  It is a Rolex!  The magnifying glass piece is so distinctive!

Just when you wonder who would spend that insane amount of money on a tiny piece of stainless steel, the Rolex shop at Changi Airport terminal 3 actually ran out of stock of the new Rolex submariner (116610LN), the stainless steel version, only left with the more expensive gold version.

It is a very interesting world. :)

Indecent Ad?

Here is a giant advertisement board at the crossing of Orchard Road and Bideford Road.  This ad has created quite a stir up in Singapore, with people writing to newspapers and relevant authorities to complain that the ad is indecent.  Reason being?  The model's body is too sexy, too smooth, too perfect, and above all, the model's pubic hair is shown partially.  Come on, we all know that humans have pubic hairs when they reach adolescence.  There is no secret about it, although people don't talk about it openly and in general social settings.  Beauty of the human body is a god sent gift, let's don't junk it to the indecent category.   

Meet Your MP

Just a few minutes ago, the MP for our constituency dropped by my humble flat to say hello, and asked whether there were any improvement they can make.

Yes!  I saw the notice the other day and I had been waiting for her to ask this question.  Around my block, there are quite a number of rotten friends running around.  They just come out from nowhere and then run around the path right in front of you.  Our dear dear and darling cats don't seem to even bother about our rotten friends.

Our MP happily agreed to get the experts to come and get rid of all our rotten friends.  Let's wait and see, whether there will really be some improvements in the days to come.  Rats spread diseases, and they are not something that you can ignore and live together happily.

Let's wait and see.