Bank of China Ibanking service

Hi,

So following my post that states that BOC have higher interest rates as compared to OCBC 360 account, I have decided to open a BOC account in hope to gain the additional interest.

While it is true that BOC have a pretty awesome offering in credit card (BOC Family Card), and that it has higher interest rates, i ended up still didn't switch over for my salary crediting.

Firstly, as i have previously stated here, interest my key concern is still if it is "user friendly".

Since i now stay at Punggol, and travels to Pioneer pretty often (GF stays there), I have no issues with finding ATMs as Waterway Point, Jurong WestGate and Pioneer Jurong Point all have Bank of China Branches.

However, the ibanking needs to mature before users will start to jump over.

First and foremore, the ibanking site does not work on mobile phone. This meant that you need to do transactions only on a Computer.

Next, the ibanking service only work with a physical token, no OTP services.
As of 18th Sept, you can choose to login via OTP service already!

Have a look at after i logged in!



It still looked okay apart from some directly translated English.

My biggest pain point would be to earn that last portion of percent by doing ibanking.
These are the only organisations we can pay our bills to.




You see, my current 3 bills with OCBC happened to be
Citibank M1 card (for m1 bills)
OCBC 365 card (for normal usage)
Amex true cashback (for usage where ocbc have no rebates on)


Even if I change, it would only be that the OCBC card be replaced by the BOC family card, since both needs to have a minimum spending of $500.


Again, please look at your personal usage pattern!
it might suit you!!


and oh, using UNION PAY gets 1 for 1 movie tickets at Shaw Theatres (both Waterway point and Jcube have them!)

The call center is pretty weak in english.

Regards
Benjamin Chai

My Zenfone Obsession and Star Shield

Hi,

I am going to share with you guys about my experience with Zenfones.
I started off with a Zenfone 5 after I got rid of my Samsung S4. In less than a year, I encountered a screen crack on its Gorilla glass. Subsequently, the phone just went bogus and is currently in bricked state. It just meant that even if I spend the money to repair the screen, the phone is still essentially a paper weight.
It doesnt help more that its an Intel Chip.

So, I gotten a Zenfone Selfie to replace that fallen Zenfone 5. Again, in less than a year, the screen cracked. But this time round, I buy it from Challenger, which they convinced me to be a member where i get "free warranty for cracked screen". I paid membership fees. However, when i really send it in to repair, i was told that i need to pay 10% of the screen price. I was actually okay with that.
Afterall, the phone costs $399 and i doubt the screen is very expensive.

Now, this is where my nightmare with starshield starts. StarShield is a repair company with Challenger, where they allow you to buy insurance and additional warranty, It gives all android devices free 1st year screen crack warranty. This is because screen crack is the only issue that the original warranty doesnt cover.
I first called starshield and they doesnt know about this. So i called Challenger to clarify. Apparently Challenger call centers doesnt know about it too!
After a few days of emails and clarifications, I was told to bring my phone down to any challenger that has Starshield counter.

The phone reaches the counter and the guy just collected it without giving me any proof of collection. It wasnt after i emailed starshield before i received my service chit from them via email.
the promised time was 14days to collection. But they have no stock of the screen and they didnt bother to inform me until i chased them after 10 days to learn about the status of my phone.
I asked to collect back my phone until the screen arrive then i send it back in, since according to them, it will take 3 to 4 weeks for the screen to come.

True enough, the screen came and i requested for immediate fixing, which they declined. Mum went to collect the next day. I got it back, only to realised they have given me a screen with a defect.
On my off day, i brought it down again for rectifications, and end up they took 3 hours to change multiple screens as all the stocks they have are in pretty damned shape. I was about to collect back my phone when i realised that they fixed the phone, but spoilt my caller receiver and vibration module.

I asked to collect the next day, which they declined again as they are shifting from Funan to Pasir Panjang. So Wed is 29th, the day i stucked for 3 hrs, 30th is last day at funan, and 1st July is a friday and their first day at new place. I can only collect on monday 4th july.

Come 4th july, i collected my phone, and upon using, i realised the screen was insensitive and always scroll itself without me touching.

now i need to find a nice day go down again.

The staffs are friendly and nice. I just think their engineers have skill gaps and their processes needs to improve.

So as i have no spare phone, i gotten a zenfone laser as spare.
This is because there is no xiaomi off the shelf.

and zenfone is the only one at that price point that comes with 4g and big screen.

pray for me that i dont get trashed phone again.

Spark and their free photos

Hi,

I am here to introduce a pretty interesting app that allows you to get free photos!

Yes, i am talking about Spark!!

Spark's concept is to get people to print photos for free, while earning from advertisements.

So one side is the photo of your choice, while the other side is an advertisement that sometimes contain pretty good deals.

Every month, a user can only print 10 photos of choice, and the photos will be mailed to you. You can choose to do self collection as well. This will in turn give you more free prints.

Enough of words, let me share some nice photos of mine with you!!

the adverts

the high quality print!! and oh, that sexy cat is called wang wang. you can find him at instagram as meow.with.chew

disclaimer:
I do not earn a single royalty from this "advert". i just think this is an awesome app to get free and high quality prints and hope to share with friends and family.

Bangkok with Chew

Hi,

People have been asking how is thailand, if it is fun.

My reply is that it is downright boring (for me)

Let me elaborate.

I am literally the slave dog carrying everything, feeding my princess and flooding her with shitload of water. How can that be fun to me?

Glow Pratunam was a pretty decent hotel with nice toilet and clean room. However, it is not a "easy to find" place when you come from the airport BTS. Tell people you are heading towards Platinum Mall or Shibuya Mall. The hotel starts from level 7 of the Shibuya Mall. Once you find that place, you will realise that the hotel is pretty decently located.

Many blogs would advise to take the BTS or MRT as much as possible, and i agree. The jam were horrendous, and taxi fares aren't cheap even if you convert. However, if you are going with a shopperholic who also happened to go to BKK for the first time, i suggest you wear a good pair of walking shoes and start training long distant walking 2 week prior to going there.

Weather is hot and so far, she only thinks Pratunam Market and Chatuchak have good priced item. She thinks that Platinum mall is a tad expensive, although the shopping environment is a lot better. Union Mall was total disappointment. While items similar to Platinum Mall, Chatuchak and Pratunam Market, the price is a lot more steep.
Special Mention to Pratunam Market; walk deeper, endure the heat with shitload of water and fruits, and you will realise that it is the perfect place for ladies.

Food wise, all was well. Street food is a must try, but do drink more water and bring some diarrhea medication. Both of us have no issues with the food, but i cannot guarantee others wont have an issue as the food prep wasn't that clean after all.

Guys shopping? Almost non-existent. Platinum Mall have a section for it, Union Mall have a section for it. But nothing suitable for me personally. But suit making is a good to go item. Their prices are pretty standard if you go to the 4 shops at Armari Watergate Hotel. Bring SGD as they do accept them. 1 suit cost about $220(top and bottom). Google Armari Watergate Suit and you will have many reviews around that area. I personally made mine at Admire.

4 Days 3 night is quite a good length for shopping. Anything more i think my legs will break. But 4D3N meant we didnt cover any tourist attraction, apart from shopping. And having 1 day weekend was my best decision (many markets are only open during weekend, like Chatuchak). But she hoped to have more, so that she can buy even more.

That's all folks! The most useful guides comes from AroiMakMak!!

Bank of China Smart Saver Account

Hi,

Disclaimer:
I am not finance person, and i do comparison purely from what i have read from the site.
Please do correct me if i have my facts wrong.
To know more about my background, you can click here.

So there is a new savings account in town that seemed to be a little late to the game.
I would like to state that is a very good comparison article here from investment moats.

To learn more about my previous comparison of UOB and OCBC, it is here 

This new offering from Bank of China is pretty similar to the old criteria of OCBC, only that it is higher in interest in some parts.



I can tell you straightaway without calculations, this account gives you higher and better % if you are able to hit the criteria. For very basic amount of less than $5000, you will already have 1.55%+1%+0.6%+0.25% = 3.4%. And it gets better when you have more money.

Its criteria are simple,

• $500 charged across any credit card  OR debit card from BOC. 
• At least $2000 salary credited
• pay 3 bills using this account

While the rest of the bank requires you to use their Credit Card to get the reward, BOC allows you to use Debit Card to do so. Why is this awesome you may ask. There are some friends of mine who refuses to use Credit Cards simply because they are afraid to overspend or owe the bank money. I used to be like them until i got sucked into the promise of awesome rebates.

This account is also a Multi Currency Savings account. It doesn't mean much to me, but in basic, it means that all your statements in many different currencies would be consolidated. It would be useful for people who have many different currency dealings with the bank.

Last but not least, even if you do not meet any of these criteria, and simply wants an account to put your savings, its base interest of 0.25% to up to 0.4% is pretty awesome. 

But before you start to jump over due to these seemingly awesome rewards, let me caution you on a few lifestyle change.

Ibanking

I have no idea why, but when i am looking for Bank of China's Ibanking webpage, I chanced upon 2 of it. While i am not sure if both are legit, or 1 of them is a phishing site, do note that you require to install some special software before you are able to login to the site. This might not be a big deal to you, but do note that if you want your 0.6%, you need to use this to do your 3 online transactions.

And this site is not really Mobile Friendly, which brings me to...

 

Mobile Banking

I did a basic search on Google Play Store and i realised they do not have an Mobile Banking App. I am a current OCBC user and that app is pretty much what i use to make my 3 transactions, to keep track of my credit card spending, and to check how much i have left in that account. So if you depend on your Mobile Banking app quite a bit, i suggest you think through your decision to change over to BOC.

Lack of ATM

This is also an obvious problem for me if all my pay goes to this account. I would not have any ways 

to get the money out when i urgently needs it and i can only depend on a bank transfer via FAST to another bank account via a Computer (note: mobile banking is pretty problematic), then go to ATM of this other account.

Credit Card Rebates
This is dependent on your lifestyle and whatever that suits you. Being a foodie who always out to eat with Chiwawa, Rebates on dining and grocery shopping is my top priority. Hence, I would say BOC credit card didnt quite catch my attention. So it is a calculation of if switching over and clocking $500 on a BOC credit card with minimal rebates but high interest more worthwhile, or if your rebates and discounts are more worthwhile.
Of course, if you are able to easily clock $500 on this credit card without affecting your other rebates, then this would not affect you. One good way to do so is to pay insurance bills.

As a card user, I so far did not encounter any BOC card only deals(or maybe i just didnt realise).


In conclusion...
This might be a little late to the game despite having some pretty good interest. Many are already a happy user of OCBC or UOB, i doubt they would make the switch simply due to the lack of promotion of this account and the lack of presence of BOC. But if you are from China, or visits China often, then this is a good account for you to park your cash!

Also, the lack of facilities would be a problem for frequent bank services users.

My Exhilarating 2015

Hi,

2015 has been good to me mostly, and this blog post is to commemorate such a good year, that is SG50 for Singapore, the first time of many things that happened to me in my life.

The year started off being sad as I celebrated being single for yet another year again. However, not long into the new year, I found Chiwawa, the girl who gave colours to an otherwise boring and aimless life. With me being attached would mean lesser time for Dota and Yong Sheng, whom I play NBA 2k15 together every weekend, which is the only activity i look forward to as a zombified working adult.

She wasnt working when I first got together with her. This is a stressful thing not because i have to provide for her; she is fiercely independent, but because she have too much time on hand and i have to deal with a project that was nothing less than a pressure cooker. As every start of a relationship, especially that she is my first, she was my everything. Juggling with work and her would mean that i ended up exhausted physically and mentally, leaving me with no time for any other things, including visits to AWWA, meeting up with friends and doing my own sports and leisure.
Idling is also bad for health. With too much time on hand, she has no idea what to do, and her self esteem suffered very badly, especially when her peers are doing pretty decent while she does nothing for a living.

Things got better as she devoted more and more effort into finding opportunities everywhere, learning new things from reading and surfing the internet. And she finally found her job!

She was my lucky charm. With her around, i felt that i am the luckiest man on Earth. And so i started joining Facebook contests that i have always dismissed as waste of time. It wasnt long before i won something. The first of them all is a pair of computer chairs. Then things gotten more interesting. I won things ranging from Collagen drinks, vouchers, Beerfest tickets to foodstuff goodie bag and even a Diskette, a useless relic in the age of Cloud storage. But my best win is still a Braun Buffel clutch and long wallet which eventually went to mummy and Chiwawa.  I have to apologise to my mummy and lao sis that they have to accede to my requests to go get my freebies as collections are usually Monday to Friday working hours.

Work have not been easy this year. But despite tough times with the project, being there allowed me to get into contact with another group of people that are mostly unrelated to the rest of the company. You see, most staffs that are hired into this project have only ever worked in this project, and have never felt the warmth nor the good working culture of my company. So being there makes me felt like being in a different company. These people are generally nice and funny. They taught me many different things, both technical and soft skills. They also showed some negative examples. 9 months in the project was enough for me as firefighting for a prolonged period took a toll on my mindset and turned me negative. Fortunately for GTAP program, i have a legit reason to move out of it.

In my new department, people are even nicer. they understood that i have been firefighting and they are very supportive of me when i requested to clear my leaves, despite them having manpower issues as well. They are willing to teach, and while they do not give you everything, they would always give you a guiding light instead of letting you chase down the wrong tunnel.
I was also given a chance to attend high level meetings. Such meetings are eye opener as being at the lowest food chain of the company, we are non contributors in the meeting, and will only take up space. However, company doesnt think so and gave us chance.

This year also gave me chance to go overseas with someone to accompany me. Though we only made a major trip, that is Taiwan, we made mini trips like going to Penang to visit her Maternal Family members, and to Batam for a super short birthday getaway. We also have a rolling good time having a staycation at Xiuhui's hotel.
These small experiences were my first, and every time i see you falling asleep, I JUST FELT LIKE PULLING OUT THAT OVERFLOWING NOSTRIL HAIR. LOLOLOLOLOL. okay, i just feel so blissful.

But not all went well.
Some time in May, me and Chiwawa almost met with a fatal accident where a single lamppost stopped a car charging in our direction.
Quarrels still happened.
My regular visits to my old friends have became irregular until to almost none.
Less time at home and seeing popo getting older is also a painful process.
New home have yet to have any positive news as the year ends, moving towards a another new year.
weight wasnt lost.
OT and weekends working became more common.


Well, thats abt it! shall add more when im free!

The epic trip to Taiwan 2015

Hi,

I really think my Taiwan trip is a freaking interesting trip, and therefore I would really want to introduce our itenary in this blogpost.
I do not claim any credit for this itenary as it is done up by my super detailed friend, Alvin Ng.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25169194/Taiwan%20Itinerary%202015.docx


So since we started our trip slightly earlier than others, we explored the area for Wen Quan. And yes, we did found it. It was a pretty comfortable experience, although the place looked like an old children water playground. No photos taken inside, but here is the exterior.


Nearby, there is this pretty epic fishball soup.
And since we explored this place without following the itenary, this place is known as Da Keng, which is damn near the Carton King that we would go on the next day...



this is pretty stupid. we went to the same region twice, two days in a row. The bus ride was nightmarish. the theme park is pretty boring, but if taking nice photos is your objective, this is a good place to go to.

And of course, since we are at Tai Chung, and staying in the midst of Feng Chia,nighttime would definitely be to scout Feng Chia Ye Shi for food and deals. For that, no photos were taken because of how devoted we are to our shopping and eating.

So the last full day at Taichung, we decided to book a van for the 6 of us to visit some Meh meh, building and some flower place. 

The Cai Hong Cun has nothing but decorated graffiti all around the place. While i find the place underwhelming, the history behind the place is pretty rich. An old man who refused to be relocated, started painting his area with weird yet striking graffiti, and ended up drawing enough attention to let him preserve the place and became a tourist attraction.

Pardon my 3 month pregnant stomach

Next, we head to somewhere with flowers. This place is pretty high up and hence it was kinda cold. At first look at the place, we thought it was a natural outdoor flower garden, with the temperature of Gardens by the bay Glass Domes. But as we zoom in into the flowers, we realised that not all the plants there are real. Some are plastic. But i enjoyed the place anyway, as i get to feed some ducks.

The last place is CingJing Cao Yuan, where sheeps roam and eat food off your hands. My suggestion is to get a big pack of sheep food and walk around and feed those hungry sheeps. Although there are shitload of grass all around the place, im pretty sure those sheep food pellets are akin to our titbits because they definitely prefer them to eating those lush green grass.

So after that day, we took a bus to Ri Yue Tan. To be honest, Ri Yue Tan is a place that i will only go once in my lifetime, similar to Ali Shan. 

At Ri yue tan, since 4 of us stay in a different hotel as the other 2, we happened to know that the other 2's hotel have better deals, as well as better services. 

I would suggest you go Mei Jen house if you are able to book it.

Anyway, there is a tour that you would require to buy ticket for the boat ride, and they are selling at 300twd. This is a price that you can try to haggle if you are lucky enough. Some people bought their tickets at 150, some 200. but mostly locals gotten cheaper tickets. 

I would say the island hopping was pretty much dull, apart from 1 of the island with an old street selling amazeballs food, which was mentioned in the itenary.

the dinner at ri yue tan as suggested is this!

The next day, we headed for Ali Shan, and thats the first and last time i go there. because going there is a PAIN and there isnt much to do. if you are expecting to see Ali shan de Gu niang who would serenade you with beautiful voices, sorry. all you get is shitload of trees, that are very pretty as well.

So after 1 day in the mountain, we went down to half way in the mountain. The tea garden minsu is pretty. but no aircon, which is okay, since the weather in the mountain is still quite cold. To me, we could have decided to explore alishan den gotten to halfway mountain to stay, instead of spending the night in alishan. this is because at alishan, there isnt much to do. and neither is there much to do at mid mountain during the night. 

the minsu is expensive, but that is because there isnt any cheap hotels in that region. 

And anyway, the only place we can go in mid mountain is fen qi hu. this place is worth going IMO, because this old street is pretty good to walk about, with some pretty decent food like the epic donut we ate there. oh, and not forgetting the squarish bamboo forest.

After this, we are back to Taipei, which is pretty much all about shopping. At there, we didnt have any photos as it is only 1 night for us before going back. but the rest stayed on, and the itenary also covered some of the nicer place to go in Taipei. 

Taipei is all about ye shi. So do remember to visit all of it, and take it easy during day time. their ye shi closes late, so u can shop till late, and wake up later.

Thats all folks!

This is a wonderful memory, and since i have no permission to post photos of others, i shall only include photos of 2 of us!