Final Fantasy VIII Transcendent Artist's Collection: Zell, Irvine & Diablos

This is supposed to be the second rarest and second most expensive statue in the whole set. Many fans think that Selphie, Quistis & Leviathan statue is the best but for me, I think this Zell, Irvine & Diablos is better! Yup, that is despite the fact that Quistis is my favourite character. There are 2 reasons. The first being Zell and Irvine are beautifully sculpted (in contrast to the atrocious Selphie and Quistis). They are as pretty as their in-game CGs so that is a big wow. The second reason is Diablos' details: the teeth, the gum, the tiny horns, etc. Simply wow! In fact, that is another reason why it is rare to find the statue intact. Often, Diablos' tiny horns are damaged. Anyway, the box size is 36cm (L) x 23cm (W) x 44cm (H).

However, there is one thing which I dislike about this statue: the skin tone of Zell and Irvine is very dark as compared to Seifer, Quistis, or Selphie. Bleah.. When I saw for the first time, I was wondering whether they are discoloured or they are just sculpted that way. Diablos' pose is also a bit hard to decipher. Why is the tail at the front below the face? Haha.. My guess is that Diablos is wrapping the wings around his body as he appears from the other dimension or something. But I certainly love Juyi Oniki's style better than Kenji Ando and Takayuki Takeya.

I won this together with Selphie, Quistis & Leviathan statue. Unfortunately, it was held by customs and I had to fork out additional $70+. Emoz. And there is a reason why I am only posting about this statue now, even though I wrote about the other statue last month. But the story will be for part II of this post next time. For now, just enjoy the pictures ^o^

Front side of the packaging box

Back side of the packaging box

Top side of the packaging box

Serial card.. and small serial number!! :)

The other side of the serial card

Unboxing.. The statue consists of 4 parts: Zell, Irvine, Diablos, and its tail

The statue and the packaging box

 Close-ups for the statue itself now.

 

No idea why Diablos is spelt as "Diabolus" here.

No wonder I'm so fat!

Idle minds are the devil's playground. That was what happened to me on Sunday. I suddenly had the urge to go to China Square Central. I wanted to check out the price of cool Square Enix statues which Toys N Toys (the name of the shop) display. Thus far, this is the only shop which I can see such huge, expensive, and cool statues on display. I think the display is not for sale. Even after leaving them an email to ask whether they are for sale (and for how much), I heard no reply. Oh wells..

And the devil is smart.. My trip there caused me to fall into another temptation. I saw a shop selling limited edition Storm Kotobukiya from SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con) for $90. Even before this limited edition, I was tempted to get the normal edition since Storm is my favourite X-men. The statue itself is very cool as Storm is placed on a whirlwind and the extra pair of hands depict her summoning lightnings. Throw in the pose which perfectly depicts her mutant powers. I was a bit skeptical with the East-meets-West style of Marvel Bishoujo Kotobukiya line and that was the main reason for me not buying. Another reason is the normal edition Storm's black outfit which is a poor contrast with her dark skin. The limited edition Storm wears white. I never thought of buying it since I never expect that a few sets would ever land in this island. Haha.. So after knowing this, I quickly went to google to see reviews and after seeing the details that's it: I would buy both haha... I can't make up my mind to choose which is better. Although I love the white outfit, I hate the clear reddish tornado base :( Real tornado does not look like that :(

 Normal edition (black costume) and SDCC limited edition (white costume)

So after my course today, I went to check out other toyshops for prices. First stop: Absolute Comics at Bugis. No Storm.. But generally the figure from this line is selling for $90 each. However, my heart skipped a few beats because of something else. PlayArts Selphie is $10 only now T_T Darn!! I was so excited and bought it at $25 last time. Sad sad.. PlayArts Rinoa is $35.. Now I am tempted to buy them both haiz.. Perhaps I can sell them :( FYI, I bought Rinoa in Indonesia.. If I convert the price, she cost me about $60-70. She is half price now.. I am a bad investor but I think Rinoa's stuff usually can sell for higher prices (provided I am patient enough to wait.. and provided I am lucky enough to have buyer).

I then went to the various toy shops at Plaza Singapura. $90 is rather a standard price. Anyway, it would be cheaper to buy normal edition Storm off Amazon even after the shipping so it would make more sense for me to buy it online. For the limited edition, $90 here will definitely a better choice. I don't know whether I should buy now or I should wait for the coming AFA in November. Bleah..

Anyway, I feel so tired now. I realise that it has been forever since the last time I had the chance to go for toys hunting after the end of the work. Perhaps the last time was during my pre-reg days? Haha.. No wonder that I am so fat now! Looks like retail therapy is the secret to my slimming. It is a great form of physical exercise with all the walking (long distance :p) and the carrying of the shopping bags. Plus I will spend money until I have to save for my food. Not to mention that my pay was pathetic too previously. That means I should shop more often now.. But where to store the stuff :(

Wedding

I went for friends' wedding on Saturday. The wedding was rather special for 2 reasons. First, I know both bride and groom as they are my seniors back since university days. Second, it was the first wedding in which the bride and groom are friends to me. The previous weddings I attended were always family event or my parents' colleagues. 

It was quite a learning experience to me because now I have to prepare everything on my own. For examples, ang pau. I know it is a culture to give but it never occurs to me that what type of ang pau matters. Apparently based on the writings (which I can't read), some ang paus are meant for Chinese New Year occasions ONLY. After all it is not appropriate to wish someone "Happy New Year" on their weddings right? Then it was a huge headache as all the red packets I have are free gifts (from FairPrice lah, from BreadTalk lah, from my old school la) during CNY seasons XD In the end I used my old school one HAHA at least that one had no writings. In Singapore, there is this "unwritten" rules with regards how much to give which depends on 1) no of people going 2) where the wedding is held. Okay I think these rules are ridiculous because when you give something, you should give voluntarily and not dictated by the so called "market rates" etc. Anyway amount was never a problem for me as I already decided what to give from the start. However, I am just worried that what I consider "reasonable" may not be so according to the prevailing "market rates". I hope my friends don't operate based on these rates haha.. They are Indonesians after all.

As I came in almost late for the church service, I was sitting with mostly non-Catholics. As a Catholic, I should feel at "home" in the church. But I felt awkward in doing the normal mass gestures because I was surrounded by non-Catholics. I don't know what to describe that. That was cowardly. That was a shame. I think I do not even deserve considering myself as a Catholic.

That also makes me think about my own life and future. Firstly, should I settle for a Catholic girlfriend-cum-wife? Sigh.. the person I fancy currently does not even fulfil that criteria :( Secondly, would I even have a wedding party? I don't think I would have anyone to invite other than family members. After all, I hardly have friends.. mostly fake friends.. Aaarrgh.. emo sad life.. perhaps I am destined to be forever alone.

Bye bye braces

Finally!! It was time to let go my most intimate thing for the past 9+ years yesterday. Yes, they are my braces who have been constantly in my mouth all these years. A few days prior, I asked my friends who previously had braces about how it would feel after braces are gone. The most common answers were "liberated" and "naked". I felt neither. The most immediate feeling was teethless and mouthless. Yes it was weird that my whole mouth felt numb even though no anaesthetic was used.

Until now, my mouth still feels very unusual. It has been along time since my inner lips come into contact with my gums and my teeth. Everytime I move my tongue, everything feels slippery. No more metal wires and metal cages and there seems to be more spaces in between the teeth.

My fear about teeth moving came true. There is one tooth which has constant sensation that it is being pushed inside by invisible force. The most common reflex is to use my tongue to push it back which I desperately try to avoid. I am really worried the constant pushing in by the invisible force and the pushing out by the tongue will end up cause the tooth to come lose :( I mentioned this to the dentist previously.. He knocked the teeth a few times but I did not feel any sensation and he also did not feel that that tooth is loose. Still, I feel a discomfort :( I am worried to eat and I am worried to use this particular tooth :( God.. please not a loose tooth :'(

Brushing and flossing become a nightmare too. Everything feels slippery now and I have to make sure that I clean properly. No more excuse of having poor oral hygiene now that the braces are gone. And I am worried about plaque, cavities, and teeth getting loose etc.

After 1 day without braces, I can feel that my bite has shifted. I wonder how much more things will change and how painful it will be when I have retainer next Friday. :( God please save me :(

Nervous anticipation

It has been close to 9 years before I finally get to remove my braces tomorrow. The most natural feeling should be exciting, shouldn't it? But I feel very nervous.. and I feel very anxious. Firstly, I am worried about imperfection. It has been ages that I have given up to be able to have a perfectly aligned teeth. Cosmetic-wise, they are still not perfect. But noone will realise it except me.. or except if I grin wide and long enough and someone to scrutinise my teeth long enough. My top and bottom central incisors are not in a perfect line =x Since my bite feels good and balanced enough, I do not want to take risk of losing it (and even prolonging the braces duration) simply for the sake of aligning them.

As much as I am vain to be concerned about how I will look, I am also extremely worried about how it feels with the braces gone. To be honest, never in my life I have ever had perfect teeth. So it is like embarking on a new life with normal teeth now. Everytime I go for dental check-up, when the dentist removes the wire to change, there is always this sensation as if the teeth are moving on their own. And that is my bigger worry. I am worried that they will move on their own. I am worried without the cage (aka braces) to support, they will move or break when I eat :( Sigh.. And what would happen in another week when I get my retainer? Can't imagine how painful that would be assuming the teeth have moved significantly.

There is still X-ray to be worried about. What if there is some unprecedented complications? T_T Hur hur.. I can only pray today that everything will turn out well.. It has been years of sufferings and sacrifice to reach this so I hope all end well..

Haiz.. at least it is something to temporary distract me from my emoness of still missing Squall-Bahamut and Rinoa-Siren statues to complete my collection.

Pilkada DKI Jakarta 2012

Tomorrow is the second (and determining) round of election for Jakarta's provincial governor. I am bad in politics so I will keep away from that topic. Plus the fact that I am not really following the news to follow the aspirations, the campaigns, the ideas of the 2 candidates. Just like for any election, change is always risky and status quo seems to be a more comfortable choice. If current condition is good, voting for a change may risk for a change for worse while voting for status quo may risk the loss of potential improvement. If current condition is bad, we can hope for improvement by voting for a change. However, nobody knows if the change we vote for turns out to be worse.

It is unfortunate that I would be unable to vote. Perhaps, I am no longer "fit" to do so anyway since I spend most of my time away from this city. However, based on the current trend of what the incumbent has done vs what the challenger has done in their previous roles (the challenger pair are actually leaders in 2 different regions in Indonesia), I would take the gamble to vote for a change this time. The campaign has turned to be quite sad with all the black campaigns as the challenger picks a minority representative (non-Muslim and a Chinese) to run as the deputy. Seriously, please keep race and religion away from nation building. And that should also apply to the minority, do not vote someone just because he/she comes from the minority group. Judge them based on their capabilities.

Jakata (and Indonesia) is a multicultural society and honestly, I hope it stays on that way with the different races and religions can live in peace and harmony. So I am not in favour for the one advocating black campaign.

Anyway, it is pretty interesting to see what Indonesians can do. Please see the video below. Usually, when I read/watch news about mass gathering in Jakarta, it is always about demonstration or riot. It is heartening to see a huge group is gathering for a good cause in peace and in creativity.

All the creativity started from the following video: a cover of One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful. The lyrics describe Jakarta's current condition accurately. From my own experience, I took photo for electronic ID card last December. The ID was only completed recently which means it took 8-9 months to complete. A bit ridiculous eh? Other than that, the video was pretty well made and the song was pretty well sung which I guess further launched the initial popularity of this video.

The creativity does not stop there. I have seen jokes saying that "We all hate Jokowi-Basuki. let's all damage and poke holes on their faces in the voting slips!". In Indonesia, you actually poke to vote (the one you poke is the one you are voting for).

From far, I can only pray, may God bless whoever which will bring Jakarta and her residents to better livelihood :)

Zumba

What? What the heck is Zumba? Zumba is a Columbian dance fitness programme which, as the name suggests, combines aerobic and dance movements. The dance element incorporates a variety of styles: from hip-hop, salsa, samba, merengue, etc. The HQ is arranging this as their workplace health programme. As my branch is so near to the HQ, my branch is also invited to join. Initially, I had no idea what Zumba was. But I thought "Why not? Since I hardly exercise and I am getting fatter day by day anyways". After saying yes, I googled and youtubed about Zumba and I felt a bit reluctant. Firstly, it seems to be a female thingy. Secondly, I was the only guy who joined (thank goodness the instructor was a guy!). And thirdly, I have poor limbs coordination and I am very paiseh to do the movements I see online.

Anyway, it turned out not as scary as I thought. I was glad that it was more of aerobic rather than dancing. And it really made me realise a few things. First, God is fair and just. It seems that my "theory" that every human is created with equal talent points but with different talent distributions is true. Pardon me for the RPG element here. Haha.. To compensate my babyface, my bones and joints are like those of elderly. Within the first few minutes, my knees felt like giving away.. Was it lack of exercise? Was it lack of warming up? Or was it simply age? Sigh.. Second, I respect those celebrities (especially singers) with their dance movements. It is really not easy to coordinate various parts of body and I wonder how much time and energy spent to learn, memorise, and make everything perfect. Especially so for the groups. Woah.. to make sure that everyone is moving in sync will be another challenge. So yup, it is easy to say how slutty female celebrities can be but actually it takes talents to gyrate your hips or shake your boobs and booties like they do. And naturally, because I am a guy, I applaud those male celebrities more. I still think it is more difficult for males, than for females, to be able to dance well.

Lets see how painful my body is tomorrow morning haha.. Anyway, exercise does make me feel good thanks to the endorphins.. I am quite emo since Friday. Sigh.. I failed to win the bid for Rinoa-Siren statue. This was the third miss in the past 2 months sigh.. And it is such a rare occurrence for such rare statue to go on sale :(

Fellow toy hunters

Due to space constraint, I have decided to sell some of my old stuff which I no longer display and which I do not really like. These include McDonalds' free glasses (back since Beijing Olympics) and Gundam SeeD Destiny action figures which I used to display a few years back. I am selling my Marvel: Avengers figurines from KFC too as I am not a big fan of Western cartoons. Haha.. perhaps I bought them thanks to impulse buying back then. Buy hey, if it is not due to space constraint, I don't mind keeping them.

Anyway, I think it is quite impossible to sell these things. So I was pleasantly surprised when someone asked about the figure (although in the end the person did not buy it). I was even more excited to find that one of the item was sold. Yay!! That was my first selling experience on eBay. A bit scared to meet up with the person haha.. I imagine someone who would look otaku-ish geekish. He turned out to be a nice and friendly guy, nothing like otaku or geek. Anyway, thanks for being my first customer and for hassle free transaction.

The one I sold: Lacus and Meer from Gundam SeeD Destiny Emotive Figure Set 3

People hardly come to read my blog and most of the time, the comments I got are spam. I was shocked when I got a comment regarding my Final Fantasy VIII figures. I wonder how the person discovered I just recently get the Selphie, Quistis, Leviathan figurine from eBay. Lol.. And as much as I would be happy to sell away my damaged Seifer-Odin statue for money, I do not want to cheat people their money. Seifer-Odin is usually the most commonly sold (and the cheapest too) so with patience, I think he will get something more worth his money.

Another surprise came yesterday when someone sent me message on eBay offering to buy Selphie, Quistis, Leviathan for 25% more than what I paid o_0 Looks enticing right? Haha.. But no, I am a huge FF VIII fan and have been dreaming of these statues for ages, not gonna sell them away. And again, I told him that with that amount, he could easily get something new on eBay. Before I bought mine, I saw one being sold for USD1500 mah.. Anyway, I wonder how that person managed to find out the fact that I actually won the bid for that figure sia. I thought all the eBay bidders are not visible except to the seller. But I can understand these people. After all, I also will do or have done crazy things in order to get information or to buy these statues.

I just lost another auction for Rinoa-Siren statue last nite. Shoot! :( Why did it sell for so much again? I really regret I missed out the $260 one about a month ago. Grr.. So much for that and Squall-Bahamut as the "easiest" and "cheapest" to find. I end up with these 2 only that I don't have.

ShitPost.. not SingPost

Haiz I am very emo. The insurance claim for my damage limited edition statue is a big question mark. It seems that paying extra for insurance is just a scam from post office as they make it so troublesome that people would just give up rather than pursuing the claim. Although the seller has been very helpful, I start to get frustrated too. Aftr all, he paid the insurance to USPS so why the heck all the trouble and the responsibility for claiming seems to be mine? Even USPS is damn bloody irresponsible. They received the insurance fee and now when the seller is making claim, their reply is only "We will need to contact the Singapore side".

Anyway, I heard nothing from ShitPost after the seller made the claim from USPS side. I ended up making noise about the insurance from my side. And this is where shitty SingPost is getting shittier and shittier. I made the enquiry via SpeedPost website who is the one responsible for the EMS shipping. From the email reply, I was told to send in pictures which would be forwarded to "relevant departments". After 2 days, I received a phone call saying that pictures are not acceptable. I had to choose between on site investigation or bringing the item to post office for inspection. You're kidding to expect me to bring a 3kg statue and a giant box to a post office rite? So I was offered a timeslot for the inspector to come: yesterday 3-5pm. After I said yes, the dumb bitch told me that she would need to confirm with the "relevant departments" again for the time slot. Then how the fuck she suggested the time slot in the first place if she could not confirm? Anyway, the promised confirmation never came. After another 2 days, I made another enquiry via website and via call centre.

Then on the phone it was confirmed that my time slot for yesterday was confirmed and on email I was told that my time slot was today. I then checked again with the call centre to verify and another idiot confidently replied that based on their record, it was confirmed that my time slot was yesterday. So I took leave. I waited. And nobody came. I called at 5pm to ask what was going on, the person could give no answer and promised to call me back in 30-45 mins time. Another lie. I called again at 6pm and another idiot still could not help me. I sent a complaint last night.

This morning, I was informed that their vehicle broke down yesterday and that was why nobody turned up. Fuck you! Tried to lie better. It sounded more like a lame excuse than an honest reason. I am sure I would hear nothing if not for the complaint I lodged. After another round of argument and shouting, I was given another time slot: this coming Saturday 1-2pm.

Guess what: 1 hour later, I received an email saying that my time slot was today 3-5pm. I replied the email to verify because just an hour ago I was told Saturday 1-2pm via phone. The person dared to insist on today 3-5pm. I called the hotline again and scolded the dumb ass like crazy. I demanded to speak to the manager who turned up to be as useless as the CSOs. I asked her sarcastically how many insurance claim department ShitPost had and how the heck I received 3 different information from the call centre, via email, and from SpeedPost person who called me while all claimed to get the information from the same bloody department. She then admitted there was nothing she could do as nothing was reflected on her computer screen yet for my case at that time. She promised to check and get back to me by 5pm. Again another lie.

I called at 7+ and demanded to speak to that bitch again. Was told that she was on a "long phone call". I scolded the person "The call was so long since 5pm meh?". In the end I managed to get her spit out someone above that stupid manager: the operation manager. I would look for him/her tomorrow. Anyway the stupid staff promised me to inform the dumb manager and assured me that I would be contacted before 8pm.

Grrah, I hope all these people would just eat shit and die. Full of lies. I don't know what I should do next. Should I write into media? Write to MP? Or what? That thing worth more than $1000 and that's why I am very anal about this.

Fly me to the moon~~cakes

As promised, I will be posting about the mooncakes which I bought on Friday. I was never a fan of mooncakes but it all changed last year after I knew about snowskin mooncake. Last year I purchased a box of 8 from Raffles Hotel for $54.40 and I had to swap with my friends to try a few flavours. They were quite pricey but were quite good. 

This year I purchased from Goodwood Park Hotel, which is famous for its durian food stuff. The highlight for this year is Mao Shan Wang mooncakes!! Unfortunately, they were sold out on Friday thanks to the 25% off promotion using UOB cards. Anyways, not a big deal, I will come on another day as die die must try. Haha.. Goodwood Park Hotel mooncakes promotion is awesome. Firstly, it is selling as a box of 2 or a box of 4. If my memory does not fail me, it is quite rare to find a box of 2 mooncakes being sold. Secondly, it has the option of "assorted combo" be it for the traditional baked ones or for the snowskin ones. This is fantastic as people can easily buy one box of the assorted combo to get a taste of few flavours and that was exactly what I did. Thirdly, the size (~7cm diameter each) of each mooncake is pretty big and it justifies the price, at least for me.

Unfortunately, the Mao Shan Wang is not available for assorted combo so I will buy a box of 2 for that one separately. There are 4 snowskin flavours so the assorted combo is just nice for me try all 4: Red Orange with Banana, Mango with Pomelo, D24 Durian, and Cempedak. And lucky me, I am picky when it comes to fruits. And the 4 fruits featured here (Banana, Mango, Durian, Cempedak) are few fruits that I really like. The mooncakes are awesome because they contain the real fruits! Not essence!!  Haha.. Taste-wise, I will rank it: D24 Durian, Banana, and Mango and Cempedak tied as the bottom 2. Although I like Cempedak, the smell and taste are a bit yucky as a mooncake. The mango flavour is not that "strong" to immediately recognise it as mango. The durian is awesome because the soft texture really makes me feel as if I am eating the real fruit. I can't wait to taste the Mao Shan Wang.

I spent $43.35 for 1 box. That is approximately $11 each. I feel a bit cheated because displayed price is exclusive of GST. That means I only got 18% rather than a 25% discount. However, for the size and the great taste, I think it is a better buy than last year's hoho!! I only have 1 gripe about these mooncakes: the snowskin is somewhat "detached" from the filling. It reminds me of traditional wet market cakes eww.. I will like it better if the packaging is a metal box rather than a cardboard box. Other than these, I see no reason why I should not buy this again next year. Hahaha...

I am still not in the mood to write about toys although I still have quite a few to show off. Haiz.. a bit emo because my insurance claiming process is in a limbo..

Not sure whether I need a break from work or I am just sick of working. I realise that I just do not have the passion and the drive to keep me going. I hate these people. I hate these racist people. I hate these stupid people. I hate these unreasonable people. I find my job not challenging and monotonous. I feel that I am useless and I can't do more due to the language barrier. I feel unappreciated because all the knowledge is just "wasted" on these people. And I am wasting my time and energy to feel angry at the management. I don't share the same focus of the good customer service when the customers are not worth serving in the first place.

After last week's Mass, I tried to control myself this week. Everytime I feel the urge of cursing at a basket, I always remind myself not too. Looks like I fail :S

My dream to own and stay in a condo is also shattered. I went to have a discussion with a property agent. Sigh.. The prices are crazy.. And "worse", I discover that it would be more viable to buy a condo and rent it out than for me to stay in and rent out a room. Based on rough calculation, the former can help me to fund my room rental and monthly bank loan for the house itself while the latter still needs me to fork out money to pay back the bank loan. The choice is obvious but the dillema is also there. What's the point of "owning" something when you can't even enjoy it? Haiz.. But that's investment.. that's life of a poor man.. gotta suffer to hope for a better future T_T

Time to leave reality and to have wishful thinking for a while. I don't know whether I should be happy or sad with the fact that I do not have anything to play BluRay movies. I love Avengers movie and I would like to buy the DVD. Based on Amazon, the DVD alone costs USD 19.96 while the 4 Disc Combo (Blu-Ray 3D, Blu-Ray, DVD, Digital Copy, and Digital Music Download) costs USD 29.96 only! I don't care about the original price or the sales etc but the final price only differs by a freaking 10 bucks only! Droolz droolz..

And as a Harry Potter avid fan, I simply cannot ignore Harry Potter Wizard's Collection which was released yesterday. According to Amazon, the original retail price is USD 499.99 though after the discount, the final price is USD 344.99. To justify the price, this collection contains 31 discs comprising the 8 movies in various versions (DVD, 3D, Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, whatever you have) and various bonuses such as concept arts prints and sketches, Horcrux locket replica, full colour fabric map of Hogwarts, and 48-page rigid book. Anyway, words can't describe the thing so I will post a picture showing the whole massive collection. For more pictures of this unbelievable thing, please click here.

Sigh.. the packaging itself already makes me.. AAARGH!!!!

Don't know whether I should get the DVD set of all the 8 movies for slightly less than USD 70 or this beautiful (but useless) set. T_T Plus the fact that this Harry Potter Wizard's Collection is limited to 63000 sets only. Looks like I eventually will eventually succumb to temptations but where can I keep this :( No space already haiz..

Okay back to reality. I hope I can wake up for work tomorrow. And next post will be about mooncakes hehe..

Break from toys

After a deluge of posts about my toys, I shall right something not related to toys today. I just realised that I have been blogging quite frequently this year. It is only September but my post count this year is already more than last year's. August was particularly busy with 16 posts. That is about one every 2 days. Must be because of toys~~~ La la la..

This week is not too bad. Due to JCI accreditation, the appointment was blocked and it was relatively quiet for the whole week. Yay!! I had 2 interesting encounters this week. The first one is about a lady who said "Thank you. God bless you. I hope you will find a pretty girlfriend". Haha.. How does she know I am still single? Haha.. The second one is about a man who said "You are handsome.". I was nodding and pretending that I did not hear, He said again "Did you hear me? I think you are handsome.". With that I had to reply something. Gosh.. Of course I am happy but deep in my heart I wonder why it is always middle aged aunties or uncles who say such things to me.. The young ones think I am ugly T_T

My Zell, Irvine, Diablos statue was held by customs (oops it is about toys again!). I am thankful that God somehow helped me to reach Paya Lebar before 530 on Wednesday. I only managed to catch a taxi at about 510. Haha.. And of course, thanks to the JCI, I could leave at 500 instead of 515 as we already cleared the crowd. A bit emos becaues I had to pay GST. I asked the person why could not they calculate from the amount insured. The answer was: it could be over or under declared in the customs declaration form so they wanted to see the invoice. Haiz.. Like that I should have just faked some invoice to show that the item cost much less and I can avoid the tax altogether. Bleah..

I had a bad feeling which came true :( The person asked me to open and inspect the parcel. In case there is any damage, I don't need to pay tax. I did not inspect it there as I thought it would be troublesome to bring home an opened package. Guess what? The statue was damaged. Bloody fucking shit! I am very angry and disappointed. It is a limited out of production item. It was perfectly fine before shipping and the damage must be due to shipping. It cost me a bomb, no.. a nuclear bomb, plus taxes and taxi fare and this was what I got. Bleah!! Anyway, thank goodness the seller is being very helpful with the insurance claim and refund etc. He even called me from US (!!). I don't know how everything will turn out but I hope it will be good. I do not want to take advantage of a good person by getting a full refund without confirmation whether he would get the insurance money. Even worse if I have to send the item back, what if the item is lost or damaged even more? Bah.. I believe in karma.. what goes around will come around so I shall be good.

I have a bad karma with Diablos bah.. Maybe because I hate fighting him so much in the game :p The ARTFX Kotobukiya Diablos arrived with broken arm and leg due to loose joints. The bloody seller only refunded me $10. Asshole! For this bastard, I am pretty sure that he sent me a damaged item from the start. Still dare to blame me or the shipping. I will definitely retaliate with a negative feedback. And now this is the second case with damaged Diablos statue. Cry..

Woa.. turn out to be something related to toys.. again.. Haha..