And I keep starting, and stopping, and hitting that Delete button.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I gave Diablo III a whirl during the Open Beta Weekend.

I haven’t played Diablo II in a looo~ong while, and World of Warcraft is my most recent RPG experience. As such, I did take a few minutes to reorient myself and stop hitting WASD keys. I played a bit with all of the classes, although I finished the beta with my class of preference, the Wizard. I really am more of a range sort of player; bashing things with the Barbarian is fun, but I get annoyed with all the running around because of knockbacks and the like.

On gameplay

I don’t know if they tuned the game easier for the beta, but it was fairly straightforward (and not as stressful as I remember Diablo II to be–but then I’d like to think I’m “better” at these games now than I was in college). Resource constraints are mostly forgettable except for the more intensive fights, when I’d need to use more of the skills and manage my resources (arcane power, mana, fury, etc) a bit better, and maybe down a potion or two. For the most part I don’t need to bring along so many potions–the random health globe drops is usually more than enough to keep me going between (and sometimes in the middle of) fights, although it can sometimes be a challenge getting to a health globe when you’re up against a crowd (accidental clicking on monsters instead of the ground, for example).

Graphics is smooth, and the storyline is solid: it feels fairly immersive, with interesting lore points along the way. I’m very impressed with how enduring Deckard Cain is ;) all those years plus a couple days in the crypts being hunted by Leoric’s guards, he’s got amazing luck ;) I like that the stash and gold is shared across your characters. I haven’t been able to test out the forging, but it looks very promising.

Co-op play is fun, although I was confused at first as to who was going to be doing the questing. There are prompts for started “events”, i.e. boss or mini-boss fights, but for the most part the quests can be done by either regardless of where they are in the storyline alone (I had a level 2 friend join me for level 5-ish quests–and he actually started the quest himself). I don’t fully understand how aggro works yet, exactly, although I’m guessing I’m complicating things too much and forcing the game into a more WoW perspective–but I can’t help but be worried when the boss is on me rather than the tanky monk, or if my demon hunter friend is getting beat on when I’m on my stocky barbarian.

I did miss WoW’s emotes ;) I missed jumping up and down with the spacebar, waving to the NPCs I meet, that sort of thing. Of course, I feel like this is one of those times where hardcore Diablo fans will turn their noses up at me for even thinking of /flirting with the NPCs ;)

On the classes

I played mostly with the wizard, which was sufficiently “blow-uppy” with pretty arcane spells of purple and blue and pink. I also like the arcane power gauge–such a pretty pink/purple globe with stars in it! I’m not entirely sure if the DPS stats on my one handers affect my spells, since I don’t swing the weapons myself, so I don’t exactly know if I should treat them as stat sticks like in WoW or actually care about the DPS numbers on them. I’ve yet to really discover how to use the skills: the Ray of Frost felt like a HUGE resource drain, I kept shooting my Arcane Orb where the mob wasn’t anymore, and the Shock Pulse felt a bit too random for me. Frost Nova and Wave of Force were useful to get away from enemies, unless I accidentally clicked on one of them.

The monk, to me, is like a “shiny” melee character. Quick hits and flashy effects can do that to you ;) She felt rather squishy though, and I’m not sure if I should be dual-wielding one-handers for more damage, or get a shield to get more block.

The opposite of that is the barbarian–pure force! I don’t mean to say there are no pretty badass effects with her hits, but she definitely felt quintessentially barbaric, which is good when you’re of that bent. Destruction, single hit kills, and the like are very satisfying when all you want to do is smash things.

I was a bit hesitant about playing the demon hunter, because back in D2, I rather sucked as the assassin. I suck at traps and kiting. But nevertheless, it was fun giving the demon hunter a whirl, although honestly, running around in heels that high? I think she felt a little overdone, but I’m sure lots of folks will want to play with someone looking very “badass”.

Last but not the least, the witch doctor was…interesting, and possibly the most amusing. I think she’s the squishiest at the start, but it felt quite hilarious throwing huge jugs of spiders around (though it felt a bit random, damage-wise).

Overall

I’m pretty excited with my quick peek into D3–it’s definitely whetted my appetite and I’m looking forward to the May 15 launch. I will probably stick with my wizard main class, but anything after that is fair game. I’ll admit feeling a bit nervous with my squishy class when going up against the main bosses (I suppose going through it the first time in a co-op is not exactly the best way to gain confidence!) but…bring it on!

I suppose you might say that for me, this was a case of “any publicity is good publicity”, because I told myself I would get myself a copy of her book on its first week out. After all, I’ve been meaning to try her writing, so why not now?

I know this review comes late, but–holy moly, this was totally worth it. I knew I would feel good about purchasing the book even if I didn’t like it, but the enjoyment I got from the book was so. totally. worth. it.

Why, is there full-price Armageddon?

Okay, I was just trying to be cheeky. I still don’t know why the book is named Discount Armageddon. It’s the first in a series (named InCryptid) chronicling the life and times of one Verity Price, who comes from a long line of cryptozoologists. Think monster hunters, only in reverse. Well, they hunt some monsters too, if said monsters don’t behave. But otherwise they have a full-time job of taking care that the “monster” population doesn’t drive the super clueless human population batty and insane.

I mean, really. What is there not to like about Discount Armageddon? You’ve got mad ninja skillz. You’ve got all zombies, werewolves, vampires–or close enough. You’ve got hot smouldering young male arch enemies. But you’ve also got Dancing With the Stars! I mean, really.

(Okay, I don’t watch Dancing With the Stars. I actually don’t watch much TV. But that was so awesome anyway.)

You’ve got all that, you might almost forgive bad writing. But this is fabulous, cheeky, witty, enjoyable writing. I couldn’t put the book down. I grinned through a lot of it, laughed out loud sometimes, and reread pieces multiple times for the enjoyment of it.

Okay, but will I like monsters?!

Well, I know I’d rather not meet a monster myself, but Seanan McGuire’s characters are superb. She’s got some good stereotypes here, but she’s given them such a fresh feel they don’t feel like stereotypes at all: a loligoth waheela, a stunning-and-snobby blonde dragon princess. I mean, you could say Verity could be such a stereotype too, but between her tireless care for the community she cares for, her preference for parkour over public transportation, and her passion for dance, she’s absolute fun to read and follow around.

Also impressive (to me) is how she’s taken creatures from almost every sort of mythology available and mixed them together to form this interesting and colorful society. We’ve got your usual mythological creatures present in fantasy like shapeshifters and dragons and ghouls, but mixed in with tanukis and waheela, along with a smattering of original creations like cuckoos and Aeslin mice.

(I think I like the mice best of all.)

For a trivia fiend like me, oh my gosh I must find out every small thing there there is in this amazing new world!

This is what I don’t like about series books

Sadly, this glimpse into this amazing world feels all too fleeting. Maybe it’s because I practically devoured the book while reading it–it was so difficult to put down. It’s an easy and enjoyable read that time flew while I was lost in Verity’s world, and after finishing the book, I wanted more, more, more!

(There’s also a glossary at the end of the book. This was almost embarrassingly very interesting to me.)

Discount Armageddon was something kind of like an impulse buy, but I’m so pleased to have bought it. It was enjoyable and entertaining with interesting characters and fast pacing that just keeps you glued to the book for hours on end. I’ll definitely be looking forward to the next books in this series!

Last year, I went to France and Italy with Ellen. We planned for a good many months and saved for more, but for two weeks, we were there, saying goodbye to spring and welcoming summer.

Of course, I meant to write about it. But it was difficult: it was sad writing about it the weeks after the trip, because I wanted to be back there; and then it just got easier to remember it through a hazy cloud of nostalgia. Ellen has been writing little bits and pieces in her blog, though, so go and check that out! I feel quite ashamed. I should try, too–

–and so I’m resolving to write about it, in little chronological bits and pieces. Maybe I can relive a little bit of that dream, that excitement, that sense of wonderment–and take you all with me.

Happy Valentines, everyone. :)

Last last month, I received a direct message on @gamewhims (my gaming Twitter account) from @EchoBazaar, letting me know of the Festival of Endless Actions: two days in February where the daily action cap would be removed temporarily. I’d been thinking on and off about EBz for a bit before this, and this prompted me to check in and see what had changed.

(I would like to say that I looked at recent news and changes, to see if the reasons why I quit on principle before had been changed. I would like to say that, but honestly, after reading a few blog posts, I said, ah whatever, and jumped right back in. Ahem.)

And so I went back to Fallen London.

A not-so-new-face in Fallen London

Aside from the new content, which would have been a given since I had been out for more than a year by that time, there had been a couple changes. New mechanics, a “subscription” option, and subtle UI changes. For some reason, I had quite a bit of Fate–enough to become an Exceptional Friend–and so I gave that a shot. Exceptional Friends get two candles (or, 20 actions at a time) and double the daily action limit (50 to 100), as well as a few storylets in the House of Chimes. I wanted it more for the two candles, to be honest–I’m impatient.

And so, armed with a whopping 20 actions per sitting (cough), I went on my merry way in Fallen London. I had a blast during the Festival, as well. I ended up ‘shroom-hopping during the last day of the Festival (they extended it an extra day! woo!) and had a blast. I had to sleep, and I had to work (I know, both are for the weak, but what can I say, I have bills and health to consider), but it was fun.

Just earlier this week, though, I started to feel like, okay, so what now? What do I do with my actions? Back to a limited pool, I started feeling (again) that I needed to be really prudent about using them. During the festival, I gave almost everything a shot–did some of the older arcs to remember them, tried various paths even if they didn’t seem like the best idea. I discovered things. I wandered around Fallen London. But now–I only have so much! No, I should save them for things that count.

And so, last Tuesday, after exhausting my actions, I thought, meh. It’s probably time to go now and leave Fallen London again. Don’t get me wrong, I like strategizing the best and most efficient way to do things in the games that I play. But it just felt a touch alien in a world like Fallen London: sprawling and full of hidden mysteries, the unexpected and the exciting peeking just around the corner. I wanted to wander but I felt out of place strategizing my wandering for the most efficient returns. I mean, I already work out my day that way. Don’t tell me I have to do that here, too?

And then, barely an hour later, they announced they were doing away with the action cap. The actual change happened the next day, but when I first read their announcement, I didn’t understand it. Huhwhat? They’re having another Festival? Until eventually, it dawned on me–endless actions for good!

HUZZAH!

Forever and a day

Of course, it’s not all happy bunnies and rainbows. You do essentially have an action cap–with the refresh rate adjusted to one action every ten minutes, you have a max cap of 144 actions, if you played nonstop. It’s still a far cry from 50 actions, and definitely encourages people to keep coming back to the website as opposed to a full stop for the day once they’ve reached the cap.

I’d also like to commend the team in experimenting and giving endless actions a trial run. I’m impressed.

It feels like this has come full circle. Having played Echo Bazaar way back when there were no hard caps, and then to the time when there were hard caps, and back again–it’s such a sweet feeling, faintly nostalgic with a dash of exultation. The Echo Bazaar I fell in love with has come back.

Dust off your Neathglass Goggles and greet your Fairly Tame Sorrow-spider: it’s time to go a-wandering.

Big disclaimers though: I love young adult lit, I love fairy tale retellings, and I have a soft heart towards the name “Kai”, due to a couple, ah, interesting story lines my friends and I built back in high school.

So, yes, Cinder. I finally bought it last week, and promptly sat down to read it one fine afternoon. And I barely got up until about ten in the evening, after I read the last lines.

A retelling with a twist

Ha, of course retellings all need a nice intriguing twist. Well, this one was sure to be interesting for geeks out there: set in a futuristic, dystopian Beijing (New Beijing, to be precise), with a menacing race on the moon threatening the “Earthens”, Cinder is not your usual downtrodden woman: actually, she’s a cyborg.

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl…

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Yum.

Engrossing escapist fiction

Frankly, I’m more of a fantasy than sci-fi girl, but this was entirely too delicious to pass up. It is definitely futuristic, in a slightly steampunky way, and not utterly disconnected from the here and now–it’s a world that I can definitely meld with my own, but different enough to be magical.

Oh, did I say magical? That’s frowned upon in that society, when the Lunars’ “magic” has some very dire effects and capabilities on Earthens. The book isn’t deeply technical, and non-SF readers like me won’t get lost in all the technical jargon, but it gives enough interesting tidbits to feed the imagination and let you fill in the blanks.

Cinder is refreshing and relatable–a heroine who works hard, has grease on her forehead (while meeting the Prince), and is intrinsically good–but not afraid to get into a shouting match with her dominating stepmother Adri or try to bash someone in with a wrench.

The secondary characters are nicely fleshed out too–yes, even Adri–and some of them are quite endearing. I especially loved Iko, Cinder’s companion android and essential sidekick (although technically, she’s Adri’s). Kai is not just a pretty face, and while I might prefer a bit more fire to my heroes, well, as the heir, he’s plenty fiery enough (a few facepalm moments there, too).

The story can be rather predictable–I know we all know the Cinderella story, but I guessed one of the mysteries presented in the book fairly early on. I don’t feel that it detracts from the experience, but people who like complete shocker endings–wait, what am I saying? You’re reading a retelling. You’re certainly not expecting a shocker.

After the ball

After putting down the book, my immediate thought was, when is the next one coming out?! I’m shamelessly impatient, and my trivia-hungry brain wanted to know more and more about Cinder’s world and what happens next. “What happens next” is probably expected with a book that is part of a longer series; but oh, all those interesting, intriguing, tantalizing glimpses of the technology is exciting my brain and coming up with all sorts of theories. Like, this Lunar’s gift, is it something like the precursor to the Force? Roughly how many years in the future is this world set, where few people remember gasoline-run cars but Europe is still called Europe? And how is Singapore “far” from New Beijing? Where exactly is New Beijing–is it still in, uh, Current Beijing?

Ahem. Pardon me while my geeky self runs away with all the possibilities.

Cinder is definitely worth a read if you like either retellings or YA lit, and most especially if you like both. Hardcode SF readers may find it a bit too vague, but I’m sure it will still be an enjoyable, light read. The book itself is of moderate length and engrossing, and well worth the money I spent on it. If reading the excerpt intrigued you even a little, give it a shot.

I enjoy the games, although Bakery Story is the most interesting for me. My bakery is called the Chocoberry Cafe, and I bake according to a theme: if a recipe has chocolates and berries (of any kind) in it, I make it. This means I always juggle between recipes that have long cook times, but higher yields, and recipes that are quick but have lower yields (except for Brownies and Blueberry Muffins, because they are too quick and I can’t afford to babysit the cafe). Given the theme of my bakery, it’s fairly important to me to keep the food stocked up and displayed on the counters. After all, the food is the reason why my cafe is named “Chocoberry Cafe”. They are part of my “decoration”, if you will. So whenever a food item dips to less than 5,000 plates, I could be in danger of “losing” that item, which is something I’d rather not happen. (It also messes up with whatever arrangement I already have with the food items, since you don’t really have any control where the food gets served once you serve it.)

Yesterday morning, I saw a message on my wall from one of my neighbors, saying that she was gifting brownies now (instead of the “standard” cappuccinos) due to changes in the game, and that they are now the highest-profit items. Dumbfounded, I went and looked it up–and it’s true.

This isn’t Kansas anymore

As early as January 17, players have noticed the change and have put forward their thoughts and complaints. TeamLava has responded only to say that the change is “to ensure that the game is enjoyable as possible — not just for current players, but new players as well…to balance out the game”. Based on what I’ve read, the changes that have happened include:

1. Normalizing selling price per food plate to 4 coins. This raises the profit for stuff like Brownies (initially selling for 1 coin per plate) and lowers it for stuff like Red Velvet Cake (initially 12 coins per plate, though I may be wrong–this used to be my biggest earner, though).
2. Lowering yield per bake. I have no comparison data for this, but it’s been reported.
3. Lowering cost of recipes to bake. This was communicated later on, but again, I have no comparison data.
4. Blocking the door to stockpile food does not stop sales now; there have been reports that once you unblock the door, the food that you should have sold while you were stockpiling all gets sold immediately.

These changes make counters harder to stock, whether you’re a new or older player. I’ve noticed this myself, but shrugged it off initially and thought maybe I was just imagining things. Less yield means that if I try making an item that takes a number of hours to make, if my baker stays open the whole time, by the time I get to serve these new food items, there is nothing on the counter anymore. Empty counters at any point of the game means unhappy customers, and unhappy customers bring your popularity down, and popularity affects the number of customers coming into your bakery (lower than the measly 30-or-so customers we’re already getting). I have some stuff stocked from before the change (now selling at a loss, since they were baked with a higher-priced recipe than now, and selling for much lower), but new players don’t have the 16 appliances I have: how are you supposed to keep counters stocked with only a handful of ovens that you’re limited to due to your low level? Why, spend $4.99 to buy gems to add one extra appliance, of course! Worse, you can’t even block the door to stockpile, now. The only way I got through those lower levels was to stockpile. I don’t see how this change will help new players.

These changes make it slower to earn money. I used to spend a lot of bake time and coins to bake the ones with high yield and high profit, because I knew that once that batch sells, I will have reached a coin goal and I can get x item, or expand, etc. as opposed to waiting and waiting and waiting for my lower (therefore slower) items to sell. And yes, the recipes cost lower to make: but you bake more (and therefore spend more) in order to keep your counters stocked, so the point is moot. I’ve noticed it’s harder to earn money: it’s been a while but I’m having a hard time trying to break 2M (for my 4M goal, which I need to expand) when I need to keep baking to keep food items on counters.

Also, it removes the strategy element: if everything is normalized, then it doesn’t really matter what item you bake. I enjoy just making the food items that fit the theme of my bakery, but I want to make other items too, but right now, I can’t afford to do that (time-wise) because wait, my Chocolate Cake is getting dangerously low, I need to stock up on that first. So I just never end up making these other items. It becomes mindless, which kids probably don’t really care about, but as an adult, it was part of the draw of the game. If I wanted a mindless game, there are a lot of action arcade games made for the iPhone, on other consoles. I’ll go play that instead.

And an extra dash of salt to wound:

No warning nor formal announcement on these changes. They were just rolled out and it was the users themselves who noted it and started asking questions, who are understandably confused and worried if there was a bug. They have responded with an official statement after a while, but continue to largely ignore the strong user sentiments on the changes. And other people have noted that TeamLava’s wording–that they have “legions of super-passionate fans” sound almost insulting. I don’t think it’s wise for TeamLava to ignore these “legions” of “super-passionate” gamers that they are alienating. New users are great, but those who TeamLava might classify as “super-passionate” are the ones dropping significant hard-earned cash for the game.

A time for all things to end

I do like spending cash now and then on freemium games–I just did recently with Bakery Story. Paying for stuff like gems is good because it supports these smaller game houses and I like thinking that I’m doing my bit to keep them going. I stopped Bakery Story for a while, but then had my account ported over to my new phone just to be able to keep going. But this is unacceptable. Poor communication with the community and user base, shady decisions that doesn’t look like it’s going to change–I’m not going to continue supporting games by a company who does this.

I’ve been thinking it’s time for a break–and maybe it really is time to say goodbye to TeamLava and the Story series. Goodbye, Chocoberry Cafe and my beloved chocolate fountain.

What, ebooks? Tolerable, I suppose

When the Kindle first came out, with the much-touted e-ink technology, I was skeptical at best. I loved my paper books, and in the years following that first release and up until my decision to get one, I was firmly in the paper-book-lover camp. No newfangled technology was going to tear me away from my paper books! I liked the tactile feel of turning the pages, the scent of paper. I spend a lot of my time looking at text on screens and have tried reading ebooks, but it never caught on.

When I started getting into audiobooks, my penchant for still buying the paper books after listening to the audiobook firmed my belief that nothing was ever going to make me give up my paper books. My attempts to read ebooks on my iPhone didn’t help, either–my head hurt after a while, I got dizzy, the eye strain felt uncalled-for when I knew I could stare at computer screens for hours and not be bothered.

So what changed?

Coincidentally (or maybe not so much), the same guy who got me hooked onto audio books, got me hooked onto the Kindle. He brought his Kindle 3 to show us one fine day.

First impressions: definitely handsome enough to tempt me

I was very impressed with the Kindle 3, when I first saw it and held it in my hands. It was light, almost felt like a toy, but felt fairly solid enough for me. I could quickly see myself bringing one everyday and not minding the negligible weight increase (especially when this comes at a time when I was full into reading Wheel of Time. Yep).

But the definite selling point was the e-ink technology. I tell you–photos do not do this fabulous screen justice. I had to see it myself to be completely won over. Go ahead, open a book, any book. That page you see there? Pretty much the same thing you see on the Kindle screen. It was amazing. It was amazing. I’ve seen a good number of tech gadgets, and I’m not easily wowed. But this one?

It was love at first sight.

The stars also aligned for me then: while the Kindle is not released for Singapore, a friend was coming from the US in a month’s time. I had a long trip coming up. I had a little extra money that I didn’t expect.

And so a Kindle 3 came home to stay.

Brightened by the exercise

I had my Kindle in my hands in May last year. My friend handed the box over to me, and I couldn’t wait until I got home–I opened it right then and there. And there it was, in all its beautiful glory. There was a note on the screen that told me to connect the Kindle to my computer to get started. I couldn’t help it–I started with opening the box, well, I should just finish it off and remove the plastic screen protector, right?

So I lightly picked at the corners of the screen…and then another corner, since I was unsuccessful…and then I realized that there was no plastic covering. That note on the screen is not printed on a piece of plastic and taped onto the Kindle, it was on the Kindle itself. You can’t believe how embarrassed I felt, and what a good laugh I had out of it.

Seriously, folks, the e-ink is that good.

Kindle text vs book text: a comparison (click to see full image, 1632x1224)

PICS OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN! Well, the comparison shot with this post might help (click it to enlarge). I took it with my iPhone camera, but it’s a good comparison shot–the focus in near the bottom half of the photo, which is unedited except for halving the size of the actual shot. No other manipulations on sharpness or contrast. Apologies for the slightly yellowed book pages–it was the nearest one on hand (A Writer’s Workbook by Caroline Sharp, which embarrassingly I have not gone through properly yet).

I’ve had my Kindle for well over half a year now, and I think it’s still one of the best purchases I’ve done. Previously I tended not read at all. I was mourning the lack of time, but also quite unwilling to add 300-400g to my everyday bag for a book I may or may not have any downtime to read that day, and disliked ending up with books with battered covers and corners.

But being able to bring the Kindle everywhere with me changed all that. I could read whenever I wanted, I kept my book near me at all times. When I read on the way home, I am more likely to continue reading when I get home than not. The lack of a backlit screen does not faze me at all–it never deterred me when I loved paper books and it doesn’t deter me now.

Nowadays, I would probably prefer the Kindle or Kindle Touch over the Kindle Keyboard, mostly because I use the keyboard so little that I can let go of that feature in favor of a smaller overall gadget–and I will admit to trying to use the Kindle screen as a touchscreen for a while there (blush). But in no way do I feel that I paid too much for the more expensive Kindle 3 (“Kindle Keyboard”), it was well worth the price then and it would be well worth the price even now.

But does that mean I’m giving up on my paper books? Not at all. Like my “audiobook situation”, I still buy paper books of ebooks I read that are amazing. They are fabulous, and sometimes, I am plainly in a paper book mood, that the Kindle can’t satisfy. But all the other times–most of the time–the Kindle answers all my hobby reading needs.

If you’re in the same boat that I was–unable to read from backlit screens, wanting to read on the go but unwilling to bring along heavy books–I very strongly suggest you take a look at the Kindle. It’s a fabulous gadget and I am so, so pleased that I bought one.

December 12

The parcel was accepted by the post office in the US on December 7, 9:56am (local time), and arrived in Singapore shores on December 11, 11:05pm (local time). Because of this, I messaged my boss on the morning of December 12 that I would be working from home. The reasoning for this–my opting to work from home in order to receive the parcel–is because if I was not able to receive it personally, I would either have to:

1. Get it redirected to the nearby post office, which takes two working days before I can claim it. That means that, if they attempt to deliver on Monday December 12, and I attempted to get it redirected to the nearby PO, I would only be able to claim it in person on Thursday December 15. I might be able to claim it Wednesday December 14 if I go within office hours in the afternoon, before 5pm. I knew this because I had tried collecting something before on the second day since redirection, and I was told it wasn’t there yet. I work from 9-6, the PO is closed by the time I can get off work.
2. Pick it up at the SingPost Headquarters. I’ve done this before. But because my evenings are packed with errands that I have to do within this week, and going to the SingPost HQ is going to essentially take up my whole night, I understandably did not want to do this.

Hence, I decided to work from home. Let me tell you something about working from home: it is agonizing. The network connection that particular morning was shaky and slow as a turtle unsure of which foot to lift first. I dislike working from home, because unless I am working on something that is largely standalone and does not need a network connection to the office, progress is slow. And let’s not forget the oppressive Singapore heat.

In any case, on December 12 9:22 AM, it was marked on the tracking as “with delivery courier”. From experience, that meant to me that I was going to get my parcel before 2pm, which was fabulous–that meant I could head back to the office afterward. I left my door open, with the grills closed, just to be sure that the courier would know that someone is home.

By 2:28pm, with the parcel nowhere in sight, I called the SpeedPost hotline and inquired about the status of my parcel. They told me that it would be delivered by 6pm. I asked how certain they were of that, because it wouldn’t be the first time where I was supposed to receive something (according to tracking) but I didn’t get the item NOR the delivery advice sheet. The girl on the phone assured me it would arrive.

By 6:07pm, with the parcel nowhere in sight, I called again. The girl told me this time that the courier must have been in heavy traffic, but it should arrive soon. I reiterated that this wouldn’t be the first time where their courier said that a delivery attempt was made but without any sign of a delivery advice sheet. I asked them to follow up on the courier. They took my number and confirmed my name and address, and I continued to wait.

By 7:17pm, with no parcel, and no return call, I called again. It was the same story, and they told me that they have not received a response from the courier either, otherwise they would have called me back. They will contact me as soon as they have an update, they said. What, is this the age of beepers or something, where you can’t call someone up on the phone easily?

By this time, I was very antsy. I meant to go out to do some of those errands I mentioned, but obviously, with all the waiting, it was not going to happen tonight.

By 8:07, no parcel and no call back–I called again. Their “inquiry line is now closed”. I fumed. Shortly after that, I received a call from SingPost, apologizing that they have not been able to deliver. She asked if they could redeliver the next day. That meant, to me, wasting another full day waiting at home and wrestling with the network connection. She offered to have it redirected, and when I said that meant I couldn’t get it for two more days, she said she would write an instruction that would have it at the post office of my choosing within the morning, so that I could pick it up at 1pm onwards from the PO. I asked if that time slot was a definite thing. She said they would call me tomorrow just to be sure. I asked them to deliver it to the Tiong Bahru post office, where it was easiest for me to reach from work.

That night, at 10:04pm, the package was marked with an “Unsuccessful delivery”, with the reasoning being “Heavy Deliveries; Insufficient Time”.

December 13

On the morning of Tuesday December 13, my colleague asked me why I didn’t ask to redirect to the office address. Huh, well, I didn’t know one could do that. So after checking the parcel status online–there was no movement–I called SingPost, on 9:14am. I asked if it’s been dispatched, and if it wasn’t, for it to be delivered to my office address. The lady on the other end told me I had an instruction to have it redirected to the Tiong Bahru post office, which I confirmed, but asked that since it wasn’t dispatched yet, could it be redirected then? She took my new address, and confirmed with me on the specifics.

On 12:22pm, with no movement on the tracking page, I called again. By this time I am a little hazy on what exactly we talked about, but that my package was going to be delivered before 6pm. I wanted to check on where it was, and she said she would. We talked about which instruction was being carried out.

On 2:49pm, still no update on the tracking, I called again. I tell them my concern that there has been no movement whatsoever on the tracking. She tells me that sometimes scanning is delayed, but it is with the courier. Are you sure it will be delivered to this office address before 6pm? Yes, she said. She confirmed the address with me.

On 3:07pm, finally, there is some update on the tracking page. 3:07pm, marked as out with the delivery courier. Wow, okay.

On 5:18pm, still no sign of the package and no call back, I called them again. I asked them to call me back in 30 minutes as to the status of my package. She kept insisting it will be delivered before 6pm. I insisted that I get an update on the whereabouts of my package. She finally relented, and said she would try her “level best”.

On 5:53pm, just as I was getting up to place yet another call, my phone rang and it was SingPost (hallelujah!). She confirmed who I was, and the proceeded to tell me that my package is now at the post office and ready for pickup.

…WAIT A SECOND. I’m sorry? I said to redeliver to my office address. The girl on the line said that because the parcel was out with the courier when I called to change the instruction, they were not able to give the updated instruction. In my red, befuddled haze, the fact that the parcel was released only at 3:07pm though I had called at 9:14am was not remembered; but I was plenty irate enough because the whole day, they have been assuring me that it was going to be delivered to my office address, even if I make a note to mention the conflicting instructions.

Furthermore–let’s say they decided to ignore my second instruction, and went with what the lady told me the previous night–that it would be delivered from 9am-12noon to Tiong Bahru post office so that I could pick it up within the day, and that they would call me as well to confirm. But I’m sorry, you said it would be there by 1pm–and it was not. You did not call me, there was no update in the tracking that it was out for delivery until 3:07pm, no update that it had been received at the post office. You told me it would be out for redirection in the morning. It did not get redirected in the morning, which meant to me that they had held off releasing it because of my second instruction. I made three calls, all referencing the second instruction, before it was finally out for delivery/redirection.

But it was not delivered to me, it was to the post office.

The girl on the phone only kept saying that they were sorry. That they apologized. That she understands. No, I’m sorry, but she doesn’t understand. I expected the parcel the day before, and it was SingPost’s fault why it was not delivered to me, when I stayed at home all day and kept my door open all day (I didn’t even go out for lunch). And now what? Nothing?

Well, yes, there was nothing for it (real life is not like the movies, folks). I was so frustrated I almost cried right there and then. I went back to work, packed up my things, and left. I tried to make sense of my jumbled schedule. Later that night, at about 7:50pm, I bring up the tracking page just to see what they have put in there. And WHAT DO YOU KNOW. THE TRACKING SAID THEY REDIRECTED THE PARCEL NOT TO TIONG BAHRU POST OFFICE, BUT THE ALEXANDRA POST OFFICE.

I was on the phone as fast as I could get to it. From 7:51 onwards, I was waiting on the hotline. At 8:01, it died with a busy tone. I was beyond livid. They mess up my second instruction, and they messed up the first? How absolutely crazy is that? How unbelievable is that?

December 14

The next day, after looking up on the map where the Alexandra post office was, I resolved to head out after lunch and pick it up. My colleagues told me it was a long walk–contrary to how it looked on the map–and J offered to drive me to the PO to help. So we left after lunch and he waited in the car while I queued up to get my parcel.

I explain to the girl at the counter that I had no delivery advice, but that I was told that my parcel was here. I gave her the tracking number. She opened one cupboard. Then she moved to a stack of boxes on the floor. Then she verified with me again on when it was redirected, and checked on her computer. I think she opened another cupboard, and then I heard her talking to, presumably, the manager.

This. Was. Not. Boding. Well.

She told me it was not there. I asked if she could call the Tiong Bahru and ask, as that was where I told them to redirect to, and I had no idea why they sent it there. After a few minutes on the phone–finally, a confirmation! Yes, Tiong Bahru had the parcel. I asked the girl why it was marked as accepted at the Alexandra office. She gave an embarrassed laugh and said she had no idea.

When I arrived back at the car, J joked, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t walk instead?”

We drove to the Tiong Bahru office, where I tell the same story, and finally, finally, I finally receive my package.

Crazy.

What the hell just happened there?

Okay, the holidays are tough on postal service. There are lots of parcels moving around, people doing Christmas shopping online, things constantly in motion. I get that. But seriously, SingPost, when someone pays for express shipping, they mean express shipping. When someone calls you to check on their parcel, you don’t just tell them you’ll try your “level best” and then forget about it for the next hour. Your people told me they would have my parcel out in the morning to be redirected to the post office, but it did not get out that morning. Your people told me they would redeliver to my office address since it has not been released yet, but instead you redirected, and goodness knows why my item was scanned in the Alexandra post office when that has never been in any of the communications you’ve had with me. And then, ooops, no, it’s in Tiong Bahru office instead, booyah!

Uh, NO. This just does not cut it. Singapore is tiny. Population density is high, but my gosh, it is TINY. One mess-up is fine, things happen, Murphy strikes suddenly. But seriously? This many mess-ups for a single package in the span of two/three days?!

And all you can tell me is, you’re sorry?!

That is plain horrible–no one needs a font multiple times–and it is making me seriously rethink this. I know, I know–it’s a blog, and I very much doubt I have readers who would still be on dialup. But it is taunting me and my years shaving kilobytes off page loading time D:

Tell me, is it worth it?