I Shop, I Use, I Review! (An Online Shopaholic's Blog)

My pillar is sick, she is down with esophagus and gastro cancer.

2026-07-19T09:37:06.911+08:00

Just wanna get it off my chest.

My pillar is sick, she is down with cancer.

I don't remember if I ever mentioned that my sister is my pillar, my role model and basically a very important person in my support system.

She have been supporting the family, so that I can have the freedom to do gig work and slowly put my life together. Whenever I need some support, she is always there for me.

However, sometime during January this year, she has been feeling unwell - feeling food is "congested" in her esophagus. It got worst from there and she started vomiting whatever solid food she ate and even some molten/soft food.

She went to a GP and was told it's probably GERD or acid reflux. But she didn't improve after all the medication. Instead, she started puking more and couldn't keep even molten/soft food down. We made her mashed potato, congee and soft boiled eggs, yet she can't eat those without puking at least half out.

It dragged for 2 weeks. And it's partly because... Well, Singapore high pressure work environment - that made most working adults delay/afraid (to) seeing a doctor till weekends or "after the busy period" or when they can no longer tolerate.

She went to the Emergency department and was scheduled a session with the Endoscopy team. The session was a waste of time, just the doctor asking questions which we answered ample of times already and then she said "Oh, then we need to do a scope.". 15 minutes and it was over. The scope was scheduled to be a month later!

At that point of time, we didn't know it's cancer, else we won't have waited! Anyways, it's a torturous 1 month wait because she just kept getting worst and lost a lot of weight. I think she dropped from 40ish kg to 38kg. Mid point, we did went to the Polyclinic again, because we didn't feel right about her vomiting so much, but because we had a scope scheduled, they're more of "I give you more medication" and "just wait for the scope!"

It's frustrating! But nothing we can do also.

Source

Then came the day of the scope, and they said she had a tumour in her esophagus that caused a blockage. There is only a very small passage for food to flow down. They diid a biopsy and we're told to wait for results. She was put on liquid diet and scheduled to see a dietician, who recommended her a nutrition packed drink - Fresubin. It's fragrance but very sweet and so thick you'll get sick of it very fast. But she had to drink 5 bottles a day.

Obviously she can't. She will start to get so sick of the drink that she will puke after the 3rd bottle, 4th bottle on good days.

Things moved faster from there. They called up to inform it was cancer and the next few tests and doctor appointments was put in place within a week or so.

Apparently, since she is considered young (39-45), she have more options and could take strong treatments. But it's also because she is young, her cancer is more aggressive. But fortunately for her, her cancer is regional (not spread to other organs) so it's operable. She still needs to go through Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy to try shrink the cancer before surgery.

That's all for now. Honestly, it's a scary ride, seeing how the pillar is getting weaker by day and then finally confirmed it's the worst case scenario.

Which Gig work platform is better? Staffie vs FastGig vs JOD.

2025-08-07T00:54:00.002+08:00

Although there are more than just these three platforms (like Troopers and EL Connect), I’m not including those in this comparison for a few reasons:

- Limited job variety that doesn’t interest me.

- Messy systems or frequent last-minute cancellations.

- I’ve never successfully gotten a shift despite trying several times.

For example, I wasn't able to work with EL Connect because they cancelled my shifts last minute. I did try a few more times and seems like they still have the same problem.

So, I’ve chosen to focus on Jobs on Demand (JOD), FastGig, and Staffie, because I’ve personally worked with them.

Job varieties

Staffie:

Mainly F&B roles like servers, dishwashers, and kitchen assistants. Many jobs require a Food Hygiene cert, but not all. Roles like cashier or dishwasher often don’t require it.

JOD (Jobs on Demand):

Widest range of jobs — from retail and F&B to hotels and logistics. Best variety overall.

FastGig:

A mix of packers and F&B (especially fast food and NTUC). Not as wide as JOD, but occasionally has food/fashion promoter jobs that JOD rarely offers.

Payments and Penalties

Staffie:

Staffie process payouts weekly on Monday by 9pm after they have confirmed the working hours with the manager of the outlet you worked at. If Monday is a public holiday, it'll be process the next business day. They pay for the exact hours stated for the shift with no insurance fee.

Penalty wise, they will deprioritised you for future applications if you cancelled with less than 24 hours before shift, without a valid reason (like MC). No penalty if you cancelled with more than 24 hours before shift.

Suspension will occurs if you missed work too often. I talked with another "Staffie-er" I met at work, he told me his friend was suspended for a month after he didn't turn up for 8 shift straight. But was reinstated after he managed to produce evidence (swollen leg).

JOD (Jobs on Demand):

JOD pays promptly on the next day, so far I haven't faced any delay from them. And they do pay for the extra time you worked. Which means if you clocked in at 1:45 instead of 2:00 for your shift, you'll be paid for that extra 15 minutes, same if you end work later. However, JOD do take a small amount for insurance fee.

Last minute cancellation (less than 48 hours before shift start) without a valid reason will result in suspension of your account! As for how long the suspension will be, it really depends. I have been suspended once due to unfortunate circumstances and it was for about 2 weeks. (That was when I discovered other platforms like EL Connect and FastGig)

FastGig:

FastGig process payouts weekly on Friday the following week. Meaning if you work on Monday on Week 1, you will only get your pay on the Friday of Week 2. They pay for the exact hours stated for the shift with no insurance fee.

Same with Satffie, they allow cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your shift. Any shift less than 24 hours before start of shift cannot be cancelled.

Acceptance Rate and Cancellation by Employer

Staffie:

I think Staffie is the most straight forward of the 3. It will only allow you to book for shifts that are available. Usually, if you book a shift, you'll get it immediately.

I also love it that you can try to contact the restaurant by leaving questions on their company page. And after you've booked your shift, you will be added to a chat with the company and you can ask questions there too. (just don't expect fast respond)

Unfortunately for cancellation by employer, you would only be notified via the app.

JOD (Jobs on Demand):

JOD is known for being very difficult to get a shift. Confirmation may not be immediate also, and could takes up to 48 hours.

JOD will notify you if you're selected/rejected for a shift via email and it will also be reflected in the app.

Cancellation by employer is rare and I have never encountered before.

FastGig:

FastGig has got to be the most messy one out of the 3. The reason being that you would be put into the "waitlist" and "in reserved" despite them stating that the particular slot still have multiple openings.

I often applied for a job with multiple openings, got put into waitlist then "in reserved" and finally didn't get the job. FastGig would inform you if you get selected/rejected via email and it could be very last minute. Say less than 5hours before the start of shift.

The most annoying part of FastGig is that, they'll keep suggesting you to other shifts but wouldn't confirm any of the shift you booked. Sometimes, they may even Whatsapp you to ask if you can work for another shift.

They should really improve their communication because their current way of communication is confusing and caused 2 people to turn up for the same shift. After which, they just dump the problem to the company to ask one of the gigger who turned up to leave.

Just note that, even if they contacted you via Whatsapp to ask if you are free or could take up a certain shift, do double confirm with them before heading out. It might be them needing a "backup" in case the person who got the shift didn't turn up/cancelled.

Cancellation and change of shift time by employer is possible, you will be inform via email.

Help when Needed

Staffie:

I haven't have the need to contact customer service for help when working with Staffie, however I do have access to the chat whereby the owner/manager of the outlet inside too. But just that no one really respond in that chat.

One a side note, Staffie doesn't require the gig worker to do any kind of login and log out on the app when turning up for a shift. So I do keep a record of my shift in case there's any discrepancy.

JOD (Jobs on Demand):

Face problems when logging out for a shift. Contacted JOD via whatsapp, didn't respond till 2 days later. Very slow.

JOD requires the gig worker to login and log out via their app and sometimes this caused problems when either party have no access to the account. Happened to me once.

FastGig:

Same with JOD, CS is non existence when you needed them.

FastGig system is kinda inflexible. You not only need to scan in via the app, they also track your GPS to see if you're at the exact location. It's very annoying because, their GPS is not very accurate and makes it impossible to login! Giggers need the manager approval to scan the QR code to login, so then why do we still need to verify their location as well? It just add unnecessarily steps and problem.

Overall, my experience with gig platforms have been quite good. I love how easy it's to get shifts on Staffie and how fast I can get my pay on JOD.

I also realised that although Staffie and FastGig enters the scene much later than JOD, it seems that they have been growing (with more and more jobs options) however, JOD seems to have lesser jobs as compared to when I first used it.

My personal take is that JOD is much more strict when it comes to applying and cancellation of jobs and have a harsher punishment to the point it seems quite unfair. I feel asking for MC for cancellation within 48hours is a little too excessive. It's not advisable for one to work and be in contact with food if they're sick (flu) but sometimes, gig workers don't have the luxury to see a doctor over every small flu.

Poco F7 pro after 2 months of use!

2025-07-03T06:54:00.003+08:00

Well, I have the Poco F7 pro for 2 months now and here is my updated review about it!

Display

I know I have said that the screen is bright enough under the sun at outdoors but turned out that, it's just that I haven't encountered extreme sunlight - actually not extreme lah, it's just the more normal sunny day sunlight of Singapore.

Under such conditions, you do need closer to 100% brightness to just be able to see anything on the screen. It wouldn't be a comfortable viewing experience but at least you can still see and read ...

Gaming

Honestly, I see the problem with Poco phones - it's always the best for the first few weeks or month. I do encounter lags and heating issue with the phone now. And it's quite bad!

If you ever game excessively - say more than a few hours while charging, expect lags and a frying pan. Yes, the back of the phone gets so hot.

Lags starts to come in due to the temperature.

Battery

I started with charging the phone every 1.5 day to now I sometimes need to charge 1-2x a day. Of course, I am gaming and using it much more. But where is the 15hours of continuous use?

Oh and I even turned off Live wallpaper except for my lock screen.

Other Issues

I don't know if it's just bad luck that I have gotten a phone that seems to have some problem with either the touch sensor or Chrome(?) or other things. The phone have problem with ghost clicking, usually at the bottom of the screen. It just clicks continuously for nothing and nothing I do can stop it at all.

Just the other day, the control menu at bottom (about 1cm of the screen) won't response to touch at all. It happened while I was browsing on Chrome browser and I have to kill app to make it work again.

It's kinda frustrating that the phone is showing signs of problem so early. I have contacted Xiaomi and they told me the phone was out of the 7-day exchange policy (I contacted them about 2-3 weeks after I bought the phone) and their solution is for me to reset the phone/boot to factory settings ...

If it still doesn't work, I have to go down to Xiaomi service center... which I haven't find the time to go down. To be honest, the ghost clicking have happened a few times already and I think I should go down soon or at least before my 2 years warranty is up!

Poco F7 Pro review after 3 days of use

2025-04-25T17:17:00.001+08:00

It's time to retire my Poco x3 pro. It's battery is dead again and I am tired of getting replacement battery. And honestly, the amount I spent on replacing the battery is almost the cost of the phone itself.

Packaging and Design

I do love the design of the packaging. Very simple, but elegant. In the box, it comes with the phone, a 90W charging brick and a USB type C cable. Oh, and also a SIM card ejection pin.

I think the phone design is a huge jump from the x3 pro. The rim is metal and the back feels like a combination of glossy glass an matte. When I picked it up, I can feel it's quality and it feels more premium than the x3 pro.

The SIM tray is at the bottom along side the charging port and speaker. The camera bump is kinda meh... but ok, I can get pass it.

Transferring Data and Fingerprint Unlock

Setting up and transferring data from another phone is easy. However do not that those Apps that you sideloaded will highly not be transferred over. For one, my Notes didn't get transferred over.

I love it that the F7 uses in-display fingerprint sensors and it's fast as hell! And even when I just contact the sensor with my thumb slightly titled.

Display

I find the screen being bright and sharp. It's very comfortable to use in indoors situation. I do see great improvements over the x3 pro. Not that the x3 pro is bad but the F7 pro brightness and sharpness is definitely more.

While using outdoors, especially under sunlight, it's still visible with a 70ish% brightness. But of course I didn't test it under the strongest sunlight.

HyperOS and Ads

Having tried both MIUI and HyperOS, I actually find HyperOS faster and not that "heavy" so booting up is faster. However, it's still as "heavy" in the sense it took up 10.13GB and another 23.80GB of system files.

The only problem I have with HyperOS is that it locks the phone and no longer allow custom roms or reverting to stock OS.

Ads are still here and there but honestly not overwhelming. Some Ads, I can just "skip" it by exiting the App because it comes at the end of the process. Also, yes there are preinstalled Apps that you have to manually remove.

They\re mainly some casual games and shopping Apps like Lazada.

Camera

Wide (main): 50MP OmniVision OVX8000 (likely same as OV50E, 1/1.55", 1.0µm - 2.0µm), f/1.6, 24mm, multi-directional PDAF; 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps

Ultrawide: 8MP OmniVision OV08D (1/4.0", 1.12µm), f/2.2, 15mm, fixed focus; FullHD@60fps

Front camera: 20MP OmniVision OV20B (1/4.0", 0.7µm-1.4µm), f/2.2, 21mm, fixed focus; FullHD@60fps

Honestly, I don't know what these statistic means. But I can share what I feel. I don't think I really like the camera at least in darker situation. I feel the blur around the main subject feels a little unnatural.

Photos taken with 0.6x, 1x and 2x in a semi dark room.

The selfie camera is much sharper than I expected. Especially when compared to the x3 pro. But it's nothing impressive too.

In situation whereby it's bright and lights are ample, photos turns out quite well.

This is 2.4x zoom

Gaming

I only play games that aren't very demanding, I mainly play Kairosoft games and NDS and PSP games on emulation.

I have no problem at all playing for more than a few hours consecutively. The phone does gets warm to touch but it didn't lag much.

The thing I notice that has improve from the x3 pro is that Kairosoft games, which usually drains battery and heats phone up pretty fast, didn't get the F7 pro too hot. Battery drop is also not that drastic.

Of ocurse, I must be fair that F7 pro have much more ram (12GB) that the x3 pro (6GB) that I own.

I actually also took a short 2 minute screen recording while play games on emulation and I don't feel any lag at all. No crazy temperature too, just warm to touch.

Battery

The F7 pro comes with massive 6000mAh (typ) battery which promises 15 hours of Continuous use. I honestly am quite confident that it will live up to it's promise if you're not gaming/video surfing heavily.

I have the phone charged to 100% and used it for light gaming for at least 2 hours and some light video surfing and still have 70% after 5 hours. I used it sparingly and then left it idle till next day noon and it still have 30%.

I am glad emulation doesn't drain battery as much as the x3 pro. But to be fair, the x3 pro is much older and the battery is an OEM. I will definitely come back here to update how the battery is after using for longer time.

Overall, I am happy with my F7 pro. It's definitely an upgrade from my x3 pro in many ways. The screen is brighter and sharper, it runs game with less heat and lags.

Updated 18 May: Just 2 weeks of use, I discover the phone have ghost clicks. I have contacted Xiaomi and waiting for their respond.

Pros

Cons

+ Fast charging

- HyperOS not allowing custom roms

+ Great for emulation and games that I play

- camera design kinda ugly

+ 6000mAh battery

- Ads (unless toggle off)

+ Hi res certified stereo speakers

- Unwanted apps preinstalled

+ Cheap (relatively)
+ in display fingerprint that is responsive

+ feels premium
+ bright and sharp display

Is FastGig a good gig platform?

2025-03-20T02:17:00.006+08:00

I have actually gotten to know about the gig work platform, Fastgig in Feb 2025. That was during Chinese New Year whereby jobs are more and have higher hourly rate.

The interface is simple and pretty straightforward.

And the functions are ... very simple too. Filtering by time slots, date or companies.

The variety of jobs on Fastgig isn't as much as JOD (Jobs On Demand) but it's decent. Like there are some retail,, promoter, F&B and packer jobs. Occasionally, you get flyers and admin jobs.

The app promises to PAY weekly and on Friday the following week. Which means even if you work on Monday on the first week of Feb, you'll only get paid on the Friday of the 2nd week of Feb.

My experience with them is they do pay and quite timely. However, I think they still need LOTS of improvements!

1) Their GPS is NOT accurate

How does this affect your job? You may ask. It's simple, you have to be at the exact or close enough to the workplace in order to sign in to work! I have encountered an unfortunate event whereby I wasn't allowed to login despite being at the work location. I contacted CS and they didn't respond!

Lucky for me, the employer is very nice and reported the problem to Fastgig for me.

Not surprising, they contacted me halfway into my shift and then asked me if I was there. I just sent them a screenshot of the problem and a photo of the shop.

I think Fastgig shouldn't bet on employers being nice or what if the employer decide to be dishonest about the hours worked?

2) Shifts are hard to get

I have tried booking shifts more than 1 week before when there are still ample openings. But I was put on pending for the longest time and then finally on "Reserved" which means that I am on standby for a gig that is fully allocated.

What the hell, I applied for it when there are ample openings and still didn't get it! Finally, I guess one of the giggers cancelled their shift and they suddenly notified me at 1-ish am that there is an opening. But 5-10 minutes later informed me again that the job was taken.

Who the hell expect someone to be checking their app or email at 1am?

3) Very last Minute allocation

I have applied for a job and it starts at 5pm. I only got the notification that I was selected at around 3pm! I don't know what to say, why is it so hard to select someone for the job?

4) Short Shifts

Well this may not be a bad thing for some people who prefers some shifts but for some, it's just not worth the travel. I have seen them posting gigs with low hourly pay (like $9-11) that are only 2-4 hours.

It will be OK if you live nearby but some of these gigs are in those industrial areas which make it quite inconvenient and not worthy it.

5) Sudden change of shift timing

There is this one job with good length and pay. It's an 8 hour shift with 1 paid break, however, after getting selected, it was changed to a 12.5 hour shift but still with 1 break only!

Have to cancel the shift because I couldn't make, I have an appointment before the shift starts.

Updated on 21 May 2025: An unpleasant incident happen when I was working with Fastgig recently. It didn't happen to me but another lady. We were both at the cafe for the same role. And after many tos and fros, I was given the job.

Like almost an hour later, the boss of the cafe came down, he had a 15 minutes talk with the lady and she left. He came ranting to us, and we found out that Fastgig had contacted the lady via whatsApp if she would be free for this role I had already taken up (I think they wanted a standby). The way the conversion goes was very misleading. Fastgig made it sounds like she was offered the job so she came down. The boss was quite unhappy with how Fastgig attitude.

So yeah, if you do get whatsApp from Fastgig, have to double confirm again before going down.

Overall, I am ok with Fastgig but it has become extremely hard to get a shift now and that they're not the best when it comes to providing help whenever there are problems. But they do pay on time for the 2 jobs I did with them.

Would I recommend them to a friend who wanted to join? Probably not because they seems to have some "regulars" that they prefer to engaged instead of some newcomers.

Which temp/casual job platform is better?

2024-05-20T23:41:00.010+08:00

I have my fair share of using apps (platforms) for temp/one-day jobs like Jobs on Demand (JOD) and EL Connect.

And like always, these are based on personal experience and I could be biased.

I also want to make it very clear that I haven't gotten any jobs from EL Connect, so I can’t comment on whether they actually pay or whether the rumours about them “deducting money without good reason” are true.

Anyway, I’m going to compare them over a few categories, so let’s go!

Job varieties

I think JOD has much more variety compared to EL Connect.

I did a quick search on both apps just now and saw that JOD offers jobs ranging from waitress/service crew to cashier, sales assistants and cleaners. They have a lot more partners (or “clients” as they call them) like Fairprice, McDonald’s, IMH, etc.

EL Connect seems to consist more of cleaning, banquet and parcel packing/sorting jobs.

Loyalty Programs and Penalties

Both platforms have rules/regulations and some kind of loyalty system.

For EL Connect, there are Lucky Draws, Monthly Incentives and Referral Fees.

EL Connect Monthly Incentives are as follows:

JOD doesn’t have Lucky Draws but does have a Referral program where both the referrer and the new user get $10 each. It also has a point system where you earn points and exchange them for vouchers.

There’s also a Member tier bonus — Gold members earn the most points per working hour, while Bronze members earn the least.

For example: Gold = 7 points/hour, Bronze = 2 points/hour.

They also run ongoing campaigns/challenges so you can earn extra incentives.

(Example: FHC challenge — complete 10 FHC jobs within the period and receive $200.)

As for penalties, JOD doesn’t seem to have any fines for last-minute cancellation, but cancelling without a valid reason will of course affect your trust rating and, if it happens too often, can lead to suspension.

For EL Connect, there’s a $30 fine for a first-time last-minute cancellation and $80 after that.

There’s no clear definition of what counts as “last minute” on the app, so I’m not sure how last minute is considered “last minute”.

Acceptance Rate and Cancellations

Well, for this part, I can be a little biased because I didn't get to work on EL Connect at all. You see they are very frustrating to work with.

1) I have applied for at least 6 jobs on their app. Out of which, I was selected for 3 of them. And then why did I not worked any of these jobs?

Cancellation and by "the Employer"!

And the cancellation can be quite last minute. Like the day before. The most frustrating thing is you won't get a notification on the app itself, you need to check in the app to see if the job still appears under the Scheduled job page OR check your email! Which mean if you're NOT checking your app or email constantly, you might end up with a wasted trip!

2) I have applied for one job at least 8 days in advance, and still I got cancelled last minute. And note that I didn't have any bad records on their app because I simply haven't work with them yet. So I do not think it's of "bad conduct" or "low rating"!.

3) For the last job, the job was cancelled because Employer "change to Wednesday". I was speechless, it feels like to me that the employer doesn't know which days they need extra manpower.

I didn't try again anymore because I feel it's quite a waste of time.

For JOD, I didn't get selected for a lot of time (especially after I got rated 3 stars for a job I really didn't get enough training for). But when I did get selected, I never got cancelled at all. So I know that once I am selected, I can start preparing for the job because cancellation are very rare.

But do know that competition on JOD is higher in my opinion.

Payment

This will be very biased because it will be one sided. But I do want to say that JOD pays directly to your bank account after deducting the Insurance fee.

Everything is stated clearly on their job card - how much per hour, how much gross pay you'll get and how much insurance will be deducted. Then that amount will be credited fully to your bank account within 48 hours (usually)! I have always gotten my pay the next day so far.

For EL Connect, I think there is also some insurance fees but those are not stated on the job card itself. If memory serves me correctly, it was only stated in the page when you're awarded the job. Your pay is credited to your Wallets (in the APP) and there is a minimum amount to cash-out which is $30 and a $0.50 fees.

These are the information I gathered from the site itself and my own experience.

If you ask me which platform do I prefer, I think it's pretty obvious. I won't say EL Connect is a bad platform, I know they do pay their users (from the reviews I read) but many are also frustrated by their operations and lack of varieties in their jobs.

If you ask me, I definitely trust JOD much more.

I got scammed.

2024-04-13T17:35:00.001+08:00

Yes, I got scammed.

I thought I will never get scammed. Because I have been "swimming around" with these kinda "Job scams" for quite a few times. Really kia dio ho, mai gey kiang!

The difference is that, I never pay for anything in the previous encounters.

"Upgraded" Scam

Anyways, this is an "upgraded scam", hidden in more layers.

In the previous scams, it's just 1-2 layers. You get contacted, setup an account on a website and then you do 10-20 "jobs" and for the first time, you're able to complete the 10-20 tasks and you get paid. For the next 10-20 tasks, you can't complete it at all due to "Wah! MegaTask!" or "Congrats! Bonus Task!"

They will then ask you to top up to continue.

In this "upgraded scam". They will add you to a group and you can complete tasks daily and can even skip those task whereby you have to pay. The sequence is usually like this:

6 tasks as a set, Complete 1 set to get paid.

Out of the 6 tasks, there will be 1 paid task. It usually start small, asking for $1-3 only. You can also skip if you don't want to pay. After you completed 6 tasks (even if you skipped any tasks, you get paid).

So the thing is simple, IF you can really fight the temptation to paid to "earn" more money, you can end up walking away without being scammed.

Emotional Temptations

But the thing is that, they will add you to a group with many "others"(I believe more than half of them are scammers too!). These "others" appears to be "unknowing users" who are skeptical and will ask questions that you would have too. Then the moderators will give assuring answers.

The amount are usually very small, ranging from $1-10 initially. Until the 2nd day, you started getting "bigger tasks" than required more money, like a minimum of 60-80. You can of course also top up more and get more money back. (But we all know now, that it's get scammed of more money!)

These tasks usually appears after you have earned about 2/3 the amount. Like for me, I have earned about $30+ when I started encountering these "bigger tasks".

I ignored it at first, but I started seeing "users" who were initially skeptical, starting paying and then getting paid (with Paynow transfer as payment proves)

These "bigger tasks" will come every round. So even if I skipped the "bigger task" for my current set, I will be faced with another one for the next set. And the receptionist (who is in charge of paying me) will seems to be very understanding, using words like "never mind, you observe first. Don't invest if you're uncomfortable!"

You know, the feeling of a "friend".

Eventually, everyone else are joining in and some of them even "bought" the higher amount packages like $288,$588 and one even paid 1K!!

I must admit, I was tempted and the receptionist assuring me that I can earn back the amount via the "normal" tasks makes it even more tempting!

I finally gave in to my temptation and paid the lowest amount, $65 via Paynow. I was promises that I would get $80 back!

Same Old Bottomline Scheme

After making the payment, I was added to my "Master" (Pui! You stupid scammer!) and his group!

There I was asked to create an account on a website ... blah blah.

Honestly, it was here that I know that my money will probably gone down the drain!

But I went on. Probably because I was in some kind of denial.

I went ahead and completed 20 tasks on the website, thinking that I will at least be paid once but nope, I was told the merchant task is set of 2 and that I need to pay to continue.

I can't get paid unless I completed 2 sets and there is no refund! I also cannot continue with my "normal" tasks contradicting to what the receptionist have told me.

I went into the group to ask about it and was surprised that everyone think it's normal for them to be telling you that there is a 2nd payment after the first! Some even told me to continue and get "paid double"!

My receptionist stopped being as nice as previously. She started repeating what others have said and urging me to make payment in order to not " waste your first payment!" She even hinted that they won't gain much from scamming $65!

But I know, that if I make the 2nd payment, they will ask for a 3rd and eventually I will just feel more and more 不甘心 because I will be losing more money!

I stopped.

Well, I hope my experience will help anyone out there to be careful about these type of scams. They're ever evolving, with more layers to disguise their schemes. You can try to earn some quick bucks from them if you want but then always remember to exit once they ask for money, especially if you're easily tempted like me!

BSP-D3 Telescopic Bluetooth Controller

2024-04-03T06:35:00.008+08:00

My iPega 9167 controller broke down recently. They right side (A,B,X,Y) totally didn't work. I tear it down and tried to see if the ribbon cable connecting both sides have loosen. But it seems to be tightly in place. And after teardown the controller, it looks like shit because the screws are hidden under very sticky and thick stickers.

Anyways, unless I want to get a new ribbon cable to try if it works, the controller is unusable. And it'll be ugly even if I managed to fix it.

I decided that it will be easier to just get another controller. A cheap one that is not too shabby. I searched around and found the BSP-B3 controller to be the cheapest I can find.

It's almost half the price of the iPega 9167, @SG$17. (The iPega would have cost $34-36 on the same website).

The D3 came in a simple box with a manual and a Type-C charging cable.

The body is made of plastic and feels light and a little cheap. Honestly, when I first picked it up, it feels like a toy.

At the first glance, you should be able to notice that there is no Dpad. And that if the controller is not turned on, the buttons indicator aren't visible.

I do like the indicator for the mode it's currently in (Android/IOS MFI/PC C-input/Switch ...etc), I think that is a good touch.(1,2,3 at the top)

However, the buttons are kinda clicky and a little small. They aren't as good to press when compared to the iPega 9167. They tend to give less "feedback" (the springy feel of the buttons after you release the buttons) and are sometimes noisier. (Especially the "Start" and "Select" buttons)

The shoulders button are soft and I don't really like the almost non-existing feedback.

The controller comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and 500mAh battery, which can easily last more than 8 hours of gaming.

It can stretched to a maximum of 173mm, which should fit most smartphones. However, if you have a thick case, you might have some problem trying to fit it in. My Samsung A14 with a slightly thick case, could barely fit in.

The 'cut out' to accommodate the protruding cameras at the back of the phone is a very nice touch.

I have gamed for awhile on the controller and I can say that it's pretty decent. There is not much latency and I could play fighting games like Teken without much problem. The only thing is that, I feel certain games works better with a Dpad. Or maybe I am just so used to using a Dpad that I just can't get used to this layout of direction buttons.

I ended up using the thumb sticks more that the direction buttons. The thumb sticks are OK-ish, definitely less deadzone than the iPega 9167, even after expanded it's the thumb stick plate.

Overall, I feel the D3 is a decent budget telescopic controller. If you have slightly more budget or wants a Dpad, I suggest looking at the D6 or D7.

Samsung A14 LTE After 3 months

2024-02-18T00:31:00.001+08:00

Ok, I know I just have the phone for slightly more than 2 months, but let's just round up, ok?

Anyways, this will just be a quick update on how I feel about the phone. To give you some context, I have been using the phone daily for communication, social media and middle-heavy gaming. I got into Clash of Clans again and have 5 accounts in 2 separate clans. That's lots of wars and CNY event tasks to keep track of.

Honestly, the phone works ok for gaming but then I still got frustrated by the phone a lot. The connectivity is really not great. Like it's very slow to switch from Wifi to LTE and vice versa.

There are a few occasions when I left home when I was watching a YouTube video halfway, when I got to the bus stop, the video couldn't resume playing at all. And I have to reload the video. There are a few times wherebu the YouTube app just freezes when the connection got lost.

It could be due to the heat, because I have kept the phone in my pocket while walking down to the bus stop, but connectivity is at its worst when the phone starts to get hot.

As for battery wise, I have to charge the phone at least once a day. Battery drains really fast when you game or stream videos. I feel it drains faster than my Poco X3 Pro which is draining fast because I set Live wallpapers for both lock and home screen. I didn't have Live wallpapers on this Samsung phone.

The phone is very prone to short freezes and stutters, especially when opening apps or when waking up the phone from it's sleep.

My final verdict about the phone is just good for very basic usage. Definitely not suitable for GrabFood because the battery probably won't last. The problematic connectivity can make you frustrated when you're streaming videos.

Seems like GrabFood is getting much worst!

2024-02-15T08:21:00.003+08:00

I have recently turned on my Grab driver app during the New Year period because I was told that the incentives are good.

I must say, the incentives (additional $2 or $3 per order completed) are really good. However, I also realised that the base fare for the orders are TERRIBLE!

Although Grab said that they have revamped their fare system to become fairer by taking into account the distance riders have to travel to pick up the order ... I feel they did that to cutdown the fare. I have started GrabFood as a walker in 2019, I have seen the fare for 1km delivery dropped from $4.40 (or $4.50) to $4.10 now. I have also seen incentives reduced from $20 for 15 orders to $15 and then now to $13. This is the rate for the weekend quest, weekdays quest is reduced even more.

Grab have covered it up very well by making the Quests into daily quest. The Quests (Weekday and Weekend) used to be a 5 days and 2 days quest however, Grab made it a daily quest now.

It used to be you just need to complete 25 orders during Monday to Friday to get your reward, You can do it in whatever way you want - doing 5 daily or rushing the last 2 days to complete all 25 orders, it's up to you. However, it's changed into a daily quest now. So you have to complete a fixed amount of orders daily to get the reward - it's 6 for somedays and 8 for others)

What I am most disappointed is by "revamping the fare system to become fairer", Grab still sending riders to ridiculously far pickups but then not paying them for that! I have received a few orders (which I cancelled) that asked me to pick up orders from a merchant more than 1.6km away but paying me only $4.10 because the customer location is only 1km away from the merchant. Honestly, I don't see them taking into account the distance I have to travel to pick up the order.

But I guess Grab is just looking to make profit now and if it continue this way, riders/deliver partners' benefits and earnings will continued to be sacrificed. It's no wonder delivery riders are working longer hours now.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2023-12-25T02:23:00.002+08:00

May all your dreams come true!!!

Have a great year ahead!!

Samsung A14 LTE review

2023-11-30T00:40:00.004+08:00

My iPhone have officially retired from service due to a very very very bloated battery. I see no point in spending money to replace the battery although it's still pretty functional. It does lags here and there but still able to meet the basic usage.

When my friend saw my phone's battery condition (with the screen bulging), she bought me a new phone. And it happened to be a Samsung A14 with 4GB Ram and 128GB memory.

While I am soo grateful for that! I have to admit that my first impression of the phone is:

"If you want to train your patience, get a phone that is slower than your previous."

The Built and Design

I have to say that I love the phone's design. It's nice to hold but I feel the fingerprint sensor (also the power on button) can be better placed. It is also quite small so it is not able to pick up enough of the fingerprint needed to unlock your phone. The unlocking is a hit and miss and quite slow at times.

I kinda like the 3 cameras design at the back and the matte back cover with vertical lines running through. This makes the phone have more grip.

The dedicated miscroSD card slot makes it possible to expand storage for a smaller price and dual SIM function is a plus.

Display and Brightness

The PLS LCD display of the A14 has a resolution of 1080 x 2408 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~400 ppi density).

It's bright even at 50% brightness in indoors situations. It's not so much under the sun/outdoors.

The PLS LCD really have an obvious advantage over the IPS LCD of the Poco X3 pro, it's brighter and more vibrant.

Videos and Music

Surprisingly, the A14 have pretty decent audio and video quality. It's more vibrant display really gives video a more stunning appeal.

I was able o pick up more details - like a more crisp strum of the guitar from the A14 as compared to the Poco x3 pro.

However, it seems that the Poco x3 pro gives slightly more punch overall. The A14 gives a slightly more hollow bass.

Battery

I was out with it for a whole 7 hours and it only went down by 20%. I wasn't using it much though, just some YouTube viewing (less than an hour) and texting.

During gaming, the battery drain relatively faster, at about 1% every 3-5 minutes.

Functionality and Gaming

Well, I have already made my views very clear at the start of the review. It's quite unstable and laggy when it comes to day to day usage. Multitasking is highly NOT recommended while app killing is!

Sometimes it takes more than a second to respond to my clicks and sometimes it loads app so slowly, I thought it hanged. Basically, there is a short lag whenever you click on something and it's especially with the appearance of the keyboard. It's much slower to appear compared to any phone I have used so far, even the Poco M3.

It surprisingly work ok with games like Clash of Clans and Hayday. Leisure games like Candy Crush are very much playable too.

For demanding games like Call of Duty and Mobile Legend, they are playable, but prepare for lags and stutters! And I won't recommend long playing sessions - the phone is gonna heat up and start slowing down.

Camera

The 50MP main camera is decent but some colours get a little too bright and overexposed. The macro and ultrawide cameras are usable but not impressive. Zooming even slightly into macro photos and you'll see it becomes pixelated.

On the left (or top), 50MP camera. On the right (or bottom), macro.

Ultra wide (2x)

1.0x

0.5x

Honestly, the camera are very very basic and photos can be a little dull.

Conclusion

I know I have been complaining a lot about this phone but at the price point is of SG$160-175, it's a decent phone in it's range. There are sacrifice made for the brighter PLS LCD and brand name which made the phone a little less stable in terms of functionality.

You can get a better deal if it's NOT a Samsung phone. Meaning, most of the cost goes into the actually functionality than the branding. But the upside is that Samsung promises more updates than other budget phones.

I think the Poco M3 is a good alternative of similar price range, it does better in many areas when compared to the A14. The M3 is less laggy and runs games better. M3 have slightly better cameras too.

If you're willing to top up a little more, you can get a better budget phone with more RAM and performance!

Pros	Cons
Large battery (5,000mAh)	Slow responding
SD Card slot	Doesn't comes with much accessories
PLS LCD	Bass in loud speaker is lacking
Dual SIM	Quite impossible to game for long session
3.5MM audio jack	Insensitive fingerprint sensor

[Rant] Do what you can, not what you feel is right!

2023-11-04T22:56:00.006+08:00

This is a fucking rant, the door is there if you don't like rants!

Yeay, I cursed because that genuinely takes some steam off. Whether you believe it or not.

I am not a positive person and I am also someone who is easily swayed by others. And that's why I am pretty wary of strangers. But am I wary of my close ones? Nope.

But do I talk to them a lot? Nope.

Sometimes I feel they are not ready to take my shit and sometimes I knw they're not interested in the things that interest me. Is it sad? Not really, because I am more of an introvert and find my ways to relief off ... erm just that sometimes it becomes a rant like this.

I think most of us are told that we should do the right thing but I came to understand we should do what we can. And not force ourselves to do the right thing.

Yes, it sounds selfish but sometimes doing the right thing can be so mentally hurting.

I will be honest here. I don't earn much but I do shoulder some spending of my family. Like my mum's lessons fees and my family online shopping.

My sister buy imported shampoo from Taiwan and that is on me, my mum have needs for costumes and shoes for her performances and I pay for all of those. My family aren't big spender so I can still afford those. (And TBH, these are nothing compare to what my sister have to shoulder)

I pay my own phone bill and my own shopaholic needs (obviously!). I have enough to sustain while saving a little monthly... erm, maybe not monthly.

Then came this BIG thing. My sister and mother wants to go Europe and booked a tour.

Honestly, I wished to join them but then CPF came knocking for me to topup my Medisave again. You think the GST vouchers/Covid relieves come from where? These "New" insurance premiums which are mandatory for all youth to get.

And it increases each year as you aged.

I have to turn them down and was so glad that the tour have been fully booked! So they don't pester me to join in.

BUT THEN! My father have a brilliant idea!

He heard from my sister that the travel agent had another tour group which wasn't full yet and asked my sister to try asking to transfer to that group.

Some to and fro and it was done... as in they had worked out everything with no increase in price or topup for the change or air tickets. I thought it was the right thing to do after everyone (including the travel agent) have gone through and that it's always "the right choice" to choose family (esp old parents) over money.

I bite the bullet and said yes.

Nightmare!

At first, we thought that our winter wear from our last trip will be adequate for this trip - but hell no! We need to buy them again because there is almost a 5-15 degrees of discrepancy!

Our sport shoes won't work because they're expecting rain and if we got our feet wet then it's very bad news! We're advised to get proper winter shoes that are water and wind proof.

All these adds up another $300+/person.

Then there is travel insurance which we have to buy on our own and the 320EUR "tips" which I didn't know about. I have to ask my sister to pay half of the 320 euros for me.

After which, I have just enough for changing the euros needs (estimated by the agent) ... I cannot tell you how guilty I was. I was so stressed up too!

I tried looking for a part time even though I was struggling mentally about it. I know people don't believe in such struggles - they equal it with laziness but I have many sleepless nights after applying for jobs. I fear working and that's why I chose Grabfood but that has become unsustainable and obviously not for quick bucks.

I have mentioned in my previous post, even JOD doesn't want me. Honestly, I was both stressed and relieved about it. I know, contradicting.

I do get some whatsapps response for certain openings but they wanted someone who can work for longer period of times. (esp during the festive seasons which I will be abroad).

I was thinking I should just fucking forego the travel insurance. IDK, I can't really think now.

But that's not the end of it. I know my sister have shouldered too much of the trip expenses and they're still asking me to celebrate my birthday - like ask me to pick a restaurant for my birthday meal.

I told them since we're already going on a trip, we should just leave it. I don't need a birthday meal, it doesn't make me happy, I am just guilty af. But they insisted, I guess partly because my father won't be joining us on the trip and they (sis and mum) doesn't want him to feel further "left out" (and also straining our already bad relationship). Again, this might be the "right thing" to do - for peace and IDK.

They probably didn't know about my guilt and how I feel like shit. I asked them to choose the restaurant instead since they're so insistence. They probably didn't expect the GST and service charge would bring the cost to so much more than expected!

My sister casually joked about "needing to chew bread from now on".

I could already tell how bad the trip would be - with little sleep, rushing a lot and stress I already brought over ... and the shit after I came back.

By the way... I am not blaming anyone... I am just very very stressed.

My experience with free online counselling

2023-10-29T18:41:00.007+08:00

Stupid me, accidentally deleted this post and now I must rewrite it... Honestly, I kinda feel it could be a good thing because I feel I can explain myself better now.

Note: This is my personal experience and opinion, and obviously not professional advise!

Firstly, I got into counselling because of:

1) I feel I am stuck in a rut

2) I am extremely afraid to get into a job

3) I hate my life

I have ranted on SGWhisper and some other anonymous rant sites and I sometimes get comments like, "get professional help" or "got for counselling".

I am quite tight on money so I actually thought about going to family service centers but while I was searching online, I actually stumble upon free online counselling on the CPH website.

I decided to try it and filled up the form and was surprised that I got a respond within 2 or 3 days. The counsellor enquired about a few things and then asked me how I want to conduct the session.

I could choose to have the sessions via:

1) Phone

2) Face to face

3) Whatsapp

4) email

I opted for email because I didn't want to provide too much of my personal information. She is respectful of my choice and we started a session.

She did some background check about my past and values. We quickly got into some of my problems/issues.

I told her about my anxiety with my looks, my fear of social interactions and how I fear commitments and relationships.

I just have a believe that people will start to hate on each other as they interact more and more. And this is linked to me having this "automatic hypocrite mode" whereby I try to sound correct and hide my honest opinions. I am not the most lovable person and can be quite argumentative (for the sake of it), so that will make me kinda irritating.

Anyways, I was struggling to get a job at that time. I tried JOD (jobs on demand) but I kept getting rejected. (like 5 in a row!) I guess it has got to do with my previous job with them.

I applied and got a position as waitress back in October last year. I have 0 experience (they didn't ask for someone with experience) but I decided to try out since it's just 4 or 5 hours.

I received 10 minutes of training and started the job. I must say it's way too fast pace for me and I didn't have time to adapt and settle in. My social anxiety just make things worst. The manager told me that he didn't feel like paying me towards the last hour of my job.

I stayed and completed the final hour and then left feeling like shit. I guess the manager must have feedback to the platform because after that, I wasn't able to get selected for any job on JOD.

At first I thought it's because I wasn't a "frequent" user and I just apply once in a while but it seems like that's not the case. I have been trying for a few weeks already and still nothing!

Anyways, out of the issues we discussed, the counsellor seems to pick up more on my anxieties, especially about expectations.

I don't know how to put it across. I do think the counsellor is very professional and eloquent but ... how do I put it across ... I don't feel close with her.

Maybe because she is too professional to the point that she discusses issues more than trying to address/validating my feelings. I don't feel better after talking to her sometimes.

I know counselling is never an easy process, it's about digging deep into yourself to find the (most probably) decades old "root cause" of the problems you're facing now. It can be painful and sometimes draining. I kinda grew tired of it.

Sometimes, I just put off replying to the email till I was more ready and positive. Because there are times I wrote a long email about what I feel and my problems and she came back with a short respond with explanations that I knew already.

I really don't know what the sessions will lead to. I mean we have been exchanging emails for a month now ... I don't feel more motivated or better. Perhaps, I do understand myself a little better and then?

I am not saying that counselling is bad or that counselling should solve all problems. But perhaps I have the impression that counselling should make things better (from my personal believe and the comments I get online).

Honestly, I am disappointed. But maybe it's because counselling is better when face to face? IDK...

I bought Compatible refillable Ink cartridges for my Canon printer and ... I regretted!

2023-10-12T01:37:00.002+08:00

Not surprising that the ink cartridges are the most expensive part of getting a printer. I mean a printer cost around $70+ - way over $1K, depending on what you're getting. And the perishable ink cartridges (XL size) can cost up to $50 for one. You need at least 2 to print.

I have been using a Canon PIXMA TS5170 printer for almost 3(?) years now. I think it's a good printer if you have the correct paper else, it just prints bad on normal A4/matte paper.

The ink usage is quite reasonable - the Black ink can usually last over a 9 months (depending on usage) - I do print 1-2 pieces of text/b&w/musical scores about once a week. Sometimes much more.

For colour ink wise, it tend to run out much faster. I do print some stickers/labels once in awhile especially for festive seasons so I guess that's why. Colour ink usually runs out in 6-7 months. And it's almost always because 1 colour ran out!

This printer doesn't comes with individual colour cartridges which means if one colour ran out, the cartridge will have to be replaced, even if say the other colours still have more than 50% left. This kind of "single" colour cartridge are usually cheaper (~$40-50 for XL version) compared to individual colours costing $15-30 each. Some printers needs 4 colours cartridges.

I find it quite wasteful tbh. And the problem with printers is (at least this printer) that it refuse to function when it's out of ink. I can't even use the scanner function! When the colour ink ran out, I can't even print in black and white.

So I thought, "Why not get a compatible refillable ink cartridge? I mean this would solve the wasteful problem and stop myself from getting frustrated over a non-function printer.

I got one from Shopee for about half the price of the original that comes with ink refills.

I let it sit around for a few weeks because my current cartridge is still not emptied. Just today I start to use it and realised that the nozzle/alignment is just bleh!

There are lines and gaps everywhere and this image printing I showed above is one of the better printed ones already. I tried aligning the print head, deep cleaning, restart the machine etc. it just cannot get to the quality that the original printer can produce. And the problem always seems to be on the red colour!!

I am glad I only bought the colour cartridge to try. It's totally not worth the money!!

Edited (31 Oct): I found a way to get the compatible ink cartridges to work!

When the Canon printer ink error message indicating that your ink is low or empty. You can bypass these error messages by holding down your printer's RESUME, STOP/RESET, or COLOR START button for 5 to 15 sec.

The ink level will still be empty but then you can print as per normal. I tried that and then did many deep cleaning (3 times) and now the quality is MUCH better. Not perfect but passable!

Majority of the jobs advertisements on Facebook are Job Scams!!

2023-10-08T22:10:00.008+08:00

I have been on Facebook recently and realised that there have been a lot of WFH jobs advertisements!

I decided to apply for one of them. It's advertised as "Simple packing job".

I Whatsapp the number provided and quickly got a respond. Turned out that it's just another job scam like the one I talked about in this post >>> I got contacted by a job scam scammer! And 'scammed' them of $11!

To test my theory, I decided to try out a few more other WFH jobs advertising on Facebook.

Basically, whether it's virtual assistant/sales assistant/shop assistant/packer or whatever from Goggle/Amazon/Shopback etc, they're all the same - you'll end up being asked to signup and do "marketing".

The rest is the same - you do reviews/submit orders (just some stupid boring clicking work) and ~~get paid initially~~ then you're asked to top-up to continue reviewing to get paid.

Edited: They no longer pay you anymore until you deposit first! Meaning ... they will ask you to topup and complete the 60/30/20 (up to them) tasks before you can withdraw. But we all know, you can never get that deposit back because it will just continue to have "bundle orders/lucky jackpots" which make your balance negative! And then you have to topup again to continue. But hell are they so cheap to think someone will be so desperate to topup $200 for the $15 they have earned previously, which they aren't even sure if it can be withdrawn...

I have noticed a "trend" while communicating with all these scammers, that they'll usually reply you in Mandarin even if you texted them in English. They'll respond in translate English if you request for them to communicate in English.

Also most of their website have no authentication - you can enter 99999999 as your mobile number or XXX@tsdffsmail.com and it still works.

What worsen appearance anxiety?

2023-08-28T18:21:00.001+08:00

I am still struggling with appearance anxiety, can't deny, can't lie. I can't do much about it, other than doing something that makes me feel I am doing something ... Lol, sound contradicting?

Basically, doing something will makes you less hopeless - at least you feel that something could be done and there is hope!

Anyways, I have been doing some simple massage on my face and applying facial mask. These are little things I can do without burning a hole in my pocket.

But today, I am not going to talk about the massages or facial masks but what escalate or worsen your anxiety!

Checking yourself out too often

From my personal experience, the fastest and most "easily happen" way is - always checking your appearance - whether in the mirror or in photos.

The funny part about all these physical anxieties is that, you feel you're ugly BUT you just want to kept checking on how ugly you are! It's just weird ... but it will just happen. So the thing is, try to reframe from checking yourself out so often!

Comparison

The other thing has to do with social media + comparison. For example, when you hear about someone praising an idol/someone else for something - like small face, high nose or nice jaw lines, you'll want to check if you have those too!

And then you get into "depressive mode" because you don't have those qualities/features.

But you have to know that, those qualities (or perfect features) may not suits your face! You can go on YouTube or make-up blogs to find out what styles suits you and will bring the best out of you!

Deeper Inferiority

This is somewhat I discovered after digging a little deeper inside, so it may not apply to you. I am so concerned about my looks now is because of my unfulfilled dream and a deep sense of regret.

I often wishes that I would be braver and prettier in my next life. I kinda want to give up on my current life already. No, no, it's not that I want to end it all but I feel it's too late for me to make changes to fulfil my dreams now, so I just let things auto-pilot.

I can be honest here - I have wanted to be a celebrity when I was a kid. (Don't laugh!!) And I told myself that if I grew up to be pretty, I will become a celebrity but things didn't turn out the way I wanted. Doesn't help when I have extremely low self confidence, shy and that I was losing hair at 19!

I was balding at 19!?! Can you imagine that!? Anyways, I am still balding now, it didn't improved at all! I have tried some expensive products, they do help a little but they will probably drain my bank faster than my hair!

Everytime I watch the TV and see all these youngsters with the courage, determination and talent to be on TV, I stabbed myself in the heart secretly out of regrets and hoped that I find that "Reset" or "recarnate" button. Even though deep down, I feel I will drown in the harsh conditions of the entertainment circle (toxic anti-fans and competitions)

See, I am such a contradicting person, I ... LOL.

Amyways, I can just try to deal with my problems one at a time ... And I don't even know why I am writing this post - I have obviously deviated from the topic ...

JBL GO 3 Bluetooth Speaker Biased Review

2023-08-11T23:17:00.012+08:00

I actually didn't want to write a review on this speaker since I have little knowledge about speakers BUT I just feel so disappointed with it's performance that I kinda want to rant about it.

So disclaimer: This is personal opinion and is biased and not professional!

It all started with my mother wanting to look for an easy to carry speaker which she could use during her practice. She is part of a dancing interest group which will occasionally gets invited to perform for small local celebrations.

Often, they'll have to practice on their own because if they want to practice as a large group, they'll need to get approval or book some places for a small fee. If they keep it small, they can just practice in the void deck or any empty spaces they can find as long as they don't affect others.

Anyways, I got her a JBL Go 3 after reading some reviews online + a simple chat with the seller.

Ok, fine, I admit that my research wasn't thorough enough as I was rushing to get one during the sales. Because if I did research slightly more, I'd come across a review that gave this speaker only 6ish/10.

Well, honestly, even thought I am disappointed with the GO 3, it still have its pros. The GO 3 has a very attractive physical appearance and I absolutely love the colour options. It's also very small and light (just about 0.209kg). It can fit into most bags unless you're talking about those branded bags that can hardly fit an iPhone. ~~Honestly, what's the purpose of those bags??~~

But do take note that it's lightweight is also it's weakness because it moves around when the bass gets boomy. So if you place it at close enough to the edge of the table, it won't hesitate to commit suicide!

Another thing I feel OK-ish about the GO 3 is that the bass is obviously amplified and clarified when compare to just using the iPhone speakers. (I am comparing to the iPhone 13 pro max). The higher notes are clearer and somehow forward enough for me in most cases.

However, I feel it can get a little too bassy at times. I have watched a short video clip of a performance with the speaker and I feel the conversations are very clear, but if there are anything in the lower register, with low drums/beats, things gets muffled and drown by the drums.

The buttons on the speaker are also well placed and you can easily pause the music with a press of button. The same goes with volume up and down. Connection is as easy as ABC too.

The problem I have with the GO 3 is it's volume. I think it's not that much louder than the default iPhone speakers. I don't think it will be loud enough for a small group of 3-4 in an open area. If it's an enclosed area, probably yes.

However, I must admit that there is zero distortion even at full volume.

I did not bother to do a waterproof test but it can survive toppling on top of a puddle of water left by a cup of McDonald's coke.

Overall, I kinda regret getting the JBL GO 3 speaker. It's not a bad speaker, but it definitely doesn't suit my need of a loud Bluetooth speaker.

Let's talk about appearance anxiety!

2023-08-06T04:25:00.005+08:00

I have appearance anxiety, not gonna lie.

It started when I was in primary school when my teacher suddenly mentioned that she don't understand why I am sitting at the back of the class. Because, my eyes are so small, she couldn't tell if they're open or not! So she thought that I am always sleeping in class!

Yeah, very kind of her.

As I grew older, I kind of developed this inferiority for my looks because I realised that my eyes wouldn't get bigger as I grow, but my face will... so my eye will only just appear smaller year by year ...

And ... I do hope to be seen, like I have some need for attention, for praises and ... IDK. Anyways, it just suck, because it's an eternal torment --> it's just like having fire meet water in your mind all the time. Knowing that you're ugly but you have this desire to be seen ...

It doesn't help when the people around you will start to remind you of how ugly you're or they just feel more confident taking photos with you. Admit it, we're all shallow at that age ... we all secretly feel we are better than someone else in some ways ...

The sad thing is, appearance anxiety still hits me, on and off even now. And I often wonder why. Is it because of the media (those Kpop/Cpop stars)? Is it because I just long to be recognised for something good? (Well, I obviously doesn't have an outstanding talent or skill nor am I kind, funny or helpful)

At my peak, I was obsessed with my weight. Well, you see, I am not pretty, not tall, not curvy, the only think considered "good" about my physical appearance is my slim built. I am lucky to have really small bone structure so I can be "Kpop star thin" (but I am not). So I hold on very dearly to that.

I am not anorexia or anything, instead, I was eating whatever I wish, WHILE having anxiety about my weight ... sometime, I don't understand why am I like this.

I realised this happens too for make up and camera filters. I don't like to put on make up and I don't really use camera filter. I just don't take or share my photos on social media altogether.

Why?

Because I am afraid. I am afraid of facing the drastic differences once I had them removed. Yes, we all will look slightly better with make up on and A LOT better with camera filters (Yeah, I can get big, shiny eyes I wished for).

But once you turned those off, reality hits hard! I honestly doesn't like having to face that disappointment. I know it sound like I am a difficult person - "Give you solution also don't want to accept!" But I have deal with such disappointment before and it's kinda hard for me.

Recently, I thought hard about it, why am I so afraid to be ugly? I mean pretty people are far lesser than average or ugly people, I am the majority ...

I realised it COULD BE (MAYBE) linked with competitiveness. We all know prettier people have an edge over the less good looking ones. I know many people will try to challenge me on this but there are social experiments and surveys that proved this point. I also have personal experiences whereby my boss admitted that he will consider a prettier person over an average looking people if they have the same qualification.

It translates to "if you're uglier, you have to work harder to make your qualifications better". IDK, that's what I think.

Things you need to know before porting over/Signing up to Simba

2023-06-12T05:30:00.011+08:00

Note: All the information shared in this post is to the best of my knowledge and experience. If you wish to know more, it's best to contact Simba.

I have been a Simba user from the time they're known as TPG. I must admit that TPG is quite bad initially, with very limited coverage and no connection in undergrounds. But it has improved very much and I have no problem staying connected where ever I go, within Singapore, of course. And the best part is, Simba's plans are really cheap and comes with free roaming data, free Incoming Calls and free Caller ID.

However, nothing is perfect and Simba do have some "tradeoffs".

1) Limited Talk Time and SMS

While Simba plans comes with lots of data, most of their plans doesn't comes with a lot of Talk time or SMS. For example, although their SIM ONLY 100GB plan comes unlimited Talk time and SMS to MOBILE lines, there are only 30 free local SMS and 300 minutes of free Talk time if you call/SMS to fix local lines.

fix local lines = traditional phone services that use cables, rather than mobile phone services. AKA Landlines.

300 minutes means you can only can use 10 minutes per day. That's not a lot, really, especially if you're calling to people without mobile or companies that only provided landlines. ~~Sometimes the transferring time will eat up a lot of the talk time already.~~

2) Simba plans are prepaid, cut off when exceeded

You really need to understand your usage before porting to Simba. Ask yourself if you need data or talk time/SMS more. Because once you exhausted the provided talk time/SMS, you won't be able to use that service anymore.

Unless, of course if you have cash in your Simba account. They'll deduct your exceeded usage accordingly from your account (charges as per chart below). OR you can choose to renew your plan, but take note that there will be some waiting time for processing payment and reactivation of service. (If I am not wrong, they will only renew plans during business days)

3) Termination

I'm glad they get rid of the immediate termination rule if you miss a payment! They now allow a grace period.

There will be a 30-day grace period (21 days for some plans) to renew your Prepaid plan before Simba terminate the unpaid plan. During this grace period, you will continue to receive incoming calls and SMS. All data usage, outgoing calls and SMS will be blocked until you renew your plan.

(Do check out the CRITICAL INFORMATION SUMMARY PDFs for your particular plan here)

Your plan will be terminated for non-payment after the 30 days grace period. All payments made are non-refundable or exchangeable for cash. (Which means, all the cash in your account wallet will be gone if your account get terminated)

So you have to be very careful if you didn't choose GIRO or auto payment as your payment method because your service will be limited until your plan is renewed.

4) Porting Out and Switching Plans

There will be an activation fee of $30 for port-out within 30 days (21 days for some plans) of plan activation. (Do check out the CRITICAL INFORMATION SUMMARY PDFs for your particular plans here)

If you intend to port-out, try to do so at least 7 business days before your next renewal cycle to avoid further charges. Your account will automatically be terminated upon successful port out from Simba. The same goes for termination of your line, it's best to give them at least 7 business days.

As for switching plans, you're only allow to do so between 1st - 25th days of your billing cycle. I emailed them about my wish to switch plan and was provided with a link to a webpage. There I can choose the plan I wish to switch to and then make payment. The switch is almost immediate and hassle free.

*5) Switching Plans

(Updated 20 December 2023)

I do want to highlight one thing which I discovered in December 2023. Is that you CANNOT downgrade to a lower plan. So let's say I started with "50GB SIM only plan" and I upgraded to "SuperRoam MY plan", I cannot downgrade back to "50GB SIM only plan", I can only upgrade to a higher (more expensive) plan.

I think the only way to "downgrade" is to signup for a new line, which means you'll have to get a new number. I don't think Simba allow you to "port back". Alternatively, if you're a senior, you can switch to their senior plan, that is the only "downgrading" allowed.

I discover this when I was thinking of downgrading from SuperRoam MY plan because I realised that we're not going into Malaysia as often. It was fortunate I haven't made the upgrade to "SuperRoam Max" plan for my Europe trip.

Well, that's all I can share about Simba from my own experience. I do feel Simba's plans are cheap and connectivity and coverage are good. It comes with free roaming data too, which most other plans out there doesn't!

The downside is too little Talk time and SMS.

Topping up ONEXOX account is soo confusing

2023-06-06T00:28:00.119+08:00

My ONEXOX welcome deal have expired (long ago) and now that my family is going into Malacca again, I have to top-up the card and subscribe to another plan.

I opened up my XOX Black app. Honestly, it's super confusing.

You see, there are 2 wallets in your account balance - Dedicated Account (DA) and Main Account (MA).

According to the ONEXOX website,

"MA calls are normal rate: 12 cents for 30 seconds, DA calls are cheap rate: 7 sen for 30 seconds.

When making a phone call, the DA credit is deducted first, and the MA credit is deducted after the DA credit is used up. DA Call rate is cheaper than MA.

So this is to encourage users to topup more money (because the more topups, the more Top up will be transferred to DA proportionally).

However, the current Season Pass is cheaper, calling all telco, only 9 cents per 60 seconds. So DA and MA don’t have much effect."

Basically, DA will cost lesser than MA when making calls and will be deducted first. And when you top up your acount, the more money will go into MA than DA, UNLESS you top up RM50, all the RM50 will go into DA.

I topped up RM20 because I wanted to subscribe to a RM19 weekly plan - 5GB for a week. I was shocked to see my money spilt into 2 wallets and when I navigated to the subscription page, only DA shows up there.

So I tried to find out from the website and virtual assistant about how do I pay for subscriptions (is it via DA or MA) but they're not very helpful. I have to turn to online forums to find out. Apparently, they will deduct from both accounts if one isn't enough, however I have no idea, which account will be the main one to be deducted from first.

Update: DA + MA = Air time and it can be use to buy Season Pass. But do note that an OTP will be send to you when you use Air Time as payment. That SMS will cost you. (If you receive the SMS in Singapore it's considered roaming and each SMS is about RM2+)

Honestly, it's all very confusing for me and I felt very frustrated while trying to figure things out. The official website in mainly in Malay and I have to hope onto a authorised dealer website for info in English.

I have contemplated for a long time if I should top up my Season Pass (SP) (all data and talk time in Season Pass will last till the card expires if not used) or I just get the weekly plan.

I am looking at 10GB in SP for RM50 or a 5GB weekly plan for RM19. I decided to go for the weekly plan because I realised that:

To "draw" data from SP, I will need to sign up for a monthly or weekly plan. They do have daily plan but you can't use the data from your SP for daily plans, you'll need to pay with cash on your account.

The monthly plans comes with:

500GB/month - RM12 (Auto renewal unless turned off.)

1GB/month - RM15 (Auto renewal unless turned off.)

2GB/month - RM25 (Auto renewal unless turned off.)

5GB/month - RM30 (Auto renewal unless turned off.)

6GB/month - RM30

10GB/month - RM50 (Auto renewal unless turned off.)

13GB/month - RM50

*Steps to "OFF" Auto Data Renewal (EVERYTIME you withdraw data from season pass)

1) Dial *150*2# OR *150# to go to USER MENU

2) Select 3 "Internet"

3) Select 2 "Subscribe from Season Pass"

3) Select 66 " More"

4) Select 1 "Stop Plan Renewal"

When in Malaysia,

SMS to 23388

DATA AR OFF

Out of all the monthly plans, the 6GB and 13GB plan won't draw from the SP and you'll have to pay for them.

The weekly plans are as follow:

2GB for a week - RM10

5GB for a week - RM19

out of which, you can't use SP for the 5GB plan.

I wanted the 5GB weekly plan because I think 5GB is a safer option (since Mom can finish 1GB on a one day trip. LOL). Well, I told her, she can do whatever she wants and she did (send lots of videos + gaming). LOL.

However, you can't draw data from the SP for the 5GB weekly plan so ... yeah. And I feel, with or without SP, you're limited by the plans available. You can't draw only 3GB because there isn't a plan for that, also if you ran out of data for your subscription plan and wants to addon extra data, you can't draw from your SP too. (Anyways, the addons are not very worth it except maybe for the ESP addons which will expire at 11:59PM on the day of purchase. Probably worth it if you purchase in the wee hours.)

I really wish ONEXOX will have more flexible plans or allow non-black users to draw directly from SP too. Currently, only Black users can draw directly from SP, but XOX Black plans are postpaid.

I used to regret not selecting a Welcome deal with data in SP, but now I feel that it's not such a big deal anymore. But I did wasted about 10GB on my previous trip because I simply couldn't finish using the data despite 'hotspotting' and gaming a lot towards the end of the trip.

Update: I managed to get a Happy Hour Deal - 28GB SP data for RM50. Initially, you can get only 10GB with RM50. I feel Happy Deals are what keep the SP worth buying. Unless you're travelling to Malaysia frequently OR that you plan to go there for a long trip (> 7days) OR you are a heavy user, the 5GB weekly plan should be enough. The daily plans of 1GB for RM3 or 2GB for RM5 are worth considering too but those can't be drawn from SP.

So change of plan, I will probably draw 5GB from my SP and get the 5GB monthly plan. I just have to remember to cancel Auto renewal or 5GB will be drawn monthly from my SP.

I just switched to Simba (previously TPG) SuperRoam MY plan ...

2023-05-29T15:48:00.005+08:00

I just switched to the Simba SuperRoam MY plan as I will be travelling to Malaysia again soon. I don't know if it's worth the extra SG$3 per month since I don't travel to Malaysia as much now but it's just SG$30 for the first 90 days, which translate to $10/month. My previous plan is also $10/month so it doesn't make any difference for me.

However, the price will increase to SG$39/90days after, but then I can always choose to revert my plan back if I don't find it worthwhile.

The difference between my previous plan (SIM-ONLY 100GB) is that I get

+ 30GB more local data (although 100GB is overkill for my usage)

+ 10GB MY roaming (will track my usage as much as possible to know if it's enough, I will probably hotspot to my sister while I will top up the ONEXOX sim card for my mother to use)

+ 200 more Local Fixed Line Minutes

+ 100 more MY IDD minutes

+ 20 more local SMS

The only thing I lost is

- 1GB of International roaming data

Honestly, 1 GB of roaming data is too little if you plan to use GPS, game or stream videos (YT). If it's just simple text messages (Whatsapp) and minimal web surfing, it MIGHT BE enough.

If you do need to travel to countries other than Malaysia, Simba do have plans for regional (SuperRoam 50GB (30D) or (90D)) and International (SuperRoam Max) roaming too.

And the best thing is, you now have the option to upgrade your plan without having to change your number, unlike previously, you have to signup a new number (line) if you wish to upgrade your plan.

I will be trying out the coverage in Malacca when my family visit MY about a week later. But I do have great confidence in the stability of their network as I have tried Simba roaming on my previous trip.

Updated: One thing to take note before changing plan is that, you can NEVER downgrade your plan! Meaning, if you upgraded (or started) to a $25 plan, you almost can NEVER downgrade to a cheaper plan! (with only 1 exception which is the SIM-Only 100GB plan to Senior Go Digital plan)

Well, this means that I can never go back to the $10 SIM-Only 100GB plan ever (unless I sign up for a new plan)!

"Ergonomic Standing" mouse Vs Normal "flat" mouse Part 2: More about the mouse and Conclusion

2023-03-04T18:49:00.075+08:00

Well, because the mouse came in just a simple box without any instructions and such, I'm left to explore the functions on my own.

But somehow, I managed to find out from a shopping site, a photo illustrating the button functions of the standing mouse.

So there is a "back", "forward" button and one that will adjust the responsiveness of the mouse (at least that is what I feel from my experience). I think there is just 3 level of responsiveness.

The level of responsiveness does makes great difference to the usage of the mouse. The 1st level just follows your movement so closely it annoys me as it seems like my mouse is "lagging". The middle works best for me while the last seems a tiny too fast.

Now, let's get back to the topic, does the Standing mouse feels more comfortable?

My conclusion after a week of heavy usage - NO!

Or a little "yes".

I mean it did lessen the stress on the wrist and cuts down the "radiating pain" to my ring finger initially but as the usage gets longer, the pain and discomfort all came back again.

So I'll say for short timeframe of usage, yes, the standing mouse is a little more comfortable but it's just so minimal.

I think the "cons" actually offsets the "pros".

1. the standing mouse seems to be more prone to accidental clicks.

2. Depending on the height of your desk, your wrist might be hovering above the desk. While, resting the wrist on the desk, doesn't makes it hurts after long hours, it's the same if you let it hover above the desk.

3. The "back" and "forward" button positions are just weird and hard to click on.

4. My hand will sometimes slip off the mouse despite its slightly grippy texture.

While the Standing mouse seems like a horrible investment, when I think deeper about it, I can't help but ask myself that whether it's the design of this particular mouse?

I mean, maybe the Standing mouse needs to be more "tailored" to the user's hand and everyone's hand is different. Maybe someone with smaller hand than me will find the "back" and "forward" buttons positions really well. Maybe a bigger "base" with more room to rest the side of the palm will be more comfortable?

Anyways, my conclusion still stands, cons > pros.

"Ergonomic Standing" mouse Vs Normal "flat" mouse Part 1: Getting used to

2023-02-22T22:56:00.003+08:00

I use my computer a lot, easily 10 hours per day. And I can confirm that the picture above is not exaggerating. I have lots of pain on my wrist and it sometimes radiates to my ring finger (I tend to left click with it).

And I decided that it's enough!

Erm... but, I can't live without my computer so the only solution is to get a more comfortable mouse. I searched around and found out that there is a thing known as "standing mouse" aka "vertical mouse" and "ergonomic mouse", which supposedly put less stress on the wrist joint.

Well, it doesn't cost that much, about SG$10 and I was ordering something else from Taobao, so why not?

The mouse arrived quickly within 2 weeks and I honestly didn't know what to feel about it. Don't get me wrong, it feels good in the hand, very nice texture, just that it's a little lighter than I expected.

But the orientation ... hmm, it needs a lot of getting used to. The way of holding the mouse is really different between the 2 mouse. For the normal mouse, I have to cup my palm over the mouse but now, I am "wrapping" my palm around the mouse.

Clicking wise, it's also needs a lot of adjustments. The buttons are well placed on the standing mouse and I could easily click both buttons and scroll with the "wheel".

But I do always miss the left click because I do tend to left click a lot with my ring finger instead of my index finger. I guess it just my weird habit.

1 day into using the standing mouse and I don't feel anything changed yet and I am honestly frustrated because I am so NOT USED TO it. I guess I will use it for a while more before making my conclusion in the next post!

Just wanna share my experience of being a YouTuber for 1 year

2023-01-29T03:16:00.003+08:00

I have started a YouTube channel on Jan 19, 2022. The channel is called Ah Tee the Not So Great which I posted animations/animation meme of an original character name Ah Tee.

While most people shared their YouTube success and sky high earnings, I have none to share.

Well, to earn money from YouTube videos, you need to be in the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and to be invited, you need to have at least 1k subscribers and 4k view hours. These criteria only guarantee you get the invitation to get your channel reviewed, it's not a sure entry ticket.

Sadly, after trying my best for 1 year, I only managed to gain 270+ subscribers (going up and down daily) and 270+ view hours.

High Competition

The best thing about YouTube is the low barrier of entry, however, the competition is high as hell as well. Meaning, it takes more than just talent and effort but also some luck and a lot of analysis.

YouTube used to be about quantity whereby you can get lots of views and subscribers just by uploading lots of videos. But that era have passed, it's now about content, flow and editing. Which means, filming yourself with a phone and uploading it probably won't get you views or subscribers, unless of course you have something really interesting and trending. Even then, your viewers might just clock out before your video ended.

Animation is surprisingly very competitive, way more competitive than I ever thought. And there are many animators on YouTube who can just whack me left, right, up and down with their superb skills. My animations have no chance to standout or maybe I just haven't discover the correct formula.

Initial Success

Although I said that I didn't managed to get into the YPP nor did I found the correct formula, I did have a short period of "success".

It's when I joined a "fake collab" with a highly successful animator. Well the animator just hit his\her 10k subs and decided to post a fake collab - meaning you download a video the collaborator made and there will be empty segments you can edit in your own characters or animations.

Since the animator have a huge fan base, joining the collab gained me many views and recognition (10K of views and over 80 subs). Also, since I am very new to the community, my way of doing the collab came as a "surprise" (Some even call it trolling) and that kinda gained me some attention.

But that faded very soon. My subsequent videos didn't do as well and I mainly gain recognition from collabs only. My own non-collab videos have an average of only 50-60 views and I have only gained less than 100 subscribers from them. This means more than half of my subs came from collaboration videos.

My channel is not growing after I decided to stop doing collabs as I don't think that's the way forward.

Efforts not Rewarded

Making videos is not difficult, but making quality videos that will gain your viewers and subs is difficult. So is making animation. Sometimes a decent 1-2 minutes animation can takes weeks to month to make.

And while we are taught in school that if you put in the effort (to study), you'll be rewarded (with good grades) but that doesn't happen in the real world, and definitely not in the YouTube world.

The few video which I spent the most efforts and best in, did the worst in terms of views, watch time and Average percentage viewed (APV). Average percentage viewed is the percentage of your videos being watched.

For example, if you did a 1 minute video and the average watched time is 30 seconds, your Average percentage viewed is 50%. My longest video (just about 2:30 minutes) have less than 40% APV.

It does gets very unmotivating as it takes more than a month to make.

The whole package

While you may think YouTube is just about making "great videos" but to get the first clicks, your Thumbnails and titles plays a huge part!

It's like a package, the thumbnails and title is what catch the viewers attention and get you that chance to be viewed (the click on video) and then that's when your video content comes in. So without that first attention grabber (thumbnails and titles), you might never get any clicks.

It's just much more complicated than I thought initially. Basically, your thumbnail must scream "click me!". Unless, of course you're collaborating with a huge YouTuber who can just bring in the click for you. But these huge creators are usually busy themselves so they might not respond even if you reach out to them.

Not the "Easy Income"

YouTube is a bout passion and discipline. If you don't like making videos, you will end up feeling like it's working in a boring job - you'll burn out real quickly and quit.

Also, if you think YouTube is that job which gives you lots of freedom and "easy money", you'll be very disappointed!

I am honestly not the most disciplined YouTuber, but I have already pull a few all-nighter(s) trying to keep to schedule. Yes, having a schedule is important, but also choose a schedule you can keep to, say uploading a video weekly or bi-weekly so that your subscribers will know when to expect your videos. Viewers have a lot of choices, they won't hesitate to unsub and move to other creators if you went "missing" for a few weeks without notifying them.

I can breakdown the schedule of one of my longest video --> This One (if you would like to know)

Planning - 2-3 days (I honestly didn't plan well enough so I redone some parts)

Drawing + Animating - 4.5 weeks (I reused some art from my previous videos else will take longer)

Searching for sound effects and music - 2-3 days

Editing + Redoing some scenes - 4-5 days

This is how much time it takes to create a video, unless you're doing just shorts. If you're shooting say a vlog or non-animation video, you'll still need to take time to do editing and add effects in your video. The attention span of the viewers are much shorter now and you usually won't gain much views if your video doesn't have something happening (a view change, a sound effect or animation) in like 10 seconds.

Well, I started out trying to join the YPP and now, I have realised that it's not possible for me, or at least with what I want to do. I will probably still keep it there but won't be forcing myself to keep to the schedule anymore, I just do what I like, whenever I feel like it.

I won't discourage anyone from joining YouTube as a creator but I just want you to know that there are failure stories, in fact, many of them, you just didn't get to hear them. Also, if you decided to join, then know that you need to put in a lot of time and efforts and be prepared that they could go down the drain.

Good luck people. :)