The Best Place to Buy Nintendo Switch in Singapore *Plus GST (Tax) Refund

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Buying Nintendo Switch in Brunei is currently not a good idea even though it was release year ago. Overly expensive and the warranty can be as low 1 month (day too). You won’t be able to find a warranty that covers 12 months standard (only the main unit) and three months for accessories. The last price I inquiry from few local game shop on May starts with BND$529.00 (no game bundle) and the game bundle set version can be set a range from BND$629.00 – $679.00

Click with Nintendo Switch

Man, I really like a handheld console. The last handheld console I ever owned was the first Playstation Portable (PSP) and able to play a lot of illegal games. Sadly I decided to sell off because I need money badly and stick with PlayStation 2 games instead until no longer working. After that, I haven’t got any plan on buying new console system to play ever since. There is no space for any big TV LCD because my room is getting smaller with toys and LEGO around. The released of Nintendo Switch hardware really change and shock how well it responded to the gaming industry. Now I got it, what’s next?

The Games

First thing, of course, comes to mind there aren’t many great games right now. Both digital download and physical games (stupid tax in Brunei) are kind of expensive. Even I was in Singapore, there weren’t much luck finding discount on any shops discounting The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It seems like I had to wait for sales and check the exchange rate to decide further from the eshop. Nintendo also continue to push the ported existing games into the market. I personally don’t see the point investing when you can get way cheaper existing games discount that already available in Steam.

The reason I brought Nintendo Switch because I wanted to play an old school RPG and the strategy games cannot be found on PC. Octopath Traveler is one of them, played the Prologue Demo and seriously got hooked until the 3 hours limit ended! I am now stuck with which version to go for. Should I get digital or aim for the physical ‘Wayfarer’s Edition’?

Pre-order haven’t open to public yet and the price is currently unknown in PA which we know they will mark up, thus giving more time to consider because the stuffs doesn’t include any art book, Vinyl Statue or any DLC downloadable contents. The site only provide details on the market price of US$99.00 and includes: Game cartridge, Octopath Traveler: Sound Selections CD, cloth double-sided world map, replica coin of the in-game currency, 8-page pop-up book featuring characters and origins. There weren’t much information if the Wayfarer’s Edition give any special in-game items can be use in the game. Since we continue get left in the dark about this, I decided to place my early pre-order for Valkyria Chronicles 4 - “Memoirs from Battle” premium edition open market price of US$99.99.

I read a lot of positive review about Valkyria Chronicles game 1-3 series and recommend the upcoming Valkyria Chronicles 4 - “Memoirs from Battle” to go for since it includes: 100-Page Artbook, The "HAFEN" Tank Vinyl Statue and two Add-on Side Missions (While supplies last.). The DLC in eShop are abit expensive so this is a good opportunity to take advantage on this collector deal. Although PA cost US$20.00 more than the market price, I manage to deduct the express shipping fee and US$10.00 using the unused free PA credit that I kept qutie a number of years.

Speaking about the DLC, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is getting new expansion pack called Torna The Golden Country and receive quite a numbers of update. The review also very positive, so I am interested jumping into this RPG game but there are no discount in Nintendo eShop even the bundle price didn’t get any single special discount. I am not going bother and pass on this one until Black Friday Sales.

It’s Time for Damage Control

Living in developed countries, money is the first thing that keeps you and your family out of poverty. The costs of living in Brunei indeed increase sharply. Some shops taking advantage of this situation trying to scam and even department store fake the discount prices on goods. Because of this, most my Malay friends are on high alert and even create Excel documents comparing prices nowadays to protect themselves getting cheated. Well, not a bad idea, and I am following their footsteps too.

The company I work with may be slowly doing good recovery but my salary remained the same for two years now after % reduction. The good thing is I continue to keep the job and receive my salary on time so it was a plus to allow me clearing the car loan until this final year in January. I am now feeling more relieved and less stressful. However, my spending habit is still number one concern, so I decided to keep tracks every payment and withdrawing money from the banks in order to find out the total amount left every end of the month.

I’m not going to lie. This is not enough, so I decided looked into a better option to save by:

Cooking Your Own Foods
Probably the reason I am getting older and interested to start learning to eat healthier foods. Cooking your own did help me to save more and balance out for fruits. Of course, I am aiming to improve health sake especially fights against my biggest ulcer enemy that plague in my mouth almost every month whenever I accidentally bite and injure. It now takes longer to heal and had to suffer the pain for two weeks. This is not good at all. It's a sign to your body to eat fruits more than ever.

Postponing PC Upgrade
Thanks to the Cryptocurrency asshole jacking up the graphics cards price around the world. The selling price is just too ridiculously high, so I decided to postpone until next year. Man, it did take me months from last year to save the budget and almost go forward with the upgrade.

To be honest, I am happy with the setback. The discovery of the Spectre and Meltdown security problem really hit the global IT security hard and personally, I’m not a fan of flashing BIOS for the motherboard and a bit sensitive on Cybersecurity. My early plan was to purchase both AMD Ryzen processor and MSI motherboard locally but because this involved flashing the BIOS yourself in order to get patch above global security issues. I had to double check with the local shop if they willing to warranty for those DIY builders or the technicians will be the one taking the risk. Otherwise, you will be sucking the cost yourself when they denied the warranty claim. Another truth about local shops business behavior, they are the worst and becomes a jerk when it comes to warranty after sales.

For now, I will be migrating the current Windows 7 to Linux. The security update really slows down the old rig so its time for the switching lighter memory resources since nowadays I am more of surfing the internet and watching TV series than playing games. Actually, I played mobile games the most these days and the heart is telling me to get Nintendo Switch.

Plastic Kits and Toys
Lego has announced the end of Nexo Knights theme which is bad news as I really love the sets. For the good news, I get to slow down mode chasing all the remaining set and the last released sets in the market. I also have more time focusing sourcing army packs, custom mod and different parts from Bricklink to build my own idea armies factions. Almost ready to start custom building but I need few more stuff and waiting for the right time snatching discount price for the large set of the local stores.

As for plastic kits, creating a spreadsheet to record the original selling price and compare the after discount is advisable. HLJ is the reason I started. Everyone knows they are very great online shops to drop by. But the implementation of the bonus credit point system and include together with the discount items are questionable. I actually did discover few times during the sales, some discount items they listed as the original price with additional bonus credit points only. It just doesn’t make sense for me personally. Are they doing sales or just want us to accept bonus credit point for our next purchase? There are even undervalued items I felt like a trap to lure us to add to the cart. I strongly advise you guys open a spreadsheet and start adding for price comparison sake.

New Zealand! I am coming!

Yes, finally one of my wish-list traveling to New Zealand is happening soon! Let’s begin by saying applying visitor visa is kind of nightmare for the stateless person holding a ‘Certificate of Identity’ document especially traveling to the western countries. Being there in Australia got stuck for half an hour questioning by the customs officers and explaining what document we are actually holding. When will the governments or our Sultan of Brunei plan to replace our travel document into a real passport? To be honest, I don’t really see much hope in this country. No matter, my priority in life is enjoying traveling to some favorite countries first.

Now, the question is. Is applying visitor visa to New Zealand very hard? Not hard but enough to make you sleepless and into bad mood during the processing waiting. My brother got the tickets and paid both hotels and places we plan to visit in advance. It will be a big blow to us if not approve.

The procedure of applying visitor visa is now recommended by the embassy submitting through the official immigration online service. You no longer need to go through the hard way paying extra service charges to the local travel agencies for help process visitor visa. But my recent experience tells me these days the travel agencies hardly wanted to provide such services anymore or even want to entertain the stateless person's customers on the visitor visa. Some of them have condition require buying tickets from them and some would charge an insane amount enough to piss you off.

Another question is, do you require sending physical travel document to the nearest embassy after you submitted online? Yes, I did and went nuts after the embassy requires my physical travel document in order to continue processing the visitor visa application. The worst part, they start counting the 20 days from the date submitted. Without wasting any time, the best way to deal with this is using fast delivery services like DHL sending to the nearest visa application centre (I choose Singapore). It cost me $110.00 together with insurance and the prepaid envelope for returning (*a must) to Brunei. Drop them an email to inform my physical travel document is on the way.

The next day, I received a phone call from centre require me to fill the form paying the passport and handling fee for SGD$32.00. I was clueless about the charges. But after finding out they need to arrange to send to the main branch in Thailand. Man, I should have just sent there directly to avoid the fee. Still, it’s hard to say and had to close one eye on the additional fee.

The funny part, my sister did not receive any letter require her to send the physical travel document and even got approved after two weeks. After mine also got approved and check the visitor visa letter information for any mistake like nationality and passport numbers. Then, I found out what’s happening here. Well, I got a multiple entry visa for one year instead of a single entry visa for one month. My sister told me there are two options to choose from actually, which is weird not seeing these question when filling the application and only remember to tick the checkbox for holiday/vacation. Next time, I have to do a triple recheck.

Alright, let’s break down some requirement when you are using New Zealand immigration service for applying visitor visa application online:-

•  You need to upload the latest passport photo (white or blue background), scan travel document and identity card (*must translate Malay to English), full details of your visit and hotels you will be staying, airline tickets, company letter and at least six-month bank statements.
• May require uploading Australia visitor visa letter document. Only if you transit from Australia to New Zealand. *, DO NOT apply transit visa for Australia. My sister contacts the immigration, and their feedback requires the stateless person to apply for a visitor visa (around AUD$140.00) even we just only transit.
• You can upload additional documents, for example like different bank statement etc.
• NZD$165.00 (currently) visitor visa fee. Pay using a credit card.
• If required by the embassy, you will need to send your physical document to any nearest New Zealand Visa Application Centre. I believe only when applying for multiple entry visas. Find out which embassy process your visa application at the online and preferable sending there directly. *Recommend using fast delivery service like DHL, FedEx etc. Make sure you buy insurance and prepare returning envelope. Drop an email to inform the embassy your travel document is on the way. Also, includes the sending and return tracking number in an email.
• Once your visitor visa letter is approved, check your nationality and travel document number. The nationality must not be listed as BN because we are not Brunei citizen. Request the embassy to update to 02 in the system. This shitty code is for a stateless person.

I hope the information provided here is helpful to my stateless fellow.

Angry Rant on P-Bandai Gunpla Wish List #2

Is the pee Bandai folks focusing a lot on Advance of Zeta theme lately? I say YES!!! It’s already expected to be happened after Bandai released Master Grade TR-1 Hazel last year. I was right that MG TR-1 Advance Hazel released announcement, but I am wrong about the third party stuff. Since Bandai is such an asshole continue releasing limited Gunpla kits only in their Premium Bandai store, there definitely no surprise they might make both MG version of Hrududu and Primrose upgrade available. Well, according to Gundam Kit news. They are making Hrududu and to be announced on later date. How can I not start collecting MG kit again?

Of course, I do have other suspicious that high grade kits may not get left out and definitely not going to be a good news either. I’m not sure we may get reissue limited Hrududu and Primrose for high grade version again. HG Galbaldy-β could be the next victim for P-Bandai future, Galbaldy β High Mobility Type. Why? Looking at its latest picture showing there is removable chest armor. You won’t be surprise that were specially designed for implementing the AOZ parts (or maybe Build Fighter or Diver).

I know it's too early to speculate at this point especially the HG Gundam TR-6 (Woundwort) is not yet announce coming as retail or fucking Pee Bandai. We know for sure there are some plans for the kit and I really wish the older kits get some treatment too.

HA! Efreet Nacht is coming to Pee-Bandai again. Unimaginable they decided to pissed off majority of its customers who don’t have any access to their premium shop. Getting from third parties will be quite tricky this time. Efreet Nacht is 500 YEN more expensive than Efreet Custom (EXAM) so we are expecting higher mark up. I decided to wait for the review and see what are we getting inside the box. Man, I love Efreet series...

Are you a fan of Gundam The Origin? I am, not as much really jumping in to collect MSD series. The only kit so far I wanted is Waterproof Gundam. Now, FA-78-2 Heavy Gundam is coming? I am seriously had no excuse not to buy one. Problem here are, will both Waterproof Gundam and the MG version getting reissue? Please make it happen!

Angry Rant on P-Bandai Gunpla Wish List

Happy New Year and FUCK P-Bandai, they just can’t stop releasing exclusive and limited stuffs. Not to mention it’s getting ridiculous rolling out more than ever and some doesn’t make sense like selling different colors. The most unimaginable so far are seeing previous limited kits getting reissue. There are good and bad. The good is always having another chance to buy in case you missed previously. The bad, I personally find the release date bad timing and crash with the newly announce kits. Putting me in a tough position either spend more or skip for next month.

HGUC Efreet Kai (Blue Destiny)

I already had a bad feeling when they released Efreet Kai as RE 1/100 category and then seeing the pinky Efreet Nacht as limited released. Now the pinky Efreet Nacht get HGUC retail treatment and the Kai get slap with limited released. This is just so fuck up by P-Bandai. Beware, Efreet Schneid was already showcase at Gundam Tokyo Base, the question remain if might be next P-Bandai.

HGUC EWAC Jegan

We hardly had much EWAC design release so far. It’s good to know EWAC Zack no longer alone but seeing EWAC Jegan landed as limited release really does piss me off. The price itself even cost more than Proto Stark Jegan. I do hope we get good value unused parts, other than getting extra weapons.

HGBF Weiß Sinanju

There’s nothing special about Weiß Sinanju other than only two new melee weapon and with different shield. I don’t see any new armor mod or whatsoever. All the original equipment's are included since it sell nearly 4,000 YEN in retail. My question will always be WHY THE FUCK NO STEIN for HGUC!?!?!

HGBF GN-X IV

GN-X IV announcement indeed was a good news when Bandai didn’t fucking bother to release retail after the last Gundam OO movie and now they decided to juice more money by listing as HGBF limited. 3,000 YEN is way too much when the old GN-X/X III only sold for 1,200 YEN. Even the Striker GN-X is better in my opinion for 1,700 YEN.

HGUC RGM-89 Jegan (Birnam Corps)

The Birnam Corps Jegan is a must have in the wish list. The new head with scope part and its unique weapon design really caught my attention. Problem here is all sold out and the availability are none so far from my sources. Hopfeully there will be another reissue. I am definitely going to hunt for three boxes at least because it got extra visor part inside.

HGUC Atlas Gundam – Thunderbolt Bandit Flower

As much I love Gundam Thunderbolt series. I can only see one new railgun design weapon and the rest same stuffs you from retail version. This is way too expensive for one new weapon. Are there water decal or new parts bundle inside we do not know? SKIP!

MG Gundam Hazel TR-01

Seriously, this is fucking original Hazel from Advance of Zeta in MG scale! Unimaginable that Bandai would release AOZ theme after so many years and I give them a rant pass on this. What interest me was the mod indicates that we might see Advance Hazel in the future. Oh I am sure the 3rd party may be working the parts right now.