I am Back As Jobless (For Now)

Happy New Year! Wow, it’s incredible how quickly time flies! It’s been a while since I last posted anything, especially since I shared so little last year. After quitting my job last December, I’ve redirected my energy toward home improvement projects—repairing and painting our house, while I wait for job opportunities to come my way.

It is a tough time looking for other job opportunities. When I decided to quit, I went all the way handling my resignation letter and moved on without thinking about the consequences. I understand very well the current economic situation in Brunei. It's just that I couldn't care less any longer after attending the most nonsense meeting of my life and seeing how incompetent the management I have worked with for nearly 15 years being so irresponsible. Better leave early and avoid all the troubles coming my way.

Anyway, that’s all for now and there will be more posts coming.

Toy Price Increase But Shipping Fee Is Way Worst

Wars going to continue and the increase in inflation hurt everyone globally. This year is no good and the economy in Brunei is not improving with nothing going on. I am feeling the heat these days, and the price of the toys is getting expensive. Sure, we are all still able to source cheaper prices if looking harder. The problem I see right now is the expensive shipping fee.

My recent experience online shopping in the US has been awful. My Last of the Seekers: Robot Toy & Comic I crowdfunded two years ago was stuck last year thanks to MyUS (forwarder) garbage customer's support and falling into a scam reputation because more and more sellers don’t want shipped over there. The delivery didn’t make it into their warehouse for an unknown reason and had to pay to rearrange the delivery again. Switching to another well-known forwarder (Stackry) doesn’t help either. Their shipping fee is insanely expensive (triple!) and had to wake up at 1 AM to go through three help desks to get sorted out to push the price down by 40% which cost me around SGD 160.00+ for a decent box size.

The whole situation is insane for me and had been looking for an alternative forwarder since because there is no Airmail available for Brunei until today. Getting Transformers from Hong Kong is currently out of the question because China fuck the economy over there. Their fee is no different than the US. Can you imagine, ordering one deluxe figure can get me a Voyager figure? Yeah, that’s right. That was damn expensive. If the HK Airmail is available, it will help to drive down the cost.

Japan EMS shipping right now is the best and the most affordable. I have been enjoying buying from HLJ since last year. The only problem is I can’t find much interesting stuff at Mandarake. I might try Amazon soon and see whether they can ship to Brunei.

End of 2023 – Citizenship Test 2013 Now Calling

The end of the year is coming! My friend has informed me that our batch of 2013 has been now processed and everyone is eagerly awaiting a goddamn 10 years result. Do remember that if there is no call and receive a letter from a mailbox, then sorry to say, we failed our exam. I’m not too bothered because I am so tired and no longer care since I am way more worried about money to survive the increase in inflation and the unfair treatment from the company.

After clearing my last loan in July, my finances haven’t improved at all and only started to perform slightly better last two months ago. Hopefully, this December there won’t be much good promo going on to continue to brainwash me to spend more money which I already burned half of. I already got a new phone, so now, desire to get an Android tab for my home and work usage including starting planning to travel to Thailand and visit the Gundam Base store there.

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Ultramarine Heavy Intercessor Sergeant Aetus Gardane

 

One of the three Heavy Intercessor members, Sergeant Aetus Gardane, comes with a helmet-less head. The body design is the same (Nikos and Helvin), with limited mobility in the shoulders and legs. The paintwork is fine, but I did experience some loose joints in the torso and a microphone that kept popping off. I had to glue it multiple times for this particular figure. It's interesting because I didn't notice a missing component while taking pictures and only discovered it when it fell to the floor while posing on the display shelf.

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Ultramarine Heavy Intercessor - Nikos Phaetz

One of the three Heavy Intercessor members, Nikos Phaetz, utilizes the Excecutor Heavy Bolter. The figure's body design features limited mobility in the shoulders and legs. Some areas of the figure have a dirty paint job, with the most noticeable being on the top of the backpack.

Goodbye 12-year-old AMD HD4770!

Well, it’s time to say goodbye to my long-surviving AMD Radeon HD4770! I have been holding out on the upgrade for over three years after the COVID lockdown, and the GPU price was insanely expensive back then. Now the GPU prices have gone down after China took down the Bitcoin mining operation there. It’s time to look for a new card and complete the upgrade by the end of this year before another stupid AI trend hits the GPU price again.

This time, after 12 years, I decided to go back to NVIDIA for an MSI GeForce RTX™ 4070 VENTUS 2X 12 G OC due to limited brand availability in Brunei. Yeah, it's a controversial card, and the MSRP price is not that attractive or even competitive this year, but I no longer care about it, and I want to start gaming the latest titles. The price fits into my budget during a sudden' August Eight' promo for SGD 799.00, and I am happy to save SGD 80.00 from the deal. This card does provide good gaming performance and low power consumption, although I do have doubts about my 750WATT PSU being enough. We shall see after I invest in a new PC case with Lian Li fans and upgrade to AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. I plan to adopt a lower-cost option of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700XT upgrade to maintain its TDP 65WATT so that I don’t need to spend extra on the ATX 3.0 PSU. For some reason, I have a feeling it is not a good upgrade path.

Update Guide for the Brunei Citizenship Registration and Sample Letter

This is a revisit to 2023 and revising (proofreading) my guide on registering Brunei Citizenship examination. It is unimaginable that every one of us struggling to register at the immigration in Kuala Belait (KB) even today. The procedure is still complicated as usual and hasn’t changed after all these years. You had to write a formal letter to request immigration to do an update. These things are not necessary for immigration in BSB, they will just use their system to update on the spot and way faster. However, I choose not to because this may cause some trouble to those working in the KB branch getting blasted. Out of respect, I just follow the procedure of getting the letter done and submitting it.

I encourage those who change their mobile phone numbers and move into new homes or rent houses to get it updated. If you need the letter sample, I uploaded and shared it from my Google Drive. You can download or print it out for reference. I also updated my guide for the Brunei Citizenship registration with proofreading and correction in case anyone needed the information.

• How to Register Brunei Citizenship for ICI/Stateless
• Pertukaran Nombor Telefon (Letter) *A copy of your photocopy IC is require.
  
• Tukar Alamat (Letter) *A copy of your photocopy IC is require.
   

Guide on Registering Brunei Citizenship Examination (Update#2)

I never thought registering Brunei Citizenship examination are fucking inconvenient. Worst, I don't see local bloggers write about it either in the web search telling us how and what to bring. So to make this easy, I decided to write the guide for my future reference and hopefully able to help you fellow PR.

• Update #2 (2023) - Proofreading, correction and added information for letter change of phone no. and home address.
• Update 1# (2013) - Added ICI travel document copies requirement.
  

For those already graduated or are good at Bahasa Melayu, I strongly encourage you who are 18 years old onward to take the examination early if you intend to continue to stay in Brunei. Do not worry about wasting your time, you are young and can enjoy life. There are only two meetings and one exam, that’s it. Take the opportunity since you have the higher chance of getting citizenship.

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Ultramarine Heavy Intercessor Helvin Gure

It was a last-minute decision to order the set from Show.Z before CNY because I have a bad feeling it going to sell out very fast and was right about it. I seriously need another Helvin Gure version but the markup price currently put me off. Hopefully, there will be some price drop to normal in the future.

Product Information: 

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Ultramarine Heavy Intercessor - Helvin Gure
• Accessories:
• 1x Executor Bolt Rifle
• 1x Bolt Pistol
• 1x Combat Knife
• 1 set of pairs of hands
• Release Date: December 2022
• Purchase Price: USD 85.94 (A bundle Set of three with discount points)
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 34.99 (Checkout at Amazon!)
  
• My Rating: 7/10

Is Bonus A Sensitive Topic?

Never for me. No matter how sensitive the topic is, every one of us who work hard and takes up multiple tasking deserved to know if are we being awarded for our performance. A few of my colleagues disagree with me and shouldn’t be brought up to HR. You need to remember that we have a signed contract that clearly stated there will be a bonus review every twelve months which means the company has to uphold their contract to have a proper discussion with the employees. Even a company need to publicly issue a memo announcement if they are facing poor market performance. Keeping quiet is a big mistake. Not that we don’t understand the current economic situation in Brunei. The oil & gas market is not doing well due to the ongoing war between Russian and Ukraine. It’s up to the employees to decide whether to stay or move on with their careers for better opportunities.

This is what happens to me. Thanks to this piece of shit department HR. I already lost my bonus payout last year after getting transferred without any chance to fight back because of the fear of losing my job and being unable to pay the bank loan. Now, it is over and this time I am fighting back. I prioritize the importance of my welfare as a decent low-salary guy. So there are going to be two ways going to end here. Either they pay my deserved bonus or resign based on the final answer from the management. If I resign, I may suffer monthly income and no toys. Since I no longer have any loan commitments, nothing can stop me from getting a longer rest to heal my mental health and stress-free.

Good News Regarding Brunei Citizenship

I believe the majority of you have already gotten a call from immigration to go for the briefing and are ready for receiving a certificate for Brunei Citizenship. Congratulation again to those going this week.

The information I am aware of is currently still in progress processing and speeding up to clear out the batches who passed in the year 2012. If you still haven’t received any call yet, my suggestion here is DO NOT IGNORE the local landline call. There have been numerous complaints against immigration that they did not make any phone calls. I understand that not every one of us knows the exact office phone number and afraid that it might be a scam call. My suggestion here is if you see the local phone number on your cell phone. Just pick it up because you might score your golden ticket.

I am expecting our results for the year 2013 batches should be very soon. It is interesting to see how we handle our emotional damage when receiving a phone call notifying you failed the exam and good luck reapplying again for the next examination.😑

I am Out of the Loan!

All the loan stress carry with me for so many years finally ended! No more loan repayment next month! I also decided to say goodbye to two of the useless debit card that I don’t even need in the first place. It was stupid of me for giving out free money to the bank for many years. From today onward, there will be only UnionPay and one Credit Card. I only need to keep the useful cards that work both locally and overseas, especially online purchases, nothing else.

My plan, for now, will prioritise a recovery path. I lost my bonus last year and had a feeling the company making another excuse not going to pay this year as well. Looking for a new job is very hard right now especially considering the age problem and lack of paper qualifications. The challenging part is reminding myself to be super patient and not overthink about quitting my current job. I had to be very confident there are enough funds in the bank to cover the expenses especially monthly insurance for at least a year when searching for other jobs if I decided to rage quit.

Starting a business is not something I am confident of especially in Brunei. With a lack of access to basic online receiving transfer funds. I have to put this idea way back on the list and figure out other ways to earn extra money from part-time. I do have some stupid thoughts about streaming but feel silly to do it. I have an old camera lying around and just need to invest in a budget streaming microphone messing around.

Looking for a Way to Sell Toys Oversea

Recently just got rejected by a well-known toy company from the US. I was told my anime series toys like Figma BRS and Robot Spirit Full Metal Panic! doesn’t worth much in the market even with MISB/MIB condition. Geezz…what the hell is going on? Selling Anime toys are getting harder than ever.

I am completely at a loss in finding a local toy marketplace to sell anymore and had to start looking elsewhere since there are no buyers. It is noticeable increasing number of collectors quit toy collections over the years and the toy buy/sell marketplace is shrinking as well due to fuck up price discrimination for the sake of getting rid of it. Another problem I am seeing here is the Brunei expensive shipping rate posted worldwide. I need to inquire regarding the box size and find out if I am doing it wrong on the website. Can you imagine posting to the US with a shoe box size in DHL cost BND 300.00 for BND 50.00 value item? I have no idea how this is happening but I going to check out with the DHL office if there are any fixed-rate postings around the world since I sometimes do get inquiries outside of Brunei asking about my toys.

 

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad - Jaric Thule

Jaric Thule is one of the Brotherhood Terminators squad series that uses Nemesis Force Halberd which is the most popular to get among the team. I was so happy able to order another one after JT announced a PO rerun from LT this month. Otherwise, I will just skip it entirely. No point in paying a price with nearly 20-30% markup.

Product Information:

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad - Jaric Thule
• Accessories:
1. 1x Nemesis Force Halberd
2. 1x Book Tome
3. 1 set of pairs of hands
• Release Date: December 2022
• Re-Run: March 2023
• Purchase Price: USD 67.99
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 75.00
• My Rating: 9/10

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad - Retius Akantar

The Squad Flagman is one of the Brotherhood Terminators squad series who hold Grey Knights brotherhood banner. Same as the rest of his brothers, he comes with high-quality paintwork, a beautiful design and using a 2.0 body. Articulation is limited as usual (especially the shoulder) but since he is going to hold the banner (heavy) so it is alright. The weapon is the same as Paladin using Nemesis Force Sword.

Product Information:

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad - Retius Akantar
  
• Accessories:
1. 1x Nemesis Force Sword
2. 1x Book Tome
3. 1x Grey Knights Brotherhood Banner
4. 1 set of pairs of hands
• Release Date: December 2022
• Purchase Price: USD 67.99
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 75.00
• My Rating: 9/10

Transformers Masterpiece: MPM-12 Optimus Prime (Bumblee Bee Movie Version)

To be honest, I never like collecting the Transformers Masterpiece (MP) series and had a very bad experience with the Takara Tomy plastic quality. The reason I have gotten MPM-12 OP in the first place is that when I am at the local TRU toy store during their promotion sales last year, I couldn’t find any interesting toys to buy and some are sold out so I ended up grabbing this one. My $30 coupon is almost expired so better off slashing the price further.

Product Information:

• Brand: Takara Tomy / Hasbro
• Size: Masterpiece (MP) Scale Action Figure
• Series: Bumblebee Movie
• Accessories: 
1. 1x gun
• Release Date: December 2022
• Purchase Price: SGD 70.00+
• Retail Price: USD 186.00 / JPY 20,000
  
• My Rating: 7/10

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad Incanus Neodan

The Squad Paladin is one of the four released Brotherhood Terminators squad series. Same as the rest of the Grey Knights, he comes with high-quality paintwork and a beautiful design. The interesting bit about this set is it comes with additional accessories than other terminator brothers. He also has a swappable helmetless head and comes with a dead daemon head for decoration or a diorama.

Product Information:

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad Paladin Incanus Neodan
• Accessories:
1. 1x Nemesis Force Sword
2. 1x Book Tome
3. 1x Familiar figure (attaching in shoulder armour)
4. 1x Incanus Neodan head
5. 1x Daemon head
6. 1 set of pairs of hands
• Release Date: December 2022
• Purchase Price: USD 67.99
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 75.00
• My Rating: 9/10

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar

 

Having Chapter Master Marneus Calgar in the collection is a must for Ultramarine. He wears a big-size armour that arms with both a power fist and a built-in bolter. The figure has a bulky design with a beautiful emblem and decoration around the figure's armour plate. However, there are problems with the figure.

Product Information:-

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar
• Accessories:
1. 1x Marneus Calgar head
• Release Date: January 2023
• Purchase Price: HKD 530
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 69.99
• My Rating: 7/10

The common one is very limited articulations. In the Calgar case, the hip joint movement was blocked by the armour causing some problems in posing. Secondly, the paintwork is not as good compared to the Librarian, even to the Grey Knights. My biggest complaint would be the Marneus Calgar head is so poorly done. Looks like it was hastily worked on from the factory and the painting is far too different from the official promo. My eagle decor was affected (on the backpack) with a visible dirty gold colour in the photo.

Thirdly, the ‘Halo’ and the bullets at the bolter cannot be removed. Both of them are directly fixed. I see some community reported the ‘Halo’ is somewhat fragile and can be easily broken. 

JoyToy X Warhammer 40K: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad Caddon Vibova

The squad team member is one of the four released Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminators squad series. I am happy to say the quality of the paintwork is the same as Castellan Crowe and comes with a beautiful design. Not only that, you can feel the weight when holding the figure, it’s like the figure comes with a die-cast part.

Product Information:-

• Brand: JoyToy
• Size: 1/18 Scale Action Figure
• Series: Warhammer 40K
• Space Marine Chapters: Grey Knights Brotherhood Terminator Squad Team Member Caddon Vibova
  
• Accessories:
• 1x Nemesis Daemonhammer
• 1x Book Tome
• 1 set of pairs of hands.
• Release Date: December 2022
• Purchase Price: USD 67.99
• JoyToy Retail Price: USD 75.00
• My Rating: 9/10

Double Thigh Bad Luck for DNA Design DK-27

  

Never in my mind to receive double thigh parts in the DNA Design DK-27. The factory worker is good at packing the whole thing preventing me from noticing the problem. This set is hella expensive, it's not something I want to spend and ignore to get another one. I am now trying to source and get help from ShowZ in contacting a DNA Design rep to reproduce again because the Nemesis version is coming in March this year so there is a good chance they are re-releasing the upgrade version for it. Hopefully, there will be good news next week.

I will be uploading the original review later.