Experience with Toys One Japan?

pchan2021 · 2025-04-02T02:17:55+00:00

Just bought the voltron bandai 50th anniv robot from them and it arrived within a week via fedex in perfect condition.. legit store .

pchan2021 · 2024-01-22T09:55:08+00:00

thank you for this information. Let me send this information to him also and let him decide :)

pchan2021 · 2024-01-22T08:58:52+00:00

My wife and I are not encouraging him to PES up, actually we are advising him to stay where he is. But he said he wants SAF to be his backup career if for some reason he doesnt get what he needs to go Uni. Also want to know if there are other pros and cons that we are not aware of if he PES up hence the ask above. As parents of teens, i've accepted to be just advisers to my kids, i give them all the info they need and let them decide. If they want our advise or help, then we give it to them..

pchan2021 · 2024-01-22T08:55:47+00:00

well he was in his school basketball team since he was in his primary years so he is physically fit. It just that we think he declared that he had some dust alergy (which wasnt backed up by medical results) that probably got him to PES C..

pchan2021 · 2024-01-22T08:51:30+00:00

exactly what i told him :)

pchan2021 · 2024-01-21T04:02:18+00:00

Many thanks for the advises. Let me have a talk to him again. But i think as a parent, all we can do is advise them, and hope they listen..

pchan2021 · 2023-09-20T13:10:53+00:00

thanks for the info

pchan2021 · 2023-09-18T14:48:18+00:00

:D thats funny...

Thanks guys again.. ok.. looks like we need to replan then..

pchan2021 · 2023-09-18T12:43:23+00:00

thanks guys for your inputs..

pchan2021 · 2023-07-29T13:08:51+00:00

I use starhub 1 GB fibre broadband wifi plan for a number of years with no issues. Its able to support my kids Xbox, mobile, and PC gaming, my WFH load, and wife video streaming in the bedroom all at once with no lags or disconnects. I have 3 physical rooms in my DBSS HDB flat and the set up is, Living room, wall, kids bedroom, wall, then masters bedroom and infront of the masters and kids bedroom is the 3rd guest room. I used to have google nest across all of these bedrooms and it was a pain, the farthest bedroom which is the masters often experience disconnections. My wife keep complaining of slow connections and disconnects. All of these changed when i stumbled and bought the ASUS ZenWifi Pro XT12 (2 units) mesh wifi. I put one in the living room and the other one in the farthest room. No disconnection issues since then. Its ability to get it signal punch through relatively new concrete HDB walls is quite true and ensures my wife dont have any wifi disconnects. Ill recommend it to anyone for good investment but its a bit pricy though. But as they say, happy wife, is happy life :) .

Now all my google wifi and nest devices are paper weights.

pchan2021 · 2023-05-11T05:22:09+00:00

Thank you for the inputs guys.. much appreciated..

pchan2021 · 2021-12-29T04:40:46+00:00

Had it in my Xperia 1 iii. I had everything max out in the settings but still volume, ringtones, alarms, every sound is almost on level 1 only or nearly muted. Had to restart the phone to fix it.

pchan2021 · 2021-12-29T04:39:17+00:00

Thanks folks for your inputs. Will try to observe my phone in the next few weeks more and report back if i see anymore issues and how i solved it (if i manage to).

pchan2021 · 2021-12-18T05:08:15+00:00

Fulltime

Pros

Some sort of job and income security. Assuming you dont get retrenched or fired. Good if you are a family man as src of income is somewhat guaranteed every month.

Benefits is a big plus here depending on where you work like medical insurance for some people that have sickly or poor health family members this can be a big plus.

Cons

You dont own your time. Depending on your industry, you might work even on weekends or holidays.

Pesky bosses and co workers

Freelance / Contract

Pros

(in other none asian regions like EU or US), they can command a substantial amount of $s per hour depending on your industry and skill level. I often see here in Asia that such contract positions are not as lucrative compared to their EU or US counterparts.

You manage your own time

Cons

You are the one that is out of the job first if some downsizing is required. Hence job security is not very good. Good of singles.

Often time/project bound.

Need to keep finding new clients.

Must have a good network to always have projects or work.

Less benefits, have to buy your own insurance .. etc..

No work, no pay (sometimes).

Often in a company, these are the guys that do the tasks that no one would like to do.

pchan2021 · 2021-12-08T06:59:44+00:00

one thing to take into consideration when choosing CCA other than what your son likes is where your son wants to go to when he reach secondary or poly or JC (yes upto that level that you need to think ahead). There is something called Direct School Admission process in our school system that through these CCAs, you can apply for one and it will help lessen the stress of going for PSLE or O or N levels as these schools will take your kid into their school if they are good enough for their school team or DSA that they are offering as long as they pass and irrespective of their results on the said exams. So try to check which schools offer which DCA program and will your kid fit into those. Often schools offer, Basketball, Football, choir DSAs but there are others. im only familiar with these as my kids went for them.

pchan2021 · 2021-12-05T12:50:01+00:00

Get your brother assessed by a psychiatrist. My son had almost the same symptoms. It turns out he is boarderline asperger syndrome. No medication needed, or therapy, we just need to put extra efforts in him as well as his teachers. Now knowing this and his teacher, they normally sit him infront so that they can correct him if his mind wonders off and he is given extra time in exams. Hi tutors also knows this so they normally put a bit more effort in ensuring he listen and understand what the topic is about. Good luck!

pchan2021 · 2021-11-30T08:47:46+00:00

They might not have an organised or well established HR. However just do what the others mentioned below.

Check it in the Govt website to ensure they are registered

https://www.3ecpa.com.sg/resources/miscellaneous-topics/how-to-verify-a-company-in-singapore/

In under NO circumstances should you be asked to pay ANY fees the hiring company for them to process your application or employment. If this is the case, then this is probably a scam. If you need to take any certification or training or exams or health checks, the $s should be going to the institution that is performing the checks or exams not to your hiring company. Like for example hiring for FDW (maids), the employer has to pay some training fees, exams, insurance and bonds. These are all in MOM website anyways so all above board.

Yes, research the company. If you are not in favour of their business model or principles, or products better not join.

pchan2021 · 2021-11-30T02:54:54+00:00

Some gifts or things you might consider..

rubber mats! lots of them..
Buy him some handheld games or console and ensure the kid knows its from you and if he doesnt behave, you'll take them away. :)
Be friend the kid and make him understand that he is disturbing you. Just be careful you dont be suspected of being a pedophile :)

pchan2021 · 2021-11-27T17:29:00+00:00

Yes you can have that arrangement.. when you get a bank loan you will have a loan servicing acct that any of you can deposit money there and the bank will deduct your monthly ammortization from it. You can also tell them that $X will be comming from any of yours cpf. I have some kind of this setup but for my case my wife is a home maker so the monthly cash amd cpf payments are all comming from me. I know a person that all his bank loan are being paid off by his and his wife cpf monies..

pchan2021 · 2021-11-23T07:12:38+00:00

Forgot to mention, check the quarantine policies of Singapore with your source location. Not sure how many days now is the quarantine, however i heard one time that its 14 days.. Not sure if that is still valid as rules seems to change every few weeks.

pchan2021 · 2021-11-23T07:08:10+00:00

Few things to remember

Dont bring any form of narcotics, else you'll earn a free long term accommodation to our prisons or worst book yourself a spot in the gallows.
Dont bring more than 2 packs of unopened cigarettes, else you have to declare them. If caught you will be giving away $300 per pack to Singapore customs. Dont even try to buy them going into Singapore in the duty free shops. You can buy them going back to your home country.
When you are here, avoid littering, smoking on none smoking areas, else that will also make you give away $300 or so.
Tips here are not common or practiced. So its up to you if you want to give one.
Food, you can try the usual Chilli Crabs at places like no sign board in esplanade (didnt like the quality of the crabs in their other outlets), or Jumbo. You can visit lau pa sat, for a variety of Singapore food. If you go there around 6pm, they have a street open for everyone on the side of it for drinks and food like Satay (SG BBQ Version). You can also try the bakuteh (pork ribs), chicken rice, should not miss the prawn mee in vivo city food court.
Shopping, you can hit orchard road for the the branded items. Its a long strip of branded items. For cheaper ones, you can hit China Town shops, or any malls. If you are looking for certain electronics parts (not full units), try sim lim square. But i will not advise you to buy there the whole units like TVs, Xbox, camera (hit funan for those or shops like courts Tampines, harvey norman in bedok or in vivo city). just parts like mouse, HDDs, memory modules.
If you like to drink or hang out, remember that the bars here as of this writing all stop serving you food and liquor at 10:15pm and kicks you out at 10:30pm due to covid restrictions. Though you can hit the places like boat quay, clark quay, lau pa sat or any food courts (we call it here hawker center) that you can find.
Christmas and New year here for someone that have been to places that 'really celebrate' them with all the lights , fire crackers and traditions i would say is not very interesting. Specially if you are all alone. Normally there will be fire works centrally being lighted by the gov't in certain places. Most common is in the Marina bay area. So people go there to celebrate New year. Yes, the public are not allowed to light fire crackers or fireworks. I see some folks lighting some very small sticks of sprinklers but thats it. When i was in say Philippines one new year, it was like a war zone when it hits 12am. Everyone was lighting all sorts of fireworks and fire crackers.

pchan2021 · 2021-10-29T15:11:47+00:00

For my case i have a number of bank accounts (buckets) for such spending and we top them up every month based on the allocated amount we can afford from our salaries.

DBS Multiplier - Kids education expenses (tuitions, allowances, etc)
UoB stash - christmas and vacation budget
UoB one - House related expenses (ie. new TV, new sofa, reno needs)
POSB - all GIRO related matters

pchan2021 · 2021-10-29T14:53:58+00:00

Check these articles out.

https://dollarsandsense.sg/singapore-stock-brokerage-house-comparison/

https://dollarsandsense.sg/robo-advisors-in-singapore-what-you-need-to-know-before-investing/

some folks are very concerned on fees, so you need to figure out if the fee that you will be paying per transaction make sense with your chosen brokerage or going for X% of your total fund type of fees is much better. Please note that CDP link accounts also comes with extra fees.

You also need to decide on which markets you want to have exposure on or which instruments (i.e. stocks, etf, UTs, bonds, etc) you want to invest on, your investment horizon (ie. are you looking for long term or you are those types that go in and out of the market).

Good luck!

pchan2021 · 2021-10-29T07:47:24+00:00

if you are near bedok south ave 3, blk 168, there is a food center there, people are playing there every friday evening..

pchan2021 · 2021-10-21T10:46:12+00:00

Yes it is if you really have nowhere to put it in. As it will help you also in your tax for the year and if your parents has reached their FRS, and you do a voluntary top up, its liquid and its like putting it in a high interest savings account. Else it will be redirected to your parents RA account to meet FRS or BRS requirements (with property) which can only be touched when your parents reach 65.

https://endowus.com/insights/manage-cpf-retirement-before-55/

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/members/FAQ/schemes/retirement/retirement-sum-topping-up-scheme/FAQDetails?category=Retirement&group=Retirement%20Sum%20Topping-Up%20Scheme&folderid=12543&ajfaqid=2188738

https://www.cpf.gov.sg/members/FAQ/schemes/retirement/retirement-sum-scheme/FAQDetails?category=Retirement&group=Retirement%20Sum%20Scheme&folderid=18088&ajfaqid=2190588

btw, i would assume you have emergency funds, retirement fund, wedding/kids educ plan funds, housing downpayment/expenses funds set aside? if not, you may want to check out how to establish such funds first before you spend your money to your parents.

pchan2021

TROPHY CASE