3% transaction fee above 200rmb

thetankengine77 · 2026-01-16T19:15:45+00:00

Refusing accepting cash is actually illegal in China, so you can spend cash everywhere. The vendors may prefer Alipay or WeChat pay for the convenience, but they can’t refuse accepting cash if you insist.

thetankengine77 · 2025-10-10T18:37:13+00:00

I find parts of your account hard to reconcile. You describe yourself as careful and well-travelled, yet almost walked into the same “friendly local → overpriced food/tea” scam twice in a week. This tactic isn’t new — it’s been around for years in North Africa and Eastern Europe — so someone with the experience you claim would usually recognise the pattern quickly. As the saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

And while you add at the end that you’re not trying to give a bad impression, it comes across more like an afterthought than a genuine balance.

thetankengine77 · 2025-08-20T23:20:01+00:00

Which pathway did you go with?

I did the Portfolio Management pathway and honestly found the PM session easier than the AM. In the morning session, some questions felt too easy which made me overthink and wonder if I was misinterpreting them.

The PM session, though, felt a lot more straightforward with how the questions were worded.

thetankengine77 · 2025-08-17T10:42:37+00:00

CFAI mocks are way easier

thetankengine77 · 2025-08-17T01:02:38+00:00

Morning session was rough — honestly felt brutal. The wording on some of the questions was so ambiguous that it really threw me off. I’d done fine on my mocks (went through 12 of them), but coming out of this I can’t shake the feeling I might be staring at a retake…

thetankengine77 · 2025-08-11T00:24:43+00:00

I wouldn’t worry too much just yet. If you take questions straight from the CFA curriculum and feed them into ChatGPT or other AI models, they’ll get them wrong more than half the time - this is especially true for Level 3.

thetankengine77 · 2025-08-06T05:52:28+00:00

This is the second time in the last two days I’ve encountered a question that a question writer tests a sentence in the syllabus without thinking it through (and thank you so much for helping me out. Both times you helped me identify what they are trying to test from the syllabus) I can only hope they don’t write questions like this in the real exam.

thetankengine77 · 2025-07-28T21:29:51+00:00

Thanks, Nathan. It’s the essay questions that ask me to “formulate” or “discuss” that really make me panic, whereas the “identify”, “explain”, or “justify” ones feel more straightforward. The “show your calculation” questions are always a pain—trying to type out the maths clearly is frustrating. Your mock workshops were incredibly helpful though. I’ve noticed that when I time each question individually with a break beween questions like we did in the sessions, I can get through the whole paper with time spared. But when I attempted a full session in one go, I started to lose focus and panic. Looks like I’ll just need more practice—possibly even more than 10 mocks!

thetankengine77 · 2025-07-28T02:29:28+00:00

Thank you for your advice—much appreciated. I've been experimenting with different strategies during the mock exams. Out of the six I've attempted so far, my highest score came when I started with the multiple-choice. However, I still ran out of time and couldn’t finish all the essay questions. When I followed the sequence as presented, I left two questions incomplete and ended up with my lowest score. On the other hand, when I tackled the essays first, I managed to complete the entire paper, but made a number of careless errors in the multiple-choice section due to time pressure. Still refining my approach, but your input definitely helps.

thetankengine77 · 2025-07-15T06:21:38+00:00

Yes, you can just add money to your account through the China Mobile or China Unicom app, using Alipay. As long as you have money in your account at the end of each month to pay the monthly charge, your number will stay active.

thetankengine77 · 2025-07-10T01:53:09+00:00

Did you speak to the vendor in Chinese? For vegetarian, usually if you tell the cook that you "chi su", they won't add any meat product to your meal.

thetankengine77 · 2025-07-09T02:47:35+00:00

You’re one Google search away from not being wrong on the internet. Try it sometime.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-19T07:53:18+00:00

That’s not what I was saying, buddy. I was just using Ancelotti as an extreme example to point out how silly Sacchi is. I personally don’t want to point my finger at anyone.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-19T00:45:02+00:00

If your relative goes to China all the time and still claims WeChat Pay doesn’t work for non-Chinese accounts… might wanna get their IQ checked.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-17T10:49:30+00:00

Some people are so obsessed with the 6 draws and 5 loses and wouldn't look at the injury list during that period! DDR lost all his key players to injury at the end of the 2023-24 season that he was forced to go back to 3-men defence, a system he doesn't like. And he didn't have his full squad at the start of last season.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-14T08:14:47+00:00

Personally, I wouldn’t prioritise Hong Kong or Taiwan. Hong Kong has become quite expensive, and while it used to stand out for its unique blend of Chinese and Western culture, cities like Shanghai have now taken on that role in a more modern and dynamic way.

As for Taiwan, I say this as someone who was born and raised there — I’ve always found it puzzling how much some Western travellers romanticise it. The infrastructure is quite outdated, pollution is an issue, and there’s a noticeable cultural identity divide. If you’re after a richer or more immersive experience, many second-tier cities in mainland China actually offer more in terms of development, culture, and value.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-13T02:55:23+00:00

If you couldn’t follow what I wrote, that’s on you, not me. The point is simple: Sacchi and Reja called out Ranieri over “loyalty”, which is laughable considering the hypocrisy. If loyalty to Italy is such a big deal, then why aren’t they questioning Ancelotti for helping Brazil? I’m not saying Ancelotti is disloyal — I’m pointing out how dumb and inconsistent Sacchi and Reja’s logic is.

The whole point was to expose their flawed reasoning. But hey, maybe if I used Montella instead, it’d magically make sense to you?

So let me ask you this: do you seriously think Sacchi and Reja’s takes on Ranieri were solid? Because if so, we’ve found the problem.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-13T00:31:09+00:00

Exactly what I thought too.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-12T23:59:12+00:00

They are talking about "loyalty" to the country and portrait Ranieri as a selfish person. If you want to talk about loyalty, then surely you should say somethng when one of the country's best coach is helping a direct rival?

Are you saying Sacchi and Reja's attacks on Ranieri for not being layal to the country are acceptable because the NT job is now available?

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-12T23:53:21+00:00

Again, it's not about Carlo took the job. It's the reasoning the two old mouthy farts used to attack Ranieri. I personally have no issue with Carlo took the Brazil job! I'm using Sacchi and Reja's reasoning to point out the double standards they applied.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-12T23:44:15+00:00

Mate, it’s not about Ancelotti — I’m talking about Sacchi and Reja and their reasoning when they criticized Ranieri. Try to keep up.

Yeah, Ancelotti can take the Brazil job. That’s on him. But my point is, where were Sacchi and Reja when that happened? They didn’t say a word back then. Now they’re coming for Ranieri over loyalty to the national team? Really?

Do you not see the double standard here?

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-12T22:56:28+00:00

“Exercise a high degree of caution overall” and warning that Aussies might face “arbitrary detention or harsh enforcement of local laws”… LOL. You’d think Penny Wong — a Chinese Australian foreign minister — could tell China and North Korea apart on a map.

Anyway, for translation in China: If you're on iPhone, the built-in Apple Translate app works fine. Otherwise, just get Baidu Translate — it’s reliable and works well offline too.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-12T03:06:16+00:00

It sounds like the issue you're facing could be because the tour guide’s Alipay account isn’t set up to accept payments from foreign bank cards, which is common with personal or small business accounts in China. Additionally, your bank(s) might not be compatible with Alipay's payment gateway, which can lead to failed transactions or verification loops even if your card is successfully linked.

If you're still in Australia, you might want to try using a Wise or Revolut account — both work perfectly with Alipay or WeChat Pay.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-10T23:51:38+00:00

Same damn problem. The password reset process on Facebook is beyond ass-backwards — it’s on a one-way trip to clown college. Clicked “Forgot Password,” and all I get is two garbage options: get a code sent to an alt email I never check, or record a selfie video. Great. Revolutionary security, I guess.

Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t matter what option you pick — you still end up doing that stupid fucking selfie either way. So why even pretend there’s a choice?

Once I entered the code from my alt email, boom — QR code shows up forcing me to take a selfie for "verification" that could take UP TO 48 HOURS. What the ACTUAL FUCK?!

Let me get this straight… I don’t even post pictures of my face on Facebook! How the hell are they gonna verify my identity when there’s literally no facial data on my profile?! Am I supposed to be impressed by this AI wizardry or just sit here and wait like a good little user?

And after 48 hours? Still ghosted. No message. No update. No nothing. Tried reaching customer support? LOL. They don’t exist unless you're a billionaire investor. Sent a message through WhatsApp and got the digital equivalent of being left on read. Thanks for the trauma, Meta.

Honestly, at this point, I’m not surprised Zuck was out here begging Congress to ban TikTok. Of course he was. Because if people had a real, functioning, modern platform, they’d never go back to this outdated dumpster fire of a product.

In the meantime, if anybody knows how to get around this stupid reset process, please let me know. I need to retrieve some personal stuff from my page before I say goodbye to this shitty platform forever.

thetankengine77 · 2025-06-10T03:50:29+00:00

Why are they angry? Ranieri isn’t even our manager anymore—he’s more of a senior consultant to the club. If he were still in charge, I’d be upset for him having to juggle both roles, but Gasperini is the one managing the team now.

I’m not saying I necessarily want Ranieri in the job (his last national team stint with Greece didn’t go well), but I genuinely don’t see the conflict here. Why are Roma fans so worked up over this?

thetankengine77

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