Citibank = FAIL!
I woke up at 5.10AM this morning to the sound of banglade… I mean, foreign music blasted from a radio somewhere, probably downstairs, or upstairs, or the block next door, or, well, somewhere.
Honestly, it wasn’t very nice, nor could I comprehende the meaning of the words/lyrics in which the, er, foreign talent sang. (at least if it was French, Spanish, or some other common European language with derivatives from English, can attempt to figure it out – but this? NO WAY 
)
So, as usual, I got back to my (job), perfecting projects, and making visual eyecandy plausible for my clients – and probably thats the reason why the most of them love me, until I decide to screw something up in one way or another on purpose =X
Besides the like, say, 8gb folder of work-related stuff on my desktop, lies the 80gb “Downloaded Magic” folder – where I keep all my super-secret magic trick stash. Please, if you get to use my MacBook Pro, do NOT open the folder and let the chicken out of the bag (correct right? the animal is chicken? or was it cow?)
..and, you already know – I started watching more “how-to-perform-tricks” and drifted into my dreamy magical mode. Ya lah, I cannot be compared to those gurus who do magic full-time, but, how many programmers cum designers cum project managers cum photographer cum blogger cum hacker security-guru wannabe can do magic?
Almost none, right? HAHAHA too bad then. (but then again.. maybe the Truth is Out There =x)
Okay, so i saw this sexy deck(s) of cards from the Ellusionist store, and my first impression was..:
..ok, my first impression is probably the same as yours – you help me fill in the blanks, can?
(Yes, the cards are black, and the pips – hearts, spades, etc, are white and red. Sexy?)
The only problem was, Singapore was probably too insignificant a country for them to ship this pack/combo bundle to.
But we cannot blame them what, after all, Singapore’s a small country with only a few million people.
How to compare, right?
So naturally, I went to this website which our local newspaper claims to help us ship stuff from the US to Singapore at affordable rates (FYI: vPostUSA is NOT affordable. its SO bloody expensive):
Oh, so clever. Service only applicable for Citibank card holders. How nice. Drive you to desperation into the market so you *will* have to use them (because they’re the only affordable ones), and then say that you NEED to use CitiBank Credit Cards.
I call this business strategy, man.
So, off I go then, to CitiBank’s website – to get a credit card applied, ANY credit card!
Wow, am I dreaming?
They have online signups, no minimum income required, and 24/7 priviledges? I wonder if they have priviledge discounts at hotel rooms, massage parlours, and 7-11 to enjoy 24/7 discounts. What else would you be doing with 24/7 discounts anyway besides opening room (kai1 fang2 – in chinese) or something? And better still, free waiver of fees!
So, obviously, in my heart, I thought to myself: Citibank (Singapore) damn powerful man, super high-tech, like their US counterparts who have some superpowered banking infrastructure and all (PS: I design systems too, hence, I know a good system when I see one)
And then I tried to sign up….
..and after 30 minutes of form filling – they generated a bloody form, and asked me to PRINT it out, and FAX IT IN OR MAIL IT INTO THEM.
KNN! THIS ONE CALLED ONLINE SIGNUP? YOU ONLINE MAKE ME FILL UP THE BOXES, THEN ASK ME PRINT OUT AND MAIL/FAX IN. WHERES THE ONLINE FORM SUBMISSION PROCESS LEH? THIS IS NONSENSE!
Hence, that said, I hereby award Citibank (Singapore)’s technologically advanced online signup/banking system… a…. FAIL! Sorry, you have lost one potentially loyal customer. I shall continue being loyal to my UOB Platinum card 
FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL 
wah… 80gb.. where u get one? i wan all can? =x.. didnt know that u also do magic.. thought i went to the wrong blog.
.himitsu: Let’s just say I’m also a member of a super-secret, invite-also-cannot-get-in magic community
We have almost *ALL* the tricks ever produced. EVER.
“Hence, that said, I hereby award Citibank (Singapore)’s technologically advanced online signup/banking system… a…. FAIL! Sorry, you have lost one potentially loyal customer. I shall continue being loyal to my UOB Platinum card
”
HAHAHA!
UOB ROCKS!
No leh, Citibank’s discount actually rocks… but its for higher-end places, i.e restaurants per pax > $50.
UOB discounts more general one, and more easily affordable
but i am more interesting in how can i get the 80gb ++ of video from you =x
so any views whether there are illusion magic?
i agree that citibank fail. )):
UOB is definately better.
i tried applying for citibank clear also.
but they told me as i’m working full time, not a tertiary student,
i cannot apply.
f up. )):
Damn Ellusionist, the only way we buy black decks like that is only to get em for $12-$18 a deck from a store. Messed up, plus I’ve never seen Shadow Masters here either.
.himitsu: its a REALLY super secret magic community which has every single trick you can ever desire
but of course, dont expect to be able to perform every one of them lah. some require LOADS of practice!
rhninjaxe: everything is an illusion
go to learnmagictricks.org forums (i think the spelling is correct) and u can learn a few tricks by reading people discuss in the forums
kailingg: hahaha just like bluff them lah =x they damn clever today. sent me letter asking to send in my application by the 20th, and today is already the 22nd. amazing.
avery: correct. then again, online is around $10.. so price margin, $8 go to the guy lor. UNLESS you interested, i can import… but must minimum of 250US$ i think.. find friends to combine?
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hey, kelvin, i’m Lafina’s friend stella, i got sms her, i’ve got the black ghost 2nd edition cards, do contact me if u wanna get them @ SGD$40. its authentic, but i’ve already open the plastic wrap to see inside, i’m a collector of poker cards, but not all kinds, only unique, but that deck is not unique enough for me, so selling it.
Stella: *each* deck 40$??? expensive. store sells each a 10 bucks!
Well, I did mail ellusionist before about shipping to Singapore and they replied that they used to do so in the past but alot of their goods couldn’t make it through customs and was sent back to them. Eventually, they just removed SG from the list.
If you have a friend in Malaysia, you could send it over there and send it back here.
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