November Shopping Spree

Pre-winter worries make me shop and shop.

If last week was for a few clothing items, yesterday was for that pair of winter boots at last. This one is pretty pricey than my usual buys because I though that it's better to invest a bit more than have me buying one every year. Thing is this might end up being used by my son this winter and not me. It's 240, a bit bigger than my usual which is 235. It turned out to be an inch bigger than my feet but might actually be the perfect fit for him. I guess I may have to share this with him this year, and use the smaller 240 that I bought two years ago. That one will be falling apart soon so maybe it's good until this year. Pushing it to three years in service.

This new one, on the other hand, I hope to be able to use it for at least 5 years. With the rate that we buy new shoes, we get them like almost every two years. It's like 10K per year. I still have the buy-1-take-1 winter flats from last year even though the black one needs to be fixed. I don't know how much it will cost. I'm almost afraid to ask. :D

A for the other stuff I bought online yesterday, it includes 2 lemonade powder and chocolate drink for my son, as well as my Korean Naturalization test reviewer. At any rate, I'm almost ready for winter--clothes and shoes. Other food items and household stuff will be on my next pay check.

My list includes oats, toilet paper, new set of dried fruits and nuts, 3 oxtail stock, cream soup powder, curry powder, mung beans, cheese, yobochobap, and the list may go on unless I stop now.

~~
Update:
The shoes was delivered today around 6 something thru CJ. Hanjin Traspo bringing the drinks has so far called twice but have yet to make it here. I'm a bit doubtful he'll make it here tonight. tsktsk...

Re-activating Online Banking in the Philippines from Abroad (Part 2)

Followed up the application via the toll free international hotline of BDO and I was to told to log in and check the info after.

Printed the stuff, photocopied the passport and atm card (front panel) and mailed them all today. Regular mail so it's all up to the Philpost. I just hope it gets there soon, knowing the system. Totally cannot trust it. 

Update 1/28: Still haven't heard anything from BDO. Waiting til this weekend. Will do some emailing by next week if nothing comes up yet. 

COL on the other hand, they emailed last week Monday. Skyped this Monday and had the the account number within the day. I just have to fund it now but I have yet to figure out how. Hopefully, BDO thing will work out soon, or I'll just have to wire it straight to my COL account. Target date: Februar26. As for BDO, Feb. 5 for it not to become dormant. 

IHerb Haul for the Year

Been running out of shampoo since the end of December last year but I held off ordering until this week.

I finalized my order last Monday (that means Sun in US) and the expected delivery was between 18-22 next week. Boy, I was surprised to find it waiting for me today, just about 4 days!

Toiletries and food stuff

my lot for the year...

whole wheat flour, taco seasoning,
onion powder, cilantro, and nutritional yeast

This lot costs just about 52K krw so free shipping. One of these days, I'll be able to figure out why I bought the nutritional yeast in the first place. I can't recall exactly what I wanted it for right now. As for the cilantro, I really like this one so even if it's waay different from the fresh one, it's still better to have one in handy. 

As for the shampoo, I will be using these for the whole year. A bottle has lasted me for 6 months last year. Hopefully, it will last for a year if I'll alternate the two bottles. I have just to see how it goes! 

Re-activating Online Banking in the Philippines from Abroad (Part 1)

Philippine banking system can really be frustrating after I've already experienced the South Korean one. I won't get started on the list but here is the latest thing I'll be going through as I restart my Ph online banking.

Brief background: I already have an account and an internet banking set up before I left almost two years ago. Well, it's mostly my husband who does the online banking at that time so I'm not that familiar with the details except for other part of actually opening the account, getting the card, and activating it on the atms. It's a little bit roundabout still.

As far as I can remember, the steps we had to do went like this:
1. Apply for the online banking on the website. I think we still have to print something to take to the branch at that time.
2. Wait for the email for activation code.
3. Then activate the online banking using the code with the card on any atm.

This time, I'll be doing it all on my own, remotely. Meaning, I don't have to visit any branch or atms at all since there's really no official branch in ROK. They do have a representative office of sorts since 2010 based from what I found on their website.

So for my future reference or anyone who might stumble into this, I'll try to write what I'll be doing to accomplish re-activating my internet banking.

(Note: No transaction for 23 months, still less than 2 years before the account to be dormant so I have to hurry up.)

Jan. 4 - Inquired online thru the customer service email about reactivating online banking when I forgot my username and password.
Jan. 5 - Got an email reply to jump thru the hoops online to recover (username and password recovery buttons) to no avail. No mail from the website that got thru any of my inboxes.

Last resort, I had to call the Int'l Toll Free no. 001 (for Korea, KT users only) - 800- 8631 - 8000. The agent asked for some other account details like address, last registered contact no., and transaction but I can't recall much so she recommended to delete the previous online banking account and just apply for a new one. The catch is, I can do so after two days! What gives!

So I had to ask how will the procedure be like after she submitted the application to delete the previous internet account.
1. Apply on the website after two days. (She's pretty vague why it would take two days. Beats the heck out of me, really!)
2. Wait another two working days to receive a confirmation call (since I'm overseas).
3. Then, wait for another email withing 5 w. days for the final confirmation to be able to access the online banking.

With this initial info, I'm looking at at least a week before I get to log in the online-banking.

Now, I don't want to compare much with the Korean online banking but the time it takes is sure loong. When I opened an online banking feature here, it was already an option when I applied for the offline account first time, along with the phone banking features. I had to do extra paper work onsite, then took home a sheet with my initial log in details to use online. The thing is they still got an extra downloading stuff needed for the online bank certificate to be installed on my pc or mobile phone for that matter. But I think they will do away with that soon. Anyway, all of it were just one time in-person at the branch, a few more minutes online (and maybe extra customer service via phone to walk me through the system as mostly can be in Korean and can be really frustrating as well) and I get to log in my bank account within a day. No waiting games, no calling and confirming whatnots.

This has been another pretty long entry, I guess.
Now, I'm back to waiting.

Int'l Shipping and Customs Duties

I've been wondering how Ph customs exactly come up with the exorbitant prices whenever we receive items bought outside the country or anything that comes in through mail or courier. We had a very bad experience with having to pay 1600 for an 800 worth of small gadget. There was no explanation except that was from the customs and either u pay or don't get your goods.

Having been here in ROK for a year now with a lot of small gadgets ordered from abroad, I learned that it's easier to figure out their customs tariffs. There's a threshold of 100, 150 or 200 USD and it might be tax free, depending on the goods. I even got my chromebook (worth less than 200 USD) free of tax. We only had to pay about 30USD for shipping through malltail. Hubby says if it goes past the 200 USD, it would be taxed at 10%.

Other than that, we had no worries for any after-shipping cost like tax. We know exactly how much it will cost buying something online from an international site like Amazon.

In the Ph, on the other hand, the rules are not clear. It is a general knowledge that you are in the mercy of the customs officers who happen to handle on your package. Upon reading couriers/forwarding service companies site, I have come across of the 20% tariff that is for customs. I'm like..really? No wonder then.

Here's my list of possible companies that I'll have to research some more.

manilaforwarder, pobox, and JAC.

from manilaforwarder site:

TAXATION FOR FORMAL ENTRY SHIPMENTS.
Items that are subject to tax are those that require AC Power, luxury items, items intended for commerce- have a 20% tax based on commercial invoice for brand new items and 10% for used items. Philippine tariff law applies as we separate formal entry and non formal entry shipments. The fee generally include other fees like arrastre, AMS, and documentations,.

TAX FREE SHIPMENTS.
Personal effects and household goods are tax free. Please see rules.

For tax free shipments, items should not be more than 9 of a kind and for personal use only.

Officially an Expat in Korea: iherb.com

I have finally completed my first order from iherb and I am now officially an expat. :D
Why? Almost every expat in Korea that I've come across the net would source their non-Korean supplies from iherb ranging from hard-to-find specialized food to supplements for human and even pets.

Sure, there are imported goods in the leading supermarkets but oftentimes they can be limited and would not include other specialized food items and supplements. Moreover, they can also be a little expensive with having to cover the brick-and-mortar store expenses. Shopping online electronically, on the other hand, can be a bit cheaper and actually more convenient as well. The delivery system is quite established with a flat rate of more or less 4USD or even free depending on the minimum order.

I've actually made an account months ago and made a few attempts early this year for my first order which I've never really completed at all. I bided my time, hoping to find some things locally. But alas, with the MERS thing going, people tend to venture out less nowadays. Plus hubby needed some herb spray for his rashes and I don't think any of us will actually see a doctor for that specially now.

What really drove me to making my first order were the essential oils and oats. I have ran out of my winter supply oats which I bought from gmarket sometime around December. It actually took me about four months to finish the 4.5 kg bulk order. I find it a bit expensive now after seeing more choices from coupang and iherb. I thought about trying out coupang but the language complexity of the site would take a bit more time to decipher for me. I ended up in iherb to try out other brands and score other products as well.

These other products are the essential oils. I am pretty keen on DIY sprays around the house for storing our winter stuffs, treating the pests from my small garden, getting rid of smell from shoes and even socks and many other things. I haven't found a decently-priced source here in this small town.

Iherb seems to be the answer. I can pay using my regular check/debit card from a local bank as long as it has the VISA logo. There were two options for the delivery company: CJ and the Korea Post. I chose the former this time. That company usually deliver around midday in our area, unlike Korean Post which usually show up late in the afternoon. (Yeah, I usually keep track of couriers' schedule.^^,) Now, I just have to double check if my order will have additional tax/duty when it gets here. I'm crossing my fingers I won't have to shell out extra bucks later on.

My first order was pretty modest with 10 items, 8 of which were EOs and only 2 were bags of oats. I'll be looking at other food items like herbs and condiments next time, along with more EOs. I just have to be careful not to go overboard on my following orders.

It would take 2-7 days before it gets here via CJ Korea Express. I'll expect it around late next week or the week after. And as every first timer in iherb, I now post my Reward Code for anyone who might want to make use to get some discount on their orders. Just in case some happen to stumble on this blog post. Either type this code LWJ371 at the end of shopping or follow this iherb link.

I'll try to forget about this now until the parcel gets here...and maybe I'll be able to post another about it.

Happy Day Today!

Hubby got his first online shopping package this month. And....I got myself a new Mp3 player! Although I'm not sure if it was originally for me. Haha! My previous one was long gone and I'm just tickled to get a new one. Thanks dear. :) It might take a while for me to get use to it's relatively simple functions.

Anyway, I browsed through some repair/mending ideas today. I tried to update the clothes in my drawer and I found some shirt that I hardly wear but cannot afford to throw out yet. It seems that I do have ideas how to make them wearable. I just need some more info and knowledgeable skills to make it. I already have one finished product which I did a few weeks ago. Sometime early this month, I finally cut the Korean Mask shirt and sewed it on to my kiddos plain red shirt. I started that one in a no-power night until the next morning when there no power again. All hand-sewn! I am not that very fond of needlework coz of my sweaty hands and this was really a BIG accomplishment for me. I was just driven to save the print, and put it somewhere it can look better and add more to it's lifespan.

The

Having found another shirt in my drawer, I surfed for info how I can make my imagination into reality. I do have idea on what I want it to look like but doesn't really have enough guts and skills to snip and put it together again. This is way harder than the "cut and paste" I did earlier. Sigh. It's worth saving coz the shirt is still looks new. I hardly wore it coz I felt it was a little too loose for my frame. Why I bought it more than ten years ago is still lost on me. Except that I really like the print. A bit too flowery but there are days that I like to wear one, you know. Specially when it's bright and sunny and the weather is just great! I think I need to resize it, or if I go insane, totally redesign it. ? Haha! That's gonna be an interesting thing to watch out for.

As I was looking for ideas on sewing, I stumbled on an interesting crafty blog from a gal in Cebu. Finally! Something that is within the geographical territory. I mean, crafty stuff are usually from other lands and seldom would I find local crafty bloggers. It can be a start. ;)