This world do have thieves- and the travel insurance was useless

I was not feeling very well that day, but decided to go for a walk anyway. I did not have much choices- since I have already checked out of the hotel. Somehow, I felt that I better split my wallet into 2. I think that if you feel not well or look tired, thieves will spot you from a mile! These were sharks after your blood!

I think I must have lost my small wallet within 1-2 hours of leaving the hotel most-likely while taking the tube or while I went to the toilet. No one else had been in contact or near me. I was walking around in the park opposite the palace and at the Royale square. I called hubby immediately. Luckily it was a relatively small "loss". Imagine if my real wallet was taken! Just a couple of credit cards, my name cards some cash and the metro ticket. The leather wallet was probably the most expensive thing. Tried to walk around following the "politie" sign, which are obvious in all tourist areas, but the signs seemed to lead me nowhere. So, I gave up and rested in at the small park at Sablon square-wasnt feeling well again, but did not dare to let my guard down.

At last, found a police station at the Midi station- the eurostar terminal. There was a big group of Thai students. Someone lost a laptop, and a policeman was busy telling them the do's and don't in Brussels. Apparently, at least 10 laptops will be reported lost each day, on average, just in that station alone! The thieves are really efficient and employ many tactics to get hold of these things. The group of kids were going "wow", as they were told not to answer anyone who ask them questions, not to stop or look at interesting things, like people fighting, quarelling etc etc etc etc...

Then, my turn to file the report. Both the policeman and I agreed that I was quite "lucky" in that sense- could have lost more. Brussels have lots of problems with petty crimes in the past couple of years. I was asked to recall what I did between when i last use the wallet and when i found it missing. It narrowed now to two suspects- the pregnant woman with 2 kids- 1 in a pram who needed more "space" as she squeezed past me when i got out of the toilet at the metro station, and the woman sitting next to me at the metro. Those were the only two places where someone could have been near me. The police man was quite sure it was the pregnant woman! Pregnant woman with pram and kids are frequently the culprits!!! Wow!!! He reminded me to claim back from my travel insurance...

My moods were lifted.. but when I return home, and read the "schedule"... TMD... full of "excess" conditions! cash-£50, travel documents £50, purse/wallet £50... blah blah blah.. every single item has at least £50 excess. Grrrrr..... This travel insurance from the company have not given me a single compensation yet- whether it is my flight delay (it did not qualify, as this package only give you £20 for every 12 hour of delay) of lost of stuff. From the terms and condition, my biggest hope is when I am dead, where I will receive £10,000 or when I permanently lose all my limbs £20,000. I am starting to think that this insurance package is an insult to my value as an individual. Am I so worthless??? After these incidences, I think we should all go back and read about how our value to the company should we die while traveling, and then decide whether we need a separate travel insurance!

Flying everywhere.......thanks to Ryan Air

I came back to a pleasant surprise: Hubby booked a holiday for my birthday in October. However, it is a let down cos it clashes with the most important meeting of the year, so I cant go!!! :( So, Hamburg is out!

The good thing is we still get to go to a few other places!
Brussels, Glassglow & Milan :)

Long live 1 pence tickets!!

Hong Kong- Got the rooms!

I also got the HK hotel rooms booked. I actually booked YMCA through Expedia! It comes up to £34 per night, which is really cheap! The trick of hunting cheap accomodation is try a few websites! yeah, it is hard work, but you could save load. For example, my sister found Standford at 63 USD at www.hoteltravel.com. That is about 30% off the prices of other websites which asks for USD 90+ to even USD 110+!!! However, YMCA is much cheaper in Expedia compared to this website, which asks for USD 77! That is about USD 10 more expensive per night. Asiarooms, my fav for BKK rooms is even much more hopelessly expensive!

Hopefully I can get another 5% cashback through Quidco, and that makes it even a better deal. All travel bugs/shopping queens based in UK should really consider registering at www.quidco.com to get % money back off their shopping and travel expenses.

Haha. This is the first time I try YMCA. I hope that it is as good as the reviews say about it. If not, die!This is the first time I bring my parents on a holiday and I put them up in YMCA- feel like a bum already. Was really tempted to do Nathan/Prudential or even Holiday Inn. However , after calculating and see that the sum differs by 400-500 SGD easily, sis & I decided that the money will be better spent eating, since we will be only sleeping in the rooms. Besides, doing 2 trans Atlantic flights, & 2 flights back to Sg within 2 months means my credit card is beeping & turning AMBER. At the rate I am going, I will hit the max this month! My boss better give me back my conference fee money soon!

Away from home...

Well can you relate the title to something?

Yes??

Good. Then you know what I am going to talk about.

The story is about a gal who was somehow influenced by teh advert and assigned the card as a "travel expenses card". Well, loyalty to the bank which she has been using from the age of 10; where all her "ang pow" and reward-for-straight-As money went to.

She even asked her husband to apply for a card for himself.

She is well rewarded. So damn well rewarded and frustrated that she filled the "contact us" form with complaints.

For her action, she was rewarded. She knew the website was safe. As soon as she click submit, the whole complaint disappeared. Website says that she has been there too long.

Smart isnt it? There was no warning that she had been there too long, until she clicked "submit" for her complaints. The website automatically detected that it is a malicious email directed at those idiots at the call centre who made her make multiple long distance calls and gave her wrong instructions again and again.

Perhaps it is time to call it all off.

Hubby already gave up after those 40-minute long phone calls about charges which were supposed to be waived but was never waived, e-statements which are suuposed to be sent but never appears. Long distance relationship. Poor. This is a global bank with a local focus. No wonder they cannot maintain long distance relationships with clients who need to travel.

Meanwhile, the citibank people will be terribly happy that we are chargingso much to our cards these few months. they will be even happier after my friday shopping spree and copenhagen trip. Meanwhile the people at that stupid bank will continue to suspect that we never left the spore all along cos they are no £££ and Euros charged to it. Nah, I wont let them earn the exchange rate!!!!

See.. customers do know who to reward, and who to whack!!!

Still no credit card

Hope.. credit card has not arrived. Despite the promise to arrive by Friday night by bank B.

Am I supposed to trust them at all?

Can I depend on their credit card as my source of travel insurance anymore? [ they automatically covers when we charge air ticket to them]

If they cant deal with a robbery, can they deal with a disaster?

Imagine my plane crashed, and they insist on talking to me first before doing anything.... hahahaha. That is called "flexibility". World class.

How the Credit card ie BANKS would respond if you get robbed?

Why do you have a credit card with you, especially when you travel?

1) convenience, no need to carry/exchange a large amount of cash
2) some sort of "security" feeling. Affected by those ads which subconciously equate CREDIT CARD=GOOD service, purchase production, blah blah blah....

Lets see how the "pore pore" BANKS "deal" with my hubby's case, and note the time lines.

BANK A

Saturday night:

• Hubby called to report card loss due to robbery from London's police station.

Bank's Action?

• Card blocked.
• Promise to courier replacement card over IMMEDIATELY, at no charge. [You must be thinking it is not cheap to courier from "pore pore" to London, rite?, well this is not the first time they do this for us]

Monday:

• Delivery note from UPS received. Hubby was in the hospital then. But card would have been in his hands if he were at home.

Lets see how another BANK, BANK B deal with it.

Saturday night:

• Hubby called to report card loss due to robbery from London's police station.

Bank's Action?

• Card blocked. Asked hubby whether he wanted a replacement card. A replacement card ccould be issued and sent to "pore pore" address. Charge is $20.
• Informed hubby that if no replacement card is issued within a certain time (2 weeks? ), his credit card account will be cancelled.
  

Hubby's response??

• MAD! Pay $20 to send to the "pore"?
• Cannot get free replacement? Bank "threaten" to close account unless he get replacement card, ie pay $20. He was robbed man! Pissed off. Discussion ended....
• and complained to me when he got more energy on Sunday night.

Monday morning:

• I was very angry with the replacement card thing. Desperate to get him his cards, just in case he needed more medical treatment. Well.. if you read my blog, I was worried about his dizziness, headaches, sleepiness... blah blah.. all signs of potential brain injury.
  
• SINCE hubby is very curious how I got them to agree to issue free....haha, I put the "process here", so that if there are any other unlucky "travelers" encountering a similar situation, they can "benefit" from our experience.Yup, you can read it, it is FOC.

So, I called the bank....... (long winded story to describe a long winded process)

• ME: "My hubby told me he was first robbed in London, and now his bank is trying to rob him as second time. Is it true that your bank has a policy that no replacement card will be issued unless he pays $20, and if he does not want replacement card within 2 weeks, card will be cancelled???" Cant help being sarcastic :P
  
• CSO: Immediately put through to bank "officer" (BO)... {I think they sense I was in a mood to KILL!!!!}
• Told BO that hubby was robbed. Can get replacement card?
• Bank officer told me they only want to talk to principal card holder. If he loss his card, can he call?
  
• ME: "He called your bank immediately , from the police station in London. However, your officer tell him to pay $20!! Why dont you check your records?"
• She checked records, insisted hubby never ask for replacement. If he can PERSONALLY call, the replacement will be issued immediately, charge is $20!
• ME: "#*&^* "Hey!!! My hubby has called. You guys tell him that he must pay $20, and the card will be sent to "The pore". He was injured. Just robbed off everything. Wallet, phone, backpack. How would you feel if you were him? Will you want to pay $20 to your bank just to get your card? His other bank asks no questions, and IS ALREADY sending him his card!!! "
  
• BO:" Oh, you don't have to pay immediately. It will be reflected in your statement, you can pay next month."... {YEAH RITE.. very GENEROUS, rite? Print you extra 1 card, charge you only in the end of month.}
  
• Me: ^*&^(*&^~$%$£~# haha.. i remember using the term "pissed off" during the conversation. Can't believe I am capable of using this phrase... will make my Tai Tai auntie JUMP or faint seeing how unlady like I am turning out.
  
• BO: " Ok, mrs.. X. I will talk to my superiors"...

{And there I was..." happily" listening to the voice of a famous local "artiste" over and over again...... what happened to the good old days of music when on hold?}

• BO:"Ok mrs X, I talked to my superior. THIS time, we will do a waiver, since this is the FIRST TIME. THIS TIME ONLY..."
• ME: " What do you mean this time ONLY?? You mean if he is robbed again, he will have to PAY, is it?" {hmmm.. you can imagine how angry I was??}
  
• BO did not answer me... went ahead to tell me to ask hubby to call them again immediately.
  
• ME: He is seeking medical help now! Must he call you again, now? He already reported the loss. Cant you proceed to issue card? He needs his card as soon as possible, because he might need to pay for medical expenses? Do you understand??
  
• BO: No, sorry, we can't. Give me his handphone number. I can call him.
• Me: I just told you, his handphone has been robbed! He is uncontactable now. He is still seeking medical help in a hospital!

...........................................................

• Finally, after more than 1/2 hour, they agreed to issue card. Asked me address. Of course, I gave Uk address. They said HOME address. So "the pore"'s address? Fine! I will send it to him myself then.

Wednesday afternoon:
I called to follow up.
Told me card still have not been issued, cos hubby never called them.....
Ah ha????? I thought they said will proceed to issue???

??????

Now must have hubby call them, or till they manage to contact hubby. Great.... Well, honestly we cant be bothered.


Thursday afternoon:
I received call from BO. They will courier (this term was repeatedly emphasized over the phone call, so I better emphasize it here also ) the card over to our Singapore address. Yup, "express".. by tomorrow evening, sure can receive. Can they leave it in the post box if I am not in?

Story is over (If they dont change their mind again). If all goes well, I get the card tomorrow. If hubby want the card immediately, I got to spend $ to courier it over...


Latest update: Saturday is over.. and no card in sight.


Moral of the story...

If you only have 1 credit card... and it is from THIS bank, and you have an EMERGENCY overseas... GOOD LUCK to you!!!

All the nice "rewards" they give us, will never ever REDEEM (pardon the pun) this bad experience.

Imagine, if hubby needed to pay for medical expenses? Hubby needed to seek help from private doc (which you will do, if you have brain injury, cos time is everything!)


And yeah.. one is a CLASSIC card, another is a ******UM card which had been shoved to us(we did not apply, we just needed to sign, and will get card + gifts )...

Guess the classic card is from which bank?

Is it legal for me to tell you? Will I be sued by the other bank????

I better dont telll.....

But.....

Whereever I go, I will bring my CITIBANK!! classic card.


Enough said.

Robbed, bashed up, but refuse to see doctor!!!!

I married a good citizen. Yup, my hubby is not just a joker, he is a public-spirited model citizen.

He still has not seen a doctor/went to A&E.

Reason? Police looked for him at home, just as he was about to go to A&E, as they needed his help to identify the spot of crime.

Great!!!! While I am jumping/hopping mad here seeing his eye & face bruised, and listening to his complains of dizziness and "funny" headaches after his head was kicked, he spent last night "assisting" the police, instead of seeing a doctor. Very good citizen, right?

After one more night, he still have not decided whether he "need" to see doctor.

Damn. It is FREE, and he still refuses to go!!!!

What is so difficult about getting checked up?

He does not plan to get a handphone soon, while friends are anxious to contact him, and make sure he is not having any of those delayed effects of those injuries.

But he is such a cool guy, he can live 1-2 months without a handphone. He is in no hurry to get a phone replacement.

Argh......

So, why am I so busy checking crime rates of the areas we are about to move to?

Why am I busy blasting the bank for refusing to issue replacement card (unless hubby personally call again, and agree to pay $20 for the replacement? ) to ensure he gets his card, and checking out the insurance coverages, just in case he need more treatment? That guy is a tough, cool superman.

Ohh, BIG congrats to myself! I married a joker cum model citizen cum superman. Woahhh.. I must buy him a RED underwear this Christmas, plus a pair of leotards.

Oh yeah... those banks. For all they say about their " good services", and pages of advertisement about "concierge" services, the "priviledges" of *********M cards etc, the acid test comes when something happens, and also when you are travelling. I shall "complain" more about these BANKS one day. After this year of living abroad, and the robbery, we know which are THE BEST banks! Some"global" banks are totally sh*tty.

I should have taken an afternoon nap instead of getting busy. Darn.

Never make a "Tai tai" get insufficent sleep or worry; she will revenge by piling on more eye cream. ($$$$$$$)

Hmmmm......The last sentence should be enough to make someone "behave" more effectively than hours of nagging..

ROBBED!!!!

Hubby has been robbed.

When? When I was suddenly awake last morning. 8 pm his time.

Where? He was walking across the Broad Walk in Kensington Park, just outside the palace!!! And it was still bright! That is probably the safest place in London!

What happened? Hubby was happily walking home with his FOOD. When a guy asked him for his telephone number, and whether he know kung fu in a very friendly manner. He refused to give him his number, but did not want to irritate him either. Hubby offered his email address!!! [When I heard this part, I did not know whether to laugh or faint. I married a joker. Confirmed!!!!] He told that guy that he does not know Kung Fu!

Woah.. Chinese guy who does not know kungfu and carrying bags of food!!! Good target. 3 other "youth" aka hooligans join in. Surrounded hubby. And pushed him to the ground. Kicked him. Stamped on his face. Ouch!!!! (BLOODY idiots!) Went off with his phone, wallet, back pack.

As they are not civilised enough to know instant noodles are edible, those were left behind.

Argh, who would have thought that crimes happen there too?? In broad day light!


The difference between a man and a woman who got whacked?

A woman will want to get a medical examination. Doubly triply sure that she has no internal injuries, and external scars.

A man probably think that he is still alright, and refused to see a doctor. When a man is assaulted, his ego is probably more bruised...Seeing a doctor is an admission of weakness? He lost the fight?!!!

I am sooooo mad!!!!

Mad at the gang of youth who assaulted and robbed him!!!

MAD at him for not getting a medical examination!!! Seeing his bruised eye 13000 miles away is enough to get me jumping up and down!!!

Getting whacked on the face and back is no joke.

This fans my "racism"? Yeah, it does. Don't know why people who commit crimes always come from THAT RACE (s).

And it is never enough for them to mug or rob you. They need to kick you, punch you. Bloody idiots.

Whoever who kicked my hubby, deserves to ROT in hell-that bloody gang of four.

Hmmm.....

And the prove of my hubby's love for instant noodles?

He still picked them all up, after his backpack, phone, wallet, everything was robbed. Yupp, he must have been in considerable pain as well. But still picked up his instant noodles. Psyhologically, i know that this is done to get a hold of "Normality" after a shocking experience... but those stuff being his instant noodles.... hmmm

Yeah, he is very happy that the instant noodles was not robbed. And his favourite Lau Gan Ma chili oil is also still safe. However, his spring rolls were in his back pack, and was robbed.

Hmmm..... They hooligans are smart. If they took his instant noodles, I think he would have ran after them.

Well.....

I was walking happily with my friend after a buffet of local food, when he called to tell me he was robbed. And my friend and I were happily talking about retiring in UK, finding a cottage and quiting the rat race. Yup. She would be a village doctor there, and our kids will visit each other, roam in a farm, ride horses.

The call ends the discussion of retiring in UK, and started a discussion of potential signs and symptoms of a concussion, and other internal injuries. Medical terms fly out of our mouth as we tried to get hold of the situation by buying more Japanese food.

P/S after thought..... could the bloody idiots mistaken his spring roll boxes in his back pack for LAPTOP????? They shape and size is similar to a laptop!!

Cheap eats for a short london stay: Part 2

This is the best possible arrangement for a 3-5day camp in a backpacker's hostel:

Breakfast - try to look for one which is provided.

Don't pay extra just to have BREAKFAST included. It is not worth it! Most of the time they just give you plain and watery coffee, and the cheapest possible housebrand cereals with milk. These are very very cheap stuff, and you might as well buy it from the supermarket! The exception will be "english breakfast" with sausages, baked beans, bacon eggs and coffee/tea/milk. This will be worth an extra few pounds, and give you a good start. If you are a vegetarian...hmmm .. forget it.

If breakfast is not provided, you might have:
1) Milk (£30pence/pint) + cereal (about £1.00 for a 500mg box if you buy housebrands like Tesco, Sainsburry etc) + coffee/other hot beverage, if you have access to kettle. You could buy those sachets about £2.20 for Nescafe's cappucino 10's packs and about £1.20 if you buy housebrand ) You will have filling breakfast for about £4.00, for 4-5 days at least.

2) Fruits(from markets) + yogurt (about 50 pence for a 500mg tub of housebrand, 25-40pence for a 150g).

3) Grab a sandwich for £0.90 to 3.00 from supermarkets or Boots (Boots pharmacy has yummy sandwiches too!). If you stay near Gloucester Road in South Kensington, go to the "SANDWICH shop"! I am sure your hostel people know the shop location, cos it is always packed with hungry backpackers and students from the nearby universities plus a smoothie/coffee etc for another £1.00

4) Look out for coffee plus croissant for £1.50 signs in shops. These are only for takeaways. However must warn you that this will not keep you full.

5) for an Asian treat, go to Malaysian hall at Queensborough terrace, very near Bayswater station for a nasi lemak (£2.50) or roti canai/prata (£1.10) and teh tarik (1.10).

6) Check out the 1.99 breakfast promotions for Mc D, Burger king or Benjy's.

7) Clearance!!-Around the closing time, supermarkets clear their food like ready to go meals and sandwiches for a fraction of their normal price. If you go past a supermarket at its closing time, be sure to check out their "reduced" shelf. Things can be dirt cheap sometimes. I got 8 slices of stuffed turkey which usually retails for about £5 for 20p before, and loaves of bread and sandwiches for 10p each.

Other cheap stuff for breakfast: Donuts (12p each) Cakes from Sainsburry basics (15 p for a chocolate roll, and about 25 p for a rather large slice of madeira cake), Biscuits! (Go for Marks a Spencer!= 49p for 400g of yummy yummy custard cream), make your own hard boiled eggs, if you got kettle. Eggs is about 10p each.

Finally, if you are a group of hungry people, just go to Tesco, grab a loaf of bread (about 50p), a box of ham (1.70 for 400g!) a packet of cheedar cheese (about 0,50p for 12). For about £3.00, you will have enough to last you through lunch for about 3 people.

Eating out in London is expensive!

For the average traveler, food bill can come up to quite a lot.

For a traveler who likes to eat, food bill can easily be as much as accomodation in some of the more expensive places. London is one of such places.

While we can travel off peak, like in this frosty winter and save on accommodation and flight bill, there isn’t much difference in foot bills. Most eating places in London starts from around £5 a meal. 3 meals out comes up to £15, easily not forgetting your snacks and water. The only way to save is avoid restaurants, and find a accommodation where you could do some simple food preparation, eg having a microwave oven and a small kitchenette. Food from supermarkets are cheap. Big box of cereal for about £1. 1.2 litre of ORGANIC milk for around £1 as well. I often joke that it is cheaper to drink milk than coke here. Bread is really cheap, and you can have all the varieties you would like, so is cheese, ham and sausages. If you prepare you own meals like sandwiches, you can feed yourself well for less than £5 per day, and spend the money shopping and seeing more of London!

Travel insurance: To buy or not to buy.

Travel insurance. To buy or not to buy?

The phrases: 'SOS international', "flown to Singapore", "evacuated" caught my eyes. Some lucky fellas (among all the unclucky ones), were actually flown to Singapore to get their treatment, instead of staying back in the crowded hospitals in Bali.

No, it is not that Singapore provide better treatment etc. It is the fact that they could get out of the place which hurt them into a safer place; the feeling of escaping from hell that is invaluable. I am sure the victims felt relieved when then were safely in a copter or plane, and knew that they are accompanied by capable medical professionals to another place where they can be healed, where family and friends can see them and provide them with all the love and support in those trying times. That is the priceless part of these emergency evacuations, other than the fact that sometimes, it does make a big difference in terms of medical treatment received.

One question came to my mind. Who foot the bill?
Come on. It is a copter with well-trained emergency doctors and pilots on board. Pick any among the three, and the "rent" or "salary" for a few hours is no small peanuts. Now you have a mini convoy... what is the bill? Ok, just guess how many digits. Five? Six? Four is impossible. Who paid? the government?

Government? OK. May be some governments have some "peanuts" to spare to lift you out. But what about the country which I am a citizen? Will I be "rescued"?

This thing is covered by most travel insurance! Yupp.... even ordinary citizens like us get a chance to have a mini Air Force One team should we get that unlucky.

Do Travel Insurance Cover terrorist acts?
Yes , many do! But read the fine prints. Either it is a good marketing strategy or conscience on the part of insurance companies, many include a clause of covering acts of terrorism, including biological and chemical warfare! Cool!!

Not long ago, I read in the local papers that travel insurance is one of the most lucrative policies for the insurance companies. I am sure all of us have parted with our hard-earned money in exchanged for a 'peace of mind'. After reading that article, I made up my mind about no more travel insurance for me, unless I go to the US, where a short visit to the local general practitioner can set you back by a decent sum.

Hmmm... with the terrorists getting so busy and yours truly refusing to stop travelling, it might be prudent to think of getting a travel insurance. I do not want to live in fear. But if something hit me badly, I want to be surrounded by my loved ones. Ok. I am shopping for my travel insurance next!