Mark Choon

I’ve been a user of DBS Internet banking for quite some time now and I’ve always found it very easy and straightforward to use.

The only problem is recently, I tried to login to my account but have been unsuccessful.
So I called up the customer service and was subsequently told the PIN I entered was wrong. Well I was sure that the PIN I used was the right one initially but nevertheless I followed the customer service officer’s advice to request for a new PIN. And so I did.

About a week later I received the new PIN and finally got down to logging in. I was hoping for it to be without any hiccups but alas, it was not to be. I was still getting the same error message, with the new PIN that was sent to me. So I called in again.

I was put on hold for maybe 10 to 15 mins compared to the almost instantaneous response I got the previous round. (Maybe cos its already so late at night).
Once I got through, I explained the situation. The kind customer service officer then asked me to login again. I did and this time it went through! I was like… huh? All the same credentials but it worked this time.

So I asked what happened to my account and she told me that my Internet Banking device was not synchronized to my account. Hmm… now my question is… how come this wasn’t done earlier when I requested for the new PIN and.. why and how did it get unsynchronized in the first place?

Ah well I’m still glad it finally worked. Hope there won’t be a repeat of this again in the future.

Yesterday, I received an email via myBlogLog from a new social bookmarking site, inviting me to join for free.

According to the email, “SocialMatic is a Social Bookmarking site, which not only allows users to submit and share their bookmarks but also help them to submit their bookmarks to 12 more popular bookmarking sites. In another words, it actually helps to drive more traffic and exposure for your site, and save your time from submitting to other social bookmarking site. ”

Being curious, I took a look at the site.

At first look, the color schemes, especially the highlighting, really reminds me of internet marketing sites selling informational products.
I tried looking around for an About Us page to try to find out who and where this service was developed, but only managed to find the text for it. There is no active link to the About Us page! Sigh…

Now that really got me curious, so I did some investigation on the domain name and domain ip. I found out that the domain name was registered on GoDaddy and the site itself was hosted on a US server. So is this site and service from the US?

Next, I registered myself. Now here’s the interesting thing. After registering, I received the autoresponder message. There was an Aweber link in it to confirm registration. *cue alarm bell for internet marketing technique*

 That’s not what was interesting though.

What was interesting was the address at the end of the email.

“Thank You,
Socialmatic Team

Socialmatic
20 Maxwell Road #09-17
Maxwell House
Singapore 069113″

WOW! Socialmatic is from Singapore!

Anyway I’ll give Socialmatic a try. Having another avenue to get traffic is always welcomed! I haven’t found out how to use it yet though. Wonder if there’s any widget like BlogCatalog, BlogRush and myBloglog. Just had to blog about it after being unable to find any mention of it on Ping.sg.

I wonder, could this be the new Digg.com or Del.icio.us of the internet?

This is a really really pink ang pao box that wifey made for a friend. It is a very nice ang pao box even though its soooo pink. Had to squint just looking at it. Anyway I think this box is rather unique with the flowers on the top corner and the patterned border. Only drawback at having such a nice angpao box is when needing to retrieve the angpaos inside, one would need to cut through the box. Sigh…

Here’s the front view:

Here’s the side view. Note the pattern on the side. 
Embellishments adding a touch of uniqueness to the box.

Anyone who needs custom angpao boxes, check out http://thingsneeded4wedding.multiply.com

To express love for someone, it is not the complicated things or gifts that will touch a person’s heart.

Many times, it is the simplest of things done in a very thoughtful, loving and caring manner that actually accomplishes such a goal.

Hence the inspiration behind this simple design - a heart of love encompassing the name of the loved one.

 The engraving was done on a single champagne flute from WMF. A very elegant looking and well balanced glass.

Here’s a close up of the engraving on the champagne flute.

I think this is one of the most special occasions where I’ve engraved a gift set for.

It is for a birth of a baby girl named Lara.

Usually, I do not do very rushed jobs but the importance of such an occasion motivated me to get this done in a short timespan. I received the request on one day, popped down town to get the glasses the next, and engraved the following. It was very fortunate for the requestor that it was a weekend which I was relatively free.

The request was to have the letters making up the baby’s name to be engraved on a champagne flute each. I came up with 4 sets of monogram designs using some very interesting fonts.

I started out with simple font designs to more elaborate ones.

Guess which the requestor chose?

She chose the second set. My preference was the fourth but I guess it could have been too ornate for her.

Anyway, here’s the final product.

Glasses used were Schott Zwiesel champagne flutes. Diva range if I remember correctly… 

Girl has cat.

Guy likes girl.

Guy takes a photo of sleeping cat.

Guy sends it to me.

I put the cat on a wine bottle.

Guy impresses the girl with the beautiful special birthday present.

Here’s Sleeping cat on a wine bottle…

I wonder how many people still remember the anime series, Inuyasha.

I think that series had 4 movies and 300+ episodes??

I was an ardent fan of it a couple of years back and so my enthusiasm was raised a notch when I received an email requesting a pair of wine glass for a gift to a wedding couple. The design included in the email was a very romantic pic of Inuyasha and Kagome, in wedding suit and gown, kissing. Very fitting for a wedding present. I hope the couple likes the anime series.

 Single shot of the full glass.

 The pair:

Ok this is a long overdue post for a mother’s day gift I was asked to make.

Make a guess, what cartoon character the mum who was supposed to receive this gift liked…

HELLO KITTY!

I think this is my 3rd hello kitty dear daniel engraving. And I think I’m getting better.

Here’s the final product. Hello Kitty fans….Enjoy!

Dear Daniel in his spiffy suit….and spiky hair!

And here comes the bride…. Hello Kitty in her gown..

 And now the couple together…

This is the first time I’m engraving on WMF glasses. Very nice glasses. Clear, smooth and has a good weight to it.