Im not so lucky today because the Alligators from the Bureau Customs at the EMS Philpost branch at Pasay along Domestic road taxed me at almost 50% of the cost of what i’ve paid for my items ordered via Play-asia.

These are the items that i ordered :
World of Warcraft Series 2: Dranei Paladin: Vindicator Marrad - Deluxe Collector Figure (US) : US$ 34.90 (~1,557 PHP)
World of Warcraft Series 2: Gnome Warrior - Sprocket Gyrospring Figure (US)  US$ 19.90 (~888.34 PHP)

Sum US$ 54.80 (~2,446 PHP)

Shipping US$ 23.90 (~1,066 PHP)

Total US$ 78.70 (~3,513 PHP)

——————–

This is not the first time I ordered via Playasia. I ordered a copy of Hellgate London back in december, Super smash bro’s brawl for wii in May and Orange box 2 weeks prior to my World of Warcraft collectibles order. I ordered Hellgate London and Smash bro’s brawl via Fedex then Super Smash bro’s brawl via UPS. Then with the collectibles, the first time i ordered via EMS. All of those were tracked shipping options. I only googled for the process of EMS shipping a couple of days after i placed and paid for my order, when the tracking system told me that the package is shipped and is already in the Philippines currently being processed. Google results told me that all EMS shipments are dropped at the Philpost office in Pasay along Domestic road. Next, I googled for Philpost and my query was rewarded with results pointing to complaints about missing packages, stolen goods and goods that had their beautiful packaging sliced open horribly… some of them still have their contents intact, some barely and some… of course gone. Paranoia sets in.

I received the notification card from Philpost yesterday - the package is in the Philpost office along the Domestic Road (Pasay, Philippines) and that i should pick it up there though I expected that they will deliver it to my house (The hotline that i called told me that they dont have enough logistic assets to do so).  Rode a taxi on my way there and gave the Philpost grumpy grandmas my tracking number then told me to wait for the grumpy grandpas to call my name. It didn’t take that long for my turn. They opened the package in front of me and there they are… My precious Dranei Paladin and my Gnome Warrior collectibles. Included in the package was a photocopy of the Play-Asia invoice that the customs official inspected and almost automatically, i was told that i had to pay importation taxes for them. The amount that the customs officer calculated (out of her head) is PHP 1,406.00 tax which is around US $30-ish. And the Shipping fee that i already paid for with my transaction with Playasia is included in the computation slip (Not sure if it’s included in the computation itself, but with the bad penmanship,yes it was written on a scratch paper, it’s almost impossible to tell.). I only had 1,000 PHP with me so i asked them if i can pay via credit card (which was also a bad idea for me, but it was an act of desperation to get “my precious-es”) but i was told that they only accept cash. looks like i have to go half-day on office again tomorrow because they don’t entertain shipment reception during weekends.

I dunno if the computatuon importation fees for my order was legit or if there was some sort of corruption involved, but one lesson i learned from this : DONT order via EMS when you live in the Philippines, who’s shipment gets dropped to Philpost, customs and eventually corruption. If you did, you are not alone… just check ebay discussions, apparently this has been the case for Thousands who ordered stuff online. Most of them got spared, though. from the discussions, there’s only 10% chance of getting snaked by customs. Depends if the customs office already met their “quota”.

Btw. I am ordering a GTX280 this week and it would cost me approx USD $450.00, i hope the customs official won’t go greedy-mode on me again.

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The Latest Patch for Mass Effect (PC) fixes a few bugs and also added support for downloadable content. The Latest Mass Effect patch can be downloaded here :

Download Mass Effect patch 1.01


Size 34.90 MB (36,594,024 bytes)

The DLC titled “Bring Down the Sky” can be downloaded here
Download Bring Down the Sky - Mass Effect DLC
Instructions for Mass Effect DLC Installation

Mass Effect 1.01 Patch Changes
Update 1.01

* added some infrastructure support for additional downloadable content
* updated the image of the Batarian race in the codex
* fixed an issue where the center channel for hardware audio wouldn’t play correctly sometimes
* fixed an issue where the hardware mouse pointer would disappear when first selected
* fixed an issue where Shepard did not auto-crouch when entering cover in some places
* fixed a tool-tip indicating a game restart is needed before enabling hardware or software audio if the option was changed
* fixed an issue where ambient conversation would not be heard from rear speakers sometimes
* fixed a text string to make it clearer on how to exit a vehicle
* fixed a text string so the tool top for dragging the map is clearer in French languages builds

Mass Effect Configuration Utility

* fixed a crash running on certain multi-core AMD systems
* fixed an issue where video RAM was not being reported properly on certain cards

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RED ALERT 3 QUESTION AND ANSWER (FAQ) BATCH 10


1. Will engineers be able to capture fallen mechs? -evilconker

Sort of. Natasha has the ability to shoot the pilots out of most vehicles by using her secondary ability. Her steady hand can essentially kill the driver of the vehicle, while leaving the vehicle itself intact and ripe for the picking. Any nearby infantry soldier can then run over to the disabled vehicle and gain control of it.

2. What are the squares/blocks around the buildings when u build them? -lee999

That’s a simple feedback system that we’ve improved from Red Alert 2 that’s used to indicate the state of buildable areas under and around the building. White squares around the building indicate areas that are OK to place the structure onto. If a grid appears red, that means you won’t be able to place that structure down on that grid (it might be impassable terrain, occupied by a pre-existing structure, etc). If the grids appear green underneath your structure, you’ll be able to construct that structure.

3. Does the Dolphin have the same primary weapon as it did in RA2? -LoDoubt

Yes, the Dolphins in Red Alert 3 employ a very similar weapon as their cousins in Red Alert 2 — amplified echolocation. As for the Dolphins’ secondary ability, they’re able to leap out of the water for a short period of time, in the process avoiding any torpedoes or other enemies that may be targetting them.

4. If an allied conyard packs up, does it carry its researched tech tier wherever it goes, or does it vanish when it redeploys? -dky

It depends. An Allied Conyard can pack up into an MCV and move around to a different location and still be able to grant production structures its researched Heightened and Max Clearance tiers, but only if those structures are within the build radius of that Conyard. If the MCV moves beyond this build radius, the production structures will lose those Clearance levels. Allied forces use a very powerful encryption method when transmitting those Clearance levels from the Conyard, but a noteably short range is a downside of that encryption technology.

5. Can allies use powers on each other? For example, using the Cryocopter shrink ray on your allies units, or using the iron curtain on your allies units. -chakakhan800

Absolutely. Units that are shrunken by the Cryocopter can get a significant speed boost, so you can do things like place an Engineer in a Riptide ACV and then shrink it, and then zip it across the map to capture neutral or enemy structures faster than would be otherwise possible.

6. Are we gonna see C&C3 style pics on the sidebar, or Generals/Red Alert 2 style pics? -uri

The unit and structure buttons on the sidebar in Red Alert 3 will be stylized to look like a graphic novel, so in that sense, they’re closer to the look of the buttons in Commnand & Conquer 3 than those in Generals or Red Alert 2, which were more photorealistic.

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