Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2015

"Photography has the power to bring people together from all over the world."

Currently Olympus Corporation is having an Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2015 that is open to everyone, from amateurs to professionals, using any photographic device from smartphones to interchangeable lens DSLR cameras, of any brand.

The contest accepts entries until 11:00 am, Friday, 20 November 2015 (Japan time).

To participate, you need to go to the contest website and register for an account, then upload your photo into the appropriate category from:

  • Birth
  • Place to preserve
  • Smiles and laughter
  • Macro
  • Art
Each entrant may submit up to 5 photo entries for each theme, and each submitted photo must be in JPEG format and be 15MB or smaller.

In the contest website, you can also view all the photo entries already participated in this contest.
 
The Grand Prize winner will be awarded the latest Olympus PEN camera and lens, along with 1,000,000 Japanese yen (about US$8,350).

There will be 14 additional prizes given out per theme, and a Viewers' Raffle will be held with an additional 301 winners, totaling to 372 winners.


Sunday, October 11, 2015

My NutriBullet Pro 900 Series 900W Superfood Nutrition Extractor - more than just a blender

I purchased this NutriBullet Pro 900 Series 900W Superfood Nutrition Extractor online at the price of slightly more than RM200 a few months ago.


Its packaging box is quite thin, therefore you can see its corners got dented a bit along the way with the courier service when the online merchant sent it to me. Anyhow, the content inside is not hurt.

Unboxing this NutriBullet Pro 900 Series, you will find...


  • 1x high-torque NutriBullet power base
  • 2x tall cups (24 oz), one with handled lip ring and another with regular lip ring
  • 1x short cup (18 oz)
  • 1x colossal cup (32 oz)
  • 1x flip-top to-go lid
  • 2x stay-fresh resealable lids
  • 2x stainless steel extractor blades
You can also find 3 books inside...
  • 1x NutriBullet Pocket Nutritionist
  • 1x NutriBullet User Guide & Recipe Book
  • 1x NutriBullet Life Changing Recipe Book
This NutriBullet is not like other blender or juicer in the market.

Firstly, it is equipped with a much more powerful 900-watt (1.2 HorsePower) motor, which is able to spin its specially designed stainless steel extractor blade at the speed of 25,000 RPM. This fast action can break down, while pulverizing, all the thick and tough skins, stems and seeds of the nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables which contains all the essential nutrients hidden within it.

Secondly, its bullet-shape design with overturned cup in action produces a cyclonic action that break the pulp, skin, seeds, and stems of the plants down into tiny drinkable particles.

Therefore, its chewing, juicing, or blending result can't be rival by ordinary blenders. Ordinary blender just able to mix all the food items you put in it without breaking down into finer particles or smoothening it. This makes it to leave out pulp and fiber as a waste when you run the mixture through a strainer. The blender is fit to make a thinned out smoothie. NutriBullet on the other hand, leaves no residue of the food particles when you run the juice through a strainers as it pulverizes the food particles and converts it into a pulpy rich smoothie that is filled with nutritional value. It offers you a Nutriblast drink that is rich in fiber and nutrition.

With it, I can make delicious soups, juices, dressings, desserts, ice-creams, dips, sauces, peanut butter, baby foods, etc. There are quite a lot of NutriBullet recipes available in the Internet. There are also a few NutriBullet cook books available in the bookstores.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Zero fee for MEPS Interbank Funds Transfer (IBFT) service from 1 Oct 2015 to 31 Dec 2015

There are generally 2 ways to perform interbank money transfer in Malaysia using either online banking, mobile banking or ATM machine.

One way is using the Interbank GIRO (IBG) service provided by Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation Sdn Bhd (MyClear). The transaction will take time from a few hours (if the transfer is made early in the morning before 9.30am of the same day) to a few days (if the transfer is made over the weekend or holiday) for clearance. The fee per transaction is RM0.11 including GST.

Another way is using the Interbank Funds Transfer (IBFT) service provided by Malaysian Electronic Payment System Sdn Bhd (MEPS). Unlike IBG, IBFT money transfer is real time and does not need to wait that long time for clearance. The fee per transaction used to be RM1.06 including GST, and has been reduced to RM0.53 including GST from June 2015 onwards.

Now there is even better news for using IBGT. The transaction fee is completely waived, and therefore no GST incurred as well, within the promotional period from 1 October 2015 to 31 December 2015.


Note that this zero fee IBGT promotion is applicable to online banking and mobile banking only. The IBGT done using ATM machine still has a normal fee of RM0.53 including GST per transaction.

Currently, there are 15 banks that offer IBFT instant fund transfer service via their Internet Banking website. They are:
  • Agrobank
  • Affin Bank
  • Alliance Bank
  • Bank Islam
  • Bank Muamalat
  • Bank Rakyat
  • CIMB Bank
  • Citibank
  • Hong Leong Bank
  • Kuwait Finance House
  • Maybank
  • OCBC Bank
  • Public Bank
  • RHB Bank
  • Standard Chartered Bank
There are 6 banks offering IBGT instant fund transfer service via their Mobile Banking service through Android and/or iOS apps. They are:
  • Bank Islam
  • CIMB Bank
  • Citibank
  • OCBC Bank
  • Public Bank
  • Standard Chartered Bank
Source: MEPS zero fee IBFT promotion webpage.

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