20601

Ok, my break was ordering tea. Speaking of which, Teh Tarik is the local milk tea here, literally meaning "Pulled Tea" since the tea is sloshed from glass to container back and forth to be mixed. I'm not having that at the moment since I'm at the hotel lobby using my friend's laptop... but well, I had to think of a different post title, since this is actually the post about Murphy's Law, and not the last one.

Ok. #4. Why I hate Etrade.
So, previously, I have always travelled with my Citibank atm card, and I have never ever had any trouble using any ATMs. This time, I carried my Etrade one thinking they woulnd't actually charge bank fees (only 1% foreign currency charge as opposed to a way way higher number). I did not bring my citi atm card thinking well, the less i carry the better.

So, on Wednesday, when I went to get money from the ATM with Phoi and Judy, it gave me an error. I was like, oh, what luck. They told me they had to inform their bank before travelling to malaysia, so maybe Etrade blocked the transaction thinking it might be stolen. So I was like, okay oh well, I suppose I will call them. That was 5pm. Etrade does NOT have a 24-hour number. The 24 hour number direct you to their office, which is closed from midnight to 7am ET. And that was 5am ET. I was pissed.

Anyway, thankfully Phoi was a nice sugarmommy and lent me money when I went to get a foot massage and bought a pair of cute shoes (only RM45!). That night, I called Etrade and I got an unfriendly agent who kind of sounded like he was questioning my intelligence about why I didn't call when my transaction didn't go through. I was like, you were closed. He went, we are open from 7am to midnight. I was like, yeah. You were closed, I am in Malaysia, and it was 5am ET when I was at the ATM. He went, ooh, the time difference. And then he did not help me at all, basically saying that there shouldn't be any reason why I can't use my card. And then he went, why are you withdrawing funds from Etrade financial. I am like, erm, coz I need to use money? I am travelling?? (Why is that even a relevant question) then he was like oh, right. It was retarded. Then he basically concluded it was my fault and maybe I should try another ATM from another bank, and if it doens't work I should call them again right there. I was like, ok, I will try.

Then I walked to the ATM closer to the hotel, and they were both busted. The closest other one was back at the mall, and I was like, shit, I'm not walking 15min back there at night by myself just to verify some dude's theory about MY user error. So I decided, maybe I could just cash advance from my credit card, whatever, at this point I dont' care. Then I realized I didn't have my PIN number. So I had to call my mastercard, to try to set it. Everything went smooth, until it asked for my checking acoount number that I normally use to pay for the credit card. I was like, urm... I don't know, it's not something I memorize you know. So I found a person to talk to, and they said they can't help me since PIN numbers aren't something they can override, it is all auto-generated and that I can set it immediately if I use the automated phone service(to avoid fraud I suppose, which is good). Which means now I have to get to a internet cafe, to find out my checking account number and try again.

And then today came along. We had our race, came back at noon, and I finally had a chance to look for an internet cafe that wasn't obvious (they really don't have signs here for the internet cafe, it's really weird). I finally found one after wandering around for lunch with Judy and Phoi, wrote down the number, and called collect again (thank god for my usable mobile phone here with my awesome hotlink prepaid sim card) and entered my checking account number.... and then it asked for it again... and then it said it will mail me a pin in 7 days. I was like what? I need it now! So I found another person to whine to, and they concluded that the reason why the automated phone service was confused, was that I never set a pin in the first place, and that service only works if you had a pin, forgot, and wanted to chnage it oer the phone. CRAP. @#$#. Murpy's Law was starting to go "haha" in my head. The citi mastercard lady was really helpful though, unlike the Etrade jerk, because she suggested that I could go to a local citibank branch, present my passport and they will let me have money even if I don't have a PIn. So i was like, YES!!! And then took off to the citibank branch 15min away (I tried their atms before, at which I found that my particular Etrade debit error was 20601, which I will yell at the guy later tonight... i didn't think of talking to a clerk there for cash advance, but I wouldnt' have had my passport on mem anyway). I got there, explained my situation, and the lady regrettably informed me that, the bank was closed at 4pm. I looked at my watch, and it was 4:10pm. GARARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. That was item #6. At this point I am resigned to not being able to get at any money until I leave Malaysia. I have over RM200 left and if I need anymore my friends here are more than willing to lend me some. At this point, it's not even about the $ (as Phoi said it's not like SHE is broke as well) but it's like a hurdle that I must go through now that smacked me so many different ways. I just want to get the thrill of being able to get as much money as I want from a Penang ATM, laugh like an evil villain, totally spent it whever I want (like I could spend that much here... the 45min foot/shoulder massage was RM30), like a crazy woman. Or even if I don't spend it, I will enjoy taking out the cash, and then selling it back at the airport, JUST BECAUSE I CAN. Screw you Etrade. I love you for your interest rate and you beat me with your shitty customer service.

I did not detail all of the other small trips I went to make sure that it wasn't the local bank's fault. Or that the ATM's were out of cash, that it was something with Etrade and that it is condition 20601.

Anyway, I have to write about the racing later coz my fingers hurt and Judy and Phoi came back down to check on me. They probably thought I fainted onto the laptop since urm, I have been here for LONG time writing like 3 trillion words.

Tomorrow, I'm just racing in the morning as well. It was fun to see all the differen teams there... a few Russian teams, Czech teams, German teams, lots of Asian teams like Thai, Singapore, Malay, HK, Macau... and even an Iranian team! :)

More later.