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Different Again!

22 Sep
Notice the presence of jellybeans inside the trapped areas?

on FB: Notice the presence of striped candies inside the trap areas?

on the iPad: notice the non-existence of jellies in the same area!

on the iPad: notice the non-existence of candies in the same area!

I stopped playing Candy Crush on the laptop for a while because I didn’t need the aggravation from Level 677. The level is just so hard, living up to its name as the hardest level ever. Rather than torturing myself, I figured I should just take a break from it and especially so when I have been busy with work lately. But last Friday, after a stressful week, I decided to go into the game on the iPad just to help friends with lives.

Out of the blue, I leapfrogged to Level 677 when clearly there was no update (on the iPad) to open up Crunchy Courtyard. Surprise! Surprise! Since I moved, I might as well play the five rounds.

But I discovered the board looked different on the iPad compared to the board in Facebook on the laptop! So much more difficult, it is obvious King.com has not been on top of things. Until they fix it, I should avoid the game on the iPad at least.

A little note: King.com has fixed the problem for the iPad before the weekend was over.

Should I or Should I Not?

19 Sep

Apple recently launched its new phones and OS. Now I am wondering should I upgrade (so soon again) when I had just upgraded not too long ago to my current iPhone5S? Several months back, my iPhone4 gave up on me and I had no choice and couldn’t wait for the new phones. How can one live without a phone?

Looking at the situation, it is most likely I will not change as I have already gotten used to my phone. But I am wondering whether to update the OS or not. I recall griping over the OS and how ugly it was especially over the message bubbles but in time, I have gotten used to it (the bubbles) and the OS. It was radical then the jump from OS6 to OS7 but with the new OS8, reviews have said it is not that radical an update but there are features that are promising, so maybe… perhaps it’s best to let the few million Apple users be the guinea pig first before I make a decision.

Then again, with Farm Heroes’ latest update, it seems to be rather unstable especially on the iPad. Although the fix was for a notification bug and nothing related to preparing it for the new OS8, it’s acting up and causing unnecessary loss of lives to play. If this continues, I may not wait for the millions of guinea pigs’ feedback and just update the OS on the iPad.

Chat

One Tough Cookie

16 Sep

Level 677 of Candy Crush is one tough cookie. I have been stuck here for sometime and has somehow lost the energy for the game. A quick check on Candy Crush Wiki listed it as THE one and it is certainly living up to its name. The appeal and determination has waned tremendously as I no longer reach for the laptop the moment I wake up to crush some candies first thing in the morning.

On top of this, I have also lost my mojo for Farm Heroes and even Zookeeper Battle, can you believe it? Could it be I have been busy with design work at the office that these distractions have taken a back seat? I suspect so…

Hopefully, projects in the office can be completed soon so that I can regain my focus to pass Level 462 of Farm Heroes, beat Level 677 of Candy Crush and get back into the top ranking in Zookeeper Battle.

Staying Busy

11 Sep

OldParr2Progress in Candy Crush has hit a snag in Crunchy Courtyard. I was happy when the app finally opened in Facebook on the laptop and was quickly breezing through the levels but now find myself stuck at Level 677. Eeesh. Initially I thought it was a good alternatively to Farm Heroes when I was stuck at (the Farm’s) Level 451. But now… Sigh.

Farm Heroes’s Level 451 took me sometime to get through and when I finally did, happiness was shortlived as I got stuck at Level 454. Last week, there was so much frustration attempting these games, I decided to stop them for a breather and just stay away from my devices. Turning to my Old Parr bottles to paint, I finally completed the two bottles that I had painted the base earlier. Upon completion, I gave the bottles to my friend in exchange for another two bottles to continue this soothing activity when aggravation kicks in as far as my games are concerned.

Then, as always, when you least expect it, success! Managed to pass Level 454 but stuck at Level 460 now. Maybe I should stick to painting the four bottles that I have awaiting me.

Strange Updates

4 Sep

The last three updates for Candy Crush on the iPad were very strange with the earlier two saying Bonkers Bakery was opening but I don’t see it. I scrolled and look, thinking I may have missed something and even jumped over to Dreamworld to check but nothing and find myself still at the end of Fizzy Falls.

Could it be the new chapter after Fizzy Falls? On Facebook, I have completed Fizzy Falls a while back and the new chapter, Crunchy Courtyard, finally opened on Facebook last night. So Bonkers Bakery is indeed not the new one but a quick check again on Candy Crush Wiki listed Bonkers Bakery in Dreamworld. Oh well, I stopped playing Dreamworld for sometime already.

Back to Crunchy Courtyard, I quickly obtained my tickets and am now at Level 677, which is a good thing because Level 451 in Farm Heroes has proved to be the mother of all frustrations! Stuck there for so long, Candy Crush is now providing solace.

So Silly of Me

28 Aug

Of late Farm Heroes cannot be played on my iPad and I didn’t know why until two nights ago. My device was running so slow as if it’s low on juice. A quick check on the Monitor app (something I should have done earlier) showed that I had 7Gb free memory left to run. No wonder the iPad was so slow! And it has not been turned off for the last 42 days. Totally drained.

So I did a complete switch off, counted to ten and switched it on again.

And out of the blue, I tried Farm Heroes again and tadaa! The app works fine now. I never knew… so silly of me. Looks like the iPhone4 goes back to the bedside.

Chat

Taking a Break

22 Aug

I decided to take a break today from all my iPad games, reads, kids, work and just go play golf and hang out with my golf buddies. It’s been a busy and stressful week, I think I kinda deserve the break.

Reading is Good

21 Aug

Zookeeper3I have forgotten how wonderful it is to read when my being glued to my games on the iPad consumes much of my free time. The author, Jennifer Probst, is enjoyable and creates vivid imagination with her style of story-telling! In two days, I have finished one book already and onto the second read.

Being stuck at Level 440 in Farm Heroes and Candy Crush turned out to be a blessing in disguise. For two days, I totally left my games, partly to enjoy the book I am reading and also to focus my energy on the book project that I am working on. When I went back to tackle Farm Heroes, taking a short break from reading, it was with renewed determination and I did it! Now, I face my nemesis, Rancid, at Level 441.

And the last two days, Candy Crush released its new chapter Fizzy Falls on Facebook. But this time, it required tickets for me progressed on from Glazed Grove to it; so I had to patiently wait for my fellow candy crushers to help me. And help they did. Thanks!

I guess reading has been good for I accomplished a lot. Even at work, the book project has progressed on smoothly. And… and… in Zookeeper Battle, I broke into the top ten thousand world ranking!!! Best ever position: 7938. A big yay to all these.

Back to Reading

19 Aug

The wait is unbearable for Candy Crush to open its new chapter on Facebook and Level 440 in Farm Heroes has been one tough nut to crack. On top of this patient-testing situation, I started a new book design project at the office and this has been consuming a lot of my thought process and time. So much has to be considered for the overall aesthetics of this 120-page book to look spectacular.

I need a distraction to destress but the situation of my games is not helping. Even with Zookeeper Battle, I can’t seem to focus despite peaking at 11,700 in world ranking.

So I decided to go back to reading. And for the first time, Nora Roberts is not keeping me company but another author, whom I discovered at the bookstore over the weekend. Jennifer Probst.

It’s been a good distraction so far.

A Predicament of Sorts

18 Aug

Last Friday, Farm Heroes had an update for the iPad. Thinking the instability issue that I was having might be resolved, I updated but it was a grave mistake.

The app is even worse – I can’t even go pass the orange landing page to launch! Oh dear… Oh dear… because of this, I now have to carry my old iPhone4, along with my iPhone5S and iPad Mini around.

Looking like a geek who needs two phones to be connected, I never understood these people and found them amusing. A separation of work and personal connectivity?

And now here in my case, I have joined geek-dom as I need the extra phone just to have extra lives to play Farm Heroes to bring the sheeps to the hay in Level 440.

While being a farmer has its issues and challenge, crushing candies provided some solace. The wifi at home improved somewhat and just enough for me to work on Glazed Grove over the weekend. Happy to say, I completed this chapter and now, while waiting for yet another new chapter to open on Facebook, Farm Heroes is the continued focus.