Archive | Activity RSS feed for this section

Back to the Pre-Candy Crush Era

20 Jan

Before I became a professional candy crusher, I was a farmer. I was so into farming, managing three farms simultaneously: Tap Ranch (renamed and upgraded to Dream Ranch HD now), Tap Ranch Lite and Snowy Tap Ranch, on my first gen iPad. All very different from Zynga’s FarmVille which was very popular then in Facebook. These farms appealed to me because I did not have to play online or rely on others to send me crops and things. In other words, I was a full-time independent farmer. At least that was what the girls labeled me, a farmer.

Whenever I was engrossed in the iPad, they will dutifully not disturb me because I was farming and concentration was needed to tend to my alfalfa and other crops as well as my animals. Ah… Those were the days.

Then Candy Crush struck and my status changed (I was a professional candy crusher). The farms were neglected and ignored as I crushed my way to the top of the candy saga. But my status changed again (I am now a retired professional candy crusher) at the strike of midnight into the new year. Last Friday, I downloaded yet another game from King.com to occupy my time because suddenly, I stopped reading (I don’t know why), Zookeeper Battle has not been holding my attention as much and I had deleted Papa Pear because of launch issues.

A sense of deja vu has struck because it’s a farm app: Farm Heroes Saga. Another saga to march on, like Candy Crush, but a farm, thus making me a farmer again.

Maybe I should change my status again to be a full-time farmer this time? Hmm…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Flavor of the Month

17 Jan

Of late, M2 has adopted a new approach to request for things. The persistency is what I call ‘Flavor of the Month’ whereby the star ice cream flavor is heavily promoted. In this context, the star item is constantly requested.

Whenever we go out, her persistent badgering never stops. So far, the ‘flavors’ that I can remember ranges from a hoodie jacket, Christmas lights, a beanie and a mini skateboard. The latest being a pair of sunglasses.

“Oh! Can I have sunnies?” she’d ask innocently and M1 would roll her eyes upon hearing this.

“Is this the flavor of the month?” I would ask.

She would beam at me and flash a grin, “Yup!”

I would then beam back at her and flash a grin, “Nope!”

Sometimes the cheekiness in her gets the better of her and she would point out, “Mommy, it’s flavor of the week! Last week, it was something else!”

How nice of her to remind me. Nonetheless, it’s a constant battle. I hope the request novelty wears off soon before I actually cave in.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Not Etched in Stone

13 Jan

Two things I discovered with the new year. Discovery number one: life can go on without Candy Crush. It’s been close to two weeks that I have not played the game at all, can you believe it? And I have been going about life and routine without any hiccups. The candy withdrawal has subsided and I have coped well, especially with the discovery of Nora Roberts online to occupy my time. Proud to say I am maintaining my retired professional candy crusher status.

Discovery number two: life can go on without caffeine. Last week, I did a five day detox and diet program that had me off my coffee and tea, food and sugar. It was all fruits and water for the first two days, followed by fruits, water and some protein and fiber for the next two days and by the last day, a slow introduction of a little bit of carbs, more fruits, water and ending with more protein and fiber. All this while, no coffee or tea, no sugar and no carbs. The cleansing of the innards felt good, the tummy shrank, the need for food was manageable and the dependency on caffeine was overcomed! Proud to say I shed 3kgs.

So things that I thought are etched in stone all this while may not necessarily be so.

Tags: , , , ,

Candy Withdrawal

6 Jan

Even since I completed Candy Crush at the end of last year and officially retired from it on January 1st, I feel as though I am experiencing some withdrawal symptoms. For five consecutive days, I have not played the game in Facebook on the laptop; although I still go in to help my fellow candy crushers by sending them lives and tickets, this does not count as playing. Even on the iPad, Dreamworld has lost its appeal. So what I am doing to occupy my time? I have been reading as there’s nothing else to play (besides Zookeeper Battle) before I go to sleep!

The last few nights, I decided to give my favorite author, Nora Roberts, my devotion again and have been reading the MacGregor series online into the wee hours of the night. Now I don’t know if this is good or not because in the mornings, I wake up with a splitting headache from a lack of deep sleep.

As a result, I feel grumpy. And irritated. And tired. Can’t be Nora’s fault since her books are always so captivating. Definitely withdrawal symptoms from lack of candies. Hrmph.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

A Promising Start

2 Jan

This new year brings many new changes. Firstly, I am proud to announce on the last day of 2013 (December 31st), I completed Level 515 of Candy Crush, the finale of the last possible level in the saga… until an update that is. It’s an achievement of sorts having been addicted to the game the whole of 2013 and starting the new year with a status change. I can now say I am a fully retired professional candy crusher.

Image

Got to wait for the next update!

But this status will change, of course, once King.com decides to release the update on both Facebook and on the iPad. You know me, die-hard candy crusher to the core.

Change number two: yesterday, I decided to update my iPad Mini to OS7! There’s no turning back at the point so gotta get use to it, ugly as it may be with the icons having gone 2D and flat. I figured if I had managed with my iPhone4 all this while, I should be able to handle my iPad Mini.

Change number three: the girls go back to school today. M1 is now in her final year in high school and M2 has gone on to Secondary school, the equivalent being junior high school. How time flies. It seemed like just yesterday when they were kindie-going and now I have two teenage girls.

I am sure there will be more changes to come and new situations to get used to but for now, these new changes indicate a promising start to the new year.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Shoe Queen

30 Dec

Within three days, I bought two pairs of shoes yet I remarked that hubby was more of a ‘Shoe Queen’ than me simply because his shoes were cluttering the shoe closet and there was just no more space for my newbies to reside.

Image

I can’t help it, they were on sale!

On Saturday night, I was looking at the shoe closet assessing the space, trying to figure out where to fit in my latest Rockport shoe and yet another pair of (Footjoy) golf shoes but men shoes were just hogging the space. Therefore, I commented “Aiyoh! Daddy is such a Shoe Queen!” to M1, who was seated nearby listening to the drama.

M1 sniggered at that comment; hubby denied the accusation and told me to count. So I did.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine! You have nine pairs of shoes in here!” I said incredulously.

“Wait… You count yours!” He shot back. And I did.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Heels do not count.” I said.

M1 was laughing non-stop and discreetly muffling the sound.

“How can you not count heels?” he demanded. “Aren’t they shoes too?”

Well, I guess if I do include them plus some from the next closet plus the rest outside, I guess I am the undisputed Shoe Queen. But still… he runs a close second.

Related articles

Tags: , , , ,

A Belated Gift

27 Dec

It’s Boxing Day and I had gone to play golf in the morning with the hubby. And obviously I did not open the laptop to play Candy Crush considering it’s an early morning tee off and we shouldn’t be late. But for the record, I have been stuck at Level 500 and it has been most frustrating. These pass few days, being the Christmas holidays with the festive mood, I am hardly working so I have been trying to conquer this level at every opportunity available.

Fast forward to the late afternoon. I came home from my golf outing and routine was normal, playing five unsuccessful rounds of Candy Crush on the laptop before moving back to the iPad for Zookeeper Battle and checking emails. Everything was normal; then in the evening, I reached for the laptop again and launched the game for my usual five attempts at Level 500 but suddenly, I find myself leap-frogged to Level 501!!! Surprised, shocked, taken aback, I couldn’t believe it!

Image

Notice the non-star at Level 500 and question marks for tickets?

Eh? What’s going on? I have been stuck at Level 500 for sometime but out of the blue or is it out of pity, I have been gifted with this! I have gone on to Level 501 without completing Level 500 and without even asking for tickets to go on to this latest chapter, Ice Cream Caves.

A belated Christmas gift? A computer glitch? A loyalty reward? Whatever it is, gee, thanks King.com! I just hope you don’t reverse what you just did for I have gone on to Level 506. A gift’s a gift, no taking back, belated as it may be.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Should I Do It?

26 Dec

As we countdown to the end of 2013, I am contemplating to just update my iPad Mini to OS7. I must admit I have gotten used to my iPhone4 by now with the new interface because it’s all conditioning with daily usage. But I still don’t like those ugly green and blue message bubbles.

My immediate concern is if I leave my iPad as is for too long, my eventual free update may not kick in. Is this a silly thought? Not very tech-savvy, huh? The other concern is more of an irritation than anything else. I simply don’t like those little red dot numbers sitting at the top right of an app. Yes, my Setting icon has the red dot with a number one in it.

The last concern is most of my apps are upgrading to the OS7 look and feel and if my iPad is still in OS6 mode, well… would things still work? Again, not very tech-savvy, huh? As it is, Papa Pear Saga is not working at all on the iPad.

So to squash all this unnecessary concerns, I should just do it, update my iPad Mini once and for all before the year ends!

Tags: , , , , ,

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

24 Dec

I cannot believe another year has gone by so fast! Wasn’t it just yesterday the whole family was visiting the US – the adults catching up with some of our dearest friends and the children seeing what I deem as my favorite places from my college days? Wait a minute, that was last year! Dang.

The past few days I was reminiscing about this time of the year and out of the blue, the song by Band Aid (Do They Know It’s Christmas?) popped into my mind! Wow. That was dinosaur years ago. Watching the music video when John Taylor (of Duran Duran) fleetingly appeared made my heart skipped a beat even after all these years. Sigh…

It’s such a classic and oldie now, that song.

This year I decided to host the family Christmas (eve) dinner, relieving my only sibling of this annual duty. I look forward to the usual happy, fun and boisterous occasion despite the reduced head count (the twins are away in college and the younger niece, at camp). The tree is up, the presents are in place, the wine chilled and the food prepared with love. This time of sharing will no doubt be cherished.

This year has been significant for me, in many aspects of my life. For starters, I tried Candy Crush (in March) out of curiosity and look what happened? I became so addicted to it, I qualify to be called a professional candy crusher. I also started this blog (in June) and have been going strong ever since. With 4,851 views and more than 200 ‘Likes’ so far, I must be doing something right.

This year also marked my M1 turning Sweet 16 and my M2 fairing well in her UPSR exam. Children aside, Hubby and I traveled a fair bit—not to new destinations—but to near and far and enough to keep our sanity in check to balance up the work stress that we face daily.

And this year I made more new friends compared to any past given year. Pretty unusual but then again, golfing friends are a unique breed and it’s nice that it has developed into wonderful friendships over many outings and dinners beyond the fairways and greens. I also rekindled old friendships, thanks to technology for making the world smaller and reachable. For all these, I feel truly blessed and yeah, it’s been a significant year for me.

So I’d like to end this significant year by wishing all—from the bottom of my heart—a happy Christmas and a merry New Year in its truest sense! Hope your 2013 was equally significant for you to reflect back in years to come with fond memories and a smile on your face.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It Ain’t Over

20 Dec

I thought my candy crushing days met its end four days ago when I reached Level 500 in Facebook. Thinking I would take my time to do so, I had not been opening the laptop to attempt to finish it. After all, the updates have been really slow especially on the iPad.

But this morning I was surprised to see, in Facebook on the laptop, the saga has continued until Level 515! Yay.

I guess it ain’t over! And ever since I have been having problems launching the Papa Pear Saga on my iPad, it’s back to crushing candies for me.

Related articles

Tags: , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →