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Hah! About Time

28 Nov

Last night when we got back from dinner at a friend’s place in the city, I found that Candy Crush finally has the long awaited update for the iPad. Hah! About time, I thought and clicked on it.

Waiting, I mused over the casual dinner, smiling over the remark of the mismatched wine we all had. But does it matter? Food was hearty and delicious, company was great and ambience delightful, one can’t have it any better. Even M1 and M2 enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I suspect both have comatosed over dinner (and dessert) as they were very quiet in the car on the journey home. All in all, it’s a nice change to routine for a weekday.

And speaking of routine, not crushing candies on the laptop was suddenly an acceptable act. Honestly, I was getting tired of waiting for the update and having been stuck at Level 480 for sometime, the lengthy period has made the game lose some of its charm. Plus the fact that I only play it before going to the office and returning home does not help matter.

But oh! They are so smart this time, updating with two chapters instead of typically one! Yay. Maybe there is hope to reignite the challenge in me. Instead of just adding Sugary Shire (which I completed), Cherry Chateau (where I am stuck) has also been included. I guess I don’t have to rely on the laptop so much now until of course, I overcome 480 and come to the end of the Cherry Chateau chapter (Level 485).

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Stuck at 480 for sometime now

So let the crushing of candies continue. About time too, don’t you think?

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So Far So Good

25 Nov
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M1 did the Bahamas

The globe trotting project proved to be a hit! We decided that it should be in alphabetical order to make things easier; they just have to choose a country each. The second presentation was with more enthusiasm and even us adults learnt a few new things on the two countries, Bahamas and Belgium.

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Bahamas: a quick glance, thanks to M1

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M2’s contribution on Belgium

Sunday night, I reminded them on the project for the coming weekday and without hesitation, both girls discussed with much interest on the countries they’d like to do. Countries were rattled off… Chile, Canada, Cuba, Djibouti, Denmark, Egypt and until letter ‘N’!! Wow. In my mind, I was thinking, if the project was just 5-days for the weekday (resting on the weekends), this week, we would just end at letter ‘G’ but they went on and beyond that.

Never thought that this could be so engaging for them. Yes, I am pleased.

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Globe Trotting without Leaving

22 Nov

I was catching up with an old friend two days ago. She shared with me how her little boy has grown and how amazed she was at his ability and enthusiasm in learning new things. I thought her little game with him was a brilliant idea!

Then I thought, there’s six weeks of nothing doing for M1 and M2 if I chose to stay put this holidays. A typical day for them would be to wake up late and mess up their meal times, followed by couch potato acts with either the TV, iPod or laptop. Not very productive I must say.

What my friend did was to teach her son, each week, about a country in this world. He would learn the geography and landmarks of that country, and identify the country on the map. The fun part that she instilled upon him during the weekly project was to greet each other in the native language of the country, cook (or eat out) the food of the nation, listen to the songs and so on; basically immerse themselves into the culture and understand the country in question.

Now, if a little boy can do that, why not my two computer savvy girls? We could traverse the world and learn so much more without leaving the country!

So yesterday, I started the project albeit with some modifications for the girls. I reminded them before I left for the office in the morning. But I didn’t want to come across as a nag by calling them, so I messaged them about it. And last night they presented their findings to us. Although hubby was skeptical about it when it was mentioned, I think he was impressed too.

The country in question was Australia and this was what M1 and M2 presented to us.

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M1’s efforts

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More from M1

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M2’s version

 

It would be a daily thing instead of weekly to keep the interest up. Initially, both chose the same country but I think after the first presentation, both decided to choose different countries for the next day. Looking forward to their next effort!

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Not Quite an Addict

21 Nov

Candy Crush has not been updated for the last few weeks and these days, I find myself only playing it on the laptop at home – before heading to the office and when I return home. Somehow this arrangement made me realize I am not quite the addict I thought I was.

Lately I do not play the game at the office on the desktop although I must admit, I had played on my iPad Mini when the game was still playable then. But as I have progressed so far (at Level 476 now in Facebook on the laptop) and the update on the iPad has yet to happen, there’s no candy crushing in the office for awhile. But Zookeeper Battle still occurs… Heheheh.

To say that I will retire from the game are big words and quite a significant status change despite the discovery of not being quite the addict I thought I was. After all, I am a full-time candy crusher, semi-full time golfer and occasional graphic designer. What am I gonna do, addict or not?

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Oops! I Did It Again

15 Nov

Back from my back-to-back travels, it’s so nice to be home. Done with the customary hugs and kisses, I got back to my candy crushing ways. And what a welcome! I managed to finish the Sugary Shire chapter, completing Level 470 and awaiting tickets as I pen this. I guess I have not lost my candy crushing skills despite being away from the game for nearly two weeks.

King.com has just been so slow. Their last update on the iPad to the Butterscotch Boulders chapter (Level 455) was pointless for me because I had progressed along on the laptop to the subsequent chapter, Sugary Shire. And if they do update for the iPad, it will still be pointless for me again as I have finished this chapter.

So yea… I did it again, beating the game developer on the iPad. At this point in time, the game on Facebook ends at Level 500. It may or may not have more chapters, we shall see. But I think once I reach that level, I will officially retire from the game, whether the updates on the iPad come along or not. Will life be the same again? Hmm…

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Candy Crush on Hold

5 Nov

Candy Crush finally updated its app for the iPad (last Friday) but see I told you, I passed the chapter and it’s no use for me, I still have to wait for the next update.

It is indeed one chapter at a time and I am way ahead at the next chapter at level 466. Sigh.

Well, I am going to put it on hold for the next few days as things need to be prioritize, I have some serious golf games and fun ahead to be enjoyed.

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A Green Halloween!

1 Nov

Halloween came and went, and here we are in November already! My goodness, where did time go? Before you know it, the Christmas decors have to be out and up.

Halloween is a day old already but I’d like to write about it. I had posted several pictures (on Facebook) prior to it but never quite told the whole story, so here goes…

Two nights ago, I decided to indulge M1 and M2 with some Halloween fun. Now, in my country, pumpkins are very expensive because they are imported. Those huge ones specifically for the occasion are even more expensive. But a friend inspired me to use watermelons instead of pumpkins. At a fraction of a price from a pumpkin, why not? What a brilliant idea! Thanks B1, you’re a star too.

So, on our way home, I told hubby to go buy the two biggest watermelons that he can get his hands on. Thankfully, the sensibility in him landed us two decent sized ones, any bigger, we’d end up with watermelon overdose.

The girls were thrilled. We’ve never carved pumpkins nor watermelons before. But the occasion was met with zest. The fruit I must say was much easier to cut being all water inside, therefore easy for the knife the pierce through. The whole process took less than an hour. A quick research, an impromptu set up and not much of a mess was made.

They enjoyed themselves thoroughly and we ended up with 4 liters of fresh watermelon juice! Even Roo, official pet number one, enjoyed some juicy watermelon pieces. Subsequently, there were many suggestions given to maximize the watermelon juice, from making ice cubes to creating vodka cocktails, it sure was creative.

Let the pictures show you our carving efforts for Halloween this year. Given the final outcome, no one would have guessed our creations were made from watermelons and not pumpkins if it was not mentioned. Nonetheless, it’s the result that matters. Happy Halloween!

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The two unassuming eventual stars.

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M2 scrapping her melon.

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M1 outlining her melon.

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Off with the head for M1’s red melon!

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M2’s melon is complete!

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Work in progress for M1’s melon.

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Ready to be lighted.

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Tadaa… our creations!

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M2’s work of art.

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M1’s work of art.

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Life is Candylicious

29 Oct

Coming home from work yesterday, the first thing I did when I walked into the house was to flip open the MacBook Air to get my dose of Candy Crush. I told hubby, “Let me have five rounds before we go out again, ok?” and quickly went on with my crushing business.

Two rounds into the game, hubby called me on the mobile! “Hurry up.” I could hear impatience in his tone. I guess he was too annoyed to come upstairs to hurry me. I was in the midst of some exciting moments, overcoming two levels to arrive at 455. What’s even more exciting was that right after I wrote about my predicament, waiting for the release of the update on the iPad, I was on the verge to complete the Butterscotch Boulders chapter.

But the imminent going out was more important. So I had to leave the game to join hubby at the driving range to hit some dimpled balls.

The next morning, routine kicks in first with the iPad to check email, a round of Zookeeper Battle and then on to the laptop for another round of crushing candies. I couldn’t believe my luck! Level 455 has been conquered!!! And with a trophy and title to my efforts! Life indeed is candylicious.

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Just call me Cherry Sheriff!

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Life is Tough

28 Oct

Despite my candy crushing days now limited to just playing at home on the MacBook Air, I have made tremendous progress. JC, my closest rival, is still stuck at 445 whilst I have moved on to 453, two levels shy of completing this chapter. Two contenders from my list of friends have finally made their way to 442 and 441 respectively.

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Catch me if you can!

I now fret if I reach the end of this Butterscotch Boulders chapter (455 is the last level) and King.com decides to release the update for the iPad these few days, it is still no use for me as each time the updates are out, it is one chapter at a time. Either way, I face playing on the laptop to move forth or if I am still stuck and the release is not out before I reach 455.

Life is tough.

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Decisions, Decisions, Part 2

25 Oct

I had a prompt on my iPhone4 yesterday afternoon for an OS update to 7.0.3, which I did. But I have yet to update my iPad Mini! Should I update it or not at this point? The OS has had two updates ever since the new OS7 release came out, if I am not mistaken.

I must say ever since my phone was updated, I have mixed feelings about it. The color of the text bubbles still irks me but I appreciate the shortcuts especially to music and the torchlight.

I don’t like the passcode part every time I have to use my phone. What secret can there be when there you are, sitting next to someone (friend, family or even stranger), and they can see clearly what you key in to access!

Imagine having to do that every time I want to battle some zoo animals or crush some candies at the old levels. Pretty annoying, isn’t it?

It’s pretty obvious I love my iPad Mini for its easy access and how I have it the way I like it. I fear with the overhaul to OS7, I have to relearn to appreciate it. Sigh.

Decisions, decisions…

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