My three-year-old iPad Mini5 has always been my go-to device at home instead of my iPhone for games, news, and movies. The game I have been playing a lot is Homescapes, having downloaded the game a year later after getting the iPad and playing daily.
But yesterday, I found I could not progress further! I have completed Level 15350, and Level 15351, in black and white, is not ready. Wow. Perhaps the timing is right with this pause because I find myself staring at my device too much if I am at home.
What do I do now that my favorite game has stalled? Hmm, I should revert to crafting my miniatures! That’s what I should do – something to consider and rethink my dependency on the iPad at home.
We have been having some inconsistent weather lately. Last week, when we returned from the East Coast, we came back to strong winds and pelting rain.
Luckily, we were home already when the weather changed for the worse. It was scary as the tall trees in the area were swaying spinelessly with noisy leaves rustling, and the rain was pounding the windows. Our garden bamboo blinds were flapping like crazy. It was alarming, but we could not do anything.
The next day, we discovered the wrath of Mother Nature when we surveyed the garden. Besides leaves and branches everywhere, creating a mess, our second papaya tree was uprooted. This unfortunate mishap happened despite the tree being protected by a wall and in a narrow garden space.
There goes our second papaya tree!Salvaging the papayas from the tree
We had no choice but to cut down the tree. And there were so many young papayas on the tree. Oh well. It looks like I can make pickled papaya or give them away. As for the space, we will leave it empty for now, and it’s been hot like a furnace.
Towards the end of last week, we drove to the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia with the girls to escape the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. It was not a golfing trip but an escapade to catch the sea breeze and eat local fare and fresh seafood. The drive was pleasant, without much heavy traffic, and we arrived on time.
A colorful display of all things old and older
The resort we stayed at, Adena Beach Resort, was a pleasant discovery and was not too crowded because it was a Thursday. We thoroughly enjoyed the warm sea breeze and the beach with its soft sand. The weather was perfect to build a sandcastle, and we did. We found some left-behind tools, which made it easy, and we had so much fun building and seeing our sandcastle come to fruition.
Our sandcastle with a moat
Mealtimes, we ate a lot of spicy food, not our usual choices but very flavorful. In terms of activity, there wasn’t much to do besides chilling and eating. After all, this was a chill-and-do-nothing trip.
The busy tablecloth added more zing to our colorful and spicy meal!
But, the next day, we decided to visit the Kemaman Zoo. At the zoo, the thrill for me this time was seeing the pair of Malayan Tapir. The enclosure for the pair did not have high fencing, only a moat separating them from us. It was quite a sight to see. The biggest thrill was when both tapirs decided to walk into the moat and swim towards us! So cool.
Strange but interesting animal
This East Coast trip is not just about food and tapirs. We discovered several jellyfish washed up on the beach on the third day. These creatures look very alien, being out of their comfort zone. Thank goodness, we did not swim in the sea, as there were signages warning of the jellyfish danger.
Aliens?!
The short trip ended with a glorious grilled seafood dinner on the final night. Sumptuous and fresh, the delicious spread was a fitting cap to end the East Coast escapade. I look forward to our next escapade again!
I have mixed feelings about the Poh Kong Ladies Golf Series 2.0 tournament that concluded last week. The golf course was lovely, and my flightmates were quite fun, but the disorganization of the assigned lockers marred the experience.
After I completed my round, the crew member called me and said I was assigned Locker #67. Strange, when a friend told me earlier that she saw Locker #25 had my name! Nevertheless, I had a number by now, so I went to the Ladies’ Changing Room to see the correct unit and collect the remaining goody bag.
To my surprise, someone else was using Locker #67 as I walked in! I was like, “Huh?! Did she open and close locker #67?” So, I asked her, to which she acknowledged. I told her nicely that the locker had my name on it.
And you know what was her answer? She thought it was her name! Oh, my goodness. The names may look similar, yet they are not – how could she be mistaken? Argh, I was speechless!
I then asked her what was her locker number, and she wasn’t sure! The nightmare repeats itself here. I called the crew member again and asked what was the locker number assigned to the other lady. Can you guess? Number 25. What a merry-go-round.
I roll my head, looking back at this experience. With an inadequate locker availability to cater to 120 ladies, unlike in the Men’s Changing Room, all the assigned lockers are too close. The crowded space makes it hard to locate an assigned locker properly. And even then, some of us had to use the lockers at the gym on a different level. Sigh.
The consolation from this outing was making new friends and achieving the Novelty prize of Nearest to Line/gold bar. I think it will be some time before I participate in another ladies-only golf tournament.
It was a golf tournament that I was looking forward to participating in, having missed out on it last year. The Poh Kong Ladies Golf Series 2.0 promised to be better, but was it? Quite the contrary.
I carpooled with a friend to KLGCC, the premier golf course hosting the event. We arrived early, but there was no organizing crew in sight nor any event directional signages setup, save for a makeshift backdrop at the buggy station.
So we had no choice but to wait. By 6.30 am, there was some activity and people. We quickly joined the queue to collect our tournament things before it got longer. It wasn’t smooth, as there were a lot of puzzled looks and frowns. And so it began, the disorganization of the situation.
When my turn came, it became chaotic because I was not assigned a locker! How can this be? What a stark boo-boo for a tournament of this level. I was not the only one, as I found out later.
I patiently waited and waited. I collected my goody bag from the next counter, then waited again for advice on my assigned locker. It never happened.
It wasn’t even seven in the morning, and already I was riled and cursing. What a horrible experience before tee-off. I walked off to have my breakfast and returned afterward to resolve the mystery of my missing assigned locker.
A crew member approached me to locate my assigned locker together, but we couldn’t find it in the changing room. At this point, I don’t know what to say! She suggested we go to the gym’s changing room to locate my assigned locker. Let me tell you, it was futile.
I decided to keep all my things in an unassigned locker at the gym to save myself further distress. It was pointless to be a headless chicken before a golf tournament.
While the golf course was enjoyable, and my flight mates were good company, the disorganization of locker assignments in the morning marred the experience.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel by an unexpected achievement. I struck gold figuratively when I achieved the Nearest to Line (NTL/gold bar) Novelty with my ball landing four inches from the rope in the middle of the fairway. I didn’t expect a cheer-up feat after all that morning chaos.
I have mixed feelings about this golf outing. Was my locker issue resolved eventually? No. Stay tuned to find out!
It looks like the effort to safeguard the fruits paid off. Hubby has managed to pluck one papaya a day from the tree, and it’s just a matter of time before they ripen and we can eat them. Yum.
After several months of waiting, the new papaya tree in the garden is fruiting in abundance again! Yay. There was a time when we had papaya fruit to eat daily. As time passed, the tree grew old and stopped fruiting – we had to chop it down. Hubby decided to plant a new papaya tree.
Months passed, and the new tree flourished well with the weather that we had been experiencing. But it has also attracted some unwanted critters to our place. No, it’s not the garden squirrels but the civet cat!
The civet cat has helped itself a few times to the exposed and unprotected fruits, as there had been evidence of half-eaten papaya on the tree or fruit droppings on the ground. We must protect our fruits!
Yesterday, we put our plans into action by wrapping the fruits on the tree with the new PVC netting mesh. I think I did a good job. But we will only know in the next few days to see if the fruits are well protected.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic dwindled and became a thing of the past, our home activities have reduced to nil as going out and outdoor activities resumed full swing. Working on my DIY miniatures has decreased as I went back to playing golf more frequently. Likewise, hubby has stopped baking. I decided to keep the kitchen stand mixer in storage because there’s no use for it – no more baking by hubby.
Two days ago, M1 had the urge to bake. And out came the kitchen stand mixer after so long. I came home from golf to find these lovely melon buns sitting on the counter to cool. Not only were they gorgeous to look at, but they tasted good. Yum!
Yum, yum, yum!
Should the mixer remain available or back in storage after this? We have to see the urge. I should be thankful for the unexpected baked goods and not ask too much.
I picked up a new injury from golf! It is the abductor pollicis brevis of my right hand. Uh oh. I don’t know how or when, but the game on Sunday resulted in a lot of pain.
I could not chip or putt as I could feel the muscle pulling. I couldn’t even hold the clubs properly. Ouch, that’s how bad it felt. A few days of rest did not even help. Today, I had a game I had already committed to before the injury – I felt trepidation. Will I be in pain?
So, I took some preventive measures by applying a pain relief cream and taking a painkiller. Did these measures help? A little.
My golfing buddy gave me the Perskindol Cool Spray to use on my hand, which helped a lot more. However, I had to modify my gripping the clubs to reduce the pull of the muscle. Sigh, all these injuries and so much golf still to play.
I must learn to manage my pain and injuries; otherwise, no more games and rest to heal. Golf is so damaging, not just to the confidence in our ability to play well, but also to our bodies.
After last weekend’s Annual Club Championship disaster, I played two weekday games with redemption! I could not believe that I could not play golf. I had to purge myself of the horror.
Last Tuesday, I played at a different golf course, and everything worked! Golf is strange. I played one under my handicap for that day! I did 32 putts, so much better than the 43 putts on Sunday. I’m a happy camper with the recovery for putting.
Then, on Thursday, I returned to my club and played a round with hubby and his friends. Guess how I fared? I played to my handicap and 20 strokes better than the results of the ACC! Unbelievable. Redemption was sweeter as I managed 30 putts, which was 13 strokes much better!
Golf is strange – one can be demoralized and broken in a tournament. Then, on the next outing, one can heal with redemption. It’s a love-hate activity.
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