Times Have Changed

9 Jun

I look at M2 now having her school holidays and can’t help but reminisce what I did during my school holidays when I was 15 dinosaur years ago. 

Frankly, I don’t recall doing what she is doing now – sleeping in every morning (Mom would have my hide!), having late brunches, staying indoors as much as possible and surrounded by all the Apple devices: the iPhone to talk to friends on WhatsApp, the iPad for some playtime in between the studying at the dining table in the afternoon, the iPod and MacBook Air for goodness knows what else.

I do remember watching a fair bit of TV, playing with my dog in the garden, climbing my favorite tree, whacking a few tennis balls against the wall of the car porch, talking to imaginary friends and occasionally talking to a real friend on the house telephone. Half the time I was outdoors and never once I sat at the dining table to study!

Yep, times have changed. Gone are the days when one simply enjoys the outdoors, breathe in the fresh air and not worry about keeping up. It was always a happy-go-lucky situation. Nowadays, it’s a constant worry to keep up, staying connected and being indoors!

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It’s Been Good

7 Jun

The weather has changed. And this means lazy days ahead, doing nothing but being horizontal and poking away on my iPad to work on my virtual games. I must say it’s been good.

I was champ for the Taffy Treetops chapter of Candy Crush after several missed opportunities in the previous ones. I’ll take whatever comes my way. Now I am at Level 1695 and Level 765 for Soda.

Farm Heroes has also progressed, at 887 now. Hexa Blast has yet to update still, so I just go in to collect the daily coins and lastly, for Monster Busters, I have progressed to Level 464.

Yep. It’s been good.

  

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Two Weeks Break

6 Jun

M2 is having her school holiday break for two weeks. And like the first break, we are staying put. She is having her big important exam this year so we feel any trips taken will only be after the exams.

So far, she has been good at it – going to the mall only once with friends. The other days are spent studying during the daytime but mixing in some pleasure on her iPad or chatting with friends on WhatsApp or with M1 on Skype. A week has passed and another to go. Pretty soon it will be back to school. Can’t believe we are halfway through the year already.

Pretty soon the big exam crunch time will be here! I hope she will be ready for it by then.

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Comfort Food

3 Jun

I don’t profess to be a good chef but sometimes when the mood hits, I can proudly say I can cook up a storm. It was exam week last week and M2 was stressing and studying like a possessed being. So I try to play my part and help her by making comfort food over the weekend before exams started.

Initially I thought I would try the bacon cheese sandwich recipe that was shared on Facebook but she said bacon is bad and one would die from eating it. She couldn’t be more direct on this matter. So rather than insisting and stressing her out even more, I asked what would she like and she requested for the potato pizza that I had made before.

But this time, I used baby spinach with ham. The first time being prosciutto garnishing the usual cheeses, fresh mushrooms and baby tomatoes, while the second was with tuna and romaine lettuce. The outcome? Just as good as the previous attempts!

You can check out the original recipe at www.tastemade.com/videos/bismarck-potato-pizza

  

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Moving Day

2 Jun

It’s great when levels that I have been stagnant at finally has movements. For Candy Crush, I have gone on to Level 1683, Soda, when I least expected it, also moved to Level 756.  Same goes for Farm Heroes – unexpected movement.

Hubby was driving and I was being a farmer on my iPad in the car, poking on the screen mindlessly. There was no strategy I must admit. I was just willing time away because traffic was slow. Suddenly, opportunity presented itself and the next thing I knew, I passed Level 883. Wheee…

New levels for Hexa Blast is still not here yet, so I am taking a breather from it and for Monster Busters, I am waiting for the three keys to unlock the next level onwards. For now, I have completed Level 421.

It’s been good.

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I Think It’s Kaput

31 May

Last week my 2nd generation iPod Shuffle acted up and could not be charged. And I did not think much of it as I had a busy week. Then yesterday, I remembered and decided to fix it in the office. To my horror, when I connected it to my office Mac, these messages showed up! Oh no…

   
 Is it the death of my Shuffle? I looked up feedbacks and support notes on the web on how to revive or reset it but to no avail. Sniff… I think it’s kaput. Should I even bother, considering it’s a second generation, quite old in this ever evolving technology times?

I like my Shuffle and can’t seem to save it. Boo hoo hoo…

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A Farmer I am Not

30 May

My virtual games have been progressing well except for Farm Heroes. I am so not a farmer. After so long, I find myself frustratingly stuck at Level 881. Sigh… why?

The candy and monster games have been good with much movements the past few days. Currently sitting at Level 1680 for Candy Crush, Level 753 for Soda and Level 393 for Monster Busters. I even completed Hexa Blast, sitting at 1175, awaiting new levels to open up but this one…sigh again.

Then miracles of miracles happened right after I jot down my frustrations. I passed Level 881 by resorting to using all my tools especially the tractor because the moment presented itself. If I didn’t do it now, I would be stuck forever as this thought crossed my mind. So four tractors were used…

Joy was short lived after that as I find myself stalled again at Level 883. I am so not a farmer.

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My Bathroom Scale Hates Me

27 May

The past two nights, I have been eating out instead of at home. When friends invite, we must be polite and don’t decline if we can make it, right? I had a golf game on Wednesday, followed by dinner after the game. Then on Thursday, another game and another dinner.

Tonight, yet another big feast awaits. A friend is buying dinner because she played well in a golf tournament recently. And as if these nightly dinners are not enough, a 21st birthday celebration dinner was slotted in unexpectedly for Saturday night! Four days in a row and this is culminated with yet another dinner on Sunday night to conclude my Club’s Annual Championship tournament which I participated two weeks ago.

With such frequent hearty intakes, I reluctantly stand on my bathroom scale and I can feel its disapproval. It hates me to no end. I have let it down by succumbing to all these feast. And I don’t even eat a lot. Then again if every morsel is tried in moderation, it’s still a lot and subconsciously, I can feel my waistline expanding. Not good. My personal trainer will most like have a field day grinding me to a pulp next week if she sees any change in my contours. Gulp!

We mortals are weaklings when it comes to food. A girlfriend said to me, she is on a ‘see food diet’ which is exactly what it is. Whenever she sees food, she eats because that’s her diet. I laughed so hard at her matter-of-fact explanation and wished if only my bathroom scale shared her sentiments. Sigh… my bathroom scale hates me.

 

The Wednesday feast

  

Highlight of Thursday’s dinner

  

The Thursday spread

 

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Noooo…

26 May

Lately I find my iPad Mini (on OS 9.3.1) very unstable. In the midst of browsing on Facebook or in the thick of a candy game, it would quit the app unexpectedly and stay black for a while. Argh…

What was even more annoying was last night. I was at Level 750 of Candy Crush Soda and gleefully, I managed to pass the level only to have the iPad blacked out. Noooo….

The level that I passed was not captured. Argh…

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Another Garden Visitor

24 May

Our home seems to be a sanctuary not just for us but other creatures as well. Last week, there was the squirrel. A while back, we had a bird making a nest between the branches of the potted plant placed at the car porch. 

We even have bees building a bee hive, more birds, a visiting owl, uninvited snakes, cats and of course, rats. Last night we made another discovery but it was too late to verify. 

This morning, we looked again. It’s another bird! This time, it’s high up on the tree on the front lawn of the house. A rather unusual engineering feat, the nest seems to be hanging precariously off the branch.

We used the binoculars to have a better view and to our delight, saw a black bird with orange feet fidgeting in there.

Let’s hope all’s well with Mama Bird and her babies.

Look closely to spot the hanging nest!

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