Taking a Break

11 Oct

The last few days has been a madcap rush as hubby and I are wrapping up work so that we can go away for a much needed break.

Wait a minute! Didn’t we go for a break recently (to Paris)? Yes and no. I went for a break visiting museums, he went for work visiting the business partner. So this time we are both taking a break.

But we are not going alone; the creative team from the office are coming along. It’s our annual company trip and we all deserve it!

It’s timely to take a break from overload, from work, from stress, from life and all else will or may be put on hold. Yes, even taking a break from Candy Crush. And Zookeeper Battle. And minding the children, and….

Stay tuned.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Dethroned!

10 Oct

Feeling smug about dethroning my closest competitor in Candy Crush on my list two days ago, I thought I could take it easy for a bit. But no, the challenge was too much for him. That (Tuesday) night, JC toppled me and became the champion of Soda Swamp! Noooooo……

I have to work harder in this episode if I want to regain the honor. It is no longer about being the leader of the pack. And as if King.com knows what is at stake, they finally had the app update on the iPad! Yay.

So it looks like crushing candies in the office is resuming.

Related articles

Tags: , , , ,

A Pleasant Surprise

8 Oct

Yesterday was a busy day in the office and I did not have time to sneak in a game of Zookeeper. But when there was a pause for a breather from creativity, I launched my game only to find that it did not launch but went straight to AppStore, prompting me to update to be in line with iOS7! Eeeesh. Do I have a choice? I guess not if I want to keep on battling the zoo animals.

So update I did. Any difference then? Nah. It was a case of fretting over nothing. So my iPad still remains.

Also, I have been playing the old level of Candy Crush since I am still visible there on the iPad despite having move forth on the laptop. Funny when it should all synch. But am I complaining? No considering it turned out to be a good thing for I was rewarded as the Champion of the Soda Swamp episode! Beat that!

Image

Related articles

Tags: , , , , ,

Decisions! Decisions!

7 Oct

I wrote this prior to achieving the unimaginable. I thought I would be stuck at level 425 for my Candy Crush for awhile but I finally conquered the level on Saturday night. Now comes the predicament (again). To move forth by playing on the laptop or wait for the update on the iPad. Hmm… Decisions, decisions. I chose to move forth and fellow candy crushers have sent me tickets to see me through. Thank you!

Image

Thanks to my fellow Candy Crushers, I have moved on, on the laptop. Bye folks!

My second predicament is my other game, Zookeeper Battle. It now has an update to be in line with iOS7!!! Oh dear. Just last week, I decided to prolong the update of my iPad to the new OS for as long as I can. And now, my second favorite game has an update. Hmm… Decisions, decisions (again). For this, I’d say status quo for now.

I must say as days pass, fiddling with my updated iPhone4, certain features of the new OS are nice. I particularly like the torchlight and I listen to my music more. But I still do not like the green and blue colors of the bubble text messages. And the biggest unlike is the passcode to key in every time I want to use the phone. While this may be an added security feature, I think it’s an extra step and effort.

So my iPad remains as is, and my Zookeeper as well. For how long, we shall see. And if you must know, I zipped through the new chapter in the candy saga and am now at Level 433.

Related articles

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Sick Bay

4 Oct

Mummy and Daddy’s room is also known as ‘The Sick Bay’ whenever one child or the other is sick and needs care around the clock especially at night. When this happens, not just a mattress is set up for the sick one, several plush toys come along too to accompany the patient for security and comfort and the floor becomes an obstacle course to navigate through. Thankfully as the girls are older now with their immunity stronger and better against those meany germs, the sick bay setup has lessen.

But a sick bay it is not, when daddy goes away, and the room becomes a sleepover pajama party haunt instead. And yes, the plushies still come but not so many. Sometimes, it is nice to have these bonding moments with the girls and thoroughly cherish it while they still want to do it!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Loving the Wrong Pet

3 Oct

Remember Pancake? I wrote about it on 16th June and how it became a pet (of M2).

The hubby recently told me he switched Pancake’s place at the front of the house with Waffle. Waffle is also another conifer tree but no one’s pet in particular.

Unbeknownst to M2 of the switch, she has been petting and giving love to the wrong (pet) tree until he told her…

It’s okay I guess, Waffle needs some love too.

Image

Can you tell who’s who flanking the entrance?

Tags: , , ,

Barbie is Ugh!

1 Oct

It used to be (and probably still is) every girls’ dream to have a Barbie doll. But not in my household. I remember when the girls were younger we had to deal with this every festivity time. Whenever Christmas and their birthdays came around, they would cringe when the wrappers are ripped to discover yet another Barbie. Ugh!

But as the Barbie dolls were given with a good intention, we could not say no to the gifts. So the girls ended up having five Barbies at one point in their early years. Ugh!

Somehow Barbie just does not rake it up there with other characters or plush toys. She is not lovable, not huggable, too rigid and pointy, and according to M2, creepy as well! Recently I asked her what her thoughts are of Barbie.

Thinking for a minute M2 then said, “Barbie? Euww…. her butt is so big like… like Kim Kardashian’s!” Of course back then, Kimmy was not a household name. But still, the mention of the resemblance had me laughing uncontrollably. Despite our feelings towards Barbie, poor her to be in the same league as Kimmy! Ugh!

Subsequently, I also asked M1 for her sentiments of Barbie. “Euw!” was the first thing she said, the exact expression as M2’s! She then thought about it for awhile before concluding that while she enjoyed Barbie’s clothes (and not Barbie), she too, thought Barbie was freaky especially from the anatomical point of view. How can her measurements be deemed perfect? Ugh!

My apologies to all the little girls who fancy Barbie, for us, Barbie is just ugh!

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Can I Be an Onion?

30 Sep

In a blink of an eye, we face October (tomorrow). What this means is Halloween is also around the corner and every year, we go through the same thing, call it predicament or argument, it is always on what to wear for that ghoulish night.

During the Spongebob craze period several years back, I made a Spongebob costume for M2 and she complained other fellow trick or treaters deemed her too friendly and cute instead of scary after the walkabout that night. Miffed by the comments which was inappropriate for ghoulish theme, she decided the next time, she would be something else to make people wary, scared or even cry at the sight of her.

“Can I be an onion for the next Halloween?” she asked.

“Onion?! Why?” I asked, curiosity got the better of me.

“Onions make people cry. And I wanna make people cry so that nobody will say I am cute.” she rationalized and concluded. In her mind, crying equates to fear; fear equates to horror, horror being the theme of Halloween, get it?

The onion costume never materialized thankfully.

I should say Halloween is not a big thing in our country but it is catching up in our neighborhood estate. So I brace myself for what madcap ideas M2 may have. M1, on the other hand, being older and more sensible treats the day just like any other day. Phew.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

They Eat What We Eat

27 Sep

Children, from young, should be taught to eat what we eat. I am a big advocate for this. This works out well when the whole family travels or even just go out for meals. We have salads, they will have salads, we eat a burger, so do they, you get my drift?

No such thing as we eat a burger but the young ones have a specially brewed porridge in a hot flask. Maybe this is practiced when they are babies but not when they are older…

Both my girls enjoy food. While hubby and I are no major foodie connoisseurs, we do enjoy trying out new things every now and then. Both M1 and M2 takes pride in keeping pace with us.

I am proud to say when we did our “Great Adventure Road Trip to USA” last year, food was thoroughly enjoyed and no issues at all.

Image

Our very first In-N-Out Burgers!

Tags: , , , , ,

This is Not a Review of iOS7

26 Sep

Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I reach for is my iPhone to look at the time, then the iPad to play Zookeeper Battle, followed by Candy Crush. This morning is no different from always but I groaned when I saw a prompt on the iPad to update the OS to iOS7!

Oh no! Do I have to?

Two days ago, I gave in to update my iPhone4. Initially I was skeptical to do so, knowing there will be limited features that my phone is capable of; so I wanted to wait it out and hear a little more feedback from friends to be sure before taking the plunge. I am also a creature of habit and don’t like my comfort zone disrupted; my phone being what it is now is a comfort and I am in my zone. But when I did hear nothing but positive raves, I went ahead and updated.

Right after I did the update, I felt so let down. My phone is now so ugly, flat and devoid of depth. I kept comparing it with my iPad to see the difference and without hesitation, decided to not update my iPad for as long as I can.

iOS7-iPhone

See how flat and unappealing it looks.

iOS7-iPad

So pretty, no?

It didn’t help that on the homefront prior to the update, M2 kept pestering me when will I buy the new phone so that she could inherit the current model. She even dispensed with manners and just came right to the point asking when will I change my phone? When I stared daggers at her, she changed tactic and nagged me at when will I update the OS instead? Hrmph.

That night, I lamented about the flatness of the phone, M2 quickly pounced on it and pointed out that since it’s now ugly, and I don’t like it (and she does) she will just take my phone! Eeesh… The child is just notorious.

But ugly as it is, I have to learn to like it. After all, there’s no turning back to iOS6 (and silly to pay or hack to downgrade) or heaven forbid, consider migrating to an Android phone! So learn I did.

Despite its lack of depth and being so flat in looks, it is nice in terms of operating system, definitely an upgrade. There’s a range of new ring tones besides the many features already reviewed by techies and all out there, so I will not delve in this. It’s the look that I am not used to, it’s so flat. I was horrified to see the message bubble coming out so green, Granny Smith would be envious of the green being more green than their apples. When highlights and depths are taken away, what you end up with is a flat horrid shade that totally lacks character. Having said that, the iMessage blue is no better.

Also, I miss the green felt in GameCenter. I feel so lost in the new layout.

So will I update my iPad? I think I will wait a while longer.

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

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →