Tag Archives: AppleWatch

Land of the Rising Sun

7 Oct

Konnichiwa from the Land of the Rising Sun! We arrived at Kansai Airport this morning. The flight was not the best experience. There were three gate changes within an hour at the Satellite Building at KLIA. And although it was rescheduled to depart at 11:45 pm from 10:25 pm, the flight eventually took off at 12:12 am.

Twenty minutes after airborne, there was turbulence, but not too bad. However, my entertainment console sucked. The touchscreen had issues returning to the home icon, and the headphones worked only on one side. Sigh, how much worse can it get? Honestly, the start of this trip by MH is not Malaysian Hospitality at its best. Not living up to their tagline.

After the meal, I could feel a headache coming, ugh. I tried to sleep it off, and it was a restless phase. An hour before touchdown, I was awake. It wasn’t beauty or comfy sleep. Nonetheless, time flew by, and I must have slept, or did I?

My AppleWatch showed some unusual Vitals stats! I had only two hours of sleep and my blood oxygen level dropped to 91.6 %. It concluded that elevation could have caused such numbers to be recorded because I had set my watch to Airplane mode upon boarding. Such an amazing and clever device to be able to detect this.

After the delayed arrival, and like typical tour packages where Day One starts at the airport, our self-planned itinerary is no different, our adventure finally begins. Hahaha.

We made our way slowly from Kansai to Kyoto, and it was supposed to be effortless, yet we faced a bit of a challenge in terms of language. Google Translate was a savior when we needed it!

What a long day to kick off our October adventure!

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The Overwhelming Trip Continues

29 Apr

On the fifth day of our trip, we visited Wulingyuan, a different historical and scenic site of Zhangjiajie National Park. We see so many rock formations that I have lost track of what is what and where. My knowledge of this place is terrible, as I didn’t do any research before coming.

There was another queue for a cable car to the peak to see more rocks! Hahaha. Another long trek day. I was hitting all sorts of records on the Fitness app in my AppleWatch. Yay!

Wulingyuan

That evening, we decided to attend the large-scale musical, the Fox Fairy Show. The live musical performance was very entertaining and colorful. I was most impressed by the outdoor theater setup at the foot of Tianmen Mountain. Costume and character changes were instantaneous without glitches with AI technology. Very impressive!

The Fox Fairy Show

The next day, we queued again (what else is new?) for the Bailong Elevator. Although we paid for VIP tickets to cut down our time waiting in line, it was still an hour before we could go up to the top. The Avatar Mountains were the highlight of this trip, but again, for me, the crowds marred the experience of seeing the floating mountains. I think the depth of the terrain was hardly visible, with so much greenery below. It was hard for me to grasp the sheer beauty of the place.

The floating Avatar Hallelujah Mountains

At all the attractions we visited, it felt like the whole world was there to see what we wanted to see. And if I thought it was the last of the long queues at Bailong, the next day’s attraction at the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge was another one for the record!

At the Glass Bridge

We gave up the last tour to visit Orange Isle when we saw the queues again. Hahaha. After so many days of long queue experience, we could not handle another long queue to see the statue of Mao Zedong. Everyone agreed we should go shopping instead.

Mass crowds from every attraction we went to!

All in all, this trip was all about nature, crowds, and queues. I have never been so overwhelmed surrounded by people. The trip culminated in the final two days at Changsha with a colorful cityscape skyline, more people, interesting food, and shopping.

So colorful!
Array of street food. Bottom right: bowl of cut chili is called a dipping sauce

Nine days were rather long, and although there were more downsides of crowds, queues, and packing the wrong clothes as far as the weather was concerned, I am taking the positives from this trip, checking off my bucket list, and cherish the time I had with the friends I grew up with.

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Goodbye for Good

10 Sep

Last week, a golfer friend asked me if I was still using the TomTom Golfer watch, and I said no. Goodness, it has been years since I stopped using it. After the watch kaput, I decided to move to an AppleWatch that does more things than just being a golf watch.

She asked because she’s still using her TomTom Golfer 2 watch. But recently, she received notification that their services would be shutting down soon. In other words, the watch will be useless once the support ends. Oh dear, how unfortunate.

I subscribe to the Hole 19 app on my AppleWatch for my golf games to give me all the necessary information and track my performances. So far, I am happy with the app. At one point, I tried GolfShot, SwingU, and Hello Birdie, and I like Hole 19 best.

While she won’t buy an AppleWatch, at least she’s getting a Garmin watch soon as a replacement. Goodbye, TomTom. You were good while you lasted.

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Slow-play Angst, Part 2

10 May

Last weekend, when I participated in the Monthly Medal tournament at my golf club, it was not just slow-play angst that got to us. My AppleWatch Series 5 did not survive the round! A first for me.

I subscribe to the Hole 19 app to track all my golf game statistics. So whenever I play, I use the app on my AppleWatch but turn off the GPS function, relying more on the iPhone’s GPS. And all this while, upon completing 18 holes, I’d still have 40 to 50% battery left on my AppleWatch.

However, during Sunday’s game, my battery died with three holes left to play! Very unusual. Already angst from the lengthy outing, ten minutes shy of six hours, my AppleWatch’s unexpected death added to the angst. Argh.

I wouldn’t say I was upset but more surprised. I did notice something amiss that morning but brushed it aside. Within five minutes of wearing it upon waking up, the battery level dropped five percent. And by tee-off, I had 90 percent of battery, which I thought would be enough. But little did I know, the lengthy time out on the golf course did my watch in.

I’m wondering, slow-play aside, is it time for me to change the battery of my AppleWatch? After all, the watch is almost five years old, and the battery’s health is now at 80%. I still love my AppleWatch Series 5, and extending its life and usage would be most practical over upgrading to a newer model. Hmm. We shall see.

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Chinese New Year in Bangkok, Part 3

16 Feb

My Fitness rings on my AppleWatch Series 5 have been off the charts with so much walking we have done. Perhaps it’s a good thing to burn all those calories consumed. My legs hurt to high heaven, but the food discovery continued. After the rest from the Chatuchak outing, we took a cab to Jodd Fairs Night Market.

Colorful food choices at the Jodd Fairs Night Market. Highly recommended to visit.
Dinner was on the table liner. Spicy squid, pineapple fried rice, and ribs. The pork-neck bone soup was killer spicy with the mountain of green chili that I removed!

We seem to have discovered more places to eat during this trip. Even on our past golfing trips, food was not a priority. Jodd Fairs felt like a more organized Chatuchak. The food vendors were clustered, with all types of mouth-watering food, and the sights and smells were so tempting! It’s nice to find new things to try.

Some exotic edibles – insects, crocodile meat, snails, prawns, and squid.

The walkways between the stalls were more spacious than in Chatuchak, and we could browse slowly without blocking human traffic. However, nothing caught our eyes, for we had bought what we wanted already from Chatuchak. It was another tired-to-the-bone night when we returned to the hotel. As a result of such a schedule, I did not have the energy to write anything to upload and share.

I knocked out a little past midnight. The next day, it’s another full itinerary to visit the temples.

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Up and About, Part 2

5 Nov

After leaving The British Museum, we headed over to the Theatre District. The ice cream shop caught my eye! We must have ice cream despite the cold.

There’s a conveyor belt for the cheeses at The Cheese Bar

The honeycomb biscoff choice was excellent. Fueled with a sudden sugar rush, everyone caught a second wind in energy, and we continued. It felt like dinner time because night has fallen. But it was only 5.00pm! What?! There’s still a long way to go before dinner time.

Covent Garden

So we went to Covent Garden first, then to Chinatown for dessert to enjoy a hot Matcha Green Tea with cheese and Mochi. The drink was very yummy! Somehow a hot drink made us feel colder instead of ice cream. We decided then it was time for dinner.

Chinatown

The Fish & Chips portions were huge but delicious, nonetheless. Sated but tired, everyone agreed it was time to make our way back to the hotel. By the time we reached our room. I registered 21,231 steps and clocked in 13.25km for the day! What a record. Oh, by the way, my Move and Stand streak in the Fitness app did not end during the flight. And with more walking ahead, these streaks will go on. Yay!

Theatre District

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Off to See the King!

3 Nov

Today’s the day! We left in the wee hours of the morning. It’s been ages since I last woke up so early, and my usual 5.30 am wake-up for golf pales compared to this ungodly hour. I might as well not sleep and get ready for the airport straightaway.

It will be a long day ahead with our direct flight. I have forgotten what it’s like to be on a long-haul flight. And this journey will take 14 hours and 20 minutes, a little longer than the last time we flew to Amsterdam. Oh boy, my butt and body.

Separately, I’m a little bummed that my Move, Exercise, and Stand activities will be disrupted, thus ending my long record of 1,053 days in the Fitness app on my AppleWatch. Oh well, it is for a good reason; we are off to England, sadly not to see the Queen (God bless her soul) but the new King!

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Yoga Day Challenge, Part 2

27 Jun

The lure of collecting another badge in my Fitness app was too strong. I decided to go for the Yoga Day Challenge badge on the International Day of Yoga last week. After all, it only takes twenty minutes.

But where do I begin? YouTube, of course! Nowadays, when one wants to learn something, YouTube is the go-to to find out. I found a 20-minute session video with mixed stretching and soul-searching breathing moments. Hmm, I can handle it.

And so I attempted the Yoga challenge. Oh man, it looked easy on the video, but it was not! My body was so stiff that I couldn’t twist my limbs as shown. Even the soul-searching seated moments were not easy because my mind kept wandering!

Nonetheless, I managed and was sweating after 22 minutes at it. Never underestimate the power of yoga! It may look or sound easy, but it was not. But I’m glad I did it and have earned the Yoga Day Challenge badge for my effort.

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Yoga Day Challenge

21 Jun

Today is the International Day of Yoga. The Fitness app on my AppleWatch alerted me yesterday and challenged me to do some yoga today to earn the badge.

Now I’m a badge collector on the Fitness app. I’ve earned some cool limited edition ones like the Unity Challenge and Ring in the New Year Challenge (closing the Move ring seven days in a row), Heart Month Challenge (doing a 30-minute Exercise), National Parks Challenge (working out or walking at least a mile), plus a couple more.

But yoga? Hmm, I don’t know because I’m not a yoga person. Then again, sitting down breathing, and doing almost nothing or some slo-mo movements can’t be that difficult. Can it? Maybe I’ll give it a shot. Twenty minutes is all it takes to earn this Yoga Day Challenge badge.

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My New Game

12 Jan

Soon after deleting Cat Condo II from my iPhone XR, I was experiencing a slight withdrawal symptom! It felt odd that when I woke up, I did not have to check on my cats. And this feeling continued throughout the day when there was no alert on my Apple Watch Series 5 to collect my rewards or check what my cat brought back from its adventure. Am I missing the game to the point that I felt incomplete?

So I decided to fix this by downloading a new game to take my mind of Cat Condo II. My new game to play now is Water Sort Puzzle, besides Homescapes. It’s not mundane or time-wasting like Cat Condo II. Although Water Sort Puzzle looks simple, it requires a lot more logical thoughts to advance.

The idea is to sort colored water in test tubes until all the same colored water is collected. There is no time limit for each round, no race to reach the end, nor a need to collect rewards. You play at your own pace. There are also no reminders to check-in, and I play the game whenever I feel like it. I just completed Level 100.

Before and after screenshot of Water Sort Puzzle

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