Last Friday I was free and agreed to a round of golf with my golf buddies. In fact, we played not a round but two rounds! Marathon golf was what it was, 36-holes.
The morning round was very enjoyable as the weather was lovely and there was no crowd in front to delay our progress nor at the back chasing us. It was very unusual but pleasant on a Friday at our golf club.
So much so, we decided to go at it again, after lunch to play another 18-holes! And the second round concluded in good time too. But the afternoon round was rather draining because the sun was scorching and we were tired by then. Two rounds in two days is pretty normal but two rounds within a day can be taxing if it’s not something we do all the time.
At the end of the two rounds, my Mi Band2 recorded at whopping 20,390 steps that I had done and my day was not even complete yet because it was only 5.00pm, and I had to go out to meet a friend later that evening!
When I finally climbed into bed that night, I recorded 22,093 steps and covered a distance of 13.1km. Dang… drained to the core.
Saturday was my big day – being Queen for the day on my birthday. Hubby decided to whisk me away on Friday for a birthday escapade. And what an escapade it was!
Our room overlooking the golf course, the mountain range and clouds
We went off to Awana Genting for an Alphabet Trip, usually reserved for our anniversary but this year, an Alphabet Trip was necessary because this year’s birthday is a big milestone celebration. After all, I can’t be Forever 38… gotta embrace it.
Had the golf course all to ourselves
We played two rounds of golf with both games finishing under four hours because there was hardly anybody else on the golf course. In fact, on Friday we had the golf course all to ourselves and we completed the game in three and a half hours!
Taking the cable car sure beats driving up the winding road and looking for parking
After the morning fun, that evening we took the cable car up to Genting to enjoy the place and the cool air. Dinner was simple but no alcohol (yet) because the newly opened The Laughing Fish have not gotten their liquor license. So we just drank Evian water, saving space in the tummy for the beer and stout later. We didn’t mind because there was no need to keep time, no agenda to be mindful of.
Famed for their Fish & Chips, we had to try
We explored Sky Avenue (16,980 steps on my MiBand 2 by the time we got back to the room) and even checked out the casino. I was boggled by all these gamblers throwing away money just like that at the Black Jack and Roulette tables. Stacks of chip laid out without hesitation, betting and hoping for Lady Luck to shine on them but gone in a blink of an eye. Jeez… many times mind you. Obviously I am not a gambler. We left as we couldn’t stand the cigarette smoke stench and it sticking to our clothes.
Gotta have my pint of Kronenbourg and hubby, his stout
The whole place was very happening with lots to eat, see and do. We ate (earlier) and drank to our hearts’ content—forget the 16/8 diet this weekend—and enjoyed the live band. They played songs I could sing to and it was very entertaining.
The cable car journey back to the hotel at Awana
The next day, another round of golf, another cable car ride after the game for another round of drinks and THE birthday dinner. Truly wonderful this birthday trip turned out as we did every alphabet on our list, A right through to G. Heheheh…
Cable car ride and pre-dinner drinks, a rum concoction
Nauseating just watching the spins from afar at Skytropolis
Spanish dinner with two bottles of red to celebrate, yes two
Post-birthday dinner: Spanish burger and squid ink pasta
A year wiser but definitely better with age. We returned home on Sunday morning after breakfast to hot and super hot weather, and another post-birthday dinner to cap off the birthday celebration.
Here’s to a wonderful year ahead and thank you friends and family for all your well wishes. A good start to life beyond Forever 38.
There are some things in life we take for granted. Like the Wifi symbol, it must show when there’s connectivity or the Bluetooth symbol to show that it’s turned on.
I didn’t realize the Bluetooth icon was dropped (from its usual top right place) by Apple when I updated to iOS12 last year. Maybe because I don’t use it often (syncing my Mi Band2 only once in a blue moon) and the phone automatically connects to my car whenever I get in without me having to fuss over it. So the disappearance went undetected.
It came as a mild annoyance in early January when I discovered that my Mi Band2 suddenly could not connect to my iPhone5S. How could this be? It could connect in December when we were in Penang. Anyway, I must have been having a bad day because I decided to give a one-star on Mi Fit’s Review on the AppStore, highlighting the inability to sync problem. But I didn’t pursue further after that and left it as is.
Two nights ago, the app had an update. And I thought, Aha! They must have read my review and decided to fix the bug. So I updated the Mi Fit app, thinking the syncing would be resolved.
But nothing happened. Hmm.
The Mi Band2 still could not sync and that was when I discovered that the Bluetooth icon went missing. Initially a sense of panic kicked in. Oh no! My phone has developed another illness. Already dying with the battery issue, now this?! I was aghast.
I had done the ‘Forget this Device’ step, rebooted the phone and yet, the Bluetooth icon couldn’t be seen nor can the phone detect the band. It was so frustrating, I even contemplated giving up my Mi Band2 if the problem persisted. The survival of my phone was more critical. Then I read up in forums and learnt that the Bluetooth icon was dropped. Eeesh.
Another last resort attempt…
I deleted the Mi Fit app but not before syncing all the data to the Health app and downloaded it again. Crossing my fingers, I signed in and voila! My Mi Band2 finally synced. Phew. What an unnecessary scare that was.
As for the missing Bluetooth icon, I’ve decided to manually manage its appearance, opening Control Center and swiping it ON or OFF now that I know the little icon won’t be sitting on the top right anymore.
Recently, I had to replace my activity wearable, the Xiaomi Mi Band2 with a new unit of the same model. The OLED of the old one has been very dim and I can hardly see what is showing on the screen especially under bright conditions, whether indoors or outdoors. Plus there was a couple of occasions the reading went haywire.
I guess it’s time to change. After all, I have had the old unit since Aug 2016 and the lifespan is almost up. The new unit came last Friday, courtesy of online shopping. I love online shopping!
When I put both side by side to compare, the difference is pretty obvious in its brightness. Well, goodbye old Mi Band2, you have served me well but now you need to be retired; and hello new Mi Band2, you are the way to go to continue tracking my activities, strides taken, calories burnt and all.
I have been using a fitness tracker for many years and currently using the wearable Xiaomi Mi Band2. I started off with the simple Tanita pedometer that tracks steps, distance and calories. It was perfect until I misplaced it.
So when we were in Paris back in 2013, I used an app on my iPhone to track my steps. But that didn’t work out too well. I remember I lost count on several thousand steps when I was walking from one museum to another. Upset, I bought another tracker from Decathlon, a sports store in Paris to use.
But the Geonaute OnStep 100 pedometer was big and clunky and I was stuck with it until out of the blue, I found my first pedometer. I ended up alternating each to use. And it was a hassle because of battery replacement issues.
Soon after, the Xiaomi Mi Band 1S came about and I was on to it, casting the two pedometers aside. Now, with the latest Mi Band2, missed counts, dead batteries and clunkiness are no longer an issue to stress over and the Mi Band 1S joins the other two in retirement despite having new replacement strap.
Two weeks ago, I got myself a new wearable band, the Xiaomi Mi Band2 to replace my first gen Mi Band. It’s a much improved fitness tracker that comes with the usual capabilities plus heart rate monitor, an OLED-display and a touch button to see all the stuff on it. So simple and sufficient that I don’t even wear my watch sometimes.
Prior to this purchase, I actually have a Garmin VivoFit that I won as a novelty prize when I participated in the BMW Golf Cup International last year. But this device needs iOS8 to synch and unfortunately my iPhone5S is still on iOS7, so I gave up on it and insisted that hubby should use it, which he does at times. (He uses an Android phone, so no problems synching whatsoever).
My new Mi Band2 is very nice and sleek, a tad thicker than the one before but the best part, it can synch with my phone! This is what matters most for all my fitness data.
This constant eating or should I say, over eating, is getting to me and I decided not to wait until after Chap Goh Meh to do something about it.
On Monday (night), being the 8th day of Chinese New Year, we were visiting a friend and the food spread beckoned. Oh dear, I was actually still feeling stuffed from lunch! I was cautious and conscious to eat in moderation. I even minimised my beer intake because my Liz Claiborne pants never felt so tight. Groan…
The next day, there was another Yee Sang dinner scheduled with our Tuesday Food Club friends but I opted out because I had to send M2 to her tuition class; hubby went for the dinner alone.
On Wednesday morning, I decided to walk and play 9-holes of golf in anticipation of yet another Yee Sang meal ahead, lunch with my office staff. I think it’s the least I can do for now. I managed to burn 282kcal in my 5.8km walk, recorded by my Mi Band.
There’s still the finale Chap Goh Meh big feast ahead and who knows, some impromptu in between meals may crop up. So I gotta do something to reduce my guilt and my waistline…Today, I will walk 9-holes again. I need to.
Angieneering 
Remarks