Games and Gym

I am surprised and happy that I managed to gym for the past 3 days. As the body is getting older, recently it is getting more difficult to even go on consecutive days, especially when pull ups are involved. There were pull ups on Friday so to be able to exercise again on Saturday morning after less than 24 hours means there is improvement with my body. Thank goodness there we no pull ups yesterday and today. I also tried sit throughs (which is the progression of mountain climbers) this week. I used to avoid this movement but it is actually not that bad for the shoulders compared to mountain climbers. There was no pull ups today so I tried the hanging leg raise. It is supposed to be a core exercise but my shoulders and arms were more tired from the hanging. At least I know that when the sessions have many shoulder movement, I will skip the hanging leg raise. Now I hope I can get back to my previous fitness level for the push ups and the deadlift.

With me starting to go gym again, it is getting more difficult to find time to play my online games. Currently these are the games I am still playing.

1. Disney Heroes: Battle Mode

I have been playing for around 3.5 years. With more than 100 characters, this is a good example of terrible power-creeping in a game. Still, the Disney magic keeps many of us playing for so long. I used to purchase their daily diamond deals but I stopped for more than a year ago as the power-creeping worsened. When my previous guild disbanded and I moved a relatively relaxed guild (although still a top 5 guild in my server), I only did the bare minimum. As a result, I had a lot of underdeveloped heroes and I hoarded a lot of resources.

I started to be more enthu with the game around 2 months ago when a friend from my old guild asked me to join his guild again. Now I am in the top guild of the server although I am the bottom 10 in the guild. Lol. I realised how much I hoarded and after using those resources, at least I can get quite competitive again. Plus I prefer to focus on characters from Disney Classics or cute ones and recently Pocahontas, Esmeralda, Zeus, Bolt and Ariel were released so I raised them up.

For these Halloween, the game added the 3 Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. I have never heard of this franchise before and initially I thought the cartoons in the game are so ugly. After checking some Hocus Pocus videos on Youtube, I end up liking them as the actresses portraying them were great. I will definitely try to find the full movie when I have the time.

Surprisingly, on Friday I received and decided to buy an amazing offer: $15 for 42000 stamina pots. That is a total of almost 2.8 millions stamina. Normally I can only get around 12000 stamina in a day so the offer is almost 8 months worth of stamina. Too bad I had spend them all within 24 hours or I will miss the additional 10% bonus stamina. That resulted in my biggest achievement in the game so far: currently I have the highest point in my guild for the weekly contest. Lol.. I know it sounds so childish but it is a HUGE achievement for me considering how I have been losing interest in this game for more than a year.

Too bad this greedy game developer does not incentivise players to spend more. I got such a good deal because I have stopped spending for so long. Immediately after spending, the next offer I received yesterday was $7 for 4000 pots. That is bullshit compared to the deal I bought.

2. Saint Seiya: Awakening

This game is a complete opposite of Disney Heroes. Although there is power-creeping, overall the heroes are still very well balanced since everyone has a counter. Ultimately, it is down to luck in choosing the 6 heroes for the battle since player will lose no matter how strong the heroes are if the opponent chooses 6 heroes which counter theirs.

Honestly, I find the PVP frustrating because there is no guarantee of easy win. Lol. Though I know the reason that I suck is because I only build the characters I like even if they suck and I cannot bring them for PVP. Hahaha... I also prefer offensive heroes and do not invest on defensive heroes instead of bringing a balanced team.

It is kind of sad because it is amazing that the characters and power levels are quite balanced for the game to last this long but only to slowly dying because of the poor game developers/management. Not to mention Saint Seiya is overall one of anime masterpieces! Anyway I also have long stopped spending any money in this game.

3. Genshin Impact

This game starts to lose its shine for me. Despite a lot of complaints of no content, I think the content is sufficient for busy people. Nowadays I find it difficult to even squeeze time for daily commissions and daily resins. With the ever-growing roster of characters, Mihoyo needs to buck up with the stories. People gacha because they like certain characters so without involving the characters in the game story, it will just end up becoming a collect-them-all game. Considering the expensive cost to collect the characters, people will slowly leave if this continues. But as of now, I am still hooked and will still spend money for the daily primogems and battle pass. Nope, it is not a waste of money because at least it motivates me to save from my diet and junk food. Hehe...

4. Tears of Themis

This is a card collector mixed with otome game from Mihoyo. Despite the handsome guys, I am not interested in collecting them all so my wallet is safe. Currently this is the game that I feel so relaxed to play since I am not that eager to collect all the cards, complete all the events, or hoard the Visions. Now I have around 80 visions and I do not feel the urge to gacha, partly because for this kind of game usually I am only interested with the seasonal themed cards such as for Halloween, Christmas, New Year and Summer. The last time I gachaed was during the Summer Festival and none of the Halloween cards caught my interest. I hope there will be some good Christmas cards or else I will continue saving until perhaps Chinese New Year haha.. Mostly I afk and just auto-debate but when I am more free to play the story mode or follow the story during events, the story/cases/mysteries are actually well written.

Oooh la la.. how am I supposed to find more time for Final Fantasy VII First Soldier which is coming out this upcoming Wednesday? T_T My eyes...

Bag hunt

As things are gradually back to normal, I am going out more often and my bag is getting too annoying. The 'cracked' leather part is okay, just visually ugly. However, the broken magnetic 'lock' is driving me crazy with the slapping noise when I walk. I was so lazy to go to gym today but I decided to go so that I could go to check out Orchard Road after that.

It is nice to see Christmas decorations although it is clear that the decorations are more muted compared to pre-COVID days. Not sure if it is because not everything has been put up but some outside Wisma Atria was still empty and I did not notice if Tangs had any decorations. Lol.. I remember usually Tangs would be eye catching because they would decorate the whole building since Tangs has little pavement space outside their building.

I checked out Metro at Paragon and Takashimaya and I saw similar observation from the choices at BHG Junction 8. It seems that sling bags may not be the in-thing now. I think my options are only Timbuk2 and Crumpler and their prices are $150-$200 range for the size I need. I am actually surprised when I checked my previous post of my current bag which only cost $86 and it had lasted me more than 6 years. It is really a good buy. I don't think the $200ish bag will last me 12 years. I was planning to check out Bugis Junction and Vivo City subsequently but after I reached home, I decided to check online shops and I ended up buying from Shopee. Lol.. Despite all the shopee-pee-pee-pee jingle since donkey times, I finally made an account. I bought 2 bags and after the small discount from the seller for buying 2, first time credit and 11/11 12% discount, the total spent is $16.66. If each can last me for one year, they are already considered good. Though I hope they will be good surprise like my current bag which I was not sure of the quality since I had not heard FX Creations at that time.

I bought Donki for lunch but too bad there was no chasiu don. What I thought to be omu rice turned out to be an omelet yakisoba. I had to be so hungry that I did not notice. As usual, I always overeat when it comes to Donki. As a reminder, next time I should skip the fried squid. It is not as nice as the fried squid from one of the regular stalls at Takashimaya Japanese Fairs. The new thing from Donki that I just knew is 10 cents for their plastic bags per transaction. Phew.. lucky I am not as crazy about Donki as previously when I used to purchase every week.

I just watched the Catholic200SG prayer marathon which is ongoing from 12 Nov until 20 Nov. Outside the scheduled prayers, it is Eucharistic Adoration. I find it quite nice to help me with my night prayers. Unfortunately, I think the volume is too soft and I have to max out my laptop volume to be able to listen to the background music. It would also be nicer if they use a dark background. It will be more soothing to the eyes and will help to focus on the Eucharist. Currently it is too distracting with so much white. The white background and candles occupy even larger portion of the screen than the Host that we are supposed to focus on.

1-hr confession

Christmas Penitential Rite is just around the corner and I even think of going for confession during the Catholic 200SG Festival. I had no idea why I even bothered thinking about going for confession offered for Landings retreat. If it is God's plan, there is no way to run away. After asking for schedule few days ago, I kept quiet so that I could just let it slide. However, my group facil updated me about the slots yesterday so I could not avoid from replying whether 'Yes' or 'No'. The initial slot I chose had to be cancelled because the priest had to lead a funeral mass. I was so reluctant to switch to the remaining evening slots since I need to wake up at 530am tomorrow to attend 7am Mass. Anyway it was lame to have a Mass as an excuse to skip confession so I agreed to switch to 8pm.

In my heart, I was still thinking about various scenarios and praying that somehow I would not go. What subsequently happened was the total opposite. The priest had to continue with a cremation so he was only available from 830pm. But this time, I was informed not only by my group facil but also by the person liaising with the priest schedule. Ooh la la.. it was even more paiseh to reject two people. Since I saw all the evening slots were empty, I thought I could be the only one. So I used my thoughtfulness by saying if I were the only one for the evening, just cancel mine if the priest had more urgent engagement since I still could go confession nearer to Christmas. That completely failed. Again both of them replied me at the same time 830pm was confirmed.

I had never been to St Francis Xavier Church and it took me 1.25 hours to reach although it does not look very far to where I live in the map. I sort of lost my way in the Serangoon Garden Circus roundabout. According to the website, I only need to walk up the hill from the bus stop. Well I did not see any hill and I could not find the road name sign too. I was expecting the hill to be quite obvious so that at least I could see the cross of the Church. I decided to use the map on the phone and I think it was a miracle that out of all the possible directions I could take at the roundabout, I already chose the correct direction before activating my map. It was around 2-3 bus stops walk but I managed to reach at 833pm. Heng..

By far, today was my most memorable confession. Without realising, I spent almost an hour with the priest. I guess since I was the only one, there was no reason to rush. I think it was 'worth' it for me. Otherwise I spent more than an hour to travel just for a 5-10mins confession. Haha.. I guess it was worth it for the priest too. Otherwise, he opened the hall, switched on the lights and aircon just for 5-10mins is also quite bo liao.

The hardest penance is not saying some prayers or reading some bible verses but confronting the sin directly. My penance was to call my mum which I told the priest not going to happen. He offered an alternative to take a photo with him and the tabernacle and to send it to my mum. Haiz.. I contemplated so hard and I even googled what would happen if I do not do penance after a confession. I found that asking to change penance is okay so that makes me do not feel guilty for refusing the phone call option. I do not want to be transactional about sins/Sacraments/grace/forgiveness and things of that sort. 

Ultimately I asked myself: what is the point for me to for confession if I still do not want to let go of the sins? After all, that is the biggest hypocrisy that always makes me try to avoid confessions: I know I am not ready to let go certain sins (e.g. those involving conflicts or grudges against others) as opposed to I want to although I know I will fail again (e.g. lazy to pray, skip Mass). I am such a shit so I decided that okay I will do it, at least if I get angry and block my mum again, it is the latter scenario. Honestly I find this harder than just the former. By doing that penance, I am basically exposing myself to the opportunity to be hurt again. It is going to be back to square one again: blocking once for all is better for me than to be irritated and to ignore daily. Seriously, God. Why are you making things so difficult for me? Yes just from this penance, I am already back to my biggest sin of not appreciating this gift of life and hope that I will die instead.

God was kind to me as the priest offered to drive me home instead when he heard that it took me more than an hour to travel. He said he might as well drive me and that would only take 15 minutes. I waited for him get changed at the grotto. It was my first time lighting up a candle to put at the grotto. I also took a photo of the Mother Mary statue.

This turns to out to be another reminder of God's presence today. This afternoon I was trying to find The Purpose Driven Life book which I owned. It is one of the first few books I bought since I came to Singapore. I could not remember where I put it and I could not find it. Not sure if I already donated it away or perhaps I kept it in Jakarta. Anyway, I decided to take out The Glories of Mary book to read it again. This is also one book that I bought in my early Singapore days so it has been more than a decade since I read it. When I reached my room, I was shocked to realise how the image on the book cover looks so similar to the Mother Mary statue earlier.

Out of so many styles of Mother Mary statues, seriously what is the odd of seeing two different but yet very similar styles: white veil (no yellow/blue shading, no pattern/coloured lining), visible hair including the central parting, no crown/stars/halo around the head. This also serves as another encouragement for me to just 'suck it up' and do the penance.

Haiz I am scared and not looking forward to tomorrow but I hope my mum will ignore me. Then at least I will not need to fear of being hurt and then repeat the silent treatment or the blocking again. Meanwhile, although these are not penances, I will try what the priest suggested for me to do daily: read the daily Bible reading and to spend 15 minutes in silence with God as a start for me to be able to listen to God's voice better.

Weak!

It is barely the first week November and I am already failing to control my diet. Right on Monday, I received an email from Deliveroo which is celebrating its 6th birthday with some $6 offers and flat $1 delivery fee until tomorrow. I was tempted with Koi's offer for 2 bubble teas for $6 but that meant 4 cups to hit the minimum $12 spending. I planned to buy that yesterday so that I could keep some for today which is a public holiday. I am lucky that the offer was no more yesterday so I was spared from bubble tea.

The sugar and salt withdrawal is making me very moody. So far I have managed to restraint from getting the bottled drinks in the supermarket but I succumbed to less than $2 potato chips. The last few I bought were beer-flavoured Lays. I promised no more after the two packs I bought today. Since today is a public holiday, I decided to relax and ordered food delivery for dinner. Haiz.. At least I made use of the $1 delivery fee and hopefully this will remove all thoughts for food delivery for the rest of the month.

I ordered from Nummun Thai Kitchen because I was tempted with pork sausage. It is quite pricy ($9 for 10 pcs) but it is not something available from the other Thai food places I usually order so I did not mind. Afraid that I would not be full, I added tom yum fried rice ($9) which I regretted. I don't eat prawn and the only topping with the fried rice is 2 medium-sized prawn that required peeling. So for me it was $9 just to eat the rice. I think of it as paying for curiosity and I will not be tempted to order from here again. Anyway I have a nearer Thai restaurant which is cheaper and can be even cheaper when I use Grab self-pick up codes.

Food-aside, I am also feeling so busted with my Genshin Impact. I saved for 1.5 months and went broke on Tuesday for a Qiqi and Staff of Homa. It took me 120 pulls to get one Elegy for the End and Staff of Homa which I should be grateful of since it could have been worse. Surprisingly, I only got one Sacrificial Sword. I am not too upset with C1 Qiqi since I am more of a husbando than a waifu collector. Thus I am not really into Hu Tao and I do not mind a guaranteed pity for Itto on next patch. Of course I would be happier if I got Diluc. It has been more than a year and I still do not have him. I am quite lucky to get C3 and now I have to suppress my aim to get C4 as that may break my pity. Somehow I am always one short of the good constellation as I am also at C3 Yanfei and I restrained myself in the last banner. I am still having fun with the game. It is just a heartache seeing all my savings went to zero.

I doubt I will ever 'save' until this much again as the next few patches will have characters I am interested in

Don't count your chickens before they hatch but I am getting more and more sure that I have to escape from the vaccination discrimination here. Since today is a public holiday, I took the opportunity to keep some of my displayed toys to their boxes to avoid them being too dusty if I have to be away for many months. I only did for the few that I remember where the boxes are. I still have 6.5 days of leave that I need to consume before the year end so I will pack the rest during Christmas-New Year period. By then, it should already be somewhat confirmed if I need to escape or not. Honestly, I am hoping that karma will befall on the people behind all these discrimination.