A Decade of Blogging

... or slacking (?!) Okay, it hasn't been quite 10 years but am quite amazed that I've kept this blog going (kinda ... on/off) for almost that long. And how the world has changed since. Not that *I* have changed much though (cause for alarm?) I'm STILL into gaming (currently playing The World of Final Fantasy on the PS Vita, Final Fantasy XV on PlayStation 4, and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire on my mobile), yoga and mobile phones (BlackBerry, LG, Samsung and Sony). 

Mobile phones I have stopped buying as many (my contribution to environmental protection by cutting digital waste) partly because they are just not as fun & creative as they were in the past (design-wise anyway) and partly cos I get to sample them as part of my day job now (which is pretty neat). Most smartphones now pretty much offer the same functions and features (other than calling in and out) I just don't get excited about them anymore. 

Voice activation/ assistance (OK Google) still my favourite/ geeky feature and it's amazing how this function has evolved so much with artificial intelligence. Camera functions I am not so keen (never into taking photos/ videos other than the occasional posts for Instagram) but you can pretty much take very clear snaps in the dark now -- also thanks to AI. My current favourite phone is the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, which is small and versatile. It also takes 3D images but that is just a gimmick. The slow-mo function I also like.

I'm still practising yoga -- as a student and teacher -- but recently I realised I have been neglecting my practice a little ... hence my tight hamstring and this IG post:

(Hmm, still cannot cut and paste an image straight onto the blog page!!)  So I am looking forward to spending more time yoga-ing (and less time at my desk at work!!!)

Life is not just about phones, yoga and gaming though. Just finished reading a much-hyped book by Sally Rooney called Normal People. Not sure why it got such raving reviews; it's very well written for sure but what is it trying to say? The two main characters are like-able but not relate-able ... or maybe it's a generation gap thing (perhaps the story appeals more to Millennials.  

Okay, it's Chinese New Year today (Year of the Pig) and I'm wishing everyone Good Health. Even if you do have all the wealth in the world, without health, all would be quite meaningless. 

A Frozen Shoulder

Tomorrow I'm off to a yoga retreat in Chiang Mai organised by a bunch of friends; it's a trip that I've been looking forward to for months (!) The last time I went on a yoga retreat was ... maybe two years ago to Canggu. That trip was nice but it was kinda expensive and Bali has become far too commercial for my taste. 

Looking back, I was already suffering from frozen shoulder (right shoulder) without even realising it. I remember my shoulder would hurt when it was moving in certain directions and it got so painful at one point I had to see a physiotherapist. Not the greatest personality I've ever met but he, after months of treatment, eventually fixed the problem. 

Then my left shoulder started to feel the same tightness and, eventually, pain ><

Being more aware this time, I knew exactly what was going on so I went for physiotherapy straightaway. But this time even that didn't help much ... and eventually the physio said I should just let the frozen shoulder run its course ... and the pain will eventually go away. So I am expecting another, maybe, six months of pain. 

Which is kinda upsetting. For a start it has totally disrupted my yoga practice. I used to be able to do reversed twisted bind (well, all sorts of binds), wheel (urdhva dhanurasana), headstand (my fav) ... I was actually quite proud of my mobile shoulders -- and now I cannot do any of that because of the pain in my left shoulder. Perhaps I was doing too much handstand practice and it really messed up both my shoulders. So no more handstand for some time -- which is fine. Yoga is more than just doing handstand.

TBH, I have not had a proper practice for a long time and even doing trikonasana is challenging. I just feel that my body is, like, shrinking up.

So in the next few days I will just be in tune with the body and let it take me to wherever I am at with my practice right now. And relax. And enjoy. 

World of Final Fantasy Part 1 (Danganronpa V3)

Actually have not been playing this game for awhile but am now back into it and it's quite a blast. This game seems a lot longer but I'm actually enjoying it cos there is so much more to the story this time than 1 and 2.

FAST FORWARD ...

What happened there? I found the above (unfinished) entry written probably several months ago (I've since finished Danganronpa V3) and ... my bad ... I have totally been NOT keeping up with this blog. But here we are ... many months (and bouts of food poisoning -- what is WRONG with 2018?!) later, I am now playing the World of Final Fantasy -- and totally LOVING IT.



But first, a quick recap on Danganronpa V3, which has one of the most controversial endings in video game history (or that I have played) and to this day I am still not sure whether I liked it or totally hated it. Whichever I think I still liked the second instalment the best.

I'm still (yes, I surprise even myself) playing Final Fantasy XV A New Empire MMO and pumping $$$ into it ... but it's okay, as long as I get something out of it, I think it's fine ... and it's not, like, I am addicted (LOL).... Six of my heroes are now over Level 100 though, to the surprise (and annoyance perhaps?) of my guild mates, my citadel is still at level 25, with tier 4 troops. Which means I am def not strong enough to wipe out t7 troops, especially march size is now at... 500K+ (the whales launch 1M marches ... totally WTF) . But I do have an extremely solid defence and this weekend I will test out whether Luna can be a sufficient defensive hero (after Gladio) in the "free for all" RvR (realm versus Realm).

Right now, I am (literally) spending much resources on building up a strong Mercenary force, which is still relatively cheaper than levelling up my citadel but I know there will come the day I will HAVE to get t5 troops (which will be such a chore) ... but what needs to be done -- needs to be done.

Okay, off to teaching one of my two weekly yoga classes so will save Part 2 (and other yoga updates) for later .... hope that will not come in another six months ><  

A Brave New Year

It seems F.O.R.E.V.E.R since my last entry -- Christmas and New Year already come and gone -- so here is a bumper edition :-)

To welcome 2018, I led a therapeutic/ nourishing class today ... after all, we can take a step back, reflect and contemplate at the beginning (as well as the end) of a year, right? Why not start a new year with calmness and solid grounding. And everyone in the class loved it! The slower pace and the gentle stretching. After months of not being able to stretch my right shoulder today I can finally do it; I didn't push it though but it felt great especially after months of immobility. The physio - painful that it was - really helped. I plan to go to a level 2 yoga class tomorrow. The instructor is not one of my favourites (too ... athletic) but there are just no other choices. Also, I think it's important to have a practice that challenges the body (at least once in awhile). There are now so many poses that I am working on that I like but not quite there yet: handstand, seated wide-leg forward fold, split, wheel with straight arms ... also, elsewhere, my (outer) knees are definitely not getting better (chronic pain) so will see where my yoga practice will take me this year. 

Game-wise, I've returned to Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire after a couple months away (spent WAY too much on this MMO) and only because my guildie mate wanted to pass my account onto someone whom I don't think would do a great job maintaining it. Luckily the guildie I did entrust the account to did a GREAT job in not only in sustaining it but actually made advancement with it. So now I feel my base/empire is a lot stronger/ powerful than when I left it. Also it appears Square Enix, who holds the licence to the whole Final Fantasy franchise, is not happy with studio Machine Zone, which basically turned the title into a money-spinning thing, instead of a proper game for the Final Fantasy fans and community and gamers who are genuinely interested in the title. There are now rumours that SE will pull the game next month ... I love the game still but let's get a proper studio to run it not some greedy, money-grabbing enterprise!

I have also started Danganronpa V3 ... tbh, I think the aura around this franchise is gone. I spent, like, five hours+ just to do the prologue and first chapter and it was WAY WAY too long. I quite like the new cast but ... oh well, will see if I will stick with this. I certainly am in no hurry to finish it. Have also been trying to finish Escha & Logy in the Atelier series... I actually really enjoyed playing this game -- I finally got my head around the synthesis/ crafting -- but there is a time limit to the game and it appears I won't be able to tackle any of the big bosses until second playthrough so I've kinda left it there (for now). And I am still very slowly playing Final Fantasy XV on my PlayStation 4...  I completed quite a few side missions last time but I forgot to save -- and then got salightered -- so I will have to reply those again ... all in all, there is enough game stuff to keep me busy this year.

On the gadget front, after the VERY disappointing Sony Xperia XZ1 compact -- Android 8 or Oreo is so full of bugs -- I went back to the LG G5 and to my (pleasant) surprise, the phone is pretty good and with the Cam Plus added onto it, I enjoy using it for gaming/ photo taking and social media. Just as well I didn't re-buy the XZ1 compact!!! And a friend also got me the Black Edition of the KeyOne, which is great since I've dropped the one I am using a few times and I wanted to have a spare just in case this one dies! 

So here we are. Now we have the Chinese New Year to look forward to (in February) !!

A bit of a Humdrum

Yeah, it's been a bit a like that (dull) on the gaming front. I'm still playing FFXV: ANE but since I joined a new guild (second most powerful in the realm no less), I've just been training troops sine I have maxed everything single building in research @ Citadel 19. There really is no point moving beyond this point since I am not a big hitter but, most important of all, once passed c19 then you really have to spend $$$ to stay afloat. I've already spent more than I'd like to admit on this game (though definitely not spent 2000 quid or a lot more as some have done!) so am okay sitting on one helluva trap base right now (I have close to 2 million t1 and t2 troops) ... waiting for some n00b to hit me LOL But it is rather dull especially monster hunting is not really exciting at this stage; the drops are just mediocre. 

Meanwhile, have started playing Danganronpa V3 on the PS4 - and felt asleep - so not a good sign. It's probably better to play this on the PS Vita so will see if I can get a physical copy in English. Have also not progressed much with Final Fantasy XV... despite I recently took a couple of weeks off work. Some time I just wanna lie down and do nothing. 

Elsewhere, there has been an interesting (self) discovery - thanks to my "frozen shoulder" - that both sides of my body are extremely tight and they lack mobility. For the longest time I thought the reason why I cannot do a full spinal twist was because of my spine but it turns out it could be my tight hips (oh yes, those again) and shoulders that are preventing me from doing any full body rotation. So have started these physio sessions (ouch!) and the physiotherapist has been addressing both my hips/ glutes as well as my shoulders to lengthen my side body and stopping my body from caving inwards; something that I will pay more attention to during my own yoga practice...     

Final Fantasy XV A New Empire

Can't believe I'm still playing this MMO! Anyone who'd played it knows how skewed the gameplay of this money grabbing title is: the more you spend (buying items that beef up your base or guild) the more you will, of course, succeed (play-to-win). And if you don't, you are always the losers -- and who likes to be a permanent loser, right? Though I somehow (perhaps naively) believe that you can still win if you play smart! Admittedly, I have spent some (decent) money on the game ...if only to make the grind easier (the extra resources always a bonus too) but I am also constantly finding ways to strengthen my base so at least I won't get OHKOed by ferocious and unbeatable enemies (who had paid through the roof to be, well, unbeatable).

Defence, defence, defence. I've learnt that defence in this game is not to be sniffed at. And I think if done right, even a high level player will have problem flattening my base. And there are several ways to strength that defence (as I see it)...

Having a humongous troop base

So my friend calculated that to withstand a solo rally attack (and a rally is limited to three marches), you'd need approx 1 million troops. Currently I have around 200K troop, each has 4-power so I guess my defence if all troops are in the base would be 800K. Plus 11.5K traps. And since an attack can Never send up to 100K troop in a single march (not even in three marches, I don't think), then having as large a troop base as possible would guarantee survival.

Have a buffed up hero

Here is the part of the game that fascinates me most. The hero (Prince Noctis from the main FFXV game) -- and how he is levelled up -- is independent from rss requirement that practically runs through everything else in the game (e.g. levelling up buildings and research). And to level up a hero, you basically just take all the quests (lame but v easy) and kill monsters to get the necessary experience points. Granted, if you pay for packs (and I had), then it makes levelling up even more easy. And with the hero, you can unlock skills + equip him to buff attack/ defence stats and I find this quite crucial. So my current strategy is to level him (instead of my base) up + equipping him with lvl6 gear for max stat boosts, esp in defence. I also decide to focus on Mage power (thematically, I see Noctis as more a mage than warrior or cavalry), which is strong against warriors & siege engines but weak against cavalry. 

I've just levelled up my base so my next task is to up the wall defence as well as research on defence + getting two more pieces of lvl6 equipment ... then I should be able to easily defend myself against players with tier 1 and 2 troops and even 3 troops. 

Tier 4 troops? That's altogether another story ~  

Final Fantasy XV

Finally, I am now playing Final Fantasy XV on PlayStation 4 with a 50" TV screen.

YEAH!

It's something I'd always wanted to do but never got around doing. Then a (very generous) friend got me a PS4, and a few months later I bought a Samsung TV screen in a promotion. So far, I'm just taking it very slow, speaking to all the NPCs, doing all the sidequests that I can find (oh yes, feeding the cat) and really experiencing the game (it did take some 10 years to make). The VA is cool and I really love the music.

http://mmwkk.blogspot.hk/2016/12/final-fantasy.html

I'm kinda following a local walkthrough that is not very good (as well as an online one) so am playing the game semi blind. But I did watch all the cut scenes already so I kinda remember some of choices that I should make :-) Since this is my first console game (after more than decade playing on the PSP/ PS Vita) so still getting a grip using the control stick. Today I spent about four-five hours playing and I didn't even feel time passed (!)



This is also my first time playing a MMO - Final Fantasy XV - A New Empire! This is addictive stuff and I must confessed I've already spent more than I should on it, buying booster packs (well, at least I don't buy just to be OP)... since you interact with "guild members" all the time, the social aspect of the game is actually much fun. One of the leaders in our team is a bit of a psycho though and he alone provides much entertainment.