Sony Xperia XA

After months of dithering -- I still had the Samsung Note Edge (Japanese edition), which I bought the beginning of this year, and the Sony Xperia Z5 compact and I didn't wanna, well, start piling on too many phones -- I finally bought this new(ish) smartphone. Having been to the official launch of the Samsung Note7 (not that I'm getting that, SO over this brand), I decided to sell the Note Edge, which looks really dated now (and it was only released a couple of years ago) and replace it with the XA.

I also contemplated on selling the Z5 compact (Snapdragon 810 is not the greatest processor as it heats up quite quickly) and why have two Sonys? But it has 1) great battery life (no problem with hours on Pokemon GO); 2) great camera, which I pair up with the htc re cam; 3) great size that I decided to keep it. So here are what I have now:

* Blackberry Priv: total workhorse for work;

* Sony Xperia Z5c

* Sony Xperia XA

* Sidekick ID

Sold the Nokia 8310 ... like, what's the point if it is not used at all (same actually can be said about the Sidekick but I really do like its form factor).

Since the XA is notorious for its bad battery life, I use it mere as a backup. And so far so good. With its size (just a tad taller than the Z5c) and premium casing, it's just a great phone to hold in the hand. For play I've been using the Z5c quite a bit. The htc re cam is a bit problematic. Having bought it for about three months its Bluetooth kinda died. And when I had it replaced (under warranty), the second one died overnight (!) So, hopefully, third time lucky as the latest replacement works okay. It does get slightly warm but such a fun toy. 

Meanwhile on game land I'd downloaded this free title Infinita Strada, which is a card game and I love this genre. Just joined PS Plus for a month just to get some decent cards ... should be able to cruise through the first five chapters ^^ then I read that difficult level really spikes ... so will see... 

A Dharma Yoga Wheel Teaching Certificate

Hurrah! So happy to have met Yogi Varuna and Leela Om who led a Dharma Yoga Wheel workshop over the weekend. Will roll on it everyday from now on!!! #Gratitude 

A New Game

There is no Part 2 to Zero Time Dilemma because I've already finished the game and ... it was a bit disappointed. The whole game mechanism is just not as good as its predecessor Virtue's Last Reward and those twists and turns are all a bit forced. But it is also an easier game -- the Decision Game is not quite what it says on the tin cos whatever decision you make, you will always have to make other choice(s) in order to proceed with the game thus making decisions in the game is totally pointless. Still, I overall enjoyed the game and I really miss its presentation ... so despite it not having much replay value, I'd love to go back to it every now and then to revisit certain chapters. The VO is good and I just love watching the animation.   

Now I'm downloading a, believe it or not, FREE card game called Infinita Strada Hana ... strangely I cannot find much info about this game, which was released in Japan a couple of years ago and when I searched GameFaqs only one poster mentioned that it's better Monster Monpiece, which I finished awhile ago. I love card games so will see if this one is any good. 

Other than that there isn't much out there -- on both HK and UK PSN -- that has caught my attention. Err, okay, forgot to mention I'm also playing Pokemon Go >< and last night I caught Clefable, which is supposed to be rare. But what I really want on my PokeDex is Raichu and one of those dragon types. They just look super cool. And I'm Hardcore. Have been asked whether I've been to any PokeGyms for fights yet but I'm still at the collecting stage and by the time I got what I want the fad will most probably be well and truly over. Anyway, will just keep going until I don't feel like playing it anymore. The other game that I don't feel like playing any more right now is Stranger of Sword City, which is a shame cos (oh god, the game just dropped in price by half on UK PSN) it gets a bit tedious and the dungeons are getting ridiculously difficult if you haven't done the grind. (Even) I lack the patience to grind and level up... I love all that class system stuff but it's just not very stimulating (to look at). I rather jump right back to Zero Time Dilemma ... the art is just very good! I might go back to it later. Persona 4 DAN is also still on the hold uncompleted, so is Digimon World - Next Order. Think will sell that (since it's in Japanese). Nabunaga's Ambition I def will pick up again but will wait for when I'm in the mood for that ... Super Robot Wars Z3 the same. There are also those Legend of Heroes titles but will wait till the third instalment of Sen no Kiseki III to pick that up again. What else is there? World of Final Fantasy is coming out but will wait and see if it's worth getting. Gameplay looks fun though and the art is very cute. 

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma (Part 1)

Well, I'm glad I picked up Virtue's Last Reward again cos, despite all the spoilers, I still found the ending totally mind-blowing. Alternate realities, robots, parallel universes, time travelling etc ... what makes the story so good and clever is that everything seems to ... make sense, even though all those pseudo-scientific theories seem far reaching. 

Now playing the last of the trilogy, ZTD, and the narrative (if there is one) is all intentionally jumbled up. At the beginning anyway. Will have to keep playing before things start to make sense, I guess. New characters are quite horrible, not likeable at all. Which turns out to be a blessing since I don't feel a thing to see them getting murdered in quite horrendous ways (!!) But the puzzles in this game seem to be more fun and less forced.

Well, there is nothing else out there that I want to play right now so will spend some time on this game (which is not that long). The next title I might get is World of Final Fantasy, which looks interesting (and very kawaii)... 

The Best Incense Sticks (IMHO)

And I thought incense sticks were all the same. Until I ran out of the Banyan Tree variety that i bought years ago from Macau and realised some smell terrible. For instance, I bought some from Thailand (also awhile ago) ... but think they were made in India and the incense was so pungent and strong that they cannot really be burnt in a yoga class.  

Top to bottom: Vanilla, Rose, Bergamot,
Sandalwood and Lavender

I guess these ones from Banyan Tree, which come in different "flavours", are primarily for aromatherapy (massages at their spas) they are milder and, well, more yummy to inhale. These are short incense sticks (which I think is the only disadvantage) so I guess they're for settling the mind. Great to lit up before a yoga class. Here are how these scents are used:

(From Cindy Murdoch @ worldhealth.net)

Aromatherapy can be used to help us relax, to provide mental clarity, to help cope with emotional conflicts, and to energize us physically, emotionally or mentally.

* Rose to relieve anger

* Bergamot, Rose and Lavender to relieve anxiety

* Bergamot, Lavender and Sandalwood to relieve depression

* Sandalwood to increase confidence

* Sandalwood and Vanilla can used as aphrodisiacs (!!)

* Bergamot, Sandalwood, Lavender and Rose can help insomnia 

* Rose can calm irritation

A PS Vita Game Drought

Cast of Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

While I still think those puzzles are kinda random: weighing different coloured coins? Whatever for? The story behind Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is very intriguing. HOW the story is unfolded also interesting, if not a little repetitive. So basically you have to go through various routes (with 28 endings!) -- a very disjointed narrative -- in order to get the full story, which is pretty deep and clever. As said previous, I rather go straight to the story with minimal BS so am glad there IS a direct route. Am about the finish the third proper story ending, so six more to go. And despite having read many spoilers (unavoidable as the game came out some years ago) -- cloning, parallel universes, time and timeline hopping -- I still find the plot engaging and full of surprises. I'm glad I can, err, jump right onto Zero Time Dilemma straight after this ... after all, there aren't that many PS Vita games out there that are as good at the moment ... Maybe I should look for more games by Spike Chunsoft, who is also behind the Danganronpa series, which I enjoyed (bar those mini games...) 

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

I really dunno what to make of this game. I bought it on the UK PSN awhile ago (cos it's not available in Asia ... God knows why) after I read some raving (and I mean, GOTY sorta raving) reviews. It's kinda like Danganronpa (but a tad less bloody): nine people are trapped inside a maze-like plant and they need to escape... or else they die. While in Danganronpa, those who wanna survive/ escape will need to murder others (without being found out... v sick), here you need to betray others in order to survive... and those who are betrayed will ... well, die (equally sick).

Like Danganronpa, it's a visual novel with an intriguing story. And in order to advance with the story (which is full of twists and turns), player needs to solve a series of puzzles. Now, so far so good (even some of these puzzles are a bit ... forced). What I didn't realise was that there are 20+ endings and just as many routes to take in order to get the fully narrative. So, after I played through one route (which doesn't take that long) I was utterly lost. It turns out the ending I unlocked is all but one of many endings (hence makes no sense when viewed by itself). Only when the player has unlocked most (if not all the endings) do they get the full picture/ TRUE story. 

Look at all these routes

Since I am a little impatience, I have decided to look up a walkthrough (above) that gives me the most direct shortcut to the end, i.e. so I can SKIP dead ends that stop me from progressing the story. Even then I still need to take a combination of 11 routes in order to reach the "true ending".  

Is the game enjoyable? Kinda. Kinda not. But it does help while the time away. Besides, am running out of games to play (again). Like thre Digmon game, I lost interest in Stranger of Sword City pretty quickly while I think I will re-pick up Crisis Core later. Also, VLR's direct sequel Zero Time Dilemma was just released so I might as well get that too ...