Our Pokemon Go Journey

12 Sept 2016

We were never virtual gamers. Today we celebrated our levelling up to level 39 playing Pokemon Go. Another 5 million XPs to grind before ascending to the final level - we can finally go easy.

Our journey starts slow on 6 Aug 2016. The memorable photo on top marks our beginning, when we were still amateur and catching mons with low combat power. And when Ric had refused to walk the eggs for me. =)

(This post is dedicated to Ric, who walks the miles for us, evolving decisively, catching accurately, watching the roads for me and evolving the mons bravely when I dare not look on.)

7 Oct 2016

- Bagged the rare Snorlax and Lickitung minutes apart, while travelling along Bukit Merah View!

- Near missing our first Chansey at Marsiling MRT station! On a morning ride to work.

- Our first Lapras jumping on us along Punggol Rd, towards the waterfront!

     

22 Nov 2016, Woodlands Ring Rd (Snorlax)      22 Dec 2016, Bukit Batok Central (Muk)     09 Jan 2017, Woodlands Ave 4 (Rhydon)

- It was wlways exhilarating meeting the larger mons. Although many can be evolved from baby mons, meeting and fighting the full grown is fun.

- I was actually afraid of the ugly Muk.

21 Nov 2016                                                                        24 Nov 2016

- Farming Charmander candies on Mount Faber.

- Completed our GEN 1 pokedex on 20 Nov 2016 when Aerodactyl was caught at Bukit Panjang. Another one at Hort Park days later.

9 Dec 2016                                                                         13 Dec 2016

- Dashing out every night when Machop started a small nest in the neighborhood garden. And grow to love this cute little guy with a tail. He and Dratini remains our favorite till today.

- When an error occurred during play, we get fun pictures. See a fist clenched Machop on my foot?

6 Jan 2016                                                                           27 Jan 2016

- During the Fire event, caught our first wild Charizard (with AA moveset!) at Jurong West.
- Chasing Lapras during the Water event! Rhyhorn, Geodude and Omanyte during the Rock event.
- One Sunday morning, Aerodactyl decides to appear in my path.

4 Feb 2017                                                                           24 Feb 2017

- Never dream of meeting Ms Chansey again until she starts spawning more often during the Pink Valentine's event in 2017. We ventured into unknown grounds to get many her!
- Finally meeting the naughty, giggling Gengar in the same month too.

25 Mar 2017

- GEN 2 pokemons were released in Feb 2017. We filled up our pokedex fast within 2 days, leaving Unown to be most unpredictable.

- Beat the jam when we spotted the creature unexpectedly in Changi Village. Turned the corner to Leuchars Rd, walked the dark path with an exciting crowd to nab it!

11 May 2017

- Ampharos was last to enter our GEN 2 pokedex.

- She stood at the end of the Woodlands Waterfront, and made me ran on waters to reach her!

27 Jul 2017                                                                         08 Aug 2017

- Legendary birds were introduced in July. Doing just 1 raid per day, we were lucky to bag them all.

- The new gym system that started in June also encouraged us to begin active gym guards and defense.

                                                                  12 Aug 2017                                                                       24 Nov 2017

- Our tally at level 39.

- 40, we are coming. (updated.)

First Love - 90 x 60 cm

This was a journey that started blank on 2nd Sep 2014, making the grade on 10 Dec 2016 - a cool 2 year 3 months. This is my 1st 'full stitch' picture, and it was large, comprising of 36 colors. Many a times i have doubted if i could ever finish it.

Now i have wet the finished picture in water, soaking and washing away the color indicator dye, together with the dust which have accumulated over the years. And it is ready for framing - the final product is shown on the last picture below.

A new, more colorful and larger piece has been taken out. And am ready to start everything over again - filling in the tiny colored boxes with cross stitches. It will be another 3-4 years before i have anything to show you here :)

02.09.2014 (Start)

03.03.2015 (6 Months later)

25.12.2015 (10 Months later)

04.07.2016 (6 Months later)

10.12.2016 (Finished, 5 Months later)

12.12.2016 (Washed)

A LINE Characters Valentine's Day

McDonald's Forever Love Special Edition Box  (S$19.80; available with purchase of an Extra Value Meal™)

Ric left office without lunch, rushing to queue for McDonald's limited release of LINE Valentine's Day plushies - BROWN and CORNY. We both thought they are cute.

The animation of couple bear and rabbit are sweet and candid; even when they are in disagreement! Just as very different individuals who come together, we fought so much too. The cartoon illustrates our love relationship playfully and explicitly - we quarrel, we fought but staying very much in love...

Happy Valentine's Day, BROWN!
CORNY loves you too. Hehehe...

Singapore Philatelic Museum

Have always wanted to visit the Singapore Philatelic Museum, always. For i wanted to see what i've missed out in my collection, and also to enrich my history of Singapore philatelic.

Since we already have quite a collection of some of Singapore's oldest stamps, it doesn't awe us when we saw the displayed. But the old posting boxes are fascinating!

And it is especially nostalgia to see these stamp packs for sales - we used to save up pocket money to buy them! Now, you don't see them that commonly anymore.

Metal Portable Posting Box (Yellow, small), circa 1970 - 

This posting box was only used in post offices during festive seasons for local greeting cards 

when mail volume was high. Mail was collected from these boxes throughout the day. Unbelievable!

Orange Post Box - 

This is repainting of the Yellow Post Box to reflect the merger of the 

Postal Services Department and Telecommunication Authority of Singapore on 1 Oct 1982.

 Yellow Post Box - 

In 1971, the Postal Services Department designed and locally manufactured new posting boxes 

for the first time. It featured double posting apertures for separating mails meant 

for "Singapore"and "Other Countries".
Don't we always wonder how's the inside of these metal boxes!

Lamp Posting Box, circa 1949 - 

Lamp posting boxes were first used in 1896. Meant for areas where mail volume was low, 

these boxes were cheaper to install than the big, round pillar boxes. The display was used during 

the reign of King George VI (reigned 1936 - 1952). However, the king's cipher was removed 

(filed off) after Singapore became a Republic.

Red Pillar Box, circa 1952 - 

This pillar box was donated by Hong Kong Post after the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. The royal cipher of the QENR (Queen Elizabeth II) on all Singapore's posting boxes were 

removed by the postal department when Singapore gained independence in 1965. 

Each pillar box is made of 400 kgs cast iron.

童年故事 - 47 x 50cm

童年故事 - Childhood Story

This is our simplest cross-stitch piece, purchased off Taobao - a China-based website. There are another 5 pieces which will take many years to complete as they were all full-frame stitch - meaning there won't be empty spaces without stitching! It would be tiresome but beautiful when completed. I can't wait!

It is certainly helpful when these new generation cross-stitch sets came printed with washable color markings, making the sewing easier as we need refer less to the instruction booklet for stitch count. It is a lot time-saving. Just 2 full months (20 Jun - 21 Aug) to complete this piece.

Of course, i got careless and smudged the top right corner of the piece with rainwater! I was therefore eager to finish the piece, and wet the entire work to remove the ugly smudges! Can't wait to see the designed colors too!

The cute picture says - "I didn't mean to make you angry." The girl replied, "But sometimes you just made me angry." Oh, so true and candid!

Pink Roses Cross-Stitch - 66 x 54cm

And so i finished it this morning. My first and probably only, large cross-stitch (66 x 54cm) on cloth. The feel was wonderful as i ran my fingers on the stitches after loosening the piece from its fasteners...

Remembering the morning when i started the piece in November 2012, i was feeling like a great painter who pitches his easel in the garden where the abundance of natural lights threw in.

26.11.2012

It wasn't plain sailing as this was my first large scale cross-stitching. I got the orientation wrong and the color chart misinterpreted - wasted a month's labor and had to redo. After that, i learned.

20.02.2013

25.04.2013

Finally, something to show for after 6 months of labor - after 6 shades of Red, 2 Greens, 2 Pinks. You can't tell the many color tones just by looking yah? That's the beauty of this.

My plan was to start with the darkest color tone so as to prevent the lighter threads from fading or getting soiled.

28.05.2013 - Another 3 Browns and 1 Pink.

06.07.2013 - Another 1 Green, 1 Brown, 1 Pink.

31.08.2013 - 1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1 Blue, 3 Browns, 1 Orange, 1 Grey

13.10.2013 - 2 Greens, 2 Pinks, 2 Browns, 1 Yellow, 1 White, 4 Blues

28.12.2013 - Finishing up with lightest tone of 3 Blues, 2 Yellows, 1 Pink, 2 Browns, 1 Grey, 1 Orange, 1 Green 

The last weeks of December had me finishing the group of flowers slowly; this week the blue; the next week the yellow; and the final 2 weeks spent stitching up the pink roses.

I hope this will not be my first and last piece. It was really time consuming and taxing on the eyes - i didn't know if i could still afford the luxury when the next piece comes along. I wish to.