game

freakish

I was on a bus tinkering with my iPhone when a blonde curly-haired little boy suddenly grabbed my phone and blurted out, “Can I borrow your iPhone?”. I nearly had a heart attack because I thought he’s some kind of a snatcher.

His mother was giving him the “you better behave” look but the little boy was persistent. He may be around four or five years old. When he sat beside me and then leaned on me, I felt like pushing him but I restrained myself. I kept reminding myself that he’s just a kid. Suddenly, he latched on to my phone and began browsing it. I was dumbfounded! O_O

He was looking for games and when he can’t find any, he returned my phone. Thank goodness, I don’t have games on my phone! His mom kept him occupied by giving him a calculator and a toy. He typed “450″ on the calculator and then mumbled some unintelligible words while playing with his toy. He’s really out of this world.

That’s the longest five minutes I’ve ever had! It’s creepy just sitting beside him… which is strange because I love kids. He even said goodbye when I was about to alight, but it’s kinda nightmarish. It’s my first time to feel this way with a kid. It’s bizarre!

I really felt relieved when I alighted from the bus. Whew!

beyblade tournament

Finally, it’s the day of the tournament. My nephew (James) woke up so early and I can hear him running around the house while chattering endlessly. He kept reminding us that the tournament is at noon and we should not be late. James’ parents were a bit anxious because he is a pampered kid and he is not yet comfortable in graciously accepting defeat.

The moment has come… together with his Grandma, Dad, and his Mom, we all went to give him moral support. James’ parents kept emphasizing that he can’t always win and losing is part of the game. As we gather in his school’s gymnasium, the venue of the tournament, the participants’ were all bubbly and the energy level is extremely high. I felt like I’m watching a game in the Olympics.

The game started. James needs to win three rounds in order to qualify for the finals. From the looks of it, we’re more nervous than him. After a few minutes, the first round is over. We all heaved a sigh of relief when he won the first round. Another competitor was selected and he’s ready for the second round. We were all crossing our fingers for him.

During second round, James’ beyblade kept on bouncing out from the stadium (that also happened when we were having beyblade battle and he said it’s not counted). After the second round ended, my nephew went to our area silently crying. He lost. Reason? His beyblade kept bouncing out from the stadium. (Whoa! I should have won in our beyblade battle then. :p )

Sigh. My heart bleeds for my nephew. It’s my first time to see him cry. Geez. His Mom was hugging him and whispering to him that he did well on the first round and what matters most is joining the tournament. My nephew was nursing a broken heart when we left him at the tournament venue. Later, when we went to fetch him after his class, he loudly blurted out “I’m over myself now” while giggling! O_O Whew! He recovered fast than most of us could! :p

Life bites sometimes to keep us grounded. Aja!

cafe world

I was in the midst of consolidating all my articles and working out on the structure of my site when I started playing farmville and farmtown. In a week or so, I dropped farmtown because it’s too tedious and I don’t like the graphics. I continued playing farmville (FV) though (see FV or FT article).

Another game on Facebook that caught my attention was cafe world (CW). It’s interesting because you get to set up (which includes building and renovating the cafe) and manage your own virtual “cafe”. It helps people think on strategies on how to balance things like increasing the profit at the same time providing good customer service.

FV and CW are fun and educational because it provides an avenue for people who don’t have a business to learn the ropes and have a feel on what it’s like to run a business. Inspite of that, I decided to stop playing FV and CW because I realized I’ve been spending more time in the virtual world than in the real world.

For those who managed to balance both worlds, I salute you! Aja!

FV or FT?

I signed up in Facebook last year (2009) and it took me about a week to contemplate if I will play Farmville (FV) or Farmtown (FT). My friends were addicted to it and I don’t want to get hooked. However, due to undying curiosity (www.thecuriousme.com really fits me ey?) I finally gave in. As suggested by Rein, my friend based in Canada, I chose FV.

For the first week, I kept on ploughing and planting on my six (6) plots. One suggested that I need to increase my neighbors and earn more coins inorder to gain more plots. While some were convincing me to do Farmtown instead.

During the weekend, I seek Rein’s advice in increasing plots when I chance upon her in the Yahoo Messenger (YM). She instructed me to use the “plow” tool and patiently walked me through Farmville. The tips she gave me helped my plots grow and my money was more than enough to buy seeds.

Organizing plots was also one of the hindrance that I’ve encountered because apparently it can’t be moved, it needs to be deleted. I wasted few coins because once you delete a plot, the coins you spent to buy the plot will not be returned to you and you will need to pay again the new plot.

Rein was laughing at me because I was really determined to increase my plots, level and earnings. She was quite surprised because in just few hours, I managed to jump from Level 5 to Level 8. It’s quite a feat for a newbie huh?

I did try FT but it’s not as user friendly as FV. The plants looked nice but the set up was more troublesome than FV. FV is a stress reliever but I opted to quit. It’s addictive. I want to focus my time with other things more productive.

I wonder when this FV and FT will craze end. A year or two from now perhaps?

Let’s wait and see.