iOS

Standland

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Summer was super busy so I didn’t get to focus on being healthy and active (plus it automatically made me more active with all the festivals).

One of the simplest active routines you can implement in your daily routine is to stand up at least once every hour. That seems like a ridiculously easy goal, but it’s often forgotten when we spend hours in front of the computer. My Apple Watch helps a lot with the stand reminders but I found this adorable app called Standland. You collect adorable little 3D characters when you stand in the real world.


It even has an Apple Watch app that is like a cute watch face that shows your progress. Now I must collect all the characters!

I would walk 40km

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40km of walking later… #pokemongo

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I walked 40km to get this Raichu. Who is your Pokemon buddy?

I Choose You Pikachu!

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Are you playing Pokemon Go? So am I! I’m on team blue. To start, I chose Pikachu!

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Chose my first Pokemon ;) #pokemongo

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So far, this game has encouraged a lot of walking outside despite the hot weather. Gotta catch’em all!

Battling Sausages

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Yesterday, I learned from Buzzfeed that there’s a game where you battle sausages, yes you heard that right SAUSAGES. After learning about it’s existence, how could we not try it?

It was actually a lot more fun and weirdly strategic than we thought. It’s also strangely culturally inclusive. There’s sausages from all over the world including the Chinese lap cheung and ones I haven’t even heard of before. They even go at lengths to explain what the sausage is. Each one has special stats and advantages.

The game is weird but bound to be a laugh.

 

 

Snapchat > Vlogging

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It’s been a while since I vlogged on Youtube. With a busy life, it can be a hassle to film footage, dump the footage, edit the footage etc everyday. I fell in love with Snapchat because I can still capture and share these moments with people who wish to follow. It’s easy because all you have to do is focus on the capturing. Putting together the stories is done for you, showing snips of your day which is basically like vlogging. I wasn’t really making money on Youtube so the lack of monetization doesn’t really affect me.

Another bonus is that it’s not like up on the internet forever so you can share those funny moments without feeling too embarrassed about it later. Sometimes I consider deleting my old vlogs.

Anyways, I’m at Field Trip this weekend snapping and you can find me @tianafeng.

Get to Zero

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Today marks one year since my cousin made Get to Zero, a free smartphone puzzle available for iOS, Android and starting today, Amazon. It’s a very addictive game for those who like math, and easy games on the go.

Lumino City

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Lumino City – Official Trailer from State of Play on Vimeo.

I’m terrible at completing games, but I finished Lumino City recently. I enjoyed that it auto-saved my progress so that I never had to commit time to making check points. I could play it within any free time I had which fit well into my busy schedule.

The world of Lumino City is adorable and beautiful, made with handmaid paper crafts, lights and motors. It’s an adventure game where you find clues and solve puzzles. I downloaded it on my Mac but it’s also conveniently available on phones and tablets. The piano-based music was calm and peaceful. I’m looking for more games to play that deliver the same level of satisfaction!

Movement Goals

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One of the biggest benefits personally from the Apple Watch is the Activity app which encourages me to move more each day.

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I set a modest goal, the app suggests readjustments when you beat/fail goals. Right now it’s at around 200 calories. That doesn’t seem like much but the watch does not measure the calories you burn by just living. They take into account your body, movement and heart rate to figure out active calories for the movement app. 220 is a modest amount because on days where I’m super lazy I embarrassingly don’t make it. It’s encouraged me to do more walking and taking stairs instead of escalators.

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Another part to it is this Exercise ring. It tracks any strenuous activity (again based on heart rate I think). I don’t always exercise but I do a lot of fast walking that happens to fill this ring. On days where I feel like I have some movement to catch up on I do the 7 minute workout.

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One thing we often don’t take into account is how much time we spent sitting each day. The activity app has goals for how many hours you’ve stood at least a minute. It seems like an easy goal to make but I often get reminded at the 50 minute mark that I’ve been siting for too long.

I don’t think these small changes will shed any visible weight (not that I need to) but it’s always healthy to find ways to encourage movement and I love that I have these little goals and reminders.

Hoco Apple Watch Band

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Official Apple Watch bands are expensive so I went digging on Amazon and found this Leather watch band with decent reviews. Though the brand on Amazon said Oiitm, I got a package that said Hoco. It looked like the band though so it wasn’t anything I needed to worry about. Plus, I had never heard of “Oiitm” either.

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The most important thing about quality of the band is it the adapters. A poor adapter will break and you could loose that shiny watch! These ones looked sturdy which was in line with the reviews I read.

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This band is soft and comfortable compared to the heavier, milanese loop that I bought the watch with. If this were made in more colours I would probably have them all!

New Toy: Apple Watch

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Over the weekend, I got my hands on a new toy! My very own Apple Watch. The box is so inconspicuous.

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I opted for the stainless steel black Apple Watch with a black milanese loop. It’s a newer style that was introduced after last week’s Apple Event. Originally, I was going to get a new phone, but the iPhone SE felt uninspired. I thought that money would be better spent on a wearable instead and since I seem to have everything Apple, I went with the Apple Watch.

My family has Pebbles and they are a good value in terms of functionality and price. However, for me the one thing missing was always a more comprehensive ability to answer calls and texts. With the Apple Watch you can do both which is kind of like a 90s sci-fi lover’s dream come true.

I fell in love with some of the other functions upon using it. For instance, the Activity monitor will remind to stand up every 50 minutes if I’ve been sitting too much. I also like monitoring my heart rate with Heart Watch.

In addition, I spend less time unnecessarily checking my phone. I can read all texts quickly on the watch before deciding if I need to do any further actions. Quick replies are available as pre-populated messages or emojis. You can also dictate your replies, but I probably wouldn’t do that in public or I’d look silly.

I’ve still yet to discover the full potential of what my Apple Watch can do but I’m super excited about this new toy.