Starbase Orion

A Master of Orion clone? Perhaps ... but still fun to play. It brought back fond memories of my teenage years when I was gaming on a Pentium II.

The interface will be familiar to fans of MoO. Essentially a galaxy view with stars to explore. Even the home screen looks like a leaf of MoO. That's not to say its not a good game on it own. I've been playing these for the last days and pretty sure it's a keeper.

If there is a bone to pick, I'll have to say the AI and diplomacy aspects are not as refined as MoO. Yes, MoO isn't that good to begin with but Starbase Orion doesn't seem to be at that standard, even though its a game built 20 years(?) after MoO.

But if you are looking for a simple turn-based strategy game to pass time, this is a good game to play. At $11, why not give it a try?

OO @School - Hand Prints

OO likes to work with her hands. And they encourage it as part of the motor skills training at playgroup. She has been asking us to draw the outline of her hand when she places them on pieces of paper. We didn't know exactly what they were learning in school but thought they could be doing the same.

Then we saw the pictures from the school's portal and discovered she was playing with paints and making handprints.

Nyama was especially excited to see OO enjoying the activity and proudly commented that OO made the best prints in her class #GrandmaPride. Meimei and I love that the school is simulating her senses with different activities, things which is hard for us to replicate at home.

Poop-Poop @ Vivocity

OO decided she needed to poop and squatted right there and then along the walkways at Vivocity. I, of course, accompanied her and simply wait for her to do her thing.

Falling Asleep On The Highchair

Not sure what happened but OO fell asleep on the high chair during lunch. I suppose her illness contributed to it.

Afraid she is uncomfortable in the chair I tried to lift her out. That was a big big mistake. She became agitated and her knees pulled in against her thigh, clamping tight on the chair. Sigh ... and she was screaming and crying because we interrupted her sleep. The more we try to pull her out, the tighter she holds her legs ... Arrgghh strong to self ... never disturb OO when she's sleeping.

Bastion

Since quiting Wonder Tactics, I've vowed not to get into online gaming for awhile. The money I've spent in that game could have bought me a couple of the big name paid games like Final Fantasy series, Banner Saga etc.

As I search through the pay-once-and-play catalog in iTunes, I chanced on Bastion which is getting very good reviews. At $7, it seemed like a cheap investment on a game that potentially can add up to 10-15 hours of gameplay.

I must say the graphics of the game is fantastic. It feels polished and the music score certainly adds to the embience of the game world. Sadly attempting to play this on a Ipad Pro has proven to be a challenge for me. Maybe its my stubby fingers or my lack of 'skills' for real time action games. Whichever it is, I gave up after playing it a couple of hours.

No biggie, at least I know now not to choose another fast paced action game for my next buy. Well, I've always been more of a turn-based strategy, old-school RPG (remember Might and Magic series, Daggerfall, etc) type of player.

OO @School - 我的五官

The week's key theme is learning about self. I think because it's playgroup they weave a lot of play and hands on activities for the kids. That's good, OO likes to touch and feel.

The only thing I would liked them to do better is have individual shots of the children and not put them up in a montage. I don't want any of the other parents complaining that I put up their child's photo on the wild wild web.

23 Months - Horrible Temper

OO has been sick for most of the month. In fact I think she hasn't recovered, only keeping the ailments at bay with medication. And with the irritation of an illness comes quick temper and frustration. She has been pretty stubborn. I wonder if it's just due to the sickness or part of it comes from entering the terrible 2 phase.

"The Mama on the Bus go Shh Shh Shh~"

A snuggle feast with friends 

Out with Piyao~

The only way to travel on a pram

"Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

Tidbits ... Mine all mine!

Gaigai with NyaOng

Relax Time with NyaMa

Sticking to Mama

OO @School - Expressing Feelings

OO is learning about expressions of feelings this week through handiwork. She looks like she likes to draw. Hmm maybe we should get her some colouring pens or crayons.

It's been a month since starting school. She seems to be enjoying the activities. I'm still monitoring to make sure she really fits in. I suppose I'm trying to convince myself that we did not send her to school too early. These photos are always encouraging that we made the right choice.

Letting Go Wonder Tactics

I've been playing a game called Wonder Tactics for a little over a year. Its another game from the publishers of Summoners War. I had gotten sick of SW after a good 3 years and decided to go into another game.

The mechanics of the game is pretty similar to SW except that it takes lesser commitments to get ahead. Well one of the primary reason was that the player base is so much smaller in WT than SW. I estimate there to be about three to four hundred on the WT Asia server versus thousands on SW Asia one.

But that's ok, I like it easy ... its a game after all. What drove to quit though was a silly whimsical error on my part, though I blame the game developer for implement useless updates. They had just made minor interface tweaks over the weekend. And before I could get used to the changes, I made a fatal mistake of selling off a key weapon on a main toon. 

So I was so pissed that literally squander all my gems on hero summoning that amounted to null. Essentially I was destroying my account and end any hopes of returning to the game. I had spent hundred odd dollars on the game and this washes all of it away. I suppose it's a far price to pay for a years of gameplay but with this they are not getting any cent of my money.

OO @School - Water Play

OO's school has water play every Wednesday. This has got to be one of the most attractive activity for OO. The moment we mention water play her eyes will light up with glee.

At first we thought the kids will be soaking wet in the shower but as it turns out it's simply a portable pool with floating toys in it.

It means a lot to see her enjoying the play. And we were able to get these pictures curtesy of the school. It's one of those value add things they do for parents. I rate this as one of the most important feature of the school. Nothing beats capturing moments in OO's day.

Self Biting

Not sure why she is biting herself. Are her tooth hurting so much that she bites herself to relieve the pain? >.< I truly hope not ....

Kiddy Table And Chairs

Now that OO is going to school we thought we would try to replicate a study / work area at home. We have been eyeing the Ikea kids table and chairs for sometime now.

And it seems the right time to get her a set. She was very excited to see her own personal furniture. Already she has assigned chairs, Pink is obviously hers, Blue is for Papa and Green is for Mama. :-)

Fits Again

OO has been feverish since the start of the year. We have been trying hard to keep the illness contained. She has cough, running nose, short breaths, phlegm in her throat and lungs. I think she caught it from me and I've been feeling extremely guilty about it. 

And tonight it just went south. Her fever keep hovering in the high 38s and her body finally caved. She was tired and had laid down to sleep in the living room after dinner. I noticed subtle twitching and immediately sounded out to Meimei to begin sponging. Sadly it didn't managed to keep the fever down and she went into fits again.

We were more calm this time, though it still hurts just as bad seeing her suffer in this way. After the fits stop we gathered our things and made our way to Thomson. Thankfully the fever didn't escalate and stayed at 37 odd.

The on-duty doctor commented that there isn't much they can do and since the fever is now at 37-ish there isn't any benefit in admitting her. I made the call to follow doctors orders ... we already had a hard time getting insurance coverage for her due to the earlier hospital stay for fits. Another one and it's pretty certain she'll have to forgo any chance of insurance protection. 

It's ugly that a health decision hinges on not jeopardising the chance to obtain insurance. It sucks but that's how the world works. The next few days are going to be crucial to make sure OO is ok.

A Day At River Safari

Today's Meimei birthday. There wasn't any fanfare or anything. Instead Meimei organised an outing to the River Safari for OO. Everything Meimei does now centers around OO ... actually everyone's attention is centred on OO now haha.

OO has been sick over the past fortnight so we kept the trip short. We arrived at noon and had a quick lunch at KFC.

OO didn't seem keen on any of the exhibits till she reach the panda enclosure. She was fascinated at the red panda and couldn't stop staring at the giant pandas. We were done by 4, the place is pretty small. Plus we were not allowed on the boats with OO so we skipped quite a number of attractions.

22 Months - Starting on Words

Just when I commented that she wouldn't speak she does just the opposite and started saying some words. She can count from one to ten but skips seven because its a two syllabus word.

Video Time with Nyama

Video Time with Nyaong

Off to school we go~!

Quietly finishing breakfast at school

Only Nyaong can get her to stay still

Nyama carrying OO to school