Category: Daddy Time

My Christmas Gift 2018

A friend let me try her Bose Quietcomfort 35 Series II and I instantly loved the Noise Cancelling feature. I thought that I need to get one for myself this Christmas. The leather on my Sennheiser Momentum is starting to peel off already after over 3 years of service.

I started to do some research on good quality headphones with Active Noise Cancelling features.

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9i has a very premium feel.  But it’s the most expensive and the volume seems weak.

Bose Quietcomfort 35 Series II was a good candidate. Most reviews say that it has the best noise cancelling technology. But I find the sound a bit subdued on the low frequencies when I tried it on.  Bose is really nice and comfortable but I was looking for something more that suits my taste in sound.

Finally, I tried on the Sony WH-1000XM3. It has decent features. The noise cancelling is adequate. It has touch controls like the B&O H9i. Good sound quality with the right amount of bass. It is not as comfortable as the Bose QC35 II though but the price tag was the determining factor. It was the least expensive among the three, and even comes with a 15% discount.

Merry Christmas to me!

Sony WH-1000XM3

 

Daddy Diary – November 2018

Here’s my November Update.

1. I visited Vietnam for the first time. I stayed at Hanoi and in Halong. The Halong Bay Cruise was the highlight of the trip. You can read my other posts about Vietnam here.

2. I joined the Halong Bay Marathon for the 21K distance. I trained for a sub-2 hour finish but I missed it by 3 minutes. It was still a great run

3. I can play the classic hymn “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” in guitar!

4. I love my weight this month. I averaged 71.7 kgs. That’s the lowest for the year.

5. I read or bought the following books:

  • Kafka on the Shore (finished) by Haruki Murakami
  • Sonnets by William Shakespeare
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • Principles by Ray Dalio
  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  • 100 Great Marketing Ideas by Jim Blythe

6. I am happy to have revived this blog again after more than three years. That’s truly a personal highlight.

Honesty is good for Business

There are several foreign exchange counters at the NAIA Terminal 3. But this incident made us choose the same money changer all the time regardless of their exchange rate.

In one of our travels we brought 20,000 pesos with us. The 10,000 was changed to the foreign currency while we kept the other half to be exchanged later.

After the transaction, we had some meals first before going to the immigration gates.

Then after the final security check, someone approached us and handed over an envelope.

“Naiwan nyo po.”

Quennie and I were puzzled. Then he explained that the envelope contains the money that we left behind at the foreign exchange counter earlier.

Quennie and I were shocked! We left 10,000 pesos and it was returned to us. They went out of their way to wait for us at the final security check. They never left until they found us. They were probably waiting for us for more than an hour just to return the money.

We said thank you for the kind gesture. I think it was in a hurried way since we had a plane to catch.

But ever since, we always transact with them every time we need a foreign currency during our travel. We no longer compare the rates with other money changers nearby.

Their counter doesn’t have a name. Just the words FOREIGN EXCHANGE. But they are the ones between the Airline Counters A and B.

Have your money changed with them too. Trust me. They can be trusted.

NAIA 3 Foreign Exchange Rate

 

Blog like Seth

I haven’t read any Seth Godin book… yet. But I heard about him. I also read about him and I sometimes read his blog.

I am puzzled by how he writes everyday in his blog. I wonder how it does that. I can’t imagine how one can write everyday. Especially someone like him who is busy.

I want to do that as well. But I wonder what to write.

Luckily, I stumbled upon an interview by Copyblogger.

Do you believe in “writer’s block”? If so, how do you avoid it?

This is a fancy term for fear. I avoid it by not getting it. Because I write like I talk and I don’t get talker’s block.

So here I am writing like I am talking. And so far, I am not running out of things to talk… and to write.

Thanks for the tip Seth.

A (Four) Million Dreams

It’s my first time to visit Vietnam. I’ll be running a half marathon at the Halong Bay Heritage Marathon on Sunday.

I had my Philippine Peso changed to Vietnamese Dong. With the current conversion rate, I should be getting 4 Million Dong!!!

However, the money changer only have 3.5 Million Dong.

I complained!

“All my life I dreamed of holding 4 Million in my hands and you are half a million short!”

Life is unfair.

Give Up to Move Up

This year I told myself to give up gaming so I can have more productive time.

Last year, I really got hooked playing Civ 5 that I spend hours trying out every character in the game. I also played other titles. All in all, I think I spent 3-4 months of gaming in 2017. I felt that 3-4 months could have been used for something else more worthwhile and productive.

So I stopped playing on my laptop. I still play casual games on my phone though. But I haven’t played my favorite RPGs and Strategy games. I logged zero hours of gaming in my Steam account for the year.

It was tempting to start when I was idle at times. I still haven’t played the Protoss Campaing for Starcraft 2 and Lara Croft is back with the new Shadow of the Tomb Raider. And there are several games I bought at Steam but never played yet.

But I had back up plans with the extra time I gained for giving up gaming. Maybe that is why I was able to resist the temptation to play.

I signed up for a gym. I get to workout 2-3 times a week. Sometimes even for a 4th visit if time permits.

I read books. Lots of books. I finished several novels and non-fiction books. I enjoyed it a lot and inspired me to start writing as well.

I had new projects. This kept me busy and had very little time to think about playing.

I also achieved new skills like developing an AI Bot. It was like playing a game while I tinker with the logic of creating a bot.

I would probably carry the same plan next year. There are new projects again. I would renew my gym membership for another 6 months. I already bought books that can last for 3-4 months of reading.

I am thinking of pursuing new passions too like doing yoga in the morning and learning to play the guitar just to compete with Gab.

I missed gaming but I think I could have missed more if I haven’t stopped.

Starting Again

I wanted this blog to be simple. Nothing fancy.

No ads. No pop-ups. No pressure.

No photos also. All words. Unless it is really necessary to add some media like photos or videos.

I have changed the template to be very minimal. I like how it looks now. I also deleted some old posts and drafts that no longer reflects the direction of this blog. I also removed all the tags to start a new one.

I am still holding on to the categories but I need to clean that up too. I am just hiding it for now.

But all these changes to make it simple is taking me more than three hours already. It is not easy to start over again.

I’m Back

I have been wanting to write again. Like really write. Not because I have to but because I want to.

And write whatever and whenever. Not because I am paid to do so or because I have a deadline to meet.

I just want to write freely. Without regard if someone really reads it or will like it.

Writing down my thoughts feels relaxing. I started writing personal stuffs for 2 years and it feels good to have that outlet for whatever thoughts I have. Some of those are worth sharing.

This blog has been asleep for more than 3 years. I think Daddy is ready to write again.

My Father’s Day 2015 Wishlist

It’s Father’s Day on June 21, 2105 and here is my shameless wishlist and gift guide for Father’s Day.  I really want new gadgets. As if, I don’t get a new one every year.  Hehehe… But these are top of its class and I will probably keep on wishing for them for years. 😀

If you still don’t have ideas for a gift to give for Father’s Day 2015, this list will surely make your dad happy. I also accept donations. Wink Wink!

Continue reading “My Father’s Day 2015 Wishlist” →