Weekly Diary Summary EP01 – From Google+ Posts

It is happening, however much I wished to deny or defy it.  Google+ is becoming my preferred blogging platform.  The level of engagement and the quality of discussion over there is phenomenon.  In my decades of blogging, I have not seen something quite like that.  Not that I am hugely popular in Google+.  There is something special about this social networking platform.  It is so open, yet I feel so much more comfortable interacting with friends and strangers who most have a real name and a real face against them and are truly passionate about the topics of their interests.  Looking back, deleting my accounts from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn in one go and focus on one single social platform is probably one happy decision I have made.  Best is relative.  To the least, I am not stressed over multiple platforms feeling the need to cater for the audience from different channels.  One is all I need, for now.

Enjoying the current platform is one thing.  I have seen online services come and go.  The only thing invariant is the website I host.  Perhaps it is worthwhile to write a weekly diary summary in here for my future reference while self-reflecting on the things I have done over the week.

One evening, I was watching Formula One on TV.  I opened an apple cider from the refrigerator.  And I posted a random picture on G+ as well as in one of the Google Messenger group chats.  Interestingly, those who love to drink cider really know cider.  They can recognize the drink I was having and talk about the cider that they prefer.  Another evening, closed to midnight, I met up with a Canadian whom I have come to know over Ingress.  To wrap up the day, we had two cans of cider because we have once talked about cider over online chat.  I can’t remember what I drank.  It wasn’t as sweet as Somersby.  But it did have a certain ‘kick’ to it.  My knowledge on cider is limited.  Back in UK, the only beer I knew was lager, bitter, and cider.  I was not aware of any sub-categorization beyond that.

Talking about Ingress, this week has been an exciting week for this augmented reality game.  I popped by East Coast Park and took photographs of the surroundings using my mobile phone.  That trip was purely for portal submission and strictly speaking, not playing the game.  It is an aspect that allows players to expand the game universe.  The next day, I ventured into a park near my office that I did not even know of its existence, if not for my passion to discovery and submit Ingress portals.  It was an adventure of its own.  Perhaps, more rewarding so was that one particular portal submission has gained the recognition from Ingress.  In return, Ingress has given me with an activation code and I can use it to recruit one friend into the game.  Sweet.

More about Ingress, there was a huge operation involving agents from Singapore and Malaysia physically shuttling across the borders of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia in order to paint a large part of our countries green.  That was one inspiring operation.

My few-week-old niece Lydia is growing up steadily. I wish I could spend more time with her.  But, her three years senior sister Bethany has been getting all my attention, whenever I pay them a visit.  Totally understandable.  My dad, on the other hand, is actively posting photographs onto Google+.  Some dated back to the time when I was still a little boy.  I guess my 78-year-old dad is wasting no time to catch up.