Today I had a good restful sleep! They took my blood 3.30am and 8.30am. I got up at 9am feeling super well rested & brushed up before having breakfast!
9 plus the doctor told me I could be released today if my INR levels are balanced up and in the therapeutic levels. And the blood results came back! They told me I was going to be discharged!!!
Super happy I didn't have to walk around with that roller thing anymore and my first habit getting off the bed was to go and push that! Super funny :P the nurses all laughed hahaha.
Had a great shower and changed back to my clothes.
Waited till around 12 and Adam from Act's baptist came! He stayed for quite a bit till around 2? Mum and dad came around 2. The pharmacist checked trough the medicine 3 times before leaving and she nearly sold me on a few hundred tablets of painkillers I didn't need, afterall, strong men don't need painkillers...or do they? Haha
I checked out at 2.30pm and uncle Jason came to pick us up. I felt sad leaving the hospital and the friends I made. I found some of the student nurses on Facebook though. And I felt sad that I was leaving my super ultra comfortable bed that could rise up so high and contort to a comfortable rocket seat position HAHAH!
Was home and I did not do much! Showered and did almost the same mundane things. Aunty Corinna, Raymond & Kevin came to visit our family. Good chat and I let them play my simulator heeeheee.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Day 6 - Sharp Pain + CT Again
Day 6
The day started at 3.30am when they drew my blood. 4.30am I woke up with a sharp pain in my front left of my brain. It went on for hours till at about 5 I took paracetermol and it didn't work so they gave me 50mg of painkillers. It kind of didn't work because the pain lasted till around 9 plus before I felt better.
Doctors woke me up at 8am and I told them about my pain before they said they will send me to a CT scan to check it out. I feel like a Guinea pig undergoing tests haha. Oh well another $300 flying away!
Had some marshmallows and had a great full body shower! What a Luxury! Managed to clean myself and I felt really fresh! :))
Went for CT scan and mum and dad came. Mum left and I had lunch that she cooked.
MY cousins Geraldine, Chek chin, Tiffany came too.
My colleagues Denise, Chloe, Ally, Gerrard, Stephanie, jerry came to visit me :)
Uncle William & dorothy , Michael and Ivan from BA came! They prayed for me.
Marianne, Uncle Jason & Daniel came. She left and Daniel and Uncle Jason prayed for me.
Dad came down again with McDonald's. Terrence and Jtaime my poly mates came down to visit. Before aunty Rebecca came. Mum came shortly after with another round of mcdonald's :) foodcoma!!!
Bro came with avocado juice ! Yummy but I couldn't drink much ;) was full!
After that I just washed up and pretty much got ready to...watch Who's Line is it anyway! Haha spent an hour and a half watching a few episodes and let the food digest before heading to sleep! :)
11:02pm
The day started at 3.30am when they drew my blood. 4.30am I woke up with a sharp pain in my front left of my brain. It went on for hours till at about 5 I took paracetermol and it didn't work so they gave me 50mg of painkillers. It kind of didn't work because the pain lasted till around 9 plus before I felt better.
Doctors woke me up at 8am and I told them about my pain before they said they will send me to a CT scan to check it out. I feel like a Guinea pig undergoing tests haha. Oh well another $300 flying away!
Had some marshmallows and had a great full body shower! What a Luxury! Managed to clean myself and I felt really fresh! :))
Went for CT scan and mum and dad came. Mum left and I had lunch that she cooked.
MY cousins Geraldine, Chek chin, Tiffany came too.
My colleagues Denise, Chloe, Ally, Gerrard, Stephanie, jerry came to visit me :)
Uncle William & dorothy , Michael and Ivan from BA came! They prayed for me.
Marianne, Uncle Jason & Daniel came. She left and Daniel and Uncle Jason prayed for me.
Dad came down again with McDonald's. Terrence and Jtaime my poly mates came down to visit. Before aunty Rebecca came. Mum came shortly after with another round of mcdonald's :) foodcoma!!!
Bro came with avocado juice ! Yummy but I couldn't drink much ;) was full!
After that I just washed up and pretty much got ready to...watch Who's Line is it anyway! Haha spent an hour and a half watching a few episodes and let the food digest before heading to sleep! :)
11:02pm
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Day 5 - blood takes and long breaks
I only remember being woken up at 3am and 7.30am for blood taking. The doctor came and woke me up after 7.30am to do checks and update me on my status. Currently my INR is 1.5. The desired level is 2-3.
Breakfast was solid today. It was like sticky porridge with fried onions. Gobbled it all up. Tasty!
1032 finally managed to be unplugged and went to wash up n clean up :)) feel so fresh !
Took my weight and I weigh 74kg! Drop from 79. Must be from muscle loss
Uncle Russ and aunty chew Peng came. Followed by my mum. Explained to them the story I explained a million times and when my dad came they left. Bro came shortly after.
All left and uncle Patrick came and missed mum and dad by 10minutes. Chat a bit and I went to rest after. Zanna and her friend Nadira came to visit.
Rested for a bit till Clement came! He stayed for a while till my mum came.
Aunty Jan came with lots of food and Kamy came with food too! Mushroom soup and angle hair spaghetti with Portobello.
Aunty Jan brought olive rice with chicken. Yummy! :))
Clement left quite late about 6 plus! Before sister came up. And Ah Yi's family came! So sweet. They prayed for me and stayed for a while before they left.
Mum came back and I did my toilet washup and poohping before she left and I went back to watching who's line and laughing off :P
Breakfast was solid today. It was like sticky porridge with fried onions. Gobbled it all up. Tasty!
1032 finally managed to be unplugged and went to wash up n clean up :)) feel so fresh !
Took my weight and I weigh 74kg! Drop from 79. Must be from muscle loss
Uncle Russ and aunty chew Peng came. Followed by my mum. Explained to them the story I explained a million times and when my dad came they left. Bro came shortly after.
All left and uncle Patrick came and missed mum and dad by 10minutes. Chat a bit and I went to rest after. Zanna and her friend Nadira came to visit.
Rested for a bit till Clement came! He stayed for a while till my mum came.
Aunty Jan came with lots of food and Kamy came with food too! Mushroom soup and angle hair spaghetti with Portobello.
Aunty Jan brought olive rice with chicken. Yummy! :))
Clement left quite late about 6 plus! Before sister came up. And Ah Yi's family came! So sweet. They prayed for me and stayed for a while before they left.
Mum came back and I did my toilet washup and poohping before she left and I went back to watching who's line and laughing off :P
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Day 4 - Headache is Back
Day 4
Had multiple needles stuck to take blood and a anti biotic needle stuck on my right hand which hurt like crazy.
When I got up at around 7.30am I went to brush my teeth and wash my face and shampoo my hair. Before having breakfast. It was like mee Siam with Milo.
Doctor came to check on me after I finished the noodles and I went to watch ironman for 40 minutes before headache set in. I took a nap and 2 doctors came. 1 was the same doctor that checked on me earlier.
They tried finding causes but couldn't conclude.
They lowered my drip from 15ml/ h to 14ml/ h. And say I'm stabilizing. Let's pray I am stablising.
Managed to be the middleman to get my dad to purchase the tickets for my friends to go USS because MasterCard was having an offer & I was supposed to go tomorrow.
Mum dad came. Liyi n jason came. Monica n her mum. Vimi and Jolynn came.
Kamy came. Zahir came. Melvin & wei jun came. Shaun came.
So sweet liyi & Jason got me a gift. Kamy got me flowers. Vimi & Jolynn got me a crossword booklet & a plushie. I got so many gifts lol might need my parents to bring em back haha.
Good chats with my friends ! ;)
Weijun and Melvin came and Shaun from NP came.
They left & Mum came back. Heng Zhu and Amirrul arrived! After they left I took a short nap.
Jonadab, Corinne, wing Kit came.
Emmanuel, samuel, Linda & Michelle came. A pastor from another church came over & prayed for me. He looked really young!
Rebecca & weijie came.
Today has been a blessed day. I felt like a hamster :=P napping like after a visitor left and waking up again. Because of the headache that arose throughout the day. But all is well! My Mum and dad are awesome!!!
Good night ! 9:45pm
Had multiple needles stuck to take blood and a anti biotic needle stuck on my right hand which hurt like crazy.
When I got up at around 7.30am I went to brush my teeth and wash my face and shampoo my hair. Before having breakfast. It was like mee Siam with Milo.
Doctor came to check on me after I finished the noodles and I went to watch ironman for 40 minutes before headache set in. I took a nap and 2 doctors came. 1 was the same doctor that checked on me earlier.
They tried finding causes but couldn't conclude.
They lowered my drip from 15ml/ h to 14ml/ h. And say I'm stabilizing. Let's pray I am stablising.
Managed to be the middleman to get my dad to purchase the tickets for my friends to go USS because MasterCard was having an offer & I was supposed to go tomorrow.
Mum dad came. Liyi n jason came. Monica n her mum. Vimi and Jolynn came.
Kamy came. Zahir came. Melvin & wei jun came. Shaun came.
So sweet liyi & Jason got me a gift. Kamy got me flowers. Vimi & Jolynn got me a crossword booklet & a plushie. I got so many gifts lol might need my parents to bring em back haha.
Good chats with my friends ! ;)
Weijun and Melvin came and Shaun from NP came.
They left & Mum came back. Heng Zhu and Amirrul arrived! After they left I took a short nap.
Jonadab, Corinne, wing Kit came.
Emmanuel, samuel, Linda & Michelle came. A pastor from another church came over & prayed for me. He looked really young!
Rebecca & weijie came.
Today has been a blessed day. I felt like a hamster :=P napping like after a visitor left and waking up again. Because of the headache that arose throughout the day. But all is well! My Mum and dad are awesome!!!
Good night ! 9:45pm
Friday, September 30, 2011
Day Three in TTSH
Had an ok sleep. Got up at 7.30 to take my Blood Pressure then back to sleep till 8am. A nurse got me up to tell me I have to eat at 9.30am due to done blood taking.
9.40am took my blood and I could eat! Muslim food! Bee hoon with like tomato sauce with cucumber. Quite tasty I finished all of it yum yum.
Had my sponge and it was back to lying in bed.
3 neurologists came to do checks and check up on me. When she was doing the lights on my eyes I said:NICE BROWN EYES lol
My colleague Ryo came around lunch time 11.30 unfortunately my other colleague couldn't make it die to visiting hours. He shared cost to buy a balloon & a basket of goodies with my other colleague. Dad came shortly after With my laptop. Ryo left & serene & Charlie came and it was a quiet surprise! They brought a bag of apples.
Ahma & uncle Dave came for a bit to visit.
Serene & Charlie left and dad left for work.
Ahma went off for lunch shortly after.
Mum came after her work! Plus a surprise visit from one of the clients from SHF!
The nurse from neuro came to explain about my diagnosis.
Marianne came shorty after one of the neuro MO came down.
Then a prayer support group came & they prayed for me. Before my sister came with a book.
Brother n Monica came after & I was going to be transferred to level 10, the neuro wards. Aunty Jane caught me before I left. & when I got transferred, aunty Janet came. I received Lots of goodies!
I finally got to take a crap when I transferred. Previously they wouldn't allow me to get out of bed. Now I can push around my drip ;)
Monica n bro went down then up before leaving last!
I have my laptop and a cupboard lock! Woo
Spent my time laughing off who's line is it anyway before heading to sleep at 11.30 pm plus.
9.40am took my blood and I could eat! Muslim food! Bee hoon with like tomato sauce with cucumber. Quite tasty I finished all of it yum yum.
Had my sponge and it was back to lying in bed.
3 neurologists came to do checks and check up on me. When she was doing the lights on my eyes I said:NICE BROWN EYES lol
My colleague Ryo came around lunch time 11.30 unfortunately my other colleague couldn't make it die to visiting hours. He shared cost to buy a balloon & a basket of goodies with my other colleague. Dad came shortly after With my laptop. Ryo left & serene & Charlie came and it was a quiet surprise! They brought a bag of apples.
Ahma & uncle Dave came for a bit to visit.
Serene & Charlie left and dad left for work.
Ahma went off for lunch shortly after.
Mum came after her work! Plus a surprise visit from one of the clients from SHF!
The nurse from neuro came to explain about my diagnosis.
Marianne came shorty after one of the neuro MO came down.
Then a prayer support group came & they prayed for me. Before my sister came with a book.
Brother n Monica came after & I was going to be transferred to level 10, the neuro wards. Aunty Jane caught me before I left. & when I got transferred, aunty Janet came. I received Lots of goodies!
I finally got to take a crap when I transferred. Previously they wouldn't allow me to get out of bed. Now I can push around my drip ;)
Monica n bro went down then up before leaving last!
I have my laptop and a cupboard lock! Woo
Spent my time laughing off who's line is it anyway before heading to sleep at 11.30 pm plus.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
BBBBBoring. Day 2 of Boredom
Got awoken up a few times in the night to take blood samples(4 hourly) and got awoken at 8.30 for breakfast. Porridge and bread & Milo.
Had to sloth and lie in bed for an hour before my dad came with my iPhone.
The doc came & talked to me before they sent the team of neurologists to talk to me.
Uncle Jason and uncle Dave popped by during lunch. Aunty Jane cam by after they left and during her lunch hour. Dad left at 2 to leave for work. Had rice, bitter gourd soup and and salted egg for lunch. Thankfully dad bought subway. Ate half of the footlong he bought.
Waited till around 3 pm. Waiting for my mum.
Hung Yong came too he brought a huge box of strawberries. Real sweet !! As in juicy sweet.
Waited till around 5.30? Shu and tian came followed by my sister. They left around 6pm. Nice company ! My sister brought bubble tea along with a hippo for painting. Shu & tian brought loads of snacks and goodies for me to eat. Tian even brought monopoly deal haha!
Thus pharmacist came while they were there and started explaining about WARFARIN. The blood thinning drug.
Had dinner and it was eerrryucks. Ate half of it before giving up!
Shu n tian left at 6.05pm. Mum and sister about 6.15pm.
Rested for a while before Kamy popped by at 7.30pm before mum came again to pass me earphones and just to see me before she left for the night. Brother arrived later at 8 plus.
Had a good talk with Kamy and my bro. She left like 9 plus and my bro left at 10 plus.
Had to sloth and lie in bed for an hour before my dad came with my iPhone.
The doc came & talked to me before they sent the team of neurologists to talk to me.
Uncle Jason and uncle Dave popped by during lunch. Aunty Jane cam by after they left and during her lunch hour. Dad left at 2 to leave for work. Had rice, bitter gourd soup and and salted egg for lunch. Thankfully dad bought subway. Ate half of the footlong he bought.
Waited till around 3 pm. Waiting for my mum.
Hung Yong came too he brought a huge box of strawberries. Real sweet !! As in juicy sweet.
Waited till around 5.30? Shu and tian came followed by my sister. They left around 6pm. Nice company ! My sister brought bubble tea along with a hippo for painting. Shu & tian brought loads of snacks and goodies for me to eat. Tian even brought monopoly deal haha!
Thus pharmacist came while they were there and started explaining about WARFARIN. The blood thinning drug.
Had dinner and it was eerrryucks. Ate half of it before giving up!
Shu n tian left at 6.05pm. Mum and sister about 6.15pm.
Rested for a while before Kamy popped by at 7.30pm before mum came again to pass me earphones and just to see me before she left for the night. Brother arrived later at 8 plus.
Had a good talk with Kamy and my bro. She left like 9 plus and my bro left at 10 plus.
Stubborn blood clotted Mule
Getting me to the hospital was kind of difficult; I didn't even want to see a doctor.
The pain throughout the night was unbearable.
Got up and dragged myself to work. I asked for an early leave. Met up my dad for lunch at 12.30pm before heading straight to TTSH A&E(I wanted to head to a polyclinic). After the checkup the doctor asked me to go for a CT Scan. Had a bed and waited before heading to the CT. Did the scan and was sent to RESUS to await the results.
It took about 4 hours from the start of A&E to results. The bed is super uncomfortable but that might just be due to my fat bum.
Got transferred from RESUS to ward 12C bed 97 and my parents bought McDonald's for me! yummy! Munched the fries before gunning the quarter pounder up followed by fruits! Had to take my BP, some swaps of my nostrils, armpits and groin.
Met some of the funniest attachment guy nurses. Nice company!
My ah Yi and Uncle came to visit me at night. They drove from Tampines!
I ran out of battery waiting for my sister. She never came
The pain throughout the night was unbearable.
Got up and dragged myself to work. I asked for an early leave. Met up my dad for lunch at 12.30pm before heading straight to TTSH A&E(I wanted to head to a polyclinic). After the checkup the doctor asked me to go for a CT Scan. Had a bed and waited before heading to the CT. Did the scan and was sent to RESUS to await the results.
It took about 4 hours from the start of A&E to results. The bed is super uncomfortable but that might just be due to my fat bum.
Got transferred from RESUS to ward 12C bed 97 and my parents bought McDonald's for me! yummy! Munched the fries before gunning the quarter pounder up followed by fruits! Had to take my BP, some swaps of my nostrils, armpits and groin.
Met some of the funniest attachment guy nurses. Nice company!
My ah Yi and Uncle came to visit me at night. They drove from Tampines!
I ran out of battery waiting for my sister. She never came
Monday, September 19, 2011
A Little Review of Runmeter by Abvio
Introduction
Review by Vinson Phua
I am an average Polytechnic(Pre-University) student currently pursuing a Diploma in IT(Mobile Business Solutions) who is striving to pass his NAPFA test before serving National service in the Singapore army.
Spending money on applications has always been something that irks me, after all, who would want to spend money on an application that can be only used on a particular device? I have always downloaded those apps which are labeled 'free'.
I started running not too long ago, constantly trying to integrate it into my life. I've just recently completed my first 10KM in the yellow ribbon run. I wanted something that could track my run details, improve my runs and challenge myself as well as track other activities like cycling or hiking.
I started looking for devices and exercise applications. I'm not going to cover all of them in great detail but will share with you my research on several options I came to know about.
Research
Nike +
I got my iPhone and Nike+ seemed like a great idea but spending so much money on a device, shoe was not really ideal. I even read that the battery on the Nike+ sensor was not replaceable and you had to replace it once the battery is depleted. I was also lured by the fact when I signed up for my 2nd 10KM run, the Nike physical race, that Nike offered the devices with a 50% discount. However, the battery replacement and cost turned me away.
Nike+ GPS
Next was the launch of the Nike+ GPS application for the iPhone. At $1.99, I nearly bought this application on impulse but after reading several reviews and comparisons, I decided to hold back and do more research on other running applications before committing and boy did I NOT regret making the decision to hold back.
For both Nike+ and Nike+ GPS, I've read that the website needs a whole new layout because the flash advertisements make the page load like a snail and people complain that they still receive advertisements to buy Nike products even though they already own them.
Runkeeper Pro
Runkeeper Pro was an application used by my friend, he kept complaining that every time it uploaded updates to Twitter, it posted his distance in miles, not kilometers(People in Singapore love metric)even though he set it to metric. I explored the lite version of Runkeeper and it's really not too bad with the features they are offering. Of course, I won't go through the details. I read a writeup on the application and was actually sold by the statement by Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs.
"All of you big guys jumping in with major marketing budgets, you are doing this as a brand play," writes Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs. "We are not. You are doing this to try to ultimately sell more people your footwear/apparel. We are not. You are big and slow moving. We are not."
I found this statement so true after taking a step back and looking at applications by Nike or New Balance. It sparked in me that why should I buy into a large company only producing an application just to help them market their products?
Speaking of the truth, I wanted to just get the application just because of the statement made as well as the features the application provides but frankly speaking, the $9.99 price tag blew me away and I was unsure whether to dive into an application and I wasn't sure that there was an even better or equal application to match it.
I decided to do more research, googling VS Nike+ VS Runkeeper pro let me to a Runkeeper Pro vs Nike+ GPS and lo and behold, I came across a comparison chart by company Abvio.
This is a writeup of Nike+ GPS vs Runkeeper Pro
http://skylark64.blogspot.com/2010/09/nike-gps-vs-runkeeper-rundown.html
The chart does a comparison of three running applications, Runkeeper, Nike+ GPS and...Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/running-guide/
After reading, I knew that the chart was showing how good Runmeter was and what extra features it had over it's competitors. It seemed biased at first, because Abvio was the company who developed Runmeter in the first place.
I read reviews and Runmeter seemed to have what it boasted and what I really liked about it was that I could control the start/stop of my run with the iPhone earphone remote and that everything is 'iPhone eccentric' meaning I didn't have to sit and wait for slow loading websites to show me the details I need and everything was on my iPhone device. I could even view the maps of my runs on my iPhone and if I wanted, view on Google maps.
Hopefully I haven't bored you out...
Let me break Runmeter down...
Affordability
At US$4.99, it's just roughly over an hour of part-time work. It's not that expensive and not that cheap either(so you know that they aren't just creating the application as a 1-time basis but improving it with new versions constantly as well.)
Features
Updating to networking websites. This one I like. It posts what you want to be posted, either on Twitter or Facebook. The application has text-to-speech which reads what you want, be it your wall or just replies to your tweets.
Heck, even when you're done running, it serves as a Twitter/Facebook reader.
It shows you your
And something that other running applications that I've come across was missing: Stop detection.
It saves your routes in a calendar for you to view and creating a separate calendar makes things easier to see. The application has a default calendar but I created a calendar just for the application.
Even if you download the Runmeter application(there are other applications made by Abvio like Cyclemeter and Walkmeter), you can set your activity to cycling, hiking, skating, skiing, swimming(make sure you have a waterproof case! walking and you can even add in your own activity.
I think I've missed out on the many more features but I daresay that the features this application has are enough and more than what I want to know. I'm still discovering the features and if you want a whole list of the features, do check out Abvio's website which will tell you much, much more of the features of Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/runmeter
Usage
I read reviews on the Appstore saying that this application drains battery life, I do not agree. I went for a 5.8km run which took me 35 minutes 55 seconds with only my WiFi turned off and iPod application playing and it took only 5% of my iPhone 4 battery.
Running with this application that supports iOS 4 multitasking is great! Calls can come in and my runs are still being recorded. You can even set when you want to hear your run updates announcements from time, distance, pace to remaining distance, climb, from best and so forth. You can customize what you want to hear and when you want to hear it.
Buttons were well placed and I didn't have a fumble or 'fat-finger' anything. Pressing the stop button came with a confirmation whether I really wanted to stop my run and it was a sweet experience.
My first run was in a stadium not too far from home, off roads that were not shown on google maps. It was a test to see whether the application was able to track or whether it was only able to track when I was running on roads. To my surprise, it recorded the many circles I ran around the stadium with great accuracy.
Upon stopping my run, I was given the final details of my run and it sent an auto-update to Twitter and an e-mail was sent to emails that I specified.
Problems
No matter how good an application is, there would be problem that one would find. Not many that I could pick out, which is good so far!
I found some potential problems with the Runmeter application.
Starting music of the iPod via remote controlStarting the iPod via remote caused the workout to be paused. Probably I'm a newbie at this but how do you start your music with the remote without having the workout stopped? I enabled remote controls but somehow, it interferes with the iPod controls. In the end, I found that I had to double tap and play the iPod. It somehow messes up because the iPod controls are linked to the application start/stop feature.
Potential to be an irritating text to speech reader that doesn't stop talking
Enabling the text to speech for Twitter makes the reader read new tweets when I open the application. It would be nice to have the reader only read the tweets only when I start my exercise. Is there a way to do just that?
You could switch the twitter settings to read only mentions
Suggestion for Improvements
It would be great if there was an inbuilt pedometer in the application itself so an activity like stair climbing can be done to see how many steps has been taken.
Support
What I really like was the speed and efficiency of the support at Abvio. When I was considering to purchase this application and wasn't really sure it had a map feature that showed where I ran, I created a ticket via the Abvio website. The CEO of Abvio, Steve Kusmer replied in 24hrs, more like in 2 hours and I didn't know that he was the CEO because he did not even mention his position in the e-mail(real humble!) reply and I only found out reading this article...
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/07/run-app-updates-news-on-the-nike-runkeeper-and-runmeter-fron/
Conclusion
Runmeter is the first application that I bought and I have absolutely no regret that I spent my hard earned money on this application. Given that I am a die-hard-no-downloading-paid-apps person, Runmeter has really satisfied me with it's many features that I am still in the process of discovering and I'm sure that the humble fitness-favoring programmers programming Runmeter would continue their hard work improving their application for customers in the years to come.
Rock on Abvio!
____
A video on a study on Runmeter by Mikel King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjakSnyeuOI
I haven't been updating my blog on Runmeter simply because it was great pleasure using it to record my runs! I was kind of disappointed when they removed the free voice to improve the application and then started charging voices to speak twitter, facebook or dailymile replies.
Well...this
update about Runmeter is to tell you that the team @Abvio has been
working hard to bring us version 5.0.5! I'm so happy to share with you
that...
From "http://www.abvio.com/2011/04/12/5-0-5/"
Here’s what’s new in our 5.0.5 update, just released to the App Store.
➤ Now get one free voice for speaking replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. See More > Settings > Voices > Get Voices.
➤ Decimal separator always pronounced as “point” in English.
➤ Added Clock to Stopwatch fields.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
How awesome is that?! One free voice of YOUR choice! I was spoilt for choice testing which voice to choose and in the end, I downloaded Laura's voice because I liked her voice most.
I used the most updated Runmeter and found that the competitors part of Runmeter needed a fresh upgrade and so I emailed a suggestion:
"
Wed, Apr 13 2011 9:45am
Dear Person-in-charge,
I kind of like the new version 5.0.5. Thanks for the update. I would like to ask whether te competitors can be synced automatically to another Runmeter user instead of having to keep importing runs from someone else?
My girlfriend uses Runmeter as well and I would like to be able to \\\'compete\\\' her routes but i find that importing all of her runs is a chore. Maybe this could be incorporated in the near future like a Sharing/syncing integration upgrade to the current competitor part of the Runmeter app.
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!
Yours Sincerely,
Vinson
Sent from my Satellite-Enabled Phone
"
...and this was the reply, check out the prompt reply!
"
Hello Vinson,
Thanks for the suggestion. We'd certainly like to make it easier to share and compete against runs. Right now the best way to do it is for her to use Email Updates to send you an email on done after every run, and then you can simply tap the import link on your iPhone. But farther down the road, we'd like to make it much easier and syncing with the Internet.
But I have to recommend highly against competing against your girlfriend. Unless you be sure she wins every time. ;-)
Best,
Steve Kusmer
Abvio
*****************
Please rate or review us in the App Store. Thank you!
www.abvio.com/rate-cyclemeter
www.abvio.com/rate-runmeter
www.abvio.com/rate-walkmeter
Abvio Support
Ticket History: XXXXXXXX
"
This brings great news for all Runmeter users! They are going to incorporate new features in the near future! I can't wait for the cool updates!
Review by Vinson Phua
I am an average Polytechnic(Pre-University) student currently pursuing a Diploma in IT(Mobile Business Solutions) who is striving to pass his NAPFA test before serving National service in the Singapore army.
Spending money on applications has always been something that irks me, after all, who would want to spend money on an application that can be only used on a particular device? I have always downloaded those apps which are labeled 'free'.
I started running not too long ago, constantly trying to integrate it into my life. I've just recently completed my first 10KM in the yellow ribbon run. I wanted something that could track my run details, improve my runs and challenge myself as well as track other activities like cycling or hiking.
I started looking for devices and exercise applications. I'm not going to cover all of them in great detail but will share with you my research on several options I came to know about.
Research
Nike +
I got my iPhone and Nike+ seemed like a great idea but spending so much money on a device, shoe was not really ideal. I even read that the battery on the Nike+ sensor was not replaceable and you had to replace it once the battery is depleted. I was also lured by the fact when I signed up for my 2nd 10KM run, the Nike physical race, that Nike offered the devices with a 50% discount. However, the battery replacement and cost turned me away.
Nike+ GPS
Next was the launch of the Nike+ GPS application for the iPhone. At $1.99, I nearly bought this application on impulse but after reading several reviews and comparisons, I decided to hold back and do more research on other running applications before committing and boy did I NOT regret making the decision to hold back.
For both Nike+ and Nike+ GPS, I've read that the website needs a whole new layout because the flash advertisements make the page load like a snail and people complain that they still receive advertisements to buy Nike products even though they already own them.
Runkeeper Pro
Runkeeper Pro was an application used by my friend, he kept complaining that every time it uploaded updates to Twitter, it posted his distance in miles, not kilometers(People in Singapore love metric)even though he set it to metric. I explored the lite version of Runkeeper and it's really not too bad with the features they are offering. Of course, I won't go through the details. I read a writeup on the application and was actually sold by the statement by Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs.
"All of you big guys jumping in with major marketing budgets, you are doing this as a brand play," writes Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs. "We are not. You are doing this to try to ultimately sell more people your footwear/apparel. We are not. You are big and slow moving. We are not."
I found this statement so true after taking a step back and looking at applications by Nike or New Balance. It sparked in me that why should I buy into a large company only producing an application just to help them market their products?
Speaking of the truth, I wanted to just get the application just because of the statement made as well as the features the application provides but frankly speaking, the $9.99 price tag blew me away and I was unsure whether to dive into an application and I wasn't sure that there was an even better or equal application to match it.
I decided to do more research, googling VS Nike+ VS Runkeeper pro let me to a Runkeeper Pro vs Nike+ GPS and lo and behold, I came across a comparison chart by company Abvio.
This is a writeup of Nike+ GPS vs Runkeeper Pro
http://skylark64.blogspot.com/2010/09/nike-gps-vs-runkeeper-rundown.html
The chart does a comparison of three running applications, Runkeeper, Nike+ GPS and...Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/running-guide/
After reading, I knew that the chart was showing how good Runmeter was and what extra features it had over it's competitors. It seemed biased at first, because Abvio was the company who developed Runmeter in the first place.
I read reviews and Runmeter seemed to have what it boasted and what I really liked about it was that I could control the start/stop of my run with the iPhone earphone remote and that everything is 'iPhone eccentric' meaning I didn't have to sit and wait for slow loading websites to show me the details I need and everything was on my iPhone device. I could even view the maps of my runs on my iPhone and if I wanted, view on Google maps.
Hopefully I haven't bored you out...
Let me break Runmeter down...
Affordability
At US$4.99, it's just roughly over an hour of part-time work. It's not that expensive and not that cheap either(so you know that they aren't just creating the application as a 1-time basis but improving it with new versions constantly as well.)
Features
Updating to networking websites. This one I like. It posts what you want to be posted, either on Twitter or Facebook. The application has text-to-speech which reads what you want, be it your wall or just replies to your tweets.
Heck, even when you're done running, it serves as a Twitter/Facebook reader.
It shows you your
- Run time
- Distance
- Speed
- Map of where you are running
- Routes
And something that other running applications that I've come across was missing: Stop detection.
It saves your routes in a calendar for you to view and creating a separate calendar makes things easier to see. The application has a default calendar but I created a calendar just for the application.
Even if you download the Runmeter application(there are other applications made by Abvio like Cyclemeter and Walkmeter), you can set your activity to cycling, hiking, skating, skiing, swimming(make sure you have a waterproof case! walking and you can even add in your own activity.
I think I've missed out on the many more features but I daresay that the features this application has are enough and more than what I want to know. I'm still discovering the features and if you want a whole list of the features, do check out Abvio's website which will tell you much, much more of the features of Runmeter.
http://www.abvio.com/runmeter
Usage
I read reviews on the Appstore saying that this application drains battery life, I do not agree. I went for a 5.8km run which took me 35 minutes 55 seconds with only my WiFi turned off and iPod application playing and it took only 5% of my iPhone 4 battery.
Running with this application that supports iOS 4 multitasking is great! Calls can come in and my runs are still being recorded. You can even set when you want to hear your run updates announcements from time, distance, pace to remaining distance, climb, from best and so forth. You can customize what you want to hear and when you want to hear it.
Buttons were well placed and I didn't have a fumble or 'fat-finger' anything. Pressing the stop button came with a confirmation whether I really wanted to stop my run and it was a sweet experience.
My first run was in a stadium not too far from home, off roads that were not shown on google maps. It was a test to see whether the application was able to track or whether it was only able to track when I was running on roads. To my surprise, it recorded the many circles I ran around the stadium with great accuracy.
Upon stopping my run, I was given the final details of my run and it sent an auto-update to Twitter and an e-mail was sent to emails that I specified.
Problems
No matter how good an application is, there would be problem that one would find. Not many that I could pick out, which is good so far!
I found some potential problems with the Runmeter application.
Starting music of the iPod via remote controlStarting the iPod via remote caused the workout to be paused. Probably I'm a newbie at this but how do you start your music with the remote without having the workout stopped? I enabled remote controls but somehow, it interferes with the iPod controls. In the end, I found that I had to double tap and play the iPod. It somehow messes up because the iPod controls are linked to the application start/stop feature.
Potential to be an irritating text to speech reader that doesn't stop talking
Enabling the text to speech for Twitter makes the reader read new tweets when I open the application. It would be nice to have the reader only read the tweets only when I start my exercise. Is there a way to do just that?
You could switch the twitter settings to read only mentions
Suggestion for Improvements
It would be great if there was an inbuilt pedometer in the application itself so an activity like stair climbing can be done to see how many steps has been taken.
Support
What I really like was the speed and efficiency of the support at Abvio. When I was considering to purchase this application and wasn't really sure it had a map feature that showed where I ran, I created a ticket via the Abvio website. The CEO of Abvio, Steve Kusmer replied in 24hrs, more like in 2 hours and I didn't know that he was the CEO because he did not even mention his position in the e-mail(real humble!) reply and I only found out reading this article...
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/09/07/run-app-updates-news-on-the-nike-runkeeper-and-runmeter-fron/
Conclusion
Runmeter is the first application that I bought and I have absolutely no regret that I spent my hard earned money on this application. Given that I am a die-hard-no-downloading-paid-apps person, Runmeter has really satisfied me with it's many features that I am still in the process of discovering and I'm sure that the humble fitness-favoring programmers programming Runmeter would continue their hard work improving their application for customers in the years to come.
Rock on Abvio!
____
A video on a study on Runmeter by Mikel King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjakSnyeuOI
I haven't been updating my blog on Runmeter simply because it was great pleasure using it to record my runs! I was kind of disappointed when they removed the free voice to improve the application and then started charging voices to speak twitter, facebook or dailymile replies.
Well...this
update about Runmeter is to tell you that the team @Abvio has been
working hard to bring us version 5.0.5! I'm so happy to share with you
that...From "http://www.abvio.com/2011/04/12/5-0-5/"
Here’s what’s new in our 5.0.5 update, just released to the App Store.
➤ Now get one free voice for speaking replies from Twitter, Facebook, and dailymile. See More > Settings > Voices > Get Voices.
➤ Decimal separator always pronounced as “point” in English.
➤ Added Clock to Stopwatch fields.
➤ Bug fixes and performance improvements.
How awesome is that?! One free voice of YOUR choice! I was spoilt for choice testing which voice to choose and in the end, I downloaded Laura's voice because I liked her voice most.
I used the most updated Runmeter and found that the competitors part of Runmeter needed a fresh upgrade and so I emailed a suggestion:
"
Wed, Apr 13 2011 9:45am
Dear Person-in-charge,
I kind of like the new version 5.0.5. Thanks for the update. I would like to ask whether te competitors can be synced automatically to another Runmeter user instead of having to keep importing runs from someone else?
My girlfriend uses Runmeter as well and I would like to be able to \\\'compete\\\' her routes but i find that importing all of her runs is a chore. Maybe this could be incorporated in the near future like a Sharing/syncing integration upgrade to the current competitor part of the Runmeter app.
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!
Yours Sincerely,
Vinson
Sent from my Satellite-Enabled Phone
"
...and this was the reply, check out the prompt reply!
"
Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 02:09
Hello Vinson,
Thanks for the suggestion. We'd certainly like to make it easier to share and compete against runs. Right now the best way to do it is for her to use Email Updates to send you an email on done after every run, and then you can simply tap the import link on your iPhone. But farther down the road, we'd like to make it much easier and syncing with the Internet.
But I have to recommend highly against competing against your girlfriend. Unless you be sure she wins every time. ;-)
Best,
Steve Kusmer
Abvio
*****************
Please rate or review us in the App Store. Thank you!
www.abvio.com/rate-cyclemeter
www.abvio.com/rate-runmeter
www.abvio.com/rate-walkmeter
Abvio Support
Ticket History: XXXXXXXX
"
This brings great news for all Runmeter users! They are going to incorporate new features in the near future! I can't wait for the cool updates!
Rock on AbviÕ! :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
KERETAPI TANAH MELAYU(KTM) Railway
I completed the stretch of KTM Railway today with my father. 27KM of pure intense determination. Rain was forecasted and in the end it did not rain. My father was praising the Lord saying he prayed for sunny weather! Ouch! We managed to complete the railway till the Woodlands checkpoint where they chased us out because we couldn't continue anymore. I ran out of water in my water pack but thank God I brought an extra litre of water. We brought food as well! Enough to last us the whole trip.
By the end of the hike, my hands were trembling! It was just so exhausting!-Good to keep my mind at bay!
Nothing beats going home welcomed with food and a nice cool bed :)
-
Friday, June 24, 2011
In Planning : Annapurna Base Camp Hike
It's been quite a journey for the first half of this year with downs and ups and downs again. These are the places I've been to this year. I think it's my most travelled year.
March 9-11 2011, Langkawi, Malaysia (Grad Trip)
May 27-30 2011, Cruise to Penang, Malacca, Malaysia (Getaway)
June 13-16 2011, Desaru, Malaysia (Combined Church Retreat)
Haha all Malaysia! I guess it's the cheaper alternative
Been into hiking and I consider it a switch from Soccer. I've been trying to sell my goalkeeper goodies, a pair of Adidas E65 Fingersave Alround
Adidas Response Training
Goalie Jerseys
To raise some funds for hiking.
I want to reach Mount Everest one day.
Circumstances kind of got me as well. A couple came in and gave me some Mint cakes taken by Sir Edmund Percival Hillary on the climb to Mount Everest. Next was a lady we met on a cruise trip, she mentioned her sister going to the Everest Base Camp.
Well...It's a dream.
Just last week, one of my church mates proposed a hike to the Annapurna Base Camp. So right now 2 of us are going along with her sister. The tickets were booked super fast! In 3 days we confirmed our tickets. I've had to make payment though!
Today, we are trying to source out the companies to lead us there. We kind of have 3, all have different price ranges. The first company charges US$1150. Quite insane, but we have to confirm whether they offer internal flights. The Second Company charges US$545 and internal flights cost US$60+US$2(Tax) While the third company charges SGD 730.
All exclude the US$40 Tourist Visa when entering Nepal.
All of them seem to be trekking to ABC but going to different villages and guest houses. I have to do more reading up on the places.
This is the Annapurna Base Camp...
_________________________________________
March 9-11 2011, Langkawi, Malaysia (Grad Trip)
May 27-30 2011, Cruise to Penang, Malacca, Malaysia (Getaway)
June 13-16 2011, Desaru, Malaysia (Combined Church Retreat)
Haha all Malaysia! I guess it's the cheaper alternative
Been into hiking and I consider it a switch from Soccer. I've been trying to sell my goalkeeper goodies, a pair of Adidas E65 Fingersave Alround
Adidas Response Training
Goalie Jerseys
To raise some funds for hiking.
I want to reach Mount Everest one day.
Circumstances kind of got me as well. A couple came in and gave me some Mint cakes taken by Sir Edmund Percival Hillary on the climb to Mount Everest. Next was a lady we met on a cruise trip, she mentioned her sister going to the Everest Base Camp.
Well...It's a dream.
Just last week, one of my church mates proposed a hike to the Annapurna Base Camp. So right now 2 of us are going along with her sister. The tickets were booked super fast! In 3 days we confirmed our tickets. I've had to make payment though!
Today, we are trying to source out the companies to lead us there. We kind of have 3, all have different price ranges. The first company charges US$1150. Quite insane, but we have to confirm whether they offer internal flights. The Second Company charges US$545 and internal flights cost US$60+US$2(Tax) While the third company charges SGD 730.
All exclude the US$40 Tourist Visa when entering Nepal.
All of them seem to be trekking to ABC but going to different villages and guest houses. I have to do more reading up on the places.
This is the Annapurna Base Camp...
_________________________________________
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
Mother Teresa
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Vibram KomodoSport
May 7 2011 Vibram KomodoSport
First day of wearing my Vibram Komodo Sports out. Well, I wore it out because my Injinji socks came!
Things have been going great as in the overall experience of wearing the shoe. Didn't do much running but I walked pretty much the whole day. Yes it does make my toes feel free.
The only setback I have is that when I wear my Vibrams, I'm very much afraid of getting my feet crushed by other people's feet. I was rolling my trolley and my toes got clipped; in short, you'll feel the pain if your toes get crushed.
Grip has been awesome on grass, on concrete and asphalt though on asphalt I find that it's so sticky that it feels like my soles are coming off. Makes you feel like an F1 driver trying to preserve your soft tyres.
I wore my Vibram Komodosports for the whole day(was out for more than 12 hours) and while standing, sitting or walking I felt no discomfort. When I did a little jog, i felt more conscious of my landing and immediately got into landing on my forefoot vs landing on my heels.
At the end of the day, I felt my right heel muscles to my calve muscle working and it started having some muscle aches. It was due to my walking (I tend to land on a weird angle on my right foot and it causes ALL my shoes to wear out from the bottom right end first) but I tried correcting it. I'm guessing it'll take more time for me to do that!
Update May 10, 2011(3 Days after wearing the Komodo Sport)
My calves has ached quite a bit and I'm more conscious on landing lightly on my feet. Getting them on hasn't been much of an issue these days, been able to slot my feet, find the slots for my toes and slip the shoe on. I find that my Vibram don't get much attention and that's good! Haven't been getting odd stares, perhaps these shoes have been in the market for a while so it's gaining acceptance from the public in general.
I wore my shoes to work for the first time and was standing a lot in them. Standing is pretty okay; it is more comfortable as compared to my normal shoes.
I kind of like the feeling of wriggling my toes after a long day!
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