The Man with Many (watch) Faces 

     Well, it has been a while since I am back with a new post, and I thought I might start blabbering about my other passion, besides cycling and coffee, I love getting tech gadgets! 

I had been recently hooked on finding crowd funded products that looks new and interesting via Indigogo and Kickstarter, but that will be on another separate post when my funded projects really materialize. I had been told this is the easiest way that peeps now gets their funds for their big dreams but sometimes, we might just be the victims of their empty promises and bubbles. 

Back to my most constantly interest in smart watches, which I had 3 pairs so far, namely the earlier Samsung Gear I in 2013 , the original crowd funded Pebble watch , and an almost a year old Moto 360. 

my earlier Samsung Gear I

Well I will miss my Gear for its capabilities to take photos /videos stealthily , a.k.a. James Bond ..but it does not really have an attractive watch face. It does have a plain LCD black/white watch face, although I did have it rooted and ROMed with so you can change it to a much better interface. Interested folks who still loves your Gear I can try having some fun here. Flash-custom-rom-samsung-galaxy-gear-video/

The other smart watch would be my alternative side kick to Moto360, which is the Pebble watch. I bought it after the KickStarter campaign ended, so it was non discounted retail price online, but still a very affordable and functional watch which serves my needs for a cyclometer during my cycling trips as it is supported on my android app , MapMyRide. It does have its aesthetic appeal as well, given multiple watch faces to choose from, and I had applied a metallic "onyx" sticker skin on it so it doesn't look too "cheap" haha... So besides my Moto360, this is my other daily watch.

pebble with "onyx" skin applied

Now comes the main guy, my daily "watch", the Moto360 android wear based watch from Motorola , which I had gotten almost a year ago. I had saved on shipping charges with the blessings of a friend who traveled over from the States, so it was nicely around $320 SGD then.

I had changed the strap from the regular one with the stainless steel upgrade, and it is  an absolute beauty.

absolutely a "dress watch"

The fun part of this watch is besides all the functionalities which I will highlight below, the best being able to customize your outfit of the day with matching "watch faces". The flushed stainless steel with watch bezel gives a great industrial look and and a "clean cut stylish" look. This is definitely one of the best looking watch in the market now, compared with other Android Wear watches from makers such as LG's G , Urbane watches and Huawei's Watch. A comparison between these other two android wear makers can be found here Smart watch showdowns

Nevertheless, take a look at some of the watch faces here and you will know why I had fallen in love with this watch. 

a "Tag Heuer" watch although due to copyright issues the "brand" is now Android...Zzzxxx

a Breitling with "wifi" signal widget

One of my faves, a LONGINES watch face. It has Battery level indicator, as well as the number of steps taken, and weather/date widgets as well. 

you can even own a "Rolex" finally! It does really complement well on the steel frame and easily mistaken for a real watch face.

All the watch faces are easily found in Reddit groups or Google Plus pages and you will need the Android wear application such as "WatchMaker", available on Google Play store. All kinds of watch faces to match your outfits, and the guys have something now, our very own "Watch Face of The Day" , vs #OOTD , haha.... 

adding watch faces that you can import from or even design yourself

Besides this, let's talk about some specifications,  functionalities and how this fits into the urban men's lifestyle.

Battery Life

Sad to say, this is one area the Moto360 fails to excel. Initial battery life was really bad initially , but after a few firmware iterations, and some choices not to accept all notification alerts, now on a normal day, it can last a full working day usage without charging,  with some juice to spare. I can probably use it between 1 to 1.5 days before charging now. (But this is also dependent on some watch faces that runs widgets, as this will definitely reduce battery life) 

Docking and Charging

So this brings us to the next topic, Charging the phone.

 Well, they made charging the Moto360 an elegant display, which can be charged wirelessly via the docking station. This turns the watch into a clock, a.k.a. your bedside clock. After a day out, you probably will place this watch on the bedside table as a clock for charging, or so what was expected.

it comes with the wireless docking station, and turns your watch into a clock

Alternatively, you can also use one of the "Qi" charging pad, that can be purchased from any 3rd party vendor, and it works as well. The charging took less than 3 hours to give your watch a quick boost enough to last another day.

using 3rd party "Qi" charging pad works as well

Useful Apps to run 

This is subjective, but based on my usage on this watch, more and more android apps are supporting android wear so you get a similar yet customized experience suitable for your watch face. 

MotoBody  - This is a built in app for Moto360 watches and it utilizes the heart rate monitor sensor at the base of the watch face, as well as calculates the number of steps taken, just like most of the health or fitness bands sold on the market now. Take a look at the introduction here.

At the end of the week, it gives a very nice report of your heart rate, steps taken and calories burnt. (Although I greatly doubt the accuracy of this report, since there will be considerable times un monitored as you will not be wearing the watch 24 hours a day) 

my weekly Motobody report 

Endomondo for Android Wear

As a  casual rider, I also would like to view some stats on my weekly cycling trips, and this is one app that I love to use if I am wearing moto360 during cycling, or I would be alternating to the Map my Ride app that works well on my Pebble watch.

the Endomondo app interface on Moto can be set for monitoring speed or distances

Citimapper for Android Wear

This is another useful app that works well between your android phone and moto360. 

Just key in your destination and the screen will show up useful directional information and map as well as public transport such as train stations and bus stop and available bus numbers for directions. I had tried this more than 3 times will pretty satisfying results helping me to get to places I am unfamiliar with. 

showing the map as you walk or travel

Spotify for Android Wear

While this works generally for all android wear based watches, and not just for moto360,  you do get very limited functionality.(So far it just shows the pause button, so you can stop your music via the watch). It is my daily music companion, and it is next to glance at the music artists or album on your watch face. 

So what's next ? 

With the android wear update months ago, more enhancements had been added ,notably having wifi connectivity on the watch independently of your mobile phone now, as well as some of the following. More details here : Android wear Updates

Emoji

You can now draw your own emoji on the screen of your smartwatch and Android Wear 5.1 will convert it into the actual emoji you were after.

Gesture controls

The Android Wear 5.1 update adds gesture controls so you can simply flick your wrist to scroll through the stream (the vertical cascade of screens)

I have been happy using this watch so far and it does seem more and more like a "real " watch with its beautiful round watch face and quality build. There is much fun too changing watch faces, so you feel like you are having multiple watches to suit your wardrobe. Only minus to me would be its battery life, unlike a Pebble watch that can last 7 days on a single charge. But you cannot compare a black ink display over the vibrant and near real watch face on the Moto360.  

If there is anybody wanting to get this watch, I would say, find a good deal as the prices will be dropping soon for sure with the next moto360 2 on the horizon. 

Daniel Foo 

Taiwan Riding experience Part 2 (8th April)

map of the sights and points of interests

     

 With renewed vigor and looking forward to the next riding trip, I had a day's rest before embarking on my "smell" the flowers riding trip again. This time, I explored further down the northern main river of Tamsui, along the Guan Du 關渡 Jetty, the Temple as well as more cafes along the way. Starting from the cycle path again next to Hong Shu Lin MRT station, the first place we reached was the Guan Du Jetty, a landmark which offers the same beautiful and peaceful river view every day. This time I had the great fortune to ride with a new found friend, known more fondly as Big Brother, (大哥) David. He had rode the more challenging routes around Taiwan but has changed gears to lowest to bring me along the cycling tracks along the riverbank. 

With Big Bro at the Guan Du Jetty

Most notably overlooking is the iconic "red bridge" or Guan Du Bridge that I had posed a day  ago. It was a scorching early "summer" weather at 30+ deg C on that day. We continued forward and it was not long that we reached the Guan Du Temple in celebration of the worship of the Goddess of the sea,  Mazu. 

Along this area, it was a bustling of worshipers, daily commuters on bicycles as well as even "make shift" bicycle shops selling spares, gloves , helmets and windbreakers. It was a sight of rustic chaos with peace at the same time.

huge "urns" for the worshippers

buying "tributes" for the Goddess of the Sea

 

I guess these small vessels really need the blessings of Mazu out into the sea

"makeshift" bicycle shop serving the daily riders

I like this backdrop

 Pressing on in this heat, it did not take us long to reach our first pit stop, a small container based cafe place, known as "I'm here ", and here we had already turned right from Tamsui into the "Kee lung" river. Some girl  blogger put up another interesting "eats" account of her Kee lung river ride here, in case you are interested.

Location of "I'm here" cafe along the Kee Lung River

We needed a nice little iced coffee to keep us rejuvenated, and they provide some books and magazines to go along,  bike related of course. 

 It even has outdoor seats facing the river which I thought was pretty neat and artwork to go along.

to be continued....

My Taiwan Cycling Trip - 2015 (6th April)

        It has always been my dream to cycle in the cycling capital of Asia, which in my humble opinion, belongs to Taiwan. From friends's posts and experiences cycling in Taiwan , I knew that it would be a great experience, provided you do some prior homework or networking with some Taiwanese friends,whom are always so welcoming and warm towards visiting guests. I am glad to have arranged boarding with a Google Plus friend, Ms Maggie using her AirBnB service, and not only does she provide great lodging, but also a spare bicycle during the trying times when my dearest Red Brompton (broke down again) after a day of cycling. More will be posted on my lovely encounter with a local Brompton bike shop in Taipei, but here, I would like to provide some of my sights and scenes and locations for any new cycling friends who are keen to explore Taipei on two wheels. For friends keen to engage Maggie's AirBnB services, I will be providing a link at the end of the post.

I had the map of my cycling trip , collated over two days of my light traveling on wheels. While non-exhaustive, in the eyes of my more experienced cycling friends, it definitely was a lovely start and introduction to cycling in Taipei. 

The map of cycling along the Tamsui and keelung river down stream to Taipei City area-
First stop- up towards Tamsui Old street and Fisherman's Wharf

I had split up the areas of cycling from the Tamsui river upstream, along the Tamsui (淡水)old street area and Fisherman's Wharf, and the opposite bank of Ba Li (八里)  , then downwards from the Guan Du (關渡) Jetty towards the little islet point (making a longer roundabout route on the Park connectors before reaching the city area of Da Dao Cheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭) to experience some sights and food places before returning on the Kee Lung river upstream. The whole trip on the lower banks minus Fisherman's Wharf and Ba Li took us around 40+ km of a very enjoyable ride and if we had added in the northern stream as well, that would take us another additional 20+km. For a leisure cyclist visiting Taipei, this would be a great tour on wheels to explore this city's sights and tastes.

On the first day, I had explored the northern upstream of Tamsui area, since this is where I resided in my host, Maggie's apartment. Her apartment has a lovely view of sunset overlooking the Tamsui river, and it leads along the park connectors to the Fisherman's Wharf(渔人码头) ,

Below is a map of the areas along Tamsui and the opposite bank of Ba Li, which is also a fantastic place for cycling and very good coffee and street food as well.

Map along the northern river bank of Tamsui and opposite Ba Li

The northern river banks really has a feel of relaxed atmosphere and old charm with romanticism, and its expansive reach on park connectors. My first starting point was from the Hong Shu Lin MRT station upwards, along the Tamsui PCN, where there was a group of students doing their life sketching along the riverbank. It was a strangely warm day in early April, reminding me of the tropical temperature of Singapore at 30 degrees Celsius. However, in the later part of my trip, I would be grateful for this sunny weather. 

young artists sketching in the morning along the river bank

the park connectors serving cyclists as well as joggers

I love what this bike rental container says "Ride Life"

Tamsui Jetty landmark

Cycling along the Tamsui PCN , you can see sights of shophouses of eateries, selling souvenirs and cafes. Most of these shops would be bustling with night life along the Tamsui Old street (淡水老街) popular with the tourists and locals alike. Further upstream, I saw more students having a field day sketching,  and more scenery of the intersecting point between the river and the sea. 

young artist sketching along the jetty

my brommie facing the "Guanyin" hill. 

These kids found a good spot

Exploring further upstream, after passing the Tamsui Jetty, I met some fellow cyclists in more professional gear, and realized they were Filipinos and an Indonesian working here in Taipei, and having a 4 day QingMing holiday in Taiwan, they were actually riding to Yilan. With my new found friends we chatted and cycled further upstream till we reached the Fisherman's Wharf. 

As a keepsake, all of us took a photo with the Lover's bridge linking to the other side of the river before parting ways. 

ASEANs re-unite! Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia

At Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman Wharf Jetty

 

Vanity shot with my Brommie 

After exploring the northern tip of the Taipei waterfront area, the later part of the day was spent turning back to visit the opposite bank Ba Li,  where more cycling track and discovery awaits me. Back on the PCN downstream now from Hong Shu Lin MRT, there are mangrove swamps full of greenery and even "art pieces" along the riverside walls. 

a great idea we can adopt in SG

A very "shakkyyyy" ride along the wooden planks path...unfortunately, this will be the last pic of my Brommie riding in Taipei as it was out of action after that

Later part of the day, with Maggie guiding the path downstream, reaching the late afternoon we saw more of the views along this river of life and more of Guanyin Hill before finally reaching the Guan Du (關渡) Bridge. The best part is the PCN extends up the bridge towards the opposite bank to Ba Li (八里). 

on top of the Guan Du Bridge

Resuming the rest of my cycling journey without my Brompton but instead on Maggie's kindness to let me use her StepDragon Foldie bike, we reached Ba Li PCN tracks. Greeted us along the way was a small garden of Sakuras as well as more mangroves. It was a cool evening riding along Ba Li. 

another picturesque view of the opposite bank of Tamsui and mangrove in the background

beautiful sakuras still in bloom

Our pit stop along this pcn track is the MoM Mouth Cafe (妈妈嘴)，a hugely popular cafe , which roast their own coffee beans. We had to queue for their specialty Ma Ma coffee, and their Frankfurters tastes awesome too! 

They are Bike Friendly

It is easy  to just relax with a cuppa coffee and overlooking the opposite bank while the sun sets..

As the sun was setting over, we saw the "Bloody" moon rising over the opposite bank. I did not have a good camera to capture this unique phenomenon, but it was still a very beautiful night scene.

the "bloody" moon overlooking the Tamsui waterfront

As the night falls, we decided to ride upstream till we reached Ba Li Jetty, where the the boats can take us opposite back to Tamsui Old street area. For a small fare added to the boat fares across, we brought our bicycles on the ferry service. It took just a couple of minutes to reach the Tamsui Old Street Jetty, and an end to my first day riding in Taipei. Stay tuned for Part 2.... 

Maggie's AirBnB stay at Tamsui 

Mom Mouth Cafe