I recently got myself cheap earbuds from Anker. It's like 700 something pesos only. Been hearing lots of good reviews from the brand. I know they make great powerbanks, but I was surprised to see stellar raves for their audio products as well.
So here's the Anker Soundcore K20i
It looks very much like the apple airpods. Infinitely cheaper too than the 9k I paid for my airpods2 which broke in 4 years. With this I don't mind getting disappointed every year lol.
It's pretty decent for its price. Since my airpods broke a few years ago I've relied on the wired apple earpods for private listening. And it's been great. It's literally wired airpods. But I can't help note the differences in audio experience coming from an apple product.
Anker's is noticeably lighter, plasticy and less premium to the touch. They boast about the bass but I had better bass on my apple earpods and I didn't need to change any settings. The earpods are also a bit bigger than Apple's so I can't dismiss the feeling in my ear. On the other hand, I tend to forget I have my airpods on. Bluetooth connectivity is fine, but coming from something that switched seamlessly between apple devices, it's quite an adjustment.
Anyway I do love that there are better tap controls on this one. I don't know if they made these in the newer airpods but I can now tap to control the volume on this thing.
Overall I would say I still prefer the Apple Airpods but no way I'm spending 7k on something thats breaking in 4 years. Mine's battery just got wonky over time. They won't charge equally, the left ones dies earlier, and the charging case isn't holding juice anymore.
Two shoes I blame for my self-diagnosed plantar fascitiis.
1. The pair of birks I ruined cleaning. It was looking very grim at five years old and I wanted to restore the footbed to its former unsullied glory. So I sanded it. Reddit says it works. Well it did remove the black oil stains from my foot, but it also made the footbed incredibly hard it became painful to walk with. I don't know what I did wrong. Oh well. I just bought a new pair of birks and I'll be more careful with it.
2. Next is my allbirds flats. I thought I got a good deal with it, it's a bit cheaper than Vivaia sitting around 5k/pair and it's incredibly soft when I tried walking with it. It's like walking barefoot on a carpeted hotel room. I had to be specific with the illustration because no way I'm walking barefoot on a public carpet. I've been wearing it at least once a week every time I go onsite. Which was okay at first but eventually I realized this old and frail body needs its arch support and this pair doesn't offer any. To remedy, I bought insoles for it but I have yet to put it to the test. We'll see.
I'm in the middle of doing various little things at once. Harvesting bits of dopamine in each activity, but never focusing on something long enough to complete it.
I'm bouncing between generating music on Suno, looking for vacation rentals on Airbnb, and learning a guitar tab for Dust in the Wind.
I would do anything but work on the hours I'm expected to do so. And I'm not proud.
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I have a discipline problem that I'm trying to address. I've never been able to stick to a diet enough to see results. Never pushed myself hard enough to leave my comfort zone. Never challenged my bad habits. And the result is being overweight for years, getting easily injured, easily tired, perpetually disappointed in my fitness levels, always hating how I look in photos.
I want to change that. And for accountability purposes (blog, don't jinx) I'm writing it down.
I'm committing to at least 30 days of calorie deficit. That's 1500cal per day, give or take. I mean I just started 2 days ago and I'm already over 300cals haha. Actually let's make that 1600? My maintenance calories is 1800+. A 200/day deficit is like cutting on midnight snack. How about let's start by quitting snacking at night?
I don't find myself blogging as much as I used to. I think vlogging has replaced it, in terms of purpose (documentation) and the time I spend on it. Not that it's the same creative pursuit. Sometimes I find myself wanting to just rant mindlessly on Twitter, then I get too lazy, too conscious to air out my thoughts.
I do miss writing though. It's not the same as vlogging. I think I'm a better writer than a vlogger. Not that I excel at writing, I'm just saying that relative to my vlogging skills I'm a more creative writer than a filmmaker, if you wanna call it that. My vlogs are boring and template. It's literally just my day to day. In snippets arranged chronologically. No color grading, just captions, and AI generated music.
But writing, writing is more fun. I get to recall events and narrate them. Rack my brain for memories, and words to describe such memories. Try to make it interesting. It's very mentally stimulating for me. And it takes me the same amount of time writing a detailed account of the week and editing my Weekly Monotony. The only difference is that editing vlogs has become muscle memory for me, whereas writing poses a fresh challenge every time.
I'm really just waiting for my vlog to render, then I will TRY to sleep. I have trouble sleeping. Maybe because I drink coffee too late in the day. One in the afternoon and one during meetings.
I had a big wart removed on my foot the other day. It's actually a recurrence. It's been removed last year but I wasn't able to take care of it properly so it grew back and looked much worse. So yeah. Derma had to inject several mls of lidocaine to the skin around the area and it's painful as hell. I hated the procedure so much I vow not to let it happen again.
I'm 35 and in a lot of pain. Mostly in my knees since 3 years ago. Now my foot. And my lower back. It's been difficult getting up in the morning. Literally. How I wish I could just get rid of all this body pain.
Every year I earn a new pain point. When I hit 40 I'm probably just gonna drop dead.
I skipped work today because of a terrible migraine. The one that pounds on the back of your head and creeps unto your neck. I almost slept the whole day. But still woke up with the same pain. Then I tried to get up and my lower back complained. I tried to stand up and my left foot shot me back to bed. Hay.
I'm at a point in my life where I don't mind discovering that God may actually be just a nerd who ran a simulation in his computer. And that we're all just bits and pieces in a loop that's meant to simulate life, whatever that is for our supposed creator. It's not his fault he spawned a species who evolved with a penchant for the divine and worshipped anything that came close.
I'm also at a point in my life where hell doesn't scare me so much. Only those who believe in it fear it. And I think I've never really feared it in the first place. Being born and raised in a "Christian" household I never questioned my indoctrination. I never doubted. Not because it's indisputable. But because doubting requires questioning, and questioning required thinking. And I, never thought. My belief came from being conditioned, not convinced.
Had a pleasant 6-night stay at HIEX Bangkok Siam early this March! The first time we stayed at Holiday Inn Express was seven years ago at Singapore Katong. We loved the concept where only the basics are provided, prices are kept low, and you get the same Holiday Inn hospitality. Perfect for tourists who are mostly out the entire day and only wanted a safe and comfortable place to sleep in.
Here's my Youtube feature of the hotel:
Room and price
We got the Queen Standard with breakfast for around ₱4,600/night. Upon check-in we were upgraded to stadium view which was nice.
Queen Standard
Stadium view
We knew we could get a cheaper place but I don't know, for 6 nights I wanted to make sure we're staying at a credible hotel with thick walls so we can sleep soundly in the evening.
Room is quite spacious at 23sqm, there's a Smart TV, floor to ceiling window, water kettle, cups, coffee and tea, and a mini ref. They also have soft and firm pillows, as usual and a very comfy bed!
Toilet and shower area is impeccably clean and towels are replaced daily. Water pressure is good, but the cold shower doesn't get that cold! Hot shower can get really hot which is nice, but I'd like to alternate with a cold splash once in a while and unfortunately the water just won't get that cold. Must be the weather. It's a very hot week in March.
Location
I rate this place 10/10 for the location. BTS National Stadium is just 1 minute away (80m) and it's a terminal station too so it never gets busy.
Ground floor has McDonald's and a bunch of cash machines. There's also 7Eleven nearby at Mercure hotel.
There's a coffee shop too along the driveway. And Lek Massage next door.
Aaaand it's also walking distance to Jim Thompson museum (300m).
If you're looking for a place to buy pasalubong there's Lotus's Rama 1 Supermarket which is 600m away.
It's also one station away from Siam central station where the subway and Sukhumvit line interchange is. This is where all the big malls are huddled around. Near enough not to get stuck in traffic! It's very very central and we loved it so much.
Amenities
Being an "express" hotel, don't expect five-star amenities here. No swimming pool, no grand lobby, no fancy breakfast spread. Everything is basic and kinda self-service.
They have a 24-hour gym which has enough equipment for cardio and weightlifting.
They also have a spacious outdoor garden right outside the gym.
There are designated smoking areas, a meeting room, and a 24-hour laundry room where you can also fold and iron your clothes.
We also love that there's an ice machine! Perfect for when we're about head out and needed to fill
our tumblers with ice water. As we've learned, water isn't free in
Thailand. Even ice!
Breakfast
Breakfast is served from 6-10am at the Great Room. You can either dine in or Grab & Go - they provide take away coffee cups and bags for pastry. Really appreciate Grab & Go because I love their coffee!
They have a modest spread but quite frankly it's more than enough for us. We tend to skip breakfast anyway. The usual spread is sliced bread, croissants, muffins, fresh fruits, yogurt, milk, juices, rice, sausage, beans, pasta, congee, eggs, vegetable stir fry, rice, and something special called the hero's dish. Some days it's chicken stir fry, other days it's Pad Thai or Tom Kha. It varies.
My favorite part of breakfast is probably their coffee. It's so good!
Finally
Overall we had a great stay. Wouldn't mind staying here again and 100% recommend it to anyone who wants to explore Bangkok!
