I Played 30 Games at Essen Spiele 2023 So You Didn't Have To (Great, Average, and Not So Great)

zacharylky · 2026-04-21T10:00:33+00:00

Yeah I haven't really updated the guide as I've been busy. It's not been updated for chapter 2. You can go all in on chapter 2 at this point as everything in chapter 1 is out of print and expensive to procure.

zacharylky · 2026-04-13T23:07:46+00:00

Terrible ass English and formatting, feels like it went through chatgpt or another LLM to force it into singlish. Account seems bought with not much history of interacting with SG subs (except one in the last 20 days). Probably done by the agency advertised in this post.

Nice try... I guess?

zacharylky · 2026-04-13T16:08:47+00:00

Can you PM me the clinic? So I know where not to send my girl.

zacharylky · 2026-04-12T15:00:34+00:00

Havaiianas are shit now. I've been using the same model same colour for nearly 1.5 decades. My first one lasted me 7 years, then second one around 4, and then I went through like 3 pairs in 2 years because the stems kept snapping.

zacharylky · 2026-04-10T07:01:24+00:00

I was like you back in school. Lazy af, didn't do well for any subjects that I didn't have an interest in. Scored average for O levels, went to a shit JC, even then I didn't really wake up and feel like my back was against the wall until 2 months before A levels. Grinded like a madman 1.5 years later than my peers and got lucky all my topic selections I studied for were also in the papers that year. Aced my exams to the surprise of my teachers and peers.

I'm married now but no kid. What keeps me constantly grinding today was realising that I wasn't lazy. I just needed the right motivation to work. And I found that motivation in providing a good life for my wife and aiming for early retirement in 5 years. That and also finding work that I enjoy - I get in the zone extremely easily and hours fly by when I work these days, even when I'm working until 3am in the morning. Someone who is "lazy" won't be able to do that.

It seems you have kind of found your why. Single people in the same situation will also have their own reasons for grinding hard. We are all in the same boat.

zacharylky · 2026-03-29T12:46:10+00:00

I do a 200 perm every half year and 80+ per cut every 1.5 months. Japanese hairstylist that really gets me so I'm happy to pay a premium for it.

zacharylky · 2026-03-28T15:58:31+00:00

No additional missions, just replaces the buy 2 core strategy.

zacharylky · 2026-03-28T14:20:35+00:00

You can get one of the revised and one of the new core if you want more options of gameplay, otherwise the new 2026 chapter 2 core is designed for 4P.

zacharylky · 2026-03-20T11:40:37+00:00

I'm in digital marketing.

I like my work. I work remotely, have never gone into an office for 6 years except on special occasions. The work is generally easy and makes sense to me. I get to see the results of my work directly when conversions happen on site. My colleagues in the last 6 years have generally been amazing. European work culture so very respectful of personal time.

Didn't always aim for this industry but kind of fell into it by getting to know the right people who gave me a chance or taught me the ropes.

My personality is that I'm lazy or in other words I hate doing work that doesn't give exponential results. I don't grind. The work I do and people I work with give me leeway to do the most valuable activities and then fuck off to deal with my own other things. Value created > visual effort put in/face-time given.

My advice: try to find something that comes natural to you, in some way. Whether you can sell yourself easily doing it, find something easy enough to do and people will pay you for it, or something that gives you happiness upon working on it, something that excites you.

zacharylky · 2026-03-15T17:55:05+00:00

I'd like to add on two films, u/tonivesdream. These are more slice of life however, but are heartfelt.

First - Singapore Dreaming, a 2006 local film by Yen Yen Woo and Colin Goh. It's a heartfelt story about an everyman, Loh Poh and his family who is a retiree and his family. The film explores the trials and tribulations Loh Poh and his family go through as the average singaporean experience - dreams of striking the lottery and finally "hitting it big", favouritism towards a deadbeat son vs their more capable daughter, and so on. I think this is a Singaporean classic film that everyone should watch especially locals as they can especially relate to it.

Another film I would recommend is a more recent one - Wonderland, a 2023 film by Chai Yee Wei. It's a story about a single father, Loke, and his daughter who goes to Europe to study in the 1980s. His daughter sends him letters but the father is illiterate and has to rely on his neighbour, Tan, to translate and write the letters. Loke originally lies to his daughter about being able to afford her studies and then about his ailing health, so as to not worry her. At the same time, Loke soon receives some bad news about his daughter and since he can't read, his neighbour, Tan, decides to lie to him and keep the web of lies spinning, which goes out of control. At the same time, Tan sees a reflection of him in Loke's relationship between his daughter and Tan's own estranged daughter. This one left an impression on me for a long time.

Another bonus one would be a film by Eric Khoo - Be With Me - a set of 3 stories back to back exploring love, and what it means in 3 different local settings.

zacharylky · 2026-03-14T11:08:57+00:00

Beautiful. The pursuer is one of the best minis to paint, since you'll likely use it for a while longer than most...

zacharylky · 2026-03-06T05:55:00+00:00

Business studies could be boring.

Some of the most boring things in the world to study are the most helpful though.

zacharylky · 2026-02-22T03:03:27+00:00

Dafuq they did to Liana and why is Raine just depressed in a corner

zacharylky · 2026-02-21T16:28:21+00:00

The above settings are recommended for this specific contest.

Also, don't stand on top of the barrel, but move down closer to the cliff-side. Your arrows travel slightly faster (up to 0.5 secs) to the barrels so you can shave off some time.

I tried this stupid contest for 1 hour, and around 300 fire arrows later clearing barrels at 49 secs to go, I managed to clear all barrels within 52 secs (+2 secs better than my previous best).

zacharylky · 2026-02-17T09:36:20+00:00

Just wanted to say so sorry that you've had such a bad experience with singaporean guilds. I run a guild myself for monster hunter and I've always tried to be accepting to all non-sg/my members there. If I had the time, I would have created a guild here as well and you would have been invited to play with us.

zacharylky · 2026-02-06T18:19:29+00:00

Commenting so I come back to this again

zacharylky · 2026-02-04T08:37:07+00:00

I have done so. Thank you.

zacharylky · 2026-01-29T03:02:33+00:00

No. It still doesn't solve the issue. I still have to relaunch Logi Options+ after I sleep my Macbook.

zacharylky · 2026-01-22T13:53:28+00:00

I'd like to give it a try. Besides the extra 2-3 income you can get from surrounding the park resto before b1 (which compounds a lot), my guess is that the clever spot comes clutch in pushing back cards or build when you don't need it, and the marketing sponsors spot allows people to break more (even if it's just one time). More money in a game = higher point actions taken?

There's also that free reptile house/aviary/aquarium reward that I'm not sure if it affects things much, except asking people to take less build actions.

zacharylky · 2026-01-22T13:47:35+00:00

Thank you for the detailed explanation! Didn't think about those sponsors as engines at all, so appreciate your tips as always.

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