Blog Facelift

Hey guys! For those of you who first saw our blog, you may have noticed that it's had a recent makeover. And because of the apparent femininity in the colors and fonts chosen, obviously, The Geek had no say in what went down. He'll be so surprised when he sees it! :P

Our new look, courtesy of moi :>

Although I'm all for rainbows, I didn't really like how the blog looked (Sorry Francis!) so I decided to give it a facelift. But his is all temporary because this blog isn't just about me, it's about my Geek too! Maybe one of these days, when we're both not so busy with our own lives, we can give this blog a better and more permanent layout. I hope we decide keep the banner, though - I put a lot of extra but unnecessary effort into that! :)

Until next time. Take care! :)

The Princess

Hey guys! I'm Jhen, The Princess! Now, I don't really think of myself as a princess because... well, I just don't. But, The Geek insists I am, and he already named the blog so I can't do anything about that anymore. Haha! :)

Jhen, The Princess

I'm a bookworm, doodlebug, insomniac, and I like using smileys. Books, movies, music, makeup and shopping are what I'll probably write about most often. I like to fancy myself as some sort of creative, artistic person, so I might even share some of my drawings. But since I'm into trying new things nowadays, mostly because of Francis, expect some surprises every now and then! :)

This is my first venture into blogging. So I hope my love for reading and writing, and a little help from The Geek, makes this journey fun for me and the readers of this blog. Till my next post. Take care guys! :)

Ticket to Ride: A Geek's Experience

Palabasan, 2011

I remember trying out Ticket to Ride for the first time in my life. It was the summer of 2011 and I brought home a copy of Ticket to Ride: Europe that I borrowed from a friend and owner of Gaming Library, the first and only online board gaming retailer here in the Philippines. I was starting out a gaming group and my food business, Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods, from my house in Katipunan and it was one of the games that I liked in an instant.

Carag, 2011

I bought it the week after and it was the third board game title that I bought and the first game that got me to fall in love with euro, economic, and train games. I think this can be considered as the game that got me hooked into real board gaming and not just all the card games that I played back then.

I had a knack for it. You just had to build train routes from city to city and hit all your destinations to gain victory points. The most victory points win the game.

It actually took a year before anybody was able to beat me on the actual board game. Although the game count would be at least just a little above twenty games, I still think of it as a mini achievement.

Just like Sheldon Cooper, I fell in love with trains after that. I went on playing and buying a game called 1830: Railways & Robber Barons, an economic game based on the train companies in the US back in the 1830s, which is considered as the Golden Age of trains.

I wanted to play it more and the online one was just too pricey. But then, the iPad came into our lives back a month or so and, thanks to a friend, I was able to play it more: solo with AIs, online, and so on. And, my girlfriend, The Princess, and most of her family now plays the game in the iPad as well!

Ticket to Ride: Europe Tournament Practice
Fabie, 2011

A month back, the owner of Gaming Library and organizer of the All Aboard event every month in Galleria decided to create a Ticket to Ride Tournament for the Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride: Europe maps this coming July 21, 2012.

Train Routes all done!
Fabie, 2011

Because of this, we have been practicing for the past few weeks in the iPad, online, and in the actual board game as much as we can. I still have a lot more to learn but it really is a fun and simple game.

Ticket to Ride Tournament - July 21, 2012, 1PM onwards

For all the guys who will be competing in the tournament, see you there!

In any case people are wondering, what was the point? I guess I just want to share an experience instead of actually giving a review. Why boardgames? It is because time flies by when you play it and you actually do not realize that you really are bonding and socializing with the people in the table when you play board games.

The Geek Starts..

Hi! I'm Francis and I'm The Geek half of this blog. I'm a frustrated writer and blogger who likes a lot of things but can't seem to be good at articulating. I want to learn how to be a better writer.

I am opinionated on different subject matters like politics, environment, and current events. I am also a cook, a dancer, a photographer, a foodie, a board gamer, and a hopeless romantic.

My mind kind of lives in the moment so I think and talk about a lot of different things and so I think it would be good to just put it all into this blog with The Princess.

I will try to learn how to do good reviews of board games, apps, tech stuff, and food. I will share some of my photography works and my blogs. I will also give opinions on a lot of things and even post events that circle in my interests. Personal things will be shared too of course.

Hi, Guys!

In every step in life, there is a milestone to be achieved. In every corner of the world there is something that we wish to talk about or see.

We are The Princess and The Geek and this is our blog. We will write about different things like reviews, our opinions, and many more. Stay tuned because we'll be starting this up soon.