sightseeing in style

ever wondered what's the best way to check a place out? yup, do it with ingress and a bike!

so, why ingress? one, it's a game, it's fun! two, it's overlayed on a real map so you don't necessarily have to get lost along the way. three, the portals are all public-accessible landmarks that, popular or not, have interesting stories on their own. also, it's a pretty good way of finding hidden gems only locals know about and it's actually one of the best "spotted by locals" database i've seen so far, sans restos and food bars of course. and one other thing, it makes jogging and biking a lot more interesting - finally, those boring jogging sessions have a destination and an end goal.

i've created my account ages ago but i've started being active only recently because brussels is not as biker-friendly compared to gent. as of today i'm officially level 3. woot! 13 levels more to go, hahahaha.

yes, ysa0. i cannot put into words how much i regret this username but that time i registered i wasn't exactly thinking of playing the game. i just wanted to look at the interface because it's cool haha and, like i said, i've been mainly using it to spot interesting places. besides, "ishi" and most of its common derivatives were already taken :(

first portal i own! not a very strong protection but who cares, i owns it hahaha.

the downside of playing the game though is, first and foremost, it drains your battery extremely fast. let's say, from a fully-charged battery, i can only do 2 hours tops on the field which is why serious gamers should probably invest in reliable power banks. secondly, you'd need mobile data, of course. thirdly, it could be too exhaustive as a tourism information. if you're visiting only for a day it would be better to seek interesting places ahead then use ingress to check out smaller attractions in between to save time (and battery, and mobile data hehe). also, if you bike around like i do, carrying your phone in one hand is cumbersome in the long run, which is why i apparently still need that smartphone holder for the bike i thought i wouldn't need anymore the moment i stopped getting lost on my way to cmst.

all in all it's pretty fun. i've tried explaining the concept to some friends last year but i couldn't seem to capture their interest haha. oh well, time to look for new friends >:) jowk.

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