Top ten things to do on a hour long train ride

Starting this week, I will no longer be driving to work as I figured that the car is better served as transport for my two school-going kids. So instead, I now commute via public transport (MRT and Bus) which takes a whole hour (and slightly more) for just one way!

As such, I suddenly find myself having quite a fair bit of time to kill... Two hours a day, ten hours a week, forty hours a month! *Gasp!* That's equivalent to one entire work week! It will be a real waste if I can't find anything productive or interesting to do. So here, I have come up with the top ten things I can do during the journey that is free or cost little (yeah I'm cheap) and don't require me to carry additional barang barang (yeah I'm lazy too!).

1. Listening to my MP3 collection using the stock HTC Touchflo 3D music player on my Touch Diamond;
2. Reading ebooks using Adobe Reader on my Touch Diamond; (still hunting for a better one, may try Mobipocket ebook Reader; winner of Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine's "Best Software Awards 2008" in the ebook reader category. Currently also trying this interesting approach to book reading - via RSS)
   
3. Catching up on news/blogs/discussions using RSS Hub (based on NewsBreak) on my Touch Diamond;
4. Training my left brain by playing SPB Brain Evolution (review) on my Touch Diamond; (may give Brain School a spin after this)
   
5. Reviewing my daily calendar and todo list using Pocket Informant (review) on my Touch Diamond;
6. Training my hand eye coordination by playing Teeter on my Touch Diamond;
7. Learning a new foreign language using MobiLearn Talking Phrasebooks on my Touch Diamond;
8. Watching interesting YouTube videos using youtubeplay (remember to download the video first or it can get pretty expensive using 3G data connection!); [edit: you can now easily grab the videos automatically via RSS and RSSHandler! More info here.]
   
9. Texting friends to catch up using the stock SMS application on my Touch Diamond;
   
10. Taking pictures/videos of inconsiderate/weird/interesting people on the train using the camera on my Touch Diamond (remember to turn off the camera snapping sound first!) and sending them to STOMP!

Why no "catching a nap" in the list? Well, I would love to except for one thing, do you know how crowded the rush hour traffic is? I will be grateful if I can find some standing space without bags, umbrellas or newspapers poking into me; let alone finding a seat to catch some Zzz!

Another observation: ten out of the ten activities involve using my Touch Diamond! I never thought I will say this but... I love my Diamond!