Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro - Absolute Battery Power

I don't usually blog about the stuff I use in my travels because I'm not paid to do so. But I'm going to make an exeption this time because I'm really impressed with the Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro especially its battery power.

During my recent trip to Nepal, this phone with the mother of all battery power (5,000 mAh capacity) lasted 9 days in the Langtang region without having to recharge. Incredible isn't it?

How I did it?

First of all, I switched the phone to flight mode at all times. In case you may not know, in flight mode all apps and whatnot in the phone are shut down and this saves alot of power. There was no coverage or Wifi in the mountains, so we didn't need to use any of our apps. However in flight mode I still could take loads of photos, especially since this mother of all phones has a 32GB internal memory and a 16MP camera.

Secondly, I switched off the phone at night and kept it close to my body to help preserve its power. Batteries die faster in cold conditions, you know.

My other 2 travel companions with lesser mortal phones were always on the lookout for powerpoints at every pitstop in the trek to charge their phones. And in the mountains, powerpoints can sometimes be difficult to find. For me, I didn't have to go through all that hassle because I had the mother of all phones.

My New Pursuit - Chartered Bankers Course

I recently enrolled for the Chartered Bankers course offered by the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB).

The course has 3 levels, i.e. Executive Banker (EB), Professional Banker (PB) and Chartered Banker (CB). Candidates must pass 3 modules (subjects) in each level to move on to the next.

While studying for my first EB module, Risk in Financial Services, AICB announced the accelerated route entry and I was lucky to get 'promoted' to PB level and skipped EB completely. I was overjoyed because having to pay for this course myself, being able to skip 3 EB papers means money saved!

On 20 November 2016 I sat for my first PB paper, Marketing & Selling in Financial Services. It's been more than 10 years since I sat for a proper exam. However the whole process of preparing for an exam came back clearly to me - from mugging non-stop 1 week before the exam, getting my 2B pencils sharpened and last minute note browsing just before entering the exam hall. I even used the same pencil case that I used when I was in Form 6 and college!

Now that my first PB paper is completed, I plan to register for 2 more papers, i.e. Customer Relationship Management and Business Lending for the next exam in April 2017. If I pull through I'll move on to CB level. Wish me luck!