Good evening.
The plan for today was to go to Marina Bay. Perhaps you know the place:
Sunday 28 February 2016
First day of the weekend
We woke up early today, even though I slept through the alarm and John shut it off when it rang and slept longer next to me. The point of the alarm was to be on time for the bank, which closed at one o'clock. Getting dressed and sun-creamed, we walked out in the cloudy day, which is just as suffocating as a sunny day or any other day for that matter.
Friday 26 February 2016
Second day in Singapore
Good night, the clock is almost midnight.
Today John had his first day at work. Eventually I will make him write a post here to tell you all about it.
So I had to explore something today. I waited until John sent me some money, then headed to the mall from yesterday, took out some cash and ate lunch at the food court there. Chicken teriyaki, rice and calamari. It didn't taste much.
I bought sun cream and walked outside, without putting it on my arms. Instead I tried to protect myself with an umbrella. The day was windy and the umbrella uncontrollable. Ditched it and kept on walking. At the time it must have been thirty-six degrees. I didn't think, obviously. Walked until I saw these amazing stacked houses (The Interlace), then started to feel ill and hot, so I decided to go back home.
Halfway I stopped to walk around in another mall. It was chilly inside but the boutiques were shady and everybody stared at me. It felt like a black market, the shops crowded and everyone was selling everything. After a quick run through I got back outside and hurried home. Even went through the second mall just to cool down even more.
This little adventure took me one and a half hour. When I got home I relaxed in the sofa for a while, during which the housemaid came and put up ant-killing-traps in the kitchen and sprayed the bathroom for all the little bugs in there. I put on the sun cream and went up to the pool. The pool is the length of the house, which is seventy-five meters, I swam ten breast and two backs. Felt good, but back in the apartment I noticed I had already gotten marks from the sun on my shoulders and neck.
So I stayed indoors, reading, playing games, watching TV, until I went outside to go meet John. We decided to meet at the Buona Vista MRT and I had no choice but to walk. It took around forty minutes and when I was there I was sweating like a pig in a sauna. Even so, it was a rather large station where two lines connected, and I had no idea where I should meet John. Stood in the middle of a crowd where people went here and there between the lines and just waited, looking lost and confused. After a few minutes John came walking towards me with the biggest grin.
We bought cards for the MRT, lady asking how long we would be staying and when the answer came, "a few years", she and her colleague laughed kind-heartedly. Took the train to HarbourFront/VivoCity and walked around an even bigger mall! Ate dinner at another food court, cheap and yummy food. Two large drinks for no money at all. Meals were small though, we eat a lot and they don't, something else to get used to.
In the mall we bought a hair dryer, talked with a lady about a SingTel card for our phones (but we can't get them without our visa, which we can only get at the embassy, which we don't know where it is), and finally found a large Walmart-like store called Giant and bought a pair of purple soft pants and food for the fridge.
Back on the MRT John started a timer at the stop where he will get of for work. We switched line a Buona and the closes to where we live is Queenstown. It takes him around twenty minutes to get to work.
Easy peasy.
Today John had his first day at work. Eventually I will make him write a post here to tell you all about it.
So I had to explore something today. I waited until John sent me some money, then headed to the mall from yesterday, took out some cash and ate lunch at the food court there. Chicken teriyaki, rice and calamari. It didn't taste much.
I bought sun cream and walked outside, without putting it on my arms. Instead I tried to protect myself with an umbrella. The day was windy and the umbrella uncontrollable. Ditched it and kept on walking. At the time it must have been thirty-six degrees. I didn't think, obviously. Walked until I saw these amazing stacked houses (The Interlace), then started to feel ill and hot, so I decided to go back home.Halfway I stopped to walk around in another mall. It was chilly inside but the boutiques were shady and everybody stared at me. It felt like a black market, the shops crowded and everyone was selling everything. After a quick run through I got back outside and hurried home. Even went through the second mall just to cool down even more.
This little adventure took me one and a half hour. When I got home I relaxed in the sofa for a while, during which the housemaid came and put up ant-killing-traps in the kitchen and sprayed the bathroom for all the little bugs in there. I put on the sun cream and went up to the pool. The pool is the length of the house, which is seventy-five meters, I swam ten breast and two backs. Felt good, but back in the apartment I noticed I had already gotten marks from the sun on my shoulders and neck.
So I stayed indoors, reading, playing games, watching TV, until I went outside to go meet John. We decided to meet at the Buona Vista MRT and I had no choice but to walk. It took around forty minutes and when I was there I was sweating like a pig in a sauna. Even so, it was a rather large station where two lines connected, and I had no idea where I should meet John. Stood in the middle of a crowd where people went here and there between the lines and just waited, looking lost and confused. After a few minutes John came walking towards me with the biggest grin.
We bought cards for the MRT, lady asking how long we would be staying and when the answer came, "a few years", she and her colleague laughed kind-heartedly. Took the train to HarbourFront/VivoCity and walked around an even bigger mall! Ate dinner at another food court, cheap and yummy food. Two large drinks for no money at all. Meals were small though, we eat a lot and they don't, something else to get used to.
In the mall we bought a hair dryer, talked with a lady about a SingTel card for our phones (but we can't get them without our visa, which we can only get at the embassy, which we don't know where it is), and finally found a large Walmart-like store called Giant and bought a pair of purple soft pants and food for the fridge.
Back on the MRT John started a timer at the stop where he will get of for work. We switched line a Buona and the closes to where we live is Queenstown. It takes him around twenty minutes to get to work.
Easy peasy.
Wednesday 24 February 2016
First day in Singapore
Good evening; which is really midday in Sweden.
We start of with a six hour flight to Doha, floor beneath us packed with bags and jackets which left little room for the feet to stay comfortable, and with a kid behind me kicking my spine from time to time whilst the mother came with negligent excuses ("no, he's not doing it."). A couple of movies, surprisingly eatable food and at last stretching the legs for three hours.
Four hours, the plane was delayed. We both had a sandwich and talked with a seventy years old lady from Sweden about her, us and the adventures of travelling. Back on the plane, there was a lot of empty seats, no kids and even lounge music throughout the plane as everybody got seated. Deciding to stay awake until the food was served we watched movies that would keep the sleepy eyes awake. And after the second plane meal of chicken and rice (you could choose between two dishes) we cuddled up with the given socks, neck-pillows, sleeping masks and a blanket. Of and on we slept until we woke up to the sound of "we will shortly land in Singapore"!
Getting of the plane was easy, and the airport was just another airport, though I've never seen signs with Chinese symbols before. I was not sure if the airport was so huge that the people looked so small, or if they actually were this tiny and I was really this tall. Difficult situation.
Smooth through the immigration, we only got stopped to fill out the address. The luggage was there waiting for us when we came and we had nothing to declare, but the bags went through a scan and they got confused about one item in one bag. Our large portable charger. This is weird because the same thing happened in Sweden when we travelled to New York in November. It seems that even in this highly technological and super-modern country, no one has seen anything like our charger.
We took a taxi with IKEA-hull to the address at Alexis Towers, met an agent who showed us to the apartment and talked about it for a few minutes. He was also very tiny. I'm suspecting this is something that we'll have to get used to. Even though we were tired we went out, IKEA being just across the street and we needed new pillows (good nights-sleep is important the first night in a new country), adapters, umbrellas and shower gel.
There's a mall across from IKEA where we bought some essentials and also ate lunch in the food court. Some sea food noddles with scary looking little octopuses. John ate chicken and rice in pepper sauce (I resisted since I had already been eating two of those meals). It rained a little today and even without umbrellas we survived.
Sat in front of the TV for a while to relax for a moment, but I almost fell asleep sitting up so I cuddled down in the sofa and took a fifteen minute nap. After that John woke me and we got up and out to eat dinner. "Fighting against tiredness and jetlag, one must eat at the right times" he said and we shared a large Subway sandwich.
Trying to stay awake as long as we could we decided to check out the pool area at the roof. Not-that-cold water, long pool that stretches the house length, three jacuzzis and a mini-gym. There is also a barbecue area.
This is our home for the coming month. After that we will see, we will find something that we can call ours. Until then,
have it good!
We start of with a six hour flight to Doha, floor beneath us packed with bags and jackets which left little room for the feet to stay comfortable, and with a kid behind me kicking my spine from time to time whilst the mother came with negligent excuses ("no, he's not doing it."). A couple of movies, surprisingly eatable food and at last stretching the legs for three hours.
Four hours, the plane was delayed. We both had a sandwich and talked with a seventy years old lady from Sweden about her, us and the adventures of travelling. Back on the plane, there was a lot of empty seats, no kids and even lounge music throughout the plane as everybody got seated. Deciding to stay awake until the food was served we watched movies that would keep the sleepy eyes awake. And after the second plane meal of chicken and rice (you could choose between two dishes) we cuddled up with the given socks, neck-pillows, sleeping masks and a blanket. Of and on we slept until we woke up to the sound of "we will shortly land in Singapore"!
Getting of the plane was easy, and the airport was just another airport, though I've never seen signs with Chinese symbols before. I was not sure if the airport was so huge that the people looked so small, or if they actually were this tiny and I was really this tall. Difficult situation.
Smooth through the immigration, we only got stopped to fill out the address. The luggage was there waiting for us when we came and we had nothing to declare, but the bags went through a scan and they got confused about one item in one bag. Our large portable charger. This is weird because the same thing happened in Sweden when we travelled to New York in November. It seems that even in this highly technological and super-modern country, no one has seen anything like our charger.
We took a taxi with IKEA-hull to the address at Alexis Towers, met an agent who showed us to the apartment and talked about it for a few minutes. He was also very tiny. I'm suspecting this is something that we'll have to get used to. Even though we were tired we went out, IKEA being just across the street and we needed new pillows (good nights-sleep is important the first night in a new country), adapters, umbrellas and shower gel.
There's a mall across from IKEA where we bought some essentials and also ate lunch in the food court. Some sea food noddles with scary looking little octopuses. John ate chicken and rice in pepper sauce (I resisted since I had already been eating two of those meals). It rained a little today and even without umbrellas we survived.
Sat in front of the TV for a while to relax for a moment, but I almost fell asleep sitting up so I cuddled down in the sofa and took a fifteen minute nap. After that John woke me and we got up and out to eat dinner. "Fighting against tiredness and jetlag, one must eat at the right times" he said and we shared a large Subway sandwich.
Trying to stay awake as long as we could we decided to check out the pool area at the roof. Not-that-cold water, long pool that stretches the house length, three jacuzzis and a mini-gym. There is also a barbecue area.
This is our home for the coming month. After that we will see, we will find something that we can call ours. Until then,
have it good!
Tuesday 23 February 2016
Last night in Sweden
Good evening.
This blog will be updated and redesigned in the future, when I have access to internet and an apartment in Singapore.
Right now I'm just waiting for the taxi to arrive, which it will in eight hours. Eight hours might sound like a lot of time but it ain't.
Today we woke up early to pack the last of our things into IKEA-bags and boxes, then travelled through Stockholm to stow them with our families. John ate some pretty damn good hamburgers at a food truck while I didn't think my stomach could take it, so I ate expensive sushi and was disappointed with every bite since the old man who made them did it the right way with wasabi under every piece of fish. Wasabi is dried soap mixed with washing soda in my eyes. I confess I did make a bad choice and my stomach would probably be happier with that amazing burger. After sushi we went back a got a hamburger for free!
Then we walked in circles in the city while waiting for a friend to answer our calls. We saw Deadpool at the cinema, which was a really good movie and definitely lived up to the expectations set by the commercials. Killed two hours there and then we thought about what kind of food we should eat for dinner. Well, since we can't cook at home we bought salad from a food court, and we both managed to get it at the same price less than a crown's difference. Salad is good, fresh and definitely taste expensive!
Our emotions right now are pretty wild. Sometimes I stare into nothingness and do not even hear the thoughts my loud head is shouting. From time to time, usually when I doing something, a laugh like a maniac. John will look at me, question what I'm laughing about and I'm just saying "Singapore" and he'll join my manic laughing for a while until we both sort of cool down and disappear into our heads.
Our luggage, or rather our lives, is in three big bags, two smaller bags and two even smaller bags. Everything on the kilo for what is allowed (the third bag will be taken to Singapore in a week via John's very sweet and kind mother). Everything else that you may need in life will be new, bought in Singapore and with the right, um, new kind of plug.
Since we don't know how long we will be staying my thoughts are that we're buying the essentials we want and then, if we move to another country in six years, try to sell everything again. I'm not sentimental (except for in the beginning, but then I'm fine), so just getting rid of all the old stuff was both hard and a real relief. But now I'm thinking: what should we buy that we can still sell when we're moving again? Because now that I'm tasting the move to another country, I can't imagine that I'll stop! Besides, now matter how old we're feeling, we are apparently pretty young!
I'll write another post once we're there and I can get internet somewhere. Lucky me, my laptop will always be with me!
(This is how I can work wherever I go.)
This blog will be updated and redesigned in the future, when I have access to internet and an apartment in Singapore.
Right now I'm just waiting for the taxi to arrive, which it will in eight hours. Eight hours might sound like a lot of time but it ain't.
Today we woke up early to pack the last of our things into IKEA-bags and boxes, then travelled through Stockholm to stow them with our families. John ate some pretty damn good hamburgers at a food truck while I didn't think my stomach could take it, so I ate expensive sushi and was disappointed with every bite since the old man who made them did it the right way with wasabi under every piece of fish. Wasabi is dried soap mixed with washing soda in my eyes. I confess I did make a bad choice and my stomach would probably be happier with that amazing burger. After sushi we went back a got a hamburger for free!
Then we walked in circles in the city while waiting for a friend to answer our calls. We saw Deadpool at the cinema, which was a really good movie and definitely lived up to the expectations set by the commercials. Killed two hours there and then we thought about what kind of food we should eat for dinner. Well, since we can't cook at home we bought salad from a food court, and we both managed to get it at the same price less than a crown's difference. Salad is good, fresh and definitely taste expensive!
Our emotions right now are pretty wild. Sometimes I stare into nothingness and do not even hear the thoughts my loud head is shouting. From time to time, usually when I doing something, a laugh like a maniac. John will look at me, question what I'm laughing about and I'm just saying "Singapore" and he'll join my manic laughing for a while until we both sort of cool down and disappear into our heads.
Our luggage, or rather our lives, is in three big bags, two smaller bags and two even smaller bags. Everything on the kilo for what is allowed (the third bag will be taken to Singapore in a week via John's very sweet and kind mother). Everything else that you may need in life will be new, bought in Singapore and with the right, um, new kind of plug.
Since we don't know how long we will be staying my thoughts are that we're buying the essentials we want and then, if we move to another country in six years, try to sell everything again. I'm not sentimental (except for in the beginning, but then I'm fine), so just getting rid of all the old stuff was both hard and a real relief. But now I'm thinking: what should we buy that we can still sell when we're moving again? Because now that I'm tasting the move to another country, I can't imagine that I'll stop! Besides, now matter how old we're feeling, we are apparently pretty young!
I'll write another post once we're there and I can get internet somewhere. Lucky me, my laptop will always be with me!
(This is how I can work wherever I go.)
