Back and forth with little excitment

Friday.

John did not work; he took a four day long weekend that started on that day. We slept in with plans on going out for errands later, but noticed some big dark clouds when we ate breakfast. Directly after we had finished our fruit-yoghurt (leaving a half cup of sad chocolate) we got dressed and hurried outside. There is a mall about ten minutes walk from here that we really needed to go to. Found a pet store there on Google Maps.

The Pet Lovers Centre was really tiny and they had very few of the things we needed, but the guy working there was very helpful and friendly. We liked him. The rain started while we went around this mall. Tried to find wire mesh at a small hardware store but they had none. On the first floor there was a Fair Price. I was surprised by the size and selection so we decided this would be our place to shop food if we need something quick and close by. Five bags in hand we headed outside. The rain was crazy. I tweeted wondering where Noah was. John suggested we took shelter inside the Starbucks around the corner to wait out the rain, but after he put me down in a chair and had been downstairs to order, he told me that the weather would not get better and we should move now before it got worse.

When we got outside the rain had stopped but we walked briskly anyway. After just a minute of safety we sort of walked right into it. Suddenly heavy rain. Umbrellas up! Keep the bags under the umbrella to prevent the rain for filling them up. Hurry, hurry. In Singapore, it is not like umbrellas keep you dry - it keeps you from drowning. When we got home our feet were soaked, shorts wet and heads sweaty. Our loot was fine though, something good.

We stayed home until the rain was far away before we headed out for a second time. Since we did not buy anything at the PLC at Coronation Centre, we took the MRT to Holland Village where we were told there was a larger PLC. Just outside the MRT we bought a blueberry waffle, we think it was made of the same dough as Kaya bread. It was tasty and we fought for the last bite! We found the pet store and bought a lot of stuff. A little climbing and scratching castle, litter box, food bowls, toys, etcetera. It was not heavy to carry so we took it in our hands. Before we got on the MRT we stopped by a hardware store and bought wire mesh for the balcony.

Then, when we unpacked the litter box, we discovered that the flap did not fit. We tried and tried, but there was no way to keep the flap in the holes. It kept falling of. We called the store and asked how we could fix it, if there was anyway we had not yet figured out, but no, they asked us to come back to the store and they would have a look.

A few more minutes of complaining and sighs, since we had already been out in the rain and it was nearing half past five, before we once again went out to the MRT. Back at the store the manager tried to put the flap in the holes but was, as expected, unsuccessful. She fetched another one but it still did not fit. Another employee tried to help. Eventually they asked us to pick another litter box and so John asked if they had any in the same price range. They suggested a really nice looking one but for double the price. We were hoping to get a discount since we spent an hour of our Friday on going back to their store because they sold us a faulty product. This they could not do.

They could neither give our money back nor a discount. A voucher was all we could get. Instead we asked for the cheapest litter box and they found one a dollar less than the first one. Strange, I thought, since John had asked for one in the same price range from the beginning but then they came with a much more expensive one. We bought this one eventually and got a tuna piece for the one dollar they could not give us back.

Then we could go back home and finally relax.

No, we could not. I needed to do the dishes and John vacuum cleaned the apartment. Two hours later Heidi arrived and we went out to meet her by the food court. We bought dinner and took it with us to the apartment. During the dinner we watched the first episode/season six of Game of Thrones. The ending scene not being what we expected. Spoiler, there were no answers about Jon Snow! After that we watched two episodes of an anime serie Heidi showed us which was quite good and something I would like to continue watching (if I can remember the name). The rest of the evening was spent getting seriously scared by SOMA, me playing first and then John.

When the cinema broke me

Last night we met outside the food court near our home. We ate dinner and had plenty of time before our movie was going to start - The Jungle Book. After we finished we took the MRT and switched lines two times. First Circle Line to Botanic Gardens, then Downton Line to Newton and lastly North South Line one station to Orchard.

The MRT at Orchard was located below a huge mall. We had to ask two persons on two different locations to even understand which way we were supposed to go. At one point we found the MRT again and realized we had been walking in a circle. Then we found two kind of creepy escalators; the kind that would smell like piss in Sweden. Totally fine here in Singapore though. It looked expensive with mirrored walls so it would feel larger than the small space it was.

When we got up to the street again we had half an hour before the movie was supposed to start. We had been at least twenty minutes in that mall trying to find a way out. John even pointed out it was built like a casino with no windows and no clear directions. Anyway, the Shaw Theatres Lido was just across the street. Outside there was this pick-your-side booth between Team Ironman vs Team Captain America. Tony Stark was in the lead and he had both our votes. We went to the fifth floor and sat down to wait fifteen minutes before they seated the auditorium. When the IMAX "now seating" sign was blinking we got our pre-ordered large popcorn and Pepsi before finding our seats at row E.

This was my first experience with IMAX and boy was I excited! The IMAX had an intro where they demonstrated the screen and the speakers capability, with cool effects like a jet-plane motor and a pin dropping to the floor. It was so overwhelming. I could have walked out right then and be pleased with the IMAX experience.

The movie started. People were late and blocked the view for the first five minutes. I almost stood up to yell at them, but decided not to. Instead sat there with fingers tapping John's arm and sighing heavily. Apparently this is how Asian people go to movies, I thought.

In the middle of the movie everyone's glasses broke. The right eye went black. You could still see the movie, but it was half as good as before. Nobody moved from their seats, so the whole audience sat there a long time with this heavily downgraded quality. Eventually John took the issue into his own hands and made his way down the row. I saw him leave through the back door, thinking he was stupid since the people working there would be at the front. He missed a less important scene. I saw another guy rise from his seat and make his way down to the front where John was just entering with a woman. He told me and the lady next to him that they were going to fix it.

Two minutes later the quality was back. The movie continued.

After five to ten minutes the black eye was back. People both sighed and laughed. Glasses came of. The quality was blurred and desaturated. Then it came back again. Glasses on. A few more minutes of the IMAX experience and then it shifted again. Glasses of. Glasses on. The movie was nearing its end; the big scene where Mowgli runs with the Red Flower.

And just as the best scene, most exciting part, the start of the end was happening the screen died.

We stayed for maybe twenty minutes waiting for it to start again. At one point the sound came back. I heard it was a earlier scene, they had rewound it, but the picture never came on. And neither did the movie.

Basically, we did not get to see the end of The Jungle Book.

Instead we got two free tickets for any IMAX movie and our money back. I believe that did not make up for it. They left me broken, unknowing what happened in the end. Now spoilers will be avoided and the end will be seen on a less interesting screen at home (still at pretty nice TV though).

And that was my first ever IMAX experience.

Coming and going

Yesterday we had a visitor for a few hours. Annika came back from Bali where she has been for the last two weeks. She has been here (in Asia) for almost two months and last night the took a flight back to Sweden. Before that she visited us at d'Leedon, had dinner and packed her things that were still here.

Saturday Runaround

I can not believe I have not written anything for so long!

Last week I got some less happy news in an email, so my mood for writing or doing anything sort of vanished. I had no thoughts for the blog or the book for a couple of days and I regret not doing any of those things. It has been almost a week since my last post. I do hope all of you who are daily reading this blog are still with me.

On Saturday my mood changed when I had John with me the whole day. We woke up early, which is something very new to both of us during the weekends, and started the day down at the gym. While John used a machine I do not know the name of, (one of those where you sort of run but you hold on to handles and the feet goes in circles...) I power-walked on the treadmill next to him. We had bought entertainment with us since neither can stand exercising without fooling our brains that we are not. John watched something on Shiny (our Xperia tablet) while I read a chapter in a book called Geim.

After half an hour I stopped reading and upped the tempo to jogging. I have never liked gym machines. Whilst walking/running my foot almost made me trip more than four times. This happens when I walk generally, but it is worse when on a machine. I can not stop and catch my breath, the foundation I am walking on keeps moving, so I could hurt myself badly if one trip made me fall forwards. Luckily this has yet to happen.

After forty five minutes in the gym we decided to stop. Walked by the little store just outside our building to buy ice cream and milk, then we thought John could go to the food court to buy us some lunch and bananas. He came back and we had noddles with dumplings and meat while watching Daredevil in Ultra HD 4k! Then it started to rain and just like every other rain here you really CAN NOT go outside if you do not own a boat or have a life-vest.

When it eventually stopped we took the MRT to Chinatown. A new part of this city we had yet to explore. According to John it was very Chinese; the architecture, the smells and obviously the people. With Google Maps help (not so helpful help though) we tried to find a hardware store. Walked up and down small streets with lots of small shops. Found one that Google thought was a hardware store but when we entered found out was a store for restaurant owners to buy all their large pots and rice cookers and more. One of the employees told us we would not find a hardware store where we could buy wire mesh/chicken wire in Chinatown. This we found strange since a man in another store told us to find it here.

Stopped at McDonalds to share a surprisingly large coke while John tried to figure out if a store we had found online was still open. Without an answer to that we headed back to the MRT and travelled to Rochor. There we were just outside Sim Lim Square but no, instead we walked in the heat towards Little India, where, John told me, the architecture was very indian as well as the smell and of course the people. We did not find any hardware stores. The people we asked pointed us in different directions and yet not one store appeared before our eyes.

I called it. My feet were hurting, my head was aching, my body was tired. We made a quick stop at Sim Lim Square to buy some speakers for the computer and some cables. Then used Google to find a FairPrice and bought some food before we took the MRT back home. We ordered food home and had a pleasant evening. What a day that was. We even concluded to buy the wire mesh online!

Is this a hotel?

Good early afternoon.

I went up early today, still trying to puzzle together a routine for myself. John already has one, with a job and all, but me, I have to take responsibility for what I am doing. So today I made myself some breakfast, Greek yoghurt with banana and orange, and watched an episode of Outlander. Even though this sounds great I need to start watching something that is not an hour long.

Either way, after that episode it was just a few minutes past ten, so not much of my morning was wasted. I immediately got dressed for the gym and headed there. There were a few people already training but the only bike was free so I mounted it and began to pedal. Clever as I am I had brought with me a book, so while my legs worked out I found entertainment in one of Lovecrafts many stories.

After one hour the sweat was trickling down into my eyes and my legs were tired. I jumped of and stretched in front of the large mirror. After a few minutes of this I went to the ladies bathroom next door and stood in the shower for a while. Changed into bikini and slid down into the pool outside. The sun was hot and I could barely keep my eyes open, but swan two lengths before I understood how tired I really were. Lay in the sun over the pool edge and relaxed, then grabbed my things, took the elevator to the 16th floor and had yesterdays dinner as lunch.

So now I have a few more hours to fill with more responsibility stuff. I have already wasted too many on my lunch "hour". Will write a few pages (hopefully) before I go out to find a local pet store and see what the prices are.

As I am writing this I hear thunder and see dark clouds outside the window. Perhaps the trip to the store will have to wait. Ymir (our cat) will not arrive until the last day of the month, so I have time.

No rush.

Living in two worlds

Good afternoon.

I had an informative dream about my book; a creature that lives in the woods around the school. I will not spoil anything but will give you a picture of it that I drew. Today I have been writing so much I have completely forgotten to eat lunch. At least a had a semi-big breakfast consisting a large sandwich with salad, tomato, cheese and cucumber. With that I had a nut-bar and some hot chocolate. Now it is half past four and I am starting to get hungry. I am torn between food and writing. I do not want to leave this computer, this chair, this great speed in my fingers right now. Do I really need food to keep going?

Yes. Of course I will eat, do not think otherwise. It is just so hard to tear myself away from something that is so interesting to write. Perhaps you understand me, perhaps you think I am being silly. This is the life of an author. We tend to get stuck by our stories and forget to live ourself.

Maybe I will make Sam eat in the book. Maybe that will make me realise I need to eat too. Maybe I should quit writing posts on the blog and continue writing on the book. Wait. No.

Food first.

Board games with Pie

Good morning Monday.

It was a three day long weekend for us. On Saturday we cleaned the apartment until John felt it was too much and refused to go out with the trash (it made him feel like someone was actually living here). I wonder if this strange feeling will disappear if we clean more often. It is not like we have a dirty home; we just tend to leave things where they are.

Just a cozy Friday

Good late night.

John took the day off from work since he was on that business trip. We slept maybe too long, but it was worth it. Although we had breakfast instead of lunch and then lunch a few hours later. Hungry people, you eat when it calls.

I started the day with a headache - unsurprisingly since I am always this lucky when we have plans. Either way we left the apartment around two and headed for same good old IKEA. I know you do not want to hear yet another story of yet another day at IKEA. This time we were really just buying a few essentials, among those a corkscrew and suction cup hangers. We came out two hours later with a full load of stuff and also two more chairs for the price of one.

Yesterday I was at VivoCity to go clothes shopping by myself. It did not happen. I watched the items while I awkwardly paced through the store and left in a hurry without even touching a garment. When John left work and met me at the mall we went back to the stores where I had seen some interesting clothes and we bought them, so today John felt justified to buy three pairs of shorts for himself from an outlet store.

I recommend you to stop at the top of the blog and just stare at out view for a moment. The new header is taken by John from our balcony. The house to the left is just like the one we live in. Got to say, I think we only took this apartment because of the view. Even so, the whole place is amazing. I feel like we are spoiled, this is just as nice as a fancy hotel.

To all friends and family, you are very welcome to come visit. We have space and time for every single one of you.

See you soon!

Morning cleanliness

John came home yesterday. He had been on a business trip to Paris. Thirteen hour flight there, some meetings, one presentation and then twelve hours back. I will try to make him write a post soonish.

He came back to d'Leedon around half past four and right after we left the luggage at the apartment went down to the pool. Swam around for a bit while he talked about the trip and explained in details the jokes he had made. I am sure they were funny; probably more in the right setting.

After he realized how tired he was and had no strength to swim around we went back upstairs, took a shower and walked out to buy some food. We are lucky because there is a food court just outside d'Leedon, but we are unsure when they close so when we got there around seven there were only five stalls open. Not even sure if all of them are taken, by lunchtime there are more open but not nearly all. We bought some rice and I ate chicken and John beef. It was good, not amazing and not great, but that is kind of the standard in courts. Sometimes they are really good! Lucky times.

We ate dinner by the TV, Netflix and chill for reals, and discovered how we could watch some specifik shows in 4K on our TV. Very crisp, very unrealistic, felt like we were on set. Looked good though, much better than VHS!

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This morning was a surprise. I woke up with John as always, he being a bit slow but totally understandable after the long trip yesterday and the jetlag still clinging to his reversed time change. Just as he was leaving the apartment the intercom rang and somebody wanted to come up. AC inspection they said. I rushed to get dressed and John waited a few moments to let them in. Without warning here are now two Indian guys cleaning our four ACs. So strange. No warning, no call, no mail.

Not to be picky, they seem to clean them good and remove a lot of dust. Although, when they are done with one they leave it on and blast ice-cold air around the apartment. I mean, I can understand that is their standard but I did not put up a sign where it said Coldcave. Why so cold? Why at all? Leave them off, I would like that.

John bets it will cost a multum. I just signed a paper where it did not say any amount of money anywhere. I wonder if we have to pay this or our landlord? Also, this is apparently under law in Singapore, they have to do this inspection/cleaning service twice a year.

I hope there will be a warning next time.

Naming the Apartment

Ah, hello, finally I have internet in the apartment. Feels like I can breathe again.

The guy who knocked on the door was surprisingly short. He was kind (called me miss, which I will never get used to) and effective, doing his work without hesitation and was soon done. Asked me what name he should type in for the wifi and my brain froze. I am not very good at impulsive questions. John is the genius at weird names for weird stuff. Eventually I named it Coldcave. Very suiting for our cold apartment.

There was a note at the first floor which I had noticed a couple of days ago. It said there would be a Fire alarm inspection between 9am and 2pm. This I had forgotten by the time the first loud noise sounded throughout the building. My heart raced, I sort of panicked and then remembered the note. Even with that in mind I could not stop being scared. Heart kept pumping, noise kept sounding and I stayed indoors. Very clever of me of course. Around 12 I figured I would find my rescue outdoors. Even though the note said not to be alarm I stood in the elevator feeling like every number ticking down would be the number where the fire would engulf me in the little metallic and soundproof (by the soft layers for protecting the walls while people are still moving in with furniture) box. Hands twisted, I survived to the first floor. The sound became less noisy but it was so loud I could not get away. Decided to go buy lunch, bread and bananas. Great choice!

When I got back up, because I prefer to eat my warm lunch in the Coldcave, I solved the noise problem by putting on a headset and watch something on the laptop. Barely noticed when the inspection ended. Then John called and I showed him the internet set up. Now I have two wants with this day: gaming or swimming.

Which will win?

I would also like to point out that I have spent the last couple of days writing on the fourth chapter (even though the book is finished I need to sort things out with the story and the tempo). My few correction readers will be happy to hear this and I will mail you the chapter as soon as it is done. Give me a few days!

Introduced

Hi hi hello.

First thing first: what made me smile today? 

I was going down to the reading room and in the elevator I met a grey haired man. Before I had pressed the button for the first floor he started talking. Asked if I was going to work or swim since I had both a towel and a laptop. He also asked if I was Dutch, I answered Swede and he immediately said ah Stockholm. Beautiful city. He then asked how I came to live in Singapore and I answered that my boyfriend got a job here and that I was an author. Writer he mumbled. I have encountered this before, Singaporeans do not like the word author, they change it to writer under their breaths.

I stepped out on first floor and said it was nice to meet him. Proceeded to the reading room and found it vacant. Tried to find the internet on the computer but could not. Restarted and tried again, but no. So I am going to have to figure out how to get internet down there again. For some reason my computer can not find it. That is why I am sitting in the sofa right now blogging from my phone.

Instead of blogging I went out to the pool. It is not a very hot and sunny day but the water is always like a bathtub. It felt good to slide down and swim for a while. I stretched and lay on the steps while the sun shone on my face for two minutes. Then it disappeared behind a large cloud and I waited, hoping it would clear away and give me a reason to stay. Then I heard thunder, dark clouds moving closer. I looked at my laptop, realised I did not want to be out there if (when) it started to rain. I had nothing to protect my computer with. Sighed and dried, got my things and headed back up to the apartment. More thunder, more clouds.

Building a home

The morning after we moved in we all woke up early. Not sure how well everybody slept, but impossibly the best night ever. We made sandwiches and sat on the cold hard floor waiting for the furniture.

The time of arrival was said to be around ten o'clock. John even called to confirm this. The woman in the phone said they should be there in fifteen minutes. Surprised happiness. We waited. Waited. Waited. After forty-five minutes John called them again and were told that they were now fifteen minutes away. After that the hopes of an estimated time were blown out the window.

Eventually there was a knock on the door and we opened. I had a list of things ready and while three men carried it though the door, I marked it with a green pen. Everything was there. The apartment was full of large cardboard boxes. John and I proceeded with laughter and giggles. We decided to go outside before we started to put everything together. Travelled to Tiong Bahru to go to a mall where we could get internet (M1 at HarbourFront could not get it to us in less than three weeks) and buy tools. On our way there we stopped at a hawker stall (outside version of food court) and had lunch.

When we came home again we had a vacuum cleaner, a tool for opening cardboard boxes (I do not know what it is called in English) and somehow a sound bar system. While we had been away Annika had received our TV. Another box to open! This was like Christmas in April. We put on some music and started with the purple carpet to protect the furniture when we opened them. The carpet was perfect. I love it! Then the hard work started and we worked all day to put everything together.

It is very satisfying to have a home where you can say we built it all in one day. Technically we did. IKEA-style. We now have a home in Singapore with IKEA furniture. A bit unreal, but in every way as real as it gets.

Checking the list.

Wondering what we bought that is in those bags.

On Sunday morning, while John was cooking breakfast for the first time in this new kitchen, I built the living-room table. Later we put legs on yet another Linnmon table (same size and colour as our last computer table but this one had one extra leg) and did the last thing; put together the computer chairs. We only have one computer so far but will eventually but another one.

When we unpacked the computer something rattled and we peeked inside. The cooler had detached! We looked for scratches but found none. John put it back in and everything was working fine. Lucky us.

New Home

Hello again!

I have been absent for many reason, but now I am back and will blog as often as I find possible. There is so much to tell you. I will start with the new apartment and later write a post about the trip to Thailand with Annika.

On the 1st of April, Annika and I travelled back to Singapore and met John by Buona Vista station, even though we had told him to stay at his work and finish the day. He wanted to help move the things from the apartment, in which he had been staying for nine nights, to the new apartment in d'Leedon. John and I made two rounds in the elevator to get everything to ground level, ordered two Uber XL's and packed them once again with our stuff. Five minutes in these cars and we were there. Oh, no. Annika and I were not. This is the wrong carpark, Annika and I told the driver. It is the other carpark, we have been here before. No, said the driver and kept driving around in the wrong basement. There is no other carpark, he said and continued to circle. After a while we emerged and pointed him right. He apologized and made some bad excuse for his illusion.

John was waiting with the first round of things by the 11th block's garage elevators. He and I packed an elevator with a few bags and headed up. While John went to the apartment, said hi to our agent and their agent, I ran back and fourth to deliver the bags. Then I could say hello and we talked for a bit, until Erin reminded me that we had more stuff to get and she accompanied me down to the garage. There was no Annika, no stuff waiting, no help needed. Must be in the wrong carpark, I figured. We took the elevator to the 1st floor, went out the door and realized this is above the carpark. Tried a door that led downstairs but it was locked and we had no key. Just then the other door slid shut and we were locked out. We went around looking lost and eventually could call up to the apartment to be let inside again. Maybe we took the wrong elevator, we thought and headed back up to the 16th floor.

There we found Annika with our stuff. Apparently she is a strong woman who can transport large bags, boxes and mattresses by herself. At least we could help her bring the things to the apartment. Back there John had signed something and the agent was just leaving. Erin stayed with us while we adored our new home. Annika gave her a gift, a stuffed horse (which was apparently very suitable since the boy was born in the horse's year), and Erin gave me and John a gift; a glass bottle with lovely sweet liquid that a bunch of sticks will soak up and be turned to spread the smell. I do not know what it is called. (Annika tells me it is called yankee candle.) And chocolate.

After a few minutes of we live here now and this is an amazing view, we found ourselves hungry. At least I was. We walked to the Farrer Road MRT, less than five minutes walk, and took the train to HarbourFront and VivoCity. We split: John went to M1 to see if he could get internet to the apartment and Annika and I went to Giant. (I will confess something, I am terrible at shopping. Leave me in a store with the purpose of buying something nice, something I want and something to eat... I will run out from that store after twenty minutes. I get lost in my mind, can not understand why I am walking around in a huge store and what I am suppose to buy. It is easier to just give me a very specifik list.) While Annika searched for flipflops I walked around staring at things. Should probably put something in the cart, I thought. Wonder what it was I was suppose to go get. I stood by the bed sheets, knowing we needed it for tonight, knowing the size and that the colours did not matter and yet none managed to get inside the cart.

When Annika caught up with me I still had not put one single thing in the cart. John called and we told him where to find us. We met, he said he needed to go back to the temporary apartment because he forgot to leave the keys and left. Annika and I continue to shop. Well, she shopped while I nodded and agreed and went away to get something she told me to go get. (I think I wrote in another post that it is difficult to shop shoes with me. We can establish that it is difficult to shop with me, period.)

After around two hours we left the store with two large carts full of stuff. One full, the other only half. It was a lot. We took the elevator to the ground floor and saw a long line by the taxi stand. It is strange how many people want to stand in line for a regular cab when there is Uber. We ordered an Uber, it arrived five minutes later, while the queue had moved only three cars. The driver was very sweet and talked about his life. We came back to d'Leedon where John waited and he was surprised to find the many small plastic bags in the trunk. We also accidentally stole the drivers car oil thing.

We were back in the apartment. Packed in the critical wares in the fridge and freezer, then ate sushi and spare ribs on the balcony. John even ordered McDonalds to get completely satisfied. It is actually not so expensive to get it delivered home. After that very long day of hard work we slept badly on thin mattresses.

Shortest post ever

Hi.

We moved into our apartment at d'Leedon yesterday and today we received all the furniture. Unfortunately we do not have internet and will not have until at least two weeks. I will try to find internet somewhere and write a proper post with photos.

Thank you for reading this blog.