Overwatch Launch Weekend at Capitol Theatre

Has it been fixed? No, the wardrobe is still broken and difficult to get in to. Yes, we will probably have to pay for it.

Saturday - we met up with some friends at the City Mall MRT. Outside it was hot as normal. We walked to an 7-Eleven and bought something to drink. I chose a large bottle of water, which is rather unusual for me. After that we went back towards the MRT but we did not go inside. Across from the station was Capitol Theatre and today it was hosting an event called Overwatch Launch Weekend. We got in line and tried to understand how long it truly was. We saw two ends of the queue, us standing in the shortest, and they seemed to merge close to the entrance. Happy to see that we would get in soon enough we stood there talking.

Heidi and I walked up to the glass wall of the theatre and saw that the line continued inside. When we turn around to return to our friends I noticed something strange with that longer end of the other line. The people standing there were facing the other way, not the entrance. Some guy guessed they were in line for something else, but it did not fool me. I saw that the line we stood in did not merge by the entrance with that other queue; instead it snaked away and back. I told the others and they realized that this was the truth.

After half an hour in the heat and this enormous queue we gave up. Instead we walked to a tech-mall, Funan, where we walked around without a goal. Browsing a board game-store, a PC/XBOX/etc-store, a store where there was a lot of action figures from animes and others. After an hour in there we decided to go back to the queue and see if there was any change. There was not. It actually looked like it had grown.

There was no chance of us getting back in line. So we talked about it with our friends and told them our plans. We went to Raffles Place, an expensive mall, and walked around there talking about where we could find some things on our shopping list. We googled Pet Lovers Centre and tried to find it. I led us outside since it said so on Maps, but apparently the maps do not show underground and so we had to walk back to Raffles Place after walking across the street and a bit further. At PLC John and I bought some healthy candy that is good for teeth and hairballs (separately), cat-schampo and grass for Ymir.

We then got hungry since some of us had not been eating lunch and some had only had dumplings and some noodles (guess who ate the dumplings). Heidi recommended Din Tai Fung which was a Chinese restaurant where you share the things you order, it's like Greek meze and is called dim sum. We had small dumpling balls that had soup in them (and a piece of meat) that was the best dish according to John and I.

After dinner we separated. John and I bought some last things and then headed home since we knew our kitten was due to be hungry by now. We came home and fed him, drank some wine and gamed some Overwatch.

It feels good to be social even though the plan did not happen. Another time, maybe?

Broken Doors

Without any signs this was about to happen, when we opened the slide door to the left it fell of its wheels. Holding it semi in place with hands and a book to stabilize, but without managing much because it was so heavy, it completely fell off and almost crushed Johns toes.

We contacted our agent and had him call the management office (since everything concerning the unit we are renting goes through the agent). Basically, if they can prove it to be wear and tear, we have to pay for the repairs. If they can not do that then it is badly constructed and they have to fix it. We will hope for the latter, but it can be so that we have to take the blame, even though nothing is broken and it simply fell of.

Unbroken things can not just fall apart.

Apparently they can. This was not something we did, how is it possible for us to somehow do something to make the doors fall of their construction. This is a strange and awfully complicated wardrobe. When we tried to get to our clothes behind the right door it got stuck halfway over. It did not fall off or is not about to. We believe it somehow got stuck in the other doors hinges or something similar. Even standing on a chair we are not able to see how it was constructed up there.

In other words: one door loose, other door stuck.

After the agent called the management two men were sent to the apartment. They came in, looked at the door quickly. The man, whom I think is the condo-owner (or at least high up) tried to make it sound like we had done something to the doors, said something about broken and this door is missing a wheel. The other man, whom I believe to be Main Maintenance-man said no it is not broken, no nothing is missing, no this is the inner door - there should not be a thing where you say it should be a thing. I am not quoting them here, just writing what I could understand from the mumbling Singlish.

I asked some questions, like when is this going to be fixed and will we or you call for a handyman?, but both of them turned their back to me and one called someone on the phone while I was talking. After that they left without even looking me in the eyes or even saying bye or anything. I was a bit hurt after that, feeling like I had done something wrong, like it was my fault their building is falling apart.

Remember when I wrote about that day when there were so many men in the apartment fixing things? They did the cabinets in the kitchen and the door-locking-holes and checking the shower hose... that day the head-man said they would fix the wardrobe doors because other tenants had complained about them. Later he said they would not fix them and so they did not. Now they are broken and they might try to make us pay for it.

Do you think they will make it look like a wear and tear?

----

When John was calling me after work I asked if he wanted to take an evening walk in the Botanic Gardens. We met by the MRT and walked half an hour to get to one of the entrances. The air was really humid in there, like a minor rainforest should I suppose. I had brought the camera but the light was vanishing quickly although I think we got some good photos. Perhaps I will share them once they have been edited.

We tried to find a restaurant in there and found one near the University, which is located far north in the Gardens. The restaurant was called Blue Bali and turned out to be three times more expensive than home delivery of the same food choice (that would be enough for two to share). We left through the back door and walked were we probably would not have been allowed had anyone caught us. Emerged somewhere by the University and found another restaurant. It had a dress-code and we turned in the door in our shorts and sweaty shirts.

After that we decided to leave the BG to find some food nearby. We talked and walked until we found an exit. Decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant that was within our price-range and could finally eat. When we were done we walked home talking about musicals and how much I want to see Sound of Music with John, even though he does not like musicals. When we came home our little kitten sat in the hall waiting.

End of Thursday.

Here is a joke:

What do you feel 

on a Thursday?

....

....

....

Thirsty!

Plans and other days

It is Tuesday.

We had plans for the weekend and they are probably more interesting to read about than what actually happened.

After work on Friday John and Heidi came to the apartment. We ordered some Western food with home delivery and played Destiny while we waited. When the food arrived we started the movie that was decided for the night - Resident Evil.

When John was done with dinner he took the PlayStation to the computer and started Destiny. The plan was never for him to join me and Heidi during the movie since he had already seen it so many times. So when he put on headphones it definitely felt like a girls night.

I had seen this movie once a long time ago and Heidi had not (but she had seen the second movie). It was fun watching it and remembering all the scenes. The computerised effects were not the best but what could you had hoped for when the movie was made in 2002. When it ended we decided to get some popcorn and watch the second movie - Apocalypse. Not as good as the first one and the end was just strange and building up to something even stranger. John told me later that the games get weirder too and the movies somewhat follow. The first movie was good, do not ruin that, please! Overall I had a great time with Heidi.

----

We took a long and needed lie-in when Saturday came. The cat tried to wake us and get us going. Eventually I opened the door and he ran around in the bed trying to get us to play with him. Instead he tipped the water glass and had me up to get some papers. He managed that at least. Eventually he started biting our feet through the blanket and we decided it was time to go up.

The day was slow. We did not do much but had plans for the evening. A Reddit meet-up was supposed to happen at the Beerhouse (or Bier House). Yes, we had planned to go but did not. We were pretty fine staying home gaming, gamers as we are. Late afternoon we took a walk to the store and bought some food and wine. It was a pleasant day.

----

On Sunday morning I woke up feeling not so great. Actually I felt pretty sick. Took the blanket and my pillow to the sofa and basically stayed there the whole day. I had fever. The plans for the day was to meet with some friends and go see the new X-men movie - coincidentally also called Apocalypse. We had to cancel that to my disappointment. I really wanted to go out and be with friends. Another day, I suppose.

----

Monday! I was feeling better. John had a free day from work because of some Indian holiday, I have no idea what it was. After a brunch we headed down to the pool. There were not a lot of people there and so it was really cosy to swim around with John and cuddle. We talked a lot about some serious topics, history, memories and such. When I felt hungry we went up. Tried to find something to eat at the food court nearby but most of the places were closed because of the holiday and so we were sad when we walked home with no dumplings and just a single lime juice. At home we ordered some pizza and ate while playing XCOM 2. Not so bad day that either.

----

So we had a lot of plans for the weekend but ended up doing none of those but still had a great time. Except for me being sick with fever, but I am happy that it was only for a day and not longer. I feel fine now. Let us hope John will not get sick by that though.

The terrible thoughts of loving someone

Ever since we moved to the sixteenth floor we have both had nightmares/horrible thoughts. John is afraid of heights and even though I am not he rubs it off on me. When Ymir moved in the dreams/thoughts include him as well. They go something like this:

I stand on the balcony with my back against the railing. Suddenly I tip over like my head is heavy and my feet lose connection to gravity. I fall heads-first.

A variety of this is that I am stupid enough to sit or even stand on the railing and fall.

With Ymir it more like this. I hold him in my arms and go close to the railing, showing him the view or wanting to take a photo of him. He starts to twirl and leaps from my arms over to the other side. I watch him fall sixteen floors.

Variety: I leave the balcony door open and when I come back from where I were I see him standing on the railing looking at me. Slowly I go nearer, talking to him and trying to make him jump down and come to me. When he turns to do so his paw slips and I see him fumble and fall.

Please tell me how to get rid of these life-threatening thoughts. They are keeping us from enjoying being on the balcony. I can not lean against the railing without feeling like I am about to fall. I can not lean against it when John is home, he will drag me away from it with a worried look. I can not sit on the balcony reading while Ymir is there since I am too scared that he will magically jump so high up and over if I look away.

But hey, at least the view is great!

Quick trip to the vet

Our little boy have had some troubles the last four days. There has been blod around his stool and we could not figure out why. We tried to give him more wet-food and less dry-food since the stool was really hard, but when it softened the blood was still there.

Last night we took him to the venetianare. Had fun listening to the young Chinese man trying to pronounce his name. He asked a bunch of questions which made us safe that he could find the problem. Ymir and the vet walked into another room where we were told he would get a gloved finger up his butt. There is a first for everything, Ymir. All men need to do it at some point in their life.

When they came back he had the answer. There was a tear at the side of the anus causing the bleed. Every time he tried to poop the tear would go up. If he was human he would scream from the pain, the vet explained. Poor kitten. He informed us to buy pumpkin and mix with his food to soften the spill, but we needed to soften it now since he was in so much pain and so we bought two bottles of medicin.

Pink bottle - Chlorhexidine.
Wipe his butthole with this, twice a day, to help the wound heal properly.

Green bottle - Lactulose
2 ml from a piston syringe down the throat, twice a day, to loosen the spill

He will thank us for this torture when the diarrhoea comes...

BBQ at Heidi´s

Last night we were invited to Heidi's barbecue. It should have started at three PM but the rain was rather extreme, to an effect that it was difficult for the guests to make it outside. She postponed it an hour which gave us enough time to have a relaxed morning/early afternoon playing Destiny.

Red Running

Good morning.

Today I thought I would try my old Swedish non-habit of running/jogging/reallyjustwalkingfastandoccasionallygettingtoaslowjog. Without telling John anything about it, since I thought that if I did not do it I would not feel ashamed if he asked, I dressed as soon as he was out the door and took the elevator downstairs.

Started with a quick walk and tried to find the designated jogging-track. There are marks in the ground - arrows pointing in two different directions and on some locations just one. When I found four arrows I started jogging.

Soon I found stairs which I would not challenge and so I walked up, two steps at a time. So much exercise. Walked around one of the pools. With the sun in my face I jogged straight forward through the whole condominium until I were back where I started. Thought I would take another run; I had walked most part of the first round since I needed to check where the arrows were.

Another go. Still I walked up the stairs. Started to feel warm. I had my phone inside my shorts but as I got hotter and my hip sweatier the phone started to glide down. When I came to the straight way through the area I took the phone in my hand and with the sun in my face I jogged through it all.

At the end of that road I felt like I was going to be sick. It was apparently thirty degrees and I am used to running in around fifteen or even less in Sweden. So I had to sit down and calm my stomach. Nothing happened, just overestimated myself. I walked back home.

In the mirror I discovered my red face. Hello, I said. Is this because I just ran in the heat or did I seriously burn my face?

Guess the answer.

The lazy problems of an author

Hello.

I wanted to give you an update on what is happening here in Singapore.

John is working, like he always does. We made a schedule for me to help me write as much as possible. I have been trying to stay to the hours on the paper, but I find it very difficult. I have a problem with routines and tend to break them subconsciously. The plan is for me to work (writing, drawing, editing - somehow work on my book/world) between ten and one, then have lunch and continue to work between two and five.

All I can see is hours. Hours that wants to control me. Hours that tells me to do one thing. My brain goes against it. It will not do it. Instead it takes me to the computer; gaming or watching something unnecessary. Instead it sits me in front of the TV; gaming or watching something unnecessary.

Even though I know I want to write. I know I want to draw animals from my world. This is my life-goal, I want to be a published author and to finish my book-series. Without the schedule I will not have a steady flow, the book will be forgotten for weeks at some points. With the schedule my mind will try to fight it.

How do I stay put in my chair with only the documents up?

You can now also find my Goodreads-reviews in the sidebar to the right just under my Twitter.

Trust-issues towards fire alarms

Yesterday felt like two different days in one.

It started like any other Sunday should. Slow morning, brunch at the food court (which is really a hawker center) and some vacuum cleaning after that. In the afternoon, out of nowhere, the fire alarm started blaring outside the door. Well, fire alarms usually start out of nowhere, but it felt like we missed the information about a fire drill. John went out to the corridor and checked what the neighbours were doing - which turned out to be the same as him, walking around looking confused and trying to figure out if we should go outside.

We had one goal

Good evening.

Today we took a trip to Orchard Road. Once again we had to travel on three different lines to get there, with two stations being the longest time travelled on one line. Once we came out of the MRT we knew exactly where to go to find the way out from the last time we were running around in that crazy well-planned-for-not-getting-out mall.

The mission on Orchard was to go to Games @ PI and buy board games for tomorrow. It was a pleasantly warm day and the first thing we noticed was a really load drumming sound from across the street. The sound lured us to its location. A crowd had formed and sparked our interest. We climbed up on a fountain where other people where standing and saw a group of young adults play drums, flutes and other interesting Japanese instruments. I recorded one song and you will find it at the end of this post. They were so skilled and so happy, all of the drummers had impressive muscles and stamina. I danced a little and could not help myself from smiling because they were having such a blast performing.

When they allowed people from the audience to try out the instruments we decided it was time to go. Found an underpass and came up on the right side of the street and headed towards the board game store. I remembered the swim-trunks that I found with Annika a long time ago and wanted to show them to John. I could easily find my way back and, as a side adventure, showed John a carpet that is as soft as an fluffy pet or something like it. I could adopt that carpet! It was not that expensive but John did not want to buy it because he thought I would just lay on it during the days. I failed to see the negative aspect of this.

Then we went to the store and he really liked the shorts. I knew it! So I told him to try them and gave him XL in size. No, he said, that is too big, he said, and brought M to the changing room. I waited outside. Soon he peeked out and asked me to fetch L. I came back and waited. Again he peeked out, asked me to go get the XL. I smiled. gave him a look and went to fetch the size I had recommended from the beginning. They fitted and we bought them.

After being very comfortable in the air conditioned mall we exited into the heat and continued down the road. After a few minutes we found Games @ PI and asked the guy behind the counter about board games he recommended. He had some interesting stories to tell about him and his friends playing the games he held up. Some of the stories were very detailed about the army and the setting and the punishments and the thoughts he had about them. I swear he told us his life story. After a long tale about one game we told him that it was not for us and he picked up another one to tell us about it and of course the time he and his friends and played it.

We spent one hour and ten minutes in there. He talked more than John, which was kind of nice for a change and very interesting after spending so much time with John who really can talk, but this guy was almost worse. Not in a bad way. I did not get to say much, hard to get something in the air during these long rants. We ended up buying Ticket To Ride and The Resistance with two expansions. Hopefully this will be a new friend who will invite us to hang out at the store where tables where full and people where playing Magic The Gathering and Dead of Winter.

We were very tired after that and also very hungry since we had only been eating breakfast. At six we found our way to Food Junction, a food court, and bought dinner. I had rice and half-cooked salmon in teriyaki sauce with miso-soup whilst John ate spicy Thai chicken and rice. I missed our little kitten and so after we were done we hurried home. Three subway-lines later we came home with sore feet (both of us had been wearing flip-flops, which apparently are not good for walking a lot).

Have a nice evening to you and thanks for reading.

Not the best of mornings

Seriously tiresome morning.

I took sleeping pills last night since I have had little sleep for three nights in a row, so when John woke up and got ready for work I was still under the influence of these pills and had a hard time waking up. I thought I would get another hour when he left but shortly after the door closed behind him there was a knock.

Too many working men

Today was not the day I wanted several men in my apartment.

So ten minutes to nine this morning we had an Chinese man here. John had not left for work yet so he could talk to him and I could nod while not understanding their poor English. The man unscrewed every cupboard door and then screwed them back on. Then he tightened the cabinet in the bathroom. While doing this work another man came in, I wonder if he were here to help or just to stare. The second man, Indian, mostly went in and out of the door and talked in short terms with the working man.

Another man came in, this one with purple hair. He had been here before and told us that the coldest water we could get was the coldest we could get (John had the impression that water could get colder. I agree, but I guess that in Asia the water can not be as cold as it is in northern Europe). This time the purple man stood by and watched as the Chinese man worked. After a few long minutes another Indian man came in through the door, not the previous Indian. The purple man goes:

"I messaged you fifteen minutes ago! Did you come all the way from India? Huh?"

So, yeah. The not-enough-offended-guy "hung" from some device stuck to the mirror in the bathroom to probably check how well it was secured. After that he stood on an upside down bucket to reach all the way around the mirror with glue. The Chinese man continued the work on the cupboards. The Indian glued the mirror. The second Indian man peeked inside but left quickly. The purple haired man asked about Ymir and I did not want to have them there at all.

Eventually they left. Yippie! It was close to eleven and I could finally get some peace and quiet for my need to write. It went slowly. I tried to get up to speed, reading a few pages and thinking what I wanted more to happen in this chapter. Just as I was getting into it the intercom rung. I answered, asked who it was but got no reply, so I chose not to open the door downstairs.

Yet I suspected someone might knock on the door either way so I scouted through the peek-hole and waited. Soon I saw a maintenance man coming around the corner. After he used the not-functioning doorbell I opened the door like it had actually worked. His English was worse than the others. Said something about balcony and oil. Very sceptical I let him in; he did not appear to want to leave without doing what he came to do.

Out on the balcony he saw the wire mesh we had put up the day before. Said he needed to remove one piece so that he could reach whatever he was supposed to reach. I really did not understand much. Quite annoyed I let him clip away the wire mesh. He said he would put it back when he was done. I sat in the sofa to observe what the hell was going on but whatever he did did not make sense to me. First he hammered, then use a machine to perhaps file, then took a photo of it and a cardboard with our apartment number on it, used another machine to do something else and then finally used the oil he told me he would use.

Ymir the cat was very brave. He got scared of the machines but was mostly curious about the men. I locked him inside the bedroom while they were running around but took him out for short minutes just to let him see what was going on.

After almost an hour the guy was done, packed his things and left. I did notice that he did not put up the wire mesh. Even if he would I would have stopped him and said we would do it. I did not trust this guy.

Finally alone. Perhaps I can write a few pages now?

The brave kitten.

Expanding the family

Yesterday around noon a couple came over to our apartment. They brought a cat with them and after opening their cage the little kitten slowly emerged into his new home.

Welcome Ymir.

Ymir is a Maine Coon and three months old, cream coloured with amber eyes. After he sniffed around the furnitures and made sense of the fresh surroundings he started playing with some toys we had bought the day before. No fear, no hiding. He came to us and sniffed our toes, fingers and legs. After the couple left he ran around for a while checking every room except for the bedroom. He hid under the sofa but not as if he was afraid, he was hiding for the toys and then spurted out towards them. When he found the door to the bedroom he looked as if he had completely missed that there was a room there. Slowly he investigated it and decided that, yep, this is another room.

We spent the day inside to be with him - except for when we went out to try and find something interesting at the food court for lunch but only ended up with lime juice. During the afternoon it started to rain and the little boy was a bit afraid, but not as much as we had expected. He did not hide. His game with the jingling stuffed fish continued but froze for a second when lightning struck close by. We ordered McDonalds for a late lunch and had it delivered. It is nice (and possibly dangerous) to have it delivered for such a good price plus the extra burger you sometimes get.

Ymir did not seem to miss his mother or the humans he used to live with. He was very friendly from the start; jumped up in the sofa to cuddle, ran after us wherever we went. We discovered quickly that he thought glasses should not be on humans; he likes to put his nose under your eye and push the glasses of. He also likes feet; especially biting the toes. And apparently John's nipple which he also fancied.

When we went to bed and closed the door behind us the brave little soldier meowed for a short period of time and then stopped. He did not disturb us in the middle of the night so I believe he slept or enjoyed himself.

He is perfect for us. We love him so much. Feels like he has been in our lives longer than almost two full days.