German Dinner with Heidi

Today was the first time I was out with a friend without John since we arrived in Singapore.

I met Heidi at the One-North MRT. While I stood inside the train I saw her outside but she did not see me and the doors would only stay open for a few more seconds, so I rushed over to her, grabbed her by the arm and flung us inside before the doors closed. First thing she said to me was you look flushed.

We travelled to the end of the line and "walked" upstairs (standing in an escalator) where we immediately entered VivoCity after passing through the gate. Heidi asked if I was hungry and at the time I replied with 5-6 on a 10 point scale. We went looking for a bookstore but apparently most of them are closed for good since Singaporeans buy their books online. This disappoints me since there is nothing better than a good bookstore. You will always find a book you have never heard of and never thought of buying. Also, you can start reading before you even leave the store. Online you have to wait for the book to arrive and you will most likely forget that you ordered it and probably not start reading it immediately.

After my stomach had thought about her previous question, it reconsidered, making me very hungry. So we went to the already decided place Brotzeit - a German bar with great food. It was a small line but we cut it by taking the offered table outside by the smokers. Not many smoked though and so it was still bearable. We ordered two plates to share and accepted their special offer of two Löwenbräu (Lagers).

Amongst the three different types of sausage was two piles of pickles, three kinds of cheese, three types of ham, some grapes, very few walnuts, Sauerkraut (braised white german cabbage) and something in that little bowl to the left in the picture that none of us ever touched. O'BOY the food was amazing! I really miss the great food from Europe. The cheese specifically! The sausage was wonderful just as well and with the beer, it was just a perfect combo.

At the end we paid S$49 each (around 300SEK) but it was worth it. If you eat cheap food from a food court almost every day you do have the money to spend on something like this from time to time. We sat there for two hours and talked about ourselves. I really like Heidi, she is a truly interesting person and I was so happy to get alone-time with her and get to know her even better. We have so much in common it is a little bit crazy.

When we finally left the restaurant we walked around looking at the stores that were closing. The plan was to go shopping but hey, I think the talking and the eating was a lot better! Eventually we went to Giant and bought some things. Then took the MRT and talked about sports and past hobbies. She got of at Holland Village and the next station was mine. I walked in through the doors around half past ten.

Pleasant evening, it was superb and so, so much fun!
Thank you, Heidi!

Creatures Such as We - app recommendation

Creatures Such as We

Free to Play (once).
$4.99 for replays and the option to skip waiting time.
Available on Google Play and App Store.
Published by Choice of Games.
Official website.

Spoilers ahead.

New sights and new computer

Such a good day! We discovered a new part of Singapore and were equally fascinated that we now live in this country.

I woke up by 7 because a little hungry kitten would not stop meowing. Barely awake I emptied a can into his bowl and remember not to close the door since he would start meowing if he found it closed. After a few minutes during which I almost fell asleep again he entered the room. He buffed and muffed our faces for a while to say good morning while we tried our best to hide behind pillows. Eventually he gave up and fell asleep against my leg, locking me in the position I was using for hiding. Rather uncomfortable after a while...

Lunch was decided to be at Satay by the Bay. We took the MRT to Botanic and switched to Downtown line all the way to Bayfront. Following the signs towards Gardens by the Bay we suddenly had the feeling we were at the Swedish International Airport. The corridor was wide and colourful.

 

Outside it was 28°C and cloudy. A perfect day for walking amongst trees. Exiting the MRT we immediately walked into the Gardens. Passing over a bridge led us into the Malay Garden. It then continued with Chinese and Indian before we came to the huge well-known Supertrees. Standing just below one of the them was quite awe-inspiring. Tall and gracious with a mixture of hard metal, colours and greenery. In the area we also found the Floral Clock. "About 5,000 tropical annual and perennial plants in more than 20 varieties are found in the display." Not sure about that but it was pretty and moving like a clock should. The gift shop made me laugh since it was literally a flower shop.

We passed through the Children's Garden where there was a water party that looked so tempting in the heat. We could not enter, obviously, but found the idea of being able to when we had kids comforting enough. Shortly after that we found Satay by the Bay and ordered some, you guessed it, satay! Fifteen chicken and fifteen beef with three bowls of sauce and some strange rice balls. It was delicious. Will recommend EVERYONE to go there. Or maybe it was just this good because I was really hungry?

We walked through the Gardens again on the way back and tried to walk on new paths. Without a map we only found a few before we were at the Supertree Grove. Passing through the previously mentioned Gardens we ignored the MRT station and continued through the Marina Bay Sands, the three skyscraper hotel with a ship on top. The bridge from the Gardens to the Sands was something similar to a forest. You will see this in a photo below, but it was amazing walking there. Not subtile flowers but a small jungle. The view was quite good as well. Inside the hotel was just jawdropping with enough space for a helicopter to fly around in. Perhaps not...

We walked around for a while and found a sitting area with a fan. They know what the people need! Sitting there we contacted Heidi and decided to meet her by Sim Lim Square. We needed to cross the street and so we thought we would just walk underground and emerge on the other side. Instead we spent several minutes lost down there. I believe we walked for half an hour before actually arriving at our destination which was Raffles Place MRT. From there it was a few stops to Bugis and then a short walk to Sim Lim.

At SLS John bought all the things needed for a computer. Heidi also bought some things for her. They both understood all that stuff and things whilst I stood there not grasping much. It would take the store four hours to put the computer together so naturally we just took the parts and got into a cab. Sharing cabs they talked computer-stuff and I tried not to be too sick by the bad driving. Happy to leave the car we brought it all upstairs and while John put it together I sat next to him enjoying myself in Sims 4. We ordered Mexican and then spent the rest of the evening/night gaming.

Now it is past one in the night and we are tired. It was an early morning and we really can not stay up late. Despite everything the cat will always wake us early.

Good night loyal readers.

 

 

Moana - new Disney movie

I am not sure how John found this because I have heard of no such thing as a new Disney movie. Suddenly this is announced and it looks good. Animation has come so far that it looks like real life with a filter. Look at that water!

Being a big fan of Lilo & Stitch I can not help but compare them. Looking at comments I see I am not the only one. Moana looks a lot like an older version of Lilo and that white pig looks odd enough to be a new version of Stitch. The story probably has nothing to do with aliens and the pig being the main focus, but there is similarities such as the boat and the kids almost surfing in the front of it. Reminds me of the beginning of Lilo & Stitch.

This is a story about another Hawaiian girl named Moana and a demigod called Maui. I am only guessing here but that boat is holding a lot of people and I think I see Moana standing to the left. Is that her family? I do not believe this story will include all of those people so maybe this is in the beginning of the movie. Is it possible that they crash and Moana and the pig wash up on the island on which she meets Maui?

This is probably the first good trailer I have seen in a long time. They do not give away too much about the story but introduces one of the main characters in a way that wakes interest. Looking at the trailer for Finding Dory is the opposite. Big scenes are spoiled and jokes from Finding Nemo reused. You get the feeling like it has nothing new to show. Moana gives you a taste and hopefully they will keep us hanging until it is released. Another trailer is bound to come in a while to build up the hype, but please keep it subtle and intriguing!

Hardcover or paperback?

I am thinking about books.

Recently added three dragon books to my to-read list on Goodreads (you can also find them in the menu to the right). I have read all books about Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle) and never really thought about other dragon books. The dragons in those were the best characters and so I watched some Booktubers (YouTubers talking about books) and got some recommendations. I am worried if I will find them here in Singapore and what bookshop I should be searching. Previous searches for European books have had less successful results.

What I was really thinking about was hardcover and paperback. A couple of years ago I mostly bought hardcovers. It felt like the real deal, the best way to enjoy books, the way they were meant to be read. Downside was the weight, so heavy to hold up when laying down and impossible to carry around if you want to read on the go.

Nowadays I mostly buy paperbacks. They are far less heavy and fit easily in my bag. Downside is that the cover takes damage almost only by touching it. The corners curve and the edges tear. After a while, probably even before you finish the book, it will look like a lot older than it is. The hardcovers often stay fresh a lot longer.

The end of this train of thought was what I would prefer my books to be. I do not know if I have a say in this, probably not, but since I want my books to feel like books then hardcovers would make that happen. On the other hand I would not buy a book for myself if it is not in paperback.

(If they get big enough I hope that they will come out in both formats.)

What do you prefer? Do you feel the same as I do about this?

Shopping and Warcraft-movie!

On Friday I met John and Heidi on the MRT to go to Orchard. We had booked tickets to the Warcraft movie at 9:45 and so we had some time to spend.

First we ate dinner at a very nice restaurant called Gyoza-Ya. Heidi recommended the dumplings and so each had a plate of five with pork and (were supposed) to share one with shrimp. Also ordered garlic rice. John was still full from his lunch and Heidi was semi-hungry. Left me to eat a lot. I think Heidi took one or two of the shrimp dumplings, the rest were mine! Not complaining about only eating dumplings and rice for dinner, that is like the best thing about living here. They are so good - my new obsession.

We had some time before we had to be at Shaw Theatres Lido (the cinema) and so John was not happy to find out that both girls wanted to go shoe-shopping. What he did not expect was for me to find a pair! Heidi bought a pair of Converse in blood-red or strange-purple colour. They looked so good that I told her if you do not buy them then I will. The shoes I bought were red as well but with woven texture and different material. At first I had decided on a purple colour, hippie-feeling, but then the red ones had more airflow in them and I really like the colour red.

MOVIETIME! We walked to Lido and it was half an hour til the movie started. John left us for the bathroom so Heidi and I walked outside again to buy some drinks. She bought us some smoothie/juice from Boost Juice bars and sneaked them into the cinema through our bags with shoes. The amazing introduction of IMAX started and then the glasses were on and movie was rolling.

Review and Spoilers
Warcraft was great. Lots of action scenes that left the end scene feeling natural. The beginning was confusing as to where they were, but soon forgotten when they passed through the portal and ended up in the human world. I say human world since I have no idea what the name was now again. There are of course more than just humans in this world, but naturally I do not remember these as well. We got to follow a half orc/half Draenei woman, a young mage that left his training, a beloved king and his kingdom and a couple of orcs from different clans. The World of Warcraft veteran sitting to my left (John) explained who they all were in a sense that a Heartstone player (as me) would understand. The magic was great, I could see what spell was cast without them telling me. The power was well-showed and the strength it took to master and control it. It was great to follow the young mage for his powers grew throughout the movie. At the end, he was really the hero.

There was of course a couple of scenes I did not like. The biggest one was in the end when one orc is fighting Gul'dan. There is a close up on the orc when he spits into his hands and rubs them together. That felt strange. It is a movement that humans do in old movies and it felt like it did not belong amongst orcs. First of all - where did they get that from? Second - why would you need to? John answered for friction to which I said orcs could have some other movement to get friction, like licking their hands. I would like to hear your opinion on this!

The Guardian was never really explained, but this I understood why after the movie ended and the two nerds told me that they tell you what happened to him later in the games. Although I would have wanted some explanation in this movie since it made no sense what so ever for him to be Guardian of their world and then betray them by bringing orcs into it. His corruption is not explained either (will probably be in the upcoming movie since Heidi told me one story of how he got corrupted and John another) and so it was a surprise when the movie revealed that it was him!

Lastly, the love affair between the half orc/half Draenei woman and that really important guy (Anduin Lothar) whose son died in front of him was unexpected and somewhat unnecessary. It makes no sense at all for them to suddenly show affection when they barely know each other. It never goes to a kiss and sacrifice moment, it actually ends with misunderstanding between them. Without the love I would have liked their story a whole lot more; they fit like friends and allies. I can only guess that these two have another story in the games that makes more sense, but perhaps they should have left it out of the movie.

Close to midnight we shared a taxi and drove home, all the while talking about the movie.

Good writing - Poor swimming

Good evening.

John is late and I am hungry. So in this hard time I thought I should write about my day.

A silent week

I realised I had not written anything for the blog during the last week. The two latest post were from one weekend to another. There is a simple explanation to this: I have not been feeling well.

There has not been much to tell you because of this. I have been working on my book; it is going really well and the more I talk about it with John (and others) the more it comes to life. This book feels like it is happening! I want this so much. I have got new characters and good feedback to go on. I am currently almost done with chapter five but that is the first rewrite of the story and I already want to rewrite it again. I know scenes I want to change and how the time should move... That will have to wait until rewrite two - or else I will never get this book done!

I have been gaming. When the fever struck it caused lack of imagination I just could not write any longer and so I conceded to virtual reality. I basically played everything we owned during the last week - Destiny, Assassins Creed, The Crew, Cities: Skylines, Cook Serve Delicious!, Bejewelled, some racing games and others. So much gaming that I decided to not game anything during the days this week. I have managed so far (being Monday afternoon and all...).

Ymir has been playful and a bit crazy. Been running around like a maniac and meowing real loud and intense when wanting to play. Of course I walk up to him, ask him what he wants and he would run with the tail in the air into our bedroom, fly up on the bed and lay there with his big eyes watching me as I slowly followed. I then pick up the toy and his eyes start to move after it. And so I spent the next half hour watching our kitten run around in tight circles, around fifteen without stopping, and then being dizzy and almost fall of the bed.

That is it really. I have had plans, like going to Botanic Gardens with the camera and walk around there for a while. Or head to a mall and try to do some shopping (that is much harder than it sounds). Do not know if I have been sick properly or just almost sick but it decided to give up on me and left...

Anyway. This week will be more eventful and I will hopefully have something more to write about.

Thank you for still reading this blog!

Weekend Happenings

Saturday

Slept for as long as possible when a kitten meows constantly from somewhere around eight. John got up and gave him some food and came back to bed. An hour later I heard him meow and walked up and gave him some food without realizing he had already had his breakfast. Clever cat. After that we cuddled in bed with the door open since he starts meowing if it is closed. Instead he jumps up in the bed and puts his wet nose all over our faces until it is impossible to sleep any longer.

We figured it was too late for a breakfast and instead took an hour of entertaining ourselves before John went out to buy some lunch from the food court. He came back with good things and we ate watching a series.

At two o'clock we called for a taxi and put Ymir in his carrier. Went downstairs and let the silent and slightly awkward driver take us half an hour away to Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic. We arrived one minute before our appointed time. No waiting for us. The nice lady who checked up on Ymir had done so a month earlier before he moved in with us and told us he had double his weight. This only confirmed what he had seen; he looks like a normal sized adult cat by now and he is only 18 weeks old.

John explained the situation with the blood around the stool and said he had already been to a vet and had some medicin we gave him. Even so the nice young lady gave us some recommendation if what we already had did not help and then gave him the vaccine we were there for. It was over under ten minutes or so. When she left the room to do some paperwork I said to John that I felt bad and he said I probably had fever after kissing my forehead.

Great, right? So we got another taxi and had to gross a busy street to get to it. This driver was much more talkative and the men sitting in the front talked all the way home. I sat in the back, trying not to feel nauseas and cuddled with Ymir. We came home and let him out in the apartment, realizing he had not made a sound during this whole trip. A very good boy!

John walked to the store to buy us some food and I took a pill and relaxed at home. We ordered Indian food for dinner and watched Inglorious Bastards. Tarantino is quite unique in his way of creating scenes. It was a blast watching it.

Sunday

I suddenly felt much better! I laughed a lot and was very loud. Not that anything in particular happened. I did the dishes, I put away stuff where they should be. John vacuum-cleaned and mopped the floors. The laundry was made and hung. After lunch and after some gaming we went to the pool and played around there for a while. John said we probably looked like teenagers (or like 12 year olds) because of the way we played. I disagreed; I said it probably looked like we were in love and having a good time. Never too old to goof around!

We felt like having all of that done we could spend the rest of the day gaming. It was so much fun! I played Destiny a lot but made John play some of the PVP-matches for me while I sat next to him shouting where I saw the enemy and how good he was shooting them. Ah, good times. Ordered pizza for dinner and watched something short since we both wanted to go back to our games. John played a fighting-game on the computer.

I went to bed early and read until John came to me. We slept and the weekend was over. Time for work!