Blood Sick Hurt

I have had nothing to report. After John got better from a very bad but short cold, and even though we tried not to contaminate me, I fell ill too. I have since stayed indoors... I do not even know for how long. I have this incredible luck of getting several bad things at once.

Things done and Things to do

The weekend is over, John is still sick but at work, I am sleepy and life keeps moving.

A sickening birthday

paiiiin    



ssufffferrringgg



this sucks hahahahahahahah

its actually pretty fun to write when looking at the kkeyyyboarrddd hahahahahahahah

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That was John. He is sick. I asked him to write a post about his birthday, but he has the man-flu. Yesterday he received all his gifts in the morning since he was going to be away after work as well. Below you will see two t-shirts, a pair of scrubbing gloves for the shower, two massaging soaps, five animal-socks (keeping up the tradition), a shower sponge looking like a blueberry and a very specific soap that we have been looking for. The theme was Taking Care of John. Then he left for work, had lunch with his colleague and boss, eating Mexican and received a small cake from another colleague. Our friend gave us tickets for the Horror Night at Universal Studios that will happen on the 30th of October.

After work there was conveniently enough a company party. John was out until eleven since during this day he had slowly started to feel sick and wanted to get home early. I do not know everything that happened but he seemed to have had a great time. Came home looking like he had partied a full night, might have been the drowsy eyes and the snivelling nose. We went to bed as quickly as we could.

This morning he was really sick. Well, man-flu-sick. Sneezing, snivelling, no energy. I feel sorry for him, but he is not dying. He is just acting like it. Feel better soon, John!

And happy birthday.

Trading feet for Gifts

Today I was a soldier! The parents-in-law left the day before yesterday and yesterday I had to recover after two weeks of being social and active. Which left this day to do the last minute shopping I wanted to do before John's birthday.

Destiny - app recommentations

I will direct this post mainly, and probably only, to the fans and players of the game Destiny. Destiny is only available on PlayStation and is an FPS. The story is that aliens invaded our solar system and you are a Guardian of the last city on Earth. During your travels and fights you are accompanied by a Ghost, your guide through this (to you as a player) unknown universe. After finishing the story missions you still have access to the planets, the different areas and the computer-generated enemies. Another mode, with completely different maps but still vastly recognisable, is between Guardians online called the Crucible. There are around ten different modes to choose between, some easier than others. Light level, a measurement of players' strength, is removed so nobody has any advantage more than your personal skill. There are so many ways to play Destiny. The story has a weak start but with the expansion it reaches a whole new level!

John and I have been playing this for quite some time now and just recently managed to get to the max level. I am close but not completely there because it does not matter as much to me as it does to John. He also likes the online player vs player mode more than I do, whilst I enjoy discovering every tiny accessible spot at every planet, memorising the roads and know where the unique enemies are hiding. John helps me with the PvP-quests and I help him find whatever he is looking for in the large maps.

There are three apps that we are using while playing. This helps to have access to all characters at once, the stories behind the mission and also knowing there Xûr is hiding.

Ishtar Commander

In this app you have access to all characters and the vault. This is for exchanging gear and weapons even though you are not at the Tower. Being able to change weapons with another character while in game can be crucial. Also if you are running out of space in your inventory but need to pick something up, you can also send it to another character or the vault. A valuable app for the efficient gamer!

Destiny

Their official app. Full of information. First thing you will see are Latest News and Recent Patch. If anything happens while in-game then this is where to turn, they are quick to update. It is filled with stats; K/D in PvE and Crucible, latest mission, times played in different modes, medals and weapon kills. My personal favourite is the Grimoire. You might have seen it pop up when for example killing a thousand enemies and a text at the bottom of your screen is counting something. In this app you will find background stories to all enemies, unlocking them as you kill them.

Where is Xur?

Xûr is an agent of the nine and a travelling vendor. He appears every weekend at the Tower or the Reef and sells exotic weapons, armours, engrams and consumables. In this app you will know exactly when he arrives, where he is and what he is selling. Quite convenient if you do not want to run around looking for him and then when you do finding nothing interesting to buy. In this app you can also make a wishlist to remind you what you are actually waiting for and also see what he sold last week (in case you missed your desired item).

Singapore to Sweden

Yesterday John's parents left Singapore. They spent almost exactly two weeks here and time flew away. Suddenly they were gone.

After John left for work in the morning the three of us tried to fit one of the two mattresses inside our wardrobe. First one was a struggle and did not fit. Put it as a headboard instead. The second did not fit either and so we folded it and put as support for John so he could sit up and lean back in bed. Then we made plans. Since there was still quite a long list of things to see and experience I suggested to have lunch with John and see where he works. Annika has been there before but I wanted Thomas to see it too. There are some really cool buildings there - like the Sandcrawler from Star Wars (yes, that is a building designed to look like a sandcrawler but does not in reality). We met up with John and had lunch at our most common place which we ironically enough do not know the name of. John had he usual meal of spicy chicken ramen and I had my usual meal of sushi. Thomas chose another variety of ramen and Annika another variety of sushi.

After that John went back to work and Annika led us to the National University of Singapore. At Kent Ridge station we took a free bus that only circulated the school grounds and travelled to the other side of campus. There we visited the NUS Museum - unfortunately not very interesting nor completely full. There were empty and closed sections and half of it none of us understood. After a quick peek inside the National History Museum lobby (dinosaurs, plants, animals, etc.) we decided not to pay the entry-fee and took the bus back to the station.

There we split up. Thomas wanted a last look at the Botanic Gardens and Annika wanted to see Orchard Road before leaving the country. Having three stores in mind that I really wanted to inspect I accompanied Annika to Orchard. The station is inside a mall called ION and if you remember this name from an earlier post, that is the mall where John and I got lost trying to find the way out. A similar situation happened this time too. We tried to follow signs, maps and the directory but always ended up in the exact same corridor three times over. We did find the stores we were looking for, but nothing to buy inside them. When it was almost time to leave we emerged into the freedom of the outdoors and walked along the main road. Crossed the street, went back along the road, went under and then found ourselves back in the same corridor once again.

We met John by the Holland Village station having timed ourselves perfectly so that his train arrived just a few seconds after ours. Thomas was sitting outside waiting for us. We walked to a place called iSteaks and looked at it confusingly. Declining the self service restaurant we instead had our last meal at the same restaurant where we had our first. After that we continued walking in the steps of our first day - crossed the street and bought ice cream.

Then we took the MRT back because we did not have time to walk. They packed the last, leaving a little, ordered an Uber and left the apartment. It all went so very smooth and then we had our apartment back. This morning Ymir was extremely loud and wanted to cuddle so very much. We believe he wonders where they went and that he misses them - miss to wake them up early and always finding Annika's hidden earplugs.

Thank you for the visit!

Long live the Greenery

Today was a hot day. Annika and Thomas was up and ready early, even before I got out of bed. John had a headache and I gave him two pills for it - one caffeine so he could not fall asleep again. We decided a meet up spot and the parents left for Botanic Gardens. John and I had an hour to get ready before leaving.

In true Singapore fashion we took the MRT to Botanic Gardens instead of walking ten minutes straight forward. It was I who convinced John, saying that we would walk a lot in the Gardens anyway. We met the parents inside and together we walked outside to have lunch. At the entrance we met two university students asking general questions about the Gardens. Thomas and Annika dived in with answers and their own questions. John and I goofed around. We had lunch at McDonalds, then walked back to BG.

Thomas had been here before and wanted to take us to the Evolution Garden. Even though John and I have lived here over six months, we still have not completely (or nearly) investigated the Gardens. We had been there once before. It is amazing! The plants are so green and colourful. Annika found a bush with green leaves but from underneath they were beautifully red. John found two carnivorous flowers that looked big enough to eat a small mouse.

The Evolution Garden was a medium length trail which showed how the earth looked like, starting from 4,600 million years ago to the rain forest (do not know the year). It is really interesting to walk there and see the fossilised trees, the cylinder-shaped stones and the greenery that existed before even the first flowers appeared. I think that they made that part of the Gardens really well.

After that we split up. Annika and I were too warm to continue and wanted to go back to the pool. The men soldiered on!

In the pool we noticed that it was not very cool at all but rather warm and I almost felt like I was sweating underneath the surface. It was a really hot day indeed! Spent hours laying by the pool, occasionally going into the jacuzzi to try to cool down but getting hot when exiting. I read so many chapters while trying to get a tan since I am embarrassingly white after have lived here for so long.

When John called we went up to discuss what dinner to have. It was as difficult as always. Eventually Annika went down to the store and bought shrimps, white fish, potatoes and cooked us a delicious meal. I can not remember the last time I had fish. I do not eat it often enough. Thank you for that, Annika!

 

Found several of these "date stamps" in the ground.

 Attack of the velociraptors!

The Set up is Complete

Today we had a late lunch. Travelled to Bugis and wandered around looking for the perfect place to eat. John had difficulties deciding (it was his choice since it was his pre-birthday weekend) and all my alternatives where completely ignored. Eventually they listened to me and I took the responsibility to find the complicated way to EighteenChefs. It was complicated the first time we tried to find it, but this time I almost found it immediately.

Like the first time we were there with only Annika we ordered Heart Attack, but were afraid this would not satisfy us and so we also ordered their teriyaki chicken with potato apple salad. The Heart Attack was good - nice chicken, tasty rice, some really spicy sausage and then the best meat, some kind of entrecote - but their teriyaki (and my thought: all their other dishes) was a MASSIVE disappointment. Did not taste teriyaki at all, rather thin piece of breast and tasteless even in the sense of chicken. The potato apple salad was equal to this - tasted very little and was not very interesting.

Something else to consider. This place looks innocent enough on the photo but their acoustics are horrible and when crowded it is very loud. On top of this the one in charge thought it was a good idea to play metal music to try and lessen the already deafening noise. It was difficult to hear each other and not in the slightest a friendly environment.

Luckily we left quickly after finishing our meal. Decided to promenade towards Sim Lim Square and so we passed through the market between the Bugis and Rochor. At SLS we tried to find tripods and cables for our Vive-set up. Did not find any tripods high enough for our cause. Thomas bought the cables and a new charger for my phone (Ymir has been chewing on the old one) as a gift. On the Telegram-chat John asked for advise on where to find tripods and they sent us towards Peninsula. It was a twenty-something minutes walk from SLS and we saw a completely new area during this promenade. Walked through the Singapore Management University area where all buildings looked designed and saw the National Museum of Singapore (from the outside, maybe we will go in there some day).

At Peninsula we went into the first camera-selling store, found the desired tripods immediately and for a good price! It was meant to be. After that we wanted to go home with the heavy packages and went towards CityHall MRT station. Heard the superfast cars going by behind a black wall - also known as Formula 1.

Back home we ate a very simple dinner - as in I had greek yoghurt with banana - whilst they listened to me reading chapter eight out loud. It was real fun to read it and they seemed to like it! After that John started putting up the Vive-set up. It looked very professional. He played for a while, looking like the idiot we all look like with that headset on. Then Thomas tried it for a bit and lastly I had a go. I was lost for forty minutes before it was too much and then it was almost midnight. It was time to go to sleep.

Satisfying Attire, Lovable Experience

Yesterday Annika and I started the morning at the gym. We woke up, had breakfast, I read a chapter while she wrote an email and then we went. I have lost my original plan of going to the gym twice/three times a week, so this was the first in a disappointingly long time.

Started with fifteen minutes of bicycling. When warmed up Annika showed me how to use some machines that I had never tried before. Exercising arms and legs where I felt like I had no muscles at all. Then did another fifteen minutes at the cross-trainer. When the sweat was streaming down we tried a stretching machine/thing which was really unusual and strange. Sitting down you held hands like on a normal bicycle only you could completely fall back on the saddle, all the way down to the floor. Stayed there shortly. Lastly we tried some dumbbells (the worst sports-word ever, recently discovered) but they were too shaky in my hands to be safe to use.

Feeling like we were done we changed into swimsuits and jumped into the pool, stretching in the lukewarm water and hot air. The time was nearing lunch and so we went up. Thomas had left to go to the Botanic Gardens and so we had the simplest of lunches containing rice and chicken from our dinner last night. We showered, we ate, we got dressed and we left too.

For the first time we went west when switching MRT train at Buona Vista. Instead of going towards Pasir Ris we travelled towards Joo Koon. At Jurong East we tried to find our way to IMM - an outlet mall we had heard about. Walked through Westgate Mall, Jem, Big Box and a hospital before crossing a street to the desired destination. I took a photo of a really cool looking building and only afterwards realised that this was the hospital. What a modern-looking one it is!

Anyway, so we enter IMM and there are SALE-signs everywhere. Of course, since it is an outlet mall but then again why would they need the SALE-signs in the first place? Started with BodyShop and even though we did not buy anything it was pretty cheap. Then we just went into every store looking at everything (prices mostly). Found so many things but bought very little. I had my "best" shoes on (which are really not good at all) and after a few hours it hurt so much I tried to tiptoe around. We looked at half-price shoes (note that everything in this mall is last season, if you would care about such a thing) and considered buying a pair for John. We did not. Even considered buying a pair for me but the ones I liked I thought were too expensive.

Around six we had a small meal - shared a cheese burger, some fries, a Coke, I had ice cream and Annika an apple pie - before calling John to see if it was possible to meet at Buona Vista. He left work and we found our way to the MRT, only when we got there he was already at BV so he continued home. He would have to wait for me though since I was the only one with a key.

I was so tired in the evening. We planned to play a little Eldritch or at least watch a movie, but I almost fell asleep in the couch. John massaged my hurting feet while I complained about the pain. He made me brush my teeth and go to bed, which I was really grateful for. I woke up a few times remembering things I needed to do before sleeping - like take in the clothes from the balcony. I had no energy to go up and do it myself and so I called John. He came into the room and in my head it was perfectly clear what I needed to do and why, but I found myself barely able to speak. He understood though and after he left I soon fell asleep again.

Mall Madness

Thomas needed to work and so, when Annika was finished with her own work, the two of us emigrated to VivoCity.

We decided to go inside all stores that looked like we wanted to enter. No stores that only sold bags for example, but general products and every single clothes store there was. It took hours! We did not find anything for a while. After a couple of hours we needed sugar and I could recommend Carl's Jr. So we ordered a hand-scooped ice cream shake each - I chose vanilla and Annika had Oreo flavoured.

After that our feet started to feel all the walking around. I knew exactly where to go! I took her to Best Denki and moved swiftly towards the massaging chairs called uLove. We sat down, put on a program that lasted half an hour and relaxed. Annika did good and asked many question to the man who tried to sell them to us. I ignored them but heard that she did sound convincing, like she actually wanted one. We removed our shoes and the salesman even put on relaxing music in the chair speakers. It was lovely.

Afterwards we promised to come back with her husband to let him try it before purchase. Then we walked away. Round and round we went until we walked into Cotton:On. This is probably the best store I have found in Singapore that sells clothes in my style. We spent three hours in there! Loading our arms with garments and had to have our own basket by the girl that told us only to bring four items inside the fitting rooms. It went smoothly.

Ended with Annika buying three or four garments and I walked out with seven shirts. Everything was on sale so we can not return anything. Not that we want to, it all looks great! I bought a lot of striped, but I did not own many before and I really like them.

We went back to Carl's Jr to eat dinner and shared a guacamole thickburger, chili cheese fries and a Coke. Free refill! While eating we talked about books and I showed her my Goodreads list (you can find it in the menu to the right). She recognised some which was real fun because she really liked those books.

When we felt like we were done we made our way over to the MRT. Feet aching, heads spinning and eyes shutting. Felt like heaven to sit down the twenty minutes to Farrer Road. John had gone home to hang out with his father the few hours he had before we came home around ten. Showed them what we had bought. John surprised me with being first to say good night and be in bed. Can not remember the last time he was first.

Second time and being Late

The plan was to go to the zoo yesterday, but I did not feel well and so we spent the day by the pool instead. Of course I burned my shoulders, but hey, what did you expect?

Today we spent so many hours at the Singapore Zoo! Been there once before, Two big events in one day, but this visit was probably better times two... or three! It was amazing.

So we started off by ordering an Uber to take us there. John sitting in the front seat talked to our chauffeur the whole time while I sat between his parents in the back. Only about half an hour later we exited and felt the newly rainy air. Luckily it did not start to rain during our visit.

Before entering the zoo we needed lunch. After mentioning KFC Thomas immediately knew what he wanted. While John followed him I followed Annika around to look for something else. Not much to chose between and we walked into KFC just as the guys were ordering. Sugar and carbohydrates - exactly what you need for a full day in a humid forest full of existing animals!

We got our tickets and started the tour. John announced me the tour guide and I unfolded the map. Knowing the route we took the last time I rarely needed it and only consulted the map to be sure we did not miss anything. First we saw the big-nosed monkeys. Then more monkeys. Then to my favourite of all.

The Icebear. Now I know it is called a polar bear, but my morning robe is so fluffy that I named it Icebear. Also I found a sign close to the animal enclosure that read icebear, so it is official. Inuka, the icebear, and I are family.

We saw the cheetahs up close, one sitting in the middle of the meadow licking himself/herself. A leopard was pacing by the window and looked very frustrated that the window was even there.

Halfway through we came to the orangutans enclosure and the small food court. While Thomas and Annika rested on a bench John and I went to buy some fruits and Coke. Well-needed sugar! I was already exhausted. We sat there a while to drag out time waiting for The Splash Show, an event John and I missed last time. Before we took our places by the scene we hurried over to the elephants who had just finished their show. They stood by the railing getting fed by some zoo visitors. Annika and I went to stand in line but left when we realised it costed money. Sat down watching them for a while before returning to the scene.

It was a cute show. A sea lion splashed around, listed to his trainer and received fish. Three people from the audience - one lady, one macho man and a child - volunteered to throw a frisbee for the sea lion to catch. Only the child managed on the first try (also the only one starting at a close distance from the animal). Not an amazing show but worth seeing (once).

Nearing closing time we finally came to the white tigers. By far the best species they have. The two siblings were so active; ran around, swam, played, hunted each other. John took a lot of great photos, some of which you will see below. I will post a few, but not overwhelm you. They were so adorable and I recognised Ymir's behaviour in them. They were a lot larger, naturally, but the playful antics and the sneaky biting is the same in all cats, no matter the size. It was difficult to leave.

Then the staff started telling people it was time to leave and so we slowly walked out of there. Took a cab to Holland Village to have dinner at Fat Boys. We were so hungry. Unfortunately it took almost an hour to get the food. Our waiter said that my food would take fifteen minutes so I suspect they simply forgot about us. Annika the Amazing Woman talked to the manager, or the highest ranking person present, and got a lowered price.

Went home after that. I was very tired. My feet hurt since my best shoes are too torn down to walk long distances in. It was a long day, but a great one!