One Memory, Two Emotions

It is interesting when one memory can be great for one person, and terrible for another, though it is still the same moment, same memory. Memories change and we change what we feel about them, maybe because after years we can finally understand what was said, what happened, what we felt. I share one of these with my father - a memory in which he finds joy but all I feel is sadness.

Laser Loose

Read for full context:
• Waiting Eyesight • Laser for John • Laser not so fun after all

It all started a few days ago when John said he thought he saw new floaters. He would lie in bed and stare up at the white ceiling, trying to determine if these were old ones or new. I encouraged him to push the appointment in July to as soon as possible.

Sweaty Weather Either A

For once, I left the apartment before John went to work. I am one of those annoying morning people. I was wide awake before my alarm started ringing at ten minutes to eight and immediately rose from the bed. Ymir lied sleeping in the bathroom so I even woke up the cat. I fed the cat and I fed myself before anyone else started waking up.

Annika and I were attending one of SWEA's events that started nine at Sentosa Island. I had estimated that it would take us thirty minutes to get there with taxi (since the estimated time with subway and bus was over an hour). Unfortunately we left the apartment quarter to nine and so we were already destined to be late. When we finally arrived, after spending too much money getting there, there was no group waiting for us. We looked around for quite a while, asking people if they had seen a group of women walking past. They were not there, so we started walking with the sea on one side and amazing buildings on the other.

After a while we bumped into a group of women, speaking a language we recognised and asked them if they were SWEA. Yes, well of course they were. Most of them were dressed in gym-clothes but a few, just like Annika and I, wore regular clothes. There was no indication on the website that this was a power-walk, thus there seemed to be some confusion about the tempo. The group was between ten and fifteen women, but we only walked with four of them. Eventually they caught up and we met some of the others. Nobody was even close to my age. All of them were between thirty five and sixty. It is not that I can not hang out with people in that age since some of our friends here in Singapore are much older than we are, but my expectations had been where I thought I could at least meet one in my age and make a friend. One of them recommended a young woman living at d'Leedon and she could not be more than twenty five. Another gave me the number of her daughter who was apparently the same age as me (if not one year older or so).

The group came back to the point where they had started. Some left to go home and others wanted a fika. We decided to go to Joe & the Juice which I think is overpriced for small portions. Annika bought us each a juice and shared an avocado chicken sandwich. We sat down amongst our fellow countrymen and talked about things. The woman to my left talked about SWEA and tried to show me where dengue-cases had appeared in Singapore. She also tried to invite me to a group on Facebook but claimed that there was more information on the computer. I bit my tongue to not be rude and explain a thing or two. The woman to my right talked about moving to Singapore recently with her husband. She told me I looked like her sister's daughter (or something) and I had trouble understanding if that was something I could answer to. Our conversation was short. The two women then leaned over my chair to talked to each other about a family situation where left-woman's dad had gotten diagnosed with cancer. I felt like I could not interrupt and not join the conversation. It felt awkward and I felt in the way. Eventually I had enough and asked if the left-woman wanted to switch places so that I could talk to Annika. I asked if we could leave.

Annika and I explored the small east side of Sentosa Island. Lots of huge villas, most looking seemingly alike, not many looked like someone was living there. At the end of the island we saw the marina and the skyscrapers. To the left we saw a green area, possibly a golf course even though I failed to see any flags. There we saw a bird. It looked like a black pelican with shorter beak. Its wings were half folded and it had something sticky in its beak. It did not look well. We decided to go back the way we had come and find someone to tell. Annika explained the situation to a guard sitting in a little booth in the middle of the road. He said he would call and reached for his phone as we left, but when I looked back he was not on the phone. I did not trust him. It started to rain and we found shelter on a floating platform with a group of Indian workers. We stayed a little while for the rain to calm down and in the meantime we decided where to eat. Annika asked for the direction to the bus that would take us to the bridge over to HarbourFront.

On our way to the bus stop we walked to this door that I had noticed at our arrival that morning. It said Rangers and so we knocked to let them know about the bird. At first no one answered the door, but when we turned our backs two rangers opened it behind us. They seemed confused. I stammered an explanation, having been talking Swedish the whole day my English had not been warmed up, until Annika helped and made the errand quick. The ranger took my name and number. It felt like they cared and would go look for the bird. Unfortunately I never received any calls about this so I have no idea what happened to it.

At the bus Annika found four Danish women and indulged in a casual conversation. They told us where to get off and we followed them. I recognised where we were and said we should go the other way, but Annika wanted to follow the Danes since they seemed to know where they were going. For ten minutes we walked on a small walkway next to a busy highway. It stopped quite suddenly in the middle of the road with three lanes of traffic on either side of us. One of the Danes ran across to one side but there was no way out over there. We followed them to the right instead, where we could see a staircase, and thus walked swiftly across the street. I skipped ahead. I felt angry since I had been right about the way we should have gone and the stupid Danes led us to the middle of a road. Never trust Danes.

We made it to HarbourFront intact but I had gotten two large spots on my shirt right where it folded into my armpits. I had to get a new shirt. I hurried to Cotton:On and brought a bunch of shirts to the dressing-room. I picked two, two for twenty, bought them hastily and met Annika outside. We bought drinks and took the subway towards Chinatown. It was five minutes away so it went fast.

Of course we went back to our new favourite restaurant. It was Annika's last day here with us so we went to Genki Sushi. Please read this to understand what this restaurant means to us. It was a late lunch. I bought a package of their green tea and have to say it was the first tea I ever bought for myself. Then we split. Annika went to get massage somewhere and I headed home. I was really tired from an early morning and an active day. I declined going out again to have dinner with John and Annika and left them to eat dumplings in Holland Village by themselves. I regret not getting those delicious buns. My dinner was a sad bowl of yogurt and cereal.

A Most Laughable Lunch

Next station: Genki Sushi!

Annika and I ate lunch at this restaurant yesterday. It lied on the fourth floor at Orchard Central, but has three more locations in Singapore. We were placed at the next to last table in the first row from the entrance. A small plate above the table says Kitakami. We asked our waiter what it means and he explained that it is a train-station in Japan.

There were three tracks on the wall underneath the table's name-tag. A big menu displayed all the options available. Suddenly a train drove by and we burst out laughing. It carried three small plates and a few seconds later went by the other way empty. I followed it with my eyes when it returned through the wall to the kitchen. I brought down the tablet, placed in a holder next to the table number, and put it on the table. Each train had a maximum of four slots before an order had to be made. We started with green tea and Coke, Norwegian salmon nigiri and cream cheese premium shrimp. The drinks came with a waiter, but the two sushis came with the train. When it stopped at our table it made a pleasant ping to announce its arrival. Efficient instructions told us to take our plates and press one of the three buttons to return the train. It was so much fun! It felt good to take our own food and not be bothered by a stranger while eating. Also, it was so much fun when the train arrived!

We sent away four orders and had five trains delivering our food. We ordered way too much for two people but at least we were full when we were done! The quality was really good and everything (I ate) was delicious. It was difficult to know what was in the sushi, for example I ordered a dragon roll but noticed when it arrived that it contained eel. I do not eat eel. I thought dragon rolls were made with salmon. Annika told me that she had a similar experience at a sushi restaurant in Sweden. The owner had explained that a real dragon roll does not contain salmon, but eel. This was not clear in the menu but I feel like that was my fault of being uneducated in the original dragon roll etiquette.

 

We shared a small bottle of coke and were given a small bowl of green tea powder. I was confused as to how we would consume this tea without it being brewed, but the waiter explained once we asked. There was a tap under the train-tracks that poured burning hot water. Annika put two or three small spoons of the powder into the given mug and held it under the tap. I screwed and the tea brewed. Then we stirred with our sticks and drank with joy. It was good. I liked it! It did not have that watery taste or the intense smell that I dislike so much in teabag-tea. I wonder if I can buy this sort of tea somewhere, I would really like to have it at home. It is the first tea (but I have had it on several occasions on other Japanese restaurants) that I honestly like.

Genki Sushi gave us much joy. We laughed throughout the meal, were more than satisfied with the quality of the food and thought that the delivery of food by train was a wonderful idea. We paid by the cashier while asking ourselves when we could eat here again. Thank you so much Genki for a memorable experience.

Little India

Today John did not want to join the women on a trip to Little India, so after a small breakfast Annika and I travelled the blue line to this very Indian area in Singapore. She had not explored it to her liking so that is why we chose it.

The first street we got to had banners above it saying Pongal Festival. It did not seem to still be active, or just nothing was happening at that time. We decided to cross the street and head towards my chosen location through smaller streets. The goal was to reach Mustafa Centre; a mall Annika's daughter Rebecka had recommended when she was here during her visit in December. On one of those small streets Annika and I found a stall that sold incenses. I saw the name of the ones John really likes. We used to have a lot of those in Sweden and our home constantly smelled like Nag Champa (the name of the scent). I bought a box to put the sticks in which had a lid that I thought would be convenient because of the cat.

Mustafa Centre had everything. It was crowded with shoppers on every floor. We strolled around the first floor, giving it an honest try to find something interesting amongst the perfumes for a good price. None of us found anything. On the same floor they sold bathroom essentials, the floor above had food. It felt strange with the sudden change, but walking around we found that the mall truly had everything. Sports gear, jewellery, food, shoes, household appliances, tech-stuff, apothecary and probably a lot more that we missed. After getting lost and going up, down and up again we eventually found a way out. By the time it was around three and we were getting hungry.

We both really intensely wanted sushi, so I googled some restaurants close to our location. I found one fifteen minutes away but it had started to rain so we did not really want to go that far. Just a few streets in that direction Annika spotted a sign with sushi. We went to the mall bearing that sign with no idea what the name of the mall was, or where we specifically were. Inside we looked around for the restaurant serving sushi but could not see it. We asked in a help-desk to point us in sushi-direction and were given a Japanese restaurant that was actually Korean (it was even called Seoul Gardens). The other was on the fifth floor and had just closed for the day. Being very hungry at this point we headed back downstairs to eat at Pastamania. We both ordered Ravioli di Salmone, but after sitting down at the table the woman behind the counter approached us and explained they only had enough left for one dish. Annika was kind enough to change her order.

When we were fuelled up we could actually see where we were. The mall had several floors, many of which we explored briefly. I took Annika inside one of my strange favourite stores called Daiso Japan where I never buy anything but always walk around thinking I could find something. It is very Japanese and has everything you can think of. A lot of stationary stuff, cleaning supplies, kitchenware, toys, snacks and so on. There is usually a very long queue to the cashiers and yet I have not found anything I would want to buy there.

When we eventually left we though about where we should go next. Instead of going directly to Farrer Park station, which was near, we walked back towards Little India. Essentially the same way we had walked but now we walked down other small streets. At one point we found a small garden with umbrella-trees. I could not grasp the meaning of these apart from art, but they looked cute and unusual. I think that is Singapore's signature; odd trees. It was a bit sad to see so much littering inside the fenced park. Singapore is very proud of being a clean country but I find that Little India is uncharacteristically dirty. It is a shame really because there is no shortage of bins.

The headache that had slowly crept up on me during the day was now in full bloom. Even though we could have gone further I felt the need to get home. We took the MRT from Rochor and were soon home. While Annika bought ice tea I went up to John, surprising him with his gift of incenses. He looked really happy to receive them, having searched for some online for quite some time now but thought they were too expensive with the shipping fee. We promised not to light any while Annika was here since she does not appreciate the smell. I went to bed and tried to sleep, only John wanted to cuddle and talk. As soon as he left I fell asleep and slept for almost two hours. I had told Annika I would come down to the pool so we could have an evening swim, but when I awoke I felt groggy and hungry so I wrote to her that I would not join her. My dinner was tasty cheese and ham sandwiches.

Food-day

Yesterday we found a new hawker centre nearby. A couple of acquaintances had asked us why we had not been there before and seemed honestly surprised when they learned that we had not. The only reason was that we did not know about it. It was very close to the street where we walk a lot, between the Botanic Garden station and FairPrice. It was as simple as crossing a street and there it was, behind some bushes lay a very Malaysian hawker centre. It was crowded even though it was three in the afternoon. Half of the stalls were closed and the ones that were open had little food left. I found two stalls that sold satay but both were out. John wanted ayam penyet, but they were out of that too. Instead we ordered nasi lemak - fried chicken with rice, a fried tofu and a small bowl of onion soup. Apart from the soup everything was cold and tasted like it had been cooked hours before. Even though the food was very disappointing the centre felt good. All of us wanted to return another day at a better time.

Before we left Annika bought an avocado/banana smoothie (Avocanana) to me and a carrot/orange/apple juice for herself. Mine was okay, not amazing but still very good. Another time I will try something else. Annika's was fresh and thin, easy to drink and tasteful. We headed towards FairPrice to do a bit of grocery shopping. We ended up with more than I had expected. Annika found a fresh fish, sea bass, which she thought we could eat for dinner. We bought it and a smaller one for less than a dollar that would be Ymir's dinner. Annika was kind enough to pay for everything which we were very grateful for! It was a lot to carry but eventually we made it back home.

When it was time to start making dinner Annika and I gathered in the kitchen together. We looked up a recipe online on how to cook the fish but ended up going against the instructions anyway. I filled the fish with onions and lemons after Annika's suggestions and folded the whole thing inside aluminium. I put it in the oven to start cooking while Annika cleaned potatoes that would go around. I chopped some red onions and spread both potatoes and onions around the package in the oven.

Then I fried the smaller fish for Ymir. When it was done Annika showed me how to separate the fishmeat from the skeleton, but still I had to fiddle out many bones afterwards. John joined me to sing for the cat and present the new fish for the little guy. He turned one year old on the twenty ninth of January. Happy birthday, Ymir! After tasting some small pieces of the fish he abandoned the thoughtful gift from his humans.

The human's dinner was a simple meal that filled our bellies. The white fish had some taste but needed to be enhanced with salt and lemon. The potatoes was my kind of softness; not too mushy but not so chewy either. They had a nice balance of pepper and salt on them so no need to exaggerate the taste. To this we had a way too simple salad containing tomato, cucumber and baby spinach. I would have liked something more to complete it, like corn and cheese.

We finished the day in the sofa watching a movie. It was called Captain Fantastic and was really good. The theme was unusual; about a family of six children living out in the forest, the mom is not present in person but her spirit was the essence of the movie. I really recommend seeing it. It was two hours long but managed to feel much longer. The ending had a small plot hole, but could be overlooked if you are not too picky. As for me it was something unresolved and I could not understand how the movie, having been so clear and precise throughout the two hours, could leave it at that when it was only a few minutes left. It is like they ran out of minutes and could not squeeze in an explanation.

Cheese Haul

So it is Chinese New Year. Today? Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? I have no idea. This is the first time I have really noticed it. Having lived in Sweden all my life (and never been to Asia before moving here a year ago) I have never really given it a thought on how to celebrate it or what it is about. Families gather, food is important and everything closes without notice.

I went to One-North to have lunch with John. I made sure to go there one hour before he got of work to get some time outside in the sun. I sat down on a staircase with the sky above me and most of the people unwilling to use the stairs instead of the escalators nearby. I listened to music, I enjoyed the sun heating my skin and the occasional drizzle to cool it down afterwards. It was pleasant, it was relaxing, my butt fell asleep and I burned my shoulders. Nothing I noticed at all, nothing John even commented on. We walked to Timbre+ to have lunch but at arrival saw chairs raised on top of tables. Nothing was open. Surprising, but okey. We went to the food court John usually buys food from after work. There was one stall still open, three persons standing around it. We gather with them and the lady behind the counters says last order to the man first in line. We sigh and leave. Downstairs is our favourite pita place closed, there is a salad-bar still open but the queue is too long for us to endure. We head downstairs towards the MRT, giving our last hope to Subway. It is open and has a medium long queue. Apart from the sandwiches I chose to order a small bowl of their broccoli soup. Did not think much about it, I had low expectations but it sounded good. It was surprisingly good! Creamy, tasty, big bits of broccoli and smaller bits of carrots and other ingredients. Really good.

We brought it with us home since we enjoy food better in our couch rather than the busy underground MRT-station Subway-tables. After eating, talking, socialising, etc I go to the toilet and stand in front of the mirror. Suddenly I see a read shoulder and a terrible sunburn. ON ONE SHOULDER! There is a small mark on the other but only one side has the clear white line. I walk out with a surprised face and John laughs and asks if I had not noticed it until now. No? How could I? I thought the sun was kind and just heated me during the time I enjoyed the outdoors. I feel betrayed by my beloved heat!

The afternoon was event-less. It felt like all I did was sit around waiting. I realise I have not mentioned it on the blog previously, but Annika arrived today! Tjohey! So I sat around reading a good book. Then I spent half an hour doing pilates and took a shower. While in the shower I heard the door open and with that Annika had arrived. Joy!

Apart from Annika being here, the best thing about her visiting is the amount of cheese we get. Singapore has a very bad supply of cheese. We might be spoiled Swedes but it is in our culture. Cheese is important! We got eleven different cheeses this time (two not in the photo below for some reason). Those two were just for me since John does not like blue cheese. Apart from that we got two large Präst, two large Grevé, two Parmesans, one full-cream, one feta and one brie. Does this sound like a lot of cheese for two people to consume before they go bad? They will not live long. We love cheese and it will be gone way too soon.

John and I ate a small sandwich dinner, both with a moderate amount of cheese, during and since we have been talking. It is close to midnight and they are still talking. I listen a lot and jump into the conversation with small things to say, but I enjoy hearing their voices. Also there is a day tomorrow and maybe soon they both will run out of things to talk about...

Star Wars - Rogue One

Yesterday Rebecka and I (John) saw the new Star Wars 'middle movie', namely Rogue One. Since it's still a super fresh film and I'd rather not spoil anyone, I'll talk completely in vaguer terms and avoid any plot points - this is not a review.

What I can say is that it was absolutely GREAT! I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. Sure, I like the movies, but I'm definitely no die hard nerd that live and breathe the universe. It's just a cool sci-fi series. Yet I, and many others, host a sense of investment in these epics. There's a story to be seen through and after roughly four decennia on air, Star Wars finally managed to fill a big, big hole: how did the Rebel Alliance manage
to get their hands on the Death Star plans, and why is it such a big deal?

Rogue One sets out to answer both of these questions and does so in a splendidly action filled and intense fashion. Prior to release it was said to be a 'darker' movie, less of a hero's journey and more of a war movie; and honestly it managed to do this perfectly without feeling preachy, cheesy or pushing the limits.

One got to see darker sides of one's previously flawless heroes, as well as humanizing aspects of the Imperium that has acted out as a ubiquitous bad guy with no other aspirations than being simply evil.

Something that made me exceptionally happy was the addition of a droid that had some kind of human(esque) personality. Being a fan of the game series Knights of the Old Republic and its amazing character (err, droid) HK-47, it was great fun to see the movies borrowing its sense of witty remarks and off-beat comic relief - albeit a bit more safe for the family than HK's rants on ways to kill us... meat bags...

Pacing wise they managed to introduce a varied and interesting cast without spending more than half the movie on their backstories and why one should care; yes I'm looking at you every DC movie released in the 2000's. I was actually surprised how much they managed to cram into two hours without anything feeling dragged out or abusing exposition.

With that the movie actually had more than enough time in the final act to conclude in an absolutely stunning finale and a hugely satisfying end. Once again, I won't spoil, but I left the cinema with a massive smile.

After the overly safe and lukewarm The Force Awakens, Rogue One managed to revitalize my faith in Disney and their purchase of the Star Wars IP. I'm looking forward to more 'in-between' movies that pad the release schedule, with a sprinkle of modest hope for the eigth entry not going back to what's tried and true.

Slow Days

I have not been writing about my daily life in a couple of days. It feels strange. I do not have the compulsive need that I have to do something worth writing about, but I have been writing a lot recently so the strange feeling comes from not writing at all. Not even in my book.

The other day I tried to work. I read and changed things in the chapter, but never wrote anything new. Instead I came up with new names to fill in fifteen classmates. I colour-coded them to see how many males vs females and also how much each gender got in the spotlight. So far it was a lot of girls. I aim to change that. Male-characters that gets one scene in the previous chapters will be at least mentioned a bit more. Who says a teenage girl can not be friends with a guy? I think I am writing from my own experience when I was in the age of my main-character. I had no guy friends and so I do not write them in. I am planning on switching at least two girls to guys to mix it up a bit.

During the course of these event-less days I have not been sitting a lot by the computer. I have been watching a series, colouring a lot in adult colouring books (doing the zen mode thing) and also reading. My goal on GoodReads was to read fifteen books in 2016. I am currently at twelve. I did have a few slow months with reading and also I read a couple of really thick books that did take a lot of time to get through. Although, I am not giving up! I am currently reading Mostly Harmless, the last book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which only has 240 pages or so. I will get through it soon enough. Then I will pick two other short books and reach my goal before the new year. I will probably keep my goal to read fifteen books a year since obviously I am not ready for more yet.

Last night Rebecka made a pretty massive dinner consisting of a lot of wonderful ingredients (apart from the yellow bell pepper). It was a lot and I ate a lot. I ate the most. It was so good! She filled a whole bowl full of tzatziki, chopped up a mango, feta cheese and avocado. We had the small amount of chicken we found in the fridge, which was actually a perfect amount since if it had been more it would have taken over the dish. In a mixed bowl there was cucumber, tomato, corn and that sneaky bastard called bell pepper trying to disguise itself as either corn or mango. As you can tell I am not a big fan of bell peppers - no matter the colour. There was also some baby spinach, lovely green substitute for normal lettuce which is boring, and also bread with garlic and oregano butter. To this we saw Alice Through the Looking Glass. Without high expectations this managed to receive a three out of ten from me. The others gave it a bit more. I did not like the story, the bad acting, the overly used green screen and the poorly made plot. I have not read the book yet, I do own it, but I have heard it is a different story. I am looking forward to see what sets them apart.

Star Wars Oblivion

I managed to work a little yesterday. Not a lot, but a scene where I let the reader know more about how the city works. Not sure if John will think it is necessary. Maybe I will shorten it a lot and keep the pace. He just wants me to get to the more interesting part now, but I need the slow moments before switching. The decision of the main character will have a different feel if I do not.

I had the rest of my pizza for lunch and even though it was good I regretted it. Pizza for lunch after pizza for dinner never feels good in my stomach. I wish I had not, but then again, it was good. I made myself ready and around three we left the apartment. John would meet us later so we had no rush.

At the center of VivoCity there was an exhibition of the new Star Wars movie. I am so uninterested in Star Wars I did not even know it was for promoting the "second" new movie until Rebecka told me. Merchandise was sold in small stores around the big AT-AT (John told me the name); the thing was actually well done! We walked around in different stores and bought coloured pencils for me at Giant. Leaving that store we entered ColdStorage next door and bought sushi to snack on until dinner. I was cold and so I suggested we would eat outside. There were some ants where we sat but I was cool, I was fine... until they showed interest in the spilled soy sauce. Then we shifted to another round bench thing but... they found us. Luckily we were done and I could get into safety inside!

John arrived half past seven and met us at Starbucks where Rebecka had a cappuccino. We tried to puzzle together a plan for the night and had some good ideas, but nothing was ever really decided. My feet were sore and tired, all I wanted to do was get home and lie down. Cinema was suggested and even though I would want to go there was no movie that night that I wanted to see on a big screen. We had dinner at Carl's Jr. John ordered and afterwards we went searching for a table - only to realise that literally all tables were taken! How could they still take orders when there were no seats? We hovered over some guys sitting by a table, clearly finished with their food and staring down into their phones. Eventually they got the hint and left. My taco salad was a disappointment. At least I had my vanilla ice cream shake.

Since the plans for a movie were cancelled (by me) we made our way toward the escalator down to the MRT. On the way though we passed H&M and I asked for a quick run inside. We walked around in the sale area and I managed to find seven items I wanted to try. So I stood in line and then tried them on. Then I changed colour of one item and picked two more of the same but in another colour. So, I bought one black casual dress, three pairs of shorts (red, black and green), a pair of the most amazing capris in purple I have ever worn and by the counter I also sneaked a pair of sunglasses into the pile. John also bought something, two pair of shorts, both in green but in different shades. His first green shorts. They looked really good! I love him in the colourful outfits he wears.

Then we took the MRT home. I walked away from the two of them because I really needed to pee, but the elevators had trouble opening the doors so they caught up with me. Then I collapsed in the bed and read my book - almost done, soon there will be a review over at Goodreads. I ate some yoghurt before falling asleep since my dinner was nothing to brag about.

I forgot to mention the top left (blurry) photo. We crossed the roof when we walked around the two wall to wall malls and there was a large Christmas tree up there! Also a beach and ankle deep water where you were allowed to walk in. We sat down in the grass but the rain started so we quickly left.

Stars are Serene

Yesterday we had lunch with John at Galaxis in the area where he works. We were in the food court but it was so loud we almost had to shout at one another across the small table. This made me dizzy and unwell, especially since I had not been at hundred procent during the forenoon. I sat by the table while John and Rebecka bought their food. I had no appetite, no idea what I wanted to eat but I was hungry and I needed something. John helped me choose - something that I had had before and knew was relatively good. Kung Pao chicken with rice.

John went back to work after that. Rebecka and I had plans to go to VivoCity and later the aquarium, but I did not feel good. My stomach was bloated and I just wanted to lie down. She was very understanding. We had company back to the MRT and parted before the gates. Rebecka went of to VivoCity alone and I headed back home where I crashed in the sofa with Ymir sleeping close to me. I lay there much longer than intended.

Eventually they both came home around the same time. John ordered pizza to us two since Rebecka had already eaten. During the wait we played our separate daily games since we had plans to watch a movie while eating and thus hours of gaming were gone. Writing this it might seem ridiculous, but we are gamers. This is what we crave (enough hours a day to play games). The pizza arrived and we moved over to the sofa. We put on Bourne Supremacy and had dinner. Both pizzas were good, I dare say better than ever before. Movie was fun! I remembered key-scenes but not all of it. We are going through them all before watching the latest. I snuggled down into John's lap. Ymir came wanting to cuddle as well so I put him on my stomach where we lay for a long while being adorable.

Today we decided to stay put. Rebecka was kind of tired after a walking a lot from the day before. We took a slow morning and around lunch went out to eat at the food court. We ate from a pick-and-choose place (my naming, but I think we all should adapt to it) were I had two types of chicken and broccoli with rice. Rebecka had rice, chicken, beef and also broccoli. Together we shared a plate of dumplings but neither of us had enough room in the stomach to eat them all. We had to go ask for a take-away-box for the ones we had left. We sat in the sun and we both got a little red on the shoulders.

Being all sweaty we immediately turned in the door and went to the pool. A refreshing dip in the water. We took some photos of me in the pool, since I truly love being in the pool and can not keep myself from being silly. I chose a normal looking one for this post. It felt appropriate. We then lay next to each other on the loungers and talked. I picked up my book and read a few chapters. Around four we were done.

John and I made plans to go out to have dinner. Rebecka was of course in on the plan but stayed behind because of a migraine. I walked to music over to Bukit Timah and sat down by a table at the restaurant to wait for John. Soon he arrived but was in a call. I could finish my Hearthstone match without feeling guilty. We ordered lemon chicken for John and I had prawn and broccoli in garlic sauce (both with rice but lets be honest, most of the meals here come with rice). We had to wait for a while before the meal came and then my meal came long before his did. Not very good at timing things here. There were not even that many guests. Apart from the wait the place is really good. It is called LeWu Cafe and it is our place to go for a casual dinner to a good price.

On the way back I saw two shining dots in the sky and used an app on my phone to see what it was. Discovered I could see Venus shine brightly and Mars as a red small dot above it. We discussed the solar system and the galaxy. It is so amazing to visualise it. I am deeply intrigued by space. I will do an app recommendation of the app I use, so you will see it here eventually. Right now I am trying to only do one app recommendation a month so you do not get overwhelmed. (If you have a different opinion about this please leave me a comment.) Thank you to John for doing Shadowverse last month!

Sunny Shopping

I was really tired this morning so after John left around nine I went back to bed and slept another hour. When the alarm went off I was naughty enough to snooze it for another ten minutes. After five I felt bad. So when I actually left bed I put on gym clothes immediately instead of the cosy pyjamas I really wanted to adorn. Rebecka was already awake. I had a quick breakfast to get some energy before we had company downstairs.

I left her by the pool while I headed to the gym. I feel so good being there. My body gets some exercise and my mind can relax. I listen to a podcast about being an author which really inspires me. It lets my brain think of work while my body is working. I did half an hour on the cross-trainer, a few reps with the leg extension machine and a few reps on the chest press machine. Each episode of the podcast is the perfect length because it is forty to forty five minutes long, which is also how long my gym routine is. Match made in... the gym.

Around noon I walked up to Rebecka standing in the shadow by the pool. I considered going up to write on my book since I was really inspired by the pod episode, but it was a great day; sun was shining, it was hot and the pool looked inviting. So I hurried upstairs, put on a bikini and went back down. It was nice to sink down into the water after the workout. Felt good - even better because it is December. Take that, Swedes!

When the sky turned on us and sent a whole bunch of clouds to cover the sun we felt it was time to head back home. It was time for lunch and we were hungry. There is a small café inside d'Leedon
that serves food all times of the day. We have been there once when Annika was visiting. I wrote about it in April but reading that post now the place does not sound so good. It was the day after their opening so I thought maybe they are better now. I went up to shower while Rebecka ordered and waited for the food. When she came up we both saw the size of the meals. It was literally just a small amount, enough to at least cover the bottom of the container but did not look like a proper meal. This is creamy pasta with salmon for $19 (although it was a 2 for 1 lunch deal so I only paid $10 back to Rebecka). I added some feta cheese to add a little extra. It was very creamy so it was somewhat filling, but I would have wished for more for that price! I do not recommend The Dispensary.

It was in the middle of the afternoon and Rebecka came over to me. Arms, shoulders, back, face, chest - everything was red and burned. I could not keep from laughing. It looked terrible! So sorry, Bex. We got dressed and headed out half past five. It was a pleasant walk over to Holland Village. We strolled along a row of small shops and ended up looking through cheap clothes at a store called Song & Song. I found a tank top with breast support; something I did not own but really wanted. I am wearing it right now. I believe I will wear it a lot. It is so comfortable! Rebecka found two tank tops but the lady behind the counter accidentally missed that the tops were on sale and took too much money for them. We only saw this when we got home hours later. Rebecka and I made a quick round on the upper floor of the HV mall and she found a jewellery shop where she bought a bracelet and a necklace.

John arrived just as we stepped out from Guardian. I bought band-aids since we are always out when I need it. Rebecka also helped me choose a new mascara, so now I am all set. The three of us proceeded to Lor Mambong - a street with restaurants, night clubs, strange dentists, tech shops and other small businesses that do not match the overall feel of a night club street. We took her straight to our favourite Mexican restaurant - Cha Cha Cha. You have heard of it, I have written about it. John and I had chimichangas; one with chicken and one with beef and shared them both. Rebecka ordered fish tacos. I have never tried it but it looked good. I will try it next time! I decided to put the photo of her meal in this post since chimichangas can be seen in the others linked above.

We were so full afterwards. I suggested ice cream but nobody else wanted some so we never had. I am so sad. I really wanted some! We had a talkative walk back home. Later I read out loud what I had been writing today. Rebecka has not heard much of the book since she will be my new eyes on the story once I am done with the second edit, but she got a small taste from the last chapter. She liked it! John had a lot to say, most of it was good if not all of it! I shall continue writing and have this book published soon!

Sushi board game not edible

Ymir was not very understanding during the night. When Rebecka wanted to sleep he wanted to eat - her feet! He bit and scratched her a little, kept her awake for a few hours and refused to be a cute cat sleeping in a corner. She was awake when we got up. John left for work and we had a slow morning.

First mission for today was to go buy groceries, but first we had lunch. I took her to Empress Mall just outside d'Leedon and walked through the very small market there. She needed a bathing suit and luckily found one simple black in a small stall. Then we strolled around the hawker centre and searched for something to eat. I knew already what I wanted. She said to go there and she could get something from the same place. I had lemon chicken and Rebecka had set menu A which never really had a name. Chicken and rice, as figured. To that we shared a platter of ten dumplings and had lime juice.

Over at Coronation Plaza we made quick rounds at the upper floor before entering the grocery store. I bought two new toys for Ymir as a ten months present. It was a red feather at the end of a steel tread and he loves it! The other was a squirrel with catnip inside, his first drugs ever, and when he was introduced to it he rolled around and went crazy, but now he seems more fond of the toy than its insides. Downstairs we entered FairPrice. I had a list so I went picking everything up. Rebecka loves food stores in other countries so she entertained herself by wandering around alone for a bit. When I found her she had her own basket with two large pomelo and cherry tomatoes. I have never had pomelo so I will make sure to try some when one has been opened. Excited!

When we walked back to the condo it was half past one and the sun was blasting hot. Even though it is December we both managed to burn some part of our skin. Rebecka on the back and I on the chest. It takes skill to make that happen! As soon as everything was loaded into the fridge we changed into swimsuits since both were pretty sweaty and the weather was nice. We walked over to the best pool and slithered down into the cold water. Not as warm as it was in June, but still pleasant after a quick warm up. Eventually though, when it never became warm enough, we switched sides and sank down into the jacuzzi. The sun was above us, warming a little but not quite as satisfying as I would have wanted. We talked for a long while and enjoyed sitting in a jacuzzi in December. Then we lay on the stools for a while too, using towels as blankets. Then it started to rain and we hurried home.

It was four o'clock and Rebecka fell asleep. I do not think she meant to but she was really tired and I did not want to disturb her. We did not have any plans for three hours anyway so I let her rest. I sat by the computer with headphones playing a game a chatting with John. We were supposed to meet him at a restaurant across the street after work and I thought I could wake her up when he left work. She magically woke up the second I removed my headphones to do just that. Slowly we got ready, well I was kind of quick but assured her she did not need to stress. It was only funny when John called half an hour later wondering where we were. We had not left the apartment yet.

At the restaurant he sat by a large table looking at the menu. We sat down on either side of him and ordered together. Pork buns - their signature dish - and fried rice with chicken. Tofu with sesame oil and fried tofu with crumbled fish on top. Some vegetables and the best of all - sweet and sour fish. But here is the thing; it tasted like cinema popcorn! It was so good and I think I ate most of it. Truly amazing! So yummy. Lets have more! John and I ate too quick and my stomach did not like that. I was feeling rather full and dazed afterwards.

During the last hours of the day we made drinks and played our new Sushi Go Party! game. Since it was John and mine first time we played the original set up, meaning without the party edition. But we learned fast and next time we play we will have a party go! It was a fun game. I lost because I wanted most maki but that did not give me a lot of points. John won but soon after realised he had counted wrong and so Rebecka won! Congratulations. Good game. I want my sushi now.

We ended the day with an episode of Planet Earth II. This time it was in the jungles and they showed the most unusual animals. It was a hide and seek place where most animals melted into the background. We all grew tired during this and so we skipped the diaries in the end. Now off to bed!