Reasons to Volunteer

During Thursday afternoon and into the evening I spent a couple of hours at The Cat Museum here in Singapore. There was a lot of visitors, but unfortunately only a handfull of volunteers. Once school started, many who volunteered during the summer left. Though I had lots to do, I talked to a British family who reminded me why The Cat Museum is great.

Shouting for Japan

Saturday was a long day. We got so many things done that Sunday flew by with nothing done at all. I guess that is how we spend our weekends - one day doing things, the other doing nothing. It is functional. Highly recommend. It is nice especially since John is working five days a week, so when weekends come I want to do things with him and he wants to do nothing. Works out quite perfect!

Cheering Cherry!

There has been a lack of posts on this blog lately. One can say I have been in a trench, if that is an expression used by other people than me. I will try and be better, try and write more about thoughts and discoveries and not just what I do during a day. It feels like that will be more interesting. At least that is what I think!

To Orchard Us Two

July has not been a great month for me. This is obvious to people reading my blog, since with one week left of the month I have not even managed to write ten posts. There has been things to write about, but no energy to do so. For two weeks I have not been feeling well and thus have been indoors most of the time. Two weeks is a half month, it is a long time. I am only just now getting back on my feet.

Growing Confident

Thursday was a really great day at The Cat Museum. I learn so many things and I can feel myself growing more confident every time. The cats are all getting used to me and I can tell some of them even recognise me. It is really an amazing experience to work there!

Fucking Bunnies

Our good friend Dawn invited us to go see a short movie her long time acquaintance had written and starred in. We knew nothing more about the movie than the name: Fucking Bunnies. It was screened at a place called The Projector, known for its high prices and hipster setting. I had never been there, John had but in another part of the building.

Triumphant Volunteer

Another day at The Cat Museum. John and I discussed if it is still called "my job" even if I do not get paid. We both agreed it is still work, since it is voluntary work. I do enjoy going there every week; the cats are lovely and most of the costumers are friendly. I have gotten to know some of other volunteers and are making new friends.

Gift Giving Give Up

Rain in Singapore can really keep one from going outside. This was the case of today and it was not only stopping me from going, it was also stopping Ash. We were supposed to meet at Nex by twelve thirty, but the weather was so bad that even going the few meters to the stations was impossible. Eventually we figured it out!

Thursday Duty

It was a long day Thursday. Between leaving the condo and getting down to the cool underground subway-station, I was soaking in sweat. During "winter" in this tropical country I forgot summers are even warmer! When it is thirty-two degrees, it feels like forty. But I am not complaining! I am enjoying the heat.

A Quick Catch-up

I have not been posting anything new here as frequently as I wish. A haunting headache while being social is not a great combo. When alone, with John still around, I was resting or fast asleep. Here is a long post about what has happened since Friday.

Food, Books and Cats

Third times a charm, right? This time at The Cat Museum was the best so far, and the busiest. I had a great time with the other volunteers and the cats were so playful. Though I need to stop buying books every Thursday, or else I am going to end up like a library.

Sushi Cats

On Thursday it was the second time I volunteered at The Cat Museum. Seeing as I needed to be there half past three, I thought I would have a late sushi lunch at Bugis. I have been a bad friend as of late, so I invited Dawn to join me.

First Day Volunteering

I was at The Cat Museum yesterday for my first day as a volunteer. Being on a LTVP here in Singapore I am not allowed to work, but I can volunteer. Thus I searched for options and found this well-known shelter. I grew up with two cats and spent some time at a shelter where I grew up, helping out in a similar way I was instructed to at TCM.

Cinco de Mayo - Singaporean Version

If you are planning an event, specifically a celebration with cheap drinks, do estimate how many people will attend. Last night when we arrived a Chimichanga it was so crowded! The restaurant was a hole in the wall with few tables outside. It was ridiculous!

A Human Adventure

Months ago John heard about a NASA exhibition at the Art Science Museum here in Singapore. The website has been up on my computer for a very long time. I was super excited to go. John took Thursday and Friday off work, compensation leave from his work-trip to France, and bought tickets for the first day.

It was a hot day yesterday. We left around three o'clock, knowing it would not take long to get there and we had an estimated time of an hour and a half to go through the exhibition. The building looks like a gigantic white flower in bloom, standing next to the water from where you can see the Merlion. A large elevator took us up to the fourth floor. The view from inside the glass elevator was incredible and the size of the building was unbelievable. Then it took us to the basement, where the exhibition was held. We walked through the gift shop, already picking out things we wanted to buy, before finding the opening to NASA's exhibition A Human Adventure.

The first room instantly reminded me of the inside of the TARDIS from the very old TV-series Doctor Who. The room was a tribute to great authors and film makers that had very early ideas of space travel. Two screens showed facts about the artists. I recognised the movie where the space ship crashes into the moon's eye (but I have never actually seen it) and the only name I knew was Jules Verne. We then walked through a small corridor with facts about the first space missions - like launching Sputnik. There was a full scale replica of the satellite and it was surprisingly tiny. Just a silver ball with four metal sticks. A small TV was looping JFK's speech about going to space. It was inspiring and sad; he seems to have been such a great president and now look at USA.

The next room had the real deal. In the middle was an engine that had been used, they called it Space Flown. The backside was impressively complicated. A nose cone lied by itself, lit up from the inside to show of its fascinating cables. It, too, had been to space. Pictures of scientists was displayed on the wall with black panels explaining their work. I had difficulties standing still to read any of these things, my eyes were drawn to the modules. Along the next corridor lied a long, yet small, replica of the largest rocket ever built. The Saturn V. It was developed to send humans to the Moon. Seeing the video explaining the three stages of the rocket was educational. It takes a lot of power to go that far. The little capsule where the humans sat was very tiny in comparison to the vehicle.

The exhibition showed five types of space suites; the oldest to what John and I guessed would be the newest. In the background we could hear the speech from the first moon-landing. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Behind the showcases were the two moon buggies, looking as cute as they do in the photos I have seen online. I like to imagine driving one of them on the moon, going over the dunes and glide downwards into a smooth landing. It makes me sad thinking about them still there, left behind since there was no way of retrieving them.

There were only two rooms left. First we passed through a smaller room with displays showing the food and the small utilities used back in that time. I found a small bag where the explanation said a space survival kit. To me it looked like 3D glasses and portable phone charger. I guess we can switch the common question what would you bring to a deserted island to what would you bring to a deserted space station? I have to think of an answer to that one. In the same room we saw a door that had been space flown. It looked like it had taken a few beatings with several holes and scratches across its surface. Imagine the sound of small rocks hitting the only thing that keeps you away from floating freely in space. Scary thought. I admire astronauts.

The last room was high in ceiling to be able to display the life size replica of Atlantis. Going up a small staircase led us to the backside of the display and we could see how it looked like inside the cockpit. Is it called cockpit in a rocket? There were four uncomfortable-looking chairs and a lot of small lights. Beneath, going back down and around the ship, we could see the small compartment where the rest of the crew sat. More uncomfortable chairs with the wonderful view of storage boxes. I will wait until it looks more of a comfortable journey before I will go to space. In the corner was the G-Force Astronaut Trainer - two black boxes spinning around. There was a surprisingly long queue for it, especially since one trip costed six dollars and only lasted less than a minute. I could not ride because of my sore back but I would not have gone even if I could. It looked like a nauseating machine - nothing I could have handled!

Before leaving the Art Science Museum we bought a white extra large NASA t-shirt and a white NASA cap. Outside the sun was still blasting. We walked over to Gardens by the Bay, having set our minds on a satay dinner early on. We both became sweaty after just a few steps among the trees. It is fascinating how well they block the sound of the eight lane highway nearby. We walked all the way through and had a tasty dinner at Satay by the Bay. When we had finished we were done for the day, walked to the MRT and were just outside our condo when the rain started falling.

Runaway Weekend

It feels like this weekend ran away. I did not have all the time that I needed to do everything I wanted to with John. Still, we did some really cosy and good stuff.

Yesterday we went to the gym. John woke up at twelve, since I woke him at not a minute before or after, and I wondered what I could say to make him want to head to the gym with me. To my surprise I only had to ask the question and we were off. It was a short visit since my breakfast had been four hours earlier and I was getting really hungry, but it was a good start of the day and it felt good sitting at the hawker stall in gym-clothes. In the evening we saw Passengers and really liked it. We both had some issues with the story, since nothing really happened, but it was great in a visual sense and of course the hot actor/actresses were a big part of it. It is a recommended movie, but not one we would like to see again any time soon. Feels like it would be getting worse for every time you see it, so it is a one hit wonder.

Today we ate homemade pancakes for lunch and headed down to the pool. The sun was still in the sky so we spent a few hours there. When we got out of the pool to dry we stuck around just because it was nice and John said something that stuck in my head. Looking out over the area it looked like a live animation of a concept art. Kids were running around the pool, women lay sunbathing, mothers played with the younger children, fathers taught their sons how to swim, young couples (like ourselves) were cosy in their selected corners. It was idyllic. This is where we live now, it is surreal and yet... very real.

For dinner we took the short walk over to Holland Village. I have been talking about Cha Cha Cha many times in my posts, and if you are a new reader and interested you can search for the name in the search bar to the right. We sat down inside our favourite Mexican restaurant, keeping near the AC and far away from the humid evening air. We decided to order something new from the menu this time: I had the meat taco which was just three corn-flour tortillas and a plate of ingredients to make my own tacos. It was a bit messy and not as good as I had hoped. John had the combo which contained an enchilada and a taco mixed together, but it looked like miniatures. We do not talk much while we eat so we managed to walk there, order, eat and leave in under an hour.

Before we went home we stopped by Pet Lovers Centre. Ymir has been growing into a large cat and the medium sized house + scratching post we bought a year ago looks tiny under his big body. The small scratching posts are not the best option for him and so he has started climbing one of the kitchen chairs covered in fabric. At PLC we bought the largest scratching post we could find and brought it home. At first we carried it together, but then John tossed it over his shoulder. We placed it in the middle of the room and started taking of the plastic. The strange thing is that PLC assemble the houses and scratch posts after they have been plasticised. We had to unscrew the only screw to remove it. The cat sat a bit away from us while we did this, looking rather sceptic at what we had brought home, but then I scratched with my fingernails on the rope and he came running. He loved it! It was such a great joy to watch. He ran around using it as a platform to jump onto, climbing around it like a tree and there was no doubt that it was the best buy for our cat ever.

To finish off this weekend we watched Alien vs Predator. John had seen it before but this was my first time. I really like the first two Alien movies and recently started reading the comics about them. This movie was superb! The movie is intelligent, funny, exciting and terrifying all at once - and it ended with girlpower. I absolutely loved the ending. I could not sit still and be quiet, I had to sit up straight and raise my fist into the air like a cheesy cheese. I screamed at the screen when characters were being stupid and I cheered for the predators and the only good human in the crew. Such a blast. Now I want to have the second book in the comic series.

Long Lived Lunch Legend

We finally went to a very special restaurant on Sunday. It is not very special in general, but special to me. When we moved here and John had just started working at Ubisoft, he went to Holland Village with some of his new colleagues to eat at this thai restaurant called Nakhon Kitchen. When he came home the evening he told me about his lunch and the very good garlic chicken he had been eating. I was immediately intrigued since I am a huge chicken-fan.

Since then we have been to Holland Village on numerous occasions over the course of a full year. Every time we check if the queue is short enough for us to want to endure it. It is a popular place and people in Singapore like to queue, so much so that every time we have seen the line it has gone past the restaurant and out onto the street. We may be used to queuing by now but no way would be stand in line for more than ten minutes to get some food.

To our big surprise and my joy, at one o'clock on a Sunday, the line was almost non-existent. We hurried over and placed ourselves behind three groups of people. A worker handed us a menu, an order-chart and a sun-umbrella. We do not own sunbrellas but we have seen a lot of people using them in Singapore. This was the first time we used one and both of us liked it. We were already sweating from the normal heat but at least we did not have to wait in line while being burned by the sun. We decided on four dishes and a simple white rice each.

When it was our turn to be placed at a table we were given the worst, or the best, two seated table available. It was right behind the counter and next to the queue. At least it was in the shadow and at least we got a table. The music in this place was an odd choice; some kind of loud dance music. I was pleased to not sit right underneath a speaker. The table was stable but the plastic stool felt like it would break at anytime. Our drinks arrived and our rice arrived. Then came, not all at once but spread out as is custom in Singapore (and possibly other Asian countries as well), our garlic chicken, kai-lan with garlic and chili (it was too spicy for me), mango salad, which was literally a shredded mango with nuts and spices, and finally a tofu soup with small pieces of pork. This meal cost us twenty seven Sing-dollars and the restaurant did not even take tax. It was a great meal, we left full but not stuffed and everything was delicious (and spicy). I am so glad that I finally got to eat there!

I recommend keeping an eye out for this place. If you do not mind standing in a long line then head over right away. Personally I do not think it is quite worth a long wait in the blistering heat, but when a table is ready for you in less than fifteen minutes, it is absolutely worth it!

Double Dumplings

I had a really efficient day yesterday. The second edit of my book was done on the last day of February and I have started with the first chapter (all over again). I have a lot to fix; characters to be written out, items to be picked up earlier, removing classic Fantasy races and replacing them with something more original. I am also fixing my chapter-distribution. First chapter should catch the reader so I worked on that and shortened it a lot! It is so much fun!

So when John asked around half past five what I wanted to eat, I said buy home. I was not ready to go outside, having been in comfortable clothes all day while working. I sat down in the sofa, taking a break from the computer, when suddenly the phone rang. Nobody but John has called me in over a year and I knew it was not him since he was still working. Surprised I picked up the phone, saw it was Ash and answered. Through a noise that none of us could determine where it came from, I understood she asked if we wanted to double date over dinner. I said yes and that I would ask John, but I knew he would want to. We decided to meet at Orchard Road.

John and I met at the subway and travelled to our destination. It only took us about twenty minutes, which surprised Ash since they live so far away from Orchard. There were a few minutes of trouble when we tried to find each other. John and I stood outside and Ash and Steve were somewhere inside. I called Ash and we decided to meet outside the restaurant, but when we walked inside the building and stood looking at the dictionary to find where it was, they came up the escalator right beside us.

Din Tai Fung is a very popular Chinese restaurant. So much so that there is almost always a queue. We got in line, got our number, the menu and the order-chart. For the customers to be as fast as possible inside the restaurant - they can not afford to waste time on people sitting by their table going through what they want to order - we filled the order-chart outside with a bunch of others going through the very tasty menu. We picked out two different kinds of steamed dumplings with soup inside, which is a signature for the restaurant, one set of three chili crab steamed buns (since I would share one with John in case it was too spicy for me), some very nice spinach with garlic, a deep-fried specially marinated pork chop, two bowls of different kinds of noodles (special sauce and peanuts) and fried rice with shrimp. Before the last set of dumplings had arrived at the table Ash and I considered ordering more food. We still had room in our stomachs and it was so good! After we finished the last ten dumplings we realised we were actually kind of full and went to pay the bill instead.

We started talking about waffles and decided to find waffles for dessert. We could not find any on Google Maps, but the smallest places do not show up there anyway. We went underground and scanned the hallways. Waffles where nowhere to be found. Instead we sat down at a small, empty café where Ash and Steve ordered root beer floats and onion rings. John and I were too full to order but almost ate all of Ash's ice cream. John challenged them to a riddle that took a while to solve. After that we headed home, John was having a headache. It is always nice to have a last minute dinner date with two friends whom we really like to hang out with. I always laugh when I am with them! And I really love dumplings.

John Wick chapter 2

Spoilers.

We went to see John Wick chapter 2 last night. First movie was really good and I remember screaming out during the action scenes. Naming the second movie chapter 2 made it seem like a continuation of the story. The start of the movie was just that - the string had been tied. John Wick made peace with the lesser Russian mafia group. It could have been the end of the movie right there, but obviously it was not. I was sad to see that gorgeous car getting wrecked, but they gave us a hint it would be restored (in 2030). The car never made it to the screen again.

Moving up from the lesser criminals we step into the business of the big bad twelve. This was a bit unclear to me since I had no English subtitles (in Singapore, all movies have Chinese subtitles) and I could not pick up every word spoken (due to a small hearing problem). The second fight scene felt like an homage to the first movie's most memorable scene. I recognised the moves, where the bad guys would pop out and the scene was almost exactly the same. At first I was pissed! Was this really all they could give us? Nothing new, just the same scene in another setting? It was okay, the upcoming fight scenes were exciting enough, although afterwards only one move stood out and could be remembered, namely John Wick killing two assassins with a single pen.

One thing I have to point out is that the expendable henchmen wore ski-masks. They removed their person so it would feel justified to kill them. The first movie did not do this, it is what made the scene so gruesome and terrifying. Putting masks over their faces made it look like a video game. The cool John Wick, ruthlessly killing the men working for the big bad guy, looked like a teenager going through a first-person-shooter. It was sad, it was unworthy.

With so many people getting killed I was glad to see at least one good death scene. The murder John Wick was supposed to commit turned out to be a strong and strange feminine power-move. The lady knew she would die and chose how she would go. It was a beautiful scene and I fully approved of her choice. She looked like an angel with wings of blood.

The dialogues were few and far apart, and frankly they did not lift the story. The amount of fighting felt too much with so little to go on. I was confused for parts of the movie, not understanding why some people tried to kill him. They made it easy to understand in the end though, setting a price on his head which anyone could claim - even I would want to kill him for that kind of cash. It was a set up for the next movie, but it felt like an excuse. He was just trying to retire! At least he had company from his nameless dog, looking like Will Smith in I Am Legend.

I must say that I did enjoy the movie, despite all the things I have just said about it. People who enjoy action will do too. Unfortunately I felt like the story was not coherent and I can barely remember the characters. It was not what I had looked forward to see, but I did enjoy it never the less. Watch the first movie and then go see the second with no expectations. That way, you can not be disappointed.

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.