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!

Dinner Trade

Annika likes to leave books at our place, so since last time she stayed here we have had two copies of a book called Ensam i Berlin (Alone in Berlin). It is in Swedish and even though she went back to Sweden, she left it here with the advise to "switch books at a hotel when you are abroad next time". It is a great advise since that was exactly what we did when she and I were in Thailand last year. She left books she did not like and we took new books. Unfortunately neither John nor I have had any abroad trips since then so the book has been stable in the shelf. Until we thought about our Singaporean friend who lived in England but had a Swedish boyfriend and therefore speaks Swedish. Although she is shy I think she speaks fluently and it sounds great!

The other day our friend said she had some Chinese New Years candy for us. Of course we could not pass up on this opportunity to get some snacks. We set a date and discussed restaurant. John and I met at Buona Vista and went off at Outram Park, a station we rarely use. It lies near the restaurant of choice called Muchachos. We have been there once before with Ash and Steve. We arrived as soon as the rain started. Our date had not yet made it, but that did not matter because it was crowded and we had to wait a few minutes to get a table. The restaurant is small and where the tables are the ceiling is really low. The noise level gets really high. We had just ordered when Dawn arrived. It was kind of hard to hear each other over dinner, but at least the food was good. I had the California burrito that had french fries with gravy and steak. It was amazing. John was kind to buy nachos with guacamole just because I really wanted guacamole. There was a campaign on beer so we each had one. It was a long time ago I drank Corona so it was really nice to have some!

All in all, it was a good dinner and great Chinese candy. The flower shaped ones reminded me of the Swedish rosettes so I truly enjoyed those. The others are interesting, a bit dry perhaps but I still eat them. Hopefully there will still be some left when John gets home. On the other hand, he took all of the bakkwa to work so I will never get to see them. Hm, maybe I will have some more of those cookies after all...

Catapult me into sleep

I have not slept well in a long time. I do not stay up late at night, I go to bed around eleven or twelve. John on the other hand stays up until two, three and then comes to bed. Last night I took some sleeping pills since it was the third night in a row I had not gotten many hours of sleep. When John came in around three I was still awake. I had not tried to fight the pills, I did not think about anything in particular. I just wanted some sleep, but no, I was wide awake. I am so tired and exhausted. My stomach feels weird because of this.

Today was the day John built a catapult. As you may or may not know, depending on if you read every post I write, I gave him this as a Christmas gift. We even bought glue, something we later found in the box but it was small and he needed the extra glue in the end. It took him about forty minutes perhaps and then he was taking his time and making sure everything was it its rightful place. I did not dare touch it, too afraid I might brake something. I was a good assistant though and brought him things he could need such as a wrench! In the end it looked really cool and it was functional. He catapulted a cat candy across the room with a satisfying smile on his face. I believe it was a successful gift!

Successful Swedish Christmas in Singapore

Merry Christmas! John recently told me that you do not say that in USA because not everybody celebrates it and apparently it is offensive. Instead you wish them a happy holiday; being very unspecific feels like the way to go in America. I do not understand how a phrase meant to cheer someone up can be interpreted as offensive. Then again, I barely celebrate Christmas and do not particularly like it. I only do Christmasy things for my John. He really loves Christmas and I want to make him happy.

Yesterday, the 24th, is the day to celebrate Christmas for John and I. We open presents, we eat Christmas-buffé, tradition tells us to watch Donald Duck and on the 25th Christmas is basically over (apart from the leftovers, the decoration and enjoying the gifts). It is not the same day as the people in Singapore (and other parts of the world) celebrate Christmas. Therefore it was fitting to have our friends, Ash and Steve, to join us in the evening.

John had been out buying two types of meat to make his own meatballs and two baguettes from the small mall just outside the condo. Later he travelled to IKEA (I stayed behind since I was not sure if I had fully recovered from being sick) and bought herrings, salmon, Kalle's caviar, mustard and dill sauce, potato gratin, lingon berry jam and mashed apples. He also bought julmust (which I can not translate and so it seems can nobody else). Ash and Steve brought with them two different cheeses, sausages and ingredients to some of the former mentioned dishes.

While John cooked for us I entertained our guests with two rounds of Sushi Go Party. A board game we recently were given as a Christmas gift from John's sister's fiance. It was fun to play with new players. Ash was very urgent during the rounds and made the game fast and smooth. She won one of the games in the end (I can not remember if I won the first). Then dinner was ready and John instructed our friends what to take on the first round of a traditional Swedish Christmas-plate. The cold plate. I could not remember if I liked herring or not so I did not take it onto my plate, but after stealing a small piece from John I was surprised to realise I actually liked it and had some more. The must-have ham was missing. We could have bought it from a local grocery store, but the size for the price was not worth it. I really miss it though and I know John does too. Then we had the hot plate and John put everything on their plates while I quickly assembled mine and got out of the way. Food was tasty and I was very full in the end. Ash and Steve seemed to like it. Steve compared it to Thanksgiving dinner, but I have no idea what you eat during that holiday so I did not know if it was comparable.

After dinner we moved to the sofa just a few steps from the table. There lied a pile of wrapped gifts that were about to be opened. John had not been able to contain himself that morning and forced me (I was very willing) to open my gifts before everybody else. (I do not have a picture of this.) I received a Nintendo 3DS XL with Mario already installed and Pokémon Sun, Animal Crossing and Kirby: Planet Robobot. Without knowing it I wanted this. I felt ridiculously happy! I have an old GameBoy SP - still functional with a some games - but it was getting ancient and I could not find any new games to go with it. This is why John gave me this gift and why I was so mad he gave it to me, because it was perfect. He gave me the most thoughtful gift he could ever have given. I have spent the whole Sunday with my eyes on the screen. Back to the evening and when our friends were there to open presents with us. Steve got some Zelda stuff from Ash, Ash got some Harry Potter stuff from Steve. To John I had bought a luminous Newton cradle which sadly does not work perfectly, but it does work. The light is cosy and the sound it makes is annoying. He also got a wooden catapult that he has to build himself, only I had had no time to buy wood glue so he could not assemble it immediately. They were good gifts he said but I knew it was not a good as his was for me. This is one of the reasons I dislike Christmas - he always gives me something perfect, something I really want, something thoughtful and loving. I never find the perfect gift, never know what he needs or wants. I am completely lost during this holiday.

Steve had gotten a Zelda-themed Monopoly which we decided to play (much to John's complains since he does not like the game). Ash had a bad first round. Steve moved first, bought a place and then Ash landed there her next turn. This happened three or four times during the first time around. Most of us were lucky enough to avoid all of John's houses and so he did not make a lot of money. I made some deals and traded cards with both John and Steve to make things happen. If not then nobody would have been able to build anything. I enjoyed the game, possibly because I was the luckiest. In the end I was declared the winner.

It was getting late but nobody was done with the day. We started up the Vive and Steve was the first one to enter virtual reality. He spent a long time in job simulator, working in an office and not keeping it tidy. I was on cat-watch; sitting in the living room and making sure Ymir did not walk in the way of the reality-blind player that walked around on the carpet. Over at the computer John and Ash laughed at what Steve was doing. Then Ash got to try for a while. She proclaimed she was terrible at games in general and it showed. There was a lot of shouting and laughing from her side whilst I heard advise coming from John and Steve who were watching what she was doing at the computer screen. Lastly John had a quick go at the same game as she played; a zombie game I have yet to play.

Around three in the night it was time for them to go home. There was hugging and thanking, Ymir got some cuddles from the guests (I am not sure if they came to be with us or just to snuggle the cat) and then they were gone. We made the counter cat-safe and headed of to bed. I fell asleep very fast whilst John could not. He lay awake playing Pokémon on my Nintendo for a few hours. Eventually he also entered the dreamland and Christmas was officially over.

Struggling

I am not having the best day. Not that I have had a very active and interesting week, but this day tops it all. I can not walk. Nothing is wrong with my legs it is just that I do not have the strength. Let me spell it out - I have my period. Some of you might think that it is not okay for me to write this on my blog, but I am a feminist and there is nothing wrong with expressing what is natural and current. John will be reading this and I know he has difficulties with the word feminist because it has lost its meaning. I am the old school kind, the kind that knows a woman has to fart, bleed every now and then and deserve every right a man has wherever you may be in the world. That kind of feminist. The good kind. The right kind. Not the one that hates all white males and think they should all die. Yes, there are those kind of feminists as well.

In other news - Rebecka left today. She spent almost a full three weeks here. A very good guest; helped me put the mattresses back, vacuum cleaned and stuffed all the sheets in the washing machine before leaving. The apartment is clean and I did not have to do anything.

I gave John one of the smaller Christmas presents today. It was minor and one out of three (plus more non-wrappables). It was a fidget cube which is supposed to help with his fidgeting and ticks. No idea if it will work. He did play with it, sounded like he found one part of the cube he really liked. I heard clicking. Might work. If not then I will search for something else. I have looked up tangles. They look like fun. I have seen some people on YouTube use it and they recommend it for people with all sort of keeping-the-hand-still-when-not-doing-anything-with-it problems. I might buy one of those if this fidget cube does not do the trick. It will not, but maybe a little for a short time. I just want to help John relax his hand. He is complaining about it hurting a lot and he is concerned it might damage the nerves. If you have suggestions on toys and tricks - leave a comment.

Several Spots and Gifts

Today I needed to buy Christmas presents. Not needed by anyone or anything. I just had this feeling that if I do not buy them today, I will chicken out and buy something else. I am not very confident with buying gifts. I had discussed them with Rebecka a few days earlier and she said they were good gifts. Today I talked to Ash about it and she said the same. I bought them. It was so scary. The price is my biggest issue. How much should I spend? How cheap is too cheap? Luckily I had asked John for a budget... well, a preferred budget from his side and I kept it within his wishes. So that could be called a gift as well!

I was out shopping before noon. Normally it takes me a few hours to get ready and I rarely go out before lunchtime. This was new and I liked it. I travelled half an hour to go shopping and was home before one o'clock. Then I noticed how hungry I had become and needed to eat immediately. Not sure if the plan was to eat with Rebecka, she had gone down to the pool during the forenoon, so I sent some messages. In the middle of my half Subway leftover from yesterday she came upstairs. She had already eaten so I continued with my lunch.

Then I did what John asked me to do this morning. I took some burning hot water, some soap and a sponge, went to the window in our bedroom and scrubbed away blood. Ymir has an old wound on his paw that he recently re-burned (if you can believe it) in the same way as the first time. Now it is a hard black spot there and we are not sure if everything looks normal. It looks burnt, but not as flesh and fur should. Or maybe it does, not sure as you probably can tell. This wound is what leaves blood everywhere. It is not always but sometimes he manages to open it and bleed wherever he goes. Right now the window looks like a polka-dotted area, the sofa is spotted and the floor is bright red in some places. The floor stains are the easiest to remove, just water and swoosh it away. The sofa we bought and can throw away, but for now we are just putting the fabric in the washing machine. The window on the other hand is the worst part. The paint soaks it in and makes it harder to remove. We have several old spots and a lot of new ones. Right now we are thinking that we might need to repaint it before leaving this apartment (whenever that will happen). Hopefully no one will notice then. Right now it is kind of a mess and not much we can do. If you have any suggestions on how to remove old blood stains from white paint... let us know!

After that I sat by my computer working. I wrote two pages the other day and read them out loud last night to John. At the end, before he could say anything, I said I heard. I know how bad that was. I was ashamed. I did not expect it. It was really bad. Not badly written, but it did not suit the story and it felt like a filler or just simple facts about the city. Not good enough. Not good at all. So today I decided to read everything in that chapter so far and then understand where I want to go from there. I did not read everything today though, I got caught editing small things instead of just reading.

John had to work late and came home around half past eight. It was really late and I had no idea what we should have for dinner. We decided McDonalds. Do not judge us. I ordered when he left work and they delivered just a few minutes before he arrived. I had rice to my nuggets, pretending it was the healthier option once again. John had burger, fries and Coke. I think this is why I can pretend that I am eating healthy. I need to get down to the gym soon, my body wants the exercise. Maybe tomorrow... and then lay by the pool. I love living in a tropical country when I know there is only cold and snow where I used to live. Suckers...

Seasonal Basket

When something is about to be delivered to your doorstep you need to be home to sign and receive. Today was that kind of day for me, only the estimated time was between ten in the morning and five in the afternoon...

Because of this I could not go with Rebecka to Orchard Road. Instead she went on her own and I really wish I could have gone with her. It was a long time ago since I was at Orchard and it always makes me feel ridiculously snobby. Not that I actually buy anything that could be considered expensive. I do not dare to enter the well-known brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada and others like them. Its just the feel of the street, the cars, the buildings, the decor. The people feel regular, middle-class or tourists. I do not see many people dressed in those brands. Maybe that is why I like walking there.

Half past two the man called on the intercom. Before he did so he had called John to say something but the bad reception made it impossible to hear. Then John calls me and asks in the delivery has been made. John was very fast. It takes less than a minute to get to the door from the basement and John was done with our talk before the man knocked on the door. I opened, I was asked if I was Mr. Rickne to which I answered yes, I signed a paper and took the huge basket handed over to me.

Harrods Christmas basket

contained:

Claret Bordeaux (red wine)
original instant coffee
English breakfast tea nr.14
orange marmalade
strawberry and champagne jam
milk chocolate tuiles with lemon
butterscotch biscuits
mixed fruit flavour drops
lemon discs

And a pretty Christmas bow which will be saved as decoration!

Santa Bex

Rebecka is here! John's sister finally arrived and it is her fist visit to our apartment. She has been to Singapore previously, but that was before we moved here. I am so happy that she came! The two of us will have most time together since John is working. So weekends will be sister-brother time and weekdays I will have her all to myself.

The flight was half an hour late so she came to our place around eight. When she texted John she was nearing the condo we thought that she might not know where to go. From personal experiences taxi drivers can get confused in this area. Difficult to find the right basement and then the right drop of point. We have had to literally point in the right direction. So we thought she would be stuck outside and not being able to contact us. We left the apartment to go stand by the road where she would eventually drive past. Halfway there John receives a text saying that she has arrived. We see a taxi turn down into a basement (the correct basement) but we can not see if she is sitting inside it. We felt stupid since now, if that was her, when she called to our apartment nobody would be there to answer. We split up. John stayed and I went back. Luckily I am clever enough to check downstairs before going up. My thought was that if she had already called to our apartment and we did not answer she would sit there and wait. And so she did!

I had made a broccoli pie that was just coming out of the oven when she entered our home. John called and I let him in. Hugging party! We talked about the flight and it sounded like it went well. She handed over three bottles from Tax Free. Ymir was afraid of this new being entering his precious castle. Eventually I picked him up and made him meet her. He calmed down after that. The dinner was okay, not the best pie I have ever made. I feel it is difficult to cook here since the ingrediens are so different from those I used in Sweden. I can not use the same recipes and do not know where to look for one as well. If I google a recipe in English everything is American. I do not understand Americans! Why do you use cups?

Christmas came early! Annika and Thomas, the parents of these two, had sent presents with her and we received them immediately. I was given a lot and I am so thankful. I find it a bit difficult to accept gifts so when package after package was handed over to me I shed some tears. In the picture below you can find some of the presents. There is a red filofax, something I have long wished for since I am so organised and love to keep track of my days. Three Christmas-cards. A Sushi Go Party game which I love already! I have no idea how to play it or what type of board game it is, but I love sushi and they look so cute on the package! From Rebecka I got two thick colouring books for adults. I was given one when I was over at her place almost a year ago and she knew I really liked it. The themes in these are vintage and geometric patterns. I look forward to this! With them she gave me new pencils that can be used with water as well as just pencils. Something I also really wanted since I only have felt pens. I also got a colouring book from Annika and Thomas with pictures of Stockholm - in case I missed my hometown. This will also be fun since I do miss it and I had flashbacks when looking at the pictures inside!

John got two large envelopes in which he was given missions. In one he were told to buy a new phone. In the second he was told to buy a PS4 Pro. Two things he really wanted but would be difficult to send over from Sweden with his sister. Therefore we will buy these items in Singapore, but I think he will start with the phone at first. I was also given a mission; to plan a trip for a certain amount of money which will be executed next time one of them visits. I will have to look into this. There is a fair amounts of islands around Singapore I would like to explore.

We could not stay up too late. John had work today and Rebecka needed sleep after her flight. Although I think I was the one being most tired.

Halloween Horror Nights

What a fun experience! Last night was one of the best I have had in Singapore. We were at the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Night 6!

The day was slow and calming, just what I needed. I tend to get nervous and stressed out by things outside the apartment. John was kind and made brunch - chicken pasta with garlic. It was good but that kind of food always look bleak. There is no way to put colour into it.

I had already picked out an outfit but after trying it on I decided it was not right. I did not want to have short-shorts because I knew we were going on rides and sweaty thighs against plastic is never comfortably to peal oneself off from. I had planned on taking tights and a dress but I felt that was not the right style for an amusement park. John wore orange shorts and a purple shirts which looked nice and also felt like Halloween. In the end I decided to wear yellow chinos and a crop top with comic book print.

We left around five thirty knowing the event would open at seven thirty. Travelled by MRT to HarbourFront and stood by the directory looking for a good restaurant to eat. All the names were meaningless and all the photos looked boring. We ate at the food court behind us. A small but almost healthy meal that would keep our tummies satisfied throughout the night.

We started walking slowly across the bridge towards Sentosa Island. It was an hour or so before the event started. I had already said I did not want to stand in queue just to be one of the first inside. We stood in a long line, pretty organised which is always surprising for an European I think. (Asian are really good at queuing and not skipping in line.) They started letting people in at seven and during that last half hour there was a small concert in the crowded entrance. A skeleton DJ, lots of blinking horns on peoples heads, nobody was dancing apart from me and John, a few screamed but only when the DJ asked for it. It was fun but strange, the ones around us gave us space to dance. I thought it was fun!

Eventually they let the people in to the rest of the park. People streamed everywhere. John and I had a goal. I had studied a map earlier and knew where to go. People ran past us. We walked fast, European long-legged style. Came up to the entrance to the Cylon roller coaster! We needed to put our belonging inside a locker and so we ran past the Human roller coaster (they are named from Galactica - something I know very little about), put everything inside a small box and ran back laughing insanely. John did, I sounded hyped I think.

The Cylon is by far the best coaster I have ever ridden. It twisted, it looped, it corkscrewed and all these things were a first-timer for me. It was simply amazing. I screamed so much! We sat on the sixth row so we did not see much of what was going to happen until it did. Right afterwards we ran for the Human and sat in the front seats. It was not as exiting, no loops and no corkscrews. It had more than one helix but also a lot of twists and turns. Not as good as Cylon though.


After that I was pretty pleased. We had done two coaster under twenty minutes and retrieved our things for free (after forty five minutes it would cost four dollars). We strolled down the street when we suddenly were asked to move to the side, move to the side, move to the side people! We had no idea what was going on but had conveniently just acquired a map. On the spot where we stood it said March of the Dead. Soon drums were playing and a skull-wagon turned the corner. "Dead people" danced and a coffin was carried by dead monks (I believe they were monks, but John disagrees). It was a short assembly but it was pretty to look at. While this was happening we tried to walk alongside them but the staff kept screaming move to the side people so it kind of ruined the mood.

Next attraction was one of the haunted houses called Old Changi Hospital. We had asked a staff member over at the Human coaster (who had answered honestly when we asked which coaster was the best and he said Cylon, so we trusted his judgement) which house to go to. We stood in an impressively long line and I was so happy that we avoided this by the coasters. Decided this was the only queue we would stand in and so we invested our time. It moved frequently which was surprising, but closer to the entrance it got slower and slower. Eventually we could enter together with a whole group of people. Not as scary as it would have been going just us two. Inside was pretty well decorated though. I was more impressed by the scenery than scared shitless. The girl behind me sounded like she was about to die.

Maybe it was not worth the long wait and the annoying people in the queue, but overall I liked it. Since we did not want to queue any more we visited one of their "scary zones" which was like a haunted house but no queue so people just wandered everywhere. One tunnel was scary when something was pulled underneath my foot and the sound was unpleasant, but the rest... lets just say that a guy with bloodied face and a knife beside it was completely overlooked by me who asked John which was to go in that specific cross-way. I apologised over my shoulder and shamefully walked away.

Opposite the entrance to the park was a huge castle and the sign Far Far Away. Both of us being fans of Shrek had to enter and be amazed. This looked incredible. So detailed. We walked on the street shown in the movie! There were scary rides here as well but more for children obviously. We passed through, strolling back to the entrance. Looking at the map we noticed that a small show was starting after half an hour and so we decided to wait there. It was the end of the March of the Dead. A Mexican presented the show, two "volunteers" joined of stage, Lady of the Dead screamed something about life and death, the "volunteers" got spiked and burned and then it was over. It was surprisingly short.


Before leaving we wanted to see one last thing. Jack's Recurring Nightmare Circus. It was interesting. Two circus acts - first thing that happened was a girl suspended in the air with a secure line holding her hair. I have no idea how they made it look so real but it must have been a helmet of some sort. She spun around with the use of her legs and other acrobatic things. Very impressive. Then it was dancing and miming, not very circus-like according to me. Halfway through a man from America Got Talent (I believe) came on stage with his female partner. They performed throwing knives-act, as in the lady stood against a wooden wall and the man a few meters away, blindfolded and listened to her instructions on where to throw those heavy metal knives. It was very real and very scary, which could very easily be seen on her face. It ended with them chopping his head of with a guillotine and they made it look so real I had a bad feeling in my stomach afterwards. The circus lasted for half an hour and then it was done.

I had gone from tired to energised. Suddenly I danced around, jumped up and down, while John walked with a big smile next to me. We left the park an hour before closing time. Grabbed a cab in the enormous car-park below the island and came home around midnight. I was quick to get into bed, having difficulties keeping my eyes open, while John stayed up an hour or so after kissing my forehead.

It was a fantastic night! I will not forget this soon.

 

 

Social Barbecue and All people in the West are essentially the same

We just got home from a barbecue, but let me start from the beginning.

At first I was not sure I wanted to go. I felt very unsocial. This changed after two glasses of wine and a caffeine tablett. Please do not judge here because we slept poorly. Ymir has begun to wake us up early in the morning by attacking the blinds. He does not listen to no,stop that. He does not go away when we gently throw him off the bed and when we close the door behind him he starts to meow and it goes on for hours.

Around four I decided I wanted to go. I felt better, a bit tipsy, and I have not been social in over a week. So I straighten my hair and John and I colour-coordinated our outfits. We packed my new bag with two Marabou chocolate cakes and a bag of Ahlgrens cars. I also put down ice-cold water because I did not want to rely on drinking alcohol the whole evening when I had already started.

We took the MRT one station, because we were kind of late and did not want to waste any time walking. Crossed the street and entered Cold Storage. There we bought two packages of six hot dogs and three packages of four hot dog breads. We also bought some cheap and unknown brand of beer which were cold. This was mainly the reason for John to go here.

We travelled half an hour to the end of the blue line and used Maps to find our way. The apartments lay on top of a very small and sort of pathetic mall, Junction 10, which I suggested we passed through. Mainly because of the ac. However, in the invitation mail it did not say which lobby or which floor to go to, so we asked some staff about this. I think they were very confused to be asked where do we go to see our friends? Not quoted. Before they got a chance to answer though a man with a child approached John and asked John? It was very strange, but apparently everyone knows John from his annoying emails and the small picture next to it. This man showed us where to go.

We waited outside the locked door until the host answered his phone and came to let us in. He was very sweet and friendly and I instantly liked him. We introduced ourselves to a bunch of people, meeting Swedes which felt weird since our secret language was no longer secret. They were all very friendly too though. Food was on the table and our sausages were already on the grill. I had some watermelon while I waited and a beer after that. I tried to talk to people but anytime I stood by John they talked about work... which I of course could not discuss. I did find two people, a couple, who were really nice and interesting. They liked board games and we like board games so match made over wood (as in board games).

The condominium was really nice. The pool was large and had loungers in the water. We also got invited to visit the apartment and it was really big and so nice. They had four cats which was really cosy. I would like to live there, only problem I see is that it is far away from John's work so I would not go in to have lunch with him very often and also the view was of high rise buildings. I like our view at d'Leedon very much and it was a huge part of why we picked this apartment. Even though the quality of the place is not top notch.

We left around half past nine. I was starting to feel unsocial again. We left the candy behind but retrieved the sausages and bread. Said goodbye to people and looked for the host. He was upstairs to put the kids to bed but as we were moving towards the door we saw him coming down. Could not leave without saying goodbye to him so we met him halfway, hugged and talked while we walked. Then we left.

After switching trains at Botanic Garden a man knocked on John's shoulder. Are you American? he asked. John answered we were Swedes and the man said Oh, if you were American I had good news. John being curious, since this clearly was a click-bait situation, asked what the news was and the man exclaimed Trump is winning!

We then spent a few minutes listening to this man talk about how everything in the west is falling apart. He thought that Swedes and Americans were essentially the same. He said that ISIS should be tortured and not be given American breakfast. Everything was Christianity's fault. People were too nice and loving. John and I had to keep it together to not laugh out loud. We did not need to participate in this monolog. It was quite interesting and we felt uplifted once we left him the next station. Immediately we let the people in the chat know about this and also called John's parents.

Sharing these small experiences with people you like can really change your mood. It was so nice talking to his parents even if it only were for a couple of minutes.

Tropical Terror

After the release of Overwatch Halloween Terror it hit me...

It is almost Halloween!

I love Halloween, although I am pretty bad at celebrating it. Do not even know if you truly are celebrating. For me Halloween is scary; the dead awakens and the chilly nights are not the wind, it is the ghosts walking by. It is the only time of the year when I almost believe something else happens after you die than just nothing. I can almost feel the thin veil between the living and the dead.

Nowadays it is just parties, drunkards, slutty-dress-up and such. At least, that is what I think. I have not been to a Halloween party in years. We tried to make it scary when I was younger but it never got there. When I was a teenager we would watch movies and take long walks in the middle of the night. That was scarier than before but not where I want it to be.

I want to dress up! Not a slutty witch or a sexy vampire - I want to be scary. I think this is why I watch so many makeup tutorials of Halloween costumes on YouTube. I have written about my morning routine before; now you know what it is that I am watching. Thing is, they are really good. In the right environment some of these costumes would be deadly scary! I would have loved it. Too bad I am both bad at makeup/dress up and also right now I live in a tropical country where it seems impossible for things to be scary.

Instead I wanted to change the blog. Something at least. It has the background of our view and everything looked really warm and tropical. I asked John for help and he kindly did so. We opened Photoshop and started fixing with colours and the cut outs I had chosen. My thoughts had been simple colour correction and cut and paste action, but he spent over half an hour doing this! Enjoy it! It will only last until... I remove it. Which will be when Halloween is over!

I will post the photos so you can enlarge them and see the terrific job he has done!