John turned Cat

E3 is happening in Los Angeles next week and John will be there. This means he will be gone for two weeks, along with some of his colleagues. One of them has a cat and I am cat-sitting during the time he is gone. Before he arrived to stay we had two cat-dates to make sure they could get along, but now he is here.

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.

Met Vet

We took Ymir to PetsAvenue today for his second dose of Feline Rhinotracheitis-Calici-Panleukopenia-Chlamydia Psittaci Vaccine. It really rolls off the tongue. While there the vet checked other things as well and we ended up buying two expensive products again.

Two Catsteps

It was a first time twice today for our young maine coon Ymir. Some things are just for the cat interested to read, this post is one of them. Sensitive readers wary of bodily fluids will be advised not to read any further.

Four-legged Floor

There is an annual Pet Expo here in Singapore that has been going on since 2014. I heard about it over an event-site and thought it would be a small adventure to do. Either way, none of us had been to the expo before. It had its own subway station and is located close to the airport.

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.

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...

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!

Small things can make a Day

Today I did not want to sit in my worn-down chair in front of the computer. I feel like every day is another day by this bright screen. This is where I write my book. This is where I communicate with friends. This is where I find most entertainment. This is the chair where my butt is formed. Not literally.

Yes, I started my morning by the computer but only for an hour. While eating my breakfast I watched another episode of Downton Abbey - one of my favourite British series of all time. When it was done I was supposed to open my documents and start writing. I got as far as opening them before my hand dragged the mouse to the off button. I could not stop it. No more, it said.

So I sat down in the living room, finding the fluffy carpet immensely comfortable opposite the stiff chair. I played with the cat for a while but when the cat did not want to play anymore I stared at the table the TV stood upon. It was dusty. It was messy. I could not stand it. I fetched a cloth and pulled out all PS games, all board games and everything else in there. I brushed the items and I swabbed the shelves. Suddenly the cat was inside and would not come out. He found it very interesting to have access to an area previously messy and dusty. He did not help my cleaning; instead, after I asked him kindly to leave, there was a new batch of cat hair on the shelves. I swabbed it all over again and then organised everything neatly.

Afterwards I felt done but my eyes fell upon the TV and the soundbar. They were dusty as well. Cat hair everywhere! I had to swab that too. I cleaned the rug and saw the dishes and made those as well. I washed my hands in the bathroom and saw the dirt across the counter and so I cleaned again. The dots from toothpaste on the mirror annoyed me so I removed those too.

Eventually I did not find anything else to clean (since I had one of these episodes yesterday and vacuum cleaned everything). Then I put on a washing machine and went to the gym. Did some cardio and strength. Got back up and hung the laundry. I decided to eat an omelette for lunch. I have never made an omelette before. I asked John for advise and a sort of recipe. Two large eggs, some onion, finely chopped tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Halfway through its cooking I put a load of Parmesan and folded it. It tasted really good actually. I have never really liked omelette but this I enjoyed eating. I felt so healthy.

I read a few chapters in my very poetic book about a blind girl and a deaf boy in Berlin during world war two. A really good book indeed. John once suggested I should write reviews on the blog, but I am already writing them on GoodReads and my activity on GoodReads can be seen in the menu to the right. I looked at my neat pile of PS games and saw one I had not played in a while. Put it in and played for two hours. Then I confirmed the evening plans with John.

By the time he left for work I was on my way to the subway as well. We met a Bouna Vista and travelled to Jurong East to visit IMM again. I have written about this mall earlier and if you are interested you can type in the three letters in the search box to the right and find those posts. We had a clear goal with our visit and made haste around it. First we had dinner at a new restaurant. I had chicken and rice which was far too much for me to eat. John had noodles, fried wantons and mushrooms. He helped me with my meal. I asked the waiter what the crispy popcorn-tasting chips were and she answered belinjo (although Googled sayd melinjo). I need to find this in a store, it was really good!

After that we found our way to the Nike store which we entered in our Nike shoes. We found a guy to ask for help and quickly found the shoes John needed. A pair of jogging shoes with a firmer sole. He bought a green pair, really cool colour. At the same time we bought new anti-blister socks since he had been using mine which are too small for him. Now we are truly fully Nike-wearing, semi-healthy persons!

We swooped through Best Denki, listened to a guy talk about electric shavers, looked at the prices and thanked for his help. Walked out of there with new bags for the vacuum cleaner. Walked downstairs, saw a sushi go-round which I had never seen before and would love to visit, immediately sent a picture to John's family to report this and agreed with his sister to go there once she visits in December. We walked to two clothing stores looking for comfortable shorts/longer pants for me but found nothing. Did a quick run into Guardian (apothecary) and bought pain killers, new blades for John's razor and a large package of tampons.

Lastly we entered Giant, the gigantic grocery-and-other-things store. Picked up a basket each and went straight to the food. Put things from our mental lists into the basket and checked with the written one on my phone. Filled both halfway and stood in line for a while. Let the lady in the cashier pack our things in as many thin plastic bags as she liked, even though we had the discussion about the environment in Swedish whilst this happened. Grabbed a cab and rode home. I felt sick after a few minutes. The cat was waiting by the door, I almost opened it on his head. We put the groceries everywhere, feeling very pleased with ourselves about the amount of vegetables and fruit instead of candy and soda.

Now I will close down this life-sucking machine, aka computer, once more and read another chapter before going to bed. Excuse this long rant about my day but a lot did happen even though nothing really did. Thank you for reading this blog.

Good night!

Feeling Friday

Apparently I slept really well last night. I have had rough mornings all week and been very tired up until noon. Today I woke up very relaxed. Then John said I woke him up in the middle of the night, around three or so, and told him about my dream - that I needed dementors for my prison in the game Prison Architect. I have been playing this game every morning this week and apparently it stuck in my head. I have no memory of this dream or of John - I was happily asleep.

I have a theory of why I have been so tired. I have been to the gym three days in a row (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) but yesterday my body was sore and I gave myself a day off. I have not been working out as often as this for a very long time (maybe ever) so I think my body just needed some rest. Today I am energised!

Other news: Ymir is pretty annoying. I am trying to work, sitting here by the computer writing words, and he comes around the corner meowing. I ask him what he wants; if it is food or if the litter box is full. I follow him to the food, I refill the bowls, I give him new water and he stares at me. I clean the litter box, I clean the floor and I look at him. Then I go back to my writing and after a few minutes he comes around the corner... meowing. The only thing that has been working is cuddling. I pick him up and either he lays in my lap by the computer, purring as if really pleased with himself but only for a few minutes because then he wants to leave, or I pick him up and go to the bed/sofa and cuddle there and he is so pleased and purring. Then suddenly he lashes out and his sharp claws find the most vulnerable place on my hand and I start to bleed.

My book is going well. I am working hard on the last chapters. I have an old chapter of this part in the book, but I do not like it and have to figure new things out, which takes a little longer than expected. And this is the last event in the book - it HAS to be great!

 Have a good weekend!

Vet-Trip and Chinese

We took Ymir to the vet today. Yesterday his eye was red and a strange cloud could be seen hovering over his pupil. I had never seen something remotely like it before so I informed John and googled. Could be an inflammation, dirt or cloudy eye. We booked a time just to be sure.

John had lunch at the hawker centre by the clinic; I had eaten a large sandwich an hour earlier. I sat with Ymir and tried to calm him down. The noise was new to him, since he is an indoors only cat, and the smells made his nose flare hastily. He did not seem to notice me and only glanced at my hand once.

Around two we entered the clinic. They greeted us by asking the animal's name and hearing them try to pronounce it always cheers me up. After a few minutes a woman showed us inside a small room and asked the problem. Apart from the eye we explained about the bloody asshole (literally) and the almost fully healed burn on his foot.

First she dropped a luminescent liquid in his eye and shined on it with infrared light. We did not have anything to say about this but might have had an opinion if we knew it was that expensive for a few drops. There was nothing in his eye, no problem with it and it was probably only dirt. The eye looked better today anyway - as it always seems to get once you get to the doctor with your problem. She then put on gloves and a lubricant and shoved a finger up his butt. Ymir was very calm, did not make a sound, only moved his butt a little in discomfort. Such a good boy! She said his something balls things where the liquid cats spray to mark territory is was somewhat swollen and could be due to the poop. I think there was a connection between the two.

In the end we were given pills to lighten up the spill, drops for his eye and a heavy bill to pay. Of course we do not think about the money when it comes to our cat. Anything for him to be healthy. What I am saying is that it would have been more comfortable to know the expense before having to pay up.

He came home fine and ran out of his carrier. He walked around the apartment making sure everything was still there and that he was the only cat and probably something else. I do not know, I can not read his mind. Then he ran back to the carrier, entered and lay there looking as comfortable as ever. He was not very traumatised.

John and I could not think of anything to order or cook for dinner so we crossed the street to a Chinese restaurant. The place was full and we had to wait twenty minutes for a table. Then we got placed in the corner with our faces against the wall and a window looking directly out onto another table full of people. Not the best view. We ordered a lot since we apparently have no idea how much is normal to order for two people. The waiter even changed our order from ten pork buns to five. The dishes came in one after another. Their signature dish was pork buns and they were terrific! Like a hamburger. I really liked that. Then we had noodles, dumplings, beef and vegetables. It does not sound like a lot but it was.

We walked home after eating too much too fast and had two take-away boxes with us!

Waiting Eyesight

Today I waited.

But more about that later. John went to the doctor today. For a few weeks now he has had problems with one eye, seeing something dirty and almost wrinkled (floaters) in his field of view. This morning he had an early appointment and took a cab directly to the hospital, Mount Elizabeth. According to himself it looked like a luxurious hotel. I can only tell you what he told me on the phone after the examination. They sprayed something into his eyes to widen the pupils, doing so making it easier to see the inside of the eye. The photo he sent me was both extremely unsettling but also very interesting. It is fascinating how big a pupil can get! John's almost covered the whole iris. Then they took a bunch of tests, using machines which they charged you for using even if only for thirty seconds. Luckily this went under his insurance.

Unfortunately John has something called lattice degeneration. If you do not know what this is I suggest you Google it. I will try to explain. 'The "things" holding his retina in place are structurally weakened.' That was a direct quote from John himself. The most important thing to say here is that it does not hurt - he is in no pain! Something else important to mention is that it will probably never go away. He will always see those spots and cracks. The condition might get better, but nothing is for certain. If it gets worse he could have a laser operation to fix it. I do not know if this will fix everything, but if it gets worse the operation will perhaps at least put it back in the state that it is right now. Speculations, people! This would all be much easier to write if John actually wrote it. He will not.

After the meeting he went on with his day. I had suggested he would take sunglasses with him, not knowing he would actually need them later. Unknowingly smart, that is me. The pupils were still incredibly huge and so the sunlight was extremely painful. In the office things went better but a headache appeared and he did not have a very pleasant day. Understandably.

Back to me waiting. After I had waited for John to call and knowing he was fine but not fine, I waited for the AC cleaning service. We had an appointed time at eleven sharp and I had been pacing for at least half an hour up until that. Just in case they were early. They were not. Twenty minutes past eleven I asked John to call them. He called me and said they were being held up at the costumer before us and so they would be half an hour/an hour late.

"So, they will be here in fifteen or thirty minutes?" I asked since it was already eleven thirty.

No. It was an hour from the time John called them. He told me not to pace around and do something while waiting. I could not! I sat in the sofa reading but after I finished a chapter I was stressed about sitting there reading when it would eventually knock on the door.

Fifteen minute past twelve they arrived. Apologised for being late. Then more trouble appeared.

We were signing a contract with this company that four times in a year they will come and clean our ACs. This is normal in Singapore. This is not normal in Sweden. Apparently there is a law that AC cleaners must come to your house every third month (we thought it was every sixth month). The first time this happened was in April, I wrote about it in a post. It was a total surprise they would show up since the folder with this information had not yet been delivered to us by d'Leedon management. I let them in and they did their job, but six months later nothing happened. John talked to out agent, since everything between the residents and the owner will go through agents, and he said we needed to book these ourselves. D'Leedon only booked the first four once, but failed to both mention this to us the first time and they failed to inform us to book this ourselves!

The real problem was the contract. There had been a misunderstanding over the phone between John and these two mens's boss. One unit is not one apartment, but one AC. The boss made it seem the other way around. John only asked for one unit to be cleaned. I called John and asked the guy standing next to me to talk to him since I had no idea what had been said. The man next to me told John that he would tell his boss to call him and sort this out.

Meanwhile they started cleaning. Ymir was a very scared kitten, sitting behind the bed where he had been previously sound asleep. Now he dared to barely sneak above the edge and watch these new interesting men. When the special AC-cleaning vacuum-cleaner (I will coin that word, thank you very much) went off he hurried into safety behind the standing mattress used as backrest for John.

John called and it had all been sorted out. I would give them hundred and forty in cash, which is the price for one AC unit to be cleaned, and then I was given the number to the bank to which we would transfer the rest.

After one o'clock they finally left. At this point I would like to point out that I had planned to have lunch with John, meaning I would have left twelve thirty, but was unable to because they were late. Another thing I need to point out, because I hate this part, is that THEY did not call to tell us they were going to be late. John had to call them. *grinding teeth* I had a very good lunch! Rice and big chicken breasts - apparently they can stick together and become one large which I mistook for one so I almost ate both. The half I could not eat because I was full had to go back into the fridge. It was a tasty meal!

That is literally it. After lunch it was closer to three than I knew about at the time. I had to take a nap after I finished eating so when I sat down by the computer to work it was already half past four. I worked for a bit, gamed for a while then suddenly John came home. Lots of hugs have been exchanged tonight. John is even trying to set a record of kissing me on the head. Tomorrow is Friday and I will have my lunch with him!

The inside of John's eyes. The right eye is the one with lattice degeneration.

When it looks good - STOP

Today I had a very long list of things to do. While eating breakfast I sat by the computer, doing my morning routine of wasting time on YouTube. Not for long though, around ten I decided to get going.

I started with running around the house picking up things and putting them down. It is amazing how things end up everywhere once you have touched them. Must say that John is better at this than I am and so I find the most unbelievable things in the most unlikely of places. Makes it more fun, so half a thank you for that.

After I wiped off most of the surfaces I vacuumed the floors. I applauded Ymir for being brave; sitting on the toilet staring down at the machine invading his private pooping place. It was then already time for lunch (almost, but I needed time to cook as well). My amazing lunch consisted of yesterdays chicken teriyaki and I cooked noodles. I made it perfect! I am such a great cook. (Thank you John for cooking!). I watched an episode of House and even though I finished eating halfway through I kind of needed that break.

As soon as the episode was done I was up and working again. Scrubbing the floor and doing the dishes. It took longer than expected. There was no rest after that! I went downstairs, brought the mail back up, went down again and walked fifteen minutes to Cold Storage. I tried to be quick but I could not find the breadcrumbs I needed for the cake I had planned to do. I asked for help and the guy led me away from the baking section to the snacks section. There he showed me breadcrumbs - only they were used for shrimps to fritter. I said thanks and as soon as he was out of sight I left. Went to pick out some whipping cream. While I stood there reading a package in Malay and tried to make sense of it he appeared out of nowhere with two choices. These were baking raspings, and even though I thanked him and picked one, I have no idea where he found them. No clue. Next time I will have to ask again.

Back home I saw that it was already five o'clock. John would be home soon and I had this idea of having the cake ready when he got there. So I opened the recipe and started mixing. When the cake was in the oven and would be in there for half an hour I started whipping. I have never done this manually before. It was not as expected. I whipped for so long and nothing happened. The time passed and it was almost time to take out the cake. The cream was still not whipped cream when the cake came out, luckily it needed to cool down before I could put it on anyway.

When the cream looked somewhat of what it should look like (actually, I did not have the strength to stir any longer) I put it in the fridge. This is the time John walks in through the door. I show him my amazing whipping skills and ask for his help to use the very sharp knife to slice the cake in two. I thought about two layers but decided in the end to just go with one. The cake looked a little too brown to be perfect but it was the first time I baked in a convection oven.

He then got "couch arrest" until I was done decorating. I put on the poorly made cream - realising we needed to buy a spatula since a spoon made it so much harder to get it even - and decorated with raspberries and the half-burnt crumbs stuck inside the cake pan. It looked good and I wish now that I had taken a photo. My brain was probably tired because it thought the cake needed more. The last decoration. I had nothing planned. I melted some chocolate. I had no idea how to get the thick chocolate onto the cake and so I used a spoon to drip it. It looked like tiny turds...

John kindly quit his game to sit by the table, listen to me sing for his twenty second birthday (he just turned twenty three but this cake was promised and a bit late) and then laughed as he saw what I had done. I have made quite a few cakes in my life and other things as well, but this was a low-point. What was even worse was that it did not taste very good. I was not upset, it was expected. New country, new ingredients, new oven and not owning the needed utensils.

We scraped of the good stuff - raspberries, cream, mashed bananas (that was the middle layer) and some of the chocolate - put it on the plate and ate it. I had saved some of the raspberries for John to eat alone since they were quite expensive and he really likes raspberries. Although, he did complain that there were no strawberries on it. Hmphf... well, maybe next time then!

Look at that chocolate! Poop or what?

A sickening birthday

paiiiin    



ssufffferrringgg



this sucks hahahahahahahah

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

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

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

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

And happy birthday.

Singapore to Sweden

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for the visit!

A silent week

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for still reading this blog!

Weekend Happenings

Saturday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday

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

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

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

Overwatch Launch Weekend at Capitol Theatre

Has it been fixed? No, the wardrobe is still broken and difficult to get in to. Yes, we will probably have to pay for it.

Saturday - we met up with some friends at the City Mall MRT. Outside it was hot as normal. We walked to an 7-Eleven and bought something to drink. I chose a large bottle of water, which is rather unusual for me. After that we went back towards the MRT but we did not go inside. Across from the station was Capitol Theatre and today it was hosting an event called Overwatch Launch Weekend. We got in line and tried to understand how long it truly was. We saw two ends of the queue, us standing in the shortest, and they seemed to merge close to the entrance. Happy to see that we would get in soon enough we stood there talking.

Heidi and I walked up to the glass wall of the theatre and saw that the line continued inside. When we turn around to return to our friends I noticed something strange with that longer end of the other line. The people standing there were facing the other way, not the entrance. Some guy guessed they were in line for something else, but it did not fool me. I saw that the line we stood in did not merge by the entrance with that other queue; instead it snaked away and back. I told the others and they realized that this was the truth.

After half an hour in the heat and this enormous queue we gave up. Instead we walked to a tech-mall, Funan, where we walked around without a goal. Browsing a board game-store, a PC/XBOX/etc-store, a store where there was a lot of action figures from animes and others. After an hour in there we decided to go back to the queue and see if there was any change. There was not. It actually looked like it had grown.

There was no chance of us getting back in line. So we talked about it with our friends and told them our plans. We went to Raffles Place, an expensive mall, and walked around there talking about where we could find some things on our shopping list. We googled Pet Lovers Centre and tried to find it. I led us outside since it said so on Maps, but apparently the maps do not show underground and so we had to walk back to Raffles Place after walking across the street and a bit further. At PLC John and I bought some healthy candy that is good for teeth and hairballs (separately), cat-schampo and grass for Ymir.

We then got hungry since some of us had not been eating lunch and some had only had dumplings and some noodles (guess who ate the dumplings). Heidi recommended Din Tai Fung which was a Chinese restaurant where you share the things you order, it's like Greek meze and is called dim sum. We had small dumpling balls that had soup in them (and a piece of meat) that was the best dish according to John and I.

After dinner we separated. John and I bought some last things and then headed home since we knew our kitten was due to be hungry by now. We came home and fed him, drank some wine and gamed some Overwatch.

It feels good to be social even though the plan did not happen. Another time, maybe?

The terrible thoughts of loving someone

Ever since we moved to the sixteenth floor we have both had nightmares/horrible thoughts. John is afraid of heights and even though I am not he rubs it off on me. When Ymir moved in the dreams/thoughts include him as well. They go something like this:

I stand on the balcony with my back against the railing. Suddenly I tip over like my head is heavy and my feet lose connection to gravity. I fall heads-first.

A variety of this is that I am stupid enough to sit or even stand on the railing and fall.

With Ymir it more like this. I hold him in my arms and go close to the railing, showing him the view or wanting to take a photo of him. He starts to twirl and leaps from my arms over to the other side. I watch him fall sixteen floors.

Variety: I leave the balcony door open and when I come back from where I were I see him standing on the railing looking at me. Slowly I go nearer, talking to him and trying to make him jump down and come to me. When he turns to do so his paw slips and I see him fumble and fall.

Please tell me how to get rid of these life-threatening thoughts. They are keeping us from enjoying being on the balcony. I can not lean against the railing without feeling like I am about to fall. I can not lean against it when John is home, he will drag me away from it with a worried look. I can not sit on the balcony reading while Ymir is there since I am too scared that he will magically jump so high up and over if I look away.

But hey, at least the view is great!

Quick trip to the vet

Our little boy have had some troubles the last four days. There has been blod around his stool and we could not figure out why. We tried to give him more wet-food and less dry-food since the stool was really hard, but when it softened the blood was still there.

Last night we took him to the venetianare. Had fun listening to the young Chinese man trying to pronounce his name. He asked a bunch of questions which made us safe that he could find the problem. Ymir and the vet walked into another room where we were told he would get a gloved finger up his butt. There is a first for everything, Ymir. All men need to do it at some point in their life.

When they came back he had the answer. There was a tear at the side of the anus causing the bleed. Every time he tried to poop the tear would go up. If he was human he would scream from the pain, the vet explained. Poor kitten. He informed us to buy pumpkin and mix with his food to soften the spill, but we needed to soften it now since he was in so much pain and so we bought two bottles of medicin.

Pink bottle - Chlorhexidine.
Wipe his butthole with this, twice a day, to help the wound heal properly.

Green bottle - Lactulose
2 ml from a piston syringe down the throat, twice a day, to loosen the spill

He will thank us for this torture when the diarrhoea comes...