Back and forth with little excitment

Friday.

John did not work; he took a four day long weekend that started on that day. We slept in with plans on going out for errands later, but noticed some big dark clouds when we ate breakfast. Directly after we had finished our fruit-yoghurt (leaving a half cup of sad chocolate) we got dressed and hurried outside. There is a mall about ten minutes walk from here that we really needed to go to. Found a pet store there on Google Maps.

The Pet Lovers Centre was really tiny and they had very few of the things we needed, but the guy working there was very helpful and friendly. We liked him. The rain started while we went around this mall. Tried to find wire mesh at a small hardware store but they had none. On the first floor there was a Fair Price. I was surprised by the size and selection so we decided this would be our place to shop food if we need something quick and close by. Five bags in hand we headed outside. The rain was crazy. I tweeted wondering where Noah was. John suggested we took shelter inside the Starbucks around the corner to wait out the rain, but after he put me down in a chair and had been downstairs to order, he told me that the weather would not get better and we should move now before it got worse.

When we got outside the rain had stopped but we walked briskly anyway. After just a minute of safety we sort of walked right into it. Suddenly heavy rain. Umbrellas up! Keep the bags under the umbrella to prevent the rain for filling them up. Hurry, hurry. In Singapore, it is not like umbrellas keep you dry - it keeps you from drowning. When we got home our feet were soaked, shorts wet and heads sweaty. Our loot was fine though, something good.

We stayed home until the rain was far away before we headed out for a second time. Since we did not buy anything at the PLC at Coronation Centre, we took the MRT to Holland Village where we were told there was a larger PLC. Just outside the MRT we bought a blueberry waffle, we think it was made of the same dough as Kaya bread. It was tasty and we fought for the last bite! We found the pet store and bought a lot of stuff. A little climbing and scratching castle, litter box, food bowls, toys, etcetera. It was not heavy to carry so we took it in our hands. Before we got on the MRT we stopped by a hardware store and bought wire mesh for the balcony.

Then, when we unpacked the litter box, we discovered that the flap did not fit. We tried and tried, but there was no way to keep the flap in the holes. It kept falling of. We called the store and asked how we could fix it, if there was anyway we had not yet figured out, but no, they asked us to come back to the store and they would have a look.

A few more minutes of complaining and sighs, since we had already been out in the rain and it was nearing half past five, before we once again went out to the MRT. Back at the store the manager tried to put the flap in the holes but was, as expected, unsuccessful. She fetched another one but it still did not fit. Another employee tried to help. Eventually they asked us to pick another litter box and so John asked if they had any in the same price range. They suggested a really nice looking one but for double the price. We were hoping to get a discount since we spent an hour of our Friday on going back to their store because they sold us a faulty product. This they could not do.

They could neither give our money back nor a discount. A voucher was all we could get. Instead we asked for the cheapest litter box and they found one a dollar less than the first one. Strange, I thought, since John had asked for one in the same price range from the beginning but then they came with a much more expensive one. We bought this one eventually and got a tuna piece for the one dollar they could not give us back.

Then we could go back home and finally relax.

No, we could not. I needed to do the dishes and John vacuum cleaned the apartment. Two hours later Heidi arrived and we went out to meet her by the food court. We bought dinner and took it with us to the apartment. During the dinner we watched the first episode/season six of Game of Thrones. The ending scene not being what we expected. Spoiler, there were no answers about Jon Snow! After that we watched two episodes of an anime serie Heidi showed us which was quite good and something I would like to continue watching (if I can remember the name). The rest of the evening was spent getting seriously scared by SOMA, me playing first and then John.

When the cinema broke me

Last night we met outside the food court near our home. We ate dinner and had plenty of time before our movie was going to start - The Jungle Book. After we finished we took the MRT and switched lines two times. First Circle Line to Botanic Gardens, then Downton Line to Newton and lastly North South Line one station to Orchard.

The MRT at Orchard was located below a huge mall. We had to ask two persons on two different locations to even understand which way we were supposed to go. At one point we found the MRT again and realized we had been walking in a circle. Then we found two kind of creepy escalators; the kind that would smell like piss in Sweden. Totally fine here in Singapore though. It looked expensive with mirrored walls so it would feel larger than the small space it was.

When we got up to the street again we had half an hour before the movie was supposed to start. We had been at least twenty minutes in that mall trying to find a way out. John even pointed out it was built like a casino with no windows and no clear directions. Anyway, the Shaw Theatres Lido was just across the street. Outside there was this pick-your-side booth between Team Ironman vs Team Captain America. Tony Stark was in the lead and he had both our votes. We went to the fifth floor and sat down to wait fifteen minutes before they seated the auditorium. When the IMAX "now seating" sign was blinking we got our pre-ordered large popcorn and Pepsi before finding our seats at row E.

This was my first experience with IMAX and boy was I excited! The IMAX had an intro where they demonstrated the screen and the speakers capability, with cool effects like a jet-plane motor and a pin dropping to the floor. It was so overwhelming. I could have walked out right then and be pleased with the IMAX experience.

The movie started. People were late and blocked the view for the first five minutes. I almost stood up to yell at them, but decided not to. Instead sat there with fingers tapping John's arm and sighing heavily. Apparently this is how Asian people go to movies, I thought.

In the middle of the movie everyone's glasses broke. The right eye went black. You could still see the movie, but it was half as good as before. Nobody moved from their seats, so the whole audience sat there a long time with this heavily downgraded quality. Eventually John took the issue into his own hands and made his way down the row. I saw him leave through the back door, thinking he was stupid since the people working there would be at the front. He missed a less important scene. I saw another guy rise from his seat and make his way down to the front where John was just entering with a woman. He told me and the lady next to him that they were going to fix it.

Two minutes later the quality was back. The movie continued.

After five to ten minutes the black eye was back. People both sighed and laughed. Glasses came of. The quality was blurred and desaturated. Then it came back again. Glasses on. A few more minutes of the IMAX experience and then it shifted again. Glasses of. Glasses on. The movie was nearing its end; the big scene where Mowgli runs with the Red Flower.

And just as the best scene, most exciting part, the start of the end was happening the screen died.

We stayed for maybe twenty minutes waiting for it to start again. At one point the sound came back. I heard it was a earlier scene, they had rewound it, but the picture never came on. And neither did the movie.

Basically, we did not get to see the end of The Jungle Book.

Instead we got two free tickets for any IMAX movie and our money back. I believe that did not make up for it. They left me broken, unknowing what happened in the end. Now spoilers will be avoided and the end will be seen on a less interesting screen at home (still at pretty nice TV though).

And that was my first ever IMAX experience.

Coming and going

Yesterday we had a visitor for a few hours. Annika came back from Bali where she has been for the last two weeks. She has been here (in Asia) for almost two months and last night the took a flight back to Sweden. Before that she visited us at d'Leedon, had dinner and packed her things that were still here.

Saturday Runaround

I can not believe I have not written anything for so long!

Last week I got some less happy news in an email, so my mood for writing or doing anything sort of vanished. I had no thoughts for the blog or the book for a couple of days and I regret not doing any of those things. It has been almost a week since my last post. I do hope all of you who are daily reading this blog are still with me.

On Saturday my mood changed when I had John with me the whole day. We woke up early, which is something very new to both of us during the weekends, and started the day down at the gym. While John used a machine I do not know the name of, (one of those where you sort of run but you hold on to handles and the feet goes in circles...) I power-walked on the treadmill next to him. We had bought entertainment with us since neither can stand exercising without fooling our brains that we are not. John watched something on Shiny (our Xperia tablet) while I read a chapter in a book called Geim.

After half an hour I stopped reading and upped the tempo to jogging. I have never liked gym machines. Whilst walking/running my foot almost made me trip more than four times. This happens when I walk generally, but it is worse when on a machine. I can not stop and catch my breath, the foundation I am walking on keeps moving, so I could hurt myself badly if one trip made me fall forwards. Luckily this has yet to happen.

After forty five minutes in the gym we decided to stop. Walked by the little store just outside our building to buy ice cream and milk, then we thought John could go to the food court to buy us some lunch and bananas. He came back and we had noddles with dumplings and meat while watching Daredevil in Ultra HD 4k! Then it started to rain and just like every other rain here you really CAN NOT go outside if you do not own a boat or have a life-vest.

When it eventually stopped we took the MRT to Chinatown. A new part of this city we had yet to explore. According to John it was very Chinese; the architecture, the smells and obviously the people. With Google Maps help (not so helpful help though) we tried to find a hardware store. Walked up and down small streets with lots of small shops. Found one that Google thought was a hardware store but when we entered found out was a store for restaurant owners to buy all their large pots and rice cookers and more. One of the employees told us we would not find a hardware store where we could buy wire mesh/chicken wire in Chinatown. This we found strange since a man in another store told us to find it here.

Stopped at McDonalds to share a surprisingly large coke while John tried to figure out if a store we had found online was still open. Without an answer to that we headed back to the MRT and travelled to Rochor. There we were just outside Sim Lim Square but no, instead we walked in the heat towards Little India, where, John told me, the architecture was very indian as well as the smell and of course the people. We did not find any hardware stores. The people we asked pointed us in different directions and yet not one store appeared before our eyes.

I called it. My feet were hurting, my head was aching, my body was tired. We made a quick stop at Sim Lim Square to buy some speakers for the computer and some cables. Then used Google to find a FairPrice and bought some food before we took the MRT back home. We ordered food home and had a pleasant evening. What a day that was. We even concluded to buy the wire mesh online!

Is this a hotel?

Good early afternoon.

I went up early today, still trying to puzzle together a routine for myself. John already has one, with a job and all, but me, I have to take responsibility for what I am doing. So today I made myself some breakfast, Greek yoghurt with banana and orange, and watched an episode of Outlander. Even though this sounds great I need to start watching something that is not an hour long.

Either way, after that episode it was just a few minutes past ten, so not much of my morning was wasted. I immediately got dressed for the gym and headed there. There were a few people already training but the only bike was free so I mounted it and began to pedal. Clever as I am I had brought with me a book, so while my legs worked out I found entertainment in one of Lovecrafts many stories.

After one hour the sweat was trickling down into my eyes and my legs were tired. I jumped of and stretched in front of the large mirror. After a few minutes of this I went to the ladies bathroom next door and stood in the shower for a while. Changed into bikini and slid down into the pool outside. The sun was hot and I could barely keep my eyes open, but swan two lengths before I understood how tired I really were. Lay in the sun over the pool edge and relaxed, then grabbed my things, took the elevator to the 16th floor and had yesterdays dinner as lunch.

So now I have a few more hours to fill with more responsibility stuff. I have already wasted too many on my lunch "hour". Will write a few pages (hopefully) before I go out to find a local pet store and see what the prices are.

As I am writing this I hear thunder and see dark clouds outside the window. Perhaps the trip to the store will have to wait. Ymir (our cat) will not arrive until the last day of the month, so I have time.

No rush.

Living in two worlds

Good afternoon.

I had an informative dream about my book; a creature that lives in the woods around the school. I will not spoil anything but will give you a picture of it that I drew. Today I have been writing so much I have completely forgotten to eat lunch. At least a had a semi-big breakfast consisting a large sandwich with salad, tomato, cheese and cucumber. With that I had a nut-bar and some hot chocolate. Now it is half past four and I am starting to get hungry. I am torn between food and writing. I do not want to leave this computer, this chair, this great speed in my fingers right now. Do I really need food to keep going?

Yes. Of course I will eat, do not think otherwise. It is just so hard to tear myself away from something that is so interesting to write. Perhaps you understand me, perhaps you think I am being silly. This is the life of an author. We tend to get stuck by our stories and forget to live ourself.

Maybe I will make Sam eat in the book. Maybe that will make me realise I need to eat too. Maybe I should quit writing posts on the blog and continue writing on the book. Wait. No.

Food first.

Board games with Pie

Good morning Monday.

It was a three day long weekend for us. On Saturday we cleaned the apartment until John felt it was too much and refused to go out with the trash (it made him feel like someone was actually living here). I wonder if this strange feeling will disappear if we clean more often. It is not like we have a dirty home; we just tend to leave things where they are.