sunny island set in the sea
i haven't even finished posting about my us trip, but something far more exciting happened this week, so i'm going to talk about that instead. I GOT A BUBBLEFOREST IN MY BED. for five whole days!! it's the first time anyone outside asia has visited me, and it was the best time! THE BEST. and mette was so great, too, can i just say. most lovely guest ever. so adventurous and willing to try everything - and i do mean everything - and always up for the stuff i had planned, even when it probably wore her out. this was meant to be a vacation, but i'm pretty sure she's going to spend her next week sleeping this week off. ILU METTEKINS.
so. bubbleforest landed early sunday morning at the airport. she had a little hiccup at immigration, during which time i silently freaked out because the baggage carousel was almost empty and i still didn't see her and i was texting my dad all WHAT IF WE MISSED HER OMG SHE'S NOT HERE but that was just the nerves talking, and everything was fine once she did make it out! we took a little drive and probably overwhelmed mette with all sorts of information about singapore, and then stopped by at the apartment so she could put all her stuff down and freshen up a little. (i'd forgotten the keys to the apartment in all the excitement, so we had to take a detour to grab those first; such a stellar first impression, seriously.) and then we were off to the botanical gardens. OUTDOORS. IN THE HUMIDITY AND THE HEAT. and mette didn't even come close to passing out. such a champ, you guys, ydek. we grabbed some breakfast, and then went to see the orchid garden, and the gift shop, and japanese ladies all covered up to avoid the sun, and it was all in all a fun time.
after that we went back to the apartment for a little rest, and sat around chatting for a little bit. but poor mette was so jetlagged we took a quick nap... that became a less quick nap, but that we finally woke up from for a delicious meal of chicken rice (probably the least adventurous of all the meals i made mette try here). after that we just sat around the dining table talking. i should've let mette go back to sleep but i was so excited that she was actually in singapore. IN MY APARTMENT. so we ended up chatting all the way till dinner time, when my parents picked us up and drove us back to the house for dinner with my uncle and aunt. we had SO MUCH FOOD. i wish i'd been as diligent about taking photos as mette was. we had oluak, and satay, and fried dark sauce noodles, and hokkien mee, and chai poh kway teow, and foie gras on a stick, and roast chicken, and dou miao, and kailan, and watermelon juice, and if you don't know what half those things are, NEITHER DID METTE. and she ate them all anyway. WHO EVEN DOES THAT. AMAZING PEOPLE, THAT'S WHO. ugh, that was so great. she was so tired, though, and didn't feel super great, and she was still the most amazing guest and so friendly and lovely and (': YOU GUYS WISH YOU HAD A METTE AS YOUR HOUSEGUEST FOR A WEEK, OKAY. I'M JS.
(i mean she brought presents for everyone - all the food! and a vase for my parents! - and she let me open my birthday present OVER A MONTH EARLY which was the best thing and meant that we could wear matching bracelets out to the zoo and :D I MEAN LOOK HOW LOVELY THOSE ARE
)
we headed back to the apartment after that and went straight to bed. 6am wake-up calls are not my friend. we got almost twelve hours of sleep that night, which was great, because we had a full day of shopping planned for monday. well, half a day, but still. we got to far east plaza by 12ish, and wandered around for a bit before heading to the sushi bar for lunch where we had ALL THE NEW JAPANESE FOOD. (i made her stand in line for like twenty minutes just waiting for the place to open, idek why she put up with me.) it was worth it though. watching mette try a handroll, and chawanmushi, and salmon belly sashimi for the first time? and having her enjoy it? A+++++++ also canned green tea. ALL THE NEW STUFF, BASICALLY. and the place was so cramped, and they've started charging gst and service (boo), but it was so good anyway. i'm glad we did it. then it was off to shop! I'M TERRIBLE AT MAKE UP THINGS SO I COULDN'T EVEN RECOMMEND GOOD PLACES TO GO TO, but we did stop at watson's, and tangs (where we also tried sugar cane and sour plum juice, and mette LOVED IT) and ion (where we spent all our time and monies) and finally headed to wheelock for dinner at nam nam with trumpeterofdoom! FUN TIMES. also new food, because mette had never had pho before! I GET ALL HER FIRSTS :D
anyway, the highlight of my day was when jm would be talking to me about something, and our accents would change, and mette would go WHAT ARE YOU SAYING in the middle of a sentence, and i'd basically not even have noticed that jm's speech had picked up in speed. this happened very frequently. it was AMAZING. we talked fandom shop all through dinner - which jm bought, because she is lovely and having mette in town is a treat for all of us - and then through post-dinner dessert at a hong kong dessert cafe, where we made mette try mango pomelo sago (which she enjoyed) and durian pancake (and let the record reflect that bubbleforest is the bravest little soldier because everyone had said so much crap about durian by that point, but she tried it anyway! and hated it, but still!) we went for post-dessert coffee after that, but we were both pretty tired from our day and jm had work in the morning, so we headed home not too long later. we ended up watching a little tv and giving mette her first taste of mcdonalds delivery! which was a pretty fun experience.
unfortunately, mette had a bad case of jetlag and didn't get to bed till 6am that night, but we got to sleep in till after noon the next day, so that wasn't too bad! we ended up going to vivocity to have yakun kaya toast for breakfast - where we were served by the GRUMPIEST lady ever, wow - and then to see how to train your dragon 2, where we both wept like children, and i yet again amazed with my silent crey skills! \o/o\ after the movie, we did a tiny spot of shopping, and then we took the mrt to chinatown, where we had the most delightful collagen soup for dinner. i had a little trouble navigating around chinatown - FAILIEST TOUR GUIDE EVER, SERIOUSLY, i'm pretty sure mette knows her way around here better than i do by now - but the meal more than made up for it, and i was so glad mette enjoyed herself! the best part came at the end, because the lovely waitress serving us knew that mette was from denmark and going to be leaving in just a couple of days, and when she brought out the dessert plate she had gotten the kitchen to draw mette's face on the plate in fudge, and written "have a safe trip, see you soon!" around the border. SO. LOVELY. that was just genuinely the nicest surprise. we have such great people here sometimes, i was so proud.
after dinner we walked around chinatown, and we saw the sri mariamman temple, walked along pagoda street, temple street, and trengganu street, and bargained our way into a lovely calligraphy gift for mette's brother and his girlfriend. we also stopped at chinatown complex, and got angry, confused stares from all the ah peks there who were just trying to enjoy their games of chinese chess without being gawked at by weird young girls touring the area. we took a cab home shortly after and got an early night, because~~
WEDNESDAY WAS ZOO DAY!!!!! and because i have friends in high places and nickietang is a lovely human being, we got free passes! to the zoo and the river safari. which probably wasn't the best idea because mette doesn't particularly like fish, but we had much more fun than i anticipated, considering how hot it was and how much time we were spending outdoors. (i was working mette up to it slowly though. breaking her in. it figures that the weather's nicest today, the day after she's left, but what are you gonna do :/) we saw jaguars and panda bears and took the tram and saw the elephant show (WHICH WAS SERIOUSLY GREAT) and then got to RIDE THE ELEPHANTS and got seriously adorable pictures from it afterwards and ALSO WE GOT TO SEE THE POLAR BEAR AND TOOK PHOTOS IN A FAKE IGLOO and i'm so glad mette let me take her to the zoo even though nic and i were clearly more into than she was. SHE IS SUCH A GREAT SPORT. THE BEST SPORT.
just look at us being all adorable.
after we wore ourselves out from the zoo, we went to get dinner from nasi lemak kukus. because every meal needs to be a first with me, poor mette. it was pretty delicious though, and she was so hungry, so i think that worked out okay. nicole took a bunch of polaroids for all of us because she is the most wonderful and now i can have two of my favourite people in my wallet with me everywhere i go! but then nicole had to leave, and mette and i didn't get much time to rest before we changed and had to get up and at 'em again though! my parents picked us up at about 9pm so we could watch the light show at mbs, and enjoy singapore's skyline in the night. it was so lovely, but it was a little warm, and the show was pretty meh. and then we STILL had to make another stop at mustafa centre (because everyone needs to see our 24 hour mall) to buy mette a bolster, WHICH IS SOMETHING ELSE THEY DO NOT HAVE IN DENMARK O: O: O: how people survive without it, i will never know.
we had an early appointment at the baba house the next morning, so i crashed pretty early. (EVEN THOUGH IT WAS METTE'S LAST NIGHT IN SINGAPORE, WOE. i was tired a lot this trip, augh.) but we were all set to leave by 9.30 the next day, and we got a fantastic hour-long tour out of it. i learnt more about the peranakan culture in that hour than i have my entire life, and mette really seemed to enjoy it too, which was the most important part.
after that we had dim sum for lunch with my parents - another first! - and we tried peking duck and roast pork and xiao long bao and siu mai and duck porridge (because it boggles my mind that porridge outside of asia is apparently eaten sweet) and jellyfish, and all manners of strange things that mette took in stride (as she does with everything <3). after that we did a spot more shopping for last minute make up and food things that mette needed to bring home, and wound up taking a quick drive around arab street after we were done with that. it seemed like it might rain, and i didn't want us to be rushing around before mette's flight home, so we took the afternoon off, and went back to the apartment for a marathon of seven episodes of drop dead diva. AWESOME TIMES. we snacked all afternoon, and ordered mcdelivery in again for dinner.
and then it was time for mette to leave for the airport and i was tempted for a millisecond to lock her in the apartment so she'd have to stay some more, but. we'd just seen an episode with a felony kidnapping and that seemed like an erroneous choice. I HATE AIRPORT GOODBYES SO WE'RE JUST NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT BIT. suffice to say mette left and i was sad and it was such a short trip ): nowhere even close to long enough. WHY CAN'T BUBBLEFOREST JUST LIVE HERE AND HAVE ALL THE DELICIOUS UNHEALTHY FOOD WITH ME
so. bubbleforest landed early sunday morning at the airport. she had a little hiccup at immigration, during which time i silently freaked out because the baggage carousel was almost empty and i still didn't see her and i was texting my dad all WHAT IF WE MISSED HER OMG SHE'S NOT HERE but that was just the nerves talking, and everything was fine once she did make it out! we took a little drive and probably overwhelmed mette with all sorts of information about singapore, and then stopped by at the apartment so she could put all her stuff down and freshen up a little. (i'd forgotten the keys to the apartment in all the excitement, so we had to take a detour to grab those first; such a stellar first impression, seriously.) and then we were off to the botanical gardens. OUTDOORS. IN THE HUMIDITY AND THE HEAT. and mette didn't even come close to passing out. such a champ, you guys, ydek. we grabbed some breakfast, and then went to see the orchid garden, and the gift shop, and japanese ladies all covered up to avoid the sun, and it was all in all a fun time.
after that we went back to the apartment for a little rest, and sat around chatting for a little bit. but poor mette was so jetlagged we took a quick nap... that became a less quick nap, but that we finally woke up from for a delicious meal of chicken rice (probably the least adventurous of all the meals i made mette try here). after that we just sat around the dining table talking. i should've let mette go back to sleep but i was so excited that she was actually in singapore. IN MY APARTMENT. so we ended up chatting all the way till dinner time, when my parents picked us up and drove us back to the house for dinner with my uncle and aunt. we had SO MUCH FOOD. i wish i'd been as diligent about taking photos as mette was. we had oluak, and satay, and fried dark sauce noodles, and hokkien mee, and chai poh kway teow, and foie gras on a stick, and roast chicken, and dou miao, and kailan, and watermelon juice, and if you don't know what half those things are, NEITHER DID METTE. and she ate them all anyway. WHO EVEN DOES THAT. AMAZING PEOPLE, THAT'S WHO. ugh, that was so great. she was so tired, though, and didn't feel super great, and she was still the most amazing guest and so friendly and lovely and (': YOU GUYS WISH YOU HAD A METTE AS YOUR HOUSEGUEST FOR A WEEK, OKAY. I'M JS.
(i mean she brought presents for everyone - all the food! and a vase for my parents! - and she let me open my birthday present OVER A MONTH EARLY which was the best thing and meant that we could wear matching bracelets out to the zoo and :D I MEAN LOOK HOW LOVELY THOSE ARE
)
we headed back to the apartment after that and went straight to bed. 6am wake-up calls are not my friend. we got almost twelve hours of sleep that night, which was great, because we had a full day of shopping planned for monday. well, half a day, but still. we got to far east plaza by 12ish, and wandered around for a bit before heading to the sushi bar for lunch where we had ALL THE NEW JAPANESE FOOD. (i made her stand in line for like twenty minutes just waiting for the place to open, idek why she put up with me.) it was worth it though. watching mette try a handroll, and chawanmushi, and salmon belly sashimi for the first time? and having her enjoy it? A+++++++ also canned green tea. ALL THE NEW STUFF, BASICALLY. and the place was so cramped, and they've started charging gst and service (boo), but it was so good anyway. i'm glad we did it. then it was off to shop! I'M TERRIBLE AT MAKE UP THINGS SO I COULDN'T EVEN RECOMMEND GOOD PLACES TO GO TO, but we did stop at watson's, and tangs (where we also tried sugar cane and sour plum juice, and mette LOVED IT) and ion (where we spent all our time and monies) and finally headed to wheelock for dinner at nam nam with trumpeterofdoom! FUN TIMES. also new food, because mette had never had pho before! I GET ALL HER FIRSTS :D
anyway, the highlight of my day was when jm would be talking to me about something, and our accents would change, and mette would go WHAT ARE YOU SAYING in the middle of a sentence, and i'd basically not even have noticed that jm's speech had picked up in speed. this happened very frequently. it was AMAZING. we talked fandom shop all through dinner - which jm bought, because she is lovely and having mette in town is a treat for all of us - and then through post-dinner dessert at a hong kong dessert cafe, where we made mette try mango pomelo sago (which she enjoyed) and durian pancake (and let the record reflect that bubbleforest is the bravest little soldier because everyone had said so much crap about durian by that point, but she tried it anyway! and hated it, but still!) we went for post-dessert coffee after that, but we were both pretty tired from our day and jm had work in the morning, so we headed home not too long later. we ended up watching a little tv and giving mette her first taste of mcdonalds delivery! which was a pretty fun experience.
unfortunately, mette had a bad case of jetlag and didn't get to bed till 6am that night, but we got to sleep in till after noon the next day, so that wasn't too bad! we ended up going to vivocity to have yakun kaya toast for breakfast - where we were served by the GRUMPIEST lady ever, wow - and then to see how to train your dragon 2, where we both wept like children, and i yet again amazed with my silent crey skills! \o/o\ after the movie, we did a tiny spot of shopping, and then we took the mrt to chinatown, where we had the most delightful collagen soup for dinner. i had a little trouble navigating around chinatown - FAILIEST TOUR GUIDE EVER, SERIOUSLY, i'm pretty sure mette knows her way around here better than i do by now - but the meal more than made up for it, and i was so glad mette enjoyed herself! the best part came at the end, because the lovely waitress serving us knew that mette was from denmark and going to be leaving in just a couple of days, and when she brought out the dessert plate she had gotten the kitchen to draw mette's face on the plate in fudge, and written "have a safe trip, see you soon!" around the border. SO. LOVELY. that was just genuinely the nicest surprise. we have such great people here sometimes, i was so proud.
after dinner we walked around chinatown, and we saw the sri mariamman temple, walked along pagoda street, temple street, and trengganu street, and bargained our way into a lovely calligraphy gift for mette's brother and his girlfriend. we also stopped at chinatown complex, and got angry, confused stares from all the ah peks there who were just trying to enjoy their games of chinese chess without being gawked at by weird young girls touring the area. we took a cab home shortly after and got an early night, because~~
WEDNESDAY WAS ZOO DAY!!!!! and because i have friends in high places and nickietang is a lovely human being, we got free passes! to the zoo and the river safari. which probably wasn't the best idea because mette doesn't particularly like fish, but we had much more fun than i anticipated, considering how hot it was and how much time we were spending outdoors. (i was working mette up to it slowly though. breaking her in. it figures that the weather's nicest today, the day after she's left, but what are you gonna do :/) we saw jaguars and panda bears and took the tram and saw the elephant show (WHICH WAS SERIOUSLY GREAT) and then got to RIDE THE ELEPHANTS and got seriously adorable pictures from it afterwards and ALSO WE GOT TO SEE THE POLAR BEAR AND TOOK PHOTOS IN A FAKE IGLOO and i'm so glad mette let me take her to the zoo even though nic and i were clearly more into than she was. SHE IS SUCH A GREAT SPORT. THE BEST SPORT.
just look at us being all adorable.
after we wore ourselves out from the zoo, we went to get dinner from nasi lemak kukus. because every meal needs to be a first with me, poor mette. it was pretty delicious though, and she was so hungry, so i think that worked out okay. nicole took a bunch of polaroids for all of us because she is the most wonderful and now i can have two of my favourite people in my wallet with me everywhere i go! but then nicole had to leave, and mette and i didn't get much time to rest before we changed and had to get up and at 'em again though! my parents picked us up at about 9pm so we could watch the light show at mbs, and enjoy singapore's skyline in the night. it was so lovely, but it was a little warm, and the show was pretty meh. and then we STILL had to make another stop at mustafa centre (because everyone needs to see our 24 hour mall) to buy mette a bolster, WHICH IS SOMETHING ELSE THEY DO NOT HAVE IN DENMARK O: O: O: how people survive without it, i will never know.
we had an early appointment at the baba house the next morning, so i crashed pretty early. (EVEN THOUGH IT WAS METTE'S LAST NIGHT IN SINGAPORE, WOE. i was tired a lot this trip, augh.) but we were all set to leave by 9.30 the next day, and we got a fantastic hour-long tour out of it. i learnt more about the peranakan culture in that hour than i have my entire life, and mette really seemed to enjoy it too, which was the most important part.
after that we had dim sum for lunch with my parents - another first! - and we tried peking duck and roast pork and xiao long bao and siu mai and duck porridge (because it boggles my mind that porridge outside of asia is apparently eaten sweet) and jellyfish, and all manners of strange things that mette took in stride (as she does with everything <3). after that we did a spot more shopping for last minute make up and food things that mette needed to bring home, and wound up taking a quick drive around arab street after we were done with that. it seemed like it might rain, and i didn't want us to be rushing around before mette's flight home, so we took the afternoon off, and went back to the apartment for a marathon of seven episodes of drop dead diva. AWESOME TIMES. we snacked all afternoon, and ordered mcdelivery in again for dinner.
and then it was time for mette to leave for the airport and i was tempted for a millisecond to lock her in the apartment so she'd have to stay some more, but. we'd just seen an episode with a felony kidnapping and that seemed like an erroneous choice. I HATE AIRPORT GOODBYES SO WE'RE JUST NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT BIT. suffice to say mette left and i was sad and it was such a short trip ): nowhere even close to long enough. WHY CAN'T BUBBLEFOREST JUST LIVE HERE AND HAVE ALL THE DELICIOUS UNHEALTHY FOOD WITH ME