Month: November 2022

Day 4: Sept 12th

If this is the first time you’re seeing this post, please check out Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 before reading this!

I met Bunbun and Prem today!!! Both Bunbun and Prem translated on volare before I did.

At the time, I was translating on my own site. Etvo had actually tried recruiting me six months prior, but I didn’t want to give up on my site, so I refused her at first. Later on, I became Prem’s reader, and we started talking. We got along really well, and we would joke around a lot. He is my second Singaporean friend; I had met both him and Fallen during the summer of 2016.

Hence, I was more receptive to translating on volare when Prem brought it up. Eventually, Etvo found out we were close and asked me to join a second time. This time, I agreed! I probably wouldn’t have joined volare if it wasn’t for Prem, and things would be quite different now. (I eventually ended up managing volarenovels, and working on Wuxiaworld, hiring over 30 people for Ren)

Anyway, I remembered Prem was very punny and we would talk for hours about random stuff. At one point, he told me he had a crush on Bunbun, and I was supporting him from behind my laptop. I had also read Bunbun’s translations, and knew of her since we were all translating on the same site. But at the time, I didn’t know her well since we had never spoken privately.

Eventually, Prem and Bunbun met in person, and they started dating shortly after. Hehe. Because Prem and I used to talk A LOT, he told me all the juicy details and the thoughts that were running through his mind. It was actually so cute. Good job for being brave, Prem!

And now, they’re happily married!!

It’s so neat because they wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for translating, and then they would’ve never gotten together!

Sadly, Bunbun and Prem stopped translating several years ago, and they are doing their own thing now. Nonetheless, I still message them once in a while, and funnily enough, I have spoken to Bunbun more over the recent years instead of Prem!

However, when I told them I was coming, they were both looking forward to seeing me. They took off Monday because they thought it would be less crowded and wanted to take me around the Marina Bay Sand area.

That morning, I took the subway and got off at the Bayfront stop (I think). When I exited the station, I saw a casino entrance in the mall, and there were a lot of luxury brands around.

I was a bit early, so I took a brief look around the mall. The mall had a canal and a whirlpool thing in the ceiling. It was hardcore.

Soon, Bunbun and Prem messaged me and said they were already in front of Bacha Coffee.

I could see them from where I was, but because of the canal, I couldn’t actually walk right over. I had to walk up some stairs and cross over a bridge and then down some stairs. They were looking around, but I could see them from above. I sound so creepy, right? Haha.

Anyway, I had already known what they looked like because I have their social media, so there weren’t any surprises there. I exclaimed, “Bunbun! Prem!” And they saw me!

They both gave me super nice hugs, and they were the best greeting hugs I had in Singapore. I give them a 5 star rating!!

We were actually a little dressed up since we were going to have lunch at a fancy restaurant (I forget the name lol. It’s up on a very high building). There was a business casual dress code. Continue reading “Day 4: Sept 12th”

Day 3: Sept 11th

If this is the first time you’re seeing this post, please check out Day 1 and Day 2 before reading this!

Today is actually one of the days I’ve planned the earliest. I had messaged Dray several months before I was coming to let him know that I’d be arriving in Singapore in Sept, and wanted to meet him! He had previously met a bunch of volare translators back when Etvo (my previous boss and ex-owner of volarenovels) went to visit in 2017.

Anyway, I had met Dray probably around 2017 in the volare discord server. At the time, I still hopped on voice chat once in a while, so I recalled karaoking with him a few times. We don’t talk that much, but I’d say we have a pretty good relationship. Throughout the years, he has been helping us moderate the discord server, and tries to help me motivate/message the translators to get them to release more frequently. Thanks, Dray!

As for Mel, I had met him years ago through singing on discord as well. I remembered I was so amazed by his voice that I joined his personal server just to listen to him sing! AHAHAHAHA. That was so many years ago. We had stopped talking for three years. But when I decided that I was going to go to Singapore, I messaged him because I wanted to go sing karaoke with him!

Next, Rozen was also someone I have known for years. I think he was translating/helping Sigil out years ago. Back then, I remembered people teased him and called him Rosie. Hahaha. Rozen and I used to talk more, but we’ve spoken less over the years. However, it was very easy to reconnect with him. I was looking forward to meeting him in person as well! Continue reading “Day 3: Sept 11th”

Day 2: Sept 10th

Please read Day 1 before reading this. Today, I met up with Limit for lunch! He said he was going to pick me up from my hotel. I didn’t realize he was actually going to pick me up with a car. Haha. After all, it is extremely expensive to drive in Singapore. I was told that in order to get a car, you would need a piece of paper to bid, and that paper alone would cost nearly six figures already. The car itself is probably another $50k. To make matters worse, you would only get the car for 10 years (I forget what happens afterwards). Oh, and gas is super expensive too.

So, unless your family is rich (or you are), you probably wouldn’t be driving. Singapore has a super amazing subway system anyway, so you don’t even need to drive. It’s AMAZING. To prove my point, here’s a picture:

Hence, when people tell me that they will pick me up, I would automatically assume that they’re coming over via public transportation and then walking to where I am.

So, I was very stunned when Limit actually drove over. Now, before you think I’m insane for going inside a stranger’s car, Cosy has met Limit before, and Cosy’s brother is Limit’s classmate (or schoolmate? I forget).

Anyhow, it was nice to meet Limit! Limit is one of the twenty translators I had hired back in the summer of 2019 for Wuxiaworld. At the time, I had chosen the top 20 applicants out of the 300+ we had received. Successful applicants had to pass both the novel test as well as the manhua (comic) test. I had chosen ten for novels, and ten for manhua. Limit was one of the people I had chosen for manhua.

I had only briefly worked with Limit because I wasn’t in charge of managing the manhua translators at the time. So, there were probably two years or so that we didn’t chat. It wasn’t until last year that he started editing a Korean novel for us that we talked from time to time.

I recalled he seemed quite chill and friendly, and I figured we should meet up in Singapore since he was a Singaporean! I wanted to go to a 2D café and also an escape room, and invited him to join me, Coca, Corliss, and Blip.

Limit wanted to have lunch first though, so I said, “Sure, let’s go eat somewhere! But could we meet near Bugis because that’s where we’re going to meet the others later?”

Limit was fine with it, and said he’d come to get me at my hotel and we could go together. I thought we were going to take the subway, but it was nice to get a ride.

When we were in the car, we asked for each other’s age. I asked him to guess mine, and he said, “Twenty five.” But for some reason, “twenty” sounded like “thirty” to me in the Singaporean accent, and I nearly shrieked. “YOU THINK I AM 35? DO I LOOK THAT OLD?”

And Limit quickly clarified and exclaimed, “I said 25! 25!” LOLOL

I was like, “Oh. Ok!” I smiled and calmly replied, “I’m actually 34…” And then I was super sad about how old I was. Sigh.

I think he was a bit surprised, but Limit was focusing on driving, so he wasn’t looking at me. Then, he told me he was 26 or 27. I was like, “Ohhhh.”

Honestly, it’s quite hard to tell with Asians. We don’t look too different in our 20s-30s, so it could be a wide range.

Limit mentioned he usually doesn’t drive during the weekdays, because parking would cost $50-$60 downtown if he were to drive to his office and stay there all day. I don’t remember how much parking was during the weekend, but it was cheaper.

But I guess, if you have a car, you might as well use it. If you’re not going to drive it, it’d be a waste of money!! However, I do feel that if guys/girls were going on a date, they should be careful and probably not drive too soon; just in case the person is after their money instead.

Anyway, we arrived to Bugis, and Limit asked me what I wanted to eat. I muttered, “I just want somewhere with A/C.” It was SO HOT!!!

We parked underground in a mall, and then went upstairs and walked outside and quickly found a restaurant. It was a Japanese restaurant where you grill your own meat. I do not remember the name (Sorry, I’m really bad at remembering the names of food or places).

I checked the time, and it was around 12:15pm. I was a bit worried we wouldn’t have enough time to eat because I had booked the escape room for 1pm. Luckily, the food arrived by 12:26pm!

By the way, Limit is EXTREMELY tall. I think he said he was 187cm. I giggled, “Limit, your name is Limit because your height has no limit!”

Limit just stared at me. “…” Hahaha. I guess he didn’t think I was funny.

Me and Limit chatted about his work, and how he was going to quit and vacation in Japan before starting his new job. He seemed to enjoy travelling a lot, and so do I. I felt like he’s been to a lot more places than I have though. I think he likes Japan the most. I have never been, but I’d like to go one day!

I also told him to come out on Sept 15th, since that’s the night where I had invited a bunch of WW translators + volare people to go karaoke. I got Cosy to help me book a party room that could fit 30!

Limit said he would be coming right after work, and would be dressed in his work clothes. I replied, “It’s fine. No one is going to judge you based on what you’re wearing!!” (Actually, I was judged when I had arrived at the airport but that’s beside the point) Continue reading “Day 2: Sept 10th”

Day 1: Arrival (Friday, Sept 9th)

Back in May, I found a SUPER good deal to go to Singapore for a week (hotel and flights included) for $2000 in September. I was very excited because I was finally travelling again after five years!!!

Actually, for the past decade, prior to my San Diego + LA trip, I had only gone to China in 2014 for treatment, and to New York City for several days back in 2017. I had been so sick that I couldn’t really go anywhere. That is why I’ll be travelling A LOT this year and in 2023.

Anyhow, I only told several people I would be coming after I had booked my ticket because I wasn’t going to arrive until September, so I didn’t think I’d need to give people four months of notice. It seemed too much.

Because I deal with Chinese to English translations, I know quite a lot of people in Singapore, and probably had met roughly 30 people on this trip. As a result, I’ll be breaking down my posts into seven or eight (one for each day). It would be impossible for me to describe my experience and everyone in one post.

Quite a number of people had told me that my previous post was way too long, and they couldn’t remember who was who, because the letters confused them too much. So, I’ll be using their discord names or a shorter version of their discord names instead. Hope you’ll enjoy!

—–

The first two Singaporeans I told were Fallen and Cosy. I had met Fallen over six years ago on a translation discord server. Back then, I was translating on my blog because I wanted to grow my audience, and wanted people to read my blog posts.

Meanwhile, Fallen was translating and editing on volarenovels. However, Fallen actually can’t read Chinese. He read/listened based on the sound of the word (pinyin), instead of reading the characters themselves.

I thought he was nuts because it seemed so much extra work, but I eventually met more people that translated based on listening as well. Some people could read, but not speak. Some people could speak, but not read. In the end, I guess as long as you can process what the text is trying to say, it doesn’t matter!

Anyway, Fallen was asking for help in the translation server, and I helped him out back then. I think eventually, he privately messaged me and asked me to read his novel (and I did). At the time, I was also promoting my novel and my blog.

Back then, because I wasn’t really working due to my poor health, I had quite a lot of time. I would hop onto discord voice chat and talk to random people from all over the world and karaoke with them. I really enjoyed listening to different accents, and songs in different languages!

People might find it really odd, but I’ve actually met and maintained quite a few close relationships through discord (both male and female). However, most of the really close ones were formed years ago when I used to have a lot more time to chat leisurely.

Anyway, at the time, Fallen would hop on VC (voice chat) sometimes, and listen to either conversations/people singing. I remember I would tell him to hop on sometimes to chat/listen. He rarely spoke, but he would type a lot. I even remembered playing pipa for him once and he played the piano for me before as well. But that was soooo long ago, and I haven’t touched my instrument in years.

Throughout the years, I had made numerous Fallen jokes that he did not find funny. Ex. I told him he should name his future son “Trippin” since he’s “Fallen” LOLOL. I thought it was hilarious, but he just thought I was lame.

One of Fallen’s hobbies is reading, so he read all my translations from the time we met online (and probably most of my blog posts). From time to time, he would ask me for book recommendations. We would go for months without talking, but when we did talk, it would be quite a lengthy conversation.

However, Fallen never sent me any photos of himself. I had asked for years, but he said I would only see if I came to visit Singapore. He is not a fan of social media. (Disclaimer: I did not go visit Singapore because I wanted to see his face, BUT I did want to meet him. He’s the first Singaporean I had ever spoken to!!)

Anyway, Fallen told me if I was coming over, I had to give him a lot of notice, since he had to take time off work in advance because of his job. So, after I booked my flight, I told him I was coming!! He offered to get me from the airport if I wasn’t arriving in the middle of the night; I arrived at 7am.

Anyhow, when I arrived, I messaged Fallen and told him where I was, and took a picture of the area around me so that he could easily find me. I was grumbling and sad because I wanted to get a SIM card, but the lady at the booth told me I’d need to pay $60 for a 100GB one that would be valid for a month. But I didn’t need 100GB! I was only here for a week! Sadly, she said that was the only option. Fallen told me to wait until he got there; he was probably fifteen minutes away.

Later on, I noticed a good looking guy walking towards me. I didn’t know it was Fallen. Then, he stopped in front of me and said hi, so I was like, “Uh, are you Fallen?” LOL

And he said yes. I blurted, “Why wouldn’t you send me a picture for the past six years? You look fine!?! So cute?!?!” Continue reading “Day 1: Arrival (Friday, Sept 9th)”